ravelry

Knitting? What knitting? Even though Tiphanie ordered me to knit for a hour yesterday as a destressor, I, uh, didn’t do that. I was too busy doing things that I can’t tell you about. Sorry about that.

I’m so exhausted at night. In the happy so busy busy doing what I’m loving way. Lately I “stay up” until 8 or 9 or 10, and wake up around 5 am and walk to Panera. That’s my three mile walk, btw. If not for that and Benkei, I would NEVER catch up on my bloglines. I go to Panera for laptoping….. interneting…. drinking water. You know, things like that. I’m there around 6 AM and then I come home when I come home. I do actually feel quite perky when I come home, which is good, because there’s a lot to do.

I was all set to be thrilled that it was finally fall this morning, all of 61 degrees, and I was, I really was, for five minutes, and then I got hot again, and I arrived to Panera all sweaty again. So you know, yay! But maybe not for walking purposes. I wonder how cool it has to become before Dorothy the laptop doesn’t make my back uh, all soggy.

But you know what! I’M IN RAVELRY! If you’re not one of the 87 people who have already found me (how?!?!) then please friend me! I’m bellamoden. Which may be self-explanatory. What I’ve seen so far is pretty darn fun! Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. But whyyyyy can’t I play on my sidekick? hee. I know. I want too much. But I was glad to see there was a group already of people that are local… maybe I can meet better people than at the LYS. Sorry, LYS, but 30 people (read: strangers) around a long table? Not my idea of fun.

Anyway! To cover up my glaring lack of knitting and my random babbling, here’s a shot you might like:

You want another? Here.

My kitty sure is pretty isn’t he? Oh here, one more.

Awwwww.

not so lushed

This was the beginning of a pair of Fetching mitts made from Classic Elite Lush. Was is indeed the operative word, as you can see the stitches are not hanging from needles. There were a few problems with this… First, that kind of “flare” from the bottom of the mitt… is there something I can do about THAT? It’s annoying. I don’t know if a hem would help, or if it just needs something else I’m completely missing here. Of course, once I restart the Fetching mitts, they won’t be done in this yarn, because um… it turns out that knitting bunny fluff MAKES MY FINGERS ITCH MADLY. And my eyes water. Hmmm. Bunnies are like catchen? Who knew. And this, folks, is why I’m not going to be knitting cat yarn.

Still and all, I do love the halo of this yarn, and think the color is one of those simple and honest ones, and I don’t think it needs cables and all that to look good. What to do? I’m still going to knit it and wear it. Yes. You heard me.

But this time I’ll be smarter, and not put them on my hands to wear. I’ll knit the beret found in Greetings from Knit Cafe. I once had a tan angora beret, lost to the DC metro system, so I know I’ll love this.

And while Knitter’s Review may claim that Lush is a worsted weight yarn, I found it terribly… holey? even on 4mm needles. And I’m a tight knitter. So I know it’ll work great on the smaller needles prescribed for the beret.

And boy am I glad I never succumbed to the temptation of Webs’s Cascade Cloud 9 closeout… Shoe math says the money I saved not buying this yarn I’m allergic to is now spendable on something else! Okay, maybe not… but I can dream.

Picasso is not too impressed and really wishes I’d have let him sleep rather than disturbing his Fortress of Bowlitudeness.

meander y malabrigo

Initially, I eagerly cast on and knitted with the chunky Malabrigo, using my basic bag pattern. I envisioned the bag and thought it would be great. Knitted up, it was definitely gorgeous… but…. I had second and third and fourth thoughts about it.

The first problem with the bag was that the size 13 needles I used produced stockinette gauge close to what I’d use for normal knitting…. Which meant that size 15s would be better for felting knitting. But I didn’t like size 15. Or the size 15s I would have used, anyway. Bamboo 16″ 15s I did own, but bamboo and wool I hate. Hate hate hate.

More important than that, was the fact it definitely was really pretty. Prettier than I thought it would be. In other words……. indecisive. I felt like I needed to do something different. But what?

I could knit a delicious hat with it. I’d been generically thinking for some time about a simple roll brim hat that was mottled, like I’d seen in Exquisite Little Knits. For as long as I’ve knit, I’ve never made a simple hat. And mittens. What about mittens? I liked those super mittens in Weekend Knitting. I could do that.

What did I decide to do?

I tried on the bag. No, really.

And then I ripped. Without regret. Though I waited a night first, just to be sure. Consider twice, rip once, all that.

And I might have knit a hat. And mittens. There was enough yarn for both, hooray!

Because new bulky outerwear means it will be cool outside now. Right? Right.

I love them so. Just simple stockinette both of them, yes, but with so much character. Textured stitches would have just gotten in the way. So soft and fuzzy… I know I’ll get a lot of use out of them, especially on my early morning walks.

I made the cuffs on the mittens extra long, so I could tuck them into a sleeve without worrying about cold seeping in. The stockinette is called for in the mitten recipe, but you know what? It’s perfect. And it fits my needs. I love the looseness of the mittens, the way they don’t confine me at all even while staying put on my hands. I’m surprised the cuffs truly don’t roll at all, but they don’t. Physics is a strange creature.

The hat is long enough to cover my forehead comfortably, yet short enough to be without danger of getting into my eyes, which has always seemed an elusive thing. It’s just snug enough that it will stay put in the wind, and isn’t that the important thing, when walking along and typing on Benkei?

They’re just right, in every way.

And I love them. I can almost believe that fall will come and I’ll need them.

gauge is a harsh mistress

Gauge. Feeling off this weekend. Need I say more….. *traumatized* The top sleeve is the right one, the bottom one, maybe not so much.

My tmail email address is not working. It is an evil cruel creature. If I haven’t replied to you at some point over the weekend, or if you just want to email me (I love email!) please send it to bellamoden AT gmail DOT com. I KISS YOU. I’ve already moved comments over to gmail so I have some prayer of being you know, connected to you guys. *sigh* I hope it gets fixed soon.

limits

Recovery is a process. This I know for sure, after spending the morning yesterday walking and the afternoon and evening working. Completely blotto last night.

And so tired and exhausted that I need to sleep this morning, instead of doing what I want to do. But that’s okay. Part of recovery is to listen to the body, and to rejoice in the ever expanding limits it imposes.

Because, really, I am so much better. Still a ways to go, but so much is behind me. Very good thing, that. I’m now able to handle three mile walks in the mornings. Most mornings. Not this one, but still.

Just as Picasso loves yarn, Matisse has a penchant for sitting on knitting books. I don’t know what that’s about, so it’s a good thing it’s cute, right? Maybe he likes the pictures.

perchance to dream

It’s odd, when the bee fields pattern came out, I was entranced. I haven’t yet ever knit a shawl, and yet. And then when the kit was announced in the buckwheat honey colorway, I was horribly horribly tempted.

I wanted it so badly that I kept thinking about it day and night. You know how that goes.

I very nearly went and bought the kit even though really, no, I shouldn’t. There were things like “a budget, have you heard of that?” to consider. And then the “you have yarn for Icarus and have you knit that yet? No, you haven’t!” thing to concede. And so I didn’t. I didn’t buy the kit. Even though, oddly for me, I badly wanted a shawl that was to be knit in yellow.

I hate yellow.

I hate yellow only slightly less than orange.

Which is not saying much, perhaps, because ordinarily? I rilly rilly hate orange.

But….. this… this one I loved. It was a honey gold kind of yellow, something that I associate with fall. The kind of color that looks good with corduroy and denim. The sort of shade that just bespeaks the coming of one of the best times of the year.

Crunching leaves and clogs and handknit socks and…. this. This shawl draped over my shoulders, atop a corduroy jacket worn with jeans. I could just see it in my mind’s eye, this sublime bit of perfection. Of rightness.

Me. Someone who doesn’t ordinarily think about shawls that way. The only other shawl I ever loved before this bit of knitseizing was Icarus, and even then… I didn’t rush to knit it, did I? (Granted, I was sick forfreakingever, but still.)

The theme of the shawl didn’t grab me at all, I don’t think about bees one way or another. What I loved was the undulating edge on the outside, the swirling vertical lines of the lower pattern, and how the shawl was divided into sections. I liked how it all meshed together. I just did. Not so simple as Icarus, which I love for its simplicity, but definitely…. cohesive.

It just works.

And I wanted it.

Thus, the day I won Cara’s contest was…. a very very very very very very very happy day. To put it mildly.

Because my dream was being realized.

I just received the yarn and the pattern, and I must tell you: my love remains true.

In a world where knitters must by necessity be fickle and ever distracted by new patterns, I think it’s a true gift, this singular fascination with this shawl.

And so I must and shall cast on for the bee fields shawl now. I have no intention of it being my exclusive project, and as such, I will finish it when I do, and that’s okay. I plan to love knitting this project (if that makes sense) and that means knitting it when I feel my best, and putting it down when I need to.

Because before the wearing comes the process, and I don’t think this one should be hurried. I’ve spent six weeks (an eternity for a knitter, don’t you think?) loving it in my mind’s eye, and I look forward to loving it on my needles.

spiralled

The August sockmania pattern, spiralling socks, are done! Done done done! Only took me four months to do the prescribed pair of socks in the uh, month of said prescribing.

Picasso loves them. Very much.

Artyarns Supermerino #109… A worsted weight, yes. And I’m still not convinced they’re 104 yards, but that’s another issue entirely. I love the feel and the colors… it’s great. I cast on 42 for the leg, and decreased to 40 for the foot. Perfect!

The mirroring worked out well! I was surprised by how much I didn’t screw that up. :)  I definitely plan fingerless mitts in this pattern because I think they’d be cool.  Maybe some more Artyarns Supermerino will be used…. we’ll see.

And oh yeah, picot hems. Because… picot hems!  I love these socks. If only it was cool enough to wear them.

a steady diet of yarn and picasso

Picasso loves yarn. A lot. These days, he’s (mostly) stopped stealing yarn, (mostly) ceased grooming yarn, (allegedly) refrained from stealing needles, and has taken to sitting on yarncakes, sleeping on yarn skeins, and arranging himself alluringly upon yarnly objects.

This one is blurry, I know, but try to take a picture of a manx actively macking and hugging a yarncake that’s got needles stuck in it. I ASK YOU.

Now if only he’d tell me where he put those double pointed needles I can’t find….

malabrigo mon amour

Karen is crazy. In a cuddly soft amazing way. She offered to send me some mmmmmmmmmmmalabrigo. I don’t remember why, but she did. Did I say yes please? I did. And what did I find in my mailbox?

Mmmmmmmmmmmmalabrigo. Four skeins, to be exact. Our plan was for a bag. Pawing at the yarn right now, though, I’m not sure. Probably. Maybe. Possibly. But oh, so crazy soft and delectable. I may accidentally cast on for this right quick. We’ll see.

The multicolor is luscious 3 ply (I can’t help but think about socks out of these…. help!); the two solids are single ply.

I’m thinking a multicolor bag, with this happy green as the top band.

Or maybe this pinky one… though right now I’m thinking it’ll be the bag strap. Won’t that be cute?

Karen also threw in this notepad… too cute!

Thank you soooooo much! I think you probably shouldn’t be surprised if I accidentally have an entire project done next week.

the webs that connect us

I won a contest at Po Mo Golightly last week, and Beverly sent me these:

mmmmmmmmmManosmmmmm. This even happened to be in the same colorway as the bag I made, so I’m planning on a hat to go with.

She threw in a skein of Crystal Palace Merino Frappe to make the spiderweb capelet from Stitch n Bitch Nation. She promised that one skein was enough to make the capelet, and she was right. MORE than enough. I’m truly puzzled as to why the book calls for two; even with a ginormous icord for the top edge, I still had tons left over.

Yes, I threw out every other project I had and cast on for this right away. It was so much fun! I loved the spiderwebby googly mooglies.

This is how it came out:

Look! Modeled shot! Aren’t you happy? I suffer for you.

Googly mooglies!

Because I’m little(ish) I made a long icord and threaded that through the top, to cinch it up better so it’d drape nicely on me. I think it works pretty well!

I blocked the edges into points because…. because I could. I like it better this way.

Mmmmm capelet.

The whole thing in one.

Thank you soooooooo much Beverly! It was amazing.