The Thrifty Knitter

I worked on the critter I owe Ashley while I got my hair cut last night. I’ve been too busy to knit, and since I frogged my whole glove last weekend, I’m just screaming to knit some more. Ron’s going to St. Louis tomorrow, so I’m going to alternate between updating Naughty Needles, TCB, and knitting.

Dude. They’re shooting our place for ReadyMade as I type. Fancy! Of course, I wish I were 20 pounds lighter, and that I’d knit myself a sweater for the occasion (or at least had something new to wear), but it was kind of sudden. At least I got a haircut.

Of course, I decided I had chosen stupid yarn and frogged them right before the last finger, but still! Last weekend was a fun knitting retreat in Excelsior Springs, hosted by The Studio in KC. I frogged the thing twice because I kept changing my mind, then I got almost finished before I decided to frog it again. I have problems with impulse control. Besides, who wants to knit a mate for a glove they hate? That’s madness!

I’m going to make some for Ron with Austermann Naturalwolle in natural dark brown as the main color and maybe a few stripes of some leftover Knit Picks Merino Style in either/both Asparagus & Moss.

I don’t have time to knit ANYTHING right now, because we’ve got a photographer from freaking READYMADE coming out on Wednesday to shoot our place & it’s pretty chaotic, what with Ron remodeling the basement, my sundry projects everywhere, and most of last week mired in computer failure.

Oh, which reminds me: I got a Mac. Which is really why I’m posting. I couldn’t resist playing with my new toy for a few minutes.

I really had wanted to wait to switch to mac until they started running new commercials that weren’t so jerk-offy and self-congratulatory, but my PC had different ideas. I won’t be able to get back my data and start converting it until next week, which is actually good, since I really don’t have time right now. I might treat myself to making a little swatch before I go to bed. Like, put away 50 items, make a swatch. That’s a little game my mom always plays, only she doesn’t knit afterwards.

I’m a big freaking nerd.

I was all in a huff about getting a 1 rating and a complaint of no delivery for a swap I sent a month ago, and for which delivery confirmation showed December 28 delivery. But I contacted the swapee & apparently she just got confused and gave the no-show rating to the wrong person & she revised it. So now I’m happy again, and not cursing the time I put into it & swearing off swaps forever. Which is good, because the swaps I’ve received have been awfully nice, and I’ve had fun preparing the ones I’ve sent off.

I’m about to start Build 3 of the Hate Scarf, which might be more aptly titled Strong Disapproval Scarf or Deeply Annoying Scarf.

Build 1 used black and pale green Angora Soft, but I wasn’t as pleased with the green as expected.

Build 2 used black with white letters, quite nice, but I realized after a few lines of text that I wouldn’t get very far with what I have on hand. I contemplated buying more, but the price has been bumped back up. Instead, I decided to reverse the colors, because I have 1.5 bags of white & only 1 bag of black. That should buy me about 45 lines of text. That’s based on the Build 2 gauge.

For my final build. I’m going to use size 6 needles instead of the 3s I was using. I don’t remember having any problems with snags when I swatched on 7s, but I was constantly snagging on 3s, plus my 3s are 16″ needles, and I really had to bunch it to fit the length I wanted, which was fucking with my tension. I think my 6s are 24″, so that should be much better.

And instead of casting on and joining in a circle, I think I’ll cast on and doubleknit it flat for an inch or two, then rearrange the stitches to knit in the round.

I’m not crazy about the fact that the start of the scarf is bound to be much shakier (since I’m new to fair isle) than the end. I probably should have waited until was more skilled, but I just couldn’t reist.

Wow, this is totally boring without pictures. I’m about to put myself into a coma.

But first, more boring!

I’ve got mitten homework tonight. Oh, wait, no; glove homework. Even better. We’re having glove school this weekend at Excelsior Springs, and we’re supposed to come with a finished cuff, which uses a german caston, which according to Kelly Sue is just fabulous. I have to pick my yarn and make the cuffs tonight, since I’ll be driving tomorrow.

With my messy computer kafuffle (still unresolved, but at least in progress now), I neglected to post this:

I just did 2 repeats, because my gauge was wildy off, and I still had to felt it to make it fit.

Here it is before felting:

I’m going to try again with thinner yarn. That’s what I get for not swatching, stupid me. But all’s well that ends well–Ron loves it, it fits him perfectly (I felted it to measure), and it’s toasty! Yay!

And here’s the pattern, free from Hello Yarn.

elann.com’s response to my inquiry about black, brown & tan Devon:

“…it is difficult to say when, or if, we will re-stock this yarn again.”

Darn it. I was really wanting to use the Devon for my I Have Everything scarf. Or something elann, what with the no-spending-January store credit loophole and my nice fat elann credit.

I was also thinking that I have a ton of K1C2 Angora Soft. It would make a scrumpy soft scarf, and I do have bags of it, but I don’t know if it has the definition and spring I want. Why don’t I just go find out?

First I have to assemble the last of my 2007 Datebooks (almost sold out! whoo hoo!), and my reward is swatching some Angora Soft. I could do it in black with pale green or pink letters, or black with white letters. I think the black and green combo appeals most.

Here’s a plain swatch:

It’s quite soft and drapey at this gauge, which, judging my my Lily Chin holes, was knit on 7s.

It’s all I can do not to get started right this second. Here’s the plan.

Last night, I treated myself to some unfettered crafting time to compensate for my loss of fancy knitting class (which Kelly Sue’s already boasting about–sometimes I hate living so far from civilization…I need snow tires…). Here’s what I made:

First, a hanging circular needle bag. I’ve been dying for a way to organize and couldnt’ find one I really liked for sale. There’s a girl who makes cute hanging bags on ebay, but the pockets aren’t marked. And those Circular Solution bags are really efficient, but not at all cute. Both versions hang from a hanger, which I always find problematic, so I made mine with a doorknob hanger instead.

It’s wool felt with some offset stitching, and has pockets for needles sized 0 – 17+ (the 17+ is a large pocket, which should hold at least 35s and maybe bigger–if I actually had bigger, which I don’t). The 9-13 slots are slightly larger than the others.

The behorned yarn ball started out as an accident, but I liked it & added a forked tail to finish it out.

The hanger is 4 layers of felt with a doorknob cutout. I got the idea from the buttonhole closure on a neck warmer Kelly Sue was wearing in knitting class last Wednesday.

Cutting out the little numbers was a bitch. They’re maybe half an inch tall. Oh, no! It looks like the 1 fell off my 10. Whoops. I’ll bet I forgot to glue it down.

The back has a little pocket for a gauge checker. I know I’ve seen a little one at the Yarn Barn, so when my January no-spendy thing is over, I’m going to buy it.

I also started my We Call Them Pirates hat, which is more boat than hat, becasue I didn’t bother making my swatch in pattern. I go up a ton in gauge apparently knitting colorwork in the round. Which, duh. But I’m not so bright.

Which sucks, because I had a knitting class in KC tonight and I’m too chicken to drive on the windy country roads. I could barely make it down the road without sliding all over the place, and that’s at like 10mph. I’m kind of filled with self-loathing at being such a pussy Texas driver, and yet I know myself (and my shabby tires) well enough to know I’d be a peril to myself and a menace to others.

But I think I’m going to treat myself to a little fun, selfish knitting or crafting to make up for my loss. Maybe the felt hanging circular needle bag I’ve been wanting…

Oh my god! I so wish I could show off my May column for Shojo Beat. It’s so cute, I want to scream!