WIP Promise

Right now, I have a bunch of WIPs on tap, and I have made a promise to myself to complete at least ONE of them by the end of this month.  When you see them, and see what needs to be done to finish each one, you will probably laugh your ass off when you get to a particular one.

Let's get started with pictures I took 10 days ago (proof of what a slacker I am).

Jolly Roger Shawl:



I cast on for this on September 19, on Talk Like a Pirate Day.  I've done a handful more rows since that (I can really only manage one a night between dinner and bedtime).  I would have loved to have had this for Halloween, but I would need much more time to work on it.  Since there is NO WAY IN HELL it can't be done by the end of October, I'm hoping to at least be done by Thanksgiving.  Twenty-six and a half rows to go!!!!!!

Sleep Knitting Socks:



I cast on for these on September 10, because I needed something to knit on my commute that wasn't too taxing, and also to take on the trails with me when we hike.   I also managed to used my project as a prop for my catches on the trail:





(Disclaimer: if anyone is going to wank at me for having photos of a snake on my blog, just hit the back button right fucking now, because I don't give a shit about your phobias.  It's a goddamn photo of a harmless garter snake, for fuck's sake.)

Hopefully I'll have these done very, very soon.  If not by the end of this month, the beginning of November.

I'm Picking Out a Thermis:



Originally started on January 15.  STOP LAUGHING.  I had finished it pretty quickly, wore it a few times, and it was FUCKING HUGE and flopped around so it sat in a drawer since around March, waiting to be frogged.  I don't remember when I re-knit it, but I re-knit it and right now all it needs is to have the ends woven in and have buttons sewn on.  Sounds simple, but I've been too lazy to go all the way up to the third floor to get my sewing needles and rummage through my hatbox of thread to find the one that matches the buttons.  Okay, you can laugh now.

I'm hoping to do this last piddling bit by the end of October.

Lilah's Blanket:



Started on April 5, I finished the knitting part of it some time in August and just have to finish sewing the ruffle onto the blanket for my stepgranddaughter, who was born July 30.

I'm the worst go-go ever.

Thankfully, she has two other blankets that nicer people than I made for her.  They are crocheted, though.

I'm hoping to have this done by Thanksgiving.

Love Bytes:



Started January 6, I finished the first mitten in about 3 weeks (thanks to shitty weather and the first season of TREME).  I'm a decent way through the second mitten (it looks as though I have already put aside stitches for the thumb -- yes, it has been that long that I don't remember), but haven't picked these up in months.  I should have these done by the winter, if not the end of the year.

I'm only allowed to cast on something else IF I finish the socks (a/k/a my commuting project, and yes, I just almost wrote "cocks" because I am that LSG), and that new project has to also be a project I can do on my commute, AND I can only work on that project while commuting, being a passenger on a car, or otherwise somewhere where I require a small, easily transported project (i.e. on the trail).

That's it for now!

Rhinebeck 2011!!! Best Rhinebeck ever?

We hit up this year's Rhinebeck as part of a whirlwind October (we traveled three weekends in a row - the other two being to Los Angeles, CA and Parsippany, NJ, which I hope to address in another blog post). It was promising to be a fun time, with about 12-15 folks from the Ravelry Rubberneckers group coming, and most of those staying in the same hotel in Poughkeepsie. We stayed in a different hotel, down the road from theirs, but close enough to hang out.

The first night (Friday) we had dinner at the fabulous Table Talk Diner in Poughkeepsie:



(That's GrannyG/Genny, Minkeswim/Andrea, MaCanary (Bluecanary/Barbara's mom), Weebil/Aileen and Jay, GrannyG's daughter, who may or may not have a Ravelry account.

I must have been feeling incredibly hungry, because I ordered the Thanksgiving sandwich (turkey, cranberry sauce and stuffing!) with sweet potato fries, and a beer (Sam Adams):



I ate most of it, but not all, and I felt like I do after Thanksgiving.

The next morning, bright and early, we hit up the Everready Diner in Hyde Park for breakfast and, after a couple of odd turns, found our way to the Mulberry Street gate of the Dutchess County Fairgrounds.

Mike was really excited to be there and finally get another Diet Coke:



There was yarn. Lots of yarn. Amazing yarn.



There was also yarn with hidden messages in it:





And gorgeous finished objects!!! Absolutely beautiful!!!





I aspire to someday knit this much lace.



This is a really cute lacy bolero.



Yup, I should have purchased that pattern. Derp.

This was made out of quiviut! 8 balls of quiviut at $85/ball (show special price):



I should have taken a picture of the whole thing. It was some sort of shawl/shrug with a 24-stitch cable on it, and was absolutely gorgeous but oh-so-expensive. I would feel so elegant and luxurious in it though. AW SHAWN TAY!

Some displays were a little less elegant and luxurious:



Um, yeah. I'm sure this booth got many people taking a photo of THAT.

Of course there were animals! Llamas:



Alpacas:



Sulcata tortoises/alligators/lemurs:




A goat that completely macked on my husband, who was feeding it:


Ridiculous goat!!!

When we got back to our car, we had a surprise waiting for us - Andrea, Pearl and Lisa had left us some gummies:



Mike went for it:



We went back to our hotel, where I ogled my new stash additions:



I do need to photograph everything individually, so I can show it off.



There were more additions made that night/the next day. I may have purchased more this year than I have since my first Rhinebeck in 2006.

We hung out in one of the hotel rooms that night and had beer and pizza:



Both of these are New York breweries. I preferred the Hurricane Kitty to the Bear Naked Ale. I'm not sure if I can get either locally, but I'd buy more of Keegan's beers if I found them. They apparently have a milk stout that is quite tasty (though I'm not much of a stout fan).

The next morning was time for another great breakfast at the Everready before day 2 of the Festival!



And our Rubberneckers meetup at 12:30:



I'm really bad about taking photos of people rather than of animals, yarn, and other stuff. It may be because I'm awkward about having my photo taken, and assume everyone else does.

I did get a photo of Fennel/Jamie getting a photo of me:



I love my friends. We had so much fun.

Getting out of there was a real drag. For one, we were SO TIRED when we arrived at the Fairgrounds that we forgot to turn the car engine off. Yup. Our car sat there, running, for about 5 hours. Thankfully the battery didn't die, and we had no problems getting home except for awful traffic jams.

This is how tired we were:



I passed the time by taking photos of some of my recently finished FOs that I haven't blogged about yet.

This is my Lace on a Train scarf:



So called because I knit most of it on the train. It's from an insert booklet that came with Interweave Knits around 2006 or 2007, i.e., long before I ever considered knitting lace. The yarn is Malabrigo lace in the "Lettuce" colorway.

These are my Thelonius Sock Monsters from Cookie A's Knit. Sock. Love book:





The yarn is sock yarn from Holiday Yarns, in the colorway "Fiji". I purchased that yarn at the New Hampshire Sheep and Wool back in May (I think).

I'm debating trying to wrap up my year of projects since my last post in March. I may have a couple without photos, though. I think it's high time I start getting my words and photos onto this screen again.

Until later!

Moving on

Thank you to everyone who has commented on my blog, on other places online, and in real life. I know it doesn't feel like I'm making much of a difference when I say, "I'm sorry" to someone who is grieving, but, having been on the receiving end, it does help to know that people care enough to say they are sorry.

I want to move on, to happier blog stuff. Like Ellie in the window:



Or in the closet:



How about my parents' new kitteh, Peaches:



Peaches playing with the stuff mouse I gave her (that I made, of course):





(I caught her while shaking her head in this picture, which made her lip look funny and puffy. No, she doesn't have cheek puffs like the Simpsons' cat does.)

I really like her "cattitude" look here. Reminds me a bit of Solvie:



Peaches is cute, and so tiny compared to our chubba bubba! I've seen her eat, however, and it won't last.

How about some knitting?



I started the Swallowtail Shawl in February. I'm about 35 rows in, but ended up with two more stitches on the needles than I should have, so I must have thrown in an extra YO or two. I need to tink back, but I hate tinking, so I've put that one on ignore for now. It's only one row, 101 stitches to tink back, but I'm a lazy bint and haven't done it.

I've been working on boring socks too:





I tried to knit the Swallowtail at my SnB, and it was making me crazy, so I decided to cast on for simple, 2x2 rib knit socks that I can take to my SnB and knit on the bus/train. These are them. The yarn is some random wool yarn I purchased on eBay in 2005 that was hand-dyed (probably with Kool-Aid).

I also cast on for the Lacy Waves Top from Lace Style, but I have no photos of that. I'll do that at some point; that's pretty mindless knitting so far as well (which is great for watching movies), as the back has some ribbing, then stockinette stitch for 14 inches. Snooze. The yarn is really pretty aqua blue Gedifra Cotton Merino.

We're finally getting some signs of Spring here. I've seen some robins, and a few crocus blooming, daffodils pushing out of the ground, and today I had nice itchy eyes every time I came in from outside. I really shouldn't complain, because OMFG I'M FINALLY SEEING SOME SUNLIGHT!!! and I CAN GO OUTSIDE WITHOUT WORRYING ABOUT SLIPPING AND FALLING ON ICE!!!!! I think I've made it pretty clear how I feel about the warm months (love 'em!) and the cold months (want to kick them in the taint).

Isn't it nice to read a blog that doesn't mention any Rav Drama? ;)