Polgara Knits

Yesterday I took pictures of the projects I’m currently and actively working on, so today I get to share them with you! Yay!pictures!

This hat was knit for my friend Kristen to match her birthday scarf. I cast on 80 stitches onto size 11 needles, same as I did for the hat for my brother-in-law, and yet, this hat is enormous. I don’t think I can save it as is, so I plan to frog it and start over, this time on size 10.5 circs with ten fewer stitches.

This snowflake motif will eventually, someday, be one of many that’ll join together to make a scarf for my sister. I’m using the yarn she bought at WEBS. The motif took me over an hour to complete, so who knows how long it’ll take me to make the whole scarf.

My tam! I’m using the pattern from the current Knitty for this faux-fair isle tam, using two strands of Paton’s Wool. I tried using a strand in each hand, but I couldn’t get any tension from my left hand, so I’ve been holding both strands in my right hand, and I’m getting pretty good at it. Sadly, I think this hat is going to be way smaller than I’d hoped (yes, I know I should gauge swatch, but that’ll probably never happen), so I’ll have to think of a child deserving of such ugly colors. *g* Also, I think my stranding might pull a bit, making it even tighter, but I won’t know for sure until it’s done.

This is the single-crochet scarf I’ve been working on since the plane home last month. It’s the project I take with me to work on at lunch or while waiting for, say, the dentist, so it’s slow going, but I’m nearly finished with the second ball of Patons Soy Wool Stripes–now I just have to find the third and final ball. I’m sure it’s around here somewhere.

So that’s what I’m working on right now. My favorite at the moment is the tam, because not only am I learning something new (double stranding and working from a color chart) but it’s neat to see how the pattern emerges when I’m only focusing on one row at a time. Plus I’m always pleased when something that looks so hard and forbidding, turns out to be not so bad at all.

And now I’m off to see a baby about a smile.

Looks like I’m getting back on the habit of not posting as much as I should–well, phooey.  I even had to go back and read what (and when) I’d last posted, so I could remember what’s been up since then.  Oh, for the discipline of NaBloPoMo!

So let’s see, when last I posted, I was heading to the LYS to pick up some Debbie Bliss Silk Alpaca in chocolate brown.  It turned out rather well, and I was quite proud of myself.  Despite browsing for nearly an hour, I came out of the store with only the one ball of yarn and three magazines–not cheap, but I didn’t add to my stash, so it’s totally a win!

The hat for which that yarn was purchased is nearly finished–as is typical for me, all that’s left is the seaming, which it’s been waiting for for a week now. Very sad. Just like the blindingly bright granny square afghan is done except for the weaving of the ends. I really suck at finishing, but I hates it so, I do! And of course, rather than do finishing, I’ve started two other projects–the motif scarf for my sister, and a colorful tam from Knitty.

The scarf is the Snowflake Scarf from the latest Crochet Today (pg 26), and so far I have one motif done (in a rusty red), which isn’t much progress, but the damn thing took me over an hour and I needed quiet to concentrate, so you can imagine how often complete quiet pops up in a standard day. I may try to block off a lunch hour or two this week to try to make some  headway.

The tam is Tam C from the latest Knitty, and it’s my first project ever using a chart. Well, ok, there was a heart chart once in a sampler square, but that was easy compared to this chart, so it doesn’t count. I started it last night using two balls of the Patons wool that I bought during my felted bag phase; the base color is light green and the variegated is red, orange, green and navy. I already screwed up the first round, but I think I’m getting the hang of holding two strands. I’m worried my stitches might be tight enough to pull it into a scrunchy tam, but not worried enough to start over.

I’ve also been going to the WeHo SnB group (if you can count twice as ‘been going’–it was raining Thursday and I couldn’t make myself walk out the door). It’s hard breaking into a group that’s been together for as long as those people have, but there are a few other people who are relatively new who are in a similar boat, which makes it a little easier. 

I think that’s it for yarn related news.  I could go into my neverending leaking window saga, or the hours I’ve spent this weekend trying to learn content management systems for websites, or my cousin’s wedding in Scotland that I desperately want to go to but so far haven’t figured out how to afford it, or the many interviews we had at work this week for two of our four open positions, but I’d be typing for hours. Suffice to say, it’s been a busy week.

Blindingly bright granny-square blanket

How do I love this lap blanket, let me count the ways! I adore bright colors, and this could very well be the brightest project I’ve ever worked on. I used the electric Caron’s Simply Soft that I picked up for about $1.50/ball at Walmart last fall–it’s so thick, and I’m using such a large hook (M, I think?) that I did all you see in just a day and a half. I’ve since added another round of purple, and I’ll keep going until I run out of yarn (shouldn’t be long now, I’m already out of the orange). Yay bright colors!

ION, someone found my site yesterday with the search terms “polgara nude.” WTF? I hope they were searching for a different Polgara; I know I’m not the only one out here in cyberland.

So, tonight’s the night, when I finally go to the West Hollywood Stitch ‘n’ Bitch gathering.  I’ve been looking forward to it all week, but now that it’s so close, I’m getting nervous.

I tried going once about a year ago. I went to the Farmer’s Market, went upstairs, looked around, saw the group of people knitting in the community room…..and then fled. Have I mentioned what a chicken I really am? This is why I’ve become a hermit at age 38.

It shouldn’t be too scary. It’s a group of people that live near me and have the same obsessive hobby that I do, so we should totally click, right? I dunno.  I tried joining the knitting group at my company a couple of years ago, but never really felt like I belonged there, and it only took about two visits before I quit going. This could turn out the same. I might be too geeky or too quiet too weird (or not weird enough!) or a million other too-somethings, and then it’ll be a couple of hours of awkwardness and inner turmoil and I probably won’t be able to hide the “wow, this was a big mistake!” expressions from flitting across my face as they send silent messages to each other, wondering how to get rid of the strange new girl who obviously isn’t fitting in.

You don’t know, it could happen!

I don’t plan on chickening out this time, though, given that it’s an official part of my New Year’s Resolution: Meet New People: Hobby Sub-Division. I intend to go home first for dinner, but I brought a project with me anyway, just in case–the single-crochet scarf in self-striping soy/wool yarn that I was working on during my flight Sunday. I didn’t want anything too complicated, ’cause then I get even more introverted as my concentration on a project increases.

*sigh* It’s nearly four now.  Three hours away. I feel like throwing up.

I am home now, yay! Well, home as in Los Angeles–at this very second, I’m actually at work.

I have a list of things I need to accomplish before I can do my own projects again:

• a scarf for my sister using yarn she purchased at Webs a couple of weeks ago and a pattern from a crochet magazine (Crochet Today? Interweave Crochet? I forget, they all blend together for me);
• a hat, also for my sister, to match the scarf I gave her for Xmas, using the leftover Lion Suede;
• and a hat for my friend K to match the scarf I gave her for her birthday (fingers crossed that there’s enough yarn left over).

I think I’m free as a bird after that to tackle my own projects, such as:

• finishing my UMass scarf;
• doing something, I don’t know what, with the yarn I bought from Webs;
• tackling my first-ever sweater (I already have the yarn, I just need a pattern);
• finishing my gazillion WIPs;
• and a little (translation: verra ambitious) project I’ve been contemplating for awhile, an intarsia wall-hanging (haven’t decided on a pattern yet–I waver between two or three color movie-poster-theme and multi-color recreation of a work of art).

That last one is the one I’m most excited about, but it really will be a big and scary undertaking (that will require much yarn to boot), so I don’t know when that one will happen.  Hopefully in 2008, though.

I also have to figure out what to do with my now largish collection of felted handbags, since I didn’t give away nearly as many as I’d expected to for the holidays.  I don’t need that many bags myself, that’s for sure, but I don’t feel comfortable selling them since all but one were made from other people’s patterns. I may yet find people to give them to, or I may use them for some charitable purpose. Or, I may continue my lazy ways, stick them in a bag in a closet, and forget about them until next Christmas. Who knows?

And finally, since this blog is horribly boring enough without including any photos, here’s a picture of my sister’s cat Gabby.  Gabby likes to talk (a lot!), is always begging for food, and has the largest eyes any of us have ever seen on a cat.  In fact, her vet even examined them for oddities since even he had never seen such large eyes and was afraid she might be in pain (no evidence of this, though).

Don’t look now, but I’m closing in on post #100! 11 more posts after this one, woot! I should probably do something to celebrate, but I don’t know what–I’ll have to think on it.

I’ve been contemplating the new year, as I’m sure everyone has, and trying to decide what I want to try to accomplish this year, or if I even want to try to set goals. Let’s face it, few people actually stick to the goals they set on January 1st, and I’m no exception. Of course, 2007 was the year when I finally learned to crochet, so goals aren’t always useless.  I haven’t been over-the-moon happy with my life for a long time, so obviously something needs tweaking, so I’ve been trying to compartmentalize stuff to set specific tasks for each aspect of my life.

One of my new goals that’s near, if not at, the top of my list is to meet new people, and to that end, I’m going to try to go to the WeHo stitch and bitch group once I return to L.A. (I’m still in Massachusetts with my family.) I’m terrible at meeting new people, as it requires effort and I’m notoriously lazy (and poor), but the SnB group is near where I live, doesn’t cost anything, and, as an added bonus, I’ll already have something in common with the group. And hopefully, now that I’ve “said” it out loud, I’ll actually do it.

ION, yesterday I taught my friend Jane to crochet, one year and two days after I taught her to knit. We did chains and single crochet for awhile, then she pulled out my Happy Hooker book and taught herself to double crochet a circle. She’s getting on a plane in a couple of hours, where she will hopefully continue practicing her loops and chains.  I love sharing my crafts, and am very grateful to her for her desire to learn new stuff.

Earlier this week, I finished a wool hat for my brother-in-law–forest green knit cap with a ribbed brim and a stockinette body.  I’ve finished seven granny squares for a new scarf in UMass Amherst colors (maroon and white). I started a new sc scarf with a wool/soy blend from…Patons? Bernat? The yarn is on the table and I’m too lazy to get up and look. (Jane and I were at Michael’s a couple of days ago, and I couldn’t resist the 30% off all yarn sale.) It’s a self-striping yarn, ’cause I’ve been getting tired of working in solids.

And in completely non-yarn-related news, my face feels like it’s been sandblasted.  I hate having a cold.

I got very little needlework done this weekend.  In fact, the only thing I did was finish crocheting the alpaca scarf, but I still need to weave the ends. Instead of knitting or crocheting, I spent my weekend baking, dining with my visiting cousin et al., spending too much money at the post office shipping gifts, and chilling out at my friend R’s holiday open house.

The baking involved Ginger Crinkles (from the Land o’Lakes website) and peanut butter brownie bites*. I made two batches of the cookies and one of the brownies, but I have to make more tonight so I’ll have enough to bring to my office, PT and catsitter.

I have to plan what project(s) to take on the plane with me when I go home in a few days, and also what yarn to pack for the two and a half weeks I’ll be away from my stash. Last time I was home, I needed to buy a new suitcase for all the yarn I bought while there, so I’m hoping to avoid doing that again.

That’s all I’ve got for now. Perhaps I’ll come up with something new for later.

*Peanut butter brownie bites: Using your favorite brownie mix and a mini-muffin pan, fill each mini-muffin cup about a third with brownie mix; add a Reese’s peanut butter cup in the middle, squishing it down so the mix rises up the sides; then top it off with more brownie mix so each cup is about 2/3-3/4 full. Bake for approx. 30 minutes (test your oven with a single mini-muffin, it may require less time–my oven bakes it at only 22 minutes).

So obviously, I get a complete FAIL at that whole “trying to post every day after NaBloPoMo” thing. Oops? I blame the holidays, and the accompanying freakout.

I have been knitting and crocheting my way through the stress, although I haven’t finished anymore bags.  Weird, huh? I have a red and white 80/20 booga bag (decreased the stitch count by 20%) that’s been languishing on the needles with only about five rows to go, and the mustard beaded bag is finished except for the icord, which is about a foot too short still.

Instead of finishing those, last weekend I started four–four!–scarves. One is crocheted alpaca (the defunct Lana D’Oro that I’ve been saving for a special occasion for about three years now) and will be a gift for a family friend. One is the much lauded “My So-Called Scarf,” which called to me one night in such a way that I had to start it–it’s currently six inches long, but it’s a beautiful stitch.  The third scarf was intended to accompany my mostly red outfit for my company’s holiday party on Monday, and was made of a very white, very sparkly chunky Wool-Ease.  I used a spiral crochet pattern, and I hated it when it was done–it looked like I was wearing an Elizabethan ruffle, and it was waaaaay too long.  That was Saturday. On Sunday I frogged it and started the fourth scarf of the weekend,  a dc-crocheted scarf of a much more reasonable length. I crocheted up both sides of the starting chain, so it folds a bit; then I sc’d twice in each dc along all four edges in a bright green, which gave it a slight spiral that was much less pronounced than the first one. (That’s me and my scarf in the picture, on the left.) It’s now further adorned with a touch or two of red wine, but it’s barely noticeable.

But! In bag news! Remember the sparkly blue bag that I made for the silent auction at the holiday party? Well, thanks to my boss, and to the other people that got into a bidding war, the bag finally sold for $100! More than any of my other donations have ever made! It went to my boss, who was out of town at the time so I had to bid for him (which was a little weird). He brought it home when he got back to town, walked in his front door with it slung over his shoulder, and his little two year old daughter took one look at it and reached out her hands while declaring, “Mine!” to the shiny bag.  So!cute! I saw her yesterday at the department holiday party, and sure enough, she had it slung over her own shoulder where it was carrying her treasures. Best spent $100 ever, if you ask me.

My company’s holiday party is tomorrow night, so last night I made a spiral scarf for the occasion, with chunky wool-ease in sparkly white.  Except, I’m not in love with it.  For one thing, it came out WAY LONGER than I thought it would (which speaks more to the effect of the wine I was drinking when I started it, than to the pattern itself), so I have to wrap it a couple of times, which means I look like I’m wearing an Elizabethan ruffle–not the best effect for a person barely avoiding a double chin as it is. Also, the ruffles aren’t the best for keeping my neck warm, which is an issue since I’ll be wearing a v-neck sweater.

So, I think I’ll be frogging it later today.  Don’t know if I’ll have time to make something else before tomorrow, as I have a full day of chores planned, so I’ll probably end up wearing my chunky green scarf instead.  I like my green scarf, but I think a sparkly white scarf would’ve been more festive. Ah well.

Today I started another bag–I forget what number I’m on, and I’m too lazy to check my own posts.  It’s a Balloon Bag with double-stranded, variegated Lion wool–no base color this time to ground it, so the color explosion is pretty crazy, which means no beads on this one.  I may try to felt some of the others tonight–I have enough quarters and zippered pillowcases to run three bags together for three cycles, which should be enough to felt them.  I have to pick one to donate for the company’s charity auction at the holiday party, which is coming up really fast, so it’s time to risk the sub-par machines in my building’s laundry room. Fortunately I have enough purses stockpiled that if something goes horribly wrong, it won’t be the end of the world.  Damned annoying and frustrating, but not the end of the world.

Last night I finished the Lion Suede project.  I don’t think I’d ever get this yarn again, unless it was for the exact purpose of another one of these projects (which I can’t go into, since I think the intended recipient reads this blog).  Suffice to say, if your project is small, and you crochet instead of knit, and you want something soft, then the suede will work–but use it for anything else at your own risk (of frustration, of anger, of banging your head against a wall, etc.).  On the other hand, it was a nice break for my hands to crochet something after so many knitted bags. I feel guilty for saying this, but I think I like crocheting more than knitting. :-{