Nonbloggable Craft Blogging

First and foremost, I think the project I'm working on may not be bloggable. I don't think the intended really sees this blog... but I'd hate to be wrong! So it's up on Ravelry, for those in the know, and all I'll say here is progress sans pics. The progress, at least, is great! After some marathon knitting sessions (even if yesterday I was home sick but too sick to knit)... I'm done with 11 of the 14 pattern repeats. Less than 3 to go now, and then I just have one more pattern motif, and I get to make a small edging and kitchener the crap out of it. So fantastico! I don't think I'll make my goal finishing date of... tomorrow... but I might be able to finish it this weekend.

I started a sewing project, also not bloggable. I think that's going to be the trend until the wedding. Does it count as starting it if all I did was trace the pattern pieces onto newsprint and cut them out? Again, I was home sick, but too sick for anything particularly brain heavy. Tracing and cutting was fine, but I fear I was in no mood for cutting out fabric. The pattern is looking fairly simple, however- I'm wondering if it wouldn't be wise to rotary cut most of the pieces, as well. That would probably ensure the most perfect pieces, but would defeat most of my effort at copying them yesterday. Is it more important to have a better finished product, or to kick it old-school with my hand scissors? I suppose I'll decide based on whether I can find my rotary cutter and mat or not. They're in the craft room.

Aaaaah, the craft room. My little hidey-hole of fantasticness. Except right now it isn't. My wedding gown is sprawled all over the sofa, because there's no more room for it in the guest room closet now we have a long-term house guest. Happy to have the house guest, of course! But I'll be even happier when I drop the dress off at the alterations lady's home next Wednesday- hurray for getting it out of my hair.

In addition to the wedding gown, which is frankly enormous, there's also a drying rack full of sweaty gym clothes (again, an item that used to be relegated to the guest room that has been relocated for the time being). And then there's the tub of cross stitch items that I pulled out when I was thinking about cross-stitching the table numbers to look just like these on Snippet and Ink. I still am contemplating it, but in the meantime maybe I should put the bin away?

And I really want to work on my Storm at Sea quilt, because I am not going to be able to attend the quilt retreat this year, so I have to make my own quilting time. But I can't work on it because in the move from my apartment to the house, I apparently split the quilt in progress into at least three different places- and I can't find all the pieces!!

I apparently need to tidy up the craft room and reclaim my space, while I have it. If I don't keep it tidy, my machines and I might get relegated to the attic. It's finished, yes... but I need a/c in this nearly-August DC heat! As soon as the gown is gone in a week, I'm reclaiming my space and getting it into useable shape. In the meantime, I can knit like the wind on the sofa downstairs and crank out this first nonbloggable knitted item in order to start on number two.

I like bloggable craft blogging much better than this text stuff above. Here's an artsy fiance-taken photo from the 4th of July, in true knitting Mikaiya-style. Since this shell is for selfish little ole' me, it's bloggable!

Photo-Enabled FO

I said I finished the Hemlock Ring Blanket. Still not blocked- because you can see it's already in use!



I am working away on the Lilac Leaf shawl, as well:



It's going beautifully.

Today has been a serious chore sort of day. A pretty great weight workout and a jog with two of my buddies to start off the day. Hit up Target to fill a prescription and such, loads and loads of laundry. I cooked a surprisingly yummy black bean chili, while doing a whole bunch of baking, and I finally cut out my veil.



I can't wait until the muffins cool- a chocolate banana muffin sounds like the perfect snack before bed! G is out of the house for the evening, a very rare treat, and I'm enjoying catching up on So You Think You Can Dance and now, after finally finishing my baking and chores, it's definitely time for some Lilac Leaf.

On Nupps

Everyone keeps complaining about the nupps. "Oh they're hard" "Oh they're strange" "Oh you say them nupp like soup, not like sup".

Blah blah blah. I did the first row of nupps in the Lilac Leaf shawl and was unimpressed. Yes, you have to be a bit loosey-goosey when doing the nupp, or make 7 in one stitch, but it's hardly rocket science. I had no trouble doing the knit-seven-together on the wrong side row, and continued on my merry way.

But I have learned to respect the nupp. Public service announcement: Don't nupp on the bus or metro.

I'm just saying.

Hemlock Ring Blanket

My camera has been sitting upstairs, but all the knitting is going on downstairs. I have a few finished objects I need to photograph- including the one from last night!

I finished my Hemlock Ring Blanket. Took just about a month (if I am figuring correctly). The bind-off took three entire evenings of Tour de France coverage- in fact, I was a bit perturbed to realize if I had just crocheted it instead of knitting it, I could have saved half the time. Oh well. I think it turned out beautifully. It's incredibly soft and warm, and I love the Cascade Eco Wool. It's amazingly cuddly, and when I draped it over G once I finished the bind off, I had trouble getting it back to weave in the ends.

It still needs a serious blocking, but I pronounce the blanket functionally complete. It matches our sofas quite well, and it was a perfect gift for my fiance. He is not much for wearing knitwear, doesn't do hats or mittens or scarves, and doesn't want hand-knit socks. So finally I found a project that he would enjoy snuggling with, and I get to feel like a real knitter. The best moment was his look of surprise that it really is soft and warm, and in his words "smells like sheep." I told him that he better not break up with me now, though.

Do you think the sweater curse is in effect when you're getting married in four months? Holy crap. We really are coming up on just four months. Maybe I should have started the blanket a bit later- but it's so nice to have that yarn out of my stash, and in cozy blanket-form in our living room.

Of course as soon as I finished it, I popped upstairs to get a few things. Size 6 Addi Turbo lace needles (yes, they're tarnished, from that old batch of needles that apparently all turned gold... but I've decided I don't know that I care). Two skeins of an alpaca-wool blend laceweight. And the Estonian Lace book by Nancy Bush. Any guesses what I'm working on? I finished the first row of the first lace pattern before bed.

G asked why I had to continue to knit so obsessively right after finishing a project. For one... well... because that's what I do. But it's also because of another superstition. You have to cast on for a new project as soon as you finish one, to avoid bad luck! I'm not sure the superstition really applies to me- I always have a half dozen things on the needles. But no matter. The WIP pile has shrunk recently- I frogged a whole bunch of projects a few weeks ago to reclaim the yarn for new and more suitable purposes. There are still plenty of things sitting in my craft room upstairs, waiting to be knitted- it's just not their time.

Tour de ... Fleece?

It's been crazy fun times around the C-K household lately. For one, we had a parental visit over the Fourth of July. It was fantastic to see my parents, and to get to share the holiday with them and my fiance. We had a pretty great spot to see the fireworks, out in a field near the Iwo Jima Memorial. We had some good food, some good times, and my mother and I analyzed the wedding gown situation.

The gown is too small. Seriously. It isn't my fault, though- although it is correctly sized in the waist and hips and such, it is a good inch smaller in the bust than the manufacturer size states. No wonder it won't zip up! After some serious freaking (would Mom make me a gown? Should we go to Goodwill? Should I sell it and buy another dress??)... we decided that it will all be ok. I called the woman doing my alterations, and she was unconcerned. We can either turn the gown into a corset back, which is what I really wanted from the beginning... or we can otherwise fix the issue. So hurray! I have a dress that will fit me by November! Without starvation, because I refuse to starve myself to fit into a wedding gown when I ordered it the right size. Now if only I had realized the issue was with it, and not me, I could have exchanged it for a properly fitting dress a month ago. Too late now.

Ahem. Other than that drama, and the excitement of our tasting at the hotel to pick out food for the wedding... it was a great Independence Day.

Now, back to your regularly scheduled craft content. As you may be aware, I spent the duration of the Giro d'Italia boning up on my cycling knowledge by watching two hours of bike race coverage. Every night. That was just early prep for the MAIN event in our summer activities: the Tour de France. It started July 4 (Independence! Let's celebrate with European bike racing!). Luckily for me, I enjoy watching the Tour, and I love spending so much time hanging out with my G and exclaiming over the falls and the gorgeous scenery. So far the Tour has taken our intrepid riders through Monaco (been there, loved it), Provence (lived there, loved it), and the insane TTT (Team Time Trial) through Montpellier (visited my friend there, loved it). It's like an en-cycle-pedia of my memories of France! And I've had the perfect project to work on while I watch the cyclists speed through Southern France. I am on the bind-off of the Hemlock Ring Blanket, after these few evenings of Tour coverage. They are not kidding when they say that binding off this thing takes time- after two nights, I'm still only 1/3 done. I figure by the time I finish my blanket, Lance will be back in the Maillot Jaune. After last night, he was practically there!

Never fear, however... I have plenty more to knit once my blanket is complete. For one, I am on the third ball of yarn for my Svale cotton shell. There is a slim possibility I could finish it in time to wear it this summer. I also have these crackpot ideas of doing some wedding-related knitting. We'll see how that goes.

In addition to the usual knitting, I've been stuck in my summer reading due to our book club selection. We are reading Katharine Graham's Personal History over the summer for our August meeting, and the book is equally interesting and enormous. My shoulder hurts from carrying the darn thing in my bookbag between work and home every day! I am about 1/3 of the way through, and am hoping to finish it up quickly, so I can get back on track with some lighter summer reading. Both in the figurative and the literal sense- my shoulder could do with carrying some graphic novels or young adult fiction!