Ballet T-Shirt

Pattern: Ballet T-Shirt
Source: Loop-d-Loop by Teva Durham
Yarn: Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece
Size: Women's Small/Medium

I wanted to a closer fit through the body and a longer length than the pattern gave. So after the decrease row, I knit even to round 58; that was my first increase round. I knit three even, did another increase round, and knit three more rounds even before binding off.

Clapotis

As promised ...

Pattern: Clapotis

Source: Knitty.com

Yarn: Knit Picks Andean Silk, 8 balls

Size: As written

Love, love, love love!! This is so soft and warm and drapey ... it's fabulous. I'm so happy I made this. :-)

Wait, It's Done?

How is September over already? I swear time is going by faster as I get older.

The ballet t-shirt was a fast knit ... I cast on Friday at 10 p.m., and was weaving in ends by 10 p.m. Saturday. Sweet! I really was not expecting it to be so fast. Since I have Mr. Fury at my disposal, I'll have him take some pics for me. I also finished weaving in the ends on my Andean Silk Clapotis this morning, so there will finally be a FO post for that one.

The baby shower was fun despite my lack of knitted gifts. (I brought a homemade dessert so I think that helped to temper it a bit in my mind.)

My pompom love continues unabated. I don't really want them on anything I'm wearing, but I do have a weird desire to festoon inanimate objects with them. Maybe I can get away with some pink pompoms on the scooter after Mr. Fury leaves town ...

September was a good month for knitting. Five finished projects, including the full-size Clappy. Not too shabby.

Decisions...

I have been feeling meh about knitting this week. Foliage is on hold because I lost another stitch while knitting the hat body, and I just don't feel like frogging it back. There was some hospital-related stuff I had to deal with over the last several days (everything is fine now), so I won't be able to finish the baby hat before the shower this weekend. I'm really bummed about it, but I don't want to rush through and have it not be perfect. So I will just give it to my friend a bit later.

However, I did come to a conclusion ... the half-finished Turtleneck Tube Vest that's been hibernating since June? I frogged it. If I decide I want it later, I'll make it. But in the meantime, I think I'll use the yarn for the Ballet T-Shirt from Loop-d-Loop.

Mr. Fury is home for the weekend before heading to Vegas for a month, so I need to get some cleaning done tonight!

I Don't Learn

Hubris gets me once again. I finished the crown increases on the Foliage hat for my mom, moved on to the circular needle, and started the first pattern row of the hat body. As I began the last two 8-stitch repeats, I realized I'm off by one stitch. Dammit.

As a lesson to myself (it would've been so sensible to add a lifeline when I knitted onto the circular), I will unknit the entire row, stitch by stitch, until I find the mistake and fix it. And then I will run a lifeline on the row.

I need to clean today but I'm feeling extremely unmotivated. There are also some wee errands to run, and I'm meeting a friend for a tea break later.

My toes are at that really stiff point in the healing process, right before they start peeling. Every time I look down and see them, they make me smile. Hee.

Mmmmm, Cupcake!

I whipped this up over three evenings this week ... it was a smash hit at the baby shower today! The father's nickname is Cupcake, so it was definitely apropos. And there were vanilla cupcakes with pink frosting at the shower, too. :-)

This was my first time ever making a pompom (i.e. I bought the pompom-maker about two hours before the shower started). I can't say I loved the pompom process, but it sure is cute on there. Viva la pom!

Pattern: Cupcake Hat
Source: Chile con Yarne
Yarn: Plymouth Encore Worsted (1 skein pink, 1 skein vanilla, with LOTS left over)
Size: Baby

It's a great pattern, but the decreases seemed a little wonky. I'd probably adjust them if I made this again. Everything else about it is genius!


Before the shower, I went to one of two new LYSes in town, the Knitting Nest. Just to take a little peeksie. It definitely has great potential! I talked to the owner and she is super nice. I didn't get any yarn, but I did get some of those little "knitted by" gift tags. The grand opening party is October 13, so I'll definitely stop by for that.

This Little Piggy

If you think getting good photos of your FOs is hard, try taking a picture of your own toes that doesn't make you look like you have the gout.

The usual fresh-tattoo picture disclaimers apply (re: redness, swelling, shininess from ointment, etc.)

Done, of course, by Hez at Gully Cat.

Yarn and Ink

I put aside Clapotis' many yarn ends in favor of a baby cupcake hat for Saturday. That nubble row was no fun to work, but boy, is it cute!

Tomorrow I am planning on going to Arts & Drafts, which is a craft circle at a local coffeeshop/bar. It's been a long time since I knit socially. :-)

On Friday night I am stopping by the tattoo shop for a quick appointment. I'm getting my toes done with one letter on each: k 2 p 2 k 2 p 2 k 2

I revel in my dorkiness. :-)

One Hand Clapping

I finished knitting Clapotis today ... now all that's left is to weave in the many ends! The thing is huge, but also very soft and warm. Rock! I am not sure when I'll weave in the ends but I've been wearing it around the house anyway. :-)

Went to the LYS today and got some Berroco Chinchilla to make baby hat #1. Oh, dear. It is very hard to work with this stuff. I've set it aside and will revisit it tomorrow; there might have to be a plan B. (Which would be the baby cupcake hat.)

I had an idea for either an anniversary or Xmas present for Mr. Fury, depending on how fast I can get it done ... he will be gone for October, so I'll have some time to work on it freely. I am thinking of doing a shadow knitting project, but the idea of creating my own chart is a little daunting!

Pajamas at Noon

My photoshoot today was very low-key ... just me and one other model, in the fantastic pajamas my friend designed. My friend also makes rubber clothes and crochets; she's a very talented woman.

Tomorrow I am going to figure out a pattern and get yarn for the baby hat I need for next Saturday. That probably means Clapotis will have to go on the back burner -- which sucks, because it's so close to finished. Hopefully I'll have time to do both this week.

My other big project is to go through my truly terrifying closet and whip it into shape. It's a wreck, so I can never find anything in the abyss. Today I got some hanging closet organizers -- actually a set of three for $20, which is pretty sweet. (They are sort of like this, but all three are shelf-y ones). I'm going to go through everything and hopefully accumulate a pile to sell at Buffalo Exchange.

TGIF

It's been a long week, even though I only worked three days!

Tomorrow I'm doing a photoshoot for a friend's pajama design line ... should be very fun! Other than that I have no real plans for the weekend except a) finishing season three of The Office and b) finishing Clapotis! I just did the drop-stitch row on the 12th of 13 straight-row repeats. Woot!

The Andean Silk is soooooo soft knitted up. I wish the skeins didn't have so many knots, though.

D.C. Ruled!

Whew! We had a great trip to D.C. despite some ... setbacks.

There was a snafu with our hotel reservation (let's just say the place was really, really not acceptable) that resulted in a lot of lost time in trying to find a place last-minute for Wednesday night and then for the rest of the trip. Fortunately, on Thursday we checked in at Hotel Helix, which was awesome. I never get to stay at boutique hotels, so that was really a treat.

Mr. Fury had a show on Thursday night ... when we woke up on Friday, I realized that I am extremely allergic to something in D.C. My entire face was covered in hives!! It wasn't that I just looked frightening -- it itched and burned like hell. That restricted a lot of what we were doing for the rest of the trip, but we did make it to the zoo on Friday. We didn't get to see the black-footed ferrets, but the meerkats totally made up for it.

Saturday we went to Stitch D.C. and I got a souvenir skein of Scarlet Fleece Painted Merino in Poodle Skirt. We met up with my friend Cherry for dinner; she just moved back to Virginia after living in Austin (she was a Cheerleader with me). We went to Mr. Fury's show after dinner and had a great time.

Sunday we went to the Smithsonian -- art, air and space, and natural history. It was a lot of fun but we were pretty tired by that point. :-) Yesterday we flew back home. The flight from Houston to Austin was delayed by an hour but we were sitting next to a really cool girl who happens to know several people I do. That was neat.

Luckily my skin is starting to clear up now that I'm back in Austin. I took today off work; Mr. Fury left this morning for two and a half weeks in Canada, so I'm on my own. I have a few errands to run but I think I will mostly work on Clapotis before practice tonight ... I've made it through 9 of the 13 straight section repeats.

Northward Bound

We are D.C.-bound today ... woohoo! If nothing else, I'm excited to start on my traveling project, the full-size Clapotis. ;-) To distract myself over the long weekend after I finished the second PICC arm band, I whipped up a little Dream Swatch using the leftovers from my mini-Clap.

Pattern: Dream Swatch
Source: Knit and Tonic
Yarn: SWTC Bamboo, color Bougainvillea, less than 1 skein

I only cast on 18 stitches instead of 24, because I prefer my headbands on the thinner side. But I didn't account for the stockinette rolling, so it's a touch too thin now. Next time, 24 stitches. I also don't remember offhand how long it is -- I knit until I was sick of it. :-)

Okay, gotta finish packing ... I tend to pack my diversions (yarn, needles, books) before I get around to packing socks and cosmetics. Hey, I have priorities.

PICC Arm Band II

Whew ... I am so glad our special show is over! The audience consisted largely of drunk teenagers, and our show consisted largely of skimpy costumes and smashing stuff. (Those cheapie ukeleles you get at the party store? They explode if you hit them against something. Ask me how I know.)


Last night I finished the second PICC arm band for my mom. I'm going to see her this afternoon, so I'll take it to her then. (Okay, I need to weave in a few ends first. Whatever, it's still finished. Even if I have to finish the finishing!)


I'm more pleased than I expected with the Knit Picks Shine. It really is comparable to Classic Elite Premier and Cascade Pima Tencel. Good stuff.


Today I went to DSW and bought three pairs of shoes -- two of which are absolutely screaming to be worn with cute handknitted socks. I should get on that, after I do some baby knittin' for the two showers I have this month.

New Camera!

This is my first attempt at getting a knitting shot with my new camera. Not too shabby -- and definitely a lot better than what I could do with my old camera! I still need to figure out the best settings for good knitting photos, but I'm learning.
The new camera has a timer too, so I'll be able to take my own FO pictures when necessary. ;-)

It's a Canon SD1000 PowerShot. And it rules. Mr. Fury thinks it's silly for me to be so enchanted by the color accent feature. Heh.

Anyway, this is a second PICC arm band for my mom, with the MC and CC reversed. I swore to myself I wouldn't start Clapotis until we were either a) at the airport or b) I'd finished the second PICC arm band.

Tonight is our special show (as opposed to the regular ones we do with the band) ... it's going to fun and chaotic, and man will I be glad when it's over!