What's next?

There's not much of anything exciting to report, but I'll report anyway:

• Vest: I'm almost ready to start the armhole decreases. After 17.5" of k3 p3, this is thrilling.
  
• Clandestine sock #2: Done. I do need to weave in the beginning and ending ends, but it counts as done.
  
• Entrelac scarf: I didn't need another scarf, but thought it would be fun to do one with Noro Silk Garden sock yarn. I've got only a couple more inches to go on it.
  

I think spinning may be next. I have a set of Stackable Cats ready to start, but I'm not in the mood for them yet.

Be back later

A rabbit foot

bunnyfoot
Originally uploaded by Paula knits

Purple bunny slippers? There isn't a lot of bulky yarn in my stash, so this was the best choice. Yeah, I know it's pretty silly, but the insides are super soft and warm. Now it is time for bed so I can sleep and get up and make this one a buddy and make my feet happy. Night night.

Distraction du Jour

It had to happen. I'm faced with knitting over 17" of the vest back in k3 p3 rib, finish the Drops socks, or do a second Cookie A sock I've successfully avoided for two months. Craftzine has a pattern for Bunny Slippers that are about to jump to the head of the queue. Bunny slippers are one of those things I'm inexplicably drawn to, like sock monkeys and Hello Kitty. I already have a pair of Monty Python Killer Rabbit slippers, but I need to replace their soles. I'd rather make a new pair first.

I will be slightly loyal to my WIPs and finish the Drops socks first.

ETA: See, I can finish things if I try.

*headdesk*

I was just about done with the right front of my vest, when I held it up to the left front. When I checked to make sure the shaping matched, I discovered that I have two right fronts.

I know I'm not this stupid. It must be sleep deprivation.

A Theoretical Question

Let's say that you were in a group that was planning to knit a number of pair of socks. You were told that on a certain day, information would be posted detailing the supplies you'd need for knitting those socks. My question is, would you expect to have something more than, say, enough yarn to knit x pair of socks and the gauge for the yarn?

I knew I'd be sorry I signed up for that group, and yet I did it anyway.

Merry Kitchmas

Merry Kitchmas
Originally uploaded by Paula knits

The snowmen have been rescued from the bowling alley. The tree didn't come out the way I intended, but I still like it. It is completely knitted and you can't tell at all.

Yarn Hunt

Today's hunt involved yarn from opposite ends of the fiber spectrum. One was silver furry eyelashy yarn. The person who had it on Ravelry couldn't find it in her stash. I've been there before. I think that no matter how organized you are, the yarn gets up and sneaks away when you aren't looking. I tried Joann and Michaels for a substitute without success. Since I was only doing the Kitschmas tree for fun, I decided to rework it with the yarn I already have.

The other target was an unusual shade of pine green wool. I found some Rowan yarn would've been a perfect match, but it would also have cost nearly $100 for what I needed. No way was THAT going to happen. I gave one last look around and happened upon Malabrigo worsted in the Forest colorway. Ding-ding-ding, we have a winner! I needed three skeins. I Googled around and found a place online that had it. I prefer to support my local shops but a) my local shop only had one skein and b) the online shop's price was cheaper, even if you factor in the shipping. Sorry, LYS.

My fingers are crossed that the color I get is close to the one I saw in person.

Snow bowling

Snow bowling
Originally uploaded by Paula knits

It's a better knitting day than a photography day.

Progress Report, Caturday edition

• Kitchmas Tree: The person on Ravelry who had the yarn I want was online last night. I didn't receive a reply from her, so I'm assuming I'm out of luck on that front. I think Lion Brand makes something that will work, so this is on hold for the moment.
  
• Mug Jumper: it might help insulate the coffee mug a little bit.
  
• Teeny tiny snowmen: I knit a bunch of teeny tiny scarves so I could put the bucket of leftover sock yarn away. The snowmen are next, unless I am distracted by something.
  

Possible distractions include:

• a new pair of Felted Clogs out of the yarn left over from the world map afghan
  
• spinning. I had trouble getting the top on the bucket full of fiber when I put two new additions in it last night. It's nature's way of telling me to shut up and spin something.
  
• Ninjabun. It's the pattern I bought so I could get the Teeny tiny snowmen pattern for free.
  

Why no Christmas present knitting? I have a very short but difficult shopping list. The recipients have very specific preferences and/or needs which cannot be accomodated by knitting. I'm sympathetic toward those who are knitting their little fingers to the bone right now. Still, I wish I was knitting along with you.

Preordered with One Click

Knitting Mochimochi by Anna Hrachovec won't be available until June, but I've got it on order with Amazon. I love her take on amigurumi. Her blog has pictures of these cute little factories that she knit. Yes, factories. One turns teeny tiny trees into teeny tiny lions. Another turns teeny tiny pandas into teeny tiny lawn gnomes. A third turns teeny tiny cheeseburgers into teeny tiny tv sets. I love things that are tiny and double love anything as quirky as a knit cheeseburger. I can hardly wait until the book comes out.

Cables and mugs

I saw the white mug on someone's website earlier this week. I thought it was cool and thought I'd try and track it down some day. Today I got a swap from LeiLani and this mug was in it. (There was also a whole bunch of other wonderful things, but that's another post.) It was one of a series that Starbucks created last year.

The brown mug is Mug Jumper 2.0. Tomorrow I'll see if it insulates on top of being decorative.

Progress Report

Kitchmas Tree: I need another ball of silver fun fur. That's a sentence I never thought I'd type. I found someone on Ravelry who has some of what I need in their swap queue, so I'm hopeful. Did I mention they don't make it any more? I'm still going to try Walmart in case there's a ball stuck in a clearance bin or something.

Mug Jumper: the one in yesterday's post has been unraveled and the yarn used as part of the Kitchmas Tree. I went stash diving and found some yarn that I think will work better. It's closer to coffee-colored than the off white I used originally. I suspect that will be a better choice in the long run.

Teeny tiny snowmen: I haven't made any more yet. I think a whole bunch of them might look really cute on the Kitchmas Tree.

Try try again

mugjumper
Originally uploaded by Paula knits

I used some recycled yarn for the mug jumper. I'm going to do it again, and use something a little thinner. It's a cute pattern, just not the way it looks here!

The snowman came out pretty well. I'm going to make him a whole bunch of friends.

Before I do that, I'm going to make a Kitchmas Tree. I found some silver fake fur in my scary stash bin. Hopefully it'll look like one of those aluminum trees from the 60s. Stay tuned.

Project promiscuity

dropsxmas
Originally uploaded by Paula knits

I got through the left front of the vest I was working on, when I got distracted by this sock pattern from Drops Design. The original is done in red and white. The pattern would've shown up better that way, but I just had to use some groovy Koigu I got in a swap.

I'm not working on the second sock just yet. I was distracted by:

• Teeny tiny Mochimochi snowmen
• A cute mug jumper (sweater)
• A fun fur Kitshmas tree

I think the tree will be last, but I can't decided between the snowmen and the jumper. I think the snowmen win, because I can make them from the white Knit Picks yarn I used for the sock and won't have to go find anything.

Keep Calm

keepcalm
Originally uploaded by Paula knits

I removed something that was hanging on the wall that had grown to annoy me. When I saw this poster, I knew it was just the right thing to fill in the space.

You can get one too, in a variety of colors. Go visit Laylock.

Knitting Olympic Events

I think I've found the perfect event for the Ravelympics: WIP-Dancing. Participants complete works in progress that have been started one month or more prior to the start of the Games. This gives me a whole month of starting projects and then switching to another one as often as I like. I've already got three projects, unless you count the two sweaters that I didn't think of until a minute ago. I don't count them because I want to restart one sweater with different yarn and I'm not sure where I stashed the other one.

The Iron Knitter portion of Sock Wars should overlap part of Ravelympics. I expect I'll also be part of the Sock Hockey event.

All of this points to me finding employment about the middle of January, and completely derailing these plans. I can but hope.

Buy or Dye?

I have some yarn that I brought back from Ireland several years ago. I found a vest pattern that I want to make using the yarn. There is only enough yarn to make the vest front. It is a dark green tweed. I bought some solid green yarn that I thought would match the Irish yarn. I was wrong.

I'm debating over what to do. I had trouble coming up with the right color to match the yarn I already had. I had checked about a half-dozen shops in the area before buying what I did. Buying online isn't an option because I can't count on my monitor showing yarn colors accurately enough for a good match.

I'm thinking about overdyeing the yarn to come up with something more compatible. It would require a number of experiments to come up with the correct color. Still, this seems like the better option. I already have the yarn and dyes.

Drops Advent Calendar

I was looking at the latest cookie recipe in Food Network's 12 Days of Cookies, when something occurred to me. I hadn't checked for Drops Design annual pattern calendar. This Norwegian company offers a new pattern each day. The link is to the US-English version. The patterns are available in a number of different languages. Thanks, Drops!