Monday, March 29, 2010

After a weekend of nice relaxation interspersed with physical activity and house parties, I am faced with another Monday. Thankfully, as I write this, it is mostly over and I have some tasty Ahi tuna steaks and acorn squash in my plans for the evening. Dear and I have begun a semi-diet. We both want to lose some weight, and so we are kick-starting with an Acai berry body cleanse and no alcohol during the week. Today is day two of the acai berry pills (four a day, two in the morning and two at night) and we’re both already feeling some assertive effects from it. Wish me luck.

Last week I started the Damson shawl (Rav link) by Ysolda Teague. A pretty little shoulder wrap, I found some hand-dyed from Light Brown Hare that fit my requirements of being black-for-versatility-but-not-too-black-for-boredom.

Photo taken from Light Brown Hare's Etsy Store.

After a few false starts, I found a Rav group that mentioned the same troubles I was having with my eyelet rows not coming out straight and took some advice and finally got it right. Made some nice progress over the weekend and am eager to use this as my plane knitting during our trip to Illinois this weekend. I have mental images of myself in this shawl as an effortless and graceful beauty. Because in my mental images, my personality flaws are overshadowed by beautiful knitting. What?

This shawl is larger than it appears.

Dropped in to Knitting in the Loop this weekend for some much-needed advice on my Baby Surprise Jacket. Turns out I was doing it right, it really does just look like that as you are knitting it. But I was told to press on, and so press on I will. As soon as I buy another skein to finish the damn thing.

I receive daily emails offering Houston-area deals for great discounts – it’s called Groupon. Today I purchased two tickets to see a polo match at the Houston Polo Club and I could not be more excited. I’ve always wanted to go to a polo match. Now I think I must buy a sun hat so I can wear that and big dark glasses while I go amongst the field pressing the bits of dirt back into place between chukkas. Don’t spill my mimosa! Also? We bought Roller Derby tickets. We are nothing if not diverse in our interests.

Next project survey: socks for me, hat for Dear, something else entirely??

Thursday, March 25, 2010

A Resurrection Blog Post

Holy Crap. Has it really been this long? I suppose it has. Time flies when you’re dealing with a new relationship, the holidays, the death of a loved one’s loved one and moving all in a four month period. But I am still standing on the other side of it, and very very happy with my new loved one and looking forward to creating some kind of routine, or at least the vague semblance of one. So to celebrate this pending Easter holiday, I give you: The Resurrection of Knot For Knothing Knitteds.

Through all of these life-changing changes, I knit. I finished the Somewhat Cowl (by Knit and Tonic) sweater for my mom’s Christmas gift, and promptly presented it to her without taking a finished photo. So stay tuned – it will happen. I made a set of coasters for my brother to have in his new home with his new wife (pending in July) that have their initials embroidered. Again, not photographed. Whoops. Also made the monster socks for Tina's Brother-In-Law and a pair of fingerless gloves for Bill's birthday. Still no photographs. I'm a bad knitter.

I made a pair of socks for myself – the BFF Socks by Cookie A, knit with a yummy chocolate milk colored Malabrigo. Took a brief knitting hiatus between sock #1 and sock #2, and cranked out sock #2 in less than a week. Awesome – my first pair of wearable hand-knit socks made just for me! I wore them to work, happy as a clam, and then tossed them into the laundry and promptly lost one somewhere in the dark loads of the abyss. I’ve never lost a sock in the laundry EVER and the first one is a hand-knit?!?! FML. Here’s hoping it shows up in the sleeve of one of Dear’s hoodies. Already checked the corners of the fitted sheets, and that’s a no-go.

One sad and lonely sock.

Started work on my first Baby Surprise Jacket by Elizabeth Zimmermann. Started over a couple times due to second guessing the stitch count, and because this is one wonky looking sweater until you can get it folded up and assure yourself you’re reading the directions right. Kind of fun to knit by the seat of your pants, though. On a brief hold because I’m second guessing myself again, but a stop at Knitting in the Loop this weekend ought to ease my troubled mind (they’re doing a KAL on the BSJ, so if someone there can’t help me, then I’m truly screwed).

BSJ unfolded

BSJ folded

Aaaaand I’ve picked up the dreaded black afghan again. Dreaded only because it’s a MONSTER for my 6’3” brother, now gone from a year-old birthday present to a wedding gift. It’s knit in panels, and each panel takes approximately 2 ½ skeins. I’ve done four of at least six, probably more like seven or eight, panels. Each panel is about 7’ long so that it goes from his chin to toes. Hard to photograph because it’s all black, but you can get an idea.

That's laid out on our Queen-Size bed. Told ya it was big.

The wedding is not until July, but I still have at least one and a half panels to do. Buggerall.


Anything else? A few other ideas pending, but nothing that I’m ready to post out to the blogosphere quite yet. A few other project ideas on the horizon, and I’m hoping to start dyeing again soon so that I can have something to not only put in my Etsy store, but I can create a huge mess in my very own kitchen like I used to when my mom would let me finger paint using my toes and chocolate pudding. Plan to cast on the Damsey Shawl by Ysolda Teague tonight or tomorrow (depends on if I get ironing done in a timely manner tonight), so look for more stitching (and definitely more bitching) in the coming weeks.