*grumble*

ok, so only a few more days without internet. I can do it. I mean, I have no choice, lol. With the absence of my ever-growing queue at my disposal, I have been unable to pare it down in the past two weeks, as I intended. But, all of that dedicated knitting time has not gone to waste!

 

I finished my "A Scarf Askew" and blocked it! That was actually a lot of fun. It's the first real blocking that I've done and it turned out great. I was a little worried about the edges scalloping, but a little tug after the pins were taken out fixed that and left a beautiful, straight edge. It really made the diagonal rib pattern pop out but it thinned out the scarf a lot. I'm not sure if I like that. If I make another one, I might not block it as hard and let the fibers stay relaxed. It did add the little bit of length that I needed though. The biggest challenge....convincing Cookie that it wasn't some neat new toy and that SITTING on the pins probably wasn't a great idea. *sigh* I also whipped up a matching hat. My decreases are awful, but probably barely noticeable to all but the highly trained knitter so it stays as is. I still have a good amount of yarn left over so I think I will make a new Headband out of it.

 

I started a new "Hat Fit for a Boyfriend". I'll finish that up tonight; they knit up soooooo quick. There's going to be a lot of them in the X-mas box, lol. It's been a great stash buster and I really love the way they look.

 

I've been forced to re-visit my pattern books for ideas and projects. Going through my SnB books, I realized that there's a lot less that I want to make now than when I got them. Well, that's not totally true; the Son of SnB still has a lot of novelty for me. I did start a new 'Warm Fuzzies" to use up the Moda Dea Dream that I bought for that pattern. I started a black one, but I don't know if it's even worth it to use anything but basic ribbing. It's so dark and fuzzy that you can't see the mock cable pattern and that's what I loved so much about the one that I made in light blue for Pat. So, I might just rip it out and do a 3x1 rib on it. I also CO for the "Basic Cable" hat in SnB Nation. I think it's cute and I am hoping that Garrett will like it in plain black. It's a little more interesting than the hats he usually wears. If not, it might just be mine or for the X-mas box, lol!.

 

All in all, it hasn't been an unproductive couple of weeks so I'm happy!

Knitting in the Stone Age

I guess B and Logan took our wireless network with them to the other side of the world. I have no idea what happened but it hasn't been working since the day after they left. I'm now relegated to checking my e-mail at work or on my phone at home. That's it. That's the extent of my internet access for the next week and a half. No Ravelry...yes, you heard me.......NO RAVELRY. No patterns, no notes, no timekilling....nothing. I'm quite frustrated actually because there is a LOT of knitting that I was going to get done during thier trip because I'm pretty much just sitting around the house alone every night.

 

So, now I'm knitting like they did before the internet came along. I'm working some patterns from memory and making some up. I've got a couple of pattern books that I need to use anyway. I have a couple of really simple things that don't really need a pattern and thank god I have the pattern for Danica memorized so I can finish Logan's scarf! Yeah, yeah, I know people have been knitting for centuries without the internet, but you know what? I'm a new generation and I like my craft being globally connected and I miss it!

Shop Talk

I went over to Garrett's last night; he was working on his frriend, Andy's, buggy. I took his hat with me and gave it to him. I was totally blown away at how much he liked it. He tried it on and it looks really good on him. I'm going to make a vouple more in some different colors and yarns. I told him that I made it out of a durable yarn (Simply Soft) and that it took me all of four hours to knit, so he coulld throw it in the washer and beat it up all he wanted since I can just bust another one out. In fact, this one that I am working on now might just be the backup, lol! The best part is that he bragged about it to Andy!!! Here we are, hanging out in the shop, all greasy and dirty, boys farting all over the place, Boomer trying to drink anti-freeze and Garrett keeps talking about the hat I made him and how impressed he is with my knitting and making Andy acknowledge my skill in my craft. LOL! It was sooo cute and it made me feel really good. I am so happy that he liked it so much. :)

I can't think of a clever title at the moment..

I just finished my Quant from the new Knitty. I had to change the pattern to fix a few things that I didn't like. That was actually a lot more fun than I expected. I usually find fixing patterns to be pretty intimidating and tedious. This was just enough for me to learn some new things and feel very accomplished and a lot happier with the resulting FO. I think I would like to try it in a yarn that has shorter color repeats; I think it would make it more interesting.

I noted a lot of this in my pattern notes on Ravelry but the SWS has pretty much no elasticity and after a couple of hours of working with it, my hands start to ache. I'm actually really surprised that so many people have used it for The Headband since a stretchy yarn really makes it, but it seems to be really popular. *shrug*

I really really really need to bust ass on Logan's scarf. I've played the "I just need something really quick so I can feel accomplished" game for too long. I also need to fix Blaine's glove. I need to get them back from him so I can make sure that I make it right this time, lol! I'm having some serious second glove syndrome on my pink and black wristwarmers. I need to just get that done too. I'm going to be so mad if I keep avoiding it and I don't get to wear that set this winter. So much knitting to do!

I have to give credit where credit is due...this was all B's idea. She mentioned that she was going to make small, fast knitted items and put them away in a box to use as random X-mas presents. Just little things that are easy or quick patterns to try out or things that came out fine, but just aren't something to keep. So, I stole the idea, lol! I'm going to do the same thing. I think I just finished my first donation to the box with my Quant today. I like it and it's really pretty, it just doesn't look great on me. It was fast and fun and it gave me a chance to try out the pattern so in the box it goes!

Knitting Nazi v. Gym Nazi

Who will triumph??? Stay tuned!!

 

B is having some...issues with finishing her 1x1 ribbing on her second glove. She only has a few rounds left but it's so horrifically annoying to her that she just can't seem to make herself do it. So, we made a deal. I am going to be knitting Nazi tonight and make her work those last few rounds so she can really get to work on the glove that she adores so much. Tomorrow night, she's going to play gym nazi on me. LOL! True friends.

 

I had some serious knitting ADD on Sunday and didn't really get anything done. Well, my three hour nap didn't really help matters. lol. I didn't start my second glove or Blaine's fix-it glove. I barely worked on Logan's scarf, I started and ripped out a hat in SWS, then I started a Quaint in the same SWS, but I don't know if I really like it, so I might rip that out and modify the pattern a little bit.

 

So, tonight it knitting, knitting, knitting!

So happy

I have been so incredibly happy with my knitting the past couple of weeks. My headband turned out so cute. I still need to put a button on it so I can actually wear it, lol. I finished the first glove to go with it and I am really happy with it. I'm going to start on the second one today. The yarn is so great; I forgot how much I loved that yarn. It is so soft and this colorway is so adorable.

I worked on Logan's scarf on Friday night. It's coming along. It really is a quick pattern for coming out looking so complicated, lol. I'll work on that a little today too.

I splurged a little and bought some new yarn yesterday. Michael's was having a sale on all of their yarns so I got four skeins of SWS. I've been wanting to work with it some more so I figured I might as well get it while it was on sale. I got two skeins of the black and grey to make a matching hat/glove set. I'd like to eventually get enough of the same color to make a scarf as well, but that gets expensive fast, lol. I got a really pretty pink and green and a blue and brown. I am really excited to make a couple of cute hats out of them.

I have so much that I want to knit!!! I want to do it all today!!!

Me me me me me!

Even though I have been working on Logan's scarf and I have every intention of finishing it asap, it's been so nice to relax with my knitting. I do enjoy working on a deadline in almost every aspect of my life, but I also like the freedom of not having any with my knitting right now. I am really succumbing to my flightiness though, lol. I've been meaning to start a Calorimetry (forthwith known as Headband by unanimous vote in the Ford/Fahey knitting household) in this gorgeous new yarn that I got in the mail over the weekend. I am going to make a small headband and then use what I have left to make some wrist warmers. I think it'll be a super cute set. I'm going to use the pink and black (I got B a hank of this for X-mas) first. I don't know what I am going to make with the purple yet.