Biggest. Stash. Ever.

I'm speechless.

Lotsa Stuff

I spend every day packing, lifting, storing, and sorting, but late at night, I still knit. My brain feels like it's pinging around inside my skull, and one of the few things that keeps me feeling sane is the feel of wool between my fingers. That and yarn shopping. Ahem. We shall not speak of that.

I am knitting Road to Golden from the latest KnitScene, using Cascade 220. I wasn't sure if I would get gauge, but it is coming out fine. This is my current fling-of-the-moment.



I bought this sock yarn in Fairbanks, called Paca-peds. A mixture of alpaca, wool, and nylon, it was in a beautiful skein that's colors flowed from red, to orange, to yellow, to green, etc. I couldn't resist it's beauty, and bought it as soon as I saw it. When I wound it into a ball, I was disappointed in it's appearance. Kind of like a box of crayons exploded, and kiddish looking.


Since I've knit a few rows it has been growing on me, and the colors aren't looking quite so jumbled. It is my designated "car sock" that I leave in the car and knit on while I am waiting in the car for something.


The Beaverslide yarn is patiently waiting to be made into a Tomten. I don't really want to start on it until I am settled again, so that I can really plan it out and figure out what mods to use. The main color will be the dark blue, and the light blue will be the accent. And it's so squishy!



A few months ago I started to knit a sweater for my daughter. The gauge is off, it's boring, and I am SO over it. But she asks about it all the time, and I have been feeling really guilty about not finishing it. I decided to whip out a quick sundress and bloomer combo with pink flower buttons to make her happy and give me a little breathing room on the whole,"How come you never work on my sweater?" issue.


It has a contrasting lining which I love the look of, and was a FAST project. Cutting and sewing took about 2 hrs total. The only problem I had with the pattern was that the fabric requirements were a little short, and I had to make the straps a little shorter to make it fit.


Moving day is next Friday.

Wish me luck!

A Good Big Brother

P.S. We're moving! Either in 2 weeks or 4 weeks. We made the decision today. And no, the house hasn't sold yet. We're just going to move anyway and live off of beanie weenies for the next few weeks til it sells. Being together as a family is our top priority. But I kind of have a AAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!! feeling and get a little light headed when I think of all I have to do in the next week.

P.P.S. I ordered and received the yarn to knit a similar Adult Tomten jacket to the one on Brooklyn Tweed . Beaverslide Yarn makes me swoon with delight. So squishy. So pretty. The subtle color variations are amazing, and the price is great, too.

Fifi Flop

I wanted to like this project, I really did. But nothing seemed to go right.

I cast on for the small size with 120, but should have gone with the 140, which I didn't realize until after I had finished the yoke and moved on to the body. I thought about increasing on the sides to add width, but it was still a little tight at the armpits. The neckline was rolling, so I was going to have to add something there to try and tighten things up.
I know that someone worked really hard to design this, and it is a BEAUTIFUL sweater that I really wanted to wear.
I consider myself a pretty experienced knitter, and can usually adjust and fiddle around with things with no problem. But I found the pattern kind of fuzzy in some sections, and not super helpful when deciding exactly how to pick sizes; it was just downright confusing to me. I hesitate to even say anything critical, as I don't want to hurt the feelings of someone who worked so hard to design the pattern, but I also don't want always spout roses and sunshine if I have a problem with a pattern, just to avoid making someone uncomfortable.
I may pick this project up again in the future, but this is a time in my life where everything else is complicated, so with my knitting, I just want to sit back, relax, and knit.





This is what she looked like seconds before jumping into the frog pond.

Tomato

I finished something! I finished something!

This knit seemed to take forever, possibly due to the 5 other projects I started in the middle of it.



Pattern: Tomato from No Sheep For You
Yarn: Blue Sky Alpaca Cotton
Size:35 1/2"
Modifications: Most noticeably, I omitted the Fair Isle stripe at the bust. I didn't really want a "look at me" sign on my boobs, and though some are putting the stripe on the waist of this sweater, that just didn't look right to me, either. Since I KNOW that the stripe was supposed to be on the bust, the stripe on the waist looks like a bust stripe that slid down, or maybe that the yoke stretched out waaay low. And once I get a mental picture like that in my head, I can't shake it. So stripeless was the only way to go. The other mods were 4 short rows in the bust, an inch in length added, and one extra waist decrease. I am a little concerned about pilling with this yarn, but everything else is perfect.


There has been some talk about bust darts on Knitting Daily, but that whole post/conversation happened after I had finished that part of the sweater. I was kind of nervous that short rows wouldn't be enough. That maybe I needed bust darts, and had missed some crucial step to making this sweater fit right. But in the end, it fit wonderfully.




So fear not, busty gals, you don't HAVE to have bust darts. Good ol' short rows still work just fine.

Blah, Blah, Blah

I haven't blogged in a while. I have tried but it all sounds the same. House hasn't sold, still living with my parents, The Plumber is in Fairbanks, blah, blah, blah. I knit and I knit and nothing ever seems to get finished because I have 10 projects going at the same time. And really, do you want to see another picture of someone's half knit sock?

So because I have nothing to offer you personally today, I give you this.

The funniest YouTube I have seen in a while.

Enjoy!





ETA: I just found this really cute free cardigan pattern here. Believe it or not, this was rejected by Magknits, which is kind of leaving me scratching my head a little. It's so cute!