Thanks for all the fish

I got my last Hitchin' the Galaxy package from Mad Color Fiber Arts today.

The yarn's called "So Long and Thanks for all the Fish". The JessaLu bag is made from fabric that's perfect for the theme. There's a whale and a bowl of petunias, which any reader of Douglas Adams' books should recognize. I've got a set of bowl of petunias stitch markers that were made for me in a Hitchhiker's swap awhile back. I may need to keep them and my fish stitch markers with this bag. Fun!

Downton mini pillow

It looks like I can still cross-stitch correctly. It helps that the pattern has no partial stitches and only 3 back stitches in the whole thing.

I have been knitting a little bit. The mystery pattern I'm doing is knit flat. It got me interested in unusual sock construction. The mystery sock looks a little like General Hogbuffer's Verizontal sock. I think that's what I'm going to use for April's Use it or Lose it project.

Spring slump

I finished the reversible doubleknit pillow.

I wasn't overly happy with how it came out, but I made myself finish it. I'm going through some odd thing with my knitting lately. The latest pair of Op-Art socks are within inches of being frogged. I can't seem to get my tension right for some reason.

The plan's to switch over to cross-stitch for my next project. Maybe things will knit better if I take a break.

FO Friday

I crocheted a couple of rugs for my Use It or Lose It project for March:
I finished my Necker socks for the Op-Art project for February:

I also finished a pair of fingerless mitts that didn't come out all that well so I'm not posting a picture. There's something that's drying but it's for a swap so there's no picture of that, either.

Good girls get yarn in the mail

I was a good girl today. I went on a major laundromat trip. If I was a really good girl, the house would be clean enough so I could get a repair person in to fix my washer. It's a long boring story why things are not as they should be, but it's likely to change soon.

This is what came in the mail:

It's from Biscotte & Cie, a yarn company in Quebec. I don't remember exactly how I found them. I've been wanting a self-striping yarn in a watermelon colorway for a long time. I even tried to dye some. It came out okay, but more like strawberry than watermelon. Anyway, I that saw Biscotte & Cie had some really great colors in self-striping yarns. I also saw that they had a mystery sock club so I signed up. The club yarn is the blue/green color. It also came with a cute heart shaped tape measure. Look, even the retractor button is a heart!

I've got the first clue. It's mysterious for sure because it's a small number of stitches knit back and forth for the leg.

Note to self

You promised yourself that you would not spend any money on yarn this month. You've got yarn coming from three clubs. Yes, one of them is a one month deal but you've got an extra skein coming with the club yarn. It's yarn you just had to have.

You will stay off of etsy. You will stay out of The Cyborg's Craft room and you will not buy Sidewalk Chalk or Rainbow Unicorn Glitter Fight. You will stay away from FabFunkyFibres and you will not special order Dark Side of the Moon.

You do not need more yarn. Behave!

Firefly Friday

There are no finished objects to share today.

I'm working on the February socks from the Op-Art book. The pattern's written in a single color and people have been doing amazing two-color versions. I'm going to continue to knit along but not post pictures of mine.

I'm also working on the double knit sheep pillow. It's going okay, but I'm not happy with the way the stitches look. I've long suspected that I need to learn a different way of purling to better match my knit stitches. I think that's the problem here. It's one of the nine zillion things I'm avoiding doing.

One of my favorite ways of avoiding doing things is to check out recommended patterns on Ravelry. I was sulking about all the baby and children patterns that appear. I have no baby or children projects, so why do I get recommendations to make them? Sulk, sulk, sulk. Scroll, scroll, scroll. Then I happened on this:

Browncoats will no doubt recognize these as a perfect pair of mittens for Wash. They might be a good thing to wear with a Jayne hat, too. The designer also has a pair of mittens for Whovians. One says Wibbly Wobbly and the other says Timey Wimey.

I like the colors in the mittens, but a change might make them work better with the Can't Stop the Signal scarf I mentioned awhile back:

This one might actually motivate me to learn a different purl.

What kind of yarn are you?

What kind of yarn are you?

It would appear that I am Mirasol API, a worsted weight wool/alpaca blend.