Rain

It's raining.  Not a little bit, either.  It is absolutely POURING!!  Buckets of water are being poured out from the clouds.

I don't know why, but I have the hardest time concentrating on things that need to be done when it's rainy like this.  I do have things to be done.  At the very least, I need to clean the bathrooms today.  Not all the bathrooms.  They all got cleaned on Friday.  But the ensuite that gets used everyday and the basement spa that gets used once a month both need to be scrubbed.  The tubs need to be cleaned.

And yet...it's raining and I cannot bring myself to do anything except sit in front of the computer in my fluffy fleece housecoat, drinking coffee, posting about how it is raining.  I want to knit.

The boatneck sweater is coming along like a dream.  It doesn't start as low on the shoulders as I wanted it to, but that just means it will look more awesome with long sleeves.  I'm thinking of putting it aside, and as soon as I get 1989 mailed off (just need one more picture of a bind off technique) submitting it as a concept to KnitPicks. That way, I can totally justify my knitters ADD and work on multiple projects at a time.

I'm still committed to only bring one on the cruise with me.  My mother's sweater.  I'm halfway up the left side.  I'm committed to finishing and blocking the left side before I leave and doing the bulk of the right side while I'm away.  I may also need to bring scrap yarn and spare needles, though.  I plan on teaching my friend how to knit so we can sit and knit together on the deck while our men are off eating themselves into food comas.  I'm kinda selfish like that.  If someone shows even the slightest hint of interest in knitting, I will do my utmost to convert them to a full knitter.

Knitting Sweaters

Even though I'm supposed to be finishing current projects instead of starting new ones, and even though I've got a half a million current projects to finish, and even though I'm still doing battle with my mother's sweater (I will never knit lace again for anyone, no matter who they are or what they mean to me), I did a bad thing this weekend.

And by bad, thing, I don't mean overcelebrating my 31st birthday (which ended up being a serious non-issue...31 is exactly the same as 30, just plus 1).  I mean...I started a new sweater.

In my defense, it's shaping up to be a very, very pretty sweater, and at a gauge of 4st/5.5rows = 2", it's working up wonderfully fast.  It's a pretty, purple boatneck sweater, with a cable detail down the sleeves (which will be long and loose), and an off-center cable down the front.  It's a top-down raglan style sweater, completely seamless.  I'm about 10 rows from splitting off the sleeves.  You can't see anything in the picture, really, but this is how it looks so far.

It will be probably available for download around mid-Novemberish, on account of the multitude of other projects with looming deadlines.

Knitting another sweater

I've got 6 skeins of Noro Silk Chunky.  I bought it with plans to make a sweater.

Even though I've got 7 or 8 other projects on the go with deadlines, I'm thinking of starting the Noro sweater anyway.  What I'm not sure is whether 6 skeins will be enough to do the off-shoulder bar-hopper top, or if Noro Chunky would be too heavy for a bar-hopper top.

I should probably not work on it until I'm finished the front of my mom's cardi.  Not to mention until I've gotten September's inventory photographed and put up online and October's samples finished and mailed.  It's September 20 already. 

Buttons

Remember my post about popping up to Dollarama for buttons for the gloves?

I did manage to find two matching silver(ish) buttons in my stash.  But I popped in to Dollarama today to find brass buttons to include with the pattern.  Shock of shocks, guess what Dollarama is not carrying at the moment.  I know they had them.  They had them as recently as a week and a half ago.

Grrrr.

Lady Knittley's Fabulous Fingerless Flying Gloves

Knit from a lovely silk, rayon, cotton blend called Goshen by Valley Yarns, I have finally finished up Lady Knittley's Fabulous Fingerless Flying Gloves.

They are truly fabulous.  Excellent for knitting with small bits of leftover yarn.  Recommended to be knit with Aran or DK weight yarn.

Look in October's Phat Fiber box for your free copy, or check out Ravelry.com after October 15 to buy the pattern for only $2.00.  Yes, I shamelessly self-promote.  But it's my blog.  I think I'm entitled to a little self-promotion.  ;)

On naming things

Apparently there's another blog out there called Lady Knitterly's.  So I'll be renaming my gloves to avoid confusion.

They are now Lady Knittley's Fabulous Fingerless Flying Gloves.

As a random note, I apparently am not in possession of the brass buttons I thought I owned.  Apparently they have been used on previous projects.  I cannot think which previous projects, but alas, they are no where to be found.  So as soon as H comes home from work, I shall take off for a quick run to dollarama to find myself some brass buttons.

I, being in need of such buttons, can say with a fair degree of certainty that even though I have seen such buttons at Dollarama on past occasions, there won't be any buttons to be found today.  Why not?  Because Dollarama does that to me.  They stop carrying something as soon as I need it.

More on the fabulous flying gloves

Reworking now with smaller needles, thinner yarn, smaller gauge.  Original could have fit my father's hand, and I'm not sure he'd be too keen on wearing a pair of ladies flying gloves, no matter how fabulous they are.

Lady Knitterly's Fabulous Fingerless Flying Gloves (c)

October's Phat Fiber theme is Steampunk.  I've decided to do a pattern along with my yarn and fiber samples.  This time, however, I want it to be a fairly complicated pattern. 

I've done fingerless gloves before.  Simple ones using the same pattern repeat over and over again.  I can hardly sell a pattern for something that uses a dictionary stitch over and over again.  No, I decided I need something unique.  I also need something that qualifies as "Steampunk", and what better than Fabulous Fingerless Flying Gloves for operating that airship sitting out in your garage.  ;)

They are thick lace around the cuffs with eyelets up the thumb gusset.  But my personal favorite touch is the loopy bindoff that I used.

They are fairly thick and are a quick knit at 3.5 stitches to the inch on 4.5mm needles.  I think they'd look great on handspun.  I just need to get something spun up to reknit them after the demo pair is done.  :)

New crown, over and out

Got the new crown put on the tooth today.

Remembered a previously forgotten fact about crowns.  They don't like to use freezing, because they like you to be able to feel if the tooth is too big and needs to be adjusted.

More on The Purple Sweater

I've picked a name for the pattern.  As nice as "Diamond Brocade Top" is, it's not really a pattern name.  So, having finished the test knit in the proper yarn, I've named the sweater "1989".

It's got a really fun 80's vibe to it, without being overtly 80's.  I'd recommend it with tight jeans and high boots.  You might even find me wearing legwarmers with it (I love leg warmers and never have enough reason to wear them).

I'm wondering if I should play up the 80's hair a bit for the pattern photos?  My hair doesn't really do 1980-anything very well.  Except bangs.  I do bangs very well.

The awesome purple sweater

I've been working on a sweater for a few weeks.  One that I haven't wanted to post photographs of, since it's a sweater pattern of my own creation, set to be published in the Knit Picks IDP. 

The sweater is a lovely reddy sort of purple, and it has turned out wonderfully.  I just need to bind off (again, since I bound off too tightly last night), and then it's ready for pictures.

I am a little sad that I won't have it to wear on my vacation in October.  I have to mail it off to Knit Picks headquarters for examination.  I don't expect to have it back in time.  They estimate 90 days before it is returned.  I leave for my cruise in 39 days.  WOOHOO!!!

Maybe I'll knit another copy of it to take with me?  No.  That would be a bad idea.  I still have to finish my mom's cardigan, knit a sweater for my nephew, and finish the gloves and scarf for another pattern creation project.  Not to mention the bags of yarn upstairs, all with patterns begging to be completed. 

No, I haven't got the time for more of this sweater.  Too many other things to knit.

Girl Gangs, even in the mouse world

Today, I am sad upset HEARTBROKEN(!!!) to announce the death of my most precious (and precocious) Scruffy.


Scruffy was the smallest of the group.  In spite of her diminutive size, she was active and playful and had such a personality.  Of all my girls, she was the only one who would still beg to be picked up.  All I had to do was stick a finger in the cage, and she'd pull herself up into my hand.  I adored her.

The scruffy fur that was her namesake wasn't from poor health.  It was the remnants of an allergic reaction when she was younger.  They are all allergic to soy, and Scruffy lost almost all her fur to the reaction.  Gentle baths and a change of diet helped most of her fur to grow back, but she had a few scars on her skin which gave her fur a constantly disheveled look that was adorable.

Of all my mice, Scruff was the only one I could count on to comfortable sit and eat a treat in a toddler's hand without misbehaving (the toddler in question was the picture of gentleness with my little Scruff), jumping off, running away, or nibbling at the toddler instead of the treat.

For some months, now, I've been aware that one of my girls is a little more aggressive.  She isn't content to just eat her food out of the bowl.  It has to be stolen from the other girls in the cage.  Until now, it hasn't been a problem.  All the other girls are her equal in size and strength and just take their food back.  There have been no serious fights or real cause for me to be alarmed.  But in the last few days, I've noticed her picking on Scruff a little more.

Today, I decided that I was going to move Scruff and her mama, Frankie, out of the main cage and put them in Gus's old cage, leaving the other three girls in the larger cage.  I felt it would be safer for all and would avert any possible danger.

I was too late.  At some point today, and I'm not sure when, Scruffy died.  It wasn't illness like the other deaths.  It was a little more gory, so I'll spare the details. 

I love you, Scruffy.

How to enjoy camping in the rain

Back from the weekend camping trip.

As expected, it rained.  It rained harder and longer than anticipated, though, resulting in damp firewood and smoke that tended to get in my eyes while cooking.  In spite of that, I had way more fun than I think I have ever had camping before.  I think that may have actually been due in part to the rain.  But mostly, it had to do with the company.  We left as friends and came home as sisters.

3 of us got there fairly early (though later than expected on account of having to double back to the house to get my sunglasses, which I didn't need and which had been left at my friend's house anyway) to set up the tents.  2 of the girls did an AMAZING job stringing up tarps at an angle over the tents to allow the rain to drip off the back and bypass the tents entirely.  This helped keep the tents completely dry and rain free, giving us a haven in spite of the downpour on Saturday.

Saturday afternoon, we hid inside the giant "party tent" that comfortably housed all 6 of us.  We hid and knit.  Most of us got a good bit of knitting accomplished.  Some of us forgot key elements of our knitting, such as yarn and needles, and ended up doing the complicated lacework that was grabbed at the last minute out the door as a backup project.  On the upside, I got several inches of that complicated lacework done, and so I am quite happy.  The laploom ended up being too complicated to hold on a campchair, so while I managed to wind the shuttle, I only got about an inch woven before I gave up in frustration.

Next time, someone else should do the food shopping.  I do tend to go overboard on food planning.  So, while we ate very well on the weekend, we also had enough food to feed a small army and quite a lot of leftovers.


H, bless him, has gone out to pick dinner up for me while I sit and recover from my vacation.

The sweater variable

I finished the back of the sweater last night.  With yarn to spare, I might add.  It's been wetblocked and is dry now.  This gives me a whole ball of yarn for the waistband and makes me very happy.

I will be completely finished the sweater no later than Monday.

In other news, the forecast is slowly improving for the weekend.  Rain, if it hits, will hit mostly this afternoon and overnight.  It just finished raining for a spell, so I'm feeling pretty hoepful.  Regardless, Sunday and Monday are promising to be quite nice.

Sadly, in getting ready to leave, I've rediscovered something about myself.  I am a terrible housekeeper.  There are so many little things to put away and get done before I go.  Like the dishes that have been drying in the sink since Monday.  I think I'll be rewashing those.

When should you call the dentist? (and other random notes)

At Tooth-hurty. hehehe. Okay, that's not only a really bad joke, it's a really old one. Still, updating on my post from a few days ago, I have to say, I'm impressed. The pain subsided fairly quickly and has been almost non-existent since. This is fantastic, as I seem to be fighting a rather ill-timed cold/sore throat. I could manage tooth pain and I can manage a cold, but I don't think a cold (with it's associated sinus pressure, etc.) would go very nicely with tooth pain.

So on the ill-timed cold. I'm supposed to be going camping this weekend. It's been planned for a while and I'm extremely excited. However, the forecast for the weekend is foreboding, to say the least. With promised rain for Friday and Saturday, I have to say, I'm a little nervous. Still, we're going anyway. After all, it's not like I'll catch a cold in the rain (see, there's a silver lining to every cloud). ;)

In other news, I am, as of this moment, a mere 26 rows away from completing the back half of my Knit Picks sweater. A preview post will go up some time in the next few days. I'll have the sweater done by the weekend, without a doubt. It has turned out simply beautiful!! My only regret is that I did not have it done sooner. I will miss it on my cruise. However, that said, I have finished my woven mobius wrap. Picture is forthcoming. :) It turned out much better than anticipated. I'm thrilled to pieces with it. I can hardly wait until the basement is finished and my loom is put back in place so that I can start working on a new shawl. This time, I don't think I'll stitch the ends together. I think I'll just weave a nice 6' long straight shawl.

I think I'm going to take my mother's sweater with me camping. I'd like to make some good headway on the front of that piece. She'd been hoping to take it with her on her vacation, but even without the knitpicks project looming over me, I think that would have taken a miracle. It's a gorgeous piece, but it's also the finest, most detailed lacework I have ever subjected myself to. On the upside, when it's finished, I think I'll be able to publish the pattern from it. It's quite delicate and extremely beautiful. So far, she loves it.

I am going to have to create a spreadsheet detailing my projects, who they are for, and when they are due. I've currently got quite a list, a list that I keep adding to without even realizing it.

I expect my growing list of projects and self-imposed deadlines are to blame for the sudden and unexpected arrival of SEPTEMBER. How did that even happen???

Anyway, this post is quite long enough for now. I've got more to say. I'll say it later.