long time no blog

So I finished my modified Natalya's and started a matching headband. No photos, been busy and out of town for a wedding.

I've not gotten any knitting done in threeish days, nor have I finished the bath bombs yet. Should do those tonight, need to get them mailed out ASAP. Don't know that I feel like doing them, though. Migraines suck. Sinus pain sucks. And I have both right now.

Will hopefully have photos of FOs soon. Or progress reports.

But for now... nothing.

ETA: I am used to livejournal posts and comments, where it's easy to figure out how to reply to a comment someone left. Here? Clueless. Do I comment on my post? Do I comment on the commenter's blog? Do I just ignore it out of stupidity? Yeah, the last one's not working out so hot.

So... I truly appreciate every comment people have left me. I just am at a loss as to how to appropriately respond. So don't think I am ignoring the comments I have received. Oh wait. Yes I am. But not purposely.

all work and no play makes dee a smelly girl

No knitting at all the last two days/nights. Been busy sewing (Sage's pumpkin costume is done! And I am nearing completion on a corset as well), and bath bombing. Lots and lots of bath bombs (scroll down past the soaps). Um... so far more than 50 in the last two nights, and still a few more batches to go before I can call this round complete.

Bath bombs, while they may smell lovely, and in turn make you smell lovely, taste like shit. Well, ok, maybe not shit, I really don't know precisely, but they taste chalky and acrid and powdery and pungent all rolled into one. *blech*

Last night it smelled like the spice cabinet threw up in here... Pumpkin Spice bombs and Clove bombs make for wonderful fall scents, but neither likes my sinuses. Tonight... MeadowSweet (which I love) and Sweet Dreams (which I like, though the Roman Chamomile always gets to me). Tomorrow... more Pumpkin Spice as well as Lavender and Tangerine Grapefruit. Oh god won't that be a lovely smelling combination.

And once all the bombs are made, I will hopefully embark on soap making since I am woefully behind with it. And I really would like to get some holiday soaps done this year, so I need to do them soon so they can fully cure.

Ugh. It's late. I need sleep. And to get the taste of bath bombs out of my mouth. *gag*

voodoo pumpkin?

I keep forgetting to post photos of Sage's newest FO's.



Sage in her plum voodoo wristwarmers.




(as always all photos are clickable to larger versions)

Sage and her pumpkin hat. Hand-dyed Andean Silk (used Wilton icing colors, Pooh gold and a touch of red plus a second dye bath of Orange Kool-Aid) and part of the remaining bit of the Kreamer Yarn Greenstone Summit Hill for the stem. She loves the hat but it makes her itchy. She'll be wearing it with her not-yet-made pumpkin costume for Halloween. Need to remedy that not-yet-made status very soon.

mmmmmmm... cables

Yesterday I decided I needed different fingerless gloves/wristwarmers (maybe partly because one of my Voodoo's has gone missing, after finding the second lying in the street in a pile of leaves), but I decided I needed to make myself a pair of Natalya gauntlets. I'd gotten the yarn I planned to use for them back in January, and it was begging to come out and play.

Because I plan to wear these a fair amount this winter with long sleeves and coats, I didn't want them too long (and because I have large forearms, I didn't want to futz with the pattern), so I made them a lot shorter than the pattern - maybe 3" above my wrist. I cast on the first one yesterday afternoon, got the first 5 cable repeats done yesterday and it is now done, after having worked all day on it. I love that these are such a quick, easy knit. I opted to forego the fingers as it's a worsted weight yarn and I didn't want that much bulk between my fingers. Which means - I still need actual half-finger gloves. Knucks? Maybe, depending on my opinion of them after making Chris's pair. Or maybe I'll find a different pattern I like better.

I still don't know what I am doing about the Shedir. I tried picking up stitches where I want the bottom edge to start, and then tried again and again and again and again and then gave up. Picking up stitches upside down in a cable pattern sucks. So maybe it'll end up being Harley's instead and I'll make something else (Fetching and a matching hat?) for my sister.

The 3 repeats of my first Jaywalker got frogged. Not a fan of Wildfoote so far. Might try Widdershins in it eventually, but I want to find different yarn for the Jaywalkers.

And Rogue hasn't been touched since the other night when I started it. Should remedy that, I'd like to wear it sometime this winter.

Shedir is done!

So I finished Shedir earlier today.





Specs:

yarn - Kraemer Yarn Summit Hill, greenstone
needles - US 5 Boye circular (from my hated interchangeable set), US 5 Clover bamboo for the top

modifications - other than the yarn and needle size, a lot... skipped three of the founds of ribbing on the bottom, skipped a full cable repeat, and at the top where there are two rows of pattern repeats between the decrease rounds I skipped the second straight pattern repeat round on each section.

I have a bit of a problem related to it in that it came out way too long, though, so I posted about it on livejournal, and am hoping my idea for a fix will work. Because as much as I love this pattern and how it turned out, I really don't want to knit it again anytime soon.

(x-posted in the Fall Cable KAL)

Plum voodoo!

No photos yet (it's hard to keep clothes on a 3.5 year-old potty-training girl), but Sage's plum voodoos are done! Finished them last night, needles are free and awaiting a few more decrease rounds of Shedir. I do have an update photo of it, but it is from before last night's additional Shedir knitting, so it's already about 5 rounds outdated.

And because I just haven't been working on small enough needles yet, I cast on a Jaywalker earlier. I've only completed the first 3 rounds of ribbing, and so far am finding the yarn I am using (Brown Sheep's Wildfoot in Licorice Stick) to be on the not-so-soft side. Glad I haven't yet bought more of this yarn, though I was tempted... I'll wait and make an official decision on it once I've finished these socks.

Photos of progress of Shedir and Jaywalker tomorrow. Or maybe Shedir will be a FO tomorrow. Unlikely, there's still quite a bit to do, even though the rows are going faster since they are getting smaller. But I can hope, right?

Yet more Shedir progress

Quick pre-bedtime post... Shedir has seen immense progress tonight, and the first decrease row is done. I have just realized that I can't go much further until I finish Sage's last Voodoo (which also saw a few rows of work tonight), since I am doing Shedir on a size 5 circular, soon to stitch to DPNs, and the Voodoo is on my size 5 DPNs. Whoops.

Thankfully Voodoo is a mindless knit and I shall work on it (and possibly maybe even finish it) tomorrow afternoon while watching Scooby Doo or Spongebob or the Heffalump movie.

Shedir progress photo to come tomorrow weather and migraine permitting.

photos and patterns

All photos are clickable links to the patterns.

Dishcloths have been sucking the fun out of knitting for me and I am taking a break until I finish Shedir and Sage's second Voodoo. Shedir is currently halfway done, Voodoo... the second one is halfway done. When these are finished I will be starting on Rogue and/or Jaywalkers (of which I am seriously debating the toe-up version). The local SnB is doing a Jaywalker KAL of sorts, so I should start them soon. But not until I get at least one of the two aforementioned WIPs done.

Yet another photo-less update...

I've become stagnant with my knitting. Shedir hasn't been touched in a week, I forced myself to do about an inch of the second Voodoo last night, but then I immediately returned to dishcloths. I have um... 18 completed. Since September 15. I've posted 16 in the KAL so far, haven't photographed the most recent two yet. Those, plus the third most recent, plus the next to be made, are all of my design, and will have patterns written out for them soon. Halloweenie dishcloths rock.

I finally got to grope the Paton's SWS earlier... lovely stuff, damn do I wih it came in solids (yes, I know it stands for Soy Wool Stripes, but it really could just as easily stand for Soy Wool Solids or Soy Wool Scrum-diddly-umptious too ;) ). I resisted ('twas hard, especially with it being on sale), since I already have developed a rather large stash of doom. And too many of my stash yarns have yet to find a purpose. Need to remedy that soon. I think I'll do a destashing binge by way of no more yarn buying soon. Like... after I buy another pound or three of cotton. ;)

I still haven't even found room in my stash keeper (aka 5 drawer plastic storage doo-hickey) for the yarn from the other night. And last night I went and bought fiber and yarn from Paradise Fibers... one pound of their house merino in ecru, and one skein of Brown Sheep's Cotton Fleece in Gray Dawn... that puts me one skein closer to having everything for Sage's sweater (still need Cotton Fleece in Cotton Ball and I'm hopefully set for yarn then). Need to find a LYS that carries it, or maybe I'll just bid on that 6 skein lot on ebay for dirt cheap. Because I am sure I could find a use for the other 5 skeins of it. Eventually. Egad. I couldn't stop myself. I just bid on it. So much for just watching it for a day or three. I am so very weak.

Next post... there will be FOs dammit.

Non-photographic yarn porn

So earlier tonight I went on a bit of a field trip of sorts with the local SnB (that I've yet to join for Thursday night knitting at B&N). The destination... a recently closed yarn shop. My scores:

3 skeins of Lorna's Laces Bullfrogs and Butterflies in Black Purl (by far my favorite colorway of theirs). This is my first ever Lorna's Laces yarn, but it won't be the last.

2 skeins of Green Mountain Spinnery Mountain Mohair in Moss. Amazingly, I managed to pass up all of the black skeins. It wasn't easy.

1 pound of Peace Fleece wool batting. Soft, fluffy, squishy. Might try spinning it. Might stuff critters with it. Might throw it all over the bed and roll in it.

I left there having spent just under $40.00, which was the maximum I could spend. I wish I would have had a larger budget, but at the same time, my stash is already overflowing and none of these new items have intended projects yet, so I couldn't have justified more yarn if I tried.

But oh was it fun seeing petting groping all of that lovely yarn.