(not so) RAK

here's my goodies, at long last.

VAL! she sent me handspun handdyed yarn! in yummy greens. i saw the roving on her blog and when i commented on it, she said it was mine! awww. used the crappy camera. it didn't focus on the yarn. grrr. but it's nice stuff.



and then Yorkie and i did a swap. because i needed more spotted dick. yup.



Yorkie Bar! mmmM!!!! and other brand jaffa cakes, and blue can HobNobs (fabbo, they are!) and a sweet coffe mug. yay Brits!!

supposedly i'm getting a totally random giftie from MJ....sadly, it has yet to arrive

(almost) instant gratification

yay!!! I had forgotten how much i dearly loved quilting. although bending over the sewing machine makes my back ache.


start with a pile 'o t-shirts.


chop 'em up, and buy nifty cotton batting and some border material (with gratuitous cello shot for Laura)


sew 'em up nice and straight


and add your border. voila! a quilt top.

Now waiting for the backing material which is a gift from a really super friend who wants to de-stash.

so much lace...so little....no wait, i HAVE time!

so now that i have gradumatated, i have plenty o time to knit. so lace seems like a good thing. i can concentrate on it instead of homework. so i now introduce my three teammates. they have not come to me free of error and worry. instead, they are mainly messes. but i am intent on fixing them all!


First up is the project dubbed "Lace Insanity." I'm test knitting this for my good friend Ana, and, as you can see, it has its own set of worries. Fit was a problem, but not too much had to be frogged, and all 200 stitches were easily returned to the Addi. It should be a happier design overall, once lost time is caught up. Brown Sheep Cotton Fine is quite delightful to work with, because the small wool content makes the cotton easy on my hands. Otherwise I don't use cotton.


Next we have the (ironically named) Helen's Lace. MMMMMMMM first time using any sort of silk. cannot wait to start in on it. using the free pattern that comes on the label, as it should be easy enough to follow while living in the KnittyChat this summer.


Lastly, the bane of my existence. I am clutching the iron grip of fuzzy alpaca yarn stuck in the evil evil nupps of Madli's Shawl. The end border of the shawl will not frog, and i have already wasted yarn by starting over. That shawl was horrid. It looked oh so pretty, and yet...ARGH. now my Knit Picks Alpaca Cloud is going to become a much greater thing...Shaped Triangle from Gathering of Lace. This is the pinnacle of my summer lace experience!

of course, it's not as much lace as monkee has on her plate, but i can try!

Oh, the irony!

yup yup. first time for many things. i got to meet a knitty! yay!

Marcy (mittenfarce) and i went out for yummy Thai food, mmmmm. then we headed to Loopy where we met Purrl behind the counter.

here we are!


the lady working had us hold props..Marcy's is some bamboo yarn and the latest Knit.1, which she bought to knit hubby some shorts, heh (the magazine, not the yarn!) i'm holding a felted bowl they had on the counter as my goodies were already wrapped up.

speaking of goodies...i went hog wild and bought me some Helen's Lace in "Black Purl" mmmm, mmm. pardon the crappy pic as the day is gray...yeargh! Plus a 40-inch size 0 addi. mmmm, socks...



and on my train trip in and out i did this, evidence of "you get what you pay for"


Moda Dea Sassy Stripes. Colours darker than photo suggests. but whaddya expect for cheap yarn. at least they're soft enough.

i wore my socks from Ariel today, to keep me nice and toasty throughout the day. happy times!

a sockapaloooza thrill!

so...friday was a fabulous mail day. a card from my monkee, and a padded envelope. my mom's like, oh, those must be your socks! I just said they probably were, then headed up stairs. maybe ten minutes later, i finally glanced at the return address. guess who!

if the return address didn't give it away, the signature blue tissue certainly did...



they fit like a dream!





i love love love them. Pattern is Elfine's Socks (PDF) and are in Knit Picks' Essential sock yarn in Grass. oh so machine washably yummy!

even if they aren't machine washable purple sheepies...

Knitting Burnout

i am so tired of things that do not fit. my olympic sweater wasn't the best fitting sweater i have made. my latest tank top sucks as well. my jaywalkers? don't fit over my ankles. so they are banished. i think i will go start my test knitting (heh. here i am complaining about published patterns not working, and i'm gonna go knit something not even completed by the designer yet. teehee. but i love the designer. so off i go!!)