round-up time

[ mood meter chill ]
[ what i'm listenin' to miles davis (Album - Birth of The Cool) ]

i got an FO!

let's see. i finished Maya's mittens last night. then i cast on to make her a matching hat. TDS says she loves knitted hats, so that's exactly what she'll get! i'm going to make it like a stocking cap. maybe with a pom-pom or something on the end. i'm still working the ribbing, now but i'll do some more of it tonight.

cloverleaf sox

i started and frogged the cloverleaf sox about 4 times yesterday. i was home sick from work. (long story short, i was dealing with some "girl issues." y'all know the kind i'm talking about.) anyway, i started with the required 60 stitches but by the end of the first pattern repeat, i had less than what i started with. i dunno how the hell that happens but it did. tomorrow when NAM are hanging out, we plan to hit about 3 yarn shops in town so i'm gonna pick up some sock yarn. maybe that will help. i was using some baby weight yarn for those sox. i need to get started on the making waves sox too.

a new hobby

yeah. like i need one of those. but i want to start sewing. i don't really want to spend a bunch of money on a new sewing machine. i've been checking ebay, of course, but i recently got hip to freecycle. i signed up, and put out a message for a sewing machine. someone near newark said he had a bunch of sewing machines and would check to make sure there was one in working order. best part of this is that it's FREE. for real. go to the website and see for yourself. cheap is good, but free is, well, better.

about that cardigan...

i was happily swatching away for that accordion cardigan and stopped by the LYS that i got that yarn from to pick up some more and wouldn't ya know they don't have any more? i'm not surprised, really, but i was hoping they woud have some. when i go there tomorrow, i will take the pattern along with me and choose an appropriate yarn. wish me luck!

AAAARRRRRRRGGGHH

[ mood meter frustrated ]

i'm tired of fiddlin' with this knit tracker thing!  i've downloaded the images to my own server but i can't get the code right so that it points to the images.  it's giving me a headache so i'll sleep on it.  maybe something will "click" in my brain tonight.
 
OKC: i'm making nice progress on my 2nd mitten.  hope to finish in the next few days so i can work on that accordion cardigan, a pair of baby socks and whatever else i feel like working on.
 
meantime, it's hella late so i'm gonna go cut JWJ's hair then go to bed.
 
'night.

first mitten

 

isn't she lovely?

wednesday roundup

[ mood meter happy ]

one mitten, coming right up!
 
all that's left is to knit the thumb and mitten #1 is done!  methinks mitten #2 should go much quicker now that i have a pretty good idea of what to do.  i had NAM's daughter try it on for fit...and it was perfect.  my little cousin will love it!  i think i'll make her a hat out of the same yarn. 

(special thanks to knitlisters marina, catherine, judi, marie, sue, karin, dorothea, karen and judy for being so incredibly helpful!)
 
the stashbuster afghan is no more!
 
in other news,  i decided to abandon the stashbuster afghan.  i know, i  just started the thing.  but i honestly didn't want to knit an afghan.  at least not a plain ol' garter stitch one.  so...i raided my yarn stash, putting aside all the stuff i was sure i wouldn't use.  boxed it up and...gave it away to NAM.  i was tired of looking at it, and anyway, isn't gluttony a sin?  plus....i want to upgrade my stash a bit.  nice wool, cashmere, mohair.  not that there's anything wrong with the lovely acrylics i have!  oh, what's that you say?  i'm becoming a YARN SNOB?  well, maybe a little...but in a -good- way!
 
swatches...not just for telling time!
 
(surely i'm not the only one who remembers SWATCH watches...and had more than one!  my first one came with a mini swiss army knife...) 
 
anyway, i started a swatch for the accordion sweater.  my office gets so dang-on cold (i generally don't like air conditioning) that i decided to make a sweater to keep at work.  now, realistically, it could very well be winter before the thing is finished, but hey, sweaters are always good to have in winter!  i have about 1-1/2 skeins of a lovely yarn i'd like to use.  i'm hoping my LYS has more of it.  the problem with this LYS, though, is that it's more like a warehouse or something.  they don't have labels on the yarn.  everything is sold in bulk and you pay by the ounce.  so for acrylics and cottons, which is most of what they have, it can end up being a great deal. this is the same dark gray yarn that i used to make the cabled mini bag (pictures coming eventually). looks like it will make a lovely cozy sweater.
 
so while we're talking about swatches...how do you do yours?  my gauge for this sweater should be: 18 sts/ 28 rows=4" in stockinette.  i'm making my swatch probably about 5"x5" (maybe a little bigger) with a garter stitch border.  i figure this will help the swatch lie nice and flat when i measure (and plus it will look nice whenever i get around to assembling a nice knitting journal).  is this appropriate?  or should i just do 18 stitches and 28 rows and see if it measures to 4"? 

another FO

[ mood meter happy happy joy joy ]

stick a fork in it baby cuz the cabled mini bag is DONE!