How to succeed at the WIP challenge… March 28, 2005

Go on a long road trip (if you can knit in the car!)
So here they are in order of finishing.
First, the shawl for Cherie – it was finished within the first 2 hours of the 6 1/2 hour car ride.

Great pink wonder 
Clapotis – finished the first night at the hotel, while watching a movie and snuggling with my hunky hubby. I really love this! I was going to take a pix with the dress I’m wearing to the wedding… but I’ll do that in time.

Clapotis 

One sock, finished the second night after a huge meal, while lounging on the couch at the hotel.

Jellybean sock! 

While in Vancouver, we also visited this little shop…

knit n stitch shop.  
Where said hunky hubby picked out this yarn and pattern for a sweater….

Stash enhancement!  
On the way home, I started the Lucy LU for my MIL’s birthday…

MIL sweater  

And once home I decided to start a project to be auctioned for the Fiber Arts avengers.

Toe up sock, with fruit.  

toe up sock 

Mariah is still on hold, as I wait for advice from the others working on her. But… all in all, I finished 2 projects, and started 2, so at least it’s still a zero sum game.

Going to Vancouver!! March 24, 2005

Hubby and I are off to Vancouver, BC for the weekend! A friend of mine called Wednesday night and told me that she had a time share reserved for the weekend, but couldn’t go.. and do we want the reservation? for $25 a night? Um.. yes!!! So… we’re off tomorrow afternoon. I’m trying to decide what knitting projects to take on the road. It’s at least a 5 hour drive each way.. plus any cafe knitting, and any evening knitting. And I’m planning on checking out a few local yarn shops.. any recommendations? Sounds like a great weekend, no? I think so. Oh and we’ll go out to eat and to the art gallery and some other stuff too.
So I’m almost finished with the great pink sea.. (read: Cherie’s shawl) it should be done by the end of the weekend. I think Clapotis will be done by then too. And maybe I’ll finish up one or both of the socks. I’m afully ambitious, aren’t I?

So… mariah…. I may have to frog the heck out of her. I was sort of following the pattern, and sort of following the alterations on What’s That Gonna Be and.. I think I’ve royally screwed it up. I may have to frog like… 8 inches of yoke. Sigh… not that!!! So I’m leaving her behind.. so I can think through it and decide what to do… and hopefully get some other things off my plate.

So the list, as it stands…
1. Mariah.
2. Clapotis.(finish this weekend?)
3. Great Pink Monster Shawl (finish this weekend?)
4. Monkey.
5. Ankle socks.
6. Felted Mittens for Jo ( haven’t started these yet.. but they need to get done in short order, as she is moving to AK!)
7. Lucy Lu for MIL (may take this on the trip too… like I said, I’m ambitious!)
8. Felted clogs for mom.

Whew. Oh, and I really really really want to make the Lucky Clover Wrap… and the Ribby Cardi. Ugh. I have seriously failed at the WIP challenge. Seriously. If only I could get something done!!!

Update….. with pix! March 22, 2005

So.. I’m back at Mariah. She’s yoking along nicely. I’ve decided to do some of the changes others have mentioned in order to have the yoke a little tighter, and to add the cable to the hood. I am nearing the end of the yoke decreases… so we’ll see how I do on the next step. So far, no frogging, although, the sleeves look ridiculously long!

Mariah… yoking along! 

Clapotis is also coming along nicely.. Just ready to begin the decreases.. I love her!

The Clap…. from a distance 

I am planning on wearing Clapotis with this lovely little strapless black dress to my BIL’s wedding. It will compliment this nicely…

New ink! 

And finally, I must admit, I’m not doing so well on the WIP challenge. I haven’t finished anything on my list, (which I’ll update soon) and yet Saturday I started something new while at the tattoo shop! I had to! Mariah is too big to lug around, as is the Clap.

Little sock for some distraction 

I bought yarn for a little something for my MIL for her bday… but WILL NOT start it till something is finished. I think the Clap will be first. hopefully this weekend!

What is your crafty super power? March 21, 2005

Fiber arts avengers Check it out!

I promise to update tomorrow with some pictures. Including… Mariah! (no, she’s not done yet!)

My friend Myndi had a March 14, 2005

My friend Myndi had a baby… He’s GORGEOUS. I LOVE HIM! She’s one of my knitting gurus…. so it does apply to a knitting blog

Sidiri. What a love! 

Sigh 

I’ve been tagged! March 7, 2005

By way of Stacy at Zen Knits…

1. Do you knit continental or English? English. I can knit continental, but I’m slower at it and have trouble with gauge. I’ve done one thing with two colors, and knit both english and continental at the same time…that was a SLOW project.

2. How long ago did you learn to knit? Just over 2 years ago. I decided at the holidays one year to knit a purse for my niece. (we have a family rule about making gifts…so it was a fortuitous decision!) I bought Knitting for Dummies and some kitchen cotton/metal needles at the craft store and went to town.

3. First FO? Above mentioned purse. Immediately after that I knit myself a funky square hat with tassels and matching scarf from Lion brand Microfiber in an orange/lime sherbert combo. Still love it!

4. Favorite yarn? I wouldn’t say I have a favorite. I love Cascade 220. I love how soft it is, and how well it felts. But… I’ve used so many that are delicious, it’s hard to choose just one. I love wool, and ALPACA… oh alpaca… it’s so soft and lovely. Sigh. If only I could only knit with Alpaca!

5. Favorite pattern? I wouldn’t say I have a fave pattern either. I’m loving Mariah.. it’s a challenge, and it’s turning out so wonderfully. I love the fiber trends felted clogs. Love it! I’ve knit several pairs, and they always turn out nice.

6. Favorite pattern source? Knitty.com… I have to echo this sentiment. I love Knitty. I can always find something fun to knit from there.

7. Favorite needles? Bamboo, I love the warmth of bamboo! I also love my denise interchangeable set… I just bought my first addi turbo circs for knitting socks with the magic loop method. So far, so good.

8. Nicest thing you’ve ever knit? I’d say Mariah at this point. It’s not done, but it’s my first sweater, so I’m pretty excited about it.

9. Most hated project? Unfortunately, I’m still working on it. It’s a pink shawl for my husbands wonderful cousin. The pattern is fun and easy, and the yarn is a lovely soft pink cascade 220… but I just don’t like pink. So it kind of grates on me when I work on it…

10. Who are you going to pass this on to? Apparently, I have to pass to 3 people… so I choose…. A @ Knit Spiral Jen @ Jen knitter and a newbie to knitting blogs… Joi @ Naked Monkey Knits.

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Ok… so in knitting news…. I am a complete failure at the WIP challenge. Yesterday, I started TWO new projects. I started the Crusoe sock, in the Jellybean, but didn’t like the way it was turning out, so I bought some Sockotta and started it with that. Then, when I got home from the LYS where I was knitting, I started another sock with the Jellybean. I’m crazy! I think I’ll rip out the jellybean sock, and look at other patterns, as the pattern I was going to use is the same one i just used last week. I think there is a cute one in the recent Interweave Knits.

Mariah is all on one needle.. and the yoke is coming along slowly. I’m nervous about working on it for some reason. Probably because to frog at this point could be devastating.

Clapotis is also coming along slowly. It’s easy, and relatively fast to knit… maybe I’ll focus there for a while. I also have the pink shawl to finish… if I could just knit that and nothing else for a few days, it would be done. Oh, decisions, decisions.

FO.. but no pix! March 6, 2005

I finished and felted my niece’s clogs, and my other niece’s purse. They were perfect and sweet. And I gave them away with out taking a picture! Dangit! i hate it when i do that!
Tonight, while drooling over all the skin in Troy, I finally finished the fronts and started the yoke of Mariah. I’ll post a pix tomorrow. I’m thinking of continuing the cable up the hood, but need some instruction first.
I found some more of the light pink yarn to finish the shawl for R’s cousin Cherie… If only I could force myself to knit it! It’s just too much pink for a girl like me. I found that knitting the yoke of Mariah is a lot harder than i thought (read: must pay attention) so I guess i can work on the great pink wonder when I’m too distracted to work on Mariah.
The clap is plodding along. slow….. but nice.
I must admit…. that I desperately want to start another pair of socks. I want to knit the Crusoe pattern in magic stripe Jellybean! I decided I wanted to try the magic loop method, and try to knit two socks at the same time…. but I really want to finish one more WIP before I begin. I honestly don’t think it’s possible. Each one i have on my plate will take a while, and a girl can’t be expected to knit one thing for that long! We’ll see. i did take a break last week and knit the clogs and the purse. Oh, and the other socks. Yes… I AM a knittingfiend!