FO - Exchequered

So, I started Knitty's Exchequered right when it came out... early in 2006. I had no idea that double knitting was going to be such an incredibly tedious endeavor. Two years later, I've finally cast off one of my perpetual UFOs. Uh, I might have overdid it a bit, because this scarf is seven feet long.





Seven. freaking. feet. of double knitting. I feel like I've just run a marathon or something. Very much worth it, though. This thing is double-thick, warm, and just... yeah, I haven't really taken it off yet. I wish I'd have pulled it out to finish sooner, because it languished as a UFO for far too long. I guess one of my New Year's resolutions should be to finish or frog all the things that have been sitting that way for far too long...

Something happy

Some days, you just need a pick-me-up. I decided to go shopping today, and the photo below shows all of my lovely acquisitions.



I went to Michael's in search of one of those giant balls of Sugar 'n' Cream, but the only color they had left was my grandmother's favorite, tan with pink and blue specks. Yuck. Luckily the normal-sized balls were 4 for $5, so I picked up some nice ones: hot pink, hot green, tan tweed and chocolate brown to go with it. I was crazy-inspired by Dave's dishcloth deluge, and want to get back into the delicious practical knitting.

I didn't stop there, though. I went into Joann with a gift card looking for fall fabric, and was disappointed that summer is still in full swing. Instead I found 5" clover DPNs in sizes 1 and 2... hopefully this will make my sock knitting a little less bulky! I've been looking for these guys everywhere.

Lastly, it was off to GameStop. I was really, really curious about the newest Pokemon installment, and it's been ages since I've bought a DS game. I came home with Pokemon Pearl. Two hours in, and it's really quite amusing. I haven't lost a battle yet!

But, honestly, I HAVE been knitting lately.



I finished one sleeve to Mariah, and have started the second. I actually have to give props to the designer, Jodi, who sent me a nice two-page errata document when I asked about the existence of an errata page. It's supposed to give a better fit through the yoke and shoulders, and make the hood better. I'll hopefully report back to you all when I see how well it actually turns out. So far, on the sleeves, there have only been a few "WTF?" moments where I had to study the instructions. I just attribute it to the pattern having so much going on at once. As far as the yarn goes, I'm just using good old WoolEase. I mean, let's face it, I wear my sweater cardigans a ton, and I'm not about to use yarn that Steve might ruin by accidentally throwing in the washing machine.

A pair of socks has suffered this way. Steve said he would knit me new ones. He doesn't really know how to knit. I told him I would accept a gift of sock yarn instead. I'm thinking I'd really enjoy some Wollmeise, but alas, no ordering anything until we've settled in to our new address!




I really do apologize for the negativity yesterday. It's a stressful time. I'd rather play video games than pack, and I'm 295th on the Ravelry list. I'm not finishing much of anything.

FO: Monkey Socks

Even the Yarn Harlot has made Monkey Socks! I was working on these all through Traverse City, and just finished them a couple days ago. I couldn't show them off sooner because the USB cord to my camera mysteriously disappeared. The same gremlin that took Steve's wallet must have hidden it. The difference is, I found the cord, but not the wallet!



The yarn is Knitpicks Essential tweed. I'm not sure that I'm completely crazy about the yarn. The "tweed" effect to me almost looks like a normal purple sock has been thrown in the wash with a primary-colored load of something very fuzzy, and the pills have clung to the once-purple sock. Oh well. I wanted to try out the Monkeys in something more solid, and I like that part of the effect very much.

I've been trying very hard to work on UFOs, but I pull many of them out of my stash, only to be reminded of why they're UFOs in the first place. Case in point:



Doily for mom. Phone included for scale. I'm not sure why I thought this was a good idea, but I did, and hooman, the 12 stitches per inch are killing me. They're so tiny, and there are getting to be so many stitches that each round takes me at least ten minutes, sometimes more. (Don't worry mom, I will finish it. One day.)

Oh well. Here's some Natalie Dee to brighten your day.



I'm off to listen to the cure now.

Two WIPs

I've been working on two projects lately that I'm currently so in love with, I'm actually showing them off before they're finished. I don't usually do that.

First up are the gift socks I've dubbed the Dorky Germany Socks. These are to be given to a friend who studied abroad in Germany and consequently adores everything German now and is planning to live there. When I saw the yarn, Regia Nation, I knew that she needed Dorky Germany Socks.



The pattern is just Wendy's Generic Toe-up Pattern. I figured I'd use up the Dorky Germany Yarn and go until I ran out. As you can see, the yarn went awfully far. I had to add calf increases because they stop not too far below my knee. I know that the recipient will love them...

The other thing I've been working on more is Knitty's Mariah. I know, I have major Knitters' ADD, as I've already put the Exchecquered down for now. My progress on Mariah has barely gotten me into the first sleeve. But somehow, it's extremely exciting for me to see the knotwork cable coming together.



(Excuse the difficulty I had photographing the gray yarn. I have no idea why the details got so washed out.) I only am nervous because the buzz in the knitting community seems to point to major issues with the pattern. I haven't seen them yet, but we shall see if Mariah continues to come together nicely...

Circular shrug

Yay! I finished the gray thing mentioned in the previous post!



It's the Urban Outfitters knockoff that was big on craftster a year ago or more. I used this tutorial (.pdf), from Peony Knits. I used pretty much exactly two skeins of caron simply soft with size 9 needles. I'm actually pretty darn thrilled with how it turned out...



Just a little something to jazz up a t-shirt. It's also a really nice use for the vintage and antique brooches I keep buying while antiquing with my mom... I love borderline tacky old jewelry.

I'm also pretty thrilled that I pulled a UFO out of the bottom of my stack of knitting and just did it. I cast on for this baby quite a while ago, to be honest... though once I got back into the groove of the mock rib, it was all downhill! It didn't go nearly as slowly as I thought it would. I almost want to make another because simply soft is so inexpensive and comes in so many delicious colors. The obnoxious brights are especially lovely. Lime green and hot pink and turquoise, oh my! I remember standing in my local Joann, agonizing over the big selection of colors. (At the time, I seem to remember that there were also Christmas glitter colors, so perhaps I cast this on last fall?) How I ended up with a boring heather gray is completely beyond me. Was I thinking practically for once?

Politics, cars, and knitting

I have to say, the direction that my country is headed in is absolutely astounding. I feel like it will take decades to undo the damage that has been done by our current administration. Take the Supreme Court's recent ruling on pay discrimination. (Not that this decision was the administration's doing directly, but two of the nine justices were appointed by Bush and therefore in on this decision...) Ignoring how pay inequalities usually occur (slowly over time), the court decided absurdly that one has to figure out that they're being discriminated against in the first place and file suit within six months of being given unequal pay. That is, the day you start getting paid unequally. Until we can openly know what our co-workers doing the same job are making, we have little protection under the law.

Suffice to say, the linked articles discuss the matter much better than I do.

In happier knitting-related news, I made yet another garterlac dishcloth.



Dishcloths never seem to photograph well, but I never bother to block them or anything; I'm going to be getting this guy wet and stretched out in no time, so why bother? I don't think I'll ever get tired of this pattern. It seems to knit up in no time. It's cute. It looks more complicated than it is. It's a good size. It shows off the Sugar 'n' Creme ombres nicely. I could go on.

I've also been trying to work on the UFOs in my stash. The exchecquered is coming along nicely, but as usual, dragging along slowly. I have, however, made remarkable progress on the interminable gray thing:



The miles of mock ribbing will really only equate to two balls of caron simply soft, but still. It's mock 1 x 1 ribbing. What is this gray object, you ask? I will show it off when I'm finished... hopefully soon.

I've also been commissioned by a coworker to make a beanie for him. He is a very large guy (a former football player), and says that many beanies are just too small for his head. This is exciting to me, somehow. It's rare that someone who isn't close to me takes such an interest in my work! I was going to use Lion Brand Wool-ease because it's washable and inexpensive... However, he wanted navy blue, and my local Michael's was out. Go figure. I'm going to check Joann tomorrow. My backup plan is Plymouth Encore from my LYS. Hopefully both backup plans don't fall through!



In other, sadder news, I'm starting to fear that my car's days are numbered. (Obviously the above photo is not my car but a stock photo; however, it looks just like that, down to the color!) A week ago, it started making a hideous noise. Steve's dad is extremely talented with all things mechanical (he builds custom motorcycles on the side!), and his prediction was either the serpentine belt or the air compressor. The diagnosis? Both, really. The belt needed changing and this was done, but did not fix the hideous noise. Therefore, no more AC for me until I get a nice, expensive repair done, if I do.

A new compressor would probably be about $400, which seems like a lot of money to put into a car equipped with a transmission that will likely die in another 13,000 miles or so. When that goes, that's it; that repair would run several thousands, more than the car would be worth.

I'm emotionally attached to it. It is, after all, my first car, which has been mine since I was fifteen.