I Wanted Everything...

My secret pal RULES!!! In honor of the Ramones book I shamelessly begged for (hey, there was a question about books!!) see the above title of this post (which is a Ramones song for those of you who don't know) Not only did she send me all the astonishingly cool stuff you see (well, probably don't see, considering the quality of the photo) here, but she also sent me chocolate which did not even last long enough to photograph :)

Anyway, in addition to the Ramones book, I got some yarn bras- a concept my husband, who has apparantly regressed to adolescence, finds hilarious, a very cool stitch marker/row counter thingie which is displayed on my Dibs on Ribs sweater. (Aha! Sneaky...a wip photo along with my SP booty) I have been using it since I got it :) Also, did I mention the CHOCOLATE?

By the way, DoR is almost done. I am finishing the insert on the second sleeve, and just have the neck inserts left to do. Maybe I can get my juvenile husband to bring home his work camera again in honor of the upcoming FO Photo...

12XU

Sorry for all the obscure song references...(Did Wire ever put out an albumn of their own? Everything I have is on some compilation or another...) Anyway. The X-Back is no more. Like everyone else on the X-Back Knit Along here my tank was like 9 sizes too big. I even swatched this time, but still... I swatched again, trying it with the same needles, in an attempt to determine that perhaps I was unable to measure the first swatch accurately. This came out to gauge. Ok. Maybe if I wash it? No dice- I did that too, it's still the same size. I am too discouraged to cast on all those stitches & begin knitting a too-large tank again. GRRRRR. Obviously this is not the pattern's fault, as many people have used it to produce a wearable object. I think I will try a different pattern, but in this yarn.

In other news, DoR is progressing quite quickly. However, I think I hit my first snag. Since I like longer sweaters, I made the bottom in the largest size- it is knit side to side, so I stopped when the circumference was right for me, and simply knit wider, which will translate to longer. To ease my paranoia at running out of yarn, I decided that three-quarter length sleeves would be just the thing.

I have ripped & re-done one side of the front 3 times now. I cast off, thinking it was finally right. It is not. The shoulders are short-rowed, but not the way shoulders usually are. Cutting length off the sleeves is not as straightforward at it appeared because I now no longer have enough length to make the short-rowing gradual.

I am avoiding a certain word I often use in frustration, but if you know me, you'll guess what I am thinking (and I didn't say it as much in public when we lived in Charlotte.)

This is Insanity, This could be the end. . .

(10 points to whoever guess the relavance of the song lyric in the title to this entry LOL...)
I got this on Ebay, from the seller Yarnbow. (Great EBay transcation btw, THANKS!) The plan was to see if I could get gauge with Silk Garden instead of Kureyon for DoR (which is what I am calling Dibs-on-Ribs, see below :) ) and it worked out wonderfully! I am going to make it a little longer than the pattern and do three-quarter length sleeves because I am incapable of making anything as written LOL. Actually, this sweater is FLYING off the needles. (You realize, by the way, that I have totally just jinxed myself) I've got one side of the lower half done- the construction is kind of cool. The body below the yoke is knit side-to-side in two pieces. You start knitting in the center of the back, and work around to the center front. Then make a second identical piece. Seam them together & use the provisional cast on to work the inserts. The yoke is knit bottom up- you cast on the length of the sleeves and then pick up across the body, casting on again for the other sleeve. You knit up to the sholders, and do the same for the back. The shoulder seam actually extends down both arms...

Anyway, cool pattern. . . Pictures to follow soon. :)

A New Project (Just what I Need...)

Dibs-on-Ribs, one of the subscriber only web patterns from the new IK. I am really liking this pattern! Having a bit of trouble getting gauge though- I tested with some of the Kureyon from Lady Elenor.

Cat Picture!!

I promised Cat Pictures!!! We had Tiger in the basement the first week so he could escape the dog and get aquainted with his litter box. Now, he won't leave the basement! I feel like we are keeping him in the dungeon, but I promise, he's free to come & go as he wants now, he just doesn't want! I'm a bad kitty parent.... And no, that's not crud in his eyes & nose, he has freckles! I've never seen that on a cat before, I thought it was cute....He's 21 pounds!! (So he's on a diet)

Lady In Red (OK, on a red couch)

The Lady Elenor Entrelac Shawl as it is at the moment. This yarn is IMPOSSIBLE to photograph- my husband finally brought his digital camera home from work, so it was too late for natural light. Anyway, the pattern is pretty simple, but the color changes in the Kureyon keep it interesting. Plus doing entrelac is somehow satisfying- everytime you finish a rectangle, you feel like you've accomplished something visible. Visually its not always my favorit look but knitting it is fun. Definitely teach yourself how to knit backwards though. Otherwise you spend all your time turning the thing! It helped me to think of it as "purling from the wrong side" rather than knitting backwards- when I knit backwards I get very confused about which way to insert the needle and wrap the yarn. Purling from the wrong side seems simpler...