breathing

Sheesh, what a week at work! I feel like I've barely had time to blink and I'm behind on everything! Fortunately all the work distracted me from thinking about all the yarn I'm not buying. Haven't fallen off the wagon yet!

Sadly, even though our big meeting ended yesterday, work isn't about to slow down. We have another meeting at the end of March to prepare for, and then two reports to write before another big meeting in May. Then there might finally be time to breath. I guess it's better than being bored, though, the days go faster. I just don't like when I have to work late because my commute is so long. My boss is very understanding and usually lets me go around 7 (which I then feel guilty about if everyone else is still there), but I still end up getting home at 8:30 or 9--just enough time to eat, shower and go to bed. I'm thinking about just renting a hotel room in DC for the March meeting.

Needless to say, I did not finish my vest for Vestuary--I will probably finish the back today. I did, however, cast on for the second Tidepool sock, and I've been knitting it on the Metro, so it's making slow but steady progress.

Sorry, no photos today--perhaps tomorrow when the back is done!

hoarding

I don't know what it is about yarn. It just calls out to you. I finish maybe a project a month on average, and yet I've got yarn for at least 20 projects just sitting around, waiting patiently to be used.

So, I've decided that for Lent, I will be giving up buying yarn (for me, that is; I'm doing a few swaps, so I'll still be allowed to buy yarn for others. Also, I signed up for the Taste of Shivaya club, so I'll still be getting those . . . ). Sure, forty days isn't really that long, but lately it seems I can't go a week without ordering something. Case in point:

Jamieson Shetland Spindrift, Sunset

Jamieson Shetland Spindrift, Sunrise

Shivaya Winter Worsted (Taste of Shivaya February shipment)

Frog Tree Pima Silk

Mirasol Nuna, myrtle

Gedifra Shetland Deluxe, navy

These are my latest acquisitions, all gorgeous but completely unnecessary. They also don't fit in my yarn storage (which has grown to two 3-drawer plastic carts. Sigh.

I bought the Shetland Spindrift specifically to make the Selbu Modern hat. I have no plans to make this any time soon, but Never Not Knitting made the yarn sound so irresistible. Plus there was a discount! And free shipping!

My favorite of these recent purchases is definitely the Mirasol Nuna. It's 40% merino, 40% silk and 20% bamboo and the color is gorgeous. I don't know yet what it will become, other than something for ME.

But starting Wednesday, no yarn buying until April! Can I hold out and not sign up for the Fearless Fibers Whisper of Spring lace club before then? (DO WANT!) We'll see!

And oh yeah, I finished a sock!

Not a great job with that one gusset join, but otherwise, lovely, I think. Love the picot edge. Now to overcome second sock syndrome . . .

Love is in the air

Happy Valentine's Day, all. Hope everyone is enjoying some delicious chocolate and a snuggle with a loved one (be it human, canine or feline).

Just a quick glance at the hat I knit up for the Hogwarts Sock Kit Swap dueling club . . .

Wait, wait, wait--who shot who in a what now? Well, photo first, and then some details.

Yes, perhaps the HSKS has come out of left field--I don't think I've really mentioned it, and I know when I started blogging I commented on not really understanding all of the Harry Potter hype. I've since read the books and found them enjoyable (though I'm certainly not one of the series' more, um, exuberant fans), and I thought a theme swap would be fun--it's kinda nice to pretend you live in a fantasy land for a few minutes every day.

This is a fairly involved swap, with a lot going on other than swapping. One of those activities is dueling, which is akin to a much smaller scale version of sock wars or hat attack. Pattern requirements are posted a few days in advance, and once the pattern is posted, you knit knit knit as fast as you can and get that sucker in the mail. I am dueling a fellow Hogwarts student, and whoever receives the hat first LOSES.

I have a feeling I'm going to be killed off rather quickly--I knit a few rows during lunch yesterday, a few more on my commute, and then finished up on a rockin' Friday night--but here's hoping my dueling buddy's owl flies a bit slower. This hat went off to the post office first thing this morning (nothing like waking up on a lazy Saturday and dashing off to the post office to mail a hat to complete stranger and pray that it gets to her before hers gets to you!).

In other news, I wore my Two to Tangle cardi to the office yesterday. I'm still pretty happy with the fit and so far a day's worth of wear hasn't led to any sagging or stretching, but I have decided the sleeves are too wide at the cuffs. Nothing really to do about it now, and probably good for when I'm wearing a buttondown underneath (just a cami yesterday, because it was still relatively and oddly warm) anyway.

Some relatively steady progress on my other projects, only slightly interrupted to take care of this hat duel nonsense. For reasons unknown to me, I decided to take on the Vest-uary challenge (the Wicked Rib Eyelet Vest was next in my queue, but that's really no justification for inexplicably deciding I could knit it in a month--and the shortest month, at that!). Here's my progress on the back:

Not too shabby, and it's going pretty quickly.

Also plugging away on the first set of socks from my personal sock club:

I was also working on the Knotty Gloves, but I've decided to put them to rest. I jacked up the cable trying to knit on the subway, and need to rip back, and by the time they're done, I'm sure it will be May. So I'll pull them out again in late summer to get ready for fall.

I really need to cast on for my friend's wedding shawl ASAP if I hope to have it finished before she gets married. I've picked the Print O' the Wave Stole, and have decided to temporarily forget that I don't really know how to knit lace. We'll see what happens!

Bi-weekly blog question #4

What are your plans for Valentine’s Day this year?

J and I have never been big V-day celebraters. We'll exchange cards, I might get some flowers and/or chocolates, and we'll go out to dinner, but not on Valentine's Day, as it's way too crowded and overpriced. I've been dying to try this place, so hopefully we'll visit another day.

It Takes Two to Tangle

This project has been going on so long, I don't think any preamble is necessary. So, without further ado:

Pattern: Tangled Yoke Cardigan, by Eunny Jang, Interweave Knits Fall 2007
Size: 34
Yarn: Queensland Kathmandu DK, 7 skeins
Needles: sizes 4, 3 and 0


After many months of labor, it's finally done! And it's a perfect fit! No mods to speak of, other than creating more work for myself by inexplicably knitting the neckband together and then binding off, instead of doing a three needle bind off as indicated. The neck band is a little tight, and if I had it to do over again I would've used a larger needle to bind off, but it doesn't merit any frogging.

The tangled yoke part was quite easy to do once I'd learned cabling without a cable needle. I did have to redo the first buttonband once--I picked up about 8 too many stitches, and hoped it would just work out, but it looked a bit ruffly (not to self: to make ruffles, pick up too many stitches), so I ripped back and picked up the correct number.

You can see the back is a little puckered around the neckband because of the tight bind off, but it will be covered by my hair anyway. The neckband looks a little wonky on the sides from blocking, I'll have to figure out how to shape it correctly.

Can't wait to wear this to the office next week! (It's a balmy 60 [SIXTY!] degrees here today, but it's sure to cool down again when I have to trek a half mile to and from the subway)