Thump...thump...thump...

There is the slow, dull...yet consistent sound of "thumping" coming from my desk at work today. I have the distinct impression that it is me, pounding my head against the desk in the vain attempt to put myself out of my misery and end this HELL of a Monday as soon as possible....

Ugghhhh....will the agony never end???? I'm sure it will in a mere 3 hours.....

Riddle me this....

Ok, I am usually not a big fan of the survey for blogs...but hey, saw this and thought..."what the heck, I'm bored at work." So, here goes.....I found this survey from another blog "The Black Yarn Swap", just so know one thinks that I came up with this on my own....

1. Do you knit, crochet, or both?
Primarily Knit, I know how to Crochet, but do not do it well or enjoy it.
2. What do you prefer to knit or crochet? (socks? sweaters? cables?) What would you like to try to knit or crochet?
I prefer to knit socks and hats, just about anything in the round. I would like to try more garments in the future.
3. What are your hobbies outside of knitting or crocheting?
I love to read and watch movies
4. Do you have any fiber allergies? Fiber preferances?
No allergies, that I know of. I prefer Merino, Bamboo and Cotton
5. Do you have any favourite books, music, or tv shows? If so, what are they?
I love Emma Holly and most fiction. TV shows are tough, because it changes so much. Currently I like Survivor, Dancing with the Stars, CSI and most thinks on SPEED Channel
6. Do you have any pets?
Nope, no pets...
7. Do you prefer salty or sweet snacks?
Depends on my mood, I like salty stuff...but I am a complete sucker for Ice Cream
8. Do you prefer coffee or tea?
COFFEE!!!!! Definitely
9. Aside black, which colours do you like/dislike?
Magenta and Teal
10. What is your favourite time of the year? (season-wise or holiday-wise)
I like winter and fall...pretty much anytime of the year that it is cold and I can wear a jacket, jeans and a set of wrist warmers
11. What is your favourite scent?
Oranges and citrus...along with clean man (that always works for me, too)
12. What do you collect?
Hehehehe, you mean other than yarn? I guess I collect purses, watches and books.
13. If there's anything else you'd like people to know, list them here:
I am a sucker for a comfy place to sit and knit, good hugs, great music, chocolate cake and a truck stop that serves steak & eggs for breakfast!

And the sweater begins....or should that be saga???

To be more specific, it is a cardigan. I have bit the bullet and finally broken down and decided to knit a sweater for myself. The original impetus for this happened a few weeks back at a SnB, when I decided to wear a skirt and cute shirt. It was a bit chilly out and lo and behold, I had nothing to wear over my shirt other than my H-D (not really the look I was going for), so I decided it was time to start looking for a pattern and decide on a yarn to use.

Well, almost 2 weeks later and I have found the yarn. I opted for K1C2, Babyboo in Bright Aqua. I am still debating on the pattern, even though I think I have a general idea of what I am wanting to do. I really like the style of Tahoe pattern from Knitty.com, but I know for sure that I would adapt this to have 3/4 length sleeves. There is no way that I could wear this sweater in the spring and summer seasons, here in Texas with long sleeves....it is just way too warm for that.

So, I have swatched the yarn, managed to get gauge and now I just have to find someway to work out the pattern to work with the yarn I want to use. Par for the course with me, never follow the directions...LOL!

Anyway, cross your fingers and wish me luck. I am going to take all the info, along with the yarn and needles (so graciously loaned to me by Kenny) with me this weekend when I take a trip to see Mom up in Oklahoma. Hopefully between Lara and Mom there will be guidance as to how I should proceed with this endeavor... One day I will figure out why it is that I don't just take the well traveled road and stick with a pattern that is established and tested to work...(shaking my head at myself).

Too long gone....

Well, it has been a week...I didn't fall off of the planet, albeit I feel like have. I think this allergy season is just about to kick my ever lovin' ass.

I have been trying to knit in the evenings to get some of the never ending projects off of the needles, but no matter how hard I try I just can't seem to get caught up.

Thanks to Miss Knotty, the spiral hat is in the finishing stages. I did the ribbing last night and am stopping before I get back to the colors in the ball that I don't really like. I just gotta figure out the best way to bind off so I don't shrink the hat too much.

After I get the hat off the needles I am going to cast on a new set of fingerless mitts for my friend Brett. He bought the coolest colorway of Cascade 220, it is olive green and black heather....should be lots of fun to see how they turn out.

I know I said I would never knit for anyone else again, but I guess I consider this an exception to the rule....Mainly since he is learning to knit right now and hasn't really progressed to knitting in the round yet and I have knitted 2 sets of these already and they work up pretty quick...lastly, I really wanted to try the Cascade 220 and this is as good a reason as ever to get my hands on a skein of it, without having to actually buy any...LOL!!!!

Coffee??? Where is the coffee???

I haven't slept nearly enough hours in the past few days, not sure if this post is even gonna make any sense at all. I figured I would give it my best effort and try anyway.

Was definitely a fun day this past Sunday at Cafe Express, there was much winding and very little knitting on my part. I have to say, I would have actually been better off leaving my knitting at home. I got absolutely nothing accomplished and what I did get accomplished wasn't on pattern and should probably be taken out and done over....but that remains to be seen.


I have determined that the ribbing on my knee-high will go, as according to the original plan, and I will knit it like I do everything else. Thanks to Lara, the spiral hat has had a round frogged and corrected so that I can start in on it again when I have some quiet time and can pay attention to my counting. I really don't want to rip that, and I know she doesn't either.

Anyway, I should be able to tackle a few more knitting projects the rest of the week, since I will be back in my own apartment as of tonight...not sure if I want to just sleep the night away or actually go to knit night and knit my little fingers off....who knows, I guess I will have to wait to see what happens at 5 o'clock.

Bringing a newbie into the fold...

I have begun the conversion of another knitter. That's right folks, I was converted and brought into the fold roughly two years ago, and it was about time that I brought my first convert over to the dark side.

The convert in question is a very dear and sweet friend of mine from work. He has long heard me blather on and on about the joys of knitting and fondling yarn. So, this past Wednesday, he finally agreed to meet me at my LYS and I sat him down around the knitting table with two balls of Berroco Comfort in the most shocking color of green (it is SO his color, too) and a set of Bamboo needles in 9.

Sue, the knitting wizard at The Woolie Ewe, had him start with a Long Tail Cast-on. He took to it like a duck to water. It was so awesome to watch him sit there, so focused, cast on each and every one of those stitches. I started to notice the odd silence from the direction of his chair, so I turned and there he is, 5 or 6 rows of garter into his first scarf. I felt like a new mom, just overcome with joy that he was actually having FUN and had a big smile on his face!!! THIS ROCKS!!!!

There have been a few hiccups along the way, there was some unraveling, a few dropped stitches, frogging of the entire project and a new cast-on this morning. But, all in all, things seemed to be a success so far. I was a little worried at the frogging point...I had this fear that he was gonna text message me that he really didn't like the idea of knitting and was gonna just drop the idea entirely....but NOPE, he asked me to help him out and he was gonna give it another go....YOU GO BOY!!! KNIT ON!!!

I'm so happy for him...I just can't express how much it makes me smile. There is some serious knitting love in me today...even though I can't bring myself to work on any projects today. I opted to bring a book with me instead.

grrr.....frustration and knitting....

In the spirit of having a decent sense of humor left after being frustrated at my current project, not much to say and my extreme love of knitting...here is something that I think everyone should watch....I don't usually surf YouTube all that much, but someone showed this one to me, and I just feel compelled to share it. Enjoy!!!!



Just figured I would throw a picture or two of the current project that leaves me vexed and perplexed....

ok....Alpaca Redux....no dice

Well, the plan was to use the Baby Alpaca to try out the cupcake hat. Yet again, not my best plan or idea. I have never knit with alpaca and I seriously overestimate my skill along with underestimating the slick and fluid texture of the yarn I am trying to "tame".

So, that idea was scrapped...but I have rethought the plan and am going to put the Alpaca back into stash hibernation, yet again. But....I am still going to knit up the Fauxstess, there is no doubt in my mind about that!!!

I am going to try the cupcake with some Berrocco Comfort and Comfort DK. I think this would make an ideal media for the hat and I am also going to rework the pattern to make it more my own and slightly more my style...I will share my plan when the idea is at least on the needles and taking more of a physical shape.

On a brighter note, though....I did cast on at least one project tonight. I cast on some Noro Kureyon (colorway 139). Not my favorite yarn to knit with, but the colors are just so pretty I could not resist. On top of the fact that I really needed some work knitting for the morning since things have been so slow at work lately and I can only surf Ravelry so much without feeling compelled to start a new project.

The idea behind this new project is to do a spiral pattern hat. Like the other hat that I have done and loved so very much, I am starting this one in top down fashion and knitting in Magic Loop until I have it to 80 sts and then I will just knit in the round until I get to the length I want and will either finish with rib knit, seed stitch or just maybe i might finish it with a picot bind off...who knows? I'm sure I will have decided by the time I get to that point.

Anyway, it is late and I am sure that sleep is a long time in coming for me tonight and the knitting will all to me from the couch while I try to sleep, but I must at least make the pathetic attempt to count the sheep....or maybe just the balls of sock yarn I wish to add to my stash.

Hmmm..one ball of Regia Silk, two skeins or Shibui Knits, three balls of On-Lein sock yarn, four balls of Jawool.....ZZZzzzzzzzzz

Yummy....I wanna be called "cupcake"....

I found this pattern in Ravelry and I am completely and TOTALLY in LOVE (love, love, love) with it...it is called the "Fauxstess". I must knit this as soon as possible.

I think I even have the yarn in stash to do this....even better, right? Thinking of using the Misti Alpaca - Baby Alpaca in black that didn't work out so well for my first cable attempt. I know for sure that it would make a really soft and snuggly hat.

I normally wouldn't knit something quite this "kitschy", but I just can't resist. The picture just seemed to call out to me...knit me, knit me...knit me, damnit!!! So, yet again, I will answer the siren call of the yarn and cast it on tonight....hell, it's a hat...I could probably have it done by the weekend if I put my other projects down for a bit. I might even get brave and try it on DPN's instead of my much loved circulars.

Only bummer about knitting a hat in April (in Texas, no less) is that I won't get to wear it till it starts to get cold again....at the END OF OCTOBER!!!!

Anyway, I guess I will head back scouring Ravelry some more for patterns, that I most likely won't have time to knit...but if it distracts me from the massive headache I have had all morning, so much the better!!!

Progress, I say....Yes, progress....

Ok....so, I got at least 4 more repeats done on the fan & feather shawl/wrap last night, while sitting home watching the boob tube. I tried to start the ribbing on the knee-high, but due to the fact that I knit weird, the ribbing was not working out correctly.

I have since gone to my favorite website for help with the icky dilemma, knittinghelp.com!!! I think every knitter should have this website bookmarked and easily accessible at any given time. I have always known that I knit a bit different that others, and from Lara's educated guess, I have watched her knit enough, that I picked up combination knitting without even realizing it. Good grief, as if I don't do enough things differently already, now add knitting to the mix.

Well, luckily knittinghelp has videos on this very dilemma. The conundrum is that when I "knit" in the round, everything works out fine. When I "knit and purl" flat pieces, that too works out without any problems. The problem started when I tried knitting "ribs" in the round. For some reason I wasn't wrapping the yarn correctly so, half of my stitches were becoming twisted. Not a total tragedy in my opinion, since I liked the way it looked and made the ribs a bit more snug (a good thing, in IMHO).

The catch with all this mess, is that I am starting on the ribbing for my knee-high socks, and I really want these bad boys to be PERFECT!!!! I am still on the fence as to whether I should do 1x1 ribbing or 2x2 ribbing.

So....I started the ribbing last night (I am VERY thankful that I put a lifeline in before I started) when I was sitting at the Woolie Ewe, after the second round I knew there was something slightly amiss. I stopped work on them as soon as I noticed there was a problem, so tonight when I go to knit night, I am going to have to rip out what I started (yet again, thanking my life line) and start again, but this time keeping in mind what I learned on the website about how to wrap the yarn on the purl stitches....WOOO HOOO...I'm not a FREAK!!! YAY!!! Cheers all around....

Now back to your normally scheduled programming....

This shit is just evil.....

I am not sure if it is the yarn or the needles I am trying to knit it on...but the aforementioned Ty-Dy yarn that I had planned on knitting up today, well it is just plain EVIL...F'n evil I say!!!

I have cast this damn yarn on probably a good 5 or 6 times so far this morning. It is not nearly as forgiving as any other cotton yarn I have ever knitted with. There is no slip or slide on the needles whatsoever. It's almost like the yarn just wants to fight with me. Maybe it isn't liking the idea I have for it as a FO.....LOL

I had thought that the variegated colors would look pretty in a shawl or wrap, maybe some eyelet. Well, that didn't work out as planned, so I started again. Try number two was just to do some knits and purls and maybe a 3 stitch border. Nope, yarn didn't like that idea either. Last try was to do a basket weave pattern in about 48 sts wide "thing". Apparently that idea was also vetoed with out my consent.

Needless to say the yarn is off of the needles and probably going to stay off for a good long while, unless I am just looking for some blatant agitation and frustration. Which, quite frankly, I have more than enough of that to go around without having to involve yarn in the mix.

I know...I should not take my frustrations out on my yarn....it didn't do anything wrong and doesn't deserve to be mistreated like this. But, come on...it's not like I am asking too much of my yarn. All I want is for my yarn to go along with the plan and understand that I should have at least some say so in the creative process.

On a brighter note, I am thankful that I opted to bring more than one project into work today. I figured if all else failed (which it so obviously has) I could keep working on the knee-high sock and get further along to the cuff (....gulp).

Blush....but not bashful...

Alrighty then, how many times can a group of people make me blush??? I think I lost count somewhere around ten or so.

Yup, it was another Sunday of laughter and fun at SnB. Good food, good times and productive knitting, can't ask for anymore than that. I haven't laughed this hard in awhile, I must say that this is my favorite way to spend a Sunday.

I got some work done on the green socks....almost ready to start ribbing on the knee-high, and got a few more repeats accomplished on the fan and feather shawl/wrap. All of this productivity actually inspired me to cast on YET ANOTHER project this evening. Not sure if it will stay on the needles, but I decided to cast on the Ty-Dy that has been sitting in the stash for almost 6 months. Gonna see if a bag started from the bottom up with Turkish Cast-on will work for me. I started in 8's but I think that may be too loose to actually work and be a usable bag. Guess I will have to get some of it knitted up and see how it goes....time will tell.

Alas, it is time for bed and I am sure it will be the challenge that it has become lately...guess I will have to mentally catalog the stash again while trying to sleep and plan a few more projects in my head.....gives new meaning to the idea of counting sheep....LOL

Fiiiiiiber Fest.....

OMG!!!! I haven't had this much with fiber and yarn since the year end sale at Woolie Ewe. It's safe to say that going to a place with this much yarn and a full paycheck in my wallet is probably not the wisest plan in the world. Although, I did make it out with only a small dent in the checking account. And that was including the luxurious buffet lunch at Tokyo One for sushi galore.....oooohhhh my tummy was happy.

Now, on to my two most recent acquistions to stash are pretty darn cool. The first one is a skein of Collinette - Jitterbug Lagoon in the most amazing greens and turquoises ever. Take a peek....

The next acquistion would be a skein of Lace weight in Navy that I purchased from Lone Star Arts, it is a very pretty semi-solid that I just could not resist (and hey...it was 800 yards ofyarn!!!) Take a peek....

I have to admit, now that I have figured out how to post pictures of my stash and WIP's it is even more fun to blog and share the things that I am working on and hording in my ever growing stash baskets.

If you are at all interested, there are a few pictures that I have also posted of my apartment, for those of you with a voyeuristic nature. Or even, for those of you who wondering how the hell I managed to fit myself, all my yarn and all the other crap that I own into a 350 sq ft apartment.

Yes, folks...it is small and messy...but I have proven that it can be done!!!

Anyway...I may come back later and shrink my pictures or add a few more to other posts...but I think for right now I am gonna get back to movie watching, laundry drying and KNITTING!!!!

Happy, Happy....Joy, Joy....

Things are good in Blogland again...I have finally figured the last few things out that I was having trouble getting a grip on. Now there is a little slide show of pictures in my flickr acct....I am still working on getting pictures loaded into the actual posts that reference them. I'm sure with a bit of patience and some more time, I will get this all worked out.

In other news, I have started knitting on the "evil green" socks again. I swear, I think these socks are cursed. It seemed for a while there after the messy, "gee I have turned the heel and am on my way to finishing a pair of socks for a really nice guy" episode...that everything just went wrong, wrong, wrong with these things. I could have sworn that every time I took the dang things out of their project bag there was another slipped or dropped stitch, and of course it didn't drop just ONE row. NOOOOO, these suckers would go for at least 6 or seven rows down and be a complete and utter pain in the arse to fix.

But, again...I digress. I have picked them back up again, as of last night. I think it is about time I finish the bad boys and give them off to the soon to be new owner, Lara. Because there is no way that I am giving these things to the originally intended recipient, cursed or not.

In other sock news, I have stalled on my knee high. I keep meaning to finish it and get started on the second one, but for some reason the thought of completely figuring out and writing down the pattern that I created for these "9 mile o'sock" bad boys is just more than I am willing to do right now. Along with the fact that I am on the fence about whether or not to carry some elastic through on the cuff of the sock or just suck it up and do some 1x1 ribbing and be done with it. Who knows...I guess I will have to just ponder this as I work on the PAIR of "evil greens".