Tuesday, May 24, 2005

SQUEE!


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Melissa (of inertiacreeps) made dolls of our All Flesh Must be Eaten characters! She made one of me and a few possible for her character, and then one for Dan as the Zombie Master. They're just AWESOME! Kudos to Melissa!!!

post Muncie craft update

For those who were dying of curiousity, the yarn came in, thereby eliminating the need for all that strategy. I brought the Ruby Slipper shawl on the plane and am now about half-way done with the garter stitch edging.

A report card of sorts, on the projects I'd laid out for this year. (original could be found here:)

Knitting Goals: (Yes, this is the 'reduced' list. This is in some rough chronology of deadline.)
* Finish current project of Gypsy's baby blanket. (Amelia is due in April, but I want to work on other things.)

Done! It got there in time for the baby shower that Jipsie missed because she was busy having said baby. Ooops. Jan Robichaud said that the female relatives loved it, and Jipsie has found a use for the button-flower and loop as a nursing blanket. (More handy than I'd orginally thought... go me!)

* Mary's Christmas Hat IOU (I will put off Amelia for this one.)

Done and handed over to Mary! Though Mary still hasn't let me know if she wants me to sew on the buttons. She got some ladybug buttons which are adorable. I've also taught Mary to knit, though I think she's been concentrating on science a bit much to want to lately. ;)

* Finish Elizabeth Zimmerman's pi shawl that I've started. (The lovely red vareigated and the Addi Turbos make this currently addictive.)

Still chugging... halfway done with the lace edging. Maybe by the end of SnB next week?

* Mom's scarf requests.

I've done three scarves for Mom so far, one of the Christmas yarn that this was originally related to, one out of a pale yellow for Mom's Spirit Days, and the candy-cane Fun Fur one she requested (also out of the Christmas package).

* Give Mom the sweater she asked for, for this Christmas. (This is the epic project for 2005.)

Measurements still pending. Maybe I should call Mom.

* Make myself the Beaverslide Hogwarts scarf I've given away three times now, in the Azkaban pattern.

Not yet. Have yarn, will start this after the Ruby Slipper is done. Depends on Mom. I printed out pattern even if I had to take it with me to Muncie. Maybe I should just start this, as it is good comfort-mindless knitting.

* Other small misc projects that come up throughout the year.

Still pending, though I've been better about starting random stuff. I guess the big random project was Dan's vest.

* If there's any time left, reduce the stash by giving away yarn or knitted small things. After that, consider Knitty's tall garter socks, and do the 'more than circular' shawl from Best of Knitter's Shawl Book.

I bought some sockweight dye your own from Knit Picks for the More than Circular, but I lent it to Dharia for a craft show, and I'm still chugging on other things. I still have the original lovely blue sportweight merino/microfiber, but that might become a triangular shawl as the yardage might (upon second scrutiny) result in a capelet rather than a shawl.

As for the Ribbi Cardi (reduce the stash), it just doesn't fit right. Very sad. I think it needs short rows in the bust, because the *waist* is a bit big, and the bust/raglan shoulders don't fit right. I'm debating if zippering will fix this or make it worse. :( Maybe it's time to make a duct tape mold of my torso and then fit the peices to that.

It's almost halfway through the year, too! Not bad. Don't know how many Christmas presents I'm going to work on this year, but it will most likely not be many with the tile sweater in the hopper. Comments/ideas welcome!

Wednesday, May 18, 2005

Day before Muncie

I've been a good little scientist, at least I think so. ;) Last week I really worked at my computer modeling, and so far this week I've been trying to put together a decent amount of lab work so I can go play in the Midwest with my husband, Dan, and his high school chums buddies. (I just remembered what else chum can be, and well, Bob, Jay and Tom are much dearer than that. ;) So, has the amount of knitting faltered?

Well, I realized that it was extremely likely that I would run out of yarn before finishing up the Ruby Slipper shawl. After much pondering and agonizing, I caved and wrote to Toni Neil to see if she had any more Ruby Slipper yarn. She kindly took my order for two more balls of Ruby Slipper (and lo, though the Tiger Eye yarn beckoned, and said it would make lovely socks for Dan, I resisted) and sent them out last Friday. With any luck, they will arrive today, and I might be able to take Ruby Slipper with me for the Muncie trip.

In the meantime, I figured out how to make a candy-cane Fun Fur scarf for my mother that looks respectable, and finished that on Monday. This may sound silly, but it took me a rather long time to figure out what stitch, what method, etc etc before finally crocheting the dern thing. There was a lot of ripping involved. Fortunately, ripping Fun Fur with a carry-a-long strand of Lion MicroSpun was not Horrible Evil, but only low-grade evil that was no big deal for someone who's tried to rip mohair. I'm debating writing that crochet pattern up and sending it to Lion Brand, or just publishing it here if people are interested. I figure candy cane season will be here soon enough, and once I figured OUT what I was doing, the pattern was very quick to crochet.

So, the burgeoning question is this: if the Ruby Slipper balls don't show up today, what knitting project do I take with me? I'm supposed to start the Cabled Block Sweater for my mother (which might earn the name of Tile or Parquet, due to its construction) but she hasn't gotten around to telling me what her bust measurement really is. This is, indeed, AFTER the explanation that band size for your bra doesn't equal bust measurement. Oh well, the likelihood is that I'll have to warp the pattern some anyway because the yarn will shrink, and I've not done any of that math yet, so that sweater isn't going with me anyway.

The leading contenders so far are these:

I recently found the Lily Chin Charlotte's Lace Shawl pattern that I lost. It goes with a cone of Brown Sheep Cotton Fine (Jade) in my stash. Bonus - one circular needle, one large ball of yarn, eats lots of time. Minus - This isn't on the To Do list for this year.

Knitting the other balls of Socks that Rock (Farmhouse) into socks. Minus - metal size 1 sock needles. Don't know if people will think I'm a terrorist for having steel lace sock needles. Somehow, I feel like I'm explaining I'm a loose woman instead of a loose knitter. Would a loose woman qualify as a terrorist?

Knitting MY Harry Potter Scarf. It'd be Gryffindor, from the 3rd movie. Bonus - one circular needle, project I've done before so I know about gauge, on my to do list, etc. Minus - I'll need scissors and several balls of yarn. Hrrm. I've done the other one as a traveler before, so it might not be all bad.

I *could* do the stash-eating project of converting the leftover Cotton Thick N Quick that I got from WEBS long ago into a tank top. This also requires mathemagic on some tank top patterns since I don't currently have a bulky yarn one. I also could convert several small balls of Cotton TQ into pot holders, but I'll probably have more time than yarn or space for that many pot holders. Or I could try and convert some closeout Tahki Zebra into a Shapely Tank... narf. Maybe later.

I *could* take two (or four) balls of the Random Fun Fur Knockoffs that my mother sent me and convert them into Mom presents for later. Right now, this looks like a less exciting idea, especially since I just finished one such project. I wonder if Mom really wants a Fun Fur capelet of some kind... ponder. (Yes, I have quite a few balls to Do Something with.)

I *could* work on the felted bulky kitty bed, but the incomparable Miz D and I have recently struck a yarn stash trading deal, and I'd rather wait on the kitty bed until the other yarn is ready. (No mad mad rush, Miz D. And if you want to make that yarn blue-purple-turq instead of blue-green-turq, that would be Very Cool. :) It's Noro for Spun and/or Dyed, and I think we're both going to be happy. :)

So, socks, HP scarf, or shawl? I'll have to see how this evening goes, I guess, since the socks and the scarf would need some quality winding time. I've done the gauging on these and suchlike... otherwise I might be considering the White Lies project I have, but I don't have time to gauge that stuff. That and the White Lies looks like it will need notions aplenty, and I'm trying to minimize.

Ahh well. The things knitters worry about when they're going on a trip. :)

Monday, May 09, 2005

le sigh

Craft update for the weekend:

I'm still at 576 stitches on Ruby Slipper, but those familiar with the Knitter's Almanac version of the Zimmerman Pi Shawl will understand my joy at finishing the first set of diamonds. I actually moved the second set of diamonds up a little bit because I'm worried about running out of yarn. So far this ball is holding out, but it's ball six of seven total and I still need to do the edging. I think the edging will take an entire ball, so I'm hoping... the second set of diamonds may turn out slightly smaller than the first. Amusingly, the bamboo needles that Melissa was kind enough to pick up for me are turning a delicate shade of pink from all the red yarn. :)

I didn't put the sleeves of Dancing Vines in yet, and Ribbi Cardi remains unchanged. Must... get... zipper!

I suppose the big crafting news is that I got my rejection from Knitty today. It's sad, but I understand. I just hope they have a cool issue, so I'm not that angry about being passed up for it! :)