The average right now is about 2000 yards per sweater. This is so much fun!
31 May 2007
Ribbit... Ribbit... Ribbit
Behold, the unraveling of sweaters!
The average right now is about 2000 yards per sweater. This is so much fun!
The average right now is about 2000 yards per sweater. This is so much fun!
27 May 2007
Goodwill Hunting
My mood has been a little off lately, so I skipped two creative gatherings this weekend and indulged in some retail therapy. This kind of mood-booster is usually a bad idea, considering my budget, but I decided that looking for specific items at thrift stores was okay. On Saturday I went to the Salvation Army for their 50% sale and got a skirt and a pair of shorts for a total of $3.50. Today I went to Goodwill and did some yarn shopping.
Yup. Yarn shopping. At Goodwill. As some of you know, there are those among us who buy cheap sweaters at secondhand stores, unravel them, soak or steam the yarn to un-kink it, and knit the yarn into things we'll actually use. Now, I've never actually done this before, but the sale at Goodwill (and the selection of sweaters) was too good to pass up.
I present: the haul.
Total: $7.92. (If they hadn't been on sale, the total would have been almost $50.)
From left to right: 55% cotton/45% acrylic (size L), 60% cotton/40% acrylic (size L), 100% cotton (size XL), 100% cotton (size S), 100% cotton (size M), 100% lambswool (size XL), 55% acrylic/45% cotton (size XL), 53% linen/47% cotton (size L).
Let the Great Unraveling begin!
Yup. Yarn shopping. At Goodwill. As some of you know, there are those among us who buy cheap sweaters at secondhand stores, unravel them, soak or steam the yarn to un-kink it, and knit the yarn into things we'll actually use. Now, I've never actually done this before, but the sale at Goodwill (and the selection of sweaters) was too good to pass up.
I present: the haul.
Total: $7.92. (If they hadn't been on sale, the total would have been almost $50.)
From left to right: 55% cotton/45% acrylic (size L), 60% cotton/40% acrylic (size L), 100% cotton (size XL), 100% cotton (size S), 100% cotton (size M), 100% lambswool (size XL), 55% acrylic/45% cotton (size XL), 53% linen/47% cotton (size L).
Let the Great Unraveling begin!
26 May 2007
Sexy
Is this not the sexiest thing you've ever seen? Susanne's ebony circs with Ella Rae "Silkience". When the pattern arrives, I'll tell you what it is so you can see how perfectly the sexy yarn and sexy needles suit it.
Sexy. Seriously.
20 May 2007
Fiber High
I've been on the receiving end of a lot of generosity lately. Sunflowerfairy gave me yarn and needles, David gave me a camera, and now Jenny from the Tobacco Valley SnB has given me fiber as encouragement to get back into spinning.
So I've been spinning. A lot. And I love it.
On Thursday, Jenny gave me all of this (wool of various breeds):
plus another bump that I spun up immediately:
Friday night, I planted myself in front of the television and spent an episode of Bones and most of While You Were Sleeping spinning the bump on the bottom right of the first picture.
It doesn't look like much there, but I covered most of it with the stuff I spun last night:
The second batch of white is part of the bump on the right in the first picture. I'll probably spend this evening finishing off that bump and maybe pre-drafting the brown.
I need to find my niddy-noddy.
So I've been spinning. A lot. And I love it.
On Thursday, Jenny gave me all of this (wool of various breeds):
plus another bump that I spun up immediately:
Friday night, I planted myself in front of the television and spent an episode of Bones and most of While You Were Sleeping spinning the bump on the bottom right of the first picture.
It doesn't look like much there, but I covered most of it with the stuff I spun last night:
The second batch of white is part of the bump on the right in the first picture. I'll probably spend this evening finishing off that bump and maybe pre-drafting the brown.
I need to find my niddy-noddy.
17 May 2007
Tagged by Sunflowerfairy
The rules:
Each person tagged gives 7 random facts about themselves. Those tagged need to write in their blogs the 7 facts, as well as the rules of the game. You need to tag seven others and list their names on your blog. You have to leave those you plan on tagging a note in their comments so they know that they have been tagged and to read your blog. Here are my facts:
1. The five books on the shelf next to my desk that don't have a fine layer of dust on them are: a dictionary, a thesaurus, a French/English dictionary, The All New Joy of Cooking, and A Basic Course In American Sign Language.
2. I electrocuted myself on Tuesday. Nothing major, just a stupid mistake while welding. Lesson learned: turn off the electricity before making your arm part of the curcuit.
3. Porcupine Tree is one of my favorite musical groups.
4. I used to write Star Wars fanfic. Slash fanfic. I also wrote a recipe for Bantha Burgers. And I waited in line for four hours to see Episode 3 at the AMC Empire theater in NYC.
5. I love thunder, lightning, and heavy rainstorms, but I hate dull, drizzly days.
6. I have more hats than I know what to do with, but no scarves.
7. I raised silkworms for a few years. In their fifth instar (their biggest size before they start spitting out fiber), their chewing sounds like a light rainfall.
I tag (and hope they'll play along):
Blithering Knitiot
Enchanting Juno
Jason Knits
Lauren's Knitting
PoMo Golightly
Sheepish Annie
Sweater Project
[Edit: Sorry about the pattern issue, folks. My webhost had some issues, so I've moved the pattern, and it should work fine now. Here you go.]
Each person tagged gives 7 random facts about themselves. Those tagged need to write in their blogs the 7 facts, as well as the rules of the game. You need to tag seven others and list their names on your blog. You have to leave those you plan on tagging a note in their comments so they know that they have been tagged and to read your blog. Here are my facts:
1. The five books on the shelf next to my desk that don't have a fine layer of dust on them are: a dictionary, a thesaurus, a French/English dictionary, The All New Joy of Cooking, and A Basic Course In American Sign Language.
2. I electrocuted myself on Tuesday. Nothing major, just a stupid mistake while welding. Lesson learned: turn off the electricity before making your arm part of the curcuit.
3. Porcupine Tree is one of my favorite musical groups.
4. I used to write Star Wars fanfic. Slash fanfic. I also wrote a recipe for Bantha Burgers. And I waited in line for four hours to see Episode 3 at the AMC Empire theater in NYC.
5. I love thunder, lightning, and heavy rainstorms, but I hate dull, drizzly days.
6. I have more hats than I know what to do with, but no scarves.
7. I raised silkworms for a few years. In their fifth instar (their biggest size before they start spitting out fiber), their chewing sounds like a light rainfall.
I tag (and hope they'll play along):
Blithering Knitiot
Enchanting Juno
Jason Knits
Lauren's Knitting
PoMo Golightly
Sheepish Annie
Sweater Project
[Edit: Sorry about the pattern issue, folks. My webhost had some issues, so I've moved the pattern, and it should work fine now. Here you go.]
14 May 2007
TIG 2
I'm making progress on Feed the Bead v.2. And I'm changing its name to "TIG 2" because I'm finicky like that.
As you can see, I've started the thumb increases earlier and spaced them out a bit. I've also waited a bit longer to split the other side so it'll be a straight line to the middle finger instead of the funky diagonal-straight-opposite-diagonal thing I did last time.
There's a little more ribbing on this one, too. I'm using more inherited crochet cotton, a little thinner and a different brand than the last stuff.
I think I'm going to even out the color by dying the glove with tea when I'm finished with it. It doesn't really show up in the pictures, but there are clean patches and dirty patches because the ball sat out in my grandmother's filthy house for years. There's a bright white stripe under the ball band, and the rest is a little more off-white because of the dust.
As you can see, I've started the thumb increases earlier and spaced them out a bit. I've also waited a bit longer to split the other side so it'll be a straight line to the middle finger instead of the funky diagonal-straight-opposite-diagonal thing I did last time.
There's a little more ribbing on this one, too. I'm using more inherited crochet cotton, a little thinner and a different brand than the last stuff.
I think I'm going to even out the color by dying the glove with tea when I'm finished with it. It doesn't really show up in the pictures, but there are clean patches and dirty patches because the ball sat out in my grandmother's filthy house for years. There's a bright white stripe under the ball band, and the rest is a little more off-white because of the dust.
11 May 2007
Feed the Bead
The TIG glove, which I've dubbed "Feed the Bead," is finished. It's not perfect, and I'm already working on a new and improved version, but it serves its purpose.
I finally got myself a YouTube account so I could show y'all how I use this thing. The #1 straight in the video is a bit thicker than the wire I use, but it's close enough for the demo.
The new version is going to have more coverage on the hand, and be tighter, especially on the thumb.
Yesterday, I took a break from welding for a few minutes and worked on the glove. One of the instructors mock-scolded me for knitting when I was supposed to be welding. Once I told him what I was making, he encouraged me to continue knitting. It probably helps that I'm ahead of the rest of my class by about four assignments.
I finally got myself a YouTube account so I could show y'all how I use this thing. The #1 straight in the video is a bit thicker than the wire I use, but it's close enough for the demo.
The new version is going to have more coverage on the hand, and be tighter, especially on the thumb.
Yesterday, I took a break from welding for a few minutes and worked on the glove. One of the instructors mock-scolded me for knitting when I was supposed to be welding. Once I told him what I was making, he encouraged me to continue knitting. It probably helps that I'm ahead of the rest of my class by about four assignments.
09 May 2007
Take Two, and TIG
David and I worked things out last night. I keep trying to write a simple overview of what happened, but the words just won't come to me, so I'll use his: we were both emotional and hasty, and we're trying it out again.
Thank you all for being so supportive. It really means a lot to me. I feel kind of stupid for delivering bad news and then taking it back... but I know that y'all want me/us to be happy, and we are. We have things to work on, but we're happy. Thank you again for being so caring and comforting.
The tough thing about being upset with someone who's a big part of my knitting life was that it was nearly impossible to look at any of my UFOs/WsIP without crying. So yesterday morning, both for want of a memory-free project and out of necessity at school, I cast on something new.
It needs a snappy name, but for now I'm just calling it the TIG glove. TIG is Tungsten Inert Gas welding, which I started learning last Monday. It involves electricity, argon gas, a tungsten electrode, and steel filler wire that gets fed into the puddle of metal melted by the electrical arc. Here are some examples of what I can do with it.
The biggest problem I've been having with TIG welding is that when my hands get even a little bit damp (and with the amount of heat coming off the metal, sweating is inevitable), the filler wire gets stuck on the skin between my index finger and thumb and on my middle finger. This makes for a really crappy weld.
Rather than get a full leather glove, I decided to make a cotton glove suited to this specific need. It's going to have a full middle finger and half a thumb, but no other digits. I'm making it out of RBC mercerized "Parisian" cotton, which is probably older than I am. I think I inherited it from my father's late mother. It's navy blue (or "Neptune") to match my school uniform (and because that's the only crochet cotton I have that isn't pink), and I'm working it on US#1s.
Yes, that's the manual for the new camera on the left. I love the camera (in spite of it being a Nikon... I'm such a Canon snob) and will be using it on a regular basis to show y'all what I'm up to. Thank you, David. You saved my blog from an image-less existance. ;-)
Thank you all for being so supportive. It really means a lot to me. I feel kind of stupid for delivering bad news and then taking it back... but I know that y'all want me/us to be happy, and we are. We have things to work on, but we're happy. Thank you again for being so caring and comforting.
The tough thing about being upset with someone who's a big part of my knitting life was that it was nearly impossible to look at any of my UFOs/WsIP without crying. So yesterday morning, both for want of a memory-free project and out of necessity at school, I cast on something new.
It needs a snappy name, but for now I'm just calling it the TIG glove. TIG is Tungsten Inert Gas welding, which I started learning last Monday. It involves electricity, argon gas, a tungsten electrode, and steel filler wire that gets fed into the puddle of metal melted by the electrical arc. Here are some examples of what I can do with it.
The biggest problem I've been having with TIG welding is that when my hands get even a little bit damp (and with the amount of heat coming off the metal, sweating is inevitable), the filler wire gets stuck on the skin between my index finger and thumb and on my middle finger. This makes for a really crappy weld.
Rather than get a full leather glove, I decided to make a cotton glove suited to this specific need. It's going to have a full middle finger and half a thumb, but no other digits. I'm making it out of RBC mercerized "Parisian" cotton, which is probably older than I am. I think I inherited it from my father's late mother. It's navy blue (or "Neptune") to match my school uniform (and because that's the only crochet cotton I have that isn't pink), and I'm working it on US#1s.
Yes, that's the manual for the new camera on the left. I love the camera (in spite of it being a Nikon... I'm such a Canon snob) and will be using it on a regular basis to show y'all what I'm up to. Thank you, David. You saved my blog from an image-less existance. ;-)
03 May 2007
Moving On
It looks like I'm single again. It hurts. We have different goals, so it was going to happen no matter what... I just wish it had been easier. A few days ago, David ordered a present for me, and it happened to arrive just in time to be a sort of parting gift.
There's now a Nikon Coolpix digital camera sitting on my desk.
I haven't played around with it much, but I did take two pictures I'd like to show you. I was feeling a little off over the weekend, and the cure turned out to be a little SEX. I got some cotton that I'll talk about later (it was a FO by the next morning), and some Patons Classic Merino that will probably become mittens or gloves.
The colors there are "Aran" and "New Denim". I'll probably work them together in a Fair Isle or Intarsia design of some sort.
I have some WsIP that require more focus and attention than I usually have at the SnB meetings, so I also have a mostly-mindless project to work on when I want to be a bit more social. I'm using more of the Dazzle Aire acrylic/nylon that the LemonEgg shrug (still unfinished) is made out of. The pattern is from the Knitting Pattern-A-Day calendar: "Lacy Winged Shawl" from March 28th. Behold, the... yellow lump!
I have plenty more of this yarn, so the shawl is going to be pretty big. Most of it is stockinette, so I can work on it without paying attention to it. (Yes, Aaron, black magic is involved.)
I haven't forgotten about the Vacation Socks... I just need some time to be okay with looking at them again. I promise I'll post about them before I finish them.
There's now a Nikon Coolpix digital camera sitting on my desk.
I haven't played around with it much, but I did take two pictures I'd like to show you. I was feeling a little off over the weekend, and the cure turned out to be a little SEX. I got some cotton that I'll talk about later (it was a FO by the next morning), and some Patons Classic Merino that will probably become mittens or gloves.
The colors there are "Aran" and "New Denim". I'll probably work them together in a Fair Isle or Intarsia design of some sort.
I have some WsIP that require more focus and attention than I usually have at the SnB meetings, so I also have a mostly-mindless project to work on when I want to be a bit more social. I'm using more of the Dazzle Aire acrylic/nylon that the LemonEgg shrug (still unfinished) is made out of. The pattern is from the Knitting Pattern-A-Day calendar: "Lacy Winged Shawl" from March 28th. Behold, the... yellow lump!
I have plenty more of this yarn, so the shawl is going to be pretty big. Most of it is stockinette, so I can work on it without paying attention to it. (Yes, Aaron, black magic is involved.)
I haven't forgotten about the Vacation Socks... I just need some time to be okay with looking at them again. I promise I'll post about them before I finish them.
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