alala

The Skein that Wouldn't Die

2010-02-28T16:29:00.002+01:00

So once upon a time, my friend Kris was destashing and I bought a bunch of yarn from her. Now it's my turn to destash, and I am trying to do it by knitting! Knitting one thousand baby items out of sock wool, apparently. Because I am insane. One of the things I bought was a skein of purple Nova Socks yarn by Fleece Artist. One skein of sock yarn, which I usually figure will do for a baby sweater,

starting over

2010-01-31T17:33:00.003+01:00

Um. Hi. Sorry.I managed to do a fair bit of knitting over those lost months since my last post, but there was never really time to document it all. So instead of trying to reconstruct what I did, howbout I just start with what I'm doing now, and we'll figure that all those projects from September-December 2009 are just lost to the ages. I made some "Brainless" mittens, of which I was fairly proud

ravelapse

2009-09-30T20:41:00.004+02:00

So between that last post and this one, I've gone and moved to a whole 'nother country! Sort of. I mean, moving from Germany to the Netherlands is probably a bit like moving from Seattle to Vancouver, but you know, it's... kinda different. Anyway, I packed up all my yarn, started some things, re-started some other things, tabled some other-other things, and kind of, um, misplaced a project or two

love knitting, not sure about the other stuff

2009-08-15T16:18:00.004+02:00

I used to think tucking in the ends was the most tedious part of a knitting project. Well, a successful one - frogging and fixing whatever you did wrong on an unsuccessful project would be the übertedious part, but in general, end-tucking used to seem like the most annoying use of my knitting time. I did that last night. Today I photographed, measured, washed, blocked, edited the photographs,

destashmania

2009-08-06T19:50:00.009+02:00

Well, now I know that one skein of Lorna's Laces Shepherd Worsted Multi is enough for a baby sweater, size newborn (probably). You never know, with babies. Lo, another 5-hour baby sweater, knitted in, um, a little over a week because I kept frogging and refining. And I had an annoying amount of yarn left over, too small to do anything useful with, too big to throw away.But it's done, and sent off

Miss Sophie's Hands

2009-07-30T09:08:00.009+02:00

This was a test-knit for the inimitable Laris (seriously, HOW does she do it?), sorry I couldn't get better color in the photos. But these are fancy princess-gloves, knit in Wollmeise Twin, colorway Merlot, two at a time on magic loop. They were very fun to make, even the bobbles, until I was done and had 20 (twenty! two-zero!) little ends to tuck in. And now I am giving them to my mother-in-law

what I did yesterday

2009-07-21T11:00:00.003+02:00

I bought a double CD case at Aldi for €2.99 (they were only available in gray, can you believe it?) and stuck all my circular needles in it. They're all sorted, first by size and then by cable length, with little labels so I don't have to keep measuring things to be sure I've got the right one.I've been looking for a good way to store circs since - well, pretty much since I started knitting. The

Pfaffenhofen and the Wollmeise Shop

2009-06-21T22:07:00.005+02:00

Saturday I went to Pfaffenhofen! My friend Yasmin drove, she lives in a nearby town so we're practically neighbors. And we (she) found a parking place right in front of the shop and we saw lots and lots of people and hugged lots and lots of yarn and sat on couches and knitted and it was fun. And now some pictures. My photos here, Elemm's photos here, Goldbek's photos here, and here is Maria's

I got mail!

2009-06-21T00:16:00.010+02:00

Today I went to Pfaffenhofen, but that post will have to wait till tomorrow, because before that, on Thursday, a box came in the mail. It looked like this:When I opened it, there was newspaper.Under the newspaper, there was this!I almost stopped right there, because oo! Shiny! But eventually I remembered I was sort of a grown-up, and peered under the shiny. There was happy!It's a swap, I'm

a handy tip that is also a very bad tip

2009-06-14T23:23:00.003+02:00

So I picked up this habit, when I knit socks, of jotting notes on the back of the ball band about gauge, cast-on, things to remember about the heel turn, etc. I suppose it would also work for hats and gloves.You know what it doesn't work for? A sweater for a largish man. I'm making a sweater for DrBob, designing it myself because I have a problem with authority am wholly incapable of following

Sindelfingen photos

2009-05-21T15:41:00.004+02:00

Not that I took any pictures of Sindelfingen itself, though I should have because it was all half-timbered medieval fabulousness of the sort that makes American tourists squee. But I didn't think to take my camera because the battery's only good for five minutes or so, and anyway it takes sucky photos. Have I mentioned lately that I hate my camera?But it was sunny today, and really, what is the

haul

2009-05-16T19:37:00.002+02:00

All right, just a quick photo - I'll try to go into more detail later, but you can't imagine how tired I am right now, and I still have the whole Eurovision Song Contest to get through.

more zero-sum knitting on the same thing, yay.

2009-05-12T23:10:00.002+02:00

Turns out, that mitten-cuff from the previous entry was actually a swatch, though not a very good one: when I was first getting the hang of double knitting, I kind of knit too loose and the cuff was huge. I got up about 26 rows and decided that, while I loved the two colorways together, they weren't working with the zigzag pattern. So I frogged it and started over with the same red (Campari

zero-sum knitting

2009-05-03T22:52:00.005+02:00

Yesterday I had a train ride and then two hours to kill while Ignatz had his first Dutch lesson. A knitter never minds having time to kill (as long as she has her knitting handy) and I did make some lovely progress, though it's double knitting, which naturally goes rather slowly. But then I found an error, had to frog waaaaaay back, and by the time I had all my stitches back on the needles it was

grade fail

2009-04-19T22:50:00.004+02:00

So Aliénor was not graded for different sizes because it was written to be flexible: do this until it's long enough, pick up enough stitches, stop when it fits there and then do this, that sort of thing. And I did it that way on purpose, because I really don't much care for standardized size charts. I, for one, am one size when buying pants and skirts, and another size when buying shirts. (I

busy fingers

2009-03-30T23:10:00.006+02:00

Well, eleven people bought my pattern, which makes me feel like all this time spent knitting ain't been in vain fer nothin', which in turn justifies spending all my time knitting now! Yay! Yes, I am working on another sweater, called Juana La Loca, and it's taking awhile because I'm pausing to document every stitch I knit (twice - once in knitterese, once on a chart). But I'm about halfway done

oh. em. gee

2009-03-19T23:03:00.002+01:00

TEN pattern sales, and one of them? Was to the incomparable Yarnissima, my favorite knitstuff designer, the only designer whose patterns I knit without modifying them somehow. Well, except for Spina di Pesce, which I modified to fit a bigger foot than the pattern was written for, and then sent her my notes so she could offer the pattern in a larger size too. I've met her, she is made of awesome,

TWO!

2009-03-15T21:21:00.002+01:00

Two people bought my pattern! Two whole people thought it was worth actual money! I am completely floored.

gone savant

2009-03-14T23:06:00.004+01:00

I'm trying to get the Aliénor pattern into a presentable form, and I've been at it all day. The in-laws came over for coffee and I sat on the couch and twitched while DrBob and they talked about cats. I fidgeted through dinner with the family. But other than that I've been here, typing, tweaking, fixing, re-thinking. This is so fiddly! I'm learning to hate .pdfs.Anyway, that's why y'all haven't

or, not

2009-03-08T21:07:00.003+01:00

Nonward. Nupward! Nowhere! Brace yourselves, people, because what I am about to say will truly shock many of you:From Tuesday to Saturday of last week, I was too sick to knit.YES! All the more amazing because I am posting today, when everybody knows that the next step after "too sick to knit" is "quite thoroughly dead." And yet, here I am. And it wasn't cancer or polio or arthritis or anything

onward. also upward.

2009-03-02T19:53:00.004+01:00

ZERO progress on Zur Lederhos'n today. I've got the dark variation of the ZL colorway, and I can only knit during daylight hours, so even though the day's not over, I can safely say that I won't knit on those today.My daylight hours - the ones where no children were home, anyway - were full of Dunegrass! I wrote a from-scratch web page of the Dunegrass sock pattern, hoping I could convert that

just checking in

2009-02-28T23:02:00.002+01:00

Because egad, has it really been three weeks since I posted? Yike.Okay, so I've been test knitting a scarf for a friend, and I can't post photos yet. I bound that one off today, just in time to frog Zur Lederhos'n and re-start it; it was on hiatus while the designer worked out some kinks, and she ended up redesigning it from stitch one, so we're all starting over. I liked the old pattern fine,

Pattern Angst

2009-02-08T17:59:00.004+01:00

You know, clothes used to fit much better. Before factories were built to churn out sewn-together rectangles that more or less fit most people, pretty much, there were seamstresses and tailors who made clothing to fit the body that would actually be wearing it, not some clearly defined yet potentially non-existent "average."Now, part of the reason we knit is to make things to fit our own selves,

having a Sally Field moment

2009-02-06T20:45:00.003+01:00

Wow. People like my sweater. I'm... surprised and gratified. Yes I will definitely write up a pattern, at some point. I'm going over the page proofs for my husband's next book, and we're on a deadline that is made shorter by the fact that the proofs have to be mailed to and from the U.S. So that's taking most of my time right now.And... well, you've seen my other patterns, they're a bit haphazard

a photo and an award

2009-01-31T18:44:00.006+01:00

The sun came out today, so I got Mr. Husband to take a few pictures. I still think this could be shown to better effect, but at least you can sort of see the whole thing. This is Aliénor, and it is very warm and comfy. I should have made it a bit longer, but it's been really cold and I wanted a warm sweater to wear NOW.It's Valley Yarns Stockbridge, in Deep Teal, and I am thinking a nice alpaca

love/hate

2009-01-28T14:40:00.002+01:00

I love winter because you get to wear all those fabulous sweaters that you spend the year knitting!I hate winter because the light is so bad you can't photograph said fabulous sweaters. Aliénor is a FO! Washed and blocked and on me right now, and fairly fabulous, actually, though it would look better on someone a tad more swanlike and princessy. Whatever. It's done! And you can't see it because I

Almost-almost-almost done

2009-01-14T13:51:00.003+01:00

So I had this idea for a sweater, and I swatched extensively and knit it halfway in purple and then decided it should be green. Then I started it in green, and divided for the sleeves in the wrong place and frogged back, did it right, made the plain bit too long, frogged back, finally finished it, decided the sleeves were too tight, and frogged again. In terms of stitch count, I have probably

Beileid

2009-01-01T18:50:00.002+01:00

Back in August, Tini had a blog contestlet in which you listed things you were grateful for in the comments, and the winner (me) got a skein of hand-dyed yarn. It was purple and blue and black, and the colorway was called "Sorrow," and it was so very soft that I knew it had to be for something special.Tragically, something special was needed before long: in late November an uncle died - my

Tagged by Tini

2008-12-19T23:14:00.003+01:00

And answering very belatedly, sorry.Here are the rules:*Go to your sixth picture folder and pick your sixth picture.*Pray you remember the details.*Tag five others.And here is the picture: My firstborn, Ignatz (not his real name), in the passport photo we had made of him when he was five. He's on his third U.S. passport now, and due for a fourth next year. Wow.And to tag, hmmm...

Spiderman Socks

2008-12-16T21:20:00.005+01:00

I think they're kinda short, but we were watching Galileo after dinner tonight and I had the Sniglet try them on, just because he was handy, and he said "Oh cool, they're done!" I said "Are you sure? How long do you want them?" and he said "Oh, one or two years."...Right, well, after we cleared that up he said they're long enough now, and I should cast off. So I did. And now they're done. Yay.

small new project

2008-12-11T20:25:00.004+01:00

Some socks for the Sniglet. The yarn is one of the Wollmeise's Versuchskaninchen (guinea-pig) colorways, probably an early version of Emil. But since I have a lot of Versuchskaninchens, I name them for myself, just so I know which one I'm talking about. I call this one Spiderman.

loot! woot!

2008-11-27T19:22:00.003+01:00

Thanksgiving is not a holiday here (of course), so the cute postman was able to deliver a perfectly-timed package from Amy! Perfectly timed in several ways: the chocolate turkeys she sent for the boys arrived (and were consumed) right on Thanksgiving Day, how super is that?Also, Elemmaciltur just mentioned on Facebook that he was looking forward to the next shipment of the Wollmeise Sock Club. If

love!

2008-11-07T00:31:00.002+01:00

Yes, LOVE my new needles! I ordered them, and they came while I was busy having this weekend which was admittedly hellish, but eventually I opened the box and pet the yarn and swooned over my pointy-stripy fabulous new needles.Actually, one of the reasons I bought the set - well, not really a reason, but a positive aspect, something that made it seem like even more of a good idea - was that I

Happy Mail

2008-10-30T14:56:00.003+01:00

Very late, um, two nights ago I think, I happened across this site and clickety-click, ordered some stuff.Dear Alala Lalaa, thanks for shipping with us! Your items will be shipped within 1-2 business days after receiving your payment. You ordered following products: pcsProductArticle Nr. SinglepricePrice1xOptions Harmony Wood Needle Set LargeShipping time: sofort lieferbar kpck-

the Dunegrass socks pattern

2008-10-27T22:30:00.005+01:00

Edit, 2 March 2009: This pattern is now available as a free Ravelry download! Probably. I followed the instructions, anyway, and it looks like it worked...--------------------------------------------------------------------I took copious notes as I developed this pattern, but apparently I missed a few things. There is a distressing number of "ditto"s and "etc"s in my little notebook.Anyway.Yarn:

working on it

2008-10-25T23:08:00.002+02:00

I've been plugging away at the Dunegrass socks pattern - the way the pattern grows over the stockinette at the back of the leg is not difficult to knit, but it is quite fiddly to describe. While you wait, you can take a look at my progress on zur Lederhos'n, currently on hold until I get the heel instructions. Love the yarn, love the pattern, but the one is so fiddly, and the other so dark, I can

hearted!

2008-10-11T16:58:00.003+02:00

Look! Elemmaciltur hearts my blog! Even though I hardly ever post! So thanks, that's really nice to hear/read/whatever.Here are the rules:1. The winner can put the logo on his or her blog.2. Link the person you received your award from.3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs.4. Put links of those blogs on yours.5. Leave a message on the blogs of the people you’ve nominated.Okay, so 1! Did that. 2! Did

three hours

2008-10-07T00:02:00.002+02:00

The Sniglet has been fascinated with my swift and ballwinder since I got them, and he keeps asking if I have yarn for him to wind. Well, the Zur Lederhos'n yarn arrived today, so I let him wind up one skein. He was so excited. He wound reallyreally fast and then stopped suddenly, sometimes wound backwards, sometimes squeezed the yarn as it ran through his other hand, sometimes let go of it

we don' need no steenkeeng sock club!

2008-10-02T23:15:00.003+02:00

Because Yarnissima just sent me a new pattern to test-knit!Okay, I am the teensiest bit bummed about missing the Wollmeise Sock Club signups because I was on vacation. The bummer is mitigated by the fact that I got to test-knit the first pattern, with the actual pattern yarn (pwned!), so I'm really only missing out on the second colorway and the fabulous high-quality cello-wood dpns: I'll be able

FO and interruption

2008-09-27T22:16:00.003+02:00

The Dunegrass socks are done! And I love them! Wheee! I wonder if I should try to write down the pattern...Anyway, all other knitting is on hold while I try to knit one zillion teeny hats for Innocent's annual Big Knit campaign. I'm not usually good with charity knitting because they only want stuff that's 100% acrylic and can be tossed in the washing machine and I totally understand why, I

Benediktbeuern, take two

2008-09-23T19:13:00.005+02:00

So yeah, I went to Benediktbeuern last weekend and it was fun. Laris has good pictures (I never remember to bring my camera, probably because it... yeah, you know the rest). Apparently she was there at the same time I was, I wish I'd managed to meet her. I did see Alpenfee, and I wandered off figuring we'd get a chance to talk later, but we never did.I was NOT going to buy yarn, because I don't

pause

2008-09-08T23:35:00.004+02:00

Down to seven wips: I finished the Thinking Cap and gave it to Elemmaciltur, to help him with his exams. Of course it's too silly to wear (I'll post a picture as soon as I've nagged him into taking one), so I told him it doubles as a tea cozy and he said he doesn't have a teapot! Can you imagine?Meanwhile, back at the ranch, I'm having a minor eczema episode on the middle finger of my right hand,

apparently, I am insane

2008-09-02T23:59:00.002+02:00

Hey, now that I have my computer back, I can start working on Giselle or Namarié again! Or I could finish up the socks and the shrug I started on vacation... or take up one of the two sweaters I started right before I left for vacation. Or, I could start two entirely new projects in two days, bringing my number of non-hibernating wips up to 8.Hmm, what will I decide...?(hint: check the title of

knitting update: the Two-Skein Shrug

2008-08-31T17:37:00.001+02:00

Not much of a photo, because until recently it was just a big knitted rectangle that rolls at the edges. I'm now about seven rows into the first sleeve. It's Schneeschaf's BambooSilk in the Highlands colorway, so pretty that I really just wanted plain stockinette, so nothing would distract from it.This is my first shrug. I basically just wanted a set of sleeves joined by a stretch of fabric

knitting update: Elfine is no longer Elfine.

2008-08-28T16:33:00.000+02:00

I decided I needed a sock project for the trip up to the Netherlands, because traveling always seems to require a sock project. I had the Elfine pattern printed out, so that seemed nicely portable. And they're so pretty! And I love Cold Comfort Farm, it's one of the books that I reread every two years or so (the movie is also terrific, which is just so very rare).The Elfine pattern is fine, but

knitting update: Ysabel

2008-08-27T16:50:00.003+02:00

Right, so my computer died! And DrBob went off to Language Boot Camp and left me alone with two stroppy children and I found quite a bit of time to sit around knitting. This is good, because I'm having a serious bout of startitis, and can't seem to just pick something and see it through to the end. Ysabel was so fascinatingly fiddly at first, I couldn't stop working on her because there were all

setback

2008-08-04T16:58:00.003+02:00

Well. My computer's in the shop, so until I get it back, all the projects whose patterns were stored in it are on hold. I am told it will cost €330 to fix it, not including the 19% sales tax, so I'm still deciding whether it's worth it. A lot will depend on whether they can rescue my data. No, I did not back it up. Yes, I am a doink. Don't rub it in.Sorry, I'm a bit testy lately. Testier, I

oh, right.

2008-07-08T00:06:00.003+02:00

Knitting content. Yeah. Okay, well, first I just finished my zum Dirndl test-knit (photos here), which I was supposed to be all public about to get people excited about it. It is a joyful pattern, and a blast to knit, and results in a really, really great sock, but I was too busy actually knitting it to write about it while I was still in the process. Still, it should be available August 1st,

jump-start

2008-07-04T09:00:00.004+02:00

Thanks for the tag, Projektleiterin, and for reminding me that I still have this here blog thing. I've been doing, not documenting, which is just so wrong. After all, what is the point of action without publicity? (A lesson from Princess Diana, there). Sorry, I'm in a weird mood.Right, so here's the meme, and then this weekend will be the zum Dirndl photos and a roundup of all the knittage,

socks and socks

2008-06-12T12:46:00.002+02:00

Here they are, my fabulous armadillos that I just love. I actually knitted them up to a decent length, because they're so easy I was able to knit while watching the first few games of the European Soccer Championships. But I didn't knit them too long, because I don't like knee-socks, so I have a bit leftover and no idea what to do with it. I'm sure something will come to me.And another pair of

finished!

2008-06-09T12:06:00.002+02:00

The Armadillo socks are done! Yay! But no pictures because my computer's in the shop. Boo. I'll put up pics when I can. I'm very happy with them, though the i-cord bind-off is not quite stretchy enough. I finished them up while Germany was beating Poland in the EuroCup, so that was a good evening.

still here, still knitting

2008-05-17T22:37:00.002+02:00

I got the flickr problem sorted, and then kind of forgot about the blog. Oops. So, but some FOs! I finished my Digitessas, finally, and am madly in love. LOVE, I tell you.I'm working on the Kauni cardigan, and I'm following the pattern for the shaping, but I decided the pattern wasn't quite right, so I wound up charting an Elvish poem in Tengwar script. Which means I can't memorize the pattern,

oh yeah...

2008-04-21T18:53:00.002+02:00

Right, I mentioned it on the other blog, but forgot to put it here: we're moving to Utrecht. No details on when, yet, but sometime between September 2008 and September 2009. I've already checked: it has a good yarn shop.And the Sindelfinger Handwerkermarkt? I think we should do a Benediktbeuern-style field trip, stay a night, check out Sindelfingen - it looks cool, even more hobbit-y than my

tooooooo much!

2008-04-19T00:15:00.003+02:00

Wah! I haven't even told you about the TONS and TONS of yarn (all of it purple or teal... rut, anyone?) that I got at Webs, and now today I was at the Sauerlacher Spring... uh, thingy, and bought EVEN MORE yarn from the Wollmeise!Yeah. This is me, paring down on the possessions in preparation for the big move. Yes, I know: ur doin it rong. Sigh.Tomorrow! Tomorrow I start my yarn-dietReally.Oh,

yes!

2008-04-17T17:32:00.003+02:00

Well, sort of. I tinkered a bit with the color settings, so that the pink table that one yarn is sitting on is the same as the blue table that another yarn is sitting on, but the yarn in the picture is as close to the yarn itself as gamma correction, brightness, contrast and saturation could get me, with a little help from the RGB sliders. IrfanView, I love you THIS MUCH. But I digress. Anyway.

I went to WEBS!

2008-04-16T22:14:00.003+02:00

Yes, that Webs. And the moment I stepped inside and saw the place, my face fell off. OhmaGAWD, y'all.And I got SO! MUCH! YARN! And I'm trying to take pictures and upload them, but oh fribnitz, I've said this so often I'm sure you can all say it with me, so here we go, all together now:My camera sucks swamp water.Tomorrow, I will try again. Pinky swear.

wheee!

2008-04-07T22:04:00.009+02:00

So a nice man brought me a box today, and in it was the woolwinder and um, Haspel... skein-holdy-thingy that I bought on ebay! Oh this is so exciting. --> <-- Here is what turned out to be the top bit of the skein-holdy-thingy, but I didn't know that when I photographed it, which is why it's upside down in the picture. I thought that nob-thing was a sort of foot that it was to stand on, and I

lo! a fo!

2008-03-29T23:26:00.002+01:00

Yes, I finished something. Two somethings, actually, I'll put my second PIF thing up as soon as I have confirmation that Alke's received it - I wouldn't want to spoil the surprise. But also, Ignatz spotted my Fabulous Fetchings from Tini and requested a pair of his own. I let him pick something from my worsted box and it only took me eight days! Okay, I was doing other stuff, the aforementioned

flickrdork

2008-03-16T23:21:00.002+01:00

I should know how to do this, but I don't, so you have to go over here to see what I just finished knitting. Elemmaciltur had to take the pictures because I'm still having trouble with my camera. But look! I made some pretty socks! Well, Yarnissima designed them, and the Wollmeise dyed the wool, so yeah, standing on the shoulders of giants and all that. But still, I'm a little bit proud.

people to knit with!

2008-03-08T13:47:00.003+01:00

Yesterday was the second Friday Knitting Night at Lanaiolo, and I just love this. It's so much quieter than Starbuck's, and cheaper, if you don't buy the yarn, which of course I will as soon as I reach a decision - so, probably not until next year. But, you know, it's not an English-speaking group, though some of the members can. German is the default setting, and I don't really trust my German,

PIFyay!

2008-02-19T20:54:00.002+01:00

Today my PIF from Tini arrived and it is Fetching! Which is too, too perfect, because with this 8-hour-a-day data-entry job I'm doing, I keep resting my wrists on the desk and they get really cold, and putting on more sweaters or turning up the heat doesn't help at all, because my core temperature's fine, it's just my hands that are cold. And I was honestly and truly just thinking today about how

uh-oh.

2008-02-15T14:57:00.002+01:00

I've been so brain-whacked after work, and so busy trying to cram my usual 13 hours of day into 3 hours, that I haven't knitted since Monday. What if I've forgotten how?

wtf?

2008-02-10T19:42:00.001+01:00

Where did all my Bs go? What happened to my blog? The wysiwyg and the page source don't show any missing content, but no matter how many times I reload, my blog looks all weird. This is just a testy-thing, to see if any new entries come up similarly confused. I'm still knitting Very Secret Secrets, so I can't tell you anything else just yet.

this blogging thing is pretty neat

2008-01-22T17:16:00.000+01:00

I got stuff! Excellently timed, too, because I am unaccountably crabby today. But look! Look! Is it not beee-yooo-teee-ful? (click to biggern)Amy sent me these! And they are my favorite colors and silk+merino is my favorite fiber (as of today) and clearly my whining about limited Malabrigo availability* has been heard, which is actually a very bad lesson, isn't it? Because this would seem to

I say nothing.

2008-01-19T23:10:00.000+01:00

You know how, when you have a secret that you can't write about, sometimes you find that you can't write about anything at all? Yeah. It's like that.I'll tell you later, I really will. With pictures and everything.

FO!

2008-01-15T23:45:00.000+01:00

Oh Heavens, I almost forgot: I finished Henry today! Really finished-finished, tucked in the ends, wrapped it in blue cellophane, put it on DrBob's desk. So, notes. Hm. Well, I used silk dyed with vegetable dyes, that I bought at a craft market. I asked the dyer if she has a website, but she said she doesn't believe in the internet. Too bad, because you should see her stuff, there's this

what was in the bag...

2008-01-13T20:24:00.000+01:00

Why, yarn , of course! Some very exciting fluffy bulky stuff:Some beautiful shiny dark green stuff:Cotton and viscose, ooo.No idea what this is, but I really like it: If I were going to name it, I would call it "Naiad."Some sheeny Rowan Damask (my first Rowan, squeee!):And last but certainly not least, oh I'm so excited...MALABRIGO! Wooot!Again, thank you Secret Pal for the

Secret Pal strikes again!

2008-01-12T20:10:00.000+01:00

Heeeewack! Teh awesome arrived in the mail today! Looky!As always, click to embiggen. Okay okay okay, what have we here... a bear. In a bathrobe! Love that! Ignatz giggled too.She's also wearing this beaded headband thing that I just love. It's just twisted wire and beads, and black elastic, but when I tried it on and checked the mirror, I said "ooo! I'm a pretty princess!" (that's a video link,

here's a picture!

2008-01-07T22:44:00.000+01:00

(click to embiggen)It's some yarn! (On a knitblog, imagine that.) This came in the mail today, from the lovely, lovely people at Woll-Sucht, who also sent gummi bears and tea! And they speak English! And I love them.I also love this yarn, and the cardigan it's going to make, although I am fiddling around with alternatives to the squares. This is my next project, and it's big and involves (gasp)

boo!

2008-01-04T20:18:00.000+01:00

It's the Incredible Disappearing Knitblogger! Um, yeah. I am working on... stuff. To blog, I need to take pictures of things, and for that I need light, and you know what? It's January. And then it will be February, and there will be more light but I will be even crabbier! Not sure how that works, but 37 years of observation have shown it to be true.So. I'm just poking my head out of the trenches

all done

2007-12-24T13:31:00.000+01:00

And I promise, the next post will be about something else. Pinky swear.Happy Hols, y'all.

more flower basket

2007-12-22T17:31:00.000+01:00

Well, here it is in its unblocked glory:And a little close-up:It's currently drying, and then I'll use the Harlot's tutorial to block it (thanks for the tip Peachy).And now I don't know how to decide what to knit next. Hm.

home stretch

2007-12-22T01:33:00.000+01:00

Ugh, sorry the long silence peeps, but this is my knitting blog, and I'm still working on the same project. I had to let Henry slide, because I do have alterna-gifts for DrBob, but the Flower Basket Shawl absolutely must be done in time, because we don't have any other ideas for my MIL. I'm beading the very last row before the bind-off row, and I'm halfway done with that, so really nearly done.

well, now I know...

2007-12-07T21:07:00.000+01:00

...that Christmas knitting is a Very Bad Idea. No time to start other projects, just grinding along on these until I want to jump up and down on them. IF I actually get them done in time (note very big if), when the huz and the MIL get them and say ooo! aaah! thank you! I will respond with GRAAARGH!No pictures, sorry. No time to put the knitting down. Grargh.

passing it on

2007-11-29T21:27:00.000+01:00

Hey everybody! A contest! Where you can win some really nice-looking yarn! Seriously, what's not to love?Blurry photos in bad November light is not to love. And they're overdue, I really need to send them off tomorrow, so there won't be a lot of opportunities to re-shoot. But at least they're done. I've decided entrelac socks are cool, they seem to go faster than regular ones. But these are

tagged! again!

2007-11-26T12:41:00.000+01:00

By Elemmaciltur, again! For a meme I already did for Kelly (oo, that reminds me, I owe her another one as well), which means you now know sixteen random things about me. It's enough to make one's head spin.Colors. I color-code things. On the calendar, my stuff is written in green. DrBob is black, Ignatz blue, the Sniglet red. When I knit sweaters, ring marker colors have Deeper Significance:

setback

2007-11-18T19:05:00.000+01:00

It took me awhile to get rolling on that shawl for my mother-in-law, but it's been progressing pretty well, and I'm about halfway through. I was using a free online pattern from Interweave Knits. I just found out today that they've decided it should no longer be free. I'd just been going to the page when I needed further information (instead of saving a copy on my hard drive - yes I know, that

Yippee-hooray! And a teensy argh.

2007-11-10T15:36:00.000+01:00

Okay, I signed up for Secret Pal 11 because I liked the idea of picking out pretty things and brightening a stranger's day. It was all about the giving, I thought, but no! I was wrong! It's the GETTING, BABY! My super-awesome Secret Pal who sent me all those reassuring emails when I was full of doubt about my ability to do a good job on my first SP swap sent me a box of wow! And yay! Look! How

arrived today

2007-11-08T20:21:00.001+01:00

Le Swoon.Now, what do I knit with it?

a meme from Elemm!

2007-11-07T23:00:00.000+01:00

For newcomers via Ravelry, the other blog is the NaBloPoMo blog, because even though I've done all right for a week, there's no way I'll be able to write about the same five knitting projects every day for a month. So, if you want to read the wonder that is moi every single day this month (ugh, perish the thought), check over here. But since Elemm is a knitter-friend as well as a... well, the

hopeless

2007-11-06T22:00:00.000+01:00

Today in the mail there were 3 CDs and 3 books. But no yarn. This made me just a little bit sad. But the music has turned out to be a good accompaniment for making my first-ever short row heel, and the Shrek soundtracks might just inspire me to watch the movies again. I can knit while I do that!The books, the books... nope. I can't knit while I read paperbacks. EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE! THE BOOKS

stashmonkey

2007-11-05T22:29:00.000+01:00

I sort of accidentally bought some yarn. It doesn't have a plan yet, except that I will keep it near me and pet it occasionally for at least a week because it's so pretty. And yes I read Amy's post about Saying No to Stash Guilt, and I did technically click the "buy" button before I knew that we needed a new washing machine - about nine hours before the repairdude came, saw, and tsk-ed. But now

must. make. this!

2007-11-04T16:49:00.000+01:00

I'm in sweater-love. It's a new pattern from StitchDiva, I don't think it's even on sale yet - actually, given how much I have on the needles right now, maybe I want it to wait a bit before it goes on sale, because I can see myself dropping everything to do this. I don't even like following other people's patterns, but for this I'll make an exception. Swooooooon!Only I can't use PayPal, so can

for the ears

2007-11-03T21:23:00.000+01:00

But first: Nah, I don't need a pattern for the Armadillos, I could figure them out. I could figure out the Anastasia socks too, actually. Woo-woo, listen to the SupaKnittah! I sound like an arrogant git. But it's true. I could.Anyway. This is marginally knitting-related: it's about podcasts. Since my usual stars of the podio world have decided to abandon me in favor of trivial stuff like weddings

dilemma

2007-11-03T00:36:00.000+01:00

Remember that yarn Mari sent me? Looks like this? And she suggested that I use it to make Armadillo socks, and I really like that pattern, but then I ran across the Anastasia sock pattern and I really like that too. Now I can't decide.(Common Sense: Erm, alala, you already have five projects on the needles, including two Christmas gifts.alala: La-la-la I can't heeeeeeeear yoooooooou...)

because I'm insane

2007-11-01T18:59:00.000+01:00

As you all know, I bought yarn at a craft fair (from a woman who doesn't believe in the internet, or I'd send you to her site, because really - fantastic stuff) for Henry, and since it wasn't the yarn the pattern calls for, I had to do some guessing about needle sizes. Turns out I guessed wrong - I went bigger than the recipe said, but not bigger enough, and the combination of silk yarn and

I got mine!

2007-10-31T15:50:00.001+01:00

So when will you get yours?This actually came in yesterday's mail, but I didn't find time to blog it on the same day, but look! A zippy new thing from Yarnissima! And it is so darn cute I may just hang it on the Christmas tree as is, instead of knitting it up. Except I can't hang up the cookies, which I already ate. And I've actually met Yarnissima in person, so I don't know if everyone gets

PIF - Pay It Forward

2007-10-30T00:12:00.000+01:00

via Tini:“I will send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join this PIF exchange. I don’t know what that gift will be yet and you may not receive it tomorrow or next week, but you will receive it within 365 days, that is my promise! The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog.”I think this is a

I won!

2007-10-25T15:06:00.000+02:00

So there was a big squishy envelope in the mail today! From M.V., in Frankfurt - do I know anyone in Frankfurt? Nooo, I know someone in Hessen, but not Frankfurt-Hessen, and I haven't ordered anything from her lately, I'm still working on the last yarn I bought from her. Very mysterious. But not for long, of course, rip! shred! open! Mari! I love reading Mari's blog, even though I don't

Interlude

2007-10-17T17:08:00.000+02:00

So I signed up to knit teensy hats for drink bottles (for the Big Knit) and then forgot about it because the deadline was way far in the future. That is what I do with events that are not Next: I forget them. Anyway, the deadline suddenly zooped up to next Monday, and I got the reminder email yesterday morning and went "ack!"So I did other things yesterday, but I also knit five tiny hats. And it

gone over to the Dark Side

2007-10-15T15:34:00.000+02:00

You know, I've read the posts and listened to the podcasts about Stash, and all these people who have more yarn than they'll be able to knit up in their lifetime, and I have concluded - I may even have written about it somewhere on this blog - that I am a knitter, not a yarn collector. I only buy for specific projects. Now, sometimes the yarn doesn't work out for the project I bought it for, and

ADD and the knitter

2007-10-09T20:54:00.000+02:00

Well, the Henry yarn + stitch pattern is kind of inflexible, and the scarf is pretty long, so it's not going very fast - and I have to put it aside completely when DrBob is home this weekend, because he's not supposed to see it. Christmas present.So then I'll work on the MIL's Flower Basket Shawl, but it's a bit of an attention whore. Usually I can sort of grok a pattern after a couple of repeats

what I would do...

2007-10-06T09:51:00.000+02:00

Well. Mari has a bunch of natural white, alpaca-silk blend yarn - I don't know the weight, but swoooon! And she wants to know what kind of sweater she should knit with it. I think that's a very good question, and if I had a bunch of natural white, alpaca-silk yarn (yah - I wish), I'd be thinking Aran. Something cable-y like Jenna Wilson's Morrigan, from No Sheep For You. (Not a lot of images

it worked!

2007-10-04T08:49:00.000+02:00

Well, I followed Elemmaciltur's link, showed the photos to Ignatz, and half an hour later he was back with my Lego swift. It did seem kinda flimsy and wobbly, and I was very skeptical, but we put the second skein of MariSilk on it last night, and he helped me adjust the little sticky-uppy bits, and it worked like a dream! So thanks for the tip, Elemm, and kudos to Ignatz for phenomenal Lego

Go, Henry!

2007-10-03T21:22:00.000+02:00

My 100cm wooden circular 3.4mm needle finally arrived, and I was able to continue the Henry scarf (pattern is here). I'm liking it so far; once you figure out the repeat, it's fairly mindless, although you do need to look at it as you knit, so it's a good project for TV knitting, but not for reading. The yarn is 100% silk I bought at Benediktbeuern, from a woman who doesn't believe in websites

tangled up in lilac

2007-09-29T00:22:00.000+02:00

I've been untangling for hours.I think I need a swift.

I give up

2007-09-27T20:04:00.000+02:00

Well we had lovely sunny weather in Benediktbeuern, and then one sunny day thereafter, but I had too much else to do that day, so I didn't grab the opportunity to photograph my haul. Since then I've been waiting for the sun to come back so I can have some light to work with, but I have accepted that that's not going to happen.So here's one blurry daylight photo of what I brought back (note

Benediktbeuern

2007-09-23T21:45:00.000+02:00

Oh. My. God, that was SO. MUCH. FUN! We met in Munich and took the train and there was a delay so we missed our connection and had to sit at the station café in Tutzing for awhile before we got the train to Benediktbeuern but we didn't mind the delay because we were all knitting and chattering away and we got there and checked in to our (fabulous! cheap! so pretty!) hostel and then went to

Yay! Oh no! Part Two!

2007-09-19T09:26:00.000+02:00

Right, well, there I was wondering what to do for mindless knitting now that Arwen was done, and it occurred to me to bring the helmet liner out of retirement. Problem solved! Then I finished it, so here I am again.Sigh.I'll be looking at Benediktbeuern for laceweight yarn and beads for Secret of the Stole, and my next project (like everyone else's, I'm thinking) will probably be Henry.Oh, and?

Yay! Oh no!

2007-09-15T22:39:00.000+02:00

The only reason for putting a hood on Arwen was that otherwise I'd have to re-write the neckline. But look, this neckline is okay, so I think I'll save the leftover yarn to make hats for chemo patients. I've already done some moss stitch and bound off, now I need the time to listen to the latest Knitters Uncensored (I know! But I really haven't had a whole hour and 20 minutes all together yet!