Odessa, Baby!!!!

Here she is, in all her soft luxurious cashmere glory!!!

This took much longer than it should have, because I kept screwing up and adding another knit stitch after the yarn over. But it was a great learning project, and I am in love with the results!






I used less than a skein of Makulu 100% cashmere yarn in color "moss". The skein has about 200 yards on it. I think I used about 100 of the pearl beads, but I haven't counted them.

I learned things too!!! I learned how to knit with beads, and I learned all about yarn overs, and how to do them on purpose, and also how to knit the yo stitch to slant rather than leaving a big hole. I also learned that it is worth starting a project three or four times, if you end up with a result this beautiful.

The other night I was knitting and said to ZMrK, "This is the most beautiful thing I have ever made". Yeah, that's about how I feel. I really love this hat.


I tried to do a self portrait this morning, and the results are hilarious. I shut my eyes to try to get an "artsy" look, but instead I look like I was sneezing. It's a good advertisement for mascara though, isn't it? (Maybelline Lash Expansion! Black!) and also shows a bit of the cool gilded Ouija board we have on the wall (it was in my family's attic; my parents don't know where it came from, and my mom's ascared of it!)

Before I sign off, I have to give a big cheer to Grumperina for making up this gorgeous pattern so that I may have a gorgeous hat!!! Hip Hip Hooray!!!!!

xoxo.

Odessa is DONE! And Week 12 Review

I just want to announce that I finished my Odessa hat about 15 minutes ago, and only have taken her off to wash my face. She's really gorgeous, and fits bigger than I thought (I guess I do have a small head!). Hopefully pics will go up tomorrow -- ZantiMisterKnit is asleep and he hasn't even seen her yet!

Here's the Week 12 Review of the Knitting Pattern-a-Day Calendar patterns.
Monday, March 20 -- Cloche. This is a really cute little hat, using chunk yarn combined with ribbon yarn. I think the yarns are held together, but nothing in the pattern indicates that. Maybe I'm just thick. I might try it sometime, though.

Tuesday, March 21 -- Vegas Knitting: A Knitting Game. Ha ha ha. Whatever. Maybe this could be fun, and maybe I'd use it as a stashbuster, but I don't have enough time to knit the things I want to knit, never mind rolling the dice and playing a knitting game.

Wednesday, March 22 -- Merino Frappe Jacket. This isn't bad, and would probably keep one's bum warm. It suggests 10-3/4 needles, which I've never seen. I wonder if this is one of the patterns with an error?

Thursday, March 23 -- Infant Kimono. Scary-ass baby doll! Dolls really creep me out, especially ones that look like babies or toddlers. The "kimono" is pretty cute though; once my nieces and nephew get married and start having kids, I have a feeling this pattern could come in handy. (Note to nieces and nephew: lets hope I don't need this pattern for a while!!!!)

Friday, March 24 -- Om Ankle Socks. Aaaah, the sock! It's been a while since we've had a sock pattern. Funny how I never complain about there being a lot of sock patterns, isn't it? I just really love socks!

Saturday/Sunday, March 25 and 26 -- Om Ankle Socks continued. . . I haven't taken a good look at this, because I'm intimidated. I still have not conquered socks, and this is not only a sock pattern, but a sock pattern with a chart for the Om symbol. Extra scary!!!!

Finally Figured it Out!

I finally figured out what I was doing wrong with Odessa, and what I have to do to do it right. All this while on Vicadin. So, I am well on my way to a new hat!!!!

Ha! I wasn't even thought of yet!

what decade does your personality live in?


quiz brought to you by lady interference, ltd

Various Stuff and Week 11 Pattern Review

I haven't knit much this weekend, the reason being that I'm a little disgruntled with Odessa. I'm doing something wrong and I'm not sure what it is. Most of my yarn overs look more like dropped stitches, going into a sideways pattern; it's a little neat looking and I'd keep going that way, except there are a few spots when it looks as though I performed the pattern correctly, so it's a little half-assed. I don't think it's the YOs I didn't do correctly, but knitting the stitches that were added from the YOs in the next round. It's hard to explain, and I have a hard time putting visual things into words so I won't try. So I am either going to (a) ignore where I did it correctly and keep going with how I am doing it, ending up with a very different hat than I started out doing or (b) frog it and do it right. I have plans to make a 2nd one for a my neice, so maybe I'll do hers right and mine wrong. I also have a vision of putting the beading in the dropped stitch instead, but that would also involve frogging and I'm hoping to avoid that. I tell myself that every knitter frogs once in a while, or, okay, several times, but I feel so lame-o doing it. I have to remind myself that I'd rather have something done right, even if I have to restart it several times, that I piece of knitted shit on my head. So I'll have to make the decision soon.

In place of knitting, I've been doing a lot of polymer clay sculpting this weekend. Some of it is top-secret, so I'll post pictures once they are done and given to the recipient. Of course, some of it is for us, and I made two of some things. :-)

I really would like to make some pin-ups girls out of polymer clay too. I need to work that out.

Without further ado, here's the Week 11 Review of the Knitting Pattern-a-Day Calendar patterns.

Monday, March 13 -- Lacy Shawl or Poncho. I'm kind of glad I am no longer posting the pictures of these, 'cuz I've been dreading this review. It's the reason why I think nobody over the age of 12 should wear a poncho. Ponchos and boobs are a bad mixture, like computers and corpses (Kudos to anyone who knows what 80s Italian post-apocalypic horror movie I just referred to.) I think that even as a shawl, it's merely meh. It's probably pretty easy though.

Tuesday, March 14 -- Intertwined Cables Scarf. The ribbing at the neck part of this throws me off, but I think that it's there for fit purposes. I really like the intertwined cables; they look sharp and would probably be a fun (but challenging!) knit.

Wednesday, March 15 -- Intertwined Cables Scarf continued. . . CHARTS!!! Two of 'em!!! This pattern looks like more of a challenge than I initially thought. I may feel brave enough one of these days to make an attempt at it, and after frogging and couple of times and swearing (a LOT), I'll have a really sharp looking scarf.

Thursday, March 16 -- Mohair & Cotton Poncho. Seriously, y'all, two ponchos in one week is too much for me to handle. Oh, yeah, Monday's could have been a shawl too, of course, but in the past two years I have seen more patterns for ponchos than I have seen people wearing ponchos. The fad needs to be put to bed.

Friday, March 17 -- Innis Sweater. Nice sweater that looks like lots of work. The model in the photo really amuses me, but blogger won't let me post it right now (fuckers. . . ). I'm guessing she is the teenage daughter, and her mom woke her up to model the sweater for the picture. She looks (a) disgusted or (b) bored. Cheer up! You're wearing a cool sweater!

Saturday/Sunday, March 18 and 19 -- Innis Sweater continued. . . No bored model, just charts and more directions.

I don't know what this means but it's funny as well

Ten Top Trivia Tips about Andrea!

1. All swans in England belong to Andrea!
2. The word 'samba' means 'to rub Andrea'.
3. On stone temples in southern India, there are more than 30 million carved images of Andrea!
4. Andrea was originally green, and actually contained cocaine.
5. Andrea can fly at an average speed of fifteen kilometres an hour.
6. Andrea is born white; her pink feathers are caused by pigments in her typical diet of shrimp.
7. Andrea can clean her ears with her tongue, which is over thirty-nine inches long.
8. Andrea can pollinate up to six times more efficiently than the honeybee.
9. The International Space Station weighs about 500 tons and is the same size as Andrea.
10. Andrea is the largest of Saturn's moons.

I am interested in - do tell me aboutherhimitthem

On second thought, 9 and 10 are words that hurt. :-(

Swap Goodies!!!

First off, I want to thank everyone for their help with my YO near-disaster. I painstakingly un-knit last night, and will hopefully have no further problems with Odessa.

I wanted to share my swap goodies with the world. I took part in the Dr. Seuss swap on Craftster.org. My swap partner, Kyttyee, lives about a mile from me, so we were able to exchange our swap goodies faster than other folks in the swap.

This is what she sent me.

I'm not sure why the picture is sideways. Argh!!! But hopefully you can see it.

She sent five earring and necklace sets, each with a different Seuss character. They are really cute! I'll need to take an "action shot" of me wearing them.

I have very little experience with jewelry making; I made a few pieces about 10 years ago that I should post at some point.

And here is what I sent to Kyttyee:



I made an embroidered applique of the Lorax with a pink tree behind him. I printed the Lorax picture onto fabric and embroidered the outline over him, and embroidered the tree freehand.

I made that into an applique, which I stitched onto some nice green pique cotton I had in my fabric stash (several yards; I think I deserve a nice summer dress), and made a bag based on a tutorial on Craftster by thejordy

Closeup of the applique:

I also made two Sculpey magnets. I sculpted them and later painted on the details. I suck at painting -- I really do! -- so I am very proud of the results:

I am really proud of my hummingfish. His eyes and nose are both made out of Sculpey, but I painted the "Trademark Seuss" pupils in. I also painted the rest of the details.

I feel really bad about this guy. I tried him out on my fridge, and the glue on the magnets wasn't dry yet, and he fell. His tail broke off, and it took about an hour to find it because it fell under the fridge and blended in with all the dust under there. ZantiMisterKnit was able to use epoxy to glue it back on, but I had to send the swap package without it. I promised Kyttyee that I owed her another magnet. The baby Horton can live forever on our fridge.

Because I am obnoxiously obsessed with my pets, here are a few more pictures of Solvie:


She was in the window this morning, peeking out at my through the drapes. I could not resist her and her cute little freckled nose!



Here she is blurry but still beautiful. She gets more and more photogenic every day, I think.



Even her paws inspire me. I have a similar picture of Zelia's paw; she doesn't have the werewolf tufts between her toes.

I really love the macro button on my camera.



Hopefull I will have some knitting content (like a finished Odessa hat!) the next time I blog!

xoxo. . . Zanti

The Odessa Files (a cry for help)

I know there are people who read this besides ZantiMisterKnit (and he'd help me if he knew how to knit), so I'm hoping someone can let me know what I need to do. Yeah, I'm a dumbass.

I think I have already answered my (somewhat daft) question, but I'd appreciate some confirmation. It involves this pattern:
http://www.magknits.com/feb06/patterns/odessa.htm

The pattern is:
Plain round: *ssk, k6, yo, k2, repeat from * until the end of round.Beaded round: *ssk, k3, BK1, k2, yo, k2, repeat from * until the end of round.

This is my first time doing (on-purpose) YOs. The instructions I used (from Stitch n Bitch) were to "knit a stitch, bring the yarn into the front", yada yada yada. So, using those instructions, I believe I added an extra knit stitch.

For example, I did this:

Plain round: *ssk, k6, yo (meaning k1, bring yarn to the front, perform the YO), k2, repeat from * until the end of round.
Beaded round: *ssk, k3, BK1, k2, yo (meaning k1, bring yarn to the front, perform the YO), k2, repeat from * until the end of round.

What I think I should have done is this:

Plain round: *ssk, k6 (bring yarn to the front after 6th k stitch), yo (meaning perform the YO), k2, repeat from * until the end of round.
Beaded round: *ssk, k3, BK1, k2 (bring yarn to the front after 2nd k stitch), yo (meaning perform the YO), k2, repeat from * until the end of round.

If you can confirm what I did is correct, I'll resume knitting. If you can confirm what I think I should have done, I will un-knit (I've only knit four rows of the pattern; it shouldn't be hard).

I sent this question to the pattern author, but she didn't understand it. I don't think I'm the best at asking questions; as I said, I think I was supposed to do the latter, and will probably un-knit it.

Thanks!

Odessa

I cast on, and frogged the Odessa hat today. I'm using a gorgeous 100% cashmere moss green yarn (Malaku? something like that) that I got for Xmas from ZantiMisterKnit.

I cast on the #4s, did the ribbing as instructed, and started going into the pattern. I wasn't sure if I was doing my YOs right, and then, on the third or fourth YO, I realize I wasn't. . . okay, I've only done a couple, maybe I can just start doing them right on the next round. . .oh, wait, shouldn't I be using the #6 needle by now? Oh, yeah, the #6 . . . okay, why don't I UN-knit back to the beginning of this round, then start again doing the YOs correctly and using the #6 needles as instructed. Okay. This is going okay. Wait, what's that? Looks like I may have dropped a stitch about 6 stitches back. Let's just slip these over to get over to pick up that dropped stitch. . . Hoo. That stitch does not want to come back up for air, does it?

Shit. Fuck. Damn. Piss.

Frog.

Craftster Swap Info . . . a Little About Moi

Swapper info

This entry is for my fellow swap-aholics to learn a bit more about me, my addictions, habbits and obsessions.

I'm addicted to creating: knitting, making clothes, purses, stuffies, polymer clay magnets and sculptures, embroidery, photography, and if anything else strikes my fancy, I will try it!

I've got street skills when it comes to: Ha! Lots of things!! I'm a bit of a jill-of-all-trades; I've dabbled in dozens on things throughout the years. I love to challenge my brain and my body and try out new things. In my lifetime I've dabbled in the following: knitting, sewing, embroidery, sculpting, imaging on fabric, and (non-crafty but important): playing drums, yoga, Swedish language, Arnus (a Filipino stick-fighting), piano lessons (I did well with my reach but don't have a good ear for it!).

I'd love to expirament with: Stenciling, needle-felting.

I'm currently or always in awe of: Nature and animals. My husband and I go out on nature walks as often as we can, and are always finding new things to be in awe of. We love to photograph reptiles and amphibians. Our most recent nature walk was in El Yunque, the rainforest in Puerto Rico, where we saw some amazing sights. I also love Mod style, Edwardian and Victorian style, the roaring 20s, European ruins of castles and monstaries. I love old stuff. I love all animals, but reptiles and cats are my favorites.

Other Personal Details: I'm a left-handed Aquarius and very, very creative. My brain is never idle. My job (legal secretary ) doesn't require much creativity, so I fill my life with it. I keep all kinds of things around my desk -- plants, photos I've taken, my Knitting-Pattern-a-Day calendar. I usually have knitting with me in case I want to stay inside during lunch, and in good weather I take it to the gorgeous park across the street from my office. I try to notice a random thing of beauty every day -- hard to do when there's grey skies and greyer slush on the ground, but that's the point where I start listening for birds. I saw two ducks the other day in the canal near my house. I love ducks!

Random Things:

Do you keep a journal/art sketch book? I keep this blog, but keep the real personal stuff out of it. If there's personal stuff that I wish to talk about, I talk about it with my husband. When the urge hits me, I do like to sketch though.

Do you have any pets? Yes, and I could never live without them! Two cats -- 15-year-old Zelia and 6-year-old Solvie, both spayed females, and a 9 or 10-year-old ball python, Sunny (the vet is 90% sure Sunny is male but we still always refer to him as a "she").

Do you have any kids *ages*? One stepdaughter, 24. She lives with her mom nearby. She also crafts (crochet and scrapbooking). I'm slowly trying to convert her to more crafts. . . mwahahahaha!!

Do you have a portable CD player, mobile phone, or ipod? A really sucky Nokia cell phone that I may replace soon with a camera phone, and a really wonderful iPod (standard sized, not mini). I've been meaning to make a cozy for my iPod but haven't yet.

Do you need another random trinket box? Yes, I would! I've been saving up Altoids tins but haven't gotten around to making one yet.

Do you need something to carry your knitting/sewing with you? I have a few tote bags that I use for my knitting, so I don't need another one right now. I have a tote bag with a bearded dragon on it that I may recon to give it pockets and make it a big more sturdy.

Do you need a CD case/folder thing? No, I never carry my CDs with me.

Do you need another purse? I love purses and I make purses. If another craftster wanted to make me a purse, I would love to see what other people make!

What crafts do you do/want to do? I sew, knit, and sculpt with polymer clay. I love to make stuffies. I have just gotten into embroidery and love it, and have done some silkscreening, Polaroid transfers, solvent transfers in the past.

What crafts do you admire? All of them! I'm really enthralled by people's detailed embroidery work and all the great recons I see.

Do you collect anything? TOO MUCH!!!! I have a go-go boot collection, and a big collection of horror movies and horror movie memorabilia. I tend to keep what I love and have been paring down on the collector's mentality lately, but we have a house full of neat stuff. :-)

Jewelry

Do you wear earrings? Yes, my ears are pierced and I have no allergies there.

Do you wear bracelets/cuffs? No -- bangle bracelets tend to fall off me. Cuffs are fine, usually, and stretchy bracelets, but everything else tends to be too big. I have bracelets I got when I was seven years old that still fit me, if that is any indication of size.

Do you wear necklaces? Yes. A choker necklace on me would be about 13 inches, but I like long necklaces too.

Clothing

What is your shirt size? Probably a small in men's, medium in women's/baby tees.

What is your shoe size? 6.5-7.

Would you like some clothes made for you? I don't need clothes or t-shirts but I wouldn't turn them away. ;-)

Favorites

What is your favorite color? It changes!!! I love oceany colors for the spring and summer -- blues and greens, and rich deep colors for the fall and winter -- purples, reds. I always love pink and all shades. And orange, one of the most unloved of all colors.

What is your favorite color to go with your favorite color? Hard to say, but I love black/white/red together or black and white mixed with a bright color. It's very mod.

Do you have a favorite animal you would like something made with? I love reptiles and cats! Lizards are my favorite reptiles, geckos and bearded dragons especially. I also love ducks and have jumped aboard the owl-love train lately.

Do you have a favorite TV series you would like something made with? Not really; I don't watch a lot of TV, just Lost, Family Guy, America's Next Top Model, Saturday Night Live and Nature (PBS). I average about 5 hours a week of TV viewing.

Do you have a favorite book you would like something made with? Not really.

What is your favorite food? Indian! I could eat it every day. Or Vietnamese. The only "fast food" I like is pizza and Subway.

What is your favorite smell? Fresh cut grass, lavender, and peach.

What are your favorite movies? Dawn of the Dead, Barbarella, Tombs of the Blind Dead. . . lots of horror and swingin' 60s stuff (I love the Frankie and Annette beach movies too, just to show you I'm not all darkness).

Who is your favorite cartoon character? I love Daffy Duck! All of the Looney Toons, and the Chuck Avery stuff too. (ETA: ZantiMisterKnit just emailed me to let me know about my boo-boo. I meant TEX Avery, not Chuck Avery, but a Chuck Jones/Tex Avery hybrid would be quite cool, wouldn't it???)

Allergies and Aversions

Are there any colors you hate? Not really, but some pastels make me look washed out.

Would you dislike receiving items made from animal products? I think fur is icky; I wouldn't mind recycle leather or suede but I wouldn't want any roadkill art. Wool is fine -- I have lots of it!

Is there anything you would rather not receive because of religious references? I'm agnostic, so I'd rather not receive anything with religious references.

Is there anything else you would dislike? I can't really think of much. I have a subversive sense of humor so you can't really offend me.

Do you have any actual allergies? Pollen. I don't think I'm allergic to cigarettes, but I really hate the smell of cigarette smoke.

Knitting Pattern a Day Week 10 Review

Here's the Week 10 Review of the Knitting Pattern-a-Day Calendar patterns.

Monday, March 6 -- Short Simple Cape. It's lying flat on industrial carpet. I haven't a clue as to how it would fit, and it kind of looks like a really short poncho with a point in the back. They're not selling me on this one.

Tuesday, March 7 -- Slip-Bead I-Cord Jewelry. This pattern looks a little hippie/hemp-ish, but I think it could have some nice possibilities with handpainted sock yarn and pearlized beads. It would make a nice stocking stuffer.

Wednesday, March 8-- Fingerless Gloves with Eyelash Trim. These are kinda cute and muppet-like, but I don't think I'd make them. They take approximately 230 to 270 yards of worsted weight yarn, and I'd rather use less yarn and make mittens (and have warmer fingers). I'd probably also make the eyelash yarn cuffs a little thicker -- it looks like a mangy muppet.

Thursday, March 9 -- Fingerless Gloves with Eyelash Trim. . .Part 2 of this pattern that I probably won't make. Maybe I'll change my mind someday.

Friday, March 10 -- Little Flowers Cowl. I try hard to not let the models (when used) get in the way of my reviews. But this model looks so cute, and so happy wearing this cowl, plus her hair matches it. Awww! It's made with a kind of cute novelty yarn (Crystal Palace Little Flowers) and could probably be made in about an hour. It's probably useless in our harsh winters, but perhaps on a cool day that isn't windy (yeah, RIGHT!), or on a "bad hair day", it would come in handy.

Saturday/Sunday, March 11 and 12 -- The Traditional Pixie Hat. A cute little stockinette stitch hat with a pom-pom. The yarn used is recycled silk, which looks pretty nice and colorful. I think I now have every hat pattern one can own, which is good, because I knit a lot of hats.

Wocka! Wocka!!

Stolen from Emmie.

You Are Fozzie Bear

"Wocka! Wocka!"You're the life of the party, and you love making people crack up.If only your routine didn't always bomb!You may find more groans than laughs, but always keep the jokes coming.

The Muppet Personality Test

Iguana Sitting

Last weekend, we fostered an iguana. Rather, we saved her from euthanasia and got her safely to a rescue. She had been living with an elderly woman who was recently diagnosed with cancer and had to give her up to a veterinary office. The people at the vet's weren't sure what to do with her, and were a little afraid of her "attitude" . . . we caught wind of the situation and took her in.

Her original name was the very creative "Iggy", but Mike affectionately renamed her "Overbite". I hope the pictures explain her name.
She didn't so much have a bad attitude as she just wasn't used to being handled a whole bunch. I would say that she was fine, considering she got moved around a lot in a short period of time. She whipped her tail at me once, the first time I came near her. She tried to bite whenever we picked her up, but ended up falling asleep on our laps.

The poor thing has such a severe overbite he tongue lolls out.
Her lower jaw never fully developed, thus giving her the severe overbite you see in these pictures. It was probably caused by not getting the proper nutrients and sunlight. She also looks as though she had a touch of scoliosis.

[Jumps onto soapbox]
Iguanas are more work than people realize. They *need* sunlight -- natural sunlight, NOT a lamp -- daily to absorb nutrients, and they *need* a balanced diet. Please, people, if you are considering getting ANY kind of pet, please, please, please buy the *current* edition of a care manual for that animal, READ it, do as much research as you can on the animal, talk to the local reptile society, realize how big the animal is going to get and how long it could live, and have everything you need ready for it *before* you bring it home.

[Jumps off soapbox]

I leave you on a happy note -- a ridiculous picture of Overbite.

Knitting Pattern-a-Day Week 9 Review

Here's the Week 9 Review of the Knitting Pattern-a-Day Calendar patterns. I hope y'all have realized by now that I just copy last week's review into a new post, because otherwise I would never know what number week it is. I just had to say that, to make myself sound a little less anal.

Monday, February 27 -- Inca Inspired Adult Vest continued . . . This final page of the pattern shows the rest of the neat-o charts. I'm still not sure if I'd ever knit this vest (even as a sweater), but I do like the charts and may be able to use them.

Tuesday, February 28 -- Double Diamonds. This is another nice all-over pattern "for a stole or cardigan". These may come in handy some day.

Wednesday, March 1-- Mexican Knitting Tote Bag. This is a great, vintagey-looking bag! It appears to be knitted with a raised garter stitch row going up the bag lengthwise. It reminds me of those bags we had as kids (in the 70s) that had beads all over them (we use to bite the beads off and call them "Kenickies". . . Don't ask, I don't remember why other than many of us were in love with Kenickie from Grease!). I think this would make a nice summer tote bag.

Thursday, March 2 -- Basic Hat. Is Thursday Hat Day? Last Thursday's pattern was the "Easy Hat". I don't think I have a hat pattern in multiple weights that is ribbed and stockinette, so this just may come in handy. . .

Friday, March 3 -- Elegant Slipped Stitch Mesh Scarf. This is pretty cute, and it's done with ribbon yarn so it's not meant to keep you warm. It has beads right above the fringe too, so it is a definite "outside of the coat" scarf!

Saturday/Sunday, March 5 and 6 -- Bottom Up Circular Seamless Baby Booties. There was a crocheted baby bootie on "Lost" this week, and that's all I can think of as I type this. Baby booties are the classic cartoon way of announcing to your husband that you are pregnant. I think booties are pretty cute, and seem to be instant gratification. I wish I could get the cats to wear them. I wonder if they'll fit my stuffed frog Connie?

Finished Sweater and Stuffed Eyeball

I am proud to introduce my finished cardigan!!!!

Pattern: "Embroided Sweater", Style No. 6061 from Spinnerin Volume 150 from 1962.

Yarn: Malabrigo, color Holly Hock, less than 5 skeins

Needles: size 4 Clover Bamboo straights for the waistband and cuff, size 9 Clover Bamboo straights for the rest.

Date Started: January 6, 2006
Date Finished: February 27, 2006

Notes: I finished a sweater in less than two months!!! I am so proud of myself!!!

ZantiMrKnit had given me 4 skeins of this yarn for Xmas. One of the women at Windsor Button said it should be enough for a sweater. I decided that I would need another skein, and got one -- just not in the same dye lot. There is a difference in the two dyelots, but I'm wicked smaht and used the 5th skein for the waistband, cuffs, and neckband.

I have put in a small picture on the right of the picture from the magazine. As you can tell, I didn't do the embroidery (duuuuhhhhh!). I thought that the Malabrigo on its own is beautiful enough, and the style of the sweater is fancy enough that it doesn't need embroidery.

The knitting part of this sweater was great. Of course, the soft-as-a-kitten Malabrigo didn't hurt. Once it came time to finish it --- hooo boy! Makes me think of how smug (or clueless) I must have sounded as a new knitter, saying, "I've been sewing for years; I don't mind sewing pieces together." To all the knitters I said that to, I now hang my head in shame and offer my sincere apologies.


The other part about this sweater that was difficult -- the buttonholes. Buttonholes suck! Whatever you do, try to get around making buttonholes! Sew buttons on the front and use snaps to close it, because buttonholes are going to look like poo-poo no matter *what* you do!

The neckband was fun to knit, but one sonofaBoDiddley to put on. I had realized how it was going on while knitting it, but never completely formulated it until Anna at the South Station 1 p.m. SnB said, "You're knitting bias tape." Yup, that's me. I knit bias tape.

I also knit optic nerves!!!

I signed up for the Unconditional Birthday Swap for February on Craftster. One of the posters, Sweetie pie press, wanted subversive stuffies -- one of the things she mentioned was a stuffed eyeball. That set my brain into motion. There was lots of time-consuming work (lots of hand-sewing), and freehanding how to knit up an optic nerve (I just cast on 8 stitches, knit up about 2 inches, and repeated that until I had about 9 of them -- three on each dpn -- then I started knitting in the round with them, decreasing where appropriate and ending it all with an i-cord). I think the hardest part was attaching the optic nerve to the already-stuffed stuffie. I'll be making at least one more, so maybe I can streamline the work. Solvie enjoyed it quite a bit (not to mention ZantiMrKnit, who asked if I really had to mail it away).

Hullo, what's this???

Have I ever mentioned that I sometimes don't finish projects? I started this lovely, Knitty's Rock Star scarf, around July '05. It's a garter stitch scarf done on size 3 needles with sock yarn and novelty yarn. So basically you can knit forever and only have two inches done. I took it out of the cupboard on Monday and started working on it again.

Both yarns are lovely. The neon fur yarn is some JoAnn Sensations brand yarn. It was so tacky I had to buy three skiens, and then try to find a project for it. I found the Rock Star scarf, which recommends Koigu, and I had not idea what that was. I finally got a beautiful coral/pink sock yarn from Minds Eye's Yarn in Cambridge, MA. There were times I considered frogging this and using the sock yarn to make (natch!) socks. But I just watched All Dolled Up (the New York Dolls movie) the other night and would love to strut around like Syl Sylvain wearing this, maybe with garters and high heels.

Please excuse any typos I had tonight. I'm tired and had a glass of wine.

Night night!