Homespun Yarn Party

Despite my protests that I would NOT buy any more yarn, I tripped and broke my wallet.




But really, can you blame me? It's Spirit Trail Atropos, 100% Bombyx Silk Lace Weight.

It is simply yummy.

And I had a wonderful time at the Homespun Yarn Party. I got to hang out with some of my favorite people. And I made some new friends. I almost finished the heel flap on my Firestarter sock.







a very good day!

Hell Week

Things are slowly getting back to normal around here. Last week was HORRIBLE, and I am so glad it's over. My mom was in the hospital for a few days (she's fine) and then I got struck by a nasty nasty stomach virus. I thought maybe I had food poisoning, but now my housemate has the exact same symptoms, so I think it's safe to say it wasn't something I ate.

Sadly, I was too sick to do anything more than lie in bed and whine a lot. So I didn't even get to take advantage of the time off from work to do any knitting. I've still got some serious knitting ADD going on, and there are so many things I want to be working on!

The Faux Russian Stole is currently in time out. I'm mad at it. I ripped back to fix the mistake I had found last week. It took forever to rip back. Well, I successfully fixed the mistake, and created an even bigger one. I completely screwed up the border. Fortunately, I caught it pretty early on, but it too will require ripping back. I just don't have the patience right now.

I cast on for socks. I really needed some mindless knitting to have as a side project to my 14,ooo other projects. This pattern isn't nearly as mindless as I really wanted it to be, but I think it is really pretty.




The pattern is Firestarter, which is a free download on Ravelry. The yarn is Tess, which is a favorite of mine. I absolutely love the detail on the gussets. I just turned the heel, but I think I'm going to rip it out (for the second time) and try a different heel - it just doesn't look clean to me.

Speaking of Ravelry... I've been wondering, do you think that Ravelry has taken the place of blogging? It used to take me forever to wade through all the feeds on my Bloglines. Now it seems like hardly anyone is posting anymore. Has the blogging fad just waned, or is Ravelry the new knit blog?

I do have an FO to show. I finished my crocheted mesh bag.


I ran out of the lighter green yarn and the store didn't have anymore in that color, so I went for the dark green instead. I think it works. I keep forgetting to take this out to my car. I want to use it for groceries.

I have more I could blather on about, but this post feels long and babbling, so I'm going to head off to bed!

Happy Wednesday all!

Crap, crap, crap...

I thought maybe I had made a mistake. Now, I'm pretty sure I made a mistake.

I just took a picture of my current progress on my Faux Russian Stole so I could post it here and blog about it. And in the picture, I saw my glaring error. Somehow, it's much easier for me to spot my mistakes in a photo then it is in real life.



It is probably one of those things that you wouldn't notice if I didn't point it out. But of course - it is going to make me crazy and I have to rip back and fix it.

I think I knit a row twice.

GRRRRRRRRRR.

Ripping back lace is seriously no fun. I know, I know - I shoulda used a life line, but I didn't!

The hardest part for me is trying to figure out what row I am ripping back to and then getting back on track with the charts. UGH.

In other project news, I started a new something that is going to be super cute:



I know it looks like a big brown blob right now, but trust me - it's going to be cute! I'm not saying what it is yet. I think Katie probably can guess. It's her fault entirely that I needed to make this the second I saw it!

I don't know if I will be able to get this finished this week, but I'm going to try. I don't have too much more knitting to do on it, but I don't have a lot of knitting time this week. I have to go into tech at our Baltimore theatre. I sooo don't want to. I would much rather stay where I am, thank you! But they don't have anyone to open on lights, so lucky me - I get to go.

In addition to the above projects, I just picked up a project that had been languishing in the WIP bag for a while. After I saw this today on Stacey's Blog, I suddenly remembered that I had started and never finished this:



It's a Provence Crocheted Market Bag from Classic Elite.(free pattern!) Every time I go to the grocery store, I am very conscious of how many freaking plastic bags I bring home. So, I've wanted to make myself a market bag for a while. I saw this pattern and thought it would be quick and perfect for what I wanted. Yes people, it's crochet - but I really like it.

I'm having some issues with joining the rounds, but I think I figured it out. My earlier joins are not so pretty, but I'm not as OCD about that as I am with my knitting. There will be no ripping! Besides, I'm making this for function, not form. The pattern repeat on this is super simple, so I'm hoping I can finish this while I'm in tech this week.

I think I am going to go work on it right now! I'm just not ready to face the lace ripping!

How I spent my Saturday

eek.

Have you ever completely freaked yourself out mentally for no reason? It is well past midnight and I just walked my dog. Because I frequently get home really late from the theatre, walking the dog after midnight is a common occurrence. I have never felt nervous or uncomfortable walking her at this hour. My neighborhood is relatively safe.

But for some reason, I was really freaked out tonight. I felt like someone or something was going to jump out of the dark at me! So strange!

And of course, if someone did attack me - The Poodle would be absolutely no help. If she actually noticed that I was being attacked (she is very deaf and partially blind), the best she could do to protect me would be to gum my attacker. Dog with no teeth. Yeah, not so scary!

But anyways... on to the knitting!

I ripped back the Faux Russian Stole and tried again:


Much better!


I really wish I had more time to work on this. I love knitting it. I used to be able to knit during my shows at night, but with our current show - it is impossible. I'm just too busy.

I did find out via Ravelry (seriously, how did we ever live without Ravelry??) that there is some errata to this pattern. I already looked it up - now I just have to remember to implement the corrections!

The other day, I got my February "Skein of the Month" package from Webs.



The skein is Fiesta Swoon. It's so pretty. It's a merino/silk blend. The color in the picture isn't very true. It's more pinky, fuchsia like. I was kind of amused that most of the people who have stashed it on Ravelry got it from the Skein of the Month club giveaway. I was looking for patterns to knit with this yarn, but only one person has posted anything on Ravelry with a project.

The package also included a pattern for Waterfall Scarf. I'm not really crazy about the pattern and will most likely never make it. So, if anyone wants this pattern - speak up and I will happily send it to you! The pattern originally appeared in the book 101 Designer One-Skein Wonders.

I love the yarn, but I particularly like the extra item sent in the package.

Cutie sheep magnets!

They are currently attached to my bedside lamp shade, as this is the only metal thing in my room that will allow for magnets!

Well, happy March everyone. I'm going to go change my calendars and go to bed!