Twisty Twisty

Look what I made! Yes, it actually resembles yarn. I am still getting the hang of drafting the fiber while treadling steady. It's more complicated than I thought, but when I was concentrating, I did make something that resembled a single ply.

Fiber: brown Louet 100% wool from the Drop Spindle Kit
Wheel: Ashford Kiwi
Ratio: 5.5:1

Sunday Plan

The deal for today is that I will work on the Crazy Monkeys for mom. As a reward, once every hour or two, I will play with my spinning wheel. (I found a deal for some raw fleece, and wish to be a decent spinner before I take the plunge of buying a few pounds of fleece...)

I would like to get the heel turned on these socks today, and that way I can work on the Central Park Hoodie for a little bit as well.

I got some new yarn. The yarn I put on order a few months ago finally got shipped to Weaving Works, so I went to pick that up (Universal Yarns Classic Worsted Long Print). In keeping with my "No Use Credit" thing, I paid in cash for the lot. Then I checked the sale bins. There was Austermann Step in there! You know, the yarn that has Aloe and Jojoba oil in it? Yep. Got two skeins at half price. *squeee* I had been wanting to play with it, but couldn't justify the cost of the one skein, especially since I hadn't seen any colors I really liked. Dude, one of the skeins knits up into something that resembles tiger stripes! Yay!

In addition, I picked up the new Knit.1 Spring/Summer 2009 (click to get the pictures), (which I am annoyed to report is not currently listed in Ravelry...they have the patterns set up, but no photos). I wish to do the Double-Sided Scarf (third row down, first photo, scarf on the right)(in purple and black, naturally). Nothing like justifying the purchase of 2 skeins of Kidsilk Haze, huh? When my budget allows, I will buy that. Other patterns in that issue: I am thoroughly amused by the ottoman cover (second row from the bottom, last photo). The rockstar story line has one decent shirt (the leaf yoke top, fourth row down, last photo) and the rest seems contrived. I kind of like the Rib and Ridge Stripe Cardigan (second row down, first photo), but feel that it would do better in a thinner yarn. The sock patterns are interesting, and created by some of my favorite people (Grumperina, Cookie A, Yarnissima, and Cat Bordhi of course). Rest assured that when I am a different shape than I am currently, I will certainly knit the Surplice Wrap (second row up, first photo).

Hmmm. While perusing the Knit.1 site, it appears that the magazine was not supposed to go on sale until May 5th. Bad juju. Oops, I guess someone at the LYS made a boo boo.

I also received the new Interweave Knits mag on Friday. The first thing that really struck me when I opened up the magazine wasn't really anything to do with Interweave. It was the big ad on page 25 saying that Euroflax Linen is now being treated with a compound to soften the yarn up a little more. Holy crap. That's awesome, because having to soak the yarn in the skein with conditioner before knitting with it was easy enough to do, but it took time out of my knitting with it. *beam* I can't wait to see how well this works up!

[Back to the magazine] First things first! Techknitter has a first article! It's well written (as can be expected) and it is all about jogless stripes. Let me say, I have been reading the TechKnitting blog for a few years now, and am so excited to see that all the goodness is getting printed in Interweave. It's about damn time! I totally squee'd when I read on the blog that this was to occur, so you can understand just how much I was squeeing when I was actually reading the magazine. Please buy Interweave Knits, if only for this article!

Second, the articles, as usual, are decent, and share a little info that you might not have known before. But let's talk about the Patterns! From the "New Heirloom" section, I will certainly be doing the Great Gatsby dress Mari Lynn Patrick designs things that are simply delicious.



Annie Modesitt's Laura's Cardigan is a design where I like the shaping but hate the coloring. It will be something I knit in another color. Well done, though.



I really like the color and shape of the Grotto Wrap by Karen Kendrickhand, but if you look closely at the first photo, the sleeves are too short for the model. Make sure you double check the desired length before binding off those sleeves!



In the "Forever Lace" section, I was excited to learn that I could do the OneShot Lace Hat with a single skein that I had sitting around. Anything that used less than 200 yards makes me happy. The Luminarie Lace skirt (another Annie Modesitt) is pretty, and may be a good thing for when I am bored out of my skull from doing socks.



All in all, I was pleased with the patterns for the Summer Interweave (usually fall is when the really good patterns come out)

Well, which ones will you be knitting?

Something He Said To Me...

I was just reading through the Entrepreneurial Dreams ravelry thread about "what are you escaping from?" and it struck me.

I have a job, sure. But as my lead said to me "This is just a paycheck. Don't take anything personal here. It's just a way to get a paycheck." Keep in mind, this lead is entirely too young and too new to be this jaded. But definitely had a point. It is just a job. I am using them for health insurance to pay for my insulin, and I am making sure I can pay rent and food costs. It is simply a means to get somewhere else. My job will provide me with one class per quarter. Great! And it helps me get to where I am going....

Trouble is, I have no idea where I am going now. I'd like to up and quit and simply open that yarn shop. Unfortunately, my logical side is saying that I should go back to school and get an MBA first. I know that 60% of small businesses fail. I know I need a plan B. It just so happens that my plan B involves me investing my time in school before doing the dream job.

What do you think? Shop or school?

90% done!!!

I seamed up the CPH yesterday. It was not as hard as I thought it would be. I mean, realistically, Mattress stitch isn't hard. I just obsess about things (you can thank my dad for that trait).





Miss Pixel decided that I required her help, of course. Such a cute kitty.

And yes, I did start the hood, then promptly mis-crossed a cable, so as soon as I am back to that section, I will be dropping some stitches in order to make it right. My biggest worry right now is that I will not complete this sweater before summer comes, due to some gift knitting that must be accomplished.

The Monkeys for Mother's Day are coming along nicely. I am one repeat into the pattern on the instep. I have decided that Father shall also receive socks for Father's Day...it's just a matter of getting measurements. Oh, and his will be made out of Regia bamboo color, because dad seems to think wool might be too warm for summer. :P

Stopped over at the Fiber Gallery yesterday. I needed to pick up coil-less safety pins in order to mark where to pick up stitches for the hood and the button bands. And then I promptly fell into a wool pile. I had completely forgotten that they were having an anniversary sale, and that I was to avoid yarn shops for that very reason. The good news is, I spent less than LB thought I would. I came home with some Elsebeth Lavold Cotton Patine in a cornflower blue color. And then some Cascade Pastaza (llama and wool, who can argue?). Oh. And I bought the Namaste Newport bag that I have been eyeing. They had it in Eggplant. Yes, I have a purple purse now. All in all, it was a fun day. And I even updated my stash on ravelry in order to reflect my recent purchases. Go me.




Off to work now. Hopefully it will be a slow day and I can get some knitting done. :)

Only A Hood To Go!

I finished the other sleeve last night, and they are both blocking now. The next thing on the list is to sew it all up so I can do the hood. Good thing mattress stitch isn't as hard as it looks, right? Of course, the sewing up won't really get done til Sunday, I think. Of course I will work on it the other few days, but I think it'll be a two weekend project. On the bright side, I hope to have a Central Park Hoodie that is actually wearable by May! I have decided to do a zipper closure, simply because, it might be a pain in the butt to insert, but I think the years of use I will be getting out of this sweater will make it well worth the wait.

I have decided to do Crazy Monkeys for my mom for Mother's Day. For those who do not know, Crazy Monkeys are Jennifer O'Sullivan's toe up adaptation of the Cookie A Monkey Pattern available on Knitty. Now, unlike some people, I love Cookie A patterns because of their seeming complexity. Makes me feel quite clever to execute one of the patterns despite the fact that they are written out completely in the pattern. I wish to feel clever.

Yarn chosen for this project is Yarn Lust All That Glitters sock yarn in Emerald This stuff SPARKLES. And since Mom likes shiny (much like her daughter...) I thought this would be fitting.

The surprising thing about this pattern is that I got gauge on the first try. So, you KNOW that means that there will be some sort of horrible gauge war once the socks are on the needles. :P Oh well. It's worth it. This stuff is squooshy.

Now, because I have no other photos to share, here is a picture of my breakfast this morning: Pastry Puffins and coffee

*sigh*

My lead is an abrasive power hungry monster who delights in ordering people around who happen to know how to do their job...better than she does.

I hate my job *still*

Pretties!

Let me show you what I have done! I finished the first sleeve on the Central Park Hoodie, and am now working on the second one. The funny part about it is that I had used a TINY bit more than one skein of yarn. I got to where you start binding off, and had to attach another ball. *giggles*




I am still happy about this last weekend. It was so much fun! Hopefully that happiness will get me through the rest of the week.

OH! And I took a class last night, called "How to Start Your Own Business" aka Business Plan 101. As it turns out, I have been doing everything right. I had been invesigating the market, and deciding what my target market would be, and also discovered that I have a mind for business. Maybe getting an MBA isn't such a bad idea. Of course, the tuition hike still may affect the Masters programs....

Anyways, go me! :D