Check It Out!

Ok, so I use a fair amount of copper in things for school. You know those scrubbies, round and made of copper? I got one, unrolled it, and...



...it's knitted! I think I'm going to unravel it. Hmmm, $0.99 for two, I see some unravelling and reknitting happening...

This Is Why I Don't Make Resolutions

I know I said that Oisie's socks would be my carry-around-with-me knitting, but we had a family event to go to today, and I couldn't really carry around that big ziplock with two sets of dpns poking out of it everywhere, could I?



This is some old and (badly) hand spun wool that I threw in the dyepot Tuesday when I saw there was plenty of dye left. I have two cabled headbands that I use all the time, one of commercial and one of hand spun. That one was dyed with cochineal, not Rit. I kind of feel like I cheated by using Rit, but indigo's hard!

Anyhow, it's a little ball of yarn that will fit in my pocket and this style headband stays in my hair well. I guess the socks will become my downstairs knitting.

The Washcloths are Done!

...and here they are:



I made up the square ones and the flower is from Weekend Knitting. This means that Oisie's socks will become my carry-around-with-me-knitting. I got some Shadow 100% Merino Wool from Knit Picks (color - Vineyard) and an Adamas Shawl pattern. I am itching to cast on for it, but am not letting myself until one of my major UFOs is a FO.

Off to visit with the in-laws and nephews!

Am I Blue?

The Rit won out. I would have had to LOOK for Kool-Aid. I'll do that later. It's not quite as dark as it is in the picture.

The dyebath was far from exhausted, so I threw in some roving. I think that there will still be plenty of dye left, but I don't have anything to dye. Hmm, maybe I can find a white t-shirt around here somewhere.

Stash and WIP Organization

Well, the scribble lace scarf/shawl became a scribble lace kerchief. I was weaving in the last end as we pulled into the parking lot Saturday night. I stretched it widthways and tied it on my head to hold my hair back. It works well for that, and it's long enough for some to hang in my hair and drop down in front of my shoulders. Oh, well.

I have decided upon the Hide-It-In-Plain-Sight method of stash management. Now, I am a broke college student, but that doesn't mean I don't have a stash. It just means I have a slightly crappy stash. Mostly Lion Brand, some things I have bought at SCA events, and novelty yarns originally intended for Christmas present scarves. I do have a little basket with my Tuesday purchases, the yarn a friend brought me from Paris, and a couple other odds and ends. Plus whatever my mother-in-law finds for me at a yard sale - thanks, Mona! Anyhow, I have been putting my better yarns and yarns I might use soon and yarns I want to think about or look at in baskets strategically placed around my house - instant decoration! And most (well, over half) of my WIPs are in only two baskets!

WIPs

In the basket between the living room chairs:
1. Oisie's Cable and Rib socks (from either Spin-Off or Interweave Knits - overdue Christmas present #1)
2. Mona's half-knit scarf (overdue Christmas present #2)
3. a scarf out of lovely red-violet and blue-violet wool that I spun and was designing the pattern for (but I forgot what I was doing)
4. a thick sock for Lorelei out of ugly yellow and blue yarn that I spun (the color mixing didn't go well)
5. my red scarf from my first post
6. the Celtic pattern hat
7. Terri's hat
8. Socks by my own pattern but I think I'm sick of the twisted ribbing and may frog it
9. Magic Stripes socks
10. A scarf out of Moda Dea Chichi - very soft

In the basket by the door:
11. Lorelei's sweater that I've been working on for a year and a half (I had the foresight to begin a size 4 when she was only one)
12. an ugly blue garter stitch scarf out of some Bernat boucle
13. the tie-one-on from Knitty

Tote-around-with-me-WIP:
14. cotton washcloths for my great-aunt, who is having a birthday party Saturday

I know I have several other WIP's, but I don't know where they are right now and I'm not going to hunt them.

Now, I'm off to dye some yarn! I have two skeins of wool that I mordanted a couple of years ago to do some natural dyeing, but never got around to it. I am out of natural dyes, so...Rit or Kool-Aid? Hmm...

All Knitting Content, All the Time!

The purchases Tuesday night:



Not the child, just the yarn. Lorelei took a break from playing with her beads to hold up my circ tags. I am hoping that the Crystal Palace is similar to whatever people have been using to do the Birch and Kiri shawls - I want to try one. I am FEARLESS!!! But I really want to try some lace - I don't think the Tie One On that I've been knitting counts, even if it is the piquant version.

The Lush is my luxury purchase (don't laugh, I'm a broke college student, remember?). After buying one skein a few weeks ago and agonizing over what I could make out of just one skein, I bought two more and now I'm agonizing over what I can make out of just three skeins. I have started a scarf, but the yarn is so thick that I couldn't get the number of repeats in the pattern that I wanted (only 3!) - so I frogged it and am waiting for inspiration - or the right pattern.

I also met my first Guy Who Knits last Tuesday night - JP! He blogs, too. I'm going to pester him for blog advice.

Panic Knitting of the day: The scribble lace shawl/scarf. I call it a shawl/scarf because when stretched long, as while I'm knitting it, it currently measures 8" wide and 24" long:



But when stretched as a shawl, it measures over 3 feet wide! And only 4" long!



But I hope to get enough done to wear it tonight, anyway. Wish me luck!

Links in Blogs

I'm on the Mason Dixon Knitting blog!

Reading other people's blogs can be time consuming. Not because of the reading, but because of the following of the links. Making Fiends ate a good bit of my time, Lorelei kept wanting to see "another one, Mommy!" I did manage to quit the games I've found before becoming addicted.

It can also get you in trouble - I joined Crafters' Choice so I can get a knitting books fix. I want to design some things over the summer!

Just to share in the linkfest: The Origami Boulder Company.

I have to stop reading blogs now, Joe said I can't go with him to the Bloomin' Festival on Sunday if my research paper and presentation (due Monday) aren't done. I'd better go figure out what I'm gonna write about. I know WHO, just not WHAT.

KC - I got three more rows done on my scribble lace scarf - I'd better get the paper done so I have knitting time before tomorrow night!