Shifting and Struggling

Since August of 2009, I have had two e-mail addresses with Google.

One used my maiden, and the other my married name.

It was easy to tell Google to forward all of the messages sent to the former address to the latter, so I would only have to check one account. The Blogger utility became another barrier to this merger of Intenet Identities, however. Finally, I just invited my Married Self to be an author of this blog, had my Maiden Self give Married Self administrative priveledges, then promptly booted Maiden Self from the author list. (My Married Self is ruthless, I tell you!)

Anyway, so that's why there is an s on the end of my username now. All Married Self is is a doppleganger of Maiden Self. Or a pluralized version, which is actually sort of appropriate given the difference (and the fact that the username is a collective noun).

This post has more than a few things to do with marriage, actually. As you have likely concluded, I am that. Married. I have a husband who I fondly refer to on Twitter as "Husband" or "Colonel Sweatpants."

Said partner in marital bliss has been helping me with the "Blooming" project for Threadknits by offering moral support, spatial reasoning skills, and an extra pair of hands to hold the sucker steady. Last night over dinner, the Colonel regailed me with a tale he heard as a child about a deer hunter in Appalachaia.

When he had an animal in his sights, he realized he had forgotten to bring any ammunition, so he used a cherry pit - a waste product of his lunch - to shoot a buck between the eyes. The buck lived, and the next time the man went hunting, he saw the same buck. It now had a cherry tree growing out of it's head. Remind you of anything?

The deer is progressing well. He's felted, and the Colonel and I are trying to figure out the best approach to get the antler/branches on. The pink Lamb's Pride for the blossoms hasn't arrived yet, but I do have the roving to needle felt the black and white details on the deer's body. It's coming along rather well, I think, given the deadline.

Blooming Deer!

I can't work on him. I ran out of yarn. It's sad. Hopefully, more Lamb's Pride will arrive from Nebraska ASAP.  I'm ITCHING to work on him! I can't waste this enthusiasm!

I have the three other hooves ready and waiting to have live stitches picked back up and for legs to be knitted.  I wish I could start on the antlers, but I'm afraid to before I felt him, since the antlers won't be felted.  I have a rough idea of how I am going to make the cherry blossoms, but again, waiting for yarn.

Waiting waiting waiting.

But it's not like I don't have plenty of other things to work on in the meantime.

Pub Crawl Musings

One night a few months back, only a couple of people showed up at C. R. Yarn's weekly Knit Night. And by a couple of people, I mean me and one other person. So, we decided to relocate to a local martini bar. We knitted for awhile, but soon we put down our sticks in favor of picking up our drinks more often, and a plan was soon formed.

That plan was for the Pub Crawl scarf.

The idea is simple. With hand-dyed yarn inspired by our favorite cocktails, we would cast-on a scarf at the same time we prepared to make our first toast. The rules are that so long as you're drinking, you must also be knitting, and that you cannot frog. There are no frogs in Pub Crawling.

I've been thinking about this scarf for awhile now. (Psst. We haven't started making it yet.) It'd be awesome if we could get as many people/knitting groups involved as possible, so once we have the yarn ready, I anticipate posting something on Ravelry.

I've just been musing about it a lot lately. Since taking a dying class, I've considered dying yarn based on my favorite martinis (Creamsicle and Apple, in that order).

Muse, muse, muse, and I get a rambly post.

Resistance Against Baby Things is Futile

My husband and I devour television shows on DVD. Right now we're working on the third and final season of Veronica Mars, but not too long ago we finished Season 3 of Star Trek: the Next Generation. I grew up on TNG. My parents had Starfleet uniforms, and my twin brothers dressed as borg one year for Halloween. (I don't know how I dodged the cosplay bullet, but I did. I didn't really mean to. That's dumb luck for you.)

So when I saw this picture in the final episode of the season ("The Best of Both Worlds, Part 1"), I immediately wanted to figure out how to knit it. But I think it might just be one of those things I do just to sock it away for any future (and I mean fuuuuuture) children-of-my-own.

It's definitely got to have earflaps and some sort of snap beneath the chin, and the tubing can be done with i-cord. The "brim", I'm not so sure about, but I'm leaning toward something like ribbing that's picked up/continued in such a way to give it a layered look.

As for the chest implant? Totally something you can button on a shirt and then hook pacifiers to. Clearly. Isn't that what all borg babies do?

I should update more. Yeah, I think so.

With the Brain Hat done and the Sack Fingerless gloves in The Netherlands, I've started several other projects to occupy my time with. Some of them, I've already finished. Sorry I don't have pictures yet. The yarn includes Jagger Spun Super Lamb for another pair of present-fingerless-gloves and Jagger Spun The Maine Line for the Whiskey Felted Cap from Boutique Knits.

I love Boutique Knits. There are so many pretty things in there. I wish my style (and build) were more like a 20s debutante so I could pull more of it off.

The yarn I ordered for the Fizzlybear Sweater came in today. It's goregeous! I started with the sleeve, and it's knitting up CRAZY FAST. I'm a knitting demon with these enormous needles, I am.

Also, now that CastleFibers is back from her SCA event, she taught me how to do the toe on the Socks for the Mother-in-Law. There's a story behind those socks, which I'll tell later.

So many projects. I'd rather be knitting right now.

OH! Secret Project is done, but due to secrecy, I can't show you. BWAHAHA!

THE BRAIN

Alright. It's finished save for the stuff I'm going to do to it for the fair, but you all deserve pictures.

Pictures of what?

Pictures of THE BRAIN.








See more in my Flickr set.

One Glove Down, One to Go

Yaaaay! Just for kicks, I tried to ger my husband to try it on too, but the bind off at the cuff is too tight for him. I think if I ever made him knucks, they'd have to be EXTRA large for his mitts. I don't know if I'm going to leap right in to glove #2 or work on the booties a little more. This is their current status:I love the bamboo needles, but I wish they were a little sharper at the point. Also, for some reason they're bending. I need to me more careful with my knitting bag, it would seem.

LYS!

I finally got down to the new LYS - C.R. Yarn. You can read the store's blog over here. I loved the selection of yarn so much it was hard to make my mind up what I'd turn into booties for Sofia, but I couldn't pass up the newly dyed "Mmm Brains" yarn.


My first instinct is to make a hat out of it, but I'm not sure if even that would do this beautiful yarn and its wonderful name justice. So it might just hang out in the stash for a bit until I can find something worthy of it. I also picked up a skein of TOFUtsies to do those booties.


Also soon to be added to my growing stash are two hanks from KnitPicks. While browsing for bootie-yarn, I found their handpainted line, Imagination. These are the two colorways I've ordered: Looking Glass and Damsel.


I know I have no business buying more yarn. I've started three projects despite having a bag full of unfinished things that's been hidden away in the closet since long before we moved into the bigger apartment. I pulled out that neglected bag to see what was in there.

From the top, left to right: 100% baby alpaca from the Indiana State Fair, random red yarn (two skeins Homespun), gray and blue wool from The Feast of the Hunter's Moon, random red yarn that was supposed to end up a sweater for the mother-in-law, Sugar'n Cream skein bought because it was pretty, and random bouncle that was slowly becoming a scarf for the little sister.

So I guess the lesson learned is that if I ever TELL someone I'm knitting them a gift, they're better off assuming their never going to get it. :(

Leather and Booties, But Not at the Same Time

I've been thinking more and more about my Secret Pattern Project (hereafter, SPP) while I'm working the thumb gusset on CSLA's knucks, and I finally decided that one of my variations should include leather. Not that micro-suede yarn that is on every yarn store's shelf, but actual, round leather cord. I found this stuff at the Tandy Leather Company (which has a location in Rapid).

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I think I might slip on down there on my lunch hour to pick some up. Who says I can't knit three things at once?

But it gets better. I randomly came across a pattern for these booties on Ravelry, and I immediately wanted to make a pair for the newborn baby of a friend. Aren't they adorable?