Finished Friday

I've been working at getting things finished and not starting more.  We'll see how long the not starting more lasts.

First we have an Uggh, the Doctor Who Christmas stocking.

It doesn't deserve a better picture.  If it was in better focus, it would look even worse.

Moving on, here's Jasmine's new cat bed:

It's a bit crooked around the top because she likes to rest her chin on it.  If I did it again, I'd make it smaller.  Jas is a ten pound cat and you could fit two of her in there easily.  Still, she seems to like it which is all that counts in the end.

Amelie's Wallpaper:  if you saw the film Amelie (and you should)  you'd understand why the socks have this rather unusual color combination:

The second pair of the Club Mac socks are called Hurly Burly:

I did my usual shorter than written legs.  They have this interesting construction with an open cable down each side of the leg.  They would look good with longer legs. 

There are only two more weeks to go on the mystery afghan squares.  I hope to put that together as soon as the last square's done.  I'm knitting away on the Arts & Crafts blanket.  If temptation stays away, it might be done before the mystery squares are ready to go.

WIP Wednesday

I've been working on my Froth and Bubble sampler:

I'm happy with the way it is coming out.  It wasn't until I actually started working on it that I realized how big it is going to be.  It wants more floss that I have, so it is on hold until I acquire more.

Back in yarn land, I finished a cat bed that Jasmine has been sleeping in.  I'm almost done with my Dreamcatcher top.  Pictures may appear on Friday.

Now I can go see what Tammy and friends have been up to.

Stash Enhancement Saturday

I hope you lucky ducks who are at Rhinebeck are having a good time.  If I was there I would have gotten Spilly Jane's new mitten book.  I also would have been tempted by the limited edition yarn that Lisa Souza did.  They are totally not my colors.  However, it looks just like the northeast US looks right now.

I decided that I must have yarn to make the Null Hypothesis scarf.  This is another of my ridiculous ideas.  I'm not allowed to start it until I finish another double knit scarf that has been gathering dust and cat hair.  I wanted something that was fairly inexpensive but not totally scratchy nasty stuff that started out in a test tube.  I got some Lana Grossa Meilenweit which is 80% wool/20% nylon.  I came up with it after doing some online hunting.  I got it from a place in the UK called Loveknitting.  Their prices were good and the yarn arrived in less than a week!  Here's how it came out of the packaging:

Pretty nice.  I'll remember them the next time I decide I must have more yarn.  It may be sooner than you think because...I have a coupon for my next purchase.  Heehee.

This is the third and final shipment of the Mad Color Doctor Who club.

I'm not crazy about the bag fabric.  It's supposed to look like a piece of the TARDIS.  It is a well-made JessaLu bag, so I definitely will use it.  The yarn is shades of green where the picture shows blue.  It's a self-striping MCN (merino/cashmere/nylon) in a great big  450 yard skein.  Bigger on the inside indeed.  I like it.

Finished Friday

I finally got some pictures.  This is the first pair from Club Mac (as in Macbeth).  They've not been washed yet which should explain the lack of smoothness.

They are a bit shorter than they are as written, as usual.

These are the Zolotoy knitalong socks.  They are much shorter than written and lack the beaded section on top.

This is the Spectra scarf.  It is great for using up little (less than 20 yard) bits of yarn:

Colors are a bit less washed out in real life.

I've got a couple more things that are close to being done but are not ready for their closeup yet.

Froth and Bubble

I'm taking a knit and crochet break.  My current WIP is a band sampler:

The words are part of a poem by Adam Lindsay Gordon:

Life is mostly froth and bubble,
Two things stand like stone,
Kindness in another's trouble,
Courage in your own.


I happened upon the French design company, Long Dog Samplers, from perusing some Tweets.  Spilly Jane of mitten pattern fame, is stitching one of their designs.  (Hey mitten people, did you know she's got a book that just came out?  I can hardly wait to get my mitts on it.)  I'm stitching it on 14-count Aida.  Linen would've been nicer, but my eyes can't do the higher count stuff any more.  Sigh.

Go visit Tammy and friends and tell Tammy not to skip that button band.

WIP Wednesday

It's crazy.  I finally have a day when it isn't gray and rainy and I'm awake during daylight hours.  I go to take pictures and the camera's battery is exhausted.  I charge it up and half of the pictures come out blurry even after repeated tries.  Sigh.

My goal has been to finish up as much as possible.  I want to start a cross-stitch project this weekend.  I do not want project bags glaring at me.  I've only been partially successful. 

I am up to date on my afghan project.  Week 41's square was one of the blurry pictures.  Only 5 more weeks to go.

I unexpectedly got a pattern I'd been wanting, Amelie's Wallpaper.  I thought I'd alternate working on those  socks

with the Arts & Crafts blanket.  It worked for a while.  Here's the latest strip of blanket squares with the edges curled up:

Then the new pattern from Club Mac showed up.  It's a e-book with Macbeth-themed sock patterns.  I thought I'd work on these as the clues showed up.  Unfortunately, the whole pattern arrived at once.  I started it anyway.

Then it occurred to me that I hadn't started a Love Your Library project for October.  I poked around in my Ravelry library and picked something called a Suncatcher Top.  It's basically a big crocheted circle that becomes a vest with a shawl collar.  I'm doing it as a stashbuster project to thin out a bunch of DK weight yarn.

I'm not sure how the sizing is going to work out, but I am having fun with it.

Tammy's back so go see what she and the other folks are up to.

Cosplay goes mainstream

I'm not into cosplay or dressing up for Halloween.  If I was, I'd be on my way to the fabric store right now for this:

It's an actual Simplicity pattern that's in their catalog right now.  I can't believe it.  I flipped through the costume section of their catalog and was totally surprised at what is available.  There are some great steampunk patterns.  Yes, patterns, as in more than one.  There are patterns for both men and women.  You don't have to be the size of those models to get a pattern that fits, too.  Amazing.