a thousand words

I'm popular

I went to Knit Nite tonite. I was the popular one as everyone admired my new neck warmer. I even wrote out the pattern for someone. The store got a new shipment of Malabrigo so I picked up a skein of Indigo (lots of blue but also shades of lavender, too). I'll use it to make myself another neck warmer.

I delivered the sample sock to the store tonite. It's proudly on display with the basket of Tofutsies sock yarn. I guess I should get started on the second one.

I spent today and this evening seaming up Arwen. I hated doing the cuff. What a mess - I mis-crossed cables, I was twisting stitches - ugh. I also ran into a problem when seaming the back shoulder to the arm. One was longer than the other. I originally started from the bottom of the armhole and worked towards the shoulder but I was getting puckers. So I ripped it out and started from the shoulder so that the puckers will be under the arm. It looks much better now. I kitchener'd the sleeve seam and the shoulder. That took forever. I am so glad that I did some of the finishing now. If I had to do all that seaming at the end, I might never finish it.

And then there was the moment of truth - I put it on and it fits! I only have one little quibble - the sleeves are a bit long so there's some bunchiness just above the cuff that obscures the cables a little bit. I think it's due to the fact that I was between sizes so I knit the next size up. That made the body wider and since the cardigan sports drop shoulders, it makes the sleeves longer. I am hoping that I can block the sleeve to the right length. Overall, I am very pleased. I am really motivated to get that right side knitted.

what a week

(slight rant ahead - skip to the picture for knitting content)
First, the chimney is leaking. Then our land line is flaky - we can call out but people are having problems calling us. The phone company's coming tomorrow to check things out. My cell phone forwarding seems to be broken and there's a problem with my account so it can't be readily fixed. While I'm on the phone with tech support, I'm told that my phone will be obselete in a few months so I have to upgrade to a new phone. Didn't I get the notice in the mail? What notice?
This morning, I'm woken up by the sound of my cat retching in our bedroom. Not a good way to start the day. And then I find out that my dishwasher is being recalled. Can anything else go wrong?
(end of rant)

I finished the left front of Arwen yesterday at knit nite. I haven't knitted the hood because I want to knit it in one piece. Despite my slight panic about the armhole size in the original pattern, I added extra short rows and the sleeves fit fine. I think I will seam the back and left front together before I start the right front.

Because of my bad week, I indulged in a little retail therapy during knit nite. I bought a skein of Malabrigo in Velvet Grapes which I knit into a cowl/neck warmer for myself. I finished it tonite so I'll post pictures tomorrow. I also bought another skein of Tofutsies (before all the nice colours are gone).

If you've been reading this blog, you know that I have a blonde cat named Ricky. He sits pretty low on the IQ chart. When hubby got home today, Ricky promptly stuffed his head into my hubby's shoe and proceeded to sniff and roll around. He did this several times. It looked like he was drugged with catnip except there's no catnip in the shoes. He really likes the smell of feet. How bizarre... It doesn't end there. While we were eating supper, there was a strange noise and we turned around. Ricky's head was stuck between the wall and the TV cabinet. There's nothing back there except cables and dust bunnies. You gotta wonder about that cat.

G - if I can buy myself clogs for my July bday, you can get yourself a bag of Noro for your birthday this month.

all the sugar, twice the caffeine but none of the buzz

For an Arwen update and pictures, check out my post to the Arwen KAL.

Today was a quilting day for me. I dragged out the fabric that I've been storing for the last 6 months and got started.

My brother-in-law, Roger loves Coca Cola and hockey (in that order). It is incredibly hard to find Coke fabric (in Canada) but I spotted these two during a trip to W*lm*rt. I bought the blue/grey to use as an accent. The hockey fabric will go on the back of the quilt. Can you tell what I'll do with these pieces?

A good weekend

I was so tired yesterday night. I brought knitting to the dinner but I didn't knit a stitch. When I got home, I rolled into bed, and was asleep before hubby finished brushing his teeth.

I went out shopping at Thread Bear earlier that day - a very nice quilt store. They were having a big sale on a lot of stuff that I needed for a class that I'm taking at Quilters' Haven. I also picked up some perfect sky fabric, a FQ of vintage bicycles (to be a hankie for my hubby), and a FQ of Japanese flip flops. After shopping, we stopped at the tea shop (on the floor below) for some lunch.

Today, I knitted Arwen all day. Well, except for the time I spent food shopping, cooking the food, and eating the food. I made excellent progress. I reached the top of the left shoulder and I'm knitting the back of the left sleeve while the rest of the stitches are on a holder. It's too late (& I'm too tired) to take pictures so I'll post a proper update tomorrow. I feel like I'm making faster progress now that I'm not knitting 169 stitch rows and cabling like mad at each end.

Although, I don't have knitting pictures. I do have a cat picture. This is Phoebe and she loves lying in hubby's lap.

PS. I am ignoring the lure of the Viking books. But I am petting the cashmere sock yarn.

Addicted to Arwen

Great socks, G! I can't wait to see them in person tomorrow. I admire your stamina/willingness to knit knee socks. Would knitting sox for Markus' size 13 feet be comparable?

I'm working on Arwen all the time except for a small break to knit plain stockinette sox yesterday night. Thursdays are good TV nights - Grey's Anatomy and CSI - two shows that can't be watched while knitting cables. I have finally started the sleeve. The left front hit the frog pond because the cast on row for the cable panel just looked wrong and stayed looking wrong for the 11" that I continued knitting. Oh well... I only lost one day of knitting.

I don't expect much progress on Arwen this weekend. It's a pretty busy weekend for social engagements. But I'll take some knitting with me in case there's time for a few rows while everyone else plays Munchkin.

I didn't take any cat pictures today so here's one from December. I had just seamed up the Sienna Cardigan for Anna and laid it out for a few portraits. Out of nowhere, Ricky jumps up on the bed and plops himself on it. What can I say? He likes handknits.

Been there, won that

Do I need to join another KAL? Firstly, I've already won a prize from the Arwen KAL so that's used up all my luck for the year. Guess what my prize is - sock yarn. Secondly, I have quilts to make and many have a deadline so I need to cut back on my knitting and focus on fabric.

We hit the yarn jackpot today. Our yarn order (60 balls!) arrived this morning.
On the left are 2 bags of Marks & Kattens Dream in med blue and med grey. On the right is your order - Dream in plum and Idena Big Cotton in blue & mango. The grey and plum are quite heathery. I already swatched some grey and got gauge with the recommended needles. I think this'll be the yarn I'll use for the Nantucket Jacket from the cover of the current IK. I can't wait to start it after I finish Arwen.

I'll let you do the sock knitting for the both of us.