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What to say, what to say?
I finished the the Vine lace vest and it isn't a complete disaster. There are some design flaws with the pattern... ie: sideways ribbing is always going to curl under always, also sideways ribbing will probably drop (at least if you make it in a silk/cotton blend- hmm maybe that's my "bad"). There were also some issues with my chosen yarn (misti pima cotton/silk). It is as fuzzy as hell, and as we all know hell is hella fuzzy. Also, because it is a cotton/silk blend it is as heavy as... well you know... it starts with an H. I don't mind the heavy thing though because I'd much rather it stretch lengthwise as opposed to widthwise. I also found that at 4 1/2 inches, the ribbing was a little wide, so I did a narrower band.
It looks alright, maybe a little twee but I did get (hopefully honest) compliments.






please note, it isn't actually this lavender in person. It is however, this twee




In other news, I have spent the past 2 months accumulating yarn. Whoops.





pictured:
1. 12 skeins Knitpicks- Wool of the Andes in Merlot heather
2. 2 hanks Knitpicks- Bare; superwash
3. 1 hank Knitpicks- Bare; silk/wool blend
4. 5 skeins Patons Classic Merino in Evergreen mix
5. 1 hank Naturally handknit- Alpine 8-ply
6. 6 hanks Cascade 220 in grey

Its a whole lotta yarn and I think my work is done here. In any case, my yarn fast is in full effect now. Srsly. Which is good because work has slowed down, so I can't afford to buy yarn.
Also I should avoid buying more yarn because more yarn means more of this activity.



wheeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!

In other other news, I have cast on 3 different sweaters with the Patons Classic Merino.

First off was the V-necked pullover from Fitted Knits. It's a super cute top down raglan with ribbing at the waist and sleeves.



this sweater is now deceased

I really like the design off the sweater, and I actually got to the point where the sleeves are separated from the body, then I remembered that I never wear pullovers because they make me feel helpless and constricted. Even thinking about trying it on made me hyperventilate and remember too-tight itchy sweaters from my youth, so I frogged that baby like it was 1987. (I have no idea what that means, except that I had a lot of ill-fitting sweaters in my youth)

I then cast on that February Lady Sweater that everyone has been talking about. I (and all my friends, aquaintances and even the tiny ants in my apartment) had already determined that this sweater would look ass-y on me, as it looks pretty bad on people with big racks. But its so cute and seems like a fun knit and I want to make it and I can't hear you lalalalalala... However, after knitting about 5 rows of garter stitch I got bored and frogged it.

Then I went out and did some stuff and knit some roses and drank some wine and bought the new Vogue knitting, which is really cool and has all sort of things I want to knit and may be the best Vogue knitting evah and I cast on this thing:




I'm sure my gauge is off and I'm knitting it in a worsted weight yarn, so I'm sure it will be a gianormous knitted disaster, however I am willing to take that risk. It kind of looks like Romulan Knitwear which really appeals to me. I'll let you know how it works out....

In other news, have I always been this boring?

It's too darn hot

When people ask me why I don't live in Fiji, I point out days like this. Hot, humid, sticky, cloying, disgusting days like this and yesterday and the day before that and the day before that. I am not down with the heat, I am not down one bit. Plus I like to knit and trying to do that in the heat has resulted in bits of pima cotton and silk fluff stuck everywhere.

I'm to hot and sticky and lazy to take any knitting related photos or clean or think or do anything worthwhile, so I'll leave you with this




while I try to decide what DVD to watch while I eat 100 Mr. Freezies.

Happy Stat day

The 1-tone ribbed shrug is finished, blocked and ready to be worn; just in time for....Canada Day.



This was a pretty easy knit, it actually doesn't make my rack look too big, and happily, I used up 4 skeins of yarn from my stash. This is exciting for me since I am used to making 1 skein projects that have 1/4 of a skein left over (AKA: socks) I liked working with the Classic Elite waterspun, however it is probably not the best choice of yarn for me in that it really shows the unevenness of my stitches. Perhaps people will think it is a design feature.



After casting off, I spent some time trying to decide what my next yarn-eating project should be. Frankly, I should try to finish the Airy wrap Hairshirt of tedium. I did actually knit four rows the other day, and then the malaise hit me and I needed to stop working it and pick a fun project. My birthday present to myself was 12 skeins of Knitpicks Wool of the Andes in Claret heather (and a few hanks of "Bare" but lets not speak about socks right now) and I plan to use it to make that February lady sweater that everyone is talking about. However, the idea of knitting hot hot wool in the hot hot heat does not appeal to me and I've been itching to dip into the Misti Pima cotton/silk that's been sitting in my stash for the past year and a half. I was wavering between several projects including the Hexacomb and even did a half-assed gauge swatch for this tank before deciding that this yarn would be a terrible terrible choice for this tank. I finally decided on the Vine leaf vest from Classic Elite, although I really wouldn't call that thing a vest. It's closer to a jerkin, or perhaps a doublet.




I am liking the way the yarn feels, although I'm not sure how well it will hold up.


and speaking of my birthday. It was fun... although low-key. I actually planned a big thing which I set up on Facebook by "creating an event" and then started angsting that I invited too many people, that I invited people who I didn't really want to invite, and that no one would get along. Luckily I realized on Thursday that I had actually forgotten to send the invites and I'm sad to say this made me a little happy. If a well dressed misanthrope such as myself can be happy. I had also sent some invites by email, but of course forgot to include the dates, so all the non-knitters were confused about what day it was happening. (hence I received a whole bunch of confused sort of birthday messages) Whoops. In any case, I went to Drunken knitters, and people kept buying me martinis. The plan was to go to the Savage Garden, we were going to be 7... with a couple of "we'll try to meet you there" but we ended up losing a few peeps on the way. So Nad, Laura, Michelle and I sat in the Savage Garden until we got bored (about 15 minutes) and then we headed to the Velvet Underground and played pool badly and danced while avoiding the gazes of 50 creepy guys. In any case, I had fun, although my birthday wish (which would have involved a random creepy guy singing old Cure songs to Michelle) didn't actually happen....and I didn't win the 27 million dollar 6-49 jackpot. But I suppose there is always next year.





I also finished another project. She likes it.