Ripping back

Thursday I realized that the teal diamonds and Xs on my Ivy League Vest (ILV) were not showing, in fact they were looking muddled, so my stitch pattern had been off through that section. Unfortunately, I was about 2 inches past that point. So after a glass of wine, for courage, I ripped back. Then I found a renewed interest in the vest and have been furiously knitting it. While it is nice to be inspired, it isn't helping my mile in a month progress as the mile had to come from stash yarn not WIPs. I still have 3 days to make up that quarter mile so there's hope.

I've done 3" or so in two days on the ILV in the two nights since the ripping. There are about 8 rows in an inch. So 3 inches in two days is awesome considering I was struggling to get in two rows a week, let alone two rows a day.

I'm at the point where bust increases begin but I'm thinking I might want to lengthen the armhole to edge portion. We'll see, I need to measure a few of my favorite sweaters to get a sense if the 14.25" that the pattern dictates will be long enough to wear comfortably. I sometimes find my finished garments are shorter than I intended if I just follow the patterns.

Finally I wanted to add a little more to the "Poor Boyfriend, gets another cat" story. As you can see The Boyfriend and Linus are two peas in a pod. I think of this as my two favorite boys doing their favorite Saturday afternoon pastime.

She may just make it!

We're down to the home stretch...just past the half way mark at 900 yards with 860 yards to go to make my mile. There are exactly 10 days to go to the end of my month (Mile in January is really from January 5th to February 5th). I've been knitting feverishly but this whole work thing is really slowing me down. After reading Medicare and retirement plan documentation all day my brain is fried. Tooo fried even to knit. Imagine that.

I know, you'd never expect me to say that. But it's true. I was even a bit of a wallflower at knitting group, sitting there thinking knit knit repeat...knit knit repeat. Any more complicated thought was too much. I was able to squeeze in a few laughs.

Hopefully next week will be better and I can actually dig into some real work, roll up my sleeves and get some results.

Did you want to see some results? Well don't look to the Ivy League Vest for results. Nope, at 2 rows a day it's a chore that I'm working through. With as much as I complain about it, you'd think I would've ripped it out and moved on. But I can't bring myself to throw away the hours I've already put into it. So the logical thing to do is put a whole lot more into it. Plus I know it'll be beautiful when it's done. A challenge is good for us all once in a while.

Last weekend while visiting the folks, Lexie decided that my Baby Surprise Jacket made a nice bed. I hope the baby isn't allergic. Still she is the second best cat in the world, second only to my little Linus.






Who is not so little but like most mothers I refuse to see him any older than the kitten I brought home after The Boyfriend clearly said, "While I'm away at fishing camp, whatever you do, don't get another cat."


So half way through the week, at the top of a mountain, during a fishing break, he calls to check in, since he actually has some reception. And I, being ever so thoughtful and subtle, blurt out, "I got a cat, and his name is Linus. I met him and he had to come home with me, oh and I took one look at him and knew his name should be Linus." So not only did he now have two pedigree cats to scoop litter and feed, but he didn't get a say in the name. Poor Boyfriend. He's a good sport to put up with my and my crazy little Linus.

Making my way

I'm 465 yards down. A quarter of a mile down. Can I keep it up? Mostly that was working the Sirdar Silky Look stash yarn. I decided to attempt a BSJ with it.


Working on this Baby Surprise Jacket is a interesting. I say interesting because it was so exciting and fun at first. Knit every row, simple K2tog at the stitch markers, put in some stripes and it was a blast. Now I'm up to the crazy talk. I forgot, I hate the way she writes. Give me clear concise directions. It's like she wrote down half of what she was thinking. Very frustrating. But it seems I am not alone in this, and others have come before me to plot out stitch counts row by row. At least that'll give me some guidance and get me through the code of her pattern.

Be My Valentine Swap 2008

Are you mainly a crocheter and/or a knitter?
Knitter

Are you a spinner? Would you prefer roving or yarn in your package?
Not a spinner, I would prefer yarn

Do you prefer to crochet or knit with fine thread, lace-weight or thicker yarn?
Prefer thicker yarn

If someone were to send yarn, would you prefer several different skeins of yarn with a variation of colours and fibres or would you prefer all to be one and the same?
All the same.

Do you have any favourite projects? (As in, do you prefer to knit or crochet afghans, pot holders, sweaters, mittens or socks, or amigurumis? Or … what else?)
I knit a lot of bags for felting.

Would you consider your skills to be newbie, intermediate or advanced?
Advanced, I’ll do anything and it usually comes out pretty good.

Which are your favourite yarns? (fibres, brands, colorways)
Wool, Superwash wool, Cascade 220, Andean Silk, Harrisville Shetland.

What are your favourite colors?
red, lime green, purple, blue

How interested are you in patterns? Can you read any language besides English? Can you read diagrams even if the pattern is written in another language?
I enjoy patterning but need it written in English. I can read the chart only after working a few rows following the written directions.

Dyeing? Any particular item in this area you would find appealing?
I dont’ dye.

Are you in need of any particular knitting or crocheting supplies? Or do you crave something in particular, a hand made crochet hook or perhaps wooden needles? A special book or magazine?
I could use those things for the end of your needles that hold on the stitches.

Fiber Allergies? (We wouldn’t want to send wool yarn to someone allergic to wool)
No allergies.

Why is Valentine’s Day special to you?
It’s a holiday devoted to Red, I love red.

Is there any particular item or symbol that particularly says Valentine’s Day for you?
Hearts of course.

Do you use hair pins, scrunchies and hair bands? Earrings pierced or unpierced? Necklaces or bracelets? Brooches?
Earrings, head bands, bobby pins.

Do you like vintage stuff? Thrifting? Sometimes.

Do you do other crafts, like scrap booking, sewing, create jewelry … you name it.
Nope, just lots of knitting.

Are you a collector of something in particular (Santa figurines, frogs or cats made of china, napkins, sea shells, spoons … you name it).
Does yarn count?

Dark or milk chocolate? Or (god forbid) no chocolate at all?
Dark!!!! let there be dark chocolate for all.

Favorite candy?
Peanut M&Ms

Coffee? Beans or ground? Tea? Bags or loose? Any particular favourites?
Hazelnut ground coffee.

Favorite fragrance(s)?
Unsented please.

Allergies, food intolerances? (We wouldn’t want to send chocolate with nuts to someone who’s allergic to nuts.)
Allergic to dogs. So please don’t send any of those. :-)

Maybe it’s impertinent to ask but it could be interesting for your swap partner to know how old you are?
27.

Do you have kids and/or pets?
I have two Devon Rex cats and a husband, he counts as a pet too.

Is there anything else you would like to add that you think your swap partner needs to know about you?
Futurama is one of my favorite TV shows.

If your swap partner messes up and needs to send you a gift certificate – what on-line store would you like it for:
KnitPicks or Webs.

Turbulence U-Neck Pullover

A Mile in January

I've decided to try to work through a mile of yarn in the month of January. This might be difficult as it's already the 12th and I haven't started. I will only include stash yarn in that mile, nothing that's an active project. So I'm off and running a mile in January!

It's DONE!!!

Books, Needles and all that yarn have been cataloged!!!! 39.8 MILES!!! It's embarrassing but it's eye opening. I need to face up to it. And admit that I have a lot of yarn. 4 years ago I had none.
It's not like I'm buying and not knitting. I'm a prolific knitter. I knit everyday. I need to come up with some stash busting tactics to work through this. I can't cut off my purchasing, I'll go crazy. I need to make some sort of rules, 2 skeins used up before buying 1 new skein? I had been trying to only buy for projects I would cast on immediately, but clearly that wasn't working.
I also owned up to all of my UFOs. All thirteen of them. That’s not as bad as I thought.
For the record, it took me seventeen hours.

Back to it

7am:
breakfast...check
shower.......check
coffee..........check
camera.......check
yarn............check check check check check...
Less than 10 hours ago I was in this same room organizing yarn. I couldn't sleep in this morning. Too much to do. I'm back to it.

Ravelry Wins!!!

The long hours of cataloging my stash have begun. I read a blog this morning that said it took someone 2 days 6 hours to do it. I thought she was crazy, my stash couldn't be that big or take that long to figure out.

This all started when we took down the Christmas tree. The area near the TV looked so naked. So I went shopping. Steve set a decorating budget and I succeeded in purchasing some tasteful baskets that would allow me to display more yarn in the living room. I am a firm believer in out-of-site out-of-mind. So the more yarn I have out at home the less I will buy. Anyway, I returned from buying the baskets and started to look for some stash yarns that would match my living room. Then I thought, why not organize it, everyone else is.

And so 9 hours later, I've cataloged the novelties, acrylic blends, and most of the cotton. I'm sorry to say that I own far more wool than anything else. At this moment I have 12.7 MILES of non-wool yarns!!!!

So it goes

So much better out of the ribbing. I'm enjoying the pattern. I can do 3 or 4 rows in a sitting but then the brain gets tired. Need about 10 more inches to reach the armhole/Vneck by the 14th. Perhaps?