it figures

Now that I've replaced all the sewing needles in my wandering Chibi case, the original batch has turned up in my pen drawer. At least they waited a few weeks and didn't pop up as soon as I placed the order for a new set. I actually had time to use the replacement, thus justifying their purchase.

Now I'm eagerly awaiting delivery of my Harmony tips. The metal set has spoiled me for any other needles, yet some people seem to like the wood even better. Rumour has it that they have crossed the border, so I shall expect to see them in my box on Tuesday.

I wonder if the husband checked our lottery numbers this week. I'd like to try the DPNs.

I needed that.

As I had promised myself, I took a break from the charity knitting and did a quick little project for my daughter. These are from the Knit Picks Victorian sampler that had me all giddy a few weeks back.



And now it's back to the heart baby blanket and preemie hats, and I am not dreading it. The break did me good.

shopaholicism, knitteritis strain

Oh crap.

This is totally not my fault. It's an addiction. It's an illness, even. Knit Picks has figured out that I cannot resist their sampler packs and they can't help taking advantage of my weakness.

I bought the summer yarn sampler just a few weeks ago and haven't had time to do anything with it. Now they've hit me with the lace yarn sampler, and they have it in blues and greens. I cannot say no to blues and greens. And lace yarn, for crud's sake. It's all like crack to me.

And since I have to pay nine bucks in shipping anyway, it only makes sense to try out the Harmony wood needle tips. And I did need some extra 24" and 32" cables. And some blocking pins. Once you've committed to the shipping you might as well make it worth your while, right? Simple economics.

I feel like a creation of Sophie Kinsella right about now.

My Mother's Day gift to Me

On Sunday I am not going to do any charity knitting. I am going to play with my Knit Picks sampler and I am going to swatch for the Goddess Knits Mystery Shawl. I might have to assign an enforcer to make sure I don't try to sneak a baby blanket in there but I'm sure one of my daughters would be happy to help in that capacity.

How to make knitting not fun

1. Put too much pressure on yourself.
2. Knit what you think you should be knitting instead of what you want to knit.

And this is what I have been doing for the past couple of months. I'm trying to crank out as much charity stuff as I can before the last meeting in June and it is making me grumpy.

Last week I handed in three adult hats, three baby sweaters and a baby blanket. This was my first contribution since February, and feeling totally inadequate I put my little grocery bag on the table amidst a mountain of garbage bags filled by the other ladies. Now I'm pressuring myself to get some more stuff finished before June so that I can donate, well, maybe a sandwich bag full. I'm half-finished another baby sweater and am having totally unrealistic fantasies of completing a sweater/hat/bootie set and another blanket. It is to laugh. I'm thinking I should probably crochet the blanket to speed things up a little.

In the queue, I have promised a lacy cap to the younger daughter and a pair of fingerless gloves to the older one. I have -- let me count -- at least five unfinished shawls lying around, and the new mystery shawl is due to start mid-June. And I've bought yarn to make shawls for both daughters as well. My completion record totally sucks right about now and I blame that darned charity knitting.

Off to take a deep breath and contemplate priorities.

confession time

My name is Kathryn and I have never participated in a KAL. I did not do the Knitting Olympics and I have never paid any attention to the mystery whatever-alongs. As a rule I like to plod along at my own pace, whether it be like lightning or that of the slugs I keep finding in my watering can. But I am considering joining y'all out there in the big world just to see what it's like. Temporarily, of course. I'm not promising to actually become part of society or anything.

I've been following a certain meltdown in the mystery shawl land with morbid curiosity. It seems that a certain designer, who appears to be fairly new to the title, initiated a free mystery shawl KAL that was riddled with problems and then decided to renege on the "free" part. Folks who had already invested in materials and knitting time are steaming mad. Coincidentally I received an email last night from another designer, who is not in any way a newbie, announcing that she too is hosting a free mystery shawl KAL. I already own a couple of patterns by this designer so I decided to give it a whirl. Nothing like a whiff of scandal to catch ones interest. Remember how popular figure skating became after the Tonya/Nancy incident? It's the same thing. Newbie designer has whacked the mystery shawl industry on the knee and given it a whole new life.

Of course we all know that this is really nothing but a stash enhancement opportunity. My budget does not allow for major stash enhancement at the moment so I ordered some of that dirt-cheap Shadow from Knit Picks. Since I had to pay eight bucks for shipping anyway, I ordered enough for two shawls. No fool am I.

Apropos of not much, here's a hat I knit last week.



It's Dez Crewford's pattern, found here, but I made it a lot shorter than the pattern directed. I have never seen a head that could accommodate a 14" long tube, but I've already mentioned that I don't get out much. Mine is 10" up to the decreases and consequently I only flipped the brim once. I'm currently knitting another one. Shawls are still hibernating but I'm hoping to get one of them done before the KAL begins.

Sigh. Eventually one has to face up to the fact that ones Chibi set has gone astray somewhere between here and Montreal and one must order a new one. This one has just done so.

I also ordered one of the spiffy little samplers from Knit Picks. I chose the Victorian one, firstly because I like the colours but also, quite conveniently, I prefer the set of patterns that comes with this set to the other two. I really can't think of a reason to knit the doofy little bags in the other sets. The older daughter has already laid claim to the fingerless gloves and the younger one wants the lacy cap.

Meanwhile I continue on my charity knitting binge. I have so far finished one baby hoodie and one excruciatingly unexciting dishcloth pattern blanket. I have started crocheting a scrap afghan and have Lorraine Major's quick baby sweater almost finished. All shawls et cetera are on hold until I have a decent contribution for next month's meeting.

Yesterday I witnessed the daughter wearing her Wallaby but did not have the gumption to go find my camera. The Wallaby remains sadly unphotographed and is already acquiring that much-loved look, which I admit does have its own appeal. Next sweater will be immortalized in pixels as soon as it is off the needles and/or finished blocking. I maintain that you will see the Wallaby in all its pilly glory sooner or later.

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I continue to whine about the garter stitch baby blanket. 'Nuff said about that. I've also cast on Lorraine Major's version of the 5-hour baby sweater (found here) just because I am in dire need of an FO right about now. The next major charity project will be Ann Saglimbene's Heart Blanket. You may anticipate a certain amount of whinging.

Meanwhile, in real knitting, I have made some progress on Butterfly Wings. I'm trying to focus on the charity stuff but I'm managing to squeeze in a row or two on the shawl most days.

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I had a small crisis a couple of days ago when I experienced a system failure on one of my Knit Picks Options cables. The purple plastic cable separated itself from the metal screw-in connector thingie, naturally in the middle of a long row. Luckily it happened to the garter stitch project, not the lace shawl, so it was easily rescued. I've heard that Knit Picks is very good about replacing defective tools, but I'm thinking a drop of superglue might be a more efficient solution. Perhaps if I'd had to rescue my lace I'd be in a bigger hurry to demand reparation.

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I was nosing around Ravelry yesterday (who among us can say that they do not nose around Ravelry most days?) and was very impressed by a couple of afghans made from sock yarn scraps knit into mitred squares. I have a pretty good collection of leftover sock yarn and am considering putting such an item in the queue for portable summer knitting.