Sunday, September 21, 2008

Not yay for lace

Um...so wow it's been a while since I dropped in here. I guess it doesn't matter since the only two people that read it don't even really need to, lol!!

So let's see...Foliage was and still is a total disaster. I tried three needle sizes (getting smaller each time) and the fucking hat was WAY WAY WAY too big on every attempt. Granted, I have a stupidly small head for an adult, but this thing was gigantor. It wouldn't even fit Logan. :p I gave up on it. I love the hat, the pattern itself was easy and I could probably do it in my sleep at this point, but it was getting ridiculous. I am not knitting a hat that was written for size eights on size fours because then it's just going to look totally jacked up. Yes, I know...take out a lace repeat, duh!!! Well, my little anti-lave brain says, "if it's that much trouble, fuck it". And there we stand on Foliage.

Since that time, I completed my purple Edgar, my re-worked pink SWS hat, a pair of wrist warmers from the Noro Cash Iroha that Logan got me for my birthday and a black Bukkit hat. That was all in a month, too! I was on a roll.

Since then, I have knit on one thing: a Lady Eleanor stole. Mom came to visit for Frouth of July and when she saw Brandi's, she had to have one. It was decided that this would be her birthday present. Now, let's all stop and chuckle at the thought of me being able to actually afford the yarn for a Lady E.....everyone done, up off of the floor, tears wiped away? Good. Now that we have come back to my reality of a gas bill that eats up nearly half of my monthly income, I will admit that Mom did buy her own yarn. I know, you must be thinking...wow some birthday present that your mom had to pay for herself! True, not my proudest moment, but anyone that has knit one of these will recognize that the time and dedication that it takes to make one of these monsters if most definitely a gift in and of itself. And it's one hell of a gift, trust me. Right after mom left, I whipped out a quick bukkit hat for her in a gorgeous shade of green and sent that off to keep her somewhat satiated until October (her birthday). On July 27th I cast on the infamous entrelac stole. I finished knitting it today. I still have a lot of work to do on it...blocking, fringe and weaving in. Sometimes I stop and think that this project took up so much of my knitting time, but to be honest, I never knit much during the summer. It's just too hot and I am rarely inspired. Considering the weight and warmth of this thing, I am surprised that it is done already. There were a few weeks that it had to go away; just looking at it made me sweat. Now it is done and I am very very proud of it. It is beautiful and I cannot wait to see it totally done. I think Mom will look beautiful and elegant in it.

Now...I have another Eleanor to knit. Insanity, I know. It will only be half of a real Eleanor and I have until Christmas to finish it. It will my godmother's Christmas gift from both my mom and I (yes, she bought the yarn, I am doing the grunt work). We decided on a similar, but more muted color palette in Kureyon for this one and I've decided to work it on larger needles. I think it make it lighter and I can get more out of my limited yarn (the yarn store was short one ball from the number that I really wanted).

On top of all of this...I have to start figuring out my Christmas knitting. I successfully worked B into a panic about this tonight as well. I'm a good friend like that. I can't be alone in my frantic race to the Christmas finish line!! I was just being encouraging and helpful...yeah...that's it.

Happy knitting!