bestitched

how to talk about knitting and Bret Michaels in a blog post

Two recent posts about blankets sent me on a shopping spree. The first was Grumperina's stripey underpants blanket. There is so much to love about the blanket and I especially loved the teal and white stripes together. Must make something teal and white. But I wanted a bigger project (like I don't have enough on my plate already).

The answer came when Kay from Mason-Dixon Knitting posted about her buncha squares blanket.  Thanks Kay, that was all I needed to go buy out my LYS of teal and white Classic Elite Sundance and start on my first square.

So in homage to both these gorgeous projects (and perhaps somehow related to my deep fascination with [quoting Maritza here] "the circus of stupidity" that is the Rock of Love), I deem this project the "Buncha Panties afghan". 

birch

Although I vowed never to attempt knitting lace again, I fell in love with Birch.

That is to say, I fell in love with pictures of Birch on Ravelry. Since I had some gorgeous Sundara silk lace in the stash (colorway eggplant over spice), I decided to give this pattern a try.

Armed with some US2 Addi lace turbos the knitting was easy and the pattern a cinch to memorize. Plus, no charts. I hate charts. I screw them up royally. So far I've knit approximately 40% and am a bit worried about the size. It seems small to me. How much does lace actually grow when you block it?

continuing the celebrations

The nice thing about visiting family is that you can continue the celebrations, which means more cake (complete with sparklers!)

and some more yarn.

At my ma's  LYS, I picked up some yarns that were new to me. Shantung Silk from Autumn House Farm and some Punta del Este South American Cotton . I have no idea at all what to do with the shantung silk, but I have big plans for a knit afghan with the cotton yarn. After seeing this, I knew I had to make it. I need a big project for the winter and something portable for the bus. Also, my other knit afghan ended up being much smaller than the original plan and BL keeps asking for the cozy, warm, comforting weight of a knit afghan for our bed. Wish me luck!

Postscript: I'm having a difficult time writing a feel-good, everything-is-okay-with-the-world kinda post when there's a man directly on the other side of the glass here at Panera picking his nose.   I'm on vacation for crap's sake! (Well, as much vacation as I can have visiting family.)And  there are napkins inside this fine establishment that you could use to your advantage. And as a mom to a toddler, I look at enough snot. Okay, off to move for a better view of the world.

willow grows

After a 6-hour ride in the car today, I made some real progress on Willow.

So far, I've made very few mistakes, which is  so unlike me when knitting from a chart.

Willow, I like you. I like you very much.

willow

I started on Willow last night.  The red is really hard to capture on film and it doesn't help that my camera is a POS special.

Ah well. One of the things I love about Kim Hargreaves' designs is the little details she adds into a pattern. Which, incidentally, makes for a very fun knit. In this pattern, instead of a plain old ribbed band, she has you knit the ribbed band horizontally and then pick up stitches vertically to start the body.   My explanation is crap, but hopefully there will be some more photos of this WIP in the near future.

quilt top

I finished the quilt top for LL's new big girl bedtopper. There isn't a straight line to be found anywhere on this quilt top. So the question is, should I machine  quilt or hand tie? What do you think?

bless you, Kim Hargreaves

When I placed my order, you sent a nice confirmation email. And when it shipped, you emailed me again, to let me know that my package was headed to my doorstep via Royal Mail.

And then it arrived. Wonderfully packaged with excellent instructions. You never let me down Ms. Hargreaves.

40

Just a number, right?

Half a life ago, I never thought I'd be a mom, a wife, and doing what I'm doing. But hell, I feel damn good. Bring on the 40s! I'm ready.

Because doesn't my $4 drink need something better than sitting on a crappy pile of post-its on my desk?

Another Calla Coaster. This one's for my office.

Calla Coaster pattern from the Purl Bee using Nashua Ecologie cotton in Acacia

Ahh, much better.

the leeroy jenkins* school of sewing

So, I decided to make a quilt for LL + per usual fashion, I just jumped into the project. I bought a bunch of fabric, cut it up, kinda read some instructions and just started sewing like I was in a sweatshop.

The result is lots of squares. And lots of mistakes. I even screwed up four log cabin squares (look at the square on the top of the lower pile). Who screws up a log cabin square? Who? And doesn't realize it until the next day?

Ah well, it's all about process right? Maybe next time I'll take the time to finish reading the directions.

* info on Leeroy Jenkins can be found here