not that anyone will notice

I'll be MIA until next week. I'm heading to Michigan for my brother's wedding (finally) and won't be able to post. My knitterly happenings since Monday:

not much. i'm working on the gift package for Preggo, who's baby shower is the weekend after I get back. What will be included (er, what I hope will be included)

1) Teddy Bear All in One
2) Rowan Denim Pants from Last Minute Knitted Gifts (made with butterfly cotton)
3) Booties from Frog Tree Alpaca, pattern from 50 Baby Booties to Knit
4) Booties made with coordinating mercerized brown cotton to go with Teddy Bear
5) Pair of felted clogs for Preggo.

The clogs are tough, b/c it's been so warm. But she asked for clogs more than a year ago. Since I'm moving soon, I thought I better knit them now.

And, how come I know about Knitty and Magknits but not Spunmag?
I also found some cute patterns on this blog, Knitting for Boozehags. Who can resist with a name like that? I especially like the Bevin and the Lelah-top.

See you all next week! Hopefully I'll have some FOs to report.

Can you knit TOO much?

This week and weekend, I attempted to see how high/low my threshold is for knitting... Let's take a looksee the timeline.

Wednesday: meet up with Jeni for happy hour sushi at Opal, then knit at Monkey Bean for a few hours.

On Thursday, I stopped by Colorful Yarns and met up with Stacey. We watched the season finale of ER, then the two episodes making up the season finale of CSI. I worked on Donna and helped her knit a sole for a felted clog (someone needed class samples for Saturday).

on Friday, I had my first day working at Colorful Yarns! Tiffany and Carmen asked me if I'd like to work there part time over the summer, so that Carmen could have some time off. Of course I said YES YES YES! Who would say no? (besides them non-knitter people?). I had a few customers and phone calls, but did get quite a bit of knitting in. Michelle met me there after work and we met up with Wanda for some dinner. At Tattered Cover, we knit until close (11pm) with Kim and Jeni.

Saturday, I had an early hair appt (I had to wash that man right out of my hair, er, get rid of my grey), then met up with Michelle, Stacey, Jeni, and Wanda for lunch, then stopped at Colorful Yarns... meeting up with Nachaele. We knit there until close (about 530p), then relocated to Caribou Coffee... until hunger finally drove us to quit knitting (at about 8pm).

Of course, all that time spent at Colorful wasn't for naught. I hear tell that Opal is discontinuing their petticoat line, and since I love the purple/green/yellow colorway so much, I had to get this one too:


Here's progress on Donna so far. She's big on me, so I'm going to adjust the front and armholes so that the finished size will be a bit snug instead of hanging shapelessly on me. What i'm most proud of, is that I'm knitting Donna almost entirely continental/norwegian purl so that i don't have that lag in my ribbing (which all my my knitting friends say isn't bad, but looks horrible to me). I have to say that I enjoy knowing another way to knit, but I miss the speed of my 'regular' technique.

Teddy Bear Teddy Bear, Turn Around

I have finally finished the teddy bear all in one from Debbie Bliss (baby cashmerino book). I substituted yarn (instead of baby cash, i used Rowan 4 ply soft, 4 balls) and used tahki cotton classic for the contrast color. Who knew it would be so hard to find chocolate brown yarn in the DB baby cash or rowan 4 ply soft?



Pattern: Teddy Bear All in One pattern from Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino book
Size: 3-6 months
Needles: Addi turbo circulars, size 3 and 4
Yarn: Rowan 4 ply soft (4 balls) and Tahki Cotton Classic
Cast on/Cast off: April 8thish - May 14th.


pattern changes: ears: used 16 sts with MC instead of 14, and knit 8 rows instead of 6 before decreasing. used 12 sts instead of 14 with CC (cotton classic). picked up about 62 sts for button band instead of 72 (i used the magic formula from Wiseman's Knitter's Book of Finishing Techniques).

i haven't woven in the ends for the ears yet b/c I wanted to get your opinion on the ear placement. do you think they should be more forward? down or up more? the pattern is woefully vague. The whole thing knit up pretty quickly... I was motivated by selfishness (so I could finish and knit for myself) and by guilt (b/c Preggo wants this knit for her baby before I move).

I had a terrific weekend. Friday, I had my last day of internship, which was a little bit sad. How often do you find a place to work that has so many like-minded people? The organization advocates for women, equality, and fights against oppression in all of it's forms. Afterwards, I stopped by Chez Pink for a bit of knit time. Jenifer and AmyB were there too! Jenifer showed me how to do the Norwegian purl, because I was complaining about my uneven tension when I do ribbing (going from knit to purl). Thanks Jenifer!

Saturday: the big graduation day! I didn't walk at my graduation, but sat in the crowd and cheered on my classmates. The faculty of my department awarded me with an outstanding graduate award, which was a bit embarrassing. I'm a little sad about finishing, b/c that means I'm that much closer to moving and leaving all my friends.
I stopped by Colorful Yarns for a bit, then headed over to a friend's house for a graudation party.

Next up: Cast on for... Tivoli T b/c Michelle can't be the only one to have it, or maybe Donna. Or may I can finish Spork. Sigh.

Serendipitous socks

Since becoming uber busy this semester, I've gained a new appreciation for socks and sock yarn.* I only have to buy one skein (except for koigu) to make something, it's pretty, and I already have patterns.


I cast on for these socks two nights ago, and was SO pleased with how my toe turned out. When I saw this colorway at Colorful Yarns, I knew I had to have it.
Here's my progress so far:



Here are some pics of my recent acquisitions.



Lambshoppe had this beautemous colorway which I needed. NEEDED I tell you! Mary Carol was kind enough to put some in yarn jail for me.



Here's yet another skein of cherry tree hill. A bit brighter than what I usually like, but I love the brown, turquoise, lime green combinations.



And a pic of the Opal colorway that I'm now in love with... very spring-like,
don't you think?

So... I think I've made it abundantly clear these last few weeks why I needed to join the Stash A Long. I should've renewed my membership, but one only has so much willpower.

*Ok, ok, ok!! I had a problem with sock yarn well before the beginning of this semester. It has intensified due to the introduction to Trekking XXL, and now the Opal. All those yummy colorways of Cherry Tree (which are one of a kind, so if I like it, I better buy it now, right?)

Sneaking and peeking

It was my first real weekend of freedom, with the light at the end of the tunnel making an appearance. I finish my master's program this coming Friday, and my graduation ceremony is on Saturday. So, instead of celebrating my accomplishments, what have I been thinking about?

How much weight I've gained. in corpora, and in stash-o. In the body? at least 20 lbs over the last 2 yrs, and in the stashes? i don't want to even hazard a guess. Two years ago, I had no yarn stash (well, maybe 2-3 skeins of red heart to make baby blankets). Now? I've got lots of beautiful yarn. Book stash has grown, not so much for leisure reading, but my knitting library used to be non-existent, and now? while not as nearly thorough as the libraries kept by some of the people with whom I knit, it's pretty hefty. I'm still trying to live in DE NIAL, so let's move onto something more fun.

I'm on an FO kick. I'm about done with the teddy bear all in one, which I'll take a pic of as soon as I attach the sleeves. I finally found some chocolate brown yarn to use as contrast color for the ears... and am living on a prayer that I have enough of the main color to finish the sleeves and knit the ears. Pics to come sometime this week (b/c i'm sure it'll be done by then).

FO reports!
Socks
patterns: From Nancy Bush's Knitting on the Road: Conwy and Denmark
Yarn: Trekking XXL #108
needles: US 2
Method: magic loop on both. one was knit toe up (Denmark), one was knit cuff down (Conwy).




a few notes to self: bind off loosely on toe up socks. increase some when turning heel in toe up to allow for some stretch. most importantly... when knitting a pattern, you read the chart from top down when knitting toe up socks (duh).

pattern changes: i didn't do patterns all the way down the foot, b/c who's gonna see?

Ene
Pattern: from Scarf Style
Yarn: Lorna's Laces Helen's Lace in the Black Purl colorway
Needles: US 5



pattern changes: none, really, except for some goofs i made that I had to creatively fix. Not a very tough pattern once you realize there are only 6 stitches in the repeat. Counting rows would've helped immensely.

PIP*

You know when you don't post very often? You end up with way too much to say. Most interesting to most of you, especially those that might be local, would be the updates in LYS status.
First, we have Colorful Yarns. Tiffany managed to secure a wonderful new, more spacious, and better lit space. Please check the link for additional info... the store is in the same parking lot, but different building... directly west of where they used to be located. Here are some pics of the new space!








on the right: wall of wool!... on the left: the sock cubbies.









Here we have the new knitting nook ... a room in the back with the books and comfy chairs. The ohter pic just shows the spaciousness.





The newest metro Denver area LYS on the block!
Lamb Shoppe has many wonderful walls of yarn, with enough for entire projects in all the colorways they own. The people there are very welcoming, but not intrusive while you browse/horde the yarn. I can see that I will be spending much time here in the months before I move.






My most recent yarn purchase. Some absolutely TO DIE FOR Noro Kochoran, in an irresistable colorway for me. From LambShoppe.


More recently purchased yarn. The cone of yarn is from WEBS, which I am planning on using for the Sunrise Circle Jacket from the last issue of Interweave Knits (designed by Kate Gilbert?). The other yarn... two beautiful skeins of Cherry Tree Hill, which I purchased from LambShoppe.









FO FO FO FO FO FO FO FO FO. sorry, I so rarely have one of these that I have to celebrate 10 times as much as the average knit blogger when I actually have one. The Noro Shrug, which I made out of K1C2 Paintbox (color 05). I love each and every one of the colors, and knit it up super quick. It took me 3 times as long to finish it (block) as it did to knit the thing.






Here are some AFOs. Almost Finished socks, which I made using Trekking XXL, color #108 (with which I am in luuurrrrv), size 2 DPN/magic loop.Both patterns are taken from Nancy Bush's Knitting on the Road (a book that Kim gave me.) I get bored easily, so I decided that from here on out, I'll use similar, but not the exact same, pattern for pairs of socks.












*no, it's not health insurance. Picture Intensive Post*