They say it's your Birthday!
Na na na na nah na!
I almost forgot...
HEK is one year old!!!!!!!!!
[balloons! streamers! jenny face down in a bowl of spiked punch!]
mmmmm. cake...*
A big thanks to all my readers. Thanks kids!
*Ok, so the cake was made by my cousin for her daughter's first birthday. I'm stealing from children, it's come to that... (That cake's amazing though, no?)
Honey-suck-le.
Pride goeth before a fall. Or some sh*t like that.
So, my friend Steph asked me recently, "Whatever happened to Honeysuckle?"
What, indeed.
Well, the thing is, Jenny didn't listen to Nona. Nona was taught that one should take a
"mild conceit session" when one does a good job. Emphasis on MILD.
But when Jenny finished the fronts, backs, and one sleeve of Honeysuckle, she took a big huge gigantic conceit session. It went something like this:
[inside brain voice] "My goodness this stitching turned out well. How beautiful my seams are. What a great job on the sleeve caps. I am so so clever to have put the decreases two stitches in instead of one." BLAH BLAHBITY BLAH. "I can't wait to blog about how clever I am. My goodness how I rock."
And yet, here is what happened.
That funny ridge? Not really what I intended.
Let me esplain. No, it is too much. Let me sum up.
Sometimes I just don't see the obvious thing. My gauge is off. Twenty-four stitches to 4" instead of 22. This is a huge difference. AND, it's been off, since, oh I don't know, the BEGINNING.
That's right, the back and front and sleeve, all merrilly knit too small. Joy of joys. Please kill me now.
Thus, I spent some time ripping out some BEAUTIFUL seams:
Boo hoo.
Well, anyway, it's done. The bloody thing is taken apart. My very smart friend Jenna suggested I knit the second sleeve to fit (ie tweak the second sleeve) before frogging the first one, which I am doing. I have:
1) Increased needle sizes 2) Added increases 3) Redone the sleeve cap math. I will leave the back and front (which fit otherwise) and redo the sleeves. This grasshopper is now humbled, master. "Wax on, wax off."
Keep your fingers crossed.
Goofy Music Makes Me Happy.
Random fact.
Some of my favorite songs have either 1) handclaps ("I Don't Wanna Know" by Fleetwood Mac) 2) a portion where the background part drops dramatically out ("Something About You" by Boston) 3) or nonsense sounds instead of words ("uh uh uh, uh uh uh uh uh" in "The Breakup Song" by the Greg Kihn Band).
I think it's important you all know this. In case there is ever a television tribute show. Best to be prepared, really.
Don't you just love good music? Whatever it is for you, the kind that makes you dance around the house and sing not caring a whit how silly you look? That makes you smile, you just can't help it? I love that feeling. Best thing in the world. I would give anything to have a soundtrack to my blog entries. Just wait.
Stop Stalling, Sister.
Yeah, yeah. Lots and lots of updates today. In lieu of humor, because I'm tapped out.
1) Progress has been made on the ever-boring socks for my husband. I just can't get excited about gray men's socks. Despite the snide commentary that someone uses to drop hints now and then: "Gosh, my feet are cold." Yes, I buy that. It's 80°F in GA these days. Riiiiiight.
2) Rather than finish them, here's a new thing I've started - the "Flowerbasket" Shawl in IK. I blame Carrie, really. She started me on it. ;-)
I am using Mountain Colors "Mountain Goat".
I think that it will need many more repeats than the pattern states though. Might block it midway in progress to see how much it will stretch. What do you peeps think of a midway block? I thought I'd wet it down and pin it with either a spare thread or still on the needles.
3) I also started my Honeymoon Cami. I blame Julia for this. Fine, go ahead and write a great timeless pattern. When I have tons to knit. Fine. See if I care, lady!
Er. I digress.
Anyway, the yarn is Klaus Koch "Clip" and I love it more than life itself. So smooth, easy to knit, great drape and mildly shimmery but not too much.
As you can see, I put on a different edge, just for giggles. It's from Knitting on the Edge, and if you people play your cards right, I'll get my ass off the sofa and look up the name of the edge pattern. Sometime before I finish it, that is. Oh no, not today.
4) Last, but not least, I am making the "Chevron Scarf" from Last Minute Knitted Gifts. I blame my friend Caroline for this, since it's for her.
Of course, right after this I realized it was too small and ripped it. I upgraded from US 0 to US 3 needles. Big difference. Might finish it this year this way.
Well, kids, that's all for now. Lots of good sunny days here. Wish the same to all ya'll.
Ridiculously Exhausted.
And bored beyond belief.
Do you ever just want to go to bed, and stay there? Like for the next three or four days, give or take? That's how I feel today. I was absolutely exhausted at work. So tired. Couldn't think right, couldn't chart right, slow as molasses. Weird, eh? Don't really even want to knit.
What?
I know.
I have been knitting, though, and before my blog becomes so outstandingly boring that you all are snoring, here's some pics:
BALTIC
I intended to do Baltic first in Orange and Blue, till my husband convinced me otherwise. He was right. A giant prison-jumper-orange aran sweater is so NOT a good idea. No officer, I'm not here to pick up trash with the other inmates.
So here is the fair isle bit of the sweater. It's the best fair isle I have ever done, in terms of how flat the stitches lay and how smooth it has turned out. I'm really really proud of it.
Click for the gratituitous wrong side shot. Go on, make a girl happy.
And for giggles...
Here's a bunch of crappy stuff I made as a kid, found on my trip. I was a very crafty kid. (I was always making something.)
Except I didn't make the Chewbacca doll.
I DID dress him in that girlie outfit, though.*
OK, my Mom probably put together the wizard.
But I did most of the Latch Hook.
Remember latch hook? How lame was that?**
*A wookie in drag. Star Wars fans are rending their clothes in agony.
**Now I'll probably get spam from the Latchhook Guild.
Bitch, bitch, bitch.
I could complain...
Yes, I could tell you how my lovely trip home (in which I had a GREAT time, thanks Mom and Dad!) was marred by:
a) a mechanical plane issue resulting in significant delay in getting home.
b) the discovery that I spent quality time sewing in the sleeve into my Honeysuckle sweater, only for it to look like SH*T. And be too small. More on this later, if I can stand to touch the orange monster again.
c) a torrential downpour which led to our basement flooding. AGAIN. And since I quilt in the basement, and since my two crappy felines knocked some books onto the floor, I have spent tonight doing this:
Thank heaven for my ipod.*
This book is the Vogue Knitting of quilting books for me. Trust me, if it was your favorite knitting book, you'd be spending quality hair dryer time too.
I said, I COULD complain...
But instead, I'll show you this:
Anyone who knows me will recognize me in this picture.
1) The hair. I mean, really.
2) The outfit. You can't tell in b&w, but that is a nightgown with Raggedy Ann on it, in BLUE and PURPLE. It was vintage then, let me tell you.**
3) The purposeful gait. This is how I walk now - fast, going somewhere, looking only in the direction planned. I was a child with a goal. And that goal was - CHRISTMAS GIFTS.
4) Note the doll's hair also. I mean, really.
*And James Ingram singing, "Yah Mo B There."
**My mommy made the nightgown. ;-)
Planes, Trains, and Automobiles
Note to self:
When putting on deodorant fast in the morning (when one is running very late, such that one is brushing one's teeth in the shower, etc.), try to remove the large plastic sharp cover.
OUCH!
Knittin' like a fiend.
So, during all the family hullabaloo last week, I spent much time in airplanes, airports, cars, the Metro (of course I looked for Wendy, but she was not on my train), and there was lots of waiting. When I travel, I get scads of knitting done - maybe because I can't do much else? Anyway, during our trip I did finish the front and back of Honeysuckle:
Sorry for the blurry pic. Try squinting.
And you know what that means...
Yes, that's right. I am shipwrecked on Sleeve Island. I'm going to need at least a lime and some salt, believe me.
The hubby used our stone turtle quite cleverly in this pic, yes?
So, to recap for those napping, that's half a sleeve done, the front and back done, and I have seamed the shoulders and the neckband is in place. I may actually finish something soon - and since I fly to my folks' house for the next few days, I'd say the forecast for knitting is looking very good... Woohoo!