How you doin’?

Happy Sunday all. It is raining here like maybe I should be building an ark. So wet, and all you can smell in the house is wet dog. Yummy. Here’s a pici of the Glampyre sweater I told you about. A very quick knit. I’m going to do a picot turning round at the bottom of the body in the blue and the a turned hem on smaller needles. Should be good. I think the cuffs will be the same. This unspun Peruvian is so soft I just love knitting on this. I have two more bags in black so maybe a wee cardigan or something. I’m getting a lot of roll around the neckline so I think a round of single or reverse single crochet might be in order there.

On the Dulaan contest front, look at these adorable, (and perfectly matched) mitts that Pat made! I love them, and they look so warm. Her Swallowtail shawl is gorgeous too.

Don’t forget, every item you make and send me a pici of or a link to a pici of, you get entered to win some yummy knitting swag! You have until the middle of April so there is plenty of time, but don’t wait until the end to share your creations! We all want to see them! My email link is over there on the right.

That’s about all I’ve got for now. The day will be spent knitting, doing laundry, and making some lentil soup to keep the cold and wet at bay! Keep dry and warm everyone.

Misc.

Wow, it’s been a challenging week here at casa beentsy. Stella’s epilepsy has been particularly bad the last two days and we’re all a bit exhausted, Stella in particular. Hubby is fighting a cold and I’m knitting like a fiend to keep my sanity!

However, being the closet optimist that I am, I know that good things are always on the way. Then when they show up I can be all cocky about it! Good eh?

First good thing, Lizz is back blogging! Yay! Missed reading your stuff and seeing your knitting girl. Go look at her Christmas stockings on March 5. I’m in love with the Canucks one. Lizz has exceptional taste in books, especially when it comes to Guy Gavriel Kay. After the Fionavar Tapestry I think my favourite of his is Tigana. That book reads how good music feels. It just washes over you. Gorgeous.

Second good thing, I found the book prize for the Dulaan contest. It is the Shawls and Scarves book by Knitter’s. Lots of lace to lust over in this one. Luckily being in a box due to renovations doesn’t seem to have done it any harm! I’m not going to try taking a pici today, it is way to grey here. Pop over to amazon and you can have a peek at it.

Third good thing, with all this down time with the dog I’ve knit half of a sweater in about 3 days. No kidding, I am booking. Granted, it is on 6mm needles but I’m still well chuffed with my progress. It’s the easy top down raglan (click on pattern shop and scroll down), by Stephanie Japel. Very nice and very user friendly. I’m doing mine in denim blue Cascade Pastaz (#31) for the yoke and some charcoal unspun Peruvian wool that I got in a bag sale at Elann about 3 years ago. I’m starting to have a deep and personal relationship with my stash. Which is a excellent. I’m also burning through about 3 balls a day of this stuff so that’s all good!

See, silver lining. Oh, and I’m Bowling for Big Brothers tomorrow night. This is my third year being involved and it is such a lot of fun. It’s a fifties theme this year which should be a hoot. I have my little fuzzy cardigan and my matching scarf to tie around my neck in a jaunty manner, hair in an obligatory pony tail and chewing gum all ready. Besides, I get to wear bowling shoes. I love bowling shoes. I really should google and see if I can find a place to buy some. Hmmmmm.

Done and done

Yep, there it is in all it’s glory. The first pici is lighter than true life but lets you see the details a bit better.

This pici is a bit too dark, but you have the rare honour of seeing Mo Cuirdh, our older cat.

My friends call her my invisible cat because she is never seen when they come over. To be honest, she’s not seen much when it’s just hubby and I at home. She’s lived with us for 13 years and is still a bit skittish. When it’s all nice and quiet late in the evening she comes out for some lovin’. I’m not really sure what brought her out on a Sunday afternoon but there she is.

In honour of finishing an old UFO I’m going to cast on a new project tonight. I want a nice spring pullover and I’m gonna make one darn it, from stash yarn! I want to give the new 5mm Knitpicks needle a good run for it’s money and be sure that a whole set of them is a good idea. Look at me, showing restraint and all! Boo ya!

Wow, is there a class for this?

Man, I have got to get better at taking picis of myself and others. Pictures of yarn and nonmoving objects, not so bad. Anything with a pulse, forget it.

There is the giggle and jiggle

The flashbulb in the mirror.

Tottally off centre

The one where I look like I have a stick up my butt.

The one where I have 7 chins and a weird facial expression.

‘Nessa looks good though, such a pretty smile! Needless to say, these are my fruitless attempts so show you my new cardigan. It needs some form of closure in the V-neck area, I’m thinking a length of thin leather to tie if I want it to stay closed.

I really like the sweater, very comfy and the yarn is great after being machine washed and dried flat. Not sure I if I would use the dryer, maybe one day when I’m feeling brave.

In other much more productive notes, Ann is knitting like a mad woman. I think it is the new swift and the ballwinder driving her on. Take a look at this little sweater she made last week. So cute! I’ve made this pattern for a friend at work and it is a winner. Actually, the cardi above in the incredibly sad photos is from the same designer. I love her patterns. I’m lazy, I don’t sew, what can I tell you.

I found a new home for the Denise needles set. Hi Darlene! They are heading east as we speak and I hope she will be very happy with them. I’m going to order my Knitpicks set this weekend and then stalk the mailman for a week or so. He likes that. I still have not found the box with the book prize, but I will, I promise. Some time this week.

I also finished a couple of Flap Caps this week during my odd moments of free time between work and home. One two strand model of sock yarn and DK weight wool like Pat did and one in Patons SWS.

I’m off to do some more work on my long in the works crocheted afghan. I think I should be able to finish it this weekend. Finally. It’s only been ongoing for about two years. Sheesh!

Reno Hell

Phew! Man I worked today. We closed in one doorway/arch in the livingroom and framed in a new doorway. Drywall is the most disgusting feeling thing in the world. You can feel it literally sucking the moisture right out of your skin. The room is starting to look who we want though. Hubby has videon on his phone of me using power tools so once he forwards that I’ll post it up. I definitely did not miss my calling when it comes to screwing in gyproc! There will be much sanding and filling to correct all the boo boos.

We also found the couch and loveseat we want and at a really reasonable price. We’ve had futons since we’ve been together and that was all fine and good when we were 25 but I think I might just want to try this whole being an adult thing with matching furniture before I’m a senior citizen!

I want to thank everyone for all their kind words about the hat pattern. I’m so glad you guys like it. It gives me the warm fuzzies to know people are making them to give to others to keep warm. Nice.

Okay, I really need a bath. This manual labour stuff is for the birds. This is exactly why I’m an accountant, the low sweat to work ratio. Have a brilliant Sunday evening, I’m going to be watching Rome and finishing my final sleeve on the Knitting Pure and Simple cardi. Then I have to wait for the three balls I got in the auction to arrive so I can finish the body.

What a week

Whew, am I ever glad it’s Sunday. I’m hitting the couch with the knitting so hard today you may be able to see the rising dust cloud from where ever you happen to be!

Had the sedond interview on Friday and met the big mucky muck of the operation. It went well. I should hear about that early next week. There are some tremendously big rumblings at work though so we will have to see how all this shakes out over the next week. I need to make some lists and have some meetings. What is expected of me? What is my role? What can I expect from others? Blah blah blah. I’m too old for work drama. I think I might have like it when I was younger but not now. Home & family provide enough drama, work should not be competing for an Oscar on the drama front.

And poor hubby had a tooth extracted on Friday so he is just miserable and swollen and unhappy. I think he might be sick of Chef Boyardee Mini Ravioli too! Bahahaha.

Cats were taken to vets for blood tests and urine tests. They too were very unhappy and very vocal about it.

Tammys were also taken to human vets for yearly checkups and medications fart arounds. I was equally unhappy but much less vocal.

I’m telling you, it’s going to be a pretty quiet day at the old homestead. A little rest and recharge before we charge back into the fray tomorrow.

On the knitting front, I’m working on one of my big UFO’s. A top down sweater from Knitting Pure and Simple. #241 to be exact. Love their designs. The first sweater I ever knit was from Knitting Pure & Simple. I ran into a little problem though. I was almost finished the first sleeve and tried it on to check the length. Ummm, yeah, the sleeve top was built for Popeye and the forearm was more for Kate Moss. Strangely, I’m somewhere in the middle on that one. So a ripping I did go. Had to frog the whole forearm and go up above the elbow and remove 3 sets of the decreases. Now I’m just going to knit it straight, more like a kimono sleeve.

Then the problem occurs. I don’t have enough of this yarn to complete the project because of the wider sleeves. It was a “Oh I have just enough of this yarn in the stash that I bought at Elann 3 years ago!” moment. You know the ones, you’ve all had them too.

So, stuck between the rock that is the stash diet and the hard place that is the need to get more yarn to finish a year old UFO I hit ebay. Thankfully someone had 3 balls of the exact same dyelot. It was meant to be and I’m not counting it as a slip.

I’m still working on writing up the wee hat pattern. Man, that’s work. It is so hard to try to make sure you cover all the questions/issues people will have.

The sock toes have been put on hold. I was really unhappy with the joins on the needles I was using and decided to bite the bullet and order some of the classic circulars from Knitpicks. I’m told the joins are smooth as silk. The website tells me they have been shipped so I should have them next week.

I think that’s about all there is to tell from here at Chez Yarn & Dustbunny. Man, I hope that’s all I’ve got. I’m a simple woman and this much stuff in a week is wearing me down. Y’all have a good Sunday. If I get the hat pattern done I’ll post it up later today.

Oh, and just because it’s more fun to have a post with a pici, here’s a shot from a couple of summers ago. Stella used to be quite the yarn thief. If the basement door was open she was in there and stealing anything not in a rubbermaid tote. This is me trying to salvage a skeif of sock yarn from Lotusblossom. I eventually just gave up and replaced it, (thankfully she had dyed another lot in the same colour!) there were way too many breaks once Stell was done with it. Up to the left on the fence you can see another skein she got the same day. It too was a writeoff. Aren’t dogs great?

The Rundown

Okay, we’re gonna be brief because I still feel like a large bag o’ poo. These are the beginnings of the first ever toe up socks I’ve ever made. You MUST go here and check out this technique! This is one of the smartest thing I’ve ever learned as a knitter. Wicked smart! If you scroll down there is a printer friendly version too. So now I have sock toes and I will make some feet, then I will search for the perfect heel technique.

No-Blog-Rachel is participating in the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer. This is a truly huge endeavor so please go over and see her page and help her on her journey if you can. She is going to walk 39 miles over two days. Amazing!

I’ve also been making these hats for Dulaan. Super easy, I’ve got half of the pattern written out so I will hopefully share that with y’all this week sometime.

The other big news is that on Friday when I was festering away on the couch the City called about a job. I showered and drugged myself up appropriately and headed out for an interview that afternoon. It went really well, at least it seemed to from my Dayquil addled state. They are calling people back for second interviews and will make their decision early next week. Please cross some fingers. The job sounds really interesting and actually somewhat fulfilling as I would be doing something that actually makes my community a better place.

In knitting news, I actually knit a fair bit this week. I’m almost finished the body of my Knitting Pure & Simple cardi. I’m going to work on the sleeves today to make sure they are done before I finish out the rest of the body. I always worry about coming up short in the yarn department. And, better yet, this has been on the needles for almost a year and the yarn was in the stash for more than a year before that. Sweetness in the stashbusting department.

Okay, I need to get back to depleting the worlds supply of tissues and lozenges. Have a lovely Sunday everyone.