Retail therapy

I haven't paid a visit to our LYS in Brea for quite awhile. The drive alone was worth it, seeing how beautifully green the hills were after the recent rains, glowing emerald in the late afternoon sunlight. Twenty minutes and over $80.00 later, I have three more skeins of yarn - 2 skeins of Trendsetter Tonalita yarn (made in Italy), in a multiple grey colorway that should stripe. It's like a storm over the ocean, the same yarn featured in the L.A. Times slouch beret pattern. Looking forward to making that one. I also shot my (plastic) budget with one skein of Tilli Thomas Rock Star yarn, 100% silk with these incredible luminescent glass beads in the American Beauty colorway, a deep ruby/rose red. $42.00 for 100 grams. *gulp* It is just so delicious, so damn beautiful, I had to have it. The store had a little bag made up in this yarn with some matching silk dupioni - absolutely incredible. I think I'm going to use the Louisa Harding "Charlotte" purse pattern - it's rather small and plain, so the beading and the yarn will be the feature, not the stitches. I almost fainted when I saw the price tag, but my gosh, some things are to die for, and after all, rubies are my birthstone (that's my story and I'm sticking to it...)

I will take photos of the stash and post on Ravelry...

Next

I've done a lot of knitting since the weeks before the Holidays. I can see the difference in my stitches in projects I started a couple of years ago, and things started and finished recently. My tension is much more even, my stitches are more even. As the saying goes, practice makes perfect. So now that I've made a cap and two pairs of gauntlets on dpn's, I believe I'm ready to tackle socks. Fingers crossed they come out o.k. I feel a lot more confident about my ability than I did a year ago. If anything stumps me, all I have to do is look at an online tutorial. My granny never had it so easy!

Productive time

It's been a very productive month, knitting wise. I finished John's hoodie sweater, which was one of his Christmas gifts, as well as two pairs of handwarmers and a hat in the past week. I'm up to about 55" on the buttonhole scarf of doom. If I follow the measurements in the Vogue Knitting magazine, it should be about 70" long. If I listen to Vickie Howell's advice, it should be about 66" long. What's 4"? I probably got at least 8" done today - I did 60 rows.

Considering that I made the scarf narrower than called for, I'm going to have two skeins of yarn leftover, and I'm already planning on making them into a nice pair of picot edged handwarmers from the Knitting Little Luxuries book by Lousia Harding. I'm guessing that I will be starting them by the middle of next week.

I'm seriously considering picking up vintage fabrics from various (cheap) sources and making needle cases to sell on Etsy. Something unique. They want a 3% fee, so I'd have to consider that, as well as taxes and separate shipping charges. Working from home is sounding better and better. Of course, there's no telling if anyone would buy what I have to offer in this economy... Having said that, I like the idea of working on my own (if my studio ever gets built) and sending my goods off to the wider world. We'll see...

More to buy

Debbie Bliss now has her own knitting magazine. I saw it tonight when I ran into JoAnn Fabrics for Xmas decorating supplies. Published by the nice people who publish Vogue Knitting. As if I don't have enough magazines piling up with yet more projects to get to...

Frogging

Yeah, it was one of those experiences. I started a project for myself. I had about 30 rows done, had felt confident and toted it to work, but lost count. Frogged multiple times after deciding I wanted it bigger, and I didn't like my original cast on rows, etc. So after about 4 to 6 ripping sessions, I've now got about 40 rows done. I've started the buttonhole scarf (#37) from the Fall 2008 issue of Vogue Knitting. However, I've made some modifications. I don't really want an extra-wide scarf, and so I've slightly narrowed it. I have 4 rows of garter stitch, and I've got a 4 garter stitch repeat on each edge surrounding the basket weave buttonhole pattern. I'm using the Knit Picks Mainline yarn, which is 75% cotton/25% merino wool. Black, as it's for work. I like the blend, as it will be warm without being itchy wrapped around my frozen neck. It tends to get down to the low 30's/high 20's winter nights out there. Not looking forward to it, but it gives me incentive to knit faster I suppose.

Seeing Tara's dilemma with Xmas knitting, I totally understand. I want to get one more quick project knocked out for gifting, but have determined I'll have to start really early if I want to get more handmade projects done in time for Holiday 2009...

More for the stash

I finally got my Knit Picks box today. The yarn and Guy Knits book arrived to my delight. Pics posted on my Ravelry stash page, here. I started working on a sweater that's been hibernating for close to 2 years now. It will be a good Yule present. Forgot that the back is already done. I've got maybe two inches to go before I can start shaping the front neckline, then all I need are the sleeves and the hood. If I stay this sick, I could probably get it done soon as I can't do much of anything other than sit...

Practice

Nature has forced me to slow down - I'm sick again. However, sitting in one position is quite good for knitting, so I've remembered how to make nice, even cables and got to practice a lace pattern that I'm wanting to try out on my next KnitPicks shipment.

Also came up with an idea for a knitting needle holder. I'll have to play with my fabric stash and decide if I want it padded or not. It's not exactly revolutionary; I just want one in fabrics I like rather than something ready made that isn't made of very nice materials. Who knows - might be a craft fair item in the future.