~ [Shadkitty Knitty] ~

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 | |

Aug 1, 2007

Ravelry, I Blame You

There is so much to say, I keep forgetting to take pictures of things and post them. lol Last night I was up til 5am on Ravelry. Knitting keeps me up at night. Really, I couldn't sleep last night thinking about my latest projects/ideas. First there was the impending spending spree. Justin told me I could spend $50 since I hadn't been buying much yarn lately. (The yarn from Philly was bought on my card) So I was online doing some pre-shopping, and then I realized that I actually have plenty of yarn. And that what I really wanted to do, I didn't want to do in Project Spectrum colors. However, I did just buy that lovely hemp for a modified Eiffel. Instead of long sleeves I plan on just doing a little cap sleeve, maybe with some lace detail. What do you guys think?

We'll talk about Eiffel first. So far I have swatched once, it didn't work out so well. No matter how far I stretched it, it would only reach 4.5". I CO enough for 5 though. Unfortunately, you have to block the swatches to get an accurate measurement. So it is sitting all wet and pinned out on the floor. Looking sad and wrong. Gotta wait til it dries to measure and try again. (the post from this point forward was written the next day) I was right, the swatch was off. I got

17sts to 4". Boo. But I'll just go up to size 7s. I swatched...kinda. lol However, I plan on finishing Twisted Flower before I actually cast-on for Eiffel.

Yes, that's right, I've got SSS! Which I don't think has ever actually happened to me before. The second sock now has a turned heel, and I am slowly working through the top of foot chart. There are basically 59 rows (49, plus a 5 row repeat that I did twice and should have done three times...I'm ahead of myself though), and I am on row 19. *sigh* Forty more before I can start Eiffel. I think Bockstark wanted to see some better pics, there are more on Ravelry and Flickr. Oh, you know you can see Ravelry on the computer in the background. lol

My shopping spree went very well. I spent more than Justin said I could, but shhhh you don't know anything about that. lol Only like $10 over my limit. Anyways, let's talk about what I purchased. Because I know that is all you guys wanna hear about. :D First I bought some Cascade Sierra for the Shapely Lace Tee from KLS.

We've had this yarn in the shop for awhile now, and every time I see it I want it. Even though it is red, and I don't like red! It is just very pretty and soft. Next up, I bought the Goddess pattern from StitchDiva. They were having a sale, and I've been kinda loving this pattern since I spotted it on the site. Way back when the Sexy Knitters Club was doing their Sahara KAL. So, I snagged it. Then, of course, I had to find the perfect yarn for it. Something with a lot of drape...and fingering weight?! So, I swatched some sport weight cotton I had sitting around, 29sts over 4" on size 3s. The exact same gauge as the example yarn. Woohoo! I knew SWTC made a great bamboo yarn (because I have some), and I remembered it being really lightweight. When I looked it up it turned out to be sport weight (yes!) and I saw this. Could it seriously be any prettier? Hopefully it is really that color, because it's gorgeous and I'm excited! That was where the extra money went. Goddess will be next on the needles after Eiffel.

I took a ton of update pictures, better shots of things for Ravelry and whatnot. Finally put the elastic into my boy shorts, so I took a picture of the halter/shorts combo. Oh! And I got some shots of Nolie in his little hoodie. This is such a great pattern, generally I don't like the Knitting Pure & Simple patterns because they have no shaping really. However, for a baby that is perfect. Also, I've been spinning a little. It's Beaten from Serendipity Fibers on Etsy. I love the colors as well as the name. Get it? Beaten black and blue? Get it? lol Lastly, I snagged a shot of the huge sweater on the mannequin in the shop. It looks better on something other than my floor. As usual, click any pic to see it larger.

Labels: babies, Eiffel, Gracefully Gathered halter, knitting, Knitting Lingerie Style, pretty, progress, project spectrum, purchases, Ravelry, sleep, socks, spinning, sweater, tunic, Twisted Flower, yarn

22:48 | |

Jul 15, 2007

It's Big

This will be a long post, with lots (hopefully) of pictures. Some of them haven't

been uploaded yet, but I will get around to that. Right now I just want to start the process of blogging. I have a new camera! So...that means much better quality for my photos. Whew. Also, I wanted to thank everyone for being here for me and all of the touching comments you have left, it all means a lot to me. I can't believe I forgot to say that before.

Well, I told you all about Heather and her busted nugget. So here are the pictures. The staples have been removed and she is totally okay now. But here is an idea of how far she fell.

You will probably have to click on this and see the larger size to make out the staples in all of that hair.

Here are a few random shots. Some from the burial and some just of the kids. Then I will tell you all about the aquarium and going to PA to visit Elizabeth from Gee, You Knit!. Most of the pics from that trip will be posted over on the Truly International Sock KAL blog as well.

We took the kids to the Baltimore Aquarium, they had never been to one before. I was so amazed by the way the kids reacted. Kyran was just fascinated by all of the fish. He would stand by one tank after another, content to sit and watch them all day. My MIL would have to drag him away, and he would be upset until he saw there were more fish. Heather liked the dolphin show, but Kyran wasn't really impressed.

It was really awesome to see how they reacted to everything though. The whole experience was so new to them. I've been to that aquarium many times, somehow going with the kids made it a much more exciting adventure. Fish are not as interesting to me as children are. :)

One of the best things about knitting, is knitters.

We are everywhere, and we are always happy to see another one of our kind. So when I found out that we were making a trip to Maryland again, I emailed Elizabeth and started arranging a meetup. Finally we settled on a date (teehee! a date!) and I steeled myself for the 2 and a half hour drive up there. Actually, I did pretty well, and only got lost for a little bit and wound up in VA. Let's not talk about that. lol When I got there we each had a glass of water (soooo hot) and discussed our plan for the day. See the sights, go shopping, hang out and knit. Good times. I was thinking...man that's not a whole lot, we're going to have SO much extra time, since I also planned on sleeping over that night. The idea of driving home in the dark didn't really excite me.

Boy was I wrong! We make a perfect touring team.

Elizabeth is a self-proclaimed terrible tour guide. Which is fine, because apparently I am the worst tourist ever. The Liberty Bell has a whole building full of displays and things that you can read...we breezed past all of this, going straight for the bell itself. Snapped a few photos, and were gone. On to Independence Hall, where we encounter difficulties finding an entrance. Too hot to be bothered with asking, we just snap pictures from outside the gates. Hey, it's the thought that counts, right? We decided to end the tour there, since neither of us were really too hyped to see any of the other touristy stuff. lol

So we hiked to groping yarn. For a brief (and obviously deluded) moment, I actually thought I might *GASP!* never knit again! Good thing Loop, where I spent hours

I collected my senses! All of that yarn definitely reminded me of why I knit. What is it about yarn that we all love so much? Who cares, it's gorgeous! I fell in love with two skeins of yarn, one came home with me, sadly the other had to stay behind. Love does have a price, at least my husband thinks so. I ended up spending a (not so) grand total of $43.50. A dollar and fifty cents more than the cost of the Claudia Handpaints Silk Lace (in Turquoise Jeans) I was drooling over. After visiting it several times, I realized the price tag would not magically change, and resigned myself to the idea that it was not meant to be. This time. Instead I picked up a single skein of Koigu KPPPM (shush! I know I hate it, but it was all sad and lonely...so prettttyyyyy), and three of Allhemp6 in aubergine.

The Koigu turned out to be problematic. It was unsure of what it wanted to be. Since it was a single skein and I couldn't find any that I wanted to pair it with...well, there wasn't much it could be. So, I tried out several things. A panta, a Dreamswatch Head Wrap...and so on. Finally, after returning home the next day and searching Ravelry. I discovered a pattern for a head wrap that I liked. The Happy Butterfly Head Wrap, I think. Wow...I just went to hunt down a link to the pattern and got totally side-tracked. Gotta love Ravelry. Right? As if there wasn't enough for a knit-blogger to do online? Now that I am home I think I will block

>this on the needles and see how I'm liking it. It will probably end up more as a thin scarf than a head wrap. Not to mention I'll probably gift it. But to who?

Probably my MIL. She is outstanding. she bought me this incredible dress. Seriously, I have to get some good pictures for you guys. It's just...so me. Oh yeah. I almost forgot, Coachella. It's nearly finished now. Only about...two or three inches left. Not quite sure how I feel about it. Maybe you guys can tell me what you think?? At first, I totally hated the color. But once I started knitting it, I loved it. Then...I wasn't so sure about the idea to make it a halter. Now...I'm not sure about the fit/drape in the chest. *sigh* I complicate everything.

Whew, and to wrap it all up, here is a picture of my friends and family outside of one of my stand-bys, Three Brothers in Bowie. It's a great pizza place. Try it if you are ever in Maryland!

Labels: accidents, aquarium, babies, Coachella, knitters, knitting, life, Maryland, Philadelphia, pictures, progress, purchases, rambling, Ravelry, stalking, Truly International Sock KAL, vacation, yarn

12:27 | |

May 11, 2007

What What?

Uh...I'm not explaining that.

Anyways, yeah. I don't know what happened to me. Had some difficulties mid-week. First I screwed up my neck, and then I just didn't feel like it. I didn't even check bloglines. Tuesday and Wednesday were not great days. Things are fine now, I just needed to rest I suppose. However, I have been on Ravelry. Sloooowly uploading my info. I can tell some of you others are too, your Flickr accounts have been updated with old pics. ;) Which reminds me, being new to knitting right now is good. I've only gotta update with stuff that has happened over the last year. lol

Actually, I have some new and old pictures for you all today. In a stroke of

brilliance last night I learned that our laptop has an SD drive. All that time I spent hooking up the camera to the computer...wasted. lol So, even though the camera is broken, the SD card still has the pictures on it. I uploaded those. Now you have good pictures of my haul from San Jose. As well as the guy from the hotel that we became friends with. So, here are those pictures. If you click on the picture of my Knitting Arts buys, it has labels. In case you are unfamiliar with any of the yarns.

Friends are the best. I am counting on all of you when Mr. Shad gets deployed! Anyways, a few of you have expressed interest in the TOFUtsies, I have to go back through my emails and see who wanted it and then make a decision. Guess I am just indecisive right now. Actually, I should do it right now, there are some things all packaged up to be shipped out sitting in my kitchen, that I meant to send earlier this week. Instead I just looked at them and didn't do anything. Sorry!! So, if you get a gift or anything late, my bad.

Dunno how my self-imposed mini-diet will go. It seems like I picked a bad time for it. Mr. Shad is going to Yuma until the end of June. *sigh* Hopefully I can still go

up to MD Memorial Day weekend. I'd been telling everyone that I was coming, making plans, and then...oh DUH, he's not gonna be here. That's okay though, I need to get back on the horse and make the trip. We'll see how well it works out. I wanted to wait until the YP Deep Cove got here to post pictures of the last Loopy order I made, seeing as how I ordered them on the same day. It's not here yet, but then, she did have to dye some more due to over ordering. I just didn't think I was an over-order. Then again, I like to send all of my packages at one time, maybe she does too.

So anyways, here is the last Loopy order. The pictures suck big. There is a cute stitch-marker that came as an extra, and you just can't see it. My order was the

yellow CTH. Man, it is so AWESOME! Can I explain to you that yarn has sucked me into this huge colorful hole? Seriously, I hate yellow. It's one of my least favorite colors. But it goes really well with green, which I have a lot of. Ridiculous people. This is crazy. The only question now is, which pattern?! I'm thinking the Child's First sock in Shell pattern. Then again, I want some cables. Dunno why, but I've been wanting some really yummy cables. Nothing too intricate. Maybe like this? Yeah, that's definitely going into the queue.

Hmm. What else happened?? Oh, my Twisted Flowers sock is up to row 18 on the foot now. If you are going to do this sock, seriously, take the time to learn cabling without a cable needle. You'll be glad you did. Otherwise, you might forget to cable

or twist here and there, considering that 14 rows out of the 32 row repeat on the leg have at least one twist or cable. Still, it's been fantastic to do. And going down a needle size has made it just the right size for my legs, which helps to make the design pop a bit more.

Shoot, right now I should be cleaning, my MIL just crossed the NC border and should be here in a couple of hours. She is a very tidy person, and I can't believe I didn't clean yesterday. Just not in the right frame of mind. Hopefully today I can get those packages out and get to the yarn shop. I'm hoping she weighed the Alpaca fleeces she got in. I want some. Have some milk and cookies.

*updated to add pic of the YP Deep Cove, that came in after I posted this*

Labels: life, Loopy Ewe, purchases, Ravelry, socks, updating, vacation, wool/fleece/roving, yarn

08:30 | |

May 3, 2007

Punk Sock Star

I wish I had had a camera today! I felt on top of the world! Sunne is right, a good haircut and stylist will make you feel like a rock start. And I was pimping out my newly completed Thelonious socks with some rolled up jeans and 1" heels. Today I decided to go out with a friend of mine (who I had thought was not my friend anymore, long story) anyways, she wanted to get her hair done. When we got to the salon, I decided it was worth the extra $20 to look the way I wanted. This is seriously better. Another friend will be giving it some color soon, whenever she is not working. Which, actually, is rare. Do you love my Cry-Baby shirt, or what?

So, in fiber/knitting related news, Etsy is horrible and addictive, I love it. :D Yesterday I got in a gift for someone. Today

my fiber came in. *drool* Okay, so I have been stalking Maine Woods etsy shop for ages. I just love the cute little pictures of the rolled up bats (they are bats in that form right?), tied up with brown raffia. Finally, I ordered one. I just couldn't take it any longer. When it came in, and was larger than I had expected, I was SO excited! Somehow the pictures are misleading, they look much smaller. The second package contained my FatCatKnits fiber. It is beautiful. My only problem is that she didn't give the color a name. However, with colors that beautiful, who cares? Knitting has been slow, I just haven't been feeling it (okay, more accurately I haven't been feeling the projects I'm currently knitting). Got a few inches on the huge sweater done. And finally a pic. Just for laughs, I put it on Heather. It's cuter that way.

Hm...what else? My calves ache from the heels, my arms ache from carrying Nolan, my abs ache from doing some crunches last night, and my head aches from being here with the crazies alone yesterday. I couldn't help myself, Flint Knits has inspired me to knit some yellow socks, so I bought some CTH in Yellow from The Loopy Ewe. And then, some Deep Cove from the Yarn Pirate's new shop. Stopped by Bombs Away to see if Nik has finished my design. He hasn't. Slacker. :D The house is clean. Babies need baths and naps (can anyone say early bedtime?). Mouse invited me to join Ravelry! Seriously, everyone has been talking about it and I am so excited. Yet, scared at the same time that it will eat up the small amount of time I allow myself for doing my actual crafts. Oh well, I'll enjoy it! Now I am off to feed, bathe, and tuck in my babes. Then it is off to cavort on Ravelry. *grins*

Labels: fiber, hair, happiness, life, Loopy Ewe, purchases, rambling, Ravelry, sweater

15:39 | |