confessions of a pseudo yarn-ho

be sure to move mouse over photo

i have a certain weakness. i also have a certain sense of obligation. i should had known better though. "oh, i can go there and not get anything!" no i can't. no i didn't. i went to bella filati today. i had fun with my knitty girls. we all left there with a lovely shopping bag. mine was the biggest. oops. i'm going to make this. i saw it when my LYS had a rowan trunk show. i did not try on the sweater, as the size was teeny. and when i went down to bella filati today, and they had the yarn, all the yarn for the project, i just caved. yes, i know, i am weak. but, i will be a pretty weakling, dressed up in rowan kidsilk haze and 4ply soft! ps, the pullover is called "lucy" and is from rowan magazine #38.


this is what three strips of my throw look like sewn together. i'm beginning to think it's going to take as long to finish the throw as it did to knit it! seaming is mindless work, but then the mind wanders and thinks about casting on with fresh yarn. i cast on with fresh yarn yesterday. i'm making a pair of valentine socks. i will take a picture later when i really have something to show. oooh, look at those lovely flecks of tweed. i'm a sucker for tweed.


i'm also a sucker for a bit of sparkle. i actually finished knitting the louisa harding handbag, but, do not have handles for it yet. if i cannot find the handles locally, i will have to order online and wait for shipment. i did find a source for ordering the handles though ... UMX. the knitting was very straight forward and fast. now, i'm knitting flowers to embellish it with. the flowers will each have a pinback sewn to them so they can be easily removed or repositioned. i took this picture because i loved how the ribbon yarn looks when wound with a ballwinder.


i could not leave bella filati without this t-shirt. it's by knitiot. i have another one with a martini glass on it, and have enjoyed wearing it so much, that i had to get this one too! it's knitted with a tiny 1x1 rib, so it has a lot of stretch to it. though, buyer beware, these teeny t's do run on the small size. expect to go up one size when purchasing.

in other news, my mom has been crocheting another monkey girl! this one will be for indian grandma, and will not be dressed as mine. each night, as mom has been crocheting away on some sturdy and tight yarn, she has updated me on her progress. and then, she sent some pictures.


yes, that's smeagle's head. she had not crocheted the monkey head yet. this is what happens late at night.

strayed knitter

i couldn't help myself. the thought of staying on task, and sewing up seam after seam, seemed ... boring! what to do? cast on! i plan on going to the maryland sheep & wool festival in may. but, before i can buy more yarn there, i need to knit up some of my vermont yarn. first project from the october stash enhancement, a louisa harding purse. i bought the yarn at northeast fiber arts in williston, vt. the bag is knitted flat and seamed, and i could change it to circular knitting, but that kinda defeats the purpose of just casting on and knitting. i don't really want to think that much.

coming together

i started sewing my strips together last night. it's going to take awhile, but, it's certainly worth it! the seam runs horizontally in my photos. it's a slow process because the yarn is not smooth, and i'm only picking up 1/2 a stitch. i have not woven any of the ends in yet. i will save that for last (maybe).
i thought about sewing the strips together as pairs first, just to manage the growing knitting, but i want to see my progress as a whole piece.
what's waiting in the wings? ... abandoned socks, abandoned shawl, abandoned stash ....

i didn't knit fast enough

the photo i've been waiting for. see! i did run out of the ash gray yarn, almost halfway through my bindoff. i paused. what to do? um, switch to one of the other colors and finish binding off. i had contemplated for weeks about what i would do if i ran out of yarn. i thought if i had to order an extra ball, that i would order some other yarn for some other project, just because of the shipping. you know how it is, spend $100 to save $5. this is not the end of it though, because now i have to sew the eight strips together, then, there's more knitting ... the border (which, is another opportunity to run out of yarn).

special notes: i have little leftovers of the three remaining colors. the ash gray felt a bit chunkier, thus, the shorter yardage.





here's the real deal, the circular needle case i bought for my addi turbos. the more i look at offhand design's knitting bags, the more i want one.

fell in love

i can be really easy when it comes to yarn. one of my friends likes to tease me with words such as fragile or vulnerable. well, i was vulnerable today all right! my LYS is having a vittadini trunk show, and i tried on this number today! it's knitted with paloma. the design is from the fall 2005 vittadini book, and the size sm/med only takes 12 balls of yarn. it was light, soft, and not too warm. i need to make this! ps, it's called the *yoga wrap*.

i also treated myself to a circular needle case made by offhand designs. i'm using it to keep all my addi turbos that santa gave me for christmas. i'm a new addi convert. i strayed away from them in the past because of their expense, but, there's nothing like uncoiling a circular needle and having the cable not twist and curl on you!

my best treat of the day was pinky coming to visit with her unopened package from blue moon fiber arts. she ordered two hanks of Socks that Rock, and shared the moment of opening the package with me, as i don't have any of this beautiful handpaint superwash merino. this is yarn we only read about on the net unless we or someone we know orders it and brings it to our reality. isn't she the greatest?!

in other knitting news, i am about half way through my last strip of the jo sharp throw !!!! i also cast on and knitted about 15 links of marley's ghost scarf. after the knitting is finished, it gets fulled. i'd like to gift this scarf to my 14 yr. old niece, but, if she's not as excited about it as i am, i will keep it.

hurry, knit faster!

i'm knitting as fast as i can, when i can. though the picture doesn't have as many strips, i'm actually on the last strip(eight total strips), the strip that tells me whether or not i will have to order more yarn from WEBS. i am not opposed to ordering more yarn, as i am not afraid of stash, but, to spend more money on a project because of the shipping kinda sucks. yes, that is knittinglandia ... my 50 yr+ sofa, with the bad springs to prove it!

in other knitting news, i've started a shawl. it won't take as long as some, as it's with worsted wt. yarn. i will not mention all the other projects that have taken second seat to the current loves .....

attack of the killer squares!

this is indian grandma. she likes to take naps on the floor. when i was younger, i thought, "grandma is dead!". but, now i know better. though, some day, we might mistake her death for a nap, and leave her sleeping on the floor all day ;) she also likes to copy me. last winter, when she visited, she started a granny square. it grew and grew. it eventually became a small lap blanket. since i wanted to crochet with her, i started one too, but did not have the steam to work on these endless rounds of double crochet, as the square grew larger. so, i made 18" squares, sixteen of them, and slipstitched them together into a nice big afghan.

i brought my finished afghan home at christmas to show it off to indian grandma. when i came back to visit again, about a week later, she had started her own version of my afghan. she even ripped out the extra rounds of the oversized square she crocheted last winter. i like to tease her and call her a copy cat, but, in all her grace, she vehemently denies it! she's a hoot!

when i come home to visit, i get an incredible urge to crochet with acrylique. the only place to buy yarn in town is the superwalmart, and when you are having a yarn craving, you will slum it. a sweet friend of mine gifted a copy of interweave's knitscene magazine.

so, while gazing at all the wonderful acrylique at wally world, i found a nice fat skein of redheart for some slippers from the magazine. this colourway is called bananaberry, and reminds me of the tropics. so far, i've only finished one slipper, and it's modeled by mom ... see her pretty christmas socks?


speaking of socks, what am i knitting? well, i'll give you a hint ... i'm knitting from my new book knitting vintage socks. i'll take a better picture later, because i think i have to rip back to before the heelflap. oops.



for following the pattern, i created my own chart. even using a post-it note, i find it easier to glance at a chart vs. reading a short sentence.

i've also been making steady progress on my jo sharp throw. i'm on strip #7 out of 8 strips. i still think i will run out of yarn on one of the colors, but i am convinced that if i knit really fast, i will beat the clock and finish before the yarn runs out!

ps ann budd called last week! really! i had called interweave about the beret. i knitted. i thought there was a mistake in the decreases for the swirl top beret. well, it's a mistake in the pattern, confirmed by ms. ann budd. the pattern should read, "decrease EVERY round".

cozy feet

after my shower today (notice how i did not say this morning?) i was looking for some socks , and i remembered, i got some handknit socks for my birthday! these were cast-on in vermont, by a certain ms.pinky, using a stretchy knitpick's sock yarn.


i tell you what, knitters just don't receive a handknit all that often. maybe she'll knit me some more socks?!

monkey love

this was my best gift of the year. my mom crocheted me a monkey! isn't she cute? she followed (mostly) the instructions from this leisure arts booklet. i tacked the little shoes with some sewing thread, and there's a stitch marker holding the hat to her head.

a very sweet friend gifted to me 3 balls of kidsilk spray. of course, i wanted more, and bought 2 more balls. i want to knit this with it. it should only take 4 balls of the yarn, but it's always a good idea to have one extra. i'm almost finished knitting my mohair boucle wrappy wrap, which does not photograph well. i am also half way through knitting the strips of my jo sharp throw. (and, i think i'm going to run out of yarn of one of the colors on that one. oops.)

there's plenty more to show-n-tell, but i'm tired, it's late, and i want to go read in bed. ps pinky, i'm not reading smut!