let me explain

well, maybe just sum up.

its been quite the 6 weeks here, and while most of it is boring personal stuff (existential crisis at work which has led to a massive amount of yarn shopping), there has also been quite a bit of knitting and knitting events going on!!!

the first was the pilgrimage to go see the Yarn Harlot on her stop in NYC. as always, she is a blast to experience as she is witty and sarcastic and ever so Canadian that it makes me smile with joy.

and it was extra special b/c Glenna C came down for the book signing and stayed for the weekend. We got there late for the book signing, but the other women from my knitting circle got there early enough to get seats. And between Glenna, Melanie, and Holly, I ended up with 3 close friends all pictured on the Harlot's blog!!! That's pretty big stuff!!! Go here if you want to marvel at the awesome that is Glenna's Venezia Sweater, Melanie's first sock and Holly's 3rd project which was an Endpaper mitt (I'd been knitting for 5 years before i braved that thing!)

the stress at work led to a whole ton of "yarn shopping as Xanax". Rather than try and post all the pictures here (i did a LOT of yarn shopping), I will simply direct you to Flickr where you can survey the damage for yourself. And there has been more purchased since then. Seriously, its been a really crazy month at work.

So pictures of some FOs (I need to start a list at the side, i suspect this will be a very prolific FO year)

Here is Catherine's sweater. Catherine is the daughter of one of my oldest friends (we met the first day of University- 17 years ago!) and as befitting her Irish heritage, just had to make her a green sweater.

Here is her sweater:


and here is Catherine in her sweater smiling at her daddy.


So freakin' cute!!!

I also finished a set of mermaid gloves. here i was, all intimidated by yet another of cookie a.'s patterns, but it was simple and soothing and stunningly beautiful.

here is one glove at its midway point. the set is actually done, but i can't find my stupid camera (i know its here somewhere!!)



the first set i made was a wee bit too small. luckily they only used up one skein of shu bui sock yarn i bought. this pair will be gifted, and i will make a new pair for myself, with some minor adjustments. i really loved knitting the pattern and will have to make the socks very very soon.

i am still working on the Yosemite sweater. there was a minor setback, due to the fact that i can't read, but its been fixed and i'm almost done with the body of the sweater. i would show you my progress, but again am thwarted by the lack of camera situation.

now i'm just knitting an uncomplicated sock in some yarn. by uncomplicated, i mean its in stockinette and while a bit boring, i can knit while re-watching episodes of Battlestar Galactica (shut up! yes I'm a geek. and i love it!) and do so without making mistakes.

And finally, before I leave the house today, this must be tackled.

the remains of the Icarus Shawl

After a year of hiding it in the back of my closet, i will finally tackle the pain of frogging it (ouch) all because i was stupid and never put in a lifeline.

i have learned my lesson. i will never do lace again without a lifeline.

NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER

so spring is actually on the way. i mean, tomorrow its supposed to be over 50! woot!

in celebration, I had started making this sweater:


totally cute, just enough of a challenge. sadly, the yarn I chose, while beautiful, did not display the pattern to its best advantage, so into the frog pond it went.

then yesterday, the Spring issue of Knitty was posted and oh joy! I found this sweater!


love it! its snug and lovely and the cable is a crazy easy pattern. I'll make the sleeves a bit longer.

i was a good girl and swatched and adjusted my needles, etc, etc.

and the damn swatch lied to me. I'm 5 rows in (and this thing is knit in the round, so almost 300 stitches per round) and the damn thing is big enough to fit me AND my cat!

grrr. i want a spring sweater dammit! I'm having a fairly crap week and I need some good knitting mojo!

tonight, I will frog (again), and start the smaller size with a size smaller needles.

*grump*

omg! two posts in about a week! *ducks to avoid flying pigs*

yes, I'm trying to post more than once a week. and since i finished a pair of socks this afternoon, i decided not to wait.

and here they are! really hope i'm not breaking too many RSC rules.

here are my dragon socks.



they took a long time because of the 2 business trip I had. the first sock took almost a month. the second took barely a week.

i'm thinking i'm going to wear them tomorrow b/c this winter never wants to end and i need something bright.

but just in case spring is on the way, I think i'll start on my sweater :)

oh my god, i suck at this so badly! so my pledge to update once a week pretty much went out the window the second week of the new year. blame it on the never ending cold (seriously- it was the plague) and the back to back business trips, both of which were extremely successful.

the crazy ass work thing in Vegas ended up with me and my team being awake for 43 hours straight, but hey, we won, so there! and i managed to impress some serious people big time. now i just have to parlay that success into real work mojo. we'll see how well i do at that part.

in the yarn world, i've done a few things since that post.

1) I lost the damn hat. The one that I almost cried over. Yeah, gone. My hope is that someone at the swanky restaurant saw it and went "oh, squishy and pretty!" and that it has found a good home rather than getting trampled under feet.

2) I made gloves, which it seems i forgot to take pictures of. dammit. but that will be rectified this weekend.

3) finished a sweater (finally!). no, not the lindsay sweater. i'm going to have to rip out the collar and redo it as i got a bit over-enthusiastic with the damn thing and now its basically a blanket. but i finished the Mrs Darcy sweater and it is oh so cute. pictures to come, but for a sneak preview, Glenna C. posted this picture of me wearing it when I went yarn shopping with her and Martha during my trip to Toronto.

4) Oh yeah, I went yarn shopping in Toronto. My credit card was melting. Go here to see the pretty pictures. I bought 9 balls of the Madil Desire to make this sweater from Interweave Knits, and that will start as soon as I am done with the first installment of the 2008 Rockin' Sock Club sock.

5) Yes, I got my RSC stuff, but sadly, I cannot show it to you until I am all done with the socks. The pattern is fantastic and will be used again, and while I like the color of the yarn (beautiful bright reds in honor of Lunar New Year) I'm not crazy about how the pattern is causing the color to pool. But still, they are hand knit socks and I'm convinced hand knit socks are the key to world peace.

So tonight is Monday and that is knit night. This makes me happy. Also? February is almost done and that means winter is winding down and that makes me ecstatic b/c this winter has kinda sucked for a lot of people in my life and that really pisses me off.

I'll have to start that Slyph sweater. A spring sweater in a pretty blue yarn? Says spring to me!

god, its been absolutely forever since i updated this blog. the holidays were meh, but i survived them fairly intact although somewhat bitter and eager to hid in bed for long stretches of time.

and to sooth the savage beast, I knit. and shopped. and knit. oh and shopped.

of the shopping:
-2 new pairs of shoes
-2 purses
-a bathroom storage unit
-a new Blackberry (and sadly, this was an impulse buy!)
-tickets to "The Farnsworth Invention" (come on, its Hank Azaria in an Aaron Sorkin play!)
-membership in the Rockin Sock Club
-and more yarn

yeah, it was an expensive Dec.

but I also knit! and made some cute stuff!

looky!

Huckleberry Scarf- made out of a merino-silk blend that is the softest thing ever

Koolhaas Hat- made out of the same yarn as the scarf. Beautiful yarn, but a bitch to work on with this pattern. Slippery yarn + cables= me cursing loudly

Plus lots of yarn:
Rowan Felted Tweed- destined to be mittens to match the hat and scarf

Artyarns Supermerino in a lovely blue-green

Punta del Este Mericash- a merino-cashmere blend that i would love to roll around in- naked:

My goal is to update the blog at least once a week, but i would much prefer 2-3 times a week. My other goal is to use up more of my stash b/c i realized I have enough yarn right now to keep me knitting steadily for the next 2 years. seriously, its a disease. I won't cut out all yarn purchases, but i will try to use up yarns in my stash for projects on my Ravelry queue before getting distracted by shiny new projects.

like all good resolutions, we'll see how long that lasts

I'm back from London and Paris! And all I have to show for it is one measly Monkey sock.

oh, and 2 pairs of boots, one pair of shoes, a few new tops, some serious geekster stuff from the British Museum, The Maritime Museum at Greenwich (where the prime meridian is at), the Musee d'Orsay, and the Musee Rodin. Not to mention, enough french lingerie to sink a ship.

oh and some yarn from Le Bon Marche.

pictures to come as soon as I figure out what time zone I'm in.

and then there was Rhinebeck

well, the Lindsay sweater didn't get finished in time, but since it was almost 70 degrees, I guess it really didn't matter.

but how incredible was it?

a minivan, designed to fit seven, crammed full of 8 knitters, bagels galore and countless carrot cake cupcakes made by the lovely Glenna C.

and a wool fair that beats anything you could imagine. a beautiful blue sky, fall trees in stunning russets and golds, amazing food. and yarn. lots and lots of yarn.

also? i purchased a spinning wheel. :)

rather than post every single picture up here, i figure i'll post one important one and then send you off to flickr for the rest.

this is what greets you when you come off the highway:

picture courtesy of abbieprime.



here are the rest.