Success!



The Noro is finally happy. (I still take bad pictures.) Askew from Knitty, almost two skeins of Noro Big Kureyon on size 10.5 needles. I added waist shaping, and knit the back in a smaller size because I was between sizes. The straps are placed a bit too wide in front, but fixing that would've been way too complicated. Generally I am quite happy, though I was hoping I'd be able to pull it off with V-neck tops (not so much). Temperatures have been below average all year so far, so I should be able to wear this a few more times before I have to put it away.

I have actually been making progress on other projects; maybe I've shaken the frog monster at last! I've finally finished the yoke on St. James (this picture is from a few days ago)...


...and I'm at the cuff of the first Leyburn (aka Lisa Frank socks). I have completed 18 squares of my mitered blanket; I decided this weekend that sewing in the ends as I go is for the best (otherwise I'd have 324 ends to sew in at the end, before any assembly or borders; I did the math!), so I spent a while this past weekend doing just that. Boring... Also, I have a new plan for my crazy Cookie Monster yarn, which seems to be going well. I hope I never have to frog that stuff again...

Also, since the package has been received, I can post a picture of the mitts I made for a swap (This is What a Feminist Swaps Like, on Ravelry):


If the pattern looks familiar, it's because it's the Monkey lace pattern; I was on a deadline, and I figured if I was going to knit lace on size 1 needles I should pick something I already had memorized! The yarn is Misti Alpaca Lace held doubled. It was great to work with; there's something about it that feels and looks like there's some silk content. I think I'm less allergic to baby alpaca than adult alpaca. Does that make any sense?

So since I've been immersed in fiber (sometimes literally), it would be safe to assume that there's not much happening on the singing front. I did have school performances last Thursday--and a lesson tomorrow, rescheduled from two weeks ago--but other than that, nada. I did get my first rejection-with-encouragement letter ever the other day, from one of my December auditions. And I found out that my spring show is being moved to the fall for budgetary reasons; I'm just glad the company is not in immediate danger, you know? And I've been pretty unmotivated to practice lately--which is partly cycle-related (Midol is currently keeping me upright and semi-alert), and partly because it's a lot easier to stay motivated when you have gigs on the horizon...

What else is new? Um, well, we're trying to decide where to go for our anniversary (a short weekend trip, probably in-state). At this point it looks like Mount Airy, so we can hike on Pilot Mountain and get pork chop sandwiches at this landmark lunch place. It's Andy Griffith's hometown, and they have all this touristy Mayberry stuff to do, but I'm not a huge fan of the show or anything...

I've been living in Frogland lately... First there was the Lisa Frank sock yarn (which is Plymouth Happy Feet, by the way), for which I found an appropriate pattern on the fifth try... Then I was all gung ho for the Sweet Tee from the new Interweave Knits. I thought it would be a perfect three-season sweater in Cotton-Ease. My gauge seemed okay, so I cast on. Miles of garter stitch later, it was clearly way too big. After playing around a bit more, I realized that the yarn had a lot more elasticity than I thought. It would've taken a little math and a huge leap of faith to make the sweater fit. So what to do with 1000 yards of Cotton-Ease? I'm making St. James instead. Very cute, very Sweater Girl, plus it was in my Ravelry queue already. I'm about halfway down the interminable yoke. (Why so many stockinette patterns lately? My brain is melting out my ears. I need to make a lace shawl, ASAP.)

Then there's my lovely Big Kureyon. I frogged my Versatility--it didn't fit right as a cardigan, shrugs look nasty on me, and I don't need another big wrap--and looked far and wide for a vest pattern that would work. I started with Heartening, because it is adorable; I changed the gauge, but I realized 2/3 of the way through that I wasn't going to have enough yarn. So I switched to this asymmetrical vest, which I was planning to elongate after also changing the gauge; my attempt came out more fugly than funky, so that got frogged as well. Now I've moved on to Askew, which I added to my Ravelry queue very soon after getting my invite--with a note saying I could make it with the Big Kureyon after changing the gauge and adding shaping. Both of which are pretty simply done, considering the entire thing is three rectangles (two mitered, one not) with straps. It's a pretty ingenious design for Noro, since it helps avoid the evil horizontal stripes. I've finished the two fronts, and the back should be fast; I won't know how well it fits until it's blocked (you're supposed to block the hell out of it), but it sure does look pretty. Noro, how I love thee. It's not even that scratchy; I don't know what people complain about. That, and it holds up surprisingly well to frogging. You wouldn't think... I do hope this is the last time in a while I have to do so much gauge-changing. The disappointment is not good for my soul...

Not much else going on here. It's been cold and raining for three days straight (Binghamton weather, if you are at all familiar with my alma mater). Last Wednesday it was 80 degrees. By Friday it was 40. Ugh, when will spring stay put?!

I ended up going back to the infamous store (I had store credit, after all, plus I needed to pick up something for a swap), and they were actually nice to me, mostly. Plus the store had a much better selection in this particular item than the newer store in town, where everyone was super nice but they didn't have what I needed. Anyway, I'm gonna consider the karmic debt paid. But I'm still not going to go in there any more unless there's a YARN EMERGENCY. I'm not sure what really qualifies. I do have a decent-sized stash--nothing enormous, but I could go for a while just working from stash.

Speaking of which: I decided to start making socks from my oldest yarn first. I bought this yarn in Charlottesville, Va. last March when I was there for a competition. I tried five patterns, and I've finally found one that works.


The pattern is Leyburn, recently immortalized by the Yarn Harlot (she made them for the BSG premiere, if I remember); I've made a few MintyFresh patterns, and they're always cute and well-written, but I am just SO glad I found a pattern that (a) can be knit at a gauge under 8 stitches per inch (it's a heavier fingering weight); (b) actually fits on my foot; and (c) doesn't look like utter crap. I have dubbed this colorway Lisa Frank Unicorn Barf.

The mitered square blanket is moving along, and it's rather more preppy than psychedelic...

Though I should've known, since I let Mark pick the colors. Should I expect a call from James Spader circa 1984, checking on the status of his blanket? (Actually, that would be a good thing...) I have nearly 14 squares done--17.3% of the 81 total I will need--but then there's the border to think about. I'll probably go with a few rows of crochet. I think I have a month or two to decide.

In actual life, minor disappointments have been the theme this week. Last Saturday we had our long-awaited financial planning meeting; we are in very good shape, but we were really hoping we'll be able to buy a house this spring. Because the banks are so skittish these days (and rightfully so, I suppose), we'll need to save more money for a bigger down payment--so now we're looking at late fall. If I don't kill my A-hole neighbors first... Sunday we were supposed to visit my parents (it was my mother's birthday Saturday) and then go to a knitting friend's birthday party, but there was a snowstorm coming so we canceled everything. It didn't start snowing until after 11 P.M. No wonder I got so many of those damn mitered squares finished! Then the other day I found out there's a serious chance that the show I've been looking forward to this spring may be postponed or canceled because of the financial situation. The company wouldn't be the first to shorten their season this year; I've even heard about several companies that have gone bankrupt. It would be a shame if the show got canceled, but it's understandable...

So the economy sucks. These two links might help some people:

*A yarn bank for charity knitters--donate or claim yarn for your charity projects. I don't do a whole lot of charity knitting, but it is rather popular...

*Lunapads has a program where you can donate cloth pads to African girls who would otherwise miss school during their periods. This is such an awesome idea.