How Funny

My mostly dormant blog got all kinds of unusual activity this week, which is strange, but when I checked it out, I immediately figured out why: that "Andrea Needs" meme has been going around the web once again. Funny.

I was actually thinking about blogging lately, as a matter of fact, because in addition to knitting, I've been learning to sew! And so I've been sewing things like this:




and this:



and this:



and this:



Except usually when I think of blogging, it's time to get ready for work, or some other such nonsense. Just like now...

Spot the differences

I wonder if you can spot any difference between these two photos:






(And if you say that I appear to have gained about 30 pounds, you would probably be correct, but c'mon, do you really want to hurt my feelings and allow a certain coldness to creep into our friendship thereby alienating us from one another? I didn't think so.)

Give up? Okay, I'll tell you. I finally finished the Fluffy Pull-Off Lace Cowl from "Weekend Knitting." Started in October 2004, mostly finished since pretty early in 2005, finally blocked and crocheted on the edging in April 2008. If you have Ravelry access, you can read all the gory details here.

Oh, yes, it's also possible that I may have grown, oh, about a foot of hair in the interim...

Maybe I'll post for a change

So, I've actually been knitting quite a lot lately. Someone, or rather, come to think of it, a few someones in my knitting group have commented lately at how they are glad to see that I am a knitter again. What can I say? Knit happens.

No pictures this morning, as I am posting surreptitiously from work and don't have a cord for my camera here.

Let's see, I finished up Charlie's Christmas socks finally.

I finished the black and pink 80s scarf.

I wove in the ends on my black cashmere feather and fan scarf, but now I want to tack them down with some fabric-tak glue stuff (the yarn is so slippery, they'd never stay in!) and block it.

I'm going to rip out the Manos del Uruguay scarf and re-do it or re-purpose the yarn, alternating balls every row.

I ripped out the 75%-completed-but-too-small, green feather and fan sock I was making out of Apple Laine Apple Butter in the Army Surplus colorway and re-knit the whole sock. I've started on the second sock already. I had to go up not one but two needle sizes to size 3s to get gauge. Sheesh.

I've been updating ravelry like crazy, but mainly with getting stuff into there from years prior to 2005! I have a ways to go to catch up to the present. I have some photos from before I had a digital camera, because I was always a documentarian when it came to my knitting (along with many other areas of my life), but I need to get them out of storage and scan them in. I've also only barely touched the tip of the iceberg for getting photos of stash in there. I just need some good daylight and some free time.

Incidentally, I'm infiknits on Ravelry. Somebody took "knitterpatter" before I got an invite. Can you believe it? I had always wanted to use infiknits for my blog, but that was back when I was thinking of starting some sort of yarn-related business or do some designing or whatever, and there is actually already a company called Infiknit located in Canada so that was out. Plus then I never did any sort of fiber-y business (yet!)

Well, on that note, maybe I should get back to the business I'm currently in (acquisition management...) I leave you with this link: Thousand Dollar Dress. Possibly the coolest thing anyone ever did with their wedding dress after using it for their actual wedding. It's like those "trash the dress" photo shoots photographers like to do x 1,000. A warning: there are two photos on there that are possibly not safe for work inside the gallery. I mean, they're not terrible, I looked at them anyway, but then again, I have a bad attitude lately...

Even I Occasionally Finish Something

Okay, I have not exactly been known for my project finishing lately. Er, for the last couple years. But I did knit Molly some socks for Christmas, and here they are:



These were made from Regia 4faedig Ringel Color, in color 5048, and they are truly happy socks, as you can see. The pattern is from Sensational Knitted Socks by Charlene Schurch, specifically from the Four-Stitch Ribbing Patterns section. I cast on 56 stitches on size 2 needles and did a double moss stitch pattern.

In other news, this is our weather today:



Aargh! Shovel is for scale, but I used the snow blower on most of the driveway. Thank god for the snowblower is all I have to say. My back is killing me anyway...

Wow.

And, also, seriously, holy crap.

Okay, honestly, the next time I think I'm a pack rat, or I really should rein it in with the books, or the yarn, or the enormous Strawberry Shortcake collection (a story for another day...maybe when we move I'll post a photo to show what two separate crazy eBay frenzies led me to accumulate), I'll remember this and feel a little bit better.

You should read my friend's novel!

A long-time friend whom I've known for around half my life has just published her first novel! I'm very excited for her, and thought I'd promote her book here (and all over, so some of you have probably already received messages from me). Anyway, you can check out her website at:

http://www.kathrynmaughan.com

and the accompanying video sharing website at:

http://www.myunexpectedangel.com

The book is available to order from Amazon. So check it out!! Kathy is such a talented writer, and if you feel like you know someone who would also be interested in her book or her video sharing website, please pass the information along!

Random bits

Okay, these are things seen on other people's blogs, so it's not like there's any original content here if you happen to read those blogs. But they are just some things that amused me or that I'd like to remember.

First up we have Daily Lit, found via A Dress a Day (who also writes the fabulous Dictionary Evangelist blog, and I wish I knew how I could be her when I grow up (a dictionary editor -- someone paid to geek out about linguistics!) I love the concept of Daily Lit -- for free, you can read daily bits of novels via RSS feed or via e-mail (and as Erin points out at A Dress a Day, you can read it in your e-mail at work and pretend your working -- what's not to love about that??)

Next, check out this exquisitely beautiful Fair Isle sweater called Autumn Rose, found via Claudia's Blog. I haven't seen too many Fair Isles that I would really contemplate knitting and wearing, but this one tempts me mightily...

Finally, found via JenLa, fairly insane knitted toys. Tres amusing...

So, I keep saying that I really have been knitting over the past year, and my knitting friends from the Needlepoint Joint Thursday Knitters group could attest to that, even though the knitting has not been prolific or all that steady. However, I finally got it together enough to show some photos of what I've been up to. And I even got myeslf going in Flickr rather than Photobucket, because I am a lemming, and I want to be ready when I get my Ravelry invite, which should be in about 11 days, I'd guess, at the rate they've been adding people lately... Actually, I already did have a Flickr account from an incident a while ago when photobucket wasn't working correctly, but I just downloaded some slick Flickr Uploadr software for my Mac that lets me drag and drop from iPhoto and then upload a whole batch of photos, and it's really quite slick. I highly recommend it if you're a Mac user.

Anyway. On to the photos!


Feather and Fan cashmere scarf

Here is a simple feather and fan scarf made from two skeins of Mountain Colors cashmere in the single color Raven, which apparently they don't make any more. This is the second of these scarves that I made -- I gave the first to my mother as a gift some time ago, but never photographed. Then I made one exactly the same for myself, which I finished ages ago, except for weaving in the tails. Yeah, I don't think I have woven in any tails for well over a year now. It's all slacker knitting, all the time lately for me -- the point being just to be physically knitting, rather than any actual finishing.


Scarf Detail


Stalled Feather and Fan Socks, a lousy photo

Next up are the stalled feather and fan socks of old out of Apple Laine Apple Pie yarn in Army Surplus. I suppose these are stalled until I admit the inevitable. They are too small and need to be ripped out. And the yarn and pattern are too lovely to abandon entirely, so I think I will re-do them.


Not a Wedding Shawl

Here's the shawl I got the insane notion to knit for my wedding. That was rapidly abandoned as life careened out of control with intense wedding planning and an even more intense new job. It's the Mediterranean Lace Shawl from A Gathering of Lace. I don't even know if I have enough of the yarn I chose to finish it, some sort of Madil if I remember right without looking. Now I'll just say I started knitting it on the occasion of my wedding.

Here's a little detail, though lace still looks like crap before it's blocked, that's for sure:



Next up is a scarf that I knit mostly on my honeymoon. I think this is another item that will likely be ripped out, because the two skeins of Manos del Uruguay that I used definitely do not match well, so it's a half and half scarf:


Probably a Do-Over

Finally, another scarf out of Manos-like yarn, though I can't remember the name for sure, and I'm too lazy to get up and find the ball band right now, which is around half finished. I love the 80s color scheme of electric pink and black:


80s Scarf!

So, basically, you can see a lot of desulatory knitting has gone on. I've also worked on my Greek Key Afghan a bit lately, and I started some Christmas socks for Molly on Thursday (good thing she can't read much and isn't very computer savvy yet!)

Also, I note that several of those pictures suck. I don't know if I'm just rusty with the camera, or if my camera is starting to give up the ghost after one too many dips in rivers and snow banks and oceans (I know it's all weather, and those dips were mostly in the carrying case, but that probably only gets you so far...)

There. Whew! Long blogging is exhausting!