Tuesday, July 31, 2007

The Stashbusting has begun....

..... I've decided to make washcloths for the paralegals/staff at the office this year for the winter holiday (take your pick, none of them apply to me) this year. And with each face cloth, I will give a bar of Robin's handmade soap. This is an effort to both save money and use up some yarn lying around so I have room for more yarn that I will SURELY purchase this fall when the new yarn comes into the Yarn Lounge (let's be realistic, ok?). I have quite a bit of the Sugar N Creme cotton lying around from this project or that, so I figure this is a good gift that won't require me to spend too much money, and if they don't appreciate it, then I won't have spent a ton of time on the washcloths. So, that's my plan.

In furtherance of my plan to spend less money and to make these washcloths, I've been trying to curb my eating out (especially at lunch time) to 1 day a week. It's hard to eat at your desk, thereby spending the whole day in the office. So, I've been eating my lunch at my desk rather quickly and then going over to the garden behind the John Marshall House.
Apparently, I am currently sitting where the man's law office used to be. Pretty cool when you think about it.

Anyway, since he has some v. nice gardens behind his house, with some lovely shade and flowers and BENCHES, I've been going over there at lunch and trying to get at least one pattern repeat done every day. I hope I can get enough clothes done by Christmas.

Ginnie Lee said that there are not enough pictures of her on this blog.

What is she looking at?

Sunday, July 29, 2007

I just cant do it....

....not right away at least. I pulled out what I had knitted of the Jo Sharp sweater, and reswatched the yarn on 1s. The 1s definitely give me a more accurate gauge, but I just don't have the mental energy to knit a whole top with them right now. I think I might feel better about it if I could figure out a way to convert the pattern (at least the body) into working in the round.

In the mean time, I might go see if I have something that can be worked up on 13s or something....or at least 9s. So, I can have an FO before next July.

In other news, Hershey is not feeling his best today. He hurt his leg or something and had to go see handsome Dr. Hiser at Broad Street Vet yesterday. Elizabeth and I didn't mind seeing Dr. Hiser at all yesterday, b/c he is pure eye candy (plus a good vet and a v. nice person), but Hershey doesn't like going to the vet at all. Hershey is on some anti inflammatories and seems to be perking up a bit, but he's still having trouble going up and down the stairs.

Everyone wish Hershey a speedy recovery

Saturday, July 28, 2007

Stash Management and WIP disappointment

Bryna sent me this link to Mochi Mochi blog the other day.... It's...it's .... the mother of all stashes. I've never seen anything like it. I am in awe.

In the interest of full disclosure, here is my own yarn room. Not even 1/10th of Mochi's mother in law...


As you can see, I have 5 clear drawer bins of yarn. (Can you see the blue and pink classic elite in the top drawers??)

And then I have a couple totes sitting around with yarn in them....

But that's it, I swear.....

Well, the short sleeve top I have been knitting out of the Cotton Glace is coming out too big. I did a gauge swatch and got a gauge of 24 stitches to 4 inches on size 2s. The pattern calls for 25 to 10 cm. I thought that 10cm and 4 inches were the same....but after finding that I was 6 cm to big on the back of my sweater, I looked closely at the tape measure and 10cm is actually about 1/8 inch shorter than 4 inches...thus the huge difference in my gauge. Anyhooooo.....I am swatching now with size 1s and getting a much closer gauge. The question is this....can I knit a whole sweater in size 1s????

The Play by Play.....

They square off

I wish this one wasn't so blurry....Hershey is so ferocious.

Ginnie Lee gains the upper hand....

But soon Herhsey takes control!

Hershey wins!!

Thursday, July 26, 2007

Temporary addition, FO, and WIP

This summer, GL and I are honored to have Elizabeth and Hershey staying with us. Elizabeth is a rising 3L at Washington and Lee University Law School. Hershey is her canine companion.
Here's Hershey:

Hershey and GL have a love/hate relationship....
Notice GL always goes for the ankles

Afterwards, Hershey doesn't see purpose in a pillow... as long as there is a shoe lying around somewhere....


Meanwhile, I have managed to finish one thing since April....How embarassing.... Anyway, here it is.


LEAF from Fitted Knits
Out of Lion Brand Cotton Ease
Color....blue? I think it's a bit more purple in real life.


The Cotton Ease is a decent yarn for the price, but this sweater is pretty heavy. Also, I made a size too big. I should have paid attention to the shape of the garment and focused more on the waist measurement rather than the bust measurement. Oh well, I guess it will be my kinda baggy, cropped blue sweater.

My current WIP is a short sleeve crew neck sweater out of Jo Sharp Knit 2. It's out of Rowan Cotton Glace in a bright pink color.

At first I didn't like the Cotton Glace, but once I switched to Addi Turbos, I absolutely love it! I'm curious to see how much stretching it does once I'm done....you know, sometime in 2008.


Ok, GL....I'll post a picture of you sleeping, too.

OK, let's see if I can keep up with this blog this time. . .

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

I've made it back

I've decided to give the blog thing another go. Since Blogger is a free service, I won't feel so bad if/when I go a few months/weeks without posting.

Now let's see if I can get some photos up!