Time flies...

Once again I am left looking back at my previous post, remembering that I had fully intended to post again within a week or so. I completely spaced... mea culpa.

I have been doing all manner of knitterly things. The Diamante socks have been finished for quite some time:





I really love them. I'm thinking I may begin knitting socks much more regularly. In fact, I had a little impulse buy on Etsy. This is Technicolor Dream Toes from DKknits and it reminds me of the gem Flourite:

I've also been working on a present for a friend of mine who is expecting a baby boy in January. No pictures, just in case!

In the end the main reason I have neglected to write here can be summed up in one word: Ravelry. If you knit, you know. ;-)

S'been a long time

Uh, yeah sorry about that...

I've been really, really busy over the past few weeks though, so I have an acceptable excuse.

The essential Black Cardigan is finished, though while taking photos today I ran out of battery power. I managed to take this shot before the entire camera died.

You can kinda see the outline right? I'll make an attempt to get a really good shot with Army's help. It really turned out well for a first shot at writing a pattern. It fits rather like a storebought sweater and is much warmer.

I've cast on for my first sock. I think its turning out pretty darned good for a first try, but you be the judge:

The diamond pattern is barely visible with a camera, but to the naked eye it becomes quite purdy in the self-striping colorway. The pattern is Diamante from Knitty.com.

I think I'd be further along, but my supervisor keeps crawling in my knitting bag:

Here's what else I've been up to.

I helped build a portable bar out of a radiator cover for our basement (its temporary until we can afford to build one in.)

I went camping at the "Best Place on Earth" ;-)

I went to the Renaissance Faire and got rained on but had a blast.

On the left is a teeny little garden with working fountains and real plants that is inhabited by tiny fairies. I'm thinking of building one in the back yard. On the right is a "statue" actor. She moved every now and then, shifting her lance around and scratching her nose so you knew she was "real".

It was my intent to have a costume for the faire this year, but I ran out of time to make one and it wouldn't have looked very nice under a rain poncho anyways. Maybe next year.

Anyway its a pretty cold and overcast day, so Poe and I are going to go lounge some more. Rain does very little for my ambition meter and even less for hers.


Adieu!

Lazy Days

Alright maybe not that lazy... but I took some much needed vacation, joining my kitties for some relaxation time. Here we are not bothering to get out of bed.


Here we are lounging in the living room watching TV.


They really are getting big... and they're slacking on the yarn chasing lately since they now have the run of the entire house. Lucky them! Everything else is so new and exciting they barely notice a ball of wool trailing across the floor...

So I've had a little time to devote to the Black Cardigan. I've finished my schematics and completed the back panel (boring ... no cables just reverse stockinette and some ribbing at the bottom) and half of one sleeve.
The faint schematic should give an idea of how it will look when finished.

More good knitting news...my friend from work is in charge of selling her mom's house as her mother is moving into assisted living. She can't knit anymore due to her age and failing sight, so my friend has asked me to give four huge bags of high-quality wool "a good home". I have obliged, though I think she should have accepted my offer to pay for them. I've set up the skeins in a cabinet in the living room, separating the colors and types like a yarn store display. There is easily enough of each color and type to knit a full sweater. I feel like I've won the lotto!

I also had some time over vacation to stop at my local yarn shop, this cute little place called Loops and Laces. I picked up a few skeins of sock yarn, and I will attempt to begin knitting my very first sock after the black cardi is finished. Oh, I've knit slippers and baby booties... but an adult sock? I guess I've always thought they were too hard. Lots of shaping and on 5 needles, but I've knit in the round on double pointed needles before, so it shouldn't be too much of a stretch.


Wish me luck! ;-)

To blog or not to blog...

What a ubiquitous question.

It seems to me to me that for the longest time I have been hearing about blogs, reading blogs, being invited to read blogs, etc. At first, I took the stance of skeptic about actually beginning my own (I have so little time, my life isn't really that interesting, yadda yadda). But finally, after experimenting on MySpace with the power of the blog I have finally submitted to the bandwagon. I chose today of all days to begin my online journal for two reasons:

1. I actually have some news
   
2. I had the time to write it down (shocking I know)

Well, on to the news...

Many of you that know me personally may have heard that I have been working on a new website for my place of work. This process took almost one year (yes, I know. Shocking to both you and I, but I do work for a largish company and there is only me working on the web. Just little ol' me. No CMS, no pre-purchased template, no content writer, just me.) and had me (at times) gnashing my teeth in frustration. So, I feel sort of on top of the world. Go me!

Knitting and other such fibery arts

As the title of this blog implies, I knit. Not a lot mind you, but I enjoy it when I can. I used to spend more time at it and have completed some pretty tough projects for my 2 years of experience, but I've recently acquired two kittens who desperately want to learn but lack the paw-eye coordination to do so. So they resort to ruining the experience for the only individual in their vicinity who CAN knit.

Here's some pictures of the little demons.


Brenna (raven) is the tortoiseshell and Poe (as in Edgar Allen) is the black. They are (usually) worth the distraction.

I am currently moving into the planning stages for a cable-y black cardigan sweater designed by moi. I have never designed anything so complex as a whole sweater before, so wish me luck. I've been looking forward to knitting the black cables for some time, since I have yet to find a satisfactory black cardigan to purchase anywhere near here, and the black cardigan is a staple to my wardrobe. I used to have one, but alas, I gave it to GoodWill during a spring purge and haven't gotten over the loss of it since. I know, it seems like a lot of emphasis on a single sweater, but keep in mind - it goes with EVERYTHING and will probably never go out of style completely.

So far I have knit a gauge swatch in my chosen yarn and taken the measurements of another sweater that I own (not black) to use as a starting point. Tonight's mission: determine which cables to use where and why.