crap.

I think Mr. Pink Sweater is going to be way too large. Dammit, the mathematically-challenged really shouldn't be allowed to knit.

Well.

There was no yarn needle, but I managed to keep myself from screaming by instead working on a scarf which, if I get it finished in the next week or so, will be a birthday present for a friend of mine.

(I will admit to a bit of swearing when it became clear that there weren't any needles in the usual places: my purse and my makeup bag.)

But this morning I braved a hideous rainstorm and managed to get in and out of the yarn store without purchasing any yarn, just the needles. Am now knitting up the turtleneck! Woo! If I stop playing on the internet, I could have it done by tonight.

And then I can make socks! (Oh, and finish that scarf. Right.)

mmm, yarn . . .

I went to the loveliest yarn store this afternoon. Oh, Knitty City, you have such gorgeous yarn and such nice people. A+.

I bought some sock yarn that I don't really need (but I'm gonna make some of it into presents, so that's ok, right?) and some needles to knit up a bunch of thick acrylic yarn that I just inherited. It really can't be left to languish in the box, can it? And chenille is cool. I'm gonna knit a chenille blanket, I think.

Mr. Pink Sweater is still drying. God, I hope I have a yarn needle so I can sew it up. Otherwise there might be screaming. Loud, uncontrollable screaming.

You never thought knitting was so dramatic, did you? Ha ha!

cautiously hopeful

I think it all came out ok. Now it's blocking (great, drunken blocking) and then all I have to do is sew together shoulders, slap on a turtleneck, sew up the sides, and hope to God that the gauge worked out. You never know with me. Knitting is possibly not the best choice for the mathematically challenged, but I do love it. Because (not why I love knitting, but why I hope the gauge is ok) I really really don't want to have to knit it again, and I don't know anyone nearish my size (because it's close, it really is) who I adore enough to give a sweater to. Well, my brothers are near my size (we can wear the same pants) but I'm pretty sure they don't want a hot pink sleeveless turtleneck.

And I do believe it is now time to step away from the internet. I'm not letting you see pictures of my ghetto-blocking experiment. There may be pictures of sweater with turtleneck tomorrow, or, if we're really lucky, finished sweater! Crazy.

I wonder what I should knit next? And why is my stash in another state? Along with my needle collection? I didn't plan very well.

once again, brilliant timing.

Naturally I get to the most complicated part of my sweater when I'm just a little bit tipsy. This might go horribly wrong.

Awesome.

ooh. pictures.

My pink yarn. In original form:


The first attempt at the sweater back:


I'd do pictures of the front, but right now it basically looks like a ball of pink yarn, so I think you can imagine well enough. Once I get done posting this, I'm gonna turn the ball o' yarn into Mr. Sweater Front.

time to de-construct

Have 'finished' the back of Mr Bright Pink Sweater, but I think I want it to be longer in the body. Le sigh. Time to un-do. And there doesn't look to be much quality tv tonight to keep me company whilst knitting: just a lot of depressing and sensationalist news about Virginia Tech.

However, this is not the blog where I complain about the media, so that's all I'll say about that.

Why you should Always Bring Your Knitting.

I was too lazy to bring my knitting on the subway with me tonight, so naturally when I got on I sat down across from a guy who was knitting this fluffy pale pink thing. Dammit, we could have been friends!

acrylics

After I posted last night I realized that the two Finished Works I'd decided to show off were made with--the horror!--acrylic yarn. Lest anyone get any ideas that I actually like the fake stuff, let me state right now that I am as much of a yarn snob as anyone. A fiber snob, really. My mom got to me young. I've been convinced that acrylic yarn was put on the earth by Satan ever since I was approximately eleven years old.

And then you fast-forward to being a grown-up person, and the Fiber Gods consipire against you. You find yourself A) poor, and B) having no vehicle with which to get to a nice yarn store, because oh, did I mention that you're poor? But JoAnn's (and a Wal-Mart) are within walking distance, and sometimes a girl does what she must.

I did splurge (in my own small way) for the sweater I'm making up. I bought some Cascade Yarns Sierra in a nice hot pink. It's cotton with a dash of wool, two of my favorite things. And yes, you're gonna have to keep waiting for the pictures.

random stuff I've made:

Hat:


Yep, pretty much made this up. Found a decrease plan somewhere, got the gauge to match the needles and my head, and taught myself some two-color knitting. I think the yarn is Lion Brand Micro-Spun. It's not bad yarn, but it kinda squeaks if you knit it tightly, which I did.


Pants:


First project of 2007. I didn't make these up as I went along, though I'm sure I changed something on them. No, for these I used one of the pants patterns from Knit 2 Together, by Tracey Ullman and Mel Clark. Love the book, love the pants. The yarn is from one of those giant balls of randomness you can get at Jo-Anns. I used most of it to make long pants for my brother, and they were so hilarious that I used the rest of the skein to make short pants for myself.

not entirely certain how I feel about this . . .

. . . but I really, really felt like blogging about knitting today. Yikes. This is mostly because I started a sweater, which I am making up (more or less) as I go. I always see patterns I like, and then for some reason--not usually a good reason, more 'let's see what happens'--I change them. It's very exciting. I never know if anything will fit, no matter how carefully I check the gauge.

Oh, life is fun. I'll keep you posted. And there will be photos eventually. When there is enough to photograph.

Go first post!