o v e r b r e w e d

Wow, apparently quitting my job lit a fire under me to get tons of things done, craft-wise.  I set up a temporary dye kitchen in the shop this weekend and happily played mad scientist while Chris did sawmill-ish things.  I finally got around to dyeing that Licorice twist yarn I bought ages ago…the handpainted reminds me of a great big striped Easter egg.  I’m not crazy about it, but I figure it will be suitable for mini-humans.  I also handpainted some superwash merino and the last of my Corriedale top.  I’m still in the midst of spinning both, but they refused to be left out of the picture.

Obviously, I was on a springy color kick.  The corriedale is being spun up as somewhat slubby exaggerated thick & thin single, the roving doesn’t really suit an even tightly spun plyed yarn.  The Merino is spinning up at around 8-12 WPI…i’m getting better!  I haven’t checked to see how much yardage I have on the thick & thin yet, but I have around 30 yards of the merino so far…i’ll probably end up with around 120-ish yards when i’m done spinning.

I also have some FOs; I finished the Calorimetry about an hour after my last post, and the Hufflepuff hat later that night.  No pictures yet though; I still need to block the hat and the Calorimetry would require me to put some makeup on and look generally presentable.

AND.  Be proud of me!  Even though i’ve been drooling over yarn almost non-stop, I haven’t ordered any.  I did, however, give in and order 2lbs of ecru merino from Paradise Fibers.  In my defense, I was paging through Spin to Knit trying to explain spinning wheels to Chris and I just happened to land on the pattern page for Forsythia.  Regardless of the fact that A.) I live in Texas and B.) It’s the middle of April and boil your blood weather is just around the corner, I decided I absolutely must. knit. now.  So in order to do that, I of course had to have some fiber to spin, and there you go.  At least I stopped myself before I added 10 tons of other stuff I really don’t need to my cart, right?

Nothing terribly interesting in this update, sorry to say.  I just took a bit of time to do some much needed spring cleaning around the blog; new layout, updated library and WIP list, and a link to the Charmed Knits KAL.  Hooray for having time to get this stuff taken care of!

I randomly got the urge to cast on for a new Calorimetry last night, since the last attempt was worn once then frogged.  The pattern is adorable, but sheesh…how about really checking patterns before publishing, hmm?  The new one is being knit up in some navy Wool-Ease leftover from the ghetto Ravenclaw scarf, and some leftover WotA in Maple Syrup.  I’m making massive modifications as I go along, there’s no way not to, honestly.  If I knit it up as written it would swallow my head and possible most of my upper torso as well, and that’s the last thing anybody wants to see.

Somebody please tell me to refrain from ordering any yarn, since i’ll be in Fort Worth in only 2 more weeks with plenty of access to lots and lots of lovely yarn shops and really, I will not die of yarn withdrawals until then.  I wish someone had told me that buying yarn was the crafty version of a crack addiction, I would have thought twice before learning to knit.

But the Malabrigo!  Calling my name!  Begging to be stashed!  Argh.

Unfortunately though, I didn’t quite have the guts to tell my former (as of 1pm today!) employers just where they could shove their job.  I am not, however, unemployed.  I am now officially (instead of the unofficial busywork I was doing before this last job from hell) the office manager here at the mill.  (And for those of you that remember the whole office manager saga from way back on my LJ, yes, my office is finally finished.)  (Sorry for all the parenthesis, I promise i’ll stop.)  (Maybe.)

So on top of actually being at home and doing a job I like, i’ll finally be able to get all my craftyness back on track and spend more time online/updating the blog.  Which is definitely a good thing, as that dishcloth is the absolute only thing i’ve managed to have the time to finish in the past god knows how long.  I love the dishcloth though, so quick and easy to knit, and I can finally use up all the damn kitchen cotton I have somehow aquired over the past year or so.   The pattern is from Mason-Dixon Knitting, which I finally caved in and bought this weekend.  I have no idea why I resisted it so long; it’s chock full of fun little projects and funny to boot.

Now, what’s next on my crafty agenda?  Who knows?  The only thing I know for sure is that some stash busting will be in order, along with getting my dye kitchen set up sometime in the next few months.  I’m absolutely dying to handpaint some yarn, and get some up on my as yet empty etsy shop.

This is just a very small sampling of my latest yarn splurges.  I couldn’t fit the whole basket in a  decent picture without dragging it outside.  AND, this is just the teeny basket that sits nexts to the couch.  I don’t even want to think about taking pictures of the real stash, it’s scary.  (That Nashua cotton?  To. Die. For.  It is so freaking soft, I want more more more so I can knit something big out of it.  And I lied about the parenthesis, obviously.)

So.  Yeah.  I’m back!

So, things have been ridiculously hectic, which has led to the whole no updates since January thing.  Urgh.

In order to keep this blog from stagnating any more than it already is, I present a list.  Aren’t you excited?

Things that Suck.

1.) Work, for many reasons that I won’t go into just in case. But one thing I can say is that 5am is the most unholy hour in the entire world.

2.) Being all excited about an antiques show, only to drive the hour and a half to get there and having it totally blow, and NOT finding a single sock machine.  Boo, Kiwanis, Boo.

3.) Camera batteries being dead, which means no pictures of new yarn.  Angst.

4.) Not having time to knit anymore.  I haven’t touched a project in weeks.
Things that do not Suck.

1.) Getting enough yarn from Good Yarn Karma  for a good size project.  If  you haven’t already checked this awesome project out, what are you waiting for?

2. My first STR order! Medium weight Scottish Highlands colorway, along with the Rock and Weave Pattern.  I can’t wait to get started with it, when I find the time.

3.) Having the hour and a half drive for the antique show not be a complete and total bust, because it was close-ish to my LYS, and therefore I now have new sportweight Lorna’s Laces in Glenwood.  Huzzah.

4.) Buying the softest blanket known to man.  I didn’t want to get out of bed this morning, it’s that soft and wonderful.

There are many more things I could add to both lists, but sadly I now have to go fix dinner, then finish washing clothes and getting ready for work tomorrow.  I am going to attempt to start budgeting my time a bit better soon (ha, ha) so I can spend a bit of time updating here and actually getting some knitting done.  We’ll see how that works out.

Well, maybe not. But when you add in the absolutely horrid weather we’ve been having, it’s definitely close. Saturday, my aunt had an appointment at the salon, and wanted me to go with her. No problem, I said…we can hit a few stores and drive over to Rose Path Weaving because I need some more roving. Well. I did buy some roving…5oz of the softest superwash merino ever, but of course I didn’t stop there. I also picked up a pound of Licorice Twist, which does fall under my KFYS rules, as its for dyeing. BUT. The 450 yards of Shepherd Worsted in Gold Hill, unfortunately, does not. Unless of course we truly believe that an hour and a half drive in rain so heavy you can’t see 5 feet in front of your car counts. Which I do, or at least i’m pretending I do, just so can justify my spending habits. I also picked up the Fiber Trends Felt Clogs pattern, because my feet are always cold, and even the thickest socks don’t really work on natural slate floors. I’ll most likely be using up some Wool of the Andes on these, mainly because if the pattern flops, I won’t be out any super nice yarn.

I’m actually somewhat back in a knitting funk right now…or maybe its just a general funk, I haven’t decided. I’ve done a little more work on the Spartan Pullover; I only have about 4 or 5 more rounds until the stranded work is done and I can start the miles and miles of plain stockinette. I started working on a slightly oversized, deep-v, short sleeved, cabled thing, got halfway through the first cable repeat and decided it sucked, ripped back to the beginning of the body work, and now it’s just plain old boring stockinette. I might put some cables in on the neck trim, who knows. I also have a couple of socks otn right now, Jaywalkers and one of the ribbed patterns from Vintage Socks. Hopefully I can get over this funk and finish sometime in the next century.

And finally, I dyed more roving last week so I could play with the techniques in the Twisted Sisters Sock Workbook. I used Kool Aid once again, as I still haven’t gotten around to buying any acid dyes. I walked into the bathroom to check the drying progress, and found this:

He said he couldn’t help himself, because it smelled like cotton candy. And people wonder why i’m crazy. Now you know: it’s because I live with a wool sniffing man, purse stealing cats, and a dog that thinks he’s a gay cat.

First up, my own personalised Knit From Your Stash exceptions:

1.) Sock yarn.

2.) Yarn for patterns I have already purchased…namely Rogue, Simple Knitted Bodice, and Sahara.

3.)  Major “you’d be an idiot to pass this up” sales.

4.) Yarn stores I may encounter while travelling.

5.) Yarn for gifts.

6.) Yarn for dyeing.  I can’t help myself.

7.) Yarn to finish projects.

8.) As stated in the original rules, spinning stuff does not count.

My  main reason for doing KFYS is simply so I will get off my ass and get WIPs finished.   I’m pretty much not allowing myself ANY yarn until I get a few done…at least the Spartan pullover, Tubey, and Jaywalkers.  I know how bad I am about starting projects and then letting them fester for ages in a corner, completely ignored, and I need to stop that.

Next up, New Years Resolutions:

1.) Spend time on design work.  I have millions of ideas floating around in  my brain, and I need to get them on paper.  It’s way past time for the “coming soon!” on my free patterns page  to go far, far away.

2.)  Devote a little time to other crafts.  I pitched a fit to get my sewing machine back, and now the poor thing is never used.

3.) Crochet something.  I’ve finally got the basics down, now it’s time to actually do something.

4.) Comment more on other blogs.  I’m horrid about this.  People that know me from Live Journal can attest to this fact.  I need to get over my fear of saying something utterly useless, because otherwise i’m going to keep drifting along, completely invisible.

And finally, a little teaser for what I started working on last night:

A lacey scarf-thing in KnitPicks Shimmer, Maple Leaf colourway, US7 needles.  No real pattern…just using the Madeira Cascade lace from Vogue Dictionary of Stitches (My local library seriously needs to update their knitting books); two repeats across of the lace pattern, and I have no idea how long it’s going to be; that will depend entirely on how long this one  ball of yarn lasts.  The actual knitting is slow right now…this is my first time with lace, and Chris kept interrupting my counts last night.  I love this yarn though…it may be cheap, but it has a nice soft feel, and the colours are gorgeous.

I told myself I wasn’t going to post about Christmas presents, but I find that I absolutely cannot help myself.  You see, i’ve been way behind on techno-gadget trends for quite some time, but I am finally the proud owner of a lovely little mp3 player.  Now I won’t have to talk to myself on my nightly walk/jogs!  It’s a Sanso something or other, can’t remember the model name, but that’s not overly important anyway.  2gb, so not that big storage-wise, but more than enough for my needs…and if I ever decide I need more space, I can just buy a micro flash drive.  Apart from that, my favorite presents are probably the huuuuge waffle iron, a Franco Sarto tote that is absolutely adorable and big enough to hold knitting, a nice selection of Stash tea, and an adorable strawberry patterned china tea set.  Of course, there wasn’t anything I wasn’t happy with…Chris and I pretty much have each others taste down pat.  (Also…it wasn’t a salt grinder, but a pepper grinder, which is still hilarious because I bought him one as well.  Heh.)  And, I can’t forget the copies of The Twisted Sisters Sock Workbook and KnitFix that are currently on their way to me courtesy of the much appreciated Amazon gift card from my bestest friend Amber.

Christmas dinner was great…we didn’t want to do a traditional meal, as there were only four of us here and we never manage to eat leftovers.  We decided on French onion soup, Tournedos with Marchand de Vin, Hollandaise, and artichoke hearts, roasted fingerling potatoes, and roasted brussels sprouts.  To keep dessert simple and eliminate tons of tempting leftover sweets, I just made profiteroles filled with pumpkin custard and a bourbon caramel sauce.  Everything was amazing…it’s nice to be able to stretch our culinary legs for people that actually enjoy it.

Unfortunately, I completely forgot to take pictures of the scarf and booties…i’ll have to call my aunt and get her to take a couple and send them over.  They were, however, very well received and appreciated.  It was a good feeling. : )

We haven’t done anything today…just planning to sit around and relax for the first time in ages.  I made waffles for brunch, and Chris fixed a pot of Jamaican Blue.  Seriously, that coffee is definitely worth is ridiculous price.  Smooth and dark, absolutely no bitterness.  Heaven!  Now, Chris is playing one of the video games I bought him, and i’m going to organise my stash then piddle around with Sims 2: Pets…and I might spin a bit later as well.  But before that, since I was tagged by Kay, a meme.  Not tagging anyone else though…I don’t know enough of you out in blog land quite yet.

THE RULES: Each player of this game starts with the ‘6 weird things about you.’ People who get tagged need to write a blog of their own 6 weird things as well as state this rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave a comment that says ‘you are tagged’ in their comments and tell them to read your blog.

1.) Cleaning gives me hives.  And its not an allergy to dust/cleaning products.

2.) I collect action figures…mostly LotR related.

3.) I absolutely love digging, and I always have.  I think it’s my inner history/archaeology nerd coming out.  I can spend hours sifting through river rock, playing with my metal detector, and digging in random spots, just looking for anything neat.  (And neat to me is little things like petrified wood and rusty nails/staples/etc.  I’m easily pleased.)
4.)  I can’t watch scary movies, but love to read about anything supernatural, especially true stories/legends.

5.) The Phil Collins song In The Air Tonight scares the shit out of me.  I literally have to cover my ears and hum loudly anytime it comes on tv or the radio.

6.) When I was little, my imaginary friends were a family of newts…they had a house under my back porch, and basically lived like humans.  My oddness started at a very early age apparently.

That’s all from me for now…hope all of you had a wonderful holiday!

A longer and more comprehensive post will have to wait until next week…for now, a short list.

1.) I ended up cutting down my Christmas knitting to the absolute bare essentials…the Ravenclaw scarf, and a pair of cabled booties from One Skein. My grandparents and one aunt don’t celebrate any holidays period, so I didn’t see any point in pushing myself to get their stuff done. And since our weather is once again way too warm, the Spartan Pullover for Chris has been put on the backburner as well. Pictures of the scarf and booties will be waiting until next week as well, I want action shots! That, and they’re already wrapped.

2.) I just finished putting together a batch of Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Treats, and am now taking a much needed breather. The rest of the weekend is going to be even more hectic…lots of cleaning, baking, and last minute craftyness in the form of tiny pinata thingies to fill with candy and hang on the tree. I just have to remember now to make sure and hang them high enough on the tree so that Wrigley doesn’t catch a whiff of chocolate and decide to knock the tree over again. It’s amazing how much damage a 20lb dachsund can do when he sets his mind to it.

3.) I, erm, just mailed out Christmas cards today. Whoops?

4.) Chris managed to buy me the exact same thing that I bought him as a stocking stuffer. I only know this because I was moving presents out of the way so I could put more water in the tree stand, and Chris is a horrid present wrapper and just wrapped it without putting it in a box first. Oh well, one can never have too many salt grinders, right?

5.) I am ridiculously gleeful about the final Harry Potter title. I know, I know…my mega-geek is showing, but whatever. I’ll probably be completely off target once again with my predictions, but Deathly Hallows just screams Founders relics turned horcruxes in an almost perfect mirror of the Grail Hallows. I’ve been saying for years that the series matches up quite well with Arthurian legend, and oh, how I hope i’m right. Now i’m just crossing my fingers that the broken prophesies from OotP mean a release on the Summer Solstice of ‘08, but even if they don’t they still fit nicely with the release of the title.

So yeah. Next post will include pictures and resolutions…including my personalised Knit From Your Stash rules. Until then, Merry Christmas everyone! Hope you have a great holiday.