love is all you need

Sorry I disappeared for a while there.  I guess I have a few reasons

·          Master Knitter swatches do not really make good blog reading… you’ve all seen what seed stitch, ribbing and increases/decreases look like, right?

·          Joey and I have been doing a 60-day gut buster workout thing and sometimes that makes me too tired to even look at the computer when I get home.

·          I am just completely boring right now; my house is a mess because we are trying to ‘pare down’ on household items that we won’t need/won’t have room for in new york, which has become a full time job in itself.  I just think about the amount of work and time and energy something like that takes and then I decide to ignore it and go hide in my room and watch reruns of Frasier.

I’ve really been looking for some knitting stuff to get excited about lately, but I ‘m stuck in a knitting guilt triangle.   I have three projects going right now:

·          Master Knitting Level 1: this one is my top priority, but I find that I have to make sure I pay attention to my gauge the whole time = not conducive to relaxing tv knitting.

·          My So-Called Scarf: about halfway done, beautiful, but I no longer have that cool winter breeze in my sails that would make me rush to finish it.  Plus, MK level 1 takes precedence.

·          Thermal.  Oh, god, thermal.  I really want to have this sweater, but I really don’t want to put in the effort anymore.  I’m at the part where you have to do armhole and neckline shaping at the same time, and I don’t know if I have enough brainpower for that right now.  And again, MK level 1 takes precedence.

Normally when I get in a knitting guilt funk like this I buy new, beautiful, inspiring yarn or haphazardly jump without looking into a new project, but I can’t let myself do that right now.  I need a kick in the butt and get going- with both my knitting and my new york-readying.  So, dear blog readers kick away, help me out of my funk!

 

I've picked up Thermal again over the last week and finally split for the neckline. I'm a little nervous about working the neckline and armhole shaping simultaneously, but I think I'll just forge ahead and only worry when I get into trouble. I'll just knit, listen to the steady rainfall, and smell my potato soup simmering on the stove. Sounds like a good evening.

I haven't knitted on my sock at all since I've been back from my trip and my Thermal is still languishing in my unpacked suitcase. I did manage to crochet a couple of rows on the Ripple Afghan, but that's about it. This morning was a very rainy one here in North Texas, but it was also pleasantly cool- perfect weather for knitting while sipping home made apple cider. I stopped by the grocery store on my way home from work and picked up some of the ingredients for the cider- cloves, allspice berries, cinnamon sticks, oranges and apple juice and threw them into the crock pot so I could savor the aroma as I arranged my newly purchased pumpkins on my kitchen table. Fall is here and it is just the kick I need to get my knitting groove back.
Oh, and Joey told me that when he was taking the dogs outside this morning, Daisy chased down a squirrel and caught it in her mouth. He spanked her and got her to drop it, but then Henry went and picked it up. After he got Henry to let it go, the squirrel ran off. I'm hoping the squirrel wasn't too badly injured- I didn't see any dead ones laying around when I got home from work. Then I heard that familiar pitter-patter of squirrels in the eaves of my house, and when I looked up a few of them were watching me.

Last night I re-knit the toe of my sock, making sure there was plenty of room for my second toe. When I got to the kitchener stitch, I watched the video from www.knittinghelp.com and followed along. The first few stitches and the last few looked a little messy, so I undid it (which was a total pain) and re-kitchenered my sock. When I got to the point where I only had one stitch left on each needle, I wasn’t sure what to do, so I just kind of secured them down while I was weaving in my yarn tail. It looks okay, but definitely not perfect. Anyone have any good tips for professional-looking kitchenered toes?
I am pretty pleased with my sock. It has all the markings of a true first sock; messily-kitchenered toe, a slight hole where the gusset decreases start, and my picked-up stitches from the heel flap are pretty noticeable. I wouldn’t trade it for any other sock, though. Years from now, when I am cranking out socks as fancy as the ones Nancy Bush makes (yeah, right) I will look back on my first pair of socks and have fond memories of my learning experience.
At the end of next week, I will be going on a trip with my mom and sister to visit my mom’s side of the family in New Mexico and Arizona. There will be lots of flying and driving involved as well as just sitting around and visiting with family, so I plan on getting a lot of knitting done- but what projects to bring? I don’t want to bring my afghan, ‘cause it is just so big that I would have to pack it in my checked luggage, and I couldn’t bear the thought of what I would do if my suitcase got lost with the ripple in it. I’ll definitely bring my second sock for plane knitting, and I should bring Thermal, ‘cause that sweater needs to be off of my needles already, but I wonder if I should bring something else, in case I get bored with Thermal. (Because we all know that I've never gotten bored with Thermal...)

At last week’s knit night, we decided that we were going to apply to be a vendor in an upcoming craft bazaar. (We being myself, my mom, my sister Kasi, and my sister in law Heather). This is the same bazaar that I did last December. SO, that means that my current projects (Thermal, the Ripple afghan) have to be put on hold so that I can crank out tons ‘o knits for the bazaar. I’ve already finished a pair of cabled wristwarmers made with Lorna's Laces Bullfrogs and Butterflies in the Tuscany colorway. These wristwarmers were a big hit at the bazaar last year, so I'm going to be making a ton of them. I also finished up a K2P2 ribbed hat made with the washable and sensible Bernat Softee Chunky.
Oh, and if you were wondering how my first sock class went, it was great! We casted on DPNs and did the leg in K2P2 ribbing. We're doing about an inch of stockinette before we start the heel flap, and that's what we'll be learning this Saturday. I decided I didn't want to "mess up" any of my Vesper yarn in case my first pair of socks turns out to be a disaster, so I'm using Colinette Jitterbug in the Monet colorway. So far, so good!

I haven't been completely ignoring the ripple afghan- just slowed down a little. (Mainly because I started to feel guilty about ignoring a few other projects.) The ripple is still lovely, and I cannot wait until I'm finished so I can have the most wonderful blanket in the world to snuggle under!

My Thermal sweater is getting a small reprise, as I had gotten lost in the never-ending world of waffle stitch on fingering weight yarn and size 3 needles! I'm getting closer and closer to the 12-inch mark, where I can finally split for the neckline.

And Ms Marigold is thisclose to being finished. I did the single crochet around the armholes last night, and (once again) worked on seaming the center of the v-neck. I have seriously seamed and re-seamed this part at least four times. I can't figure out how to make it look right. Got any tips?

I'm also planning on ripping out the bind-off on the bottom ribbing, because it is too tight when worn. After that there are just a few ends to weave in, give her a blocking and she's ready to go!

Oh, and I'm totally counting down until my sock class.... only 9 days left!

How have I been doing with meeting the goals I set for this week?
*I completed the goal of knitting two pattern repeats on Thermal, which makes me happy. I’m getting pretty close to the part where I start the armhole shaping and the split for the neck.
* I cut out the fabric pieces for a reusable grocery bag last night, but I didn’t have big enough fabric scraps to make an entire bag! (This did lead me to do a little fabric stash organizing, though.)
* I have ripped out the neck stitches on Ms Marigold, but I can’t seem to remember how to pick up stitches. Even after watching an online video I just wasn’t getting it right. All the online descriptions I find don’t really go into enough detail for picking them up on the sides of a v-neck. I’ve set this one down for the moment, but might give it another go over the weekend.
So what if I’ve only met one of my three goals for this week? I’m still happy because I at least attempted to complete the other goals, even if I was hindered by unforeseen roadblocks.

In other news, Joey’s band The Valentines won another Dallas Observer Music Award this week! They were voted Best Indie Rock and were pretty surprised by the win. They will be heading down to Houston tomorrow night to play a pre-season kickoff party for the Houston Rockets, which should be good exposure for them. I won’t be going because I’ve been invited to a Murder Mystery Dinner. (My character is a French medium and tarot card reader.) I’m pretty excited about it, and I’ll have to let you know how it goes.

It has been so hot around here that you work up a sweat just by being lazy. So there's really not much to report on the crafting front. I'm trying to remedy that by setting a few goals this week, which I shall share with you now so that you can taunt me if I fail.
* Rip out the neck on my Ms Marigold and re-pick up the stitches so that both sides look the same.
* Knit at least two waffle-stitch pattern repeats (there are 4 rounds in one repeat) on my Thermal sweater.
* Sew at least one reuseable fabric grocery bag.
(And I know that picture has nothing to do with my post but I had to show you guys something, and why not show you what Joey and Henry both do best?)