Main
Recent Posts
Categories
Archives
Complete ListKnitterly Things
Ready, Set, Cast On!
On The Needles
Finis!
Daily Reads
Powered by MT Blogroll
* denotes a recently updated blog
Hey! So, I've been slogging. Have you noticed? Yeah, I have too. I've been working on a post to share some news. Not crazy-exiting news like Purl. I didn't write a book, or something exciting like that--but still, you'll have to wait.
Instead! My apartment! Was flooded! I don't currently have a psychotic landlord (meet: "I want to sell the house! I'm broke! Move out within two weeks!" or "human excrement in the crawlspace"). The upstairs neighbor (Drunk Girl) sprung a leak in her hot water heater--which was replaced within an hour of the problem being diagnosed. However, my apartment, which is downstairs from the leak, is currently filled with fans placed by the disaster recovery team hired to deal with the situation (decrease in month's rent not yet discussed). It is much to loud (and moist) to be currently INSIDE the apartment, so having spent the evening at a local drinking establishment, I am now perching on the stoop praising the gods of internet wireless (and, you know, my foresight). Also, I am glad of the renter's insurance (even though I'm not sure yet if anything needs to be claimed).
Even with this little "Can Insomiac Amy Sleep To The Sound Of Industrial Fans" interlude, life here is great. I am at the top of my universe. I lack for nothing, and the Grand Scheme is only getting better. Lace knitting has succumbed to my will, and that is, for reals, a metaphor.
*sorry for all the parethetical references and the commas. i might have had some beers (fan avoidance) this evening.
Will someone please remind me that even though WEBS has some fantastic closeouts/sale items right now, I do not need to spend $50 on yarn this week? Even though the Plymouth Encore* I want to make an Alisha Spawn baby blanket is on sale for $3.79 a ball? And I found a substitution for Maggie (double stranded Rowan Kidsilk Haze=expensive)! A single strand of a worsted weight kid mohair blend at $4.29 a ball (and single stranded=only 1/2 as much yarn needed!). But $50 bucks is $50 bucks. I really shouldn't make myself choose between yarn and food on the table.
In other knitting news, I started my hot pink lacy curtains this weekend. Lace knitting is sure a pain in the hindquarters! The tiny fragile yarn on relatively giant needles really doesn't lend itself to looking away from the needles for even an instant. I could get a serious crick in my neck! So I am working a couple rows of the lace pattern and then breaking with some little Mason-Dixon kitchen cotton side projects. The burp cloth pattern doubled(ish) makes a very nice kitchen towel!
*I could make this with some TLC/Red Heart/something from Joann's cheapie-do, but the Encore is so soft! And even after multiple trips though the washer it holds stitch definition and color and doesn't get all pilly! Babies are rough on stuff. I'd like it to last at least a few months!
The other night my darling Mammacita was teaching me to crochet--I need to know how to attach those ruffles to Marilyn's Not So Shrunken Cardigan! During my lesson we had the following conversation, which I feel must be shared:
Amy: Oh my goodness! This is so easy! And fast! I think I am a crochet prodigy!
Alisha: I told you! It is the easiest thing ever.
Amy: Whee! Okay, and then I turn and stick the thingy in and loopy loop ... hrm. I think paying attention to tension might be important with this here crocheting business.
Alisha [patient instructor, probably rolling eyes]: Yes, keep it loose or there will be a lot of swearing later.
Amy: Hrm. Well, for awhile I think I was making a rectangle, but this is really more of a trapezoid. And I think maybe I missed a loop or two. This is not perfect. I better try again.
[repeat crochet trapezoid debacle n times]
Amy: Okay, maybe I'm not a crochet prodigy. But I am totally a knitting prodigy!
Alisha: Yeah, because you've only been practicing that for what, 10 years?
Amy: Well, still, PRODIGY.
One week after casting on, my mother's birthday present is finished! Picovili is a super easy pattern that knits up like lightening. I used the picot edging, knitting the hem into the neckline and stitching it down around the bottom and sleeves. I added a few extra waist increases to give a little drape around the midriff and also added about an inch and a half at the bottom. My middle aged Mommy doesn't need to be sporting any crack, yanno? My major modification, however, was to add some little cap sleeves. These did work out just as I suspected, but it took a few attempts before I discerned how many straight stitches to leave across the top of the shoulder to give it a nice rounded shape (answer: twenty). Also, when working short rows and watching Borat on the television, it is a good idea to pay more attention to the short rows than Mr. Cohen. I, um, maybe had to rip back a number of times because I worked the turns at the wrong points. Perhaps. Anyway, the top is cast off and all the ends are woven in. Now I just need to do some blocking magic to try to reduce the dread stockinette roll before wrapping it up for ma mere. I hope she likes it!
(And then before bed last night I stitched up the neck and button bands on Marilyn's Not So Shrunken Sweater. All that is left is teaching myself to crochet so I can apply the ruffles. Obviously this means the next item to make my list of finished projects is the Monkey socks--I've made it about halfway through the instep of sock number one.)
* denotes a recently updated blog
