miss ewe knits

Mating.

:)

Forgive the gratuitous (and rather poor) photography. We're pretty pleased over here, the three of us. (me and my two new socks!)

posted by miss ewe @ 10:58 p.m. 9 comments

Hey look! A sock!

Remember this?


It was a sock -- well, a cuff, actually. My first ever attempt, and totally abandoned some time in August, after being started in late June.

Well... recently I had a hankering for a handknit sock. A little of this, I believe, is owing to the fact that everyone around me seems to be turning out gorgeous sock after gorgeous sock, but my interest was largely rekindled by the incredible stash of beautiful sock yarn I rediscovered last week. Either that or the sock finally accepted that I was no longer interested in it, and had given up all hope of ever finding itself in my embrace again... at which point I wondered how the sock was doing and decided to show it a little attention. I may be anthropomorphising this sock a wee tad too much. Or art may be imitating life. Or perhaps I should just try to get out more... but I digress.

Whatever it was... I went crawling back on Friday night. And now... and now...

Look at us now!!!

Forgive the gratuitous leg-in-the-air shots. You'd think I invented sock knitting, I'm so pleased with myself. You ought to have seen me after I turned the heel -- I was INSUFFERABLE!

The yarn is Trekking XXL, colour 101 (fitting, as this is Socking 101 for me), provided for me by the lovely Heather back in our secret pal days.

And to avoid the dreaded SSS...

Already on the go.

posted by miss ewe @ 10:59 p.m. 8 comments

I never...

Did you ever play that game "I never..."? A drinking game where people took turns making statements starting with "I never" -- "I never made out in the back of a car", "I never cheated on a boyfriend"-- and everyone who HAD done that thing had to take a drink. (grammatically, I believe it should be called "I'VE never", however, after you've admitted to a few things and had a few drinks, I'm not sure it matters...)

Well, the startitis broke out for me in January, and I decided that if we knitters ever played a game of I never, I would die of thirst. So here are all my new starts...

I never plan knit-gifts very far in advance.

This is a my-so-called-scarf in Manos del Uruguay, for a friend's birthday -- IN MARCH!

I never knit for myself.

This is a bolero-tie-type sweater (scroll down, it's orange), free pattern from Lettuce Knit, with purchase of the one skein of Alchemy Promise required to make it. I've been calling the sticky soft ball of mohair "my kitten". People think I'm weird.

I never knit lace. Ever.

Swallowtail Shawl, Misti Alpaca, pattern copied so charts may be attached to magnetic board. It's not as difficult as I imagined it would be, though I must talk to myself during each RS row, but so far so good. During the photo session I managed to drop the last 10 stitches off the end of the needle while spreading it out. Then I managed to pick them all up without losing too much oxygen. I will be switching to a circular needle during my next lace session.

And best of all:
I never knit myself a sweater.
I never knit/read anything by Elizabeth Zimmerman.
I never turned a hem.
I never hid a happy secret colour inside a sweater.
I never felt like such a goddess of all things knitting.

Patons Classic Wool, mostly from the stash. I will be doing sleeves in that burgundy colour, either saddle-shoulder or the seamless hybrid. I LOVE the way the hem thing works. I love that I am figuring this out on my own, and with a little help from my friends. (Thanks to Jared, Alison, and the infamous Rams for guidance, and to Richard who gave me this book for Christmas!)

I've also gone crawling back to a long abandoned project, but I'll cover that next time...

posted by miss ewe @ 2:38 p.m. 5 comments

stashtastic!

As promised:

posted by miss ewe @ 8:36 p.m. 6 comments

vacation recap

Sigh. So, this is Christmas. Holidays all over, I am poised to receive the little monsters -- uh, munchkins -- who return in but a few hours. (Y'all know that in addition to performing, I also teach violin lessons chez moi, yes?)

It's been a while since I've posted, and there's lots to talk about. First a couple of FO, very fetching indeed, the perfect small and portable project to carry around visiting, and completed over the holidays.

We'll talk more about my serious startitis next post. There are many new things on the needles. Many. New. Things.





There was some fun boxing day shopping. Much cash was spent, much fun was had. Romni had 25% off EVERYTHING, and Lettuce Knit had 30% off all yarns. Yes, it's true. I cannot tell you how much fun I had in the LINE UP outside Romni, 45 minutes before it opened, coffee in hand, frantic knitters with "that look" in their eyes, fingering each other's knitted garments, and sizing up who they would have to race where in order to get enough of that precious yarn for which they came. But in a nice way. Really. We knitters are the best.



Here's a little sample of a random boxing day impulse purchase:

There will be a forthcoming sweater planned around these buttons, methinks.

Also a super holiday treat, the meeting of Renee, aka Froggie Meanie. I was having lunch with my folks in her town, across the road from her LYS. Knowing full well that I was DEFINITELY going to visit the shop, and that I could NEVER get away with blogging about a visit to Main Street Yarns without catching hell from my favourite online knitting Newf, I sent her an e-mail. I knew she was in the store when I heard the sales lady say "Hello, Claire!", followed by an enthusiastic little voice, obviously familiar with the shop and its rituals. It was really great to meet Renee, Claire, and Jillian, and you would not believe how amazingly well-behaved these kidlets are, particularly considering that Renee RIPPED them from slumber to come down to the shop upon receiving my e-mail! (just kidding! I'm really glad I managed to beat out nap-time!)

As for Renee, she is as fabulous in person as she is online. Funny, charming, cool, fun to be around, fun to chat with, and a fabulous mom to boot! Someone I definitely hope to get to know better in the future! Plus, I was really glad she went to all the effort to get the girlies together to come out and meet up!

So, once back at my apartment, my plan was to re-organize (who am I kidding -- ORGANIZE for the first time!) the stash. I am putting myself on a pretty strict yarn embargo for the next few months. I received a few gift certificates for Christmas, which I am saving for those moments (I know they're coming!) when I simply must. have. new. yarn. But in an effort to save some money, I am not spending any money on yarn until at least the March Break. (I would say the end of March, but if I go on a cool roadtrip for March Break, I want to be able to enjoy it a little!). I also feel compelled to add that this is not about space, because I live alone, and have no specific problem with sharing my home with lots of yarn. But I am trying to save a bit of money (for future projects, life goals, and so on), and this is how.

Two caveats: I WILL however be purchasing yarn for my Cardi for Kate from the Ram Wools anniversary sale, because a) it is a Christmas present from my mom, and b) I promised myself a sweater this season, and I don't have enough of anything in the stash to make one. I am also "permitted" to purchase whatever needles/tools I am lacking to make whatever I decide to make from the stash. Fair's fair.

Anyway, I thought if I could see what I already have, I would be inspired to knit from it, and wow, am I ever. I DID count, and though I'm not going to post totals like Anny, I will show you a picture. (ETA: blogger is now misbehaving and won't let me. I swear. Stash photo, coming soon...)

posted by miss ewe @ 11:32 a.m. 3 comments