Just Waiting

* Note: please excuse repeat photos. I've been knitting a stockinette sock that looks just like the one that came before it, so I'm showing you yarn for upcoming projects. If you've seen it before, color me embarrassed. End Note*

I bought mounds of yarn to knit sweaters for winter and I can't wait to start them! Just a few small problems. First of all, I ordered needle tips but forgot to order extra needle cables. They will be coming in the mail sometime soon so I can start my knitting escapades. As some of you may know, I've owed Andrew a sweater for years. I started Bob Dobbs for him, and unfortunately I'm not picking that up again for a while.



I have enough Rowan Big Wool to knit him a certain cardigan that he picked out, but again, there are complications. For some wholly unknown reason, Rowan men's patterns are designed for the truly gigantic. The small chest measurement (not finished mind you, just flesh and bone girth) is 40" around. Andrew's chest measures in at a whopping 32" around. The finished measurement on the size small sweater he picked out is something like 46" around. That would make 14 inches of ease. I know the fat yarn eats up some of that, but seriously?
I'm debating ordering the handy book of sweater patterns so I can replicate the cardigan shape and just add the details from the Rowan Book. While I do enjoy the challenge of refiguring a pattern with ye olde calculator and graph paper, Rowan schematics also leave something to be desired. If they didn't make such awesome yarn...



I'm also going to knit a cardigan from last minute knits. While I haven't found the sleeve errata yet, I'm sure it won't take long to set my self straight on that pattern.



My winter knitting will be a fair isle cardigan from Rowan in soft tweed. Again, the Rowan sweater construction has let me down a bit. Who wants to knit a fair isle raglan flat? Seriously. I'm going to try knitting it in the round then steeking it. 6 months from now when I've completely ruined a poorly fitting, ugly sweater that would have been perfect if I would have just followed the pattern, I may consider taking back my harsh words.

1 Out of 2 Ain't Bad

I finished one of the socks yesterday and cast on or the second. This is how it looks:



I'm a big fan of the long leg. My feet are really big so my socks generally look kinda wonky when the foot is about a third longer than the leg. These are pretty fantastic though. We'll see if I have enough yarn to knit the second sock. If not, I'll just sub mint green for the rest of the foot.

In other news, I got my school I.D. today and look more than adequately dorky in the photo. I've also been touring my new fair city and scouting out the specialty stores that will both horrify my mother as well as supply me with art materials for the next two years. Oh, big city living is the life for me.

Sock!

Scarf

I've been knitting. I finished the Alpaca scarf in just a few days, and I must say, I'm a fan of the pattern.



It's misti alpaca chunky in a mistake rib pattern on size 9 needles. I really like how this turned out on in a solid color. I think I'll use it to knit my dad a scarf for christmas. This one is going out to my dear friend Joe who does many wonderful things for me like waxing my unibrow without asking first. Friends like that deserve to be protected from the cold.

I'm Back

I know it's been a few weeks, but I just got my internet connected today. I have hours of blog reading to catch up on.
Let's begin! The move was a success! Well I guess that as long as I left there and I'm here now, like most moves, I was successful. I'm freaking in love with my new digs and my surrounding area. Let's take a walking tour of my neighborhood, shall we?

Closest and possibly most important, there is yarn.



The closest yarn shop is a grueling walk across the street and 20 feet up the sidewalk. No lie. It's a small shop but it's filled with really nice yarn. More on that later.

Next up we have this:



Nice, right?

Right outside the door of the tattoo shop is some public art.



That is some genuine crocheted graffiti.

A few blocks up on the left is Boystown, home of some of the best leather shops in the country.



A long haul over to Lincoln Park and we find my bretheren.



I have a thing about giraffes. They're tall, I'm tall etc. Like I said, it's a thing. And this fella lives in a free zoo 2 miles from my house. It's kismet.

While it not exactly within walking distance, there's a botanica a short bus ride away.



Sigh. It feels like home already.

I have been knitting. When I went to the yarn shop I bought some Alpaca on mad sale.
I'm knitting a scarf for a friend.



I'm so glad to be settled and can't wait to get some intense pre-autumn knitting.

Out Like Trout in a Drought, Y'all

It's 8:30am on Moving day and I'm stoked! This is the most chilled out, or at least cheerful I've ever been on moving day. Am I packed? Nope. Is the house clean? Pshaw. Do I have any idea of what's staying or going? Uh-uh. Maybe it's just delirium, or maybe I'm just so excited to be out of here nothing is gonna stand in my way. It's a very Mary Tyler Moore show moment. I will be without the Internet for about a week so I will miss you all terribly. I will post as soon I get around some wireless cloud action. We're gonna make it after all.

Packing

So I thought it would be really fun to pack my yarn, organize it and reminisce about projects of yore. Turns out that packing my stash is really depressing. I saw a picture online of a woman's destash efforts once. There were hundreds of plastic grocery bags filled with yarn on two folding tables. I always said to myself that I wouldn't let it get that far.
Well, I may not have a metric ton of wool, But I have much more than I'm comfortable with. I filled two giant rubbermaid tubs with yarn. While that may not sound like a lot, one of those is filled completely by ends and partial balls left over from other projects. What the hell am I going to do with 35lbs (I weighed it, AND remembered to subtract the weight of the empty container) of half-used skeins? I feel like I just binged on an entire apple pie and chocolate cake and now I have to live with nausea and self hatred.
Oh well. I also found this!



It's an apron I had made for an installation last year. The outside is red-orange vinyl with white trim and the inside is lined with a grey sheepskin. It's freaking beautiful. I can say that modestly because I didn't sew it and I totally forgot that I had it. I'm hoping I'll find a good use for it.

In knitting news, I've been working on the sock as a packing avoidance tactic. Andrew used Harry Potter. So we're pretty much screwed.



The heel is knit with the same yarn as the leg I dyed in a mint green color. I used a strand of grey lace weight mohair as the reinforcement and I think it lends the whole sock a Grinch Who Stole Christmas feel.



I like how the red borders the green.

I hope y'all have a wonderful day. I'm gonna pack.

It's On

Oh my god. y'all. Have you seen this?



Well, I don't think I need to inform you guys of my level of excitement here. I can not wait to get my grubby man hands on this thing.
I haven't been super impressed with the pattern books for men that have come out in the last little while. Either the patterns are a stretch that no man, gay or straight, is really going to leave the house in, or the entire premise of the book is entirely degrading to women. I am frightened by a woman who follows "The Rules" and knits hideous sweater vests for dorky looking guys in order to trap them into some kind of temporary "I guess I can't do any better" legally binding union.
Granted, I've only knit two patterns from my SnB books, but this one will change everything! I may knit all forty-five! Okay, most likely not. I'll probably find two or three patterns (at best) that I will completely change to my liking. It's the principle of the matter.
I was knitting (sort of) before I read SnB, but I never knit anything well or that anybody would want to use. No more acrylic afghan squares! Debbie Stoller rocked my face off and there was no turning back. This led to Melanie Falick, Teva Durham and Elizabeth Zimmerman when I realized that my taste ran more to the classic than the punk rock. While sometimes more difficult to wear than to knit, Kaffe Fasset's designs always inspire me to try something more interesting.
I digress. I'm really hoping that this book is good. You should probably get it. Knit for yourself, your boyfriend/husband/houseboy/gimp or whatever you've got. I'm sure he'll like it.