Nonbloggable thing two

I'm about at that point where the second nonbloggable project is beginning to be both cool and a slog at the very same time. It's big enough now that I can truly admire my work, and to have some nice drape while I'm knitting. At the same time, I'm not quite halfway through the repeats, and I certainly have the stitch pattern memorized, and I'm pretty much done. Ready to move on with my life, and get on with other things. Oh well, nearly halfway done is definitely progress!

I have this desire to knit sweaters. Things that are cute. Things that are warm and cuddly and appropriate for my new/old office, where business casual is the order of the day. The job change is brilliant thus far, and I'm ecstatic to be back downtown again. There are some trade-offs, of course- my commute is longer, and if I oversleep and miss the 8:04am bus I end up not getting a seat on the train, not being able to knit, and generally being stuffed like a sardine for 45 minutes. Oh! And the commute bumps up to at least a full hour, instead of 45 minutes or so. But I'm not complaining exactly, because on the mornings when I do get up in time and make my early bus I have so much blissful knitting time. SEVEN rows of lace, at the very least, just in the morning commute. For some reason the evening commute isn't as productive, knit-wise, since I can't always get a seat or such perfect conditions in my favor. But I'm adjusting. And of course the evening commute is longer than it used to be, but since I now get on metro ahead of Metro Center (the main transfer point), the cars are blissfully uncrowded for a stop or two, so again... I am able to sit down, take a load off, and knit knit knit my way home.

Not only is the job enjoyable, my commute is actually a joy. I wish it weren't basically two hours of my day, but as long as I'm able to knit and read on the way, I can't really complain too much! In the end, that's how I'm so close to halfway done with nonbloggable thing two. I hope to finish it by the first of September (which would mean a total of about 3 weeks from start to end). And then I can block thing 1 and thing 2 simultaneously.

I went to the Mannings on Saturday last for their Annual Knit-In. It was good to check out the place, though it was a very quiet day- I'm not sure if it was entirely worth four hours of driving. The drive was pleasant, however, and I am glad I went for the first time. I also used my time productively, to plan out nonbloggable thing three- it's not an actual pattern, but a combination of stitch patterns from Nancy Bush's Estonian Lace book. I was very proud of myself for figuring out the math, all on my own with just my cell phone calculator for the trickier analysis. I can't wait to get to work on it- if nothing else, because it will be a NEW stitch pattern to memorize, and a much longer pattern repeat at that. Did I mention that I can't wait to knit sweaters? After all this lace, I'm thinking I'll do the February Lady Sweater out of my MDSW Tess Yarn, and then I'm turning my life over to Kauni:



It calls to me.

A case of the Mondays

I finished nonbloggable project one on Saturday, and immediately cast on for number two! So far it's going well, but I have this to note: bamboo needles and nupps are a horrible, horrible combination. So I went on an excursion to find Addi Turbo Lace needles, in a size 4 (I only own a 6). In retrospect, the 6 might have been better, but after finishing the edging and two repeats, it's far too late now!

I went to Knit Happens in Alexandria first, and found my needle there immediately. I investigated some yarn options, but didn't see anything necessary for now, so I headed out. I wandered up the main street, aiming for the new Fibre Space shop that was only a few blocks away. The heat did me in, however, and I went back to my car. Turns out I was only a block from the new store when I gave up, which was a bit sad. I parked (again), and was delighted with what I found. The shop, owned by the former Knit-a-Gogo people, was super cute and I loved the decor. I will definitely be stopping back there again! I succumbed to picking up some Louet Gems. If not to be used on a very near-to-come project, the Gems in fingering weight will make for beautiful stockings. I also got a ball of cotton chenille, because I made a washcloth for Sharyn once and would like one of my own!

Really, it was a delightful diversion. I hardly ever drive nowadays, and I enjoyed toodling down to Old Town Alexandria and wandering around. I even managed to find my "something blue" for the wedding. Most of all, I was shocked at myself for being true to my task- the needles were necessary, and the rest was very well-reasoned and inexpensive. And I got to thinking that I bought two skeins of laceweight for nonbloggable projects, and now this- but that's it since Sheep and Wool in May.

Have I turned over a new leaf? Am I no longer a crazy Stasher?

I spent an hour or two on Sunday tidying up the sewing room, and it definitely still looks like I have achieved SABLE status. Stash Acquisition Beyond Life Expectancy is mine. Once this wedding is over, I'm rededicating myself to knitting socks, I think- I really do have an awful lot of sock yarn, all over the place!

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!

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.