No time to say hello, goodbye!

So I need to write a full-fledge blog report. There is so much to share. However, I do not feel like expending that much effort right now. I have two days off in a row coming up, so just keep your pants on people.

For now, however, I need someone to convince me not to spend $125 at WEBS right now. I want to really bad, but I should wait. Right? Or should I just go ahead and get my 34 skeins of yarn with my 25% off for buying in bulk and have conveniently at hand solid color sock yarn and the yarn for a sweater coat I want to make? I am so conflicted right now. I know I could spend $125 in a month on yarn and end up spending more on shipping, so why not do it all in one go? Because I'm living rent-free with my boyfriend's parents right now and it makes me feel like a bum when I get big packages in the mail. Better to wait until March when we're moving out, right? Right?

So conflicted. So my cart just sits there, all neglected like. Le sigh.

To do list...

Is growing. Rapidly. Okay let's sort this out:

Before Oct 1

• Finish Myrtle stole ( approx. 150 more rows + blocking) This seems doable if I only work on this for the next two days. 
• Wind Raspberry yarn, knit and block swatch for Sotherton sweater
• Carson shawl...maybe. Doubtful, but it's always there.

Between Oct 1 and Oct 28 (i.e. Nerd Wars time)

• Sunrise Fiber Co. winter accessory KAL - Shadowfax boots
• Dalek Hat(s)
• Mia R tests
• Sotherton Sweater

Crap, I forgot about the Muleata test (again). I should be able to finish that in a couple days in early October. Sigh.

List will grow after Oct 1, once I find out what the Nerd Wars challenges are and how I'm going to answer them.

Survey says...

Team TARDIS baby. So I'm going to go with my originally planned sweater and use the crossing cables to represent River Song & the Doctor's crossing timelines. How clever.

I have a feeling Pinterest will play a large role in my team tie-ins for this tournament. As for example...

Thanks pinterest

Also, a Dalek hat is in the works. And I'll probably make my own sonic screwdriver at some point. And a rewatch is in order. So excited!

Decisions, decisions...

Okay, I bought enough yarn for a sweater, had the pattern all picked out, then I got on Ravelry. I was just gonna check, you know? Make sure what I picked was the best choice...

Four hours later, I'd whittled my 30 pattern list down to 3 options for my dissertation in the upcoming Nerd Wars tournament. Seriously, I made a friggin spreadsheet for the patterns including columns such as pattern cost, what size I would make, yardage, mods, construction, needle size, gauge...it was pretty intense.

First, the yarn:

Eight skeins = 1200 yards. Apparently that was a little short for the intricately cabled sweaters I was drawn to; I had to eliminate a number because of insufficient yardage. Unless I wanted to make a sweater for my incredibly skinny, gorgeous sister, but as much as I love her, I'm not using Malabrio on her, mkay?

Okay, now for the contenders. I bought the yarn originally because I wanted to make this sweater (and because Craftsy was having a blowout sale and I really just spend way too much money on yarn when I don't need to):

In case you haven't noticed a trend yet, I'm really into cables for this project. Fall just equals cables to me. What can I say.

Contender number two:

This bad boy is the most expensive pattern of the bunch, and the least clear on the yardage. But, as this picture shows, I would modify the neck so it wasn't so turtlenecky like the original pattern. Also, I could do the sleeves last, two at a time, so I wouldn't run out of yarn. A thought.

And the final option:

I don't know how this would look in my raspberry, but I love the cable, it's a relatively cheap pattern, and it appears to give me more of a cushion regarding my yarn requirements.

So obviously I'm super torn right now. I want to start swatching so I can put together my dissertation proposal; plus I just want to play with my Malabrigo. Hopefully finding out which team I'm on tomorrow will help me decide!

I love when this happens - Finished object!

Okay, I know I said I was going to blog my knitting more. And I said I would share as soon as I finished something. But I went out and took pictures of this lovely shawl - another from Mia Rinde - and I just wasn't thrilled with how they turned out. Then I realized I'm super lazy and probably won't get around to taking better pictures until I finish another project, so I may as well share this with you now :)

This is Shallow Waters, made with Sparkle Lace from Sunrise Fiber Co. in Vieux Carré.

I love love love this pattern, and I love love love this yarn, but I'm not so sure how I feel about the combination. However, it is finished, it is sparkly, and it's growing on me.

Like most of Mia's patterns, this one is very intuitive and simple to follow along, but still has enough challenge to keep it interesting. The scalloped wave edging took about 40% of the yarn.

This baby is huge - clocking in at 26.5" down the spine and 45" across the widest part horizontally. I really wish these photos showed the sparkle in the yarn, but as I've come to realize from shopping for sparkly yarn to photographing it myself, it's really easier said than done. So here's just one more picture for your viewing pleasure:

And now I say goodnight.

Knit to self....

Knit more sweaters. I love my shawls, but I just saw this blog post on the Twist Collective Blog about jettshin, a knitter who makes incredibly gorgeous sweaters. I'm feeling inspired; maybe I'll un-relegate my sweater attempt from UFO status just in time for cooler weather. Plus I have a few pullovers and cardigans in my queue, and I just bought an ebook in Interweave Knits' sale yesterday about top-down sweater construction. Okay, now I'm sounding very ambitious, but perhaps a sweater pattern is in my future...hmmmm...

Anyway, as far as things I'm actually working on at the moment - my Shallow Waters is just about finished (ten or so rows to go) and the second clue for the Myrtle Mystery KAL has come out. I've finished the first chart repeat on that but still have quite a ways to go. No worries, however, I've had to place that at the bottom of my priorities because I have another test shawl that's kind of been languishing on the sidelines and I need to crank that out.

I've also been a bad girl, ordering yarn I can ill afford, but it was Lantern Moon, and it was on sale, and it was a gorgeous red color...what's a girl to do?

Seriously, how was I supposed to resist? Damn you, Craftsy, and your wonderful deals!

I've set it up with Grouchy Geisha by Marisa Hernandez (maidenbklyn), whose designs I've long admired but never knit. Currently there are six other patterns ahead of it in the queue, so there's no telling whether I'll decide to reapportion the yarn for another project between now and then. But as of now, that's the plan :)

And who knows, maybe a sweater will jump ahead in the queue, preventing my need to either return to Kentucky to get some fall clothes out of storage, or buying new sweaters here in St. Louis. Though a return to KY would also mean I could grab some more yarn out of storage...much to think about here chillins. And on that note, I bid you good day.

My Precioussss: A yarn petting story

So my favorite ever designer is also one of the nicest people on earth. Seriously, Mia Rinde, you're the best.

In related news, I got some yarn in the mail today. Now, enjoy the yarn pr0n.

Madelinetosh Tosh Lace in Filigree

For a shawl inspired by the Alchemilla plant

Koigu Painter's Palette Premium Merino in P866

For a sunset-inspired shawl

Madelinetosh Tosh Lace in Steam Age

For a snowflake shawl

Omm nom nom.

Also, I wanted to somewhat recant my harshness regarding Laura Nelkin's Mystery KAL. I'm having a case of the really nice designers lately, but Laura is a genuinely kind person, and I hope no one inferred otherwise from my comments. My problem was with a specific participant who got a little shirty with me, and when I have like 5 other projects going at the time, it was just really easy for me to drop that one. I hope once it comes out I can find time to sit and knit it at my own pace (which admittedly will probably be quicker than 6 weeks!).

I'm still working on my Shallow Waters test knit for Mia with Sunrise Fiber Co. sparkle lace in Viex Carré (I know you were wondering when I was going to bring up SFC!). I'm on the edging charts now, and this baby is gonna be pretty big. I'll post pictures when it's all presentable-like.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go lay down in a pile of yarn. Ahem.

Myrtle Mystery!

I've yet to do a Mystery KAL that didn't burn me out (see this post), but the lovely Mia Rinde is doing a free one, called Myrtle, and since I've never made anything of hers that I didn't absolutely love, I decided to give a shot.

Now, the pattern suggested 900-1000 yds of lace weight, but Mia said her tester with a tight gauge used less than 900 yds. Okay, well I have this gorgeous skein of grey laceweight with subtle flecks of purple, green, turquoise...but it's only 815 yds. We'll see how it goes. It knitted up beautifully, and since it's merino, cashmere, angora and silk, it's pretty much the softest yarn I've ever worked with. But unfortunately, at the end of clue 1 of 5, I'd used over a third of my yarn, and that just wasn't going to work. Here's how it looked though, for oogling purposes (SPOILERS for Myrtle KAL-ers!)

So anyway, that is the first clue, and it took me about 8 hours in one day to do the whole thing. I went out in search of some complementing yarn to integrate into the stole to make it go a little further, but I couldn't find anything that was just right and I wanted my FO with this yarn to be stunning. So I ripped it out and I'm saving it for another perfect project.

I started again with the stole yesterday using Mad Color Fiber Arts cobweb that I've had for awhile. And I have over 2400 yards so I know for sure I won't run out :) I had planned to make a sweater with it, but if I'm being honest with myself, that's probably never going to happen. And since most of my yarn is in boxes in a storage unit in Kentucky, it's not like I have a lot of options for this project hanging around in St. Louis. It just so happened that this yarn is the only one I have that goes over 850 yards, so here it is! But I'm actually quite liking using it. I've never used cobweb or single ply yarn before, so it definitely took some getting used to. But the color is amazing, and while it's not as soft as the other yarn I was using, the fabric has good airiness to it and it feels good on my skin. So after another couple days, I managed to re-knit the first clue:

This time I pinned it to a different bed with different sheets, and there's quite a lot of contrast :)

For those of you who may be interested in joining this free KAL, click the link above and download the first clue before Sept. 7. Mia is posting each clue for a week, so if you don't have time to knit it, save it to your hard drive before the next clue is posted because the new one will supersede the old one. At the end of the MKAL, the pattern will be listed for sale too :)

Move to St. Louis, knitting galore!

Okay, another post, only one month later! That must be some kind of record or something. At the end of July, the bf and I moved from Lexington, KY back to his (parent's) homestead in St. Charles, a suburb of St. Louis. Now I'm a Kansas City girl, so the area is new to me, but I'm proud to announce that I've secured employment (go me!) at a craft store (double score!) and my knitting hasn't abated one bit in the intervening month. So let's do some catch up shall we?

When I left things last time, I was hinting at a new shawl made with that gorgeous yarn from Sunrise Fiber Co. in Patina. So here's what the finished object turned out to be:

As you'll soon see, this bench is one of my new favorite photography props. It's nice to live somewhere with an actual back yard with trees and some patio furniture to put things on. Outdoor pictures are da bomb yo!

Okay, so since I'm pretty much obsessed with shawls lately, here is one I've dubbed the "Bad Luck Luiza". I had a lot of problems with this baby. The finished product is pretty, but I nearly tore all my curls out making it. I love, love, loved the yarn I used for the major part of it, then did the bind-off in Knit Picks Stroll in black to coordinate.

You can check out the project page on Ravelry to see how much trouble I had with it. Grr.

I didn't have nearly as much trouble with my Sakura in the Sun project, my first submission for the 2012 Ravellenic Games. I used Sunrise Fiber Co. classic sock again - can you tell it's one of my favorite yarns? - this time in Cherry Blossom (hence the name). I really like how this colorway knit up in this pattern:

And I'm hoping to soon be in the land of cherry blossoms - Washington DC, not Japan, that is.

Okay, hoping you all still have viewing energy left, because I've been very busy the last month. Next up is another Ravellenics project, a reversible hat in Malabrigo Worsted - another brand that is moving up quickly in my favorite yarns. It's so soft and reasonably priced too. This hat will be a Christmas present for my sister (who fortunately doesn't read this blog!)

Woo, reversible! Woo, Christmas knitting in August!

Okay, last up for the finished objects is this gorgeous test knit I did for Mia Rinde, the same designer who did Mimosa Mimicry. This one is called "Hearts that Flourish" and the the repeated motif is, you guessed it, a heart pattern. I used Sunrise Fiber Co. again, with a gorgeous colorway she calls Lilac. It's a bright purple with hot pink undertones, and I've only worn it about a zillion times so far!

That bench is getting plenty of use from me, I swear.




Okay, so that wraps up (pun intended) the finished shawls for the month. But the fun doesn't stop there! I'm currently working on two shawl tests - another for Mia, and one for a first time designer named Sarah (fluffstuff on ravelry).


I'm also doing a mystery knit along from Laura Nelkin, though I'm slacking a bit on that one because of the less-than-welcome vibe I got from fellow KAL-ers. It's not fun to do a knit along if the people with whom you are knitting along aren't terribly kind. So I may get back to that pattern in time, but I'm kind of bummed I bought it and allocated two skeins of fingering weight yarn to it when I can't enjoy the mystery-KAL aspect of it. Plus, set up is never my favorite part of a project, and the first two clues of this one are Clue 1, follow these steps; clue 2, do the same thing in clue 1 two more times. Bleh.


On the horizon, however, is another MKAL - a stole with Mia Rinde (who is obviously becoming one of my favorite designers)! I have a great skein of laceweight set aside for it:

Which I got as a gift, so I can't link to the seller, unfortunately. But I can say, it looks even more gorgeous as a yarn cake than in the skein. The MKAL will start in four days, and I can't wait!

And you all probably think I'm crazy at this point, but I've also signed up for another KAL with Sunrise Fiber Co. (I wouldn't miss one for the world). This time we're using her Cloud DK base in custom KAL semi-solid colors. I'm making some colorwork sock boots with the Grape inspired colorway and her established color, sage. It'll be interesting to use a DK base for once; I've been using a lot of fingering- and lace-weight yarns recently!

Now that I'm actually employed and not as grumpy in general at the world, I'll try to blog more regularly about what I've been working on :) Though one benefit, I suppose, to me waiting so long is you get a nice, long, picture-heavy post of pretty fo's. But I'd really like to start writing more about my process and what I'm thinking as I knit a project, so consider this my mid-year resolution: to write at least one blog post per project I'm working on. So look forward to a wrap-up post coming soon for the current test knit for Mia, "Shallow Waters".

Just another Manic Monday

Ever since I ordered this Lustre Sock from Sunrise Fiber Co. in Bangles, I knew I wanted to make Mimosa Mimicry (available through Ravelry) with it. And really, can you blame me?

It's a wonderful bright orange color, with undertones of the yellow and pink which make it up. It's incredibly tonal and deep and I've been obsessed with it for a while now, obviously.

Plus, ever since Mimosa Mimicry designer Mia Rinde offered to let me test her gorgeous shawl for her and I had to refuse due to my own design testing going on at the time, I have been obsessed with this pattern. And desperate to try nupps.

The pattern was exquisitely designed and clearly explained, and after a quick Ravelry forum search on the best way to make nupps, I was tearing through it. In fact, the whole shawl took me only 5 days to knit! I love how it turned out:

Though, it was incredibly difficult to photograph the color and still ensure the nupps were visible. This will definitely be a task for my lovely photographer friend Kaytee to capture it true beauty, but for now, here's a couple more pictures.

I wanted to pay homage to both the pattern and the yarn in naming it, so I went with Manic Monday. That way I included the Bangles, but still got the M alliteration from the pattern's name. I'm pretty proud of it, can't you tell? :)

Coming soon: Luiza (I've actually been buying patterns lately, since I published my own first) just needs to be blocked. I've got some great, frustrated stories for that one. I also finished my Vortex shawl, which still needs to be blocked and maybe I'll add some edging. And I'm currently working on Clarus in another SFC colorway I love, Patina. Here's a little preview of the yarn to whet your appetite!

**Sunrise Fiber Co. yarn photos are Wren's own. I couldn't possible photograph her gorgeous, subtle colorways any better than she does.

Recent Finished Objects - 9 year old Kate is like sooooo totally happy

I knit a lot, so when I don't post, it's probably because I'm being a complete internet slackhead. Meaning, I'm spending way too much time on Ravelry and Pinterest and not nearly enough time actually writing things. So let's fix that shall we?

I've been really shawl crazy lately, but I've also kind of started branching out into other lines of knitting. Right now it's about 94 degrees at 9 pm here in Lexington, KY, so I thought it would be a good idea to make a sweater. Well, I may have it finished by December. We'll see.

It's made with this yarn that I found on yardsellr.com (I try all kinds of different strange ways to save money on yarn), of which I bought a ton thinking I'd make it into a sweater. It's always nice when things work out the way you planned. So anyway, it's not commercial yarn, so I added it to my Rav Stash as unknown Peruvian Wool. It's a raspberry kind of color, and it's more or less worsted weight, but get this, it's singles! I had no idea til I pulled it out of its plastic wrap and started swatching. Lots of people hate singles because they cannot by definition be "balanced" and make your knitting tilt slightly. I'm not too stressed about this though, because I am not a fashion designer and I like my hand knits to look like I hand knit them. Call me crazy.

The yarn is actually very nice for a sweater. Singles tend to be kind of puffy, and the wool is very soft. So it's making quite the nice winter wear. I'm using some linen Nashua Handknits Summer Garden to do two-row stripes every so often just to give it a little visual interest. My red hair doesn't always go well with pinky-purple colors, so I'm trying to mix it up a bit and cross my fingers that I don't look like bubblegum on fire.

So I've given you all this information about this sweater, and I don't have any pictures yet. It's a raglan top-down construction (pattern linky!) that I'm kind of modifying, but I haven't gotten very far yet. Here's why.

SHAWLS!! I've finished so many shawls lately. I take crappy pictures. My friend Kaytee is the photographer, not I, and many of these pictures are in-progress blocking photos. So please, don't judge me. Okay, disclosure finished.

First up - this is the Geometria test knit shawlette for ZaraZ:

Then I made another Pembroke Wrap. I like how quickly the bulky yarn knits up, and it'll make a nice winter fireside shawl.

Finally, I finished the Skywalker Shawl by Laura Nelkin. It went very quickly for me because I did it in conjunction with her class on the Craftsy website. I bought a couple of these classes months back, and I finally sat down and decided to go through one. I really ended up liking the pattern for the Skywalker Shawl (which looks so respectable when done in a solid or semi-solid color), and I was pleasantly surprised that the yarn I chose didn't compete too terribly much with the pattern. This yarn, by the way, is EPIC. I can't imagine a single soul in the world who would actually want to wear this monstrosity, but I love it nonetheless. I call it, Lisa Frank: Jedi Master.

I just got it off the needles and blocking today. Here's a close up of the nausea-inducing glory that is this shawl:

It is awesome.

Now for something non-shawltastic and awesome in a completely different way: I made shoes! Hellz yeah I did. They're just for me though, so paws off.

Cha-freakin-pow. They're crocheted out of hemp. The pattern is Strappy Sandals from the summer 2012 issue of Interweave Crochet. I love my Interweave subscriptions, yes I do :)

So there you have it folks. I actually do have some update-worthy FOs, if I ever get off Ravelry long enough to tell you about them. And on that bombshell, it's time to say goodnight!

Pallas Athene Shawl

UPDATE!! Kit is now listed here.

So, a lot has happened since my etsy store went live, chiefly that I've designed a new shawl pattern and it's going to be sold in a kit with some gorgeous laceweight tencel/merino yarn from Sunrise Fiber Co.

This is the first shawl pattern I've ever designed, and I'm rather proud of the results! I learned so much while I was doing this pattern, and I'm eager to try my hand at designing again. The turn around time for this was incredibly fast - I started the design in the first week of April and the kit will be released today, inshallah :)

I'm so grateful Wren from SFC asked me to take on this project, and I hope others will enjoy knitting the pattern with her incredibly beautiful yarn!

Etsy Store up and running

Recently a good friend of mine who, as it turns out, is an amazing photographer, did some pictures for me for my etsy store. Now all my listings are live for finished objects. Of course, I still take custom order requests! Check out these listings for a sample of what I do:

Amazonite Shawl

Mrs. Darcy Shawl

Shiny! Shawlette

That Won't Wash Out Shawlette

Stake Night Scarf

Bravais Lattice Scarf

Also, I can kill you with my brain Legwarmers

The Dark Knit Cabled Cowl

Dorium's Door Cabled Cowl

You're Standing on my Neck Slouchy Hat

Look for more listings coming up at Miss Anthropy Knits.