~ [Shadkitty Knitty] ~

Sep 27, 2007

Up To?

Sorry. I'm here. I've been knitting. Babies are all sickies. And I am sooo tired because I have to be up with them when they wake up in the middle of the night crying.

This is a short post with lots of pics cuz my head hurts.

FO: Moss Stitch Beret

FO: Twin Booties

Spun:
This is Serendipity Fibers in Beaten. I donated it to the PRGE for pal prizes and stuffs. Navajo-plied, I got two skeins at about 110 yds each, with approximately 10wpi. Being handspun though, it's not perfect. And the second skein is a bit finer in places than the first. Actually, I was pretty proud of it, and almost tempted to keep it for myself. It should stripe pretty nicely, maybe make a cute felted bowl, or some gauntlets.

Day in the life of a bored girl with knitting needles and make-up:

Labels: booties, finished object, hat, pictures, PRGE, slouchy hat, spinning, updating, yarn

15:24 | |

Sep 24, 2007

Dear PRGE Pal

I can't stop seeing things online that I would just LOVE to have. They are beautiful knitting (and non-knitting) related things. I'm also going to bookmark this and email it to my friends and family for Christmas. But just to give you an (even better) idea of what I like. Here is my current list of loves:

Weeones (penguins or cats)
Penguins! (I haven't yet decided if I want a knitting one or a Cheshire Cat one. I'm insane.
Loop Fiber
STR Calico
STR Mystic Kelp
STR Backstabber
Claudia Hand Painted Turquoise Jeans I'd prefer the silk lace but the sock yarn might be more practical
Fratello (warning! Ravelry link!) Available by contacting Yarnissima
GeeYouKnit (I miss Appliance. Elizabeth, make some more of that!)
Tree Jacket

Um, I think that is all for now. But I am probably going to update this from time to time, seeing as how I will be emailing it out later. Thanks for listening!

♥ Shadkitty

Labels: wishlist

11:12 | |

Sep 21, 2007

What's a Girl To Do?

When everything is hectic, and your life feels like it is falling apart....it's time for retail and craft therapy! Yes, even though my finances are ridiculous (oh, we're not even going there), I have been indulging a bit.

Actually, before I really knew how bad the situation was, I purchased some Cascade Magnum from a fellow Raveler (who seems to have no blog but is cool nonetheless). My eyes were on the Skating Sweater from Big City Knits, and she had exactly the number of skeins I would need in exactly the color I love. It was meant to be. That, and she was offering it for an incredible price. Trust me, I priced many alternatives from different sources and this was the best one. Especially considering it is marked as $26 on the tag! But I won't tell you what I ~~stole~~ bought it for. Don't you love how honkin huge this thing is?! When I got it I was pleased and amused. Those are some serious skeins...no wonder they call it Magnum. :D

The catalyst to my discovery that we are broke was a birthday present. A friend of mine's twins will be one tomorrow. She invited me to the birthday pary, and I had no gift. Any good crafty chick will immediately consider what she can make! Of course

some Converse booties would be great. But that is just not enough. (Even though my mom said I didn't have to give them anything, heck they didn't even come to Nolan's birthday.) So off I went to Michael's, we had enough money in the account to spare 5-10 bucks. Or so I thought. Turns out we didn't. Still, I had money in my personal account and purchased the neccessities, including another skein of Bernat Alpaca to finish a hat that I started. Yes, that's right, I'm procrastinating. Big surprise. Looks like you won't see Goddess until October. Right about the time when it gets too cold to wear something without sleeves. Where was I? Right, presents. So, I picked up some fabric paint, these rockin (literally) stencils, and dug around in the boys' closet. I found some old onesies that looked clean (or never worn, that seems to happen) and set to work. Really, it was only about $5, probably less because I already had some fabric paints from the time I painted my jeans. What do you all think?

It was horribly overcast all day yesterday. Sorry about the pictures. The blue is actually more of a teal. I want to make one for Nolan too, but with a different stencil (it was a 4-pack). But what cool thing can I put on there for his name? His nickname is Bird...and I think Mr. Shad might kill me if I put that on there. lol But what about Bird of Prey or something? That might be cool? Geez, how is a girl supposed to double check her craftiness without a husband there to tell her that it's a bad idea?

Whatever. Look at my dinner. Yum it was so good. My mom is coming to visit for the weekend. So I can have a bit of a break. I am really looking forward to it.

Labels: birthdays, blah, booties, food, painting, presents, purchases, yarn

08:13 | |

Sep 18, 2007

Dawdle

So, Mr. Shad ended up not leaving until yesterday morning. First the boat broke, then his plane. It was nice to spend all day Saturday with him. Especially since Friday night was kind of rotten. I will admit, I'm scared. Not just because he is going to be in a warzone, but also because I have no control over this situation and we have never been apart for more than a month or two. You guys will all be part of my support network. There are people here for me to rely on, but I have found the knit-blogging community to be FABULOUS at providing comfort and cheer in bleak times.

There will be a list of things to look forward to. But I am going to put that on my LiveJournal (link later), so that I can update it and look at it whenever I want without overloading all of your bloglines. The most important ones are a visit from Lesley! And SAFF! Both in October, and I am so excited! Lesley and I have been blog buddies forever. I ought to make a list of blog folks I wanna meet. :)

The Mad Amazonas Weave sock is done, and I am feeling a case of SSS. Maybe because I kitchenered it on Saturday in the midst of all of that stuff with Mr. Shad, so I never CO for the second one. Which I normally do right away. Also, the heel flap and cuff are a bit short for my liking, making the whole sock overall a bit short I think. It should fit better after a bit of blocking, as that always seems to relax the yarn a bit.

On Sunday, I needed a quick soothing knit, something to just get done. Somehow the

feeling of all of the anxiety with Mr. Shad's departure and all of my lingering UFOs was making me feel despondent. A chunky, quick knit was needed to soothe my soul. So, I snagged my Twinkle book, the Thick & Quick from Mom's knitting experiment, and my largest DPNs. The Flying Gloves would work beautifully. There were a few problems though. The needles I had (Size 15US) were too small! I swatched and knit a sample glove following the pattern (which was knit flat). Since it was such a fast knit (about 45 mins), I frogged the glove and started again in the round. I would provide my info, but am worried about infringing on copyrights, because really it's not that hard and if I told you I'd basically have to give you the whole pattern. The whole glove is only a total of about...14 rounds I think. The ones from the book around 12.

Also, Nolan discovered socks today. I think he likes them as much as I do. Although I don't think he really understands them. ;)

Here Elem, this will make you feel better:

SUPPOSEDLY if you've seen over 85 films, you have no life. Mark the ones you've seen. There are 239 films on this list. Copy this list, go to your own blog, paste this as a note. Then, put x's next to the films you've seen, add them up.Have fun!

(x) Rocky Horror Picture Show
(x) Grease
(x) Pirates of the Caribbean
(x) Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest
(x) Boondock Saints
(x) Fight Club
(x) Starsky and Hutch
(x) Neverending Story
(x) Blazing Saddles
( ) Airplane
Total: 9

(x) The Princess Bride
( ) AnchorMan
(x) Napoleon Dynamite
(x) Labyrinth
(x) Saw
( ) Saw II
(x) White Noise
( ) White Oleander
(x) Anger Management
(x) 50 First Dates
(x) The Princess Diaries
(x) The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement
Total so far: 18

(x) Scream
(x) Scream 2
(x) Scream 3
(x) Scary Movie
(x) Scary Movie 2
(x) Scary Movie 3
( ) Scary Movie 4
(x) American Pie
(x) American Pie 2
(x) American Wedding
(x) American Pie Band Camp
Total so far: 28

(x) Harry Potter 1
(x) Harry Potter 2
(x) Harry Potter 3
(x) Harry Potter 4
( ) Resident Evil 1
( ) Resident Evil 2
(x) The Wedding Singer
(x) Little Black Book
(x) The Village
(x) Lilo & Stitch
Total so far: 36

(x) Finding Nemo
(x) Finding Neverland
(x) Signs
(x) The Grinch
( ) Texas Chainsaw Massacre
( ) Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning
( ) White Chicks
(x) Butterfly Effect
(x) 13 Going on 30
(x) I, Robot
(x) Robots
Total so far: 44

(x) Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
( ) Universal Soldier
(x) Lemony Snicket: A Series Of Unfortunate Events
(x) Along Came Polly
(x) Deep Impact
( ) KingPin
(x) Never Been Kissed
(x) Meet The Parents
(x) Meet the Fockers
(x) Eight Crazy Nights
(x) Joe Dirt
( ) KING KONG
Total so far: 53

(x) A Cinderella Story
(x) The Terminal
( ) The Lizzie McGuire Movie
( ) Passport to Paris
(x) Dumb & Dumber
(x) Dumber & Dumberer
(x) Final Destination
( ) Final Destination 2
( ) Final Destination 3
(x) Halloween
( ) The Ring
( ) The Ring 2
( ) Surviving X-MAS
(x) Flubber
Total so far: 60

(x) Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle
(x) Practical Magic
(x) Chicago
( ) Ghost Ship
(x) From Hell
(x) Hellboy
(x)Secret Window
(x) I Am Sam
(x) The Whole Nine Yards
(x) The Whole Ten Yards
Total so far: 69

(x) The Day After Tomorrow
( ) Child's Play
( ) Seed of Chucky
( ) Bride of Chucky
(x) Ten Things I Hate About You
(x) Just Married
(x) Gothika
(x) Nightmare on Elm Street
(x) Sixteen Candles
(x) Remember the Titans
( ) Coach Carter
(x) The Grudge
( ) The Grudge 2
(x) The Mask
( ) Son Of The Mask
Total so far: 78

(x) Bad Boys
(x) Bad Boys 2
( ) Joy Ride
(x) Lucky Number Sleven
(x) Ocean's Eleven
(x) Ocean's Twelve
(x) Bourne Identity
(x) Bourne Supremecy
( ) Lone Star
(x) Bedazzled
(x) Predator I
( ) Predator II
( ) The Fog
(x) Ice Age
(x) Ice Age 2: The Meltdown
(x) Curious George
Total so far: 90

(x) Independence Day
( ) Cujo
(x) A Bronx Tale
(x) Darkness Falls
(x) Christine
(x) ET
(x) Children of the Corn
( ) My Bosses Daughter
(x) Maid in Manhattan
(x) War of the Worlds (the original and not the crappy remake with Tom Cruise)
(x) Rush Hour
( ) Rush Hour 2
Total so far: 99

( ) Best Bet
(x) How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
(x) She's All That
(x) Calendar Girls
(x) Sideways
(x) Mars Attacks
( ) Event Horizon
(x) Ever After
(x) Wizard of Oz
(x) Forrest Gump
( ) Big Trouble in Little China
(x) The Terminator
(x) The Terminator 2
( ) The Terminator 3
Total so far: 109

(x) X-Men
(x) X-2
(x) X-3
(x) Spider-Man
(x) Spider-Man 2
(x) Spider-Man 3
( ) Sky High
(x) Jeepers Creepers
(x) Jeepers Creepers 2
(x) Catch Me If You Can
(x) The Little Mermaid
(x) Freaky Friday
(x) Reign of Fire
(x) The Skulls
(x) Cruel Intentions
( ) Cruel Intentions 2
(x) The Hot Chick
(x) Shrek
(x) Shrek 2
Total so far: 126

(x) Swimfan
(x) Miracle on 34th street
(x) Old School
(x) The Notebook
(x) K-Pax
( ) Krippendorf's Tribe
(x) A Walk to Remember
( ) Ice Castles
( ) Boogeyman
(x) The 40-year-old Virgin
Total so far: 133

(x) Lord of the Rings Fellowship of the Ring
(x) Lord of the Rings The Two Towers
(x) Lord of the Rings Return Of the King
(x) Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
(x) Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
(x) Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Total so far: 139

(x) Baseketball
( ) Hostel
( ) Waiting for Guffman
(x) House of 1000 Corpses
( ) Devils Rejects
(x) Elf
(x) Highlander
(x) Mothman Prophecies
(x) American History X
( ) Three
Total so Far: 145

(x) The Jacket
( ) Kung Fu Hustle
( ) Shaolin Soccer
( ) Night Watch
(x) Monsters Inc.
(x) Titanic
(x) Monty Python and the Holy Grail
(x) Shaun Of the Dead
( ) Willard
Total so far: 150

( ) High Tension
( ) Club Dread
(x) Hulk
( ) Dawn Of the Dead
(x) Hook
(x) Chronicles Of Narnia The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe
(x) 28 days later
( ) Orgazmo
( ) Phantasm
( ) Waterworld
Total so far: 154

( ) Kill Bill vol 1
( ) Kill Bill vol 2
(x) Mortal Kombat
( ) Wolf Creek
( ) Kingdom of Heaven
( ) the Hills Have Eyes
( ) I Spit on Your Grave aka the Day of the Woman
( ) The Last House on the Left
( ) Re-Animator
( ) Army of Darkness
Total so far: 155

(x) Star Wars Ep. I The Phantom Menace
( ) Star Wars Ep. II Attack of the Clones
( ) Star Wars Ep. III Revenge of the Sith
(x) Star Wars Ep. IV A New Hope
(x) Star Wars Ep. V The Empire Strikes Back
(x) Star Wars Ep. VI Return of the Jedi
( ) Ewoks Caravan Of Courage
( ) Ewoks The Battle For Endor
Total so far: 159

(x) The Matrix
( ) The Matrix Reloaded
( ) The Matrix Revolutions
( ) Animatrix
( ) Evil Dead
( ) Evil Dead 2
( ) Team America: World Police
(x) Red Dragon
(x) Silence of the Lambs
(x) Hannibal
Total: 163

Labels: babies, family, Fancy Silk Sock, goodbyes, lists/surveys, memes/blogthings, mittens/gloves, socks

09:30 | |

Sep 14, 2007

The Long Goodbye

This, my friends, is going to be a long post. So long in fact, that I am going to post all of the non-knitting related stuff elsewhere. Mr. Shad leaves tomorrow. :( And I am going to miss him, but that is all I will say here. If you really want to you can go read the other post.

In knitting news, I did start Mad Color Weave with Amazonas. Actually, I started them later that evening. There were several "false starts", I couldn't decide which size to do, then I couldn't wrap my head around the pattern. It's funny because it's such a simple pattern. Could have something to do with using 3 needles instead of 4, ya think? All that is left now is the toe, then I can start the second sock. They are a little snug, but that can actually be a good thing. Thelonious has a tendency to sag a bit, and I hate that.

Even though we are still in full on summer swing (weather-wise) down here, my mind has already started to turn to sweaters, Christmas gifts, and other fall knits. Mr. Shad helped me choose between knitting the Luna Dress or the Somewhat Cowl. He said that the Luna Dress was too frumpy. :/ Whatever. Anyways, I'm okay with the Somewhat Cowl, actually the more I look at it the more I like it. I even ordered yarn for it, which Mr. Shad also picked out. He would pick olive drab. lol The color is called Fern, but it's actually much nicer in person than it looked online. I was having second thoughts at first. The original appears to be green as well, for some reason I kept thinking it was brown. Then again, certain shades of green and brown look almost the same. If you don't believe me, come over some time and I will show you my living room walls.

Okay, I must admit to something, I hate knitting those stupid Converse Booties. I

started another pair for a friend's baby, and nearly threw the yarn across the room. Why on earth did I make the toe so complicated and ridiculous?! Oh yeah, because it looks good. >.< Anyways, I ended up modifying the pattern so it could be done in the round. When I am through with all of my posting I will go add those alterations to the little pattern so that it can be done either way. Still a lot of ends to weave in, but at least there is no seaming. Finishing the second booty is part of my goal for today. Which includes: finishing the booties, finishing the first Amazonas sock, swatching for the Somewhat Cowl, and knitting at least 1 rep of the pattern on Goddess.

Oh yeah, that. That's right, I haven't posted about Goddess in forever have I? Eh. Everything is pretty much done except the 5.5" of pattern at the end. Let me tell

you how much I loathe it. It is only 4 rows, and I'm lucky if I get half a rep done. I'm trying to do at least one a day, I should need about 13 total. Right now there are about 4 of them...so only 9 to go! If you don't see a FO post about Goddess in two weeks, start complaining. Apparently when I put things into hibernating they go in there for several months. Currently in hibernation (thanks for reminding me constantly Ravlery), I have the Uber-crop Raglan, Butterfly Headwrap, Harley Quinn, and the Martha/Nermal socks. I guess 4 out of 57 isn't bad, right? That leaves 47 things I have finished (4 in progress, and 2 frogged), including mom's top. If I can finish that I can finish anything. Once the cold starts to hit, I'll probably pull Harley Quinn back out, they are actually almost finished. Just gotta do the entrelac cuff on the second sock. Okay, now I am just rambling!

Last up on the dockett today (I think), Flint Knits swapped me her copy of

Twinkle's Big City Knits for a skein of CTH Supersock in Yellow. I think I got the better end of that deal. :) This is why I love knitters though, we were just pondering sweaters together and I mention thinking about buying the book. She says, "Ah, I have that and can't use it! Would you like to swap?" Would I ever?! Oh, but what do I have to offer? A quick look over the stash ~~tempted her~~ gave her an idea of what she wanted. I would have given her my leftover Wollmeise Poison Nr. 5, but feel kind of badly about it only being half the skein (literally, it's 76g). Probably should have sent both. :D The Skating Sweater (see above links) is really calling to me. So much so that I have been looking into yarn for it, and actually agreed to buy some Cascade Magnum off of a fellow Raveler.

In other news, this kind of upsets me. It's cool they mention knitting...but I don't want them encouraging others to fake it. :/ Okay, I am just ridiuclous.

Labels: alpaca, blah, blogging, booties, Goddess, gratitude, procrastinating, progress, purchases, rambling, Ravelry, socks, swaps, Wollmeise, yarn

09:10 | |

Sep 8, 2007

Dilemma

The biggest problem with Wollmeise (aside from it's addictive qualities) is that it is so beautiful that very few patterns are perfect for it. Not the free ones anyways.

Yesterday, my Amazonas dark arrived, it will have to hold me over until October. The shop is temporarily closed. Which is fine, that gives me time to save up money. Next go round I'll be buying yarn for Rhiannon. That's another story though. Well, the yarn was so gorgeous that I (immediately after pictures) wound it into a ball and hunted through my Ravelry queue for the perfect pattern. I looked through Cookie's patterns...and then my bank account. :( Damn, I would have to find the perfect free pattern. Which is a lot harder than I thought. This is alright, but I am just not sure if it is perfect. How about Charade? Or Mad Color Weave? Seriously folks, I started two patterns already and ripped them back. Help!

Labels: decisions, Wollmeise

09:34 | |

Sep 7, 2007

Do the Math

I went to sleep at 4am. Ouch. And got up at 8. Blehhhhh. So this is just a quick post. First, I forgot to post my rockin girl blogger thingy. Chicks with Sticks named me so...uh here it is.

My five Rockin gals are:
1. Lesley
2. Elizabeth
3. Mouse
4. O'Kitten
5. Pam

That sucked. Why choose just five? And girls? You all rock. If I read your blog then it is because you rock. If you have been tagged already, don't feel like you have to play again, unless you want to. I'm okay with that. Here have some scarf.

Labels: scarf, Wollmeise

09:23 | |

Sep 4, 2007

Knitting Fairy

Either I've taken up knitting in my sleep, or the knitting fairies are working overtime here at chez Shad. The second Fancy Silk Sock was finished on Saturday morning. However, I decided there was really no need to go put both socks on for pictures and all, since it's basically like the other picture I took, only with two socks. lol Actually, this weekend didn't have much knitting because my family came into town*. They had to pick up a car for my brother and wanted to say goodbye to Mr. Shad, since he is leaving in a couple of weeks. In my head I've been making a list of things to look forward to while he is gone, it's not really long but any little thing to distract me from how much I'll actually miss him.

That was mildly depressing. Anyways, I decided to teach my mom to knit while she was

visiting, actually I was excited to have the chance. I think everyone should learn to knit, but I'm biased. She was doing pretty well right up until I decided to teach her to purl. After that she must have gotten all confused because she threw it at me and said "I'm done!". lol I saved her progress though. In case she wants to try again. While I was getting yarn for her to practice with (from Michael's) I picked up the new Bernat with Alpaca in it. Interesting. So far it seems decent, though I haven't actually knit with it. What I think I will do is swatch it to see if it would be a good substitute for the Black Forest Naturwolle for the Luna Dress from the Fall IK. It's so pretty, but somehow I doubt I could afford 9 balls of it. I should probably concentrate on my current WIPs though. Shouldn't I? Goddess is about halfway done, I just didn't feel like going through the routine of putting it on waste yarn to try it on again. Did that twice yesterday.

What else? Oh yeah, I was going to start that half-clapotis pattern...but

realized that Wollmeise Merino-Lammdochtwolle probably was not the best idea in a pattern where I needed to drop stitches. So I will just do another My So Called Scarf. Really, any soft-spun single ply yarn will felt on itself very easily from being knit, and hates to be tinked. Could you imagine purposely trying to drop stitches without creating a fuzzy mess? What a shame. The colors would have been scrumptious in the half-clap pattern. I'll find something else to use for that pattern.

I baked bread. Didn't I tell you I love freshly baked bread? Seriously, it makes me happy. I'm already down to half a loaf and they were just baked yesterday. If you gave me a choice between the bread and chocolate, I'd pick the bread. It's the best snack ever. And only slightly more healthy.