Political commentary

I love the fact that I'm continually amazed by knitting. This weekend I discovered a new technique thanks to Cheryl Niamath and her Fetching pattern.Instead of "put next 7 stitches on a holder and continue knitting the rest of the round" followed by having to cast on, pick-up, and make huge gaps by mistake on following rounds, this pattern calls for knitting 7 stitches with waste yarn, putting them back on the left needle, then knitting the next round as normal. So essentially you are creating live stitches on top of each other. And it looks like the hand-to-thumb transition will be be snug. I'm sure most of you know of this technique since on Ravelry there are 7739 noted projects for this pattern. But if you haven't made them yet, do it! It is a fun little project.

Secondly, I am always astounded by blocking. I tried on this vest I'm in the middle of and it felt like it would most appropriately fit a 10 year old. So I doused it in water and streeeeeeeeetched it out to fit my measurements, and so far it looks like that did the trick!
Lastly, some political commentary, brought to you by Lion Brand who made up these cute patterns, and my sore hands, which have been crocheting for hours.

"My opponent wants to RAISE taxes"

"No, MY opponent wants to raise taxes"

Fight!
I can't wait for November 4 when this will all be over.

Almost famous

This week I have put my projects on hold in order to make my brother these cashmerino convertible mittens. His birthday was the 21st. He turned the big 2-0.I was knitting them at SSK on Tuesday and Lisa was also knitting fingerless mitts and needed help learning how to do cables. I love teaching people to do cables because it's so easy and I love to see their face when they realize that. Anyway, she was making the Fetchings from knitty.com, which I've been wanting to make for a while. They are one of the most popular patterns from the site. I looked at the pattern and realized that it calls for the same exact yarn I was knitting with and seeing that I had plenty extra at home I decided to make it. It might be a Christmas present, but we'll see. Here is my progress so far:
I got on a roll and stayed up too late.

Unfortunately, though, I've been neglecting my other knitting projects this week. Here is the Estes Vest everyone keeps asking about:All wadded up in a corner of the living room, in the same position for days. No I am not done yet. I just need to finish the second pocket then do the i-cord edging, which I hear takes forever.

And my Tilted Duster:Which has been in three pieces for the past couple of weeks.

And here is my Heidi stitch scarf, all frogged out. Didn't like it much. Used too small of a needle.
But here is the most exciting knitting thing that happened to me this week. I was purusing the knitting books on the way home from knitting night like I sometimes do, hovering because a cute guy was looking at home improvement books right near me, and my eye stopped on this new book:
It's part three of a series (also including One Skein Wonders and Designer One Skein Wonders) There were a few of the shiny new books there, all in a row, like they had been put there that day. I have been waiting for this book for a while. I honestly didn't think that it would come this soon. So why have I been waiting for it? Well I'll answer my own question (my pet peeve). It contains my first contract project, this crochet scarf designed by Amy.It's the brown scarf. It's not that I made that pattern; I made that scarf. As in, my little hands and size E hook manipulated the wonderful Blue Sky Alpacas Royal into a pattern Amy created, and then the scarf was shipped to the publisher who photographed it and printed it in this book. I know, I'm easily amused. Amy always tells me to not be impressed with her fame--the knitting/crochet community is not that big--but still, this is really cool to me.

She gave me a skein of this yarn as payment for my crocheting services, so I can make my own. This is part of the reason why I bought this book, since I forgot how to make the pattern already. I also just love the concept of this book. Being a youngin I can't afford too much of the ultra cher yarn, so when I do buy it I only want to buy one skein, just to try it out. This book is great for that. Yarn experimentation without emptying your bank account.

Go check it out yourself! Happy knitting...

Pick your own

Today we went apple and veggie picking @ Larriland Farms near Olney/Laytonsville, MD. We had a really fun and exhausting time. On the way in we saw this girl take a tumble on a giant pumpkin and just had to get a shot of it. Cruel, yes.
It was a tid-bit nipply outside. The southern girls were sporting their hoods.
We started on the broccoli. Ever wonder how it grows? Like this:
I stocked up.
There was also spinach, but I passed...
But I was all about dem beets!Ali strangely had enough vegetables. I never thought that was possible.

We headed for the apples. They advertise 18 varieties, but this weekend only like 4 were available. They had some great ones, though. Stayman, Braeburn, Fuji, and Empire.

The staymans were the tallest.

Reach!
She was actually off the ground here.

There was a lot of taste testing. Often followed by the descriptors "tart" or "sweet."
Heidi!Oops I tripped. It's my karma for eating apples I didn't pay for.
We stumbled upon some eggplant. Here's a wee one.
Me and my bff!
And this beauty of a green pepper.
We headed into the market/food/music area and watched this woman carve wood with a chainsaw and torch.
Ahh! I'm stuck under this glass.
And a punkin with some pumpkins. If whenever in the future I have a baby, and I do this, stop me please. It reminds me of Angela on the office when she draped the baby in lettuce. lol. This pumpkin had self-esteem issues.
This pumpkin was all scarred up. I felt bad for it and bought it. It's pretty cool actually.They had the weirdest butters and marmalades in the market. Besides the regular apple, pumpkin, and berry, they had pear, lemonade, and mint apple.
On the way home stopped in a real country store for some grub. I got an awesome pulled pork sandwich.
And back in Silver Spring, the trunk was full of fresh goodies to cook up.
What a great time! There was perfect fall weather and the day was full of great conversation, and old and new friends. Now I'm chillin at home and planning on finishing the Estes vest and perhaps the tilted duster, but don't quote me on that. Wait, err...

Hope your Saturday was fun too!

Progress...and the curse.

So I am making great progress on my Estes Vest. Here, look:I just have one more front side to do, and then it's finishing time. The pattern fortunately calls for alternating between seaming and edging, which will lessen the bore factor.

And now on a sad note...

Hello my fellow single knitters...I just wanted to share some research I recently completed. It was a mythbusters test on "the curse." Now for women in general, the curse refers to that monthly gift, but to knitters it means something totally different. I believe the saying goes, "never knit your man a sweater until you have the ring." Well, friends, my test confirms this hypothesis. And I didn't even need to knit an entire sweater, just some fingerless gloves. And vamoose. No explanation. But the curse makes sense to me now. Now I'll know for next time.

Still, I swear I should have used Red Heart Super Saver instead of Debbie Bliss Cashmerino.

Good luck and happy knitting.

Look what I can do!

Just checking in...look how much of the Estes Vest I have finished already! This project goes by way fast...

Hello again

Hi yarnies and muggles,

So I haven't been sharing much about my world with you recently, especially my knitting world. What a coincidence because I am in the middle of a wip-ending-and-beginning phase. I am still gradually working on my ripple afghan and Jeanie shawl (ok, this one not so swiftly. I think it actually has wrinkles now).

But guess what I have (almost) finished?Except that I'm just lazy enough that I don't feel like sewing the sleeves on just yet...

FYI this was my second time around making this and I made an adjustment: I put one extra buttonhole on one side of the collar a few rows after the PU edge to make it come together to a point at the bust how Ms. Gaughan intended.

I am also diligently working on my Oct-TOE-ber socks
and Noro Scarf.And I finally got Heidi to show me how to do the Heidi Stitch. This is what Amy and I call it. Heidi just invented it out of that creative little head of hers. It creates a thick, fluffy fabric, so I decided to use it with this chunky weight Jade Sapphire 100% Mongolian cashmere I was gifted.
But the most exciting thing is my newest project which I will commence knitting tonight.

I waited patiently for my Fall 2008 Interweave Knits to arrive and it never did. So I wrote a polite email to the IK peeps saying, "what's up, yo? I need to get my knit on." In so many words... And I vowed not to browse the patterns on Ravelry either. So I got it last Thursday only a few days after leaving the email. 15 minutes later I was ordering yarn for the Estes vest.


Cause you KNOW I love cables and the yarn that is called for: Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Bulky.

The yarn was shipped out Friday and today (Monday) I got this way-stuffed box in the mail.

Drumroll please...Yay! I love this yarn. It is one-ply, pretty soft for wool, and thick, so whatever you make in it will take no time.

Some other things I queued from this issue are the Little Blue Sweater

Dumpling Bag (for a quickie)
and Fresco Fair Isle Mitts
I would note more that I love, but let's face it, do any of us make more than a few things out of one issue? I wish I had the time and money to...

but alas, my Ravelry queue has 269 items!

Beyond life expectancy...yeah...

ok well happy knitting or whatever you do...