It was all worth it.

So, not as close to the eye color as I imagined it to be, but still lovely. It was all worth it, and I learned a lot. I'm actually looking forward to my next beaded project, and trying to figure out how to make the beads I have (seed beads) fit onto the yarn I want to use next (sock yarn). It's not gonna happen... however, Stitches West is next week, and the possibilities are endless!
Okay, more pics:





Sorry the focus isn't great, I still really need a better digital camera. Perhaps it's time to start saving?
In other news, I joined a dishcloth swap on Ravelry. Can I be a bigger dork? Maybe! I will continue to try, that's for sure.
I made this for it:

and this:

and I made an assload of stuff for the Yule Time, some of my favorites are:


Pete's smoking gloves. Which I will probably steal.

Lottsa dishcloth sets, which I wrapped up with soaps & stuff for the ladies in the fam.

A wee hat for baby M. As in MM, not MB.

Consider yourself up to date. Prepare for post stash enrichment excursion glee.

Picot Bind-off =

...this is fucking BULLSHIT.

(You should know that this is pretty much a big rant, and if you're not interested in fiddly knitting BS, you probably will find nothing of interest here. Be forewarned.)

Okay...here we go!

One should not attempt to knit Ice Queen with Denise Interchangeables with Louet KidLin Laceweight. Don't get me wrong - I love the cowl, the needles, and the yarn very much; they just do not belong together.

This is the first time I've knit with lace weight yarn in a lace pattern. You can do this using the Denise set, but I've found considerable frustration due to the bluntness and material of the needle. Too blunt = no good for lace, not when your yarn is laceweight. Too plastic = too slippery...especially for this yarn. The yarn is beautiful, but the aspect of it being a two-ply yarn, each ply being of different fibers and gauge, added to to the difficulty of working with it.

And the pattern itself...well...
I'd love to rant & bitch about how hard it is, but that's not really fair. It's not hard, necessarily, it's that it introduced lots of new techniques to me, and that's what they call challenging. Or so I'm told.

So, enough of my bitching, let's move on to what fucked me up! Wheee!

First: the Provisional Cast On, which I discussed in my previous post. We'll get back to this later.

Second: Beading. It sounded so sweet and provincial to begin with, and really wasn't all that bad. Until I tried to shove a too-small bead over a too-thick portion of yarn, and then the bead broke and cut the yarn along with it. It's a bitch to splice together yarn when you have 1/4" of each side to work with. Trust me.

Third: The Dreaded Picot Bind Off.

Which, all told, really wasn't that bad once I figured out how to do a knitted cast on mid row. If you're unsure how to do this, don't bother looking online. I spent 12 hours, searched 50something related Ravelry posts, and the first page of Google hits. I also researched all my other fave knitting sites regarding the topic, like Knitty.com & KnittingHelp.com. No luck. Finally I picked up some books off my shelf...and whaddya know? I find my answer/figure it out therein. Dag.

Details about The Dreaded Picot Bind Off problem here:
The picot bind off called for in the pattern asks you to begin by "CO 2 sts using Knitted Cast On..." My problem was that every description I found about this cast on told me to begin with a slip knot, then... But, I'm not casting on traditionally; I'm mid row - so why should I make a slip knot? Can't I just use the stitch on the left needle?

I had options. I could have finally attended my local Stitch n' Bitch and pleaded for help. From what I gather, these ladies would have been happy to comply. I could have wandered up to my LYS, or the new LYS, and asked for help, I'm sure I would have received some guidance. But no, I'm stubborn, so I made it up on my own.

Here's what I did, according to "The Knitting Answer Book,"
I treated the first stitch on the left needle like a slipknot (as every description tells you start a knitted cast-on with a slipknot), then knitted off that stitch, and continued as described in the book.
No one ever told me I could treat the first stitch like the fucking slipknot stitch! I didn't know! Feck! Don't you tihnk someone would have mentioned that?

Ug, anyways...I bound off the top...and then...

I have to pick up these damn stitches from the bottom, just to do another Picot Bind Off! WTF!!!???

Okay, in all calmness, I assume I'm missing the part where I understand why I can't cast on this way. I mean, I've learned this much this far, I might as well learn how to Picot Cast On. I fucking learned how to crochet for this shit. And it's bullshit. This is why:
The pattern does not tell you how to pick up the stitches.

Perhaps she assumes that you've done this before. After all, it's a "tangy" on Knitty's scale. Described roughly on their site as a "level 2" of four. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Knitty. But tangy this is not.

So, I make it up (how I'm supposed to pick up the stitches, that is), and I pick them up all backwards.

Of course, I don't notice until I'm far enough along not to go back.
So.
Feck.

That's where I'm at. And I'm moving on.

Sole Squeezing Lenore

Lenore looks lovely:



The color isn't very accurate in this pic, should be more like this:



But aren't they purrty? I'm really happy, considering the road got a bit rough there. I think I gave myself a case of The Overconfidence. Hell, I've made like four pairs of socks, I can do anything, right? Huh.
Reminder: SLOW DOWN. READ THE FUCKING DIRECTIONS. oh, and COUNT. OFTEN.
I got carried away casting on for these Christmas Day at the table in my mom's kitchen. I had read the directions a few times, then forgot, I guess...It can be a little distracting in that room.
In the first part of the chart, it calls for a sl1-p2tog-psso. I figured (in all my experience) that if you're purling, you would slip that first stitch purlwise. Wrong - and the directions for the chart clearly state "Slip 1 as if to knit, p2tog..." So the whole cuff of the first sock is wrong. I realized this, of course, while working the second sock. On top of that, I kinda made up my own rules about how one should YO between purl & knit stitches; unfortunately my rules weren't quite right. So, I also lost some lovely lace effect, but only on half of the motif. Heh.
The second sock's cuff came out perfect. The toe...not so much. Somehow I lost track of where the sides of the sock were...I really have no idea how it happened, but the second sock is bigger around, and the toe decreases kinda curve around the top of the foot, instead of falling nicely along each side...not a lot in either respect, but enough for me to notice.
The good news is that (a) they both fit, and no one else can really tell, I think, unless I point it out to them, and (b) this clearly means that I need to make another pair. Will Blue Moon Fiber Arts be at Stitches West this year? Hmmmm...

(squee)

More pics, just 'cause.







Oh, and I can't really tell you all about it yet, but I have this in the works:



The pink edge won't be there, it's a provisional cast on. It (the prov. cast on) made me learn how to chain stitch! Yay. But look! Beads! I thought at first it would be super fiddly, but it's fun. I look forward to all the rows with the beads in it. Did I just find another addiction? Great.
Also, this is the first time I'm actually making lace with lace weight yarn. It's tough on the Denise Interchangeables, they're pretty blunt. But can I justify Addi Turbos? Maybe it's time for the KnitPicks Options...hmmmm....

Oh, last question for those of you who use Blogger...why are the right hands of my pics cut off? Where's the border that's supposed to be there? I can't figure it out, and it's bugging the crap outta me. Help?

ARGyle

Finally...it's done:



Modeled here by the lovely BabyGirl. A couple more pics:




It was really fiddly...I think that's the best way to describe it. Not necessarily hard, but very time consuming. If I was focusing really well, I could finish one repeat of the chart (one set of "argyle" diamonds) in about an hour. I found the chart as written to be kinda confusing to follow, so I changed it a bit. It was really small in the book, so the first thing I did was to copy it onto graph paper, so I could just work off it without the book. The problem I had with it was that the symbols' meanings changed depending on which side you are working. It's kinda hard to explain without seeing it, and I don't want to replicate the chart here because of copyright concerns. But for those of you that have it, this is what I did:



Every square is supposed to be 2 stitches; depending on where you are in the chart, you knit with the main color and then purl the contrasting color (or vise versa). For example, on the right side a blank square would mean "K1MC, P1CC" and a colored square would mean "K1 CC, P1MC," but on the next row it would be the opposite. Instead of checking the symbols on every square, and then checking to see what side I'm on, I marked a "C" or an "M;" if it's a "C" I knit contrast first, then purl main color. This probably doesn't make a whole lot of sense if you're not familiar with the pattern, but I really hope it does help if you are. It made my work go much faster.

So...two more project to finish by Wednesday! I should probably start one of them now...

Because I'm a DORK

Also, I added a "Follower" gadget to the sidebar over there --> so if you want, you can stay up to date on all my bloggy progress! What fun!

SQUUUUEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!

So, last February I went to Stitches West. I was sparkly eyed, and super overwhelmed; it was a Santa Clara Convention Center full of yarn. I found multiple beautiful Holy Grails of yarn including this:



Yum. It's called Valkyrie, by Blue Moon Fiber Arts; the whole line of colors is called Raven.



So, I went home, and rejoiced.
And then, I was all like, what the hell am I gonna make with this? It deserves perfection...it deserves poetic justice. Oh yeah. I'll go there.
So I searched, and searched...and found the perfect pattern for this yarn, you would have thunk it was made for it:



Huh. Look at this gorgeous piece of work...oh...what?

This sock was designed by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee specifically for Blue Moon Fiber Arts specifically for this line of fiber. Could you come any closer to poetic justice? Oh, sure you could... read the Yarn Harlot's description of where her inspiration when presented with this yarn came from:

"The minute that Tina told me she was painting Raven yarn, all I could think of was the famous poem by Edgar Allen Poe, “The Raven.” This sock has as many elements of that poem as struck me as reasonable… the wings of the raven, the gothic-inspired peaks of the “chamber door,” the colours reminiscent of the “purple curtain,” and the raven himself. Naturally, there could be no other name for this feminine, gothic-inspired lace sock, than the name of the tragically lost love herself… Lenore."

A quote from the Yarn Harlot herself.

Dude.

It's called Lenore.

sigh

I saw the sock pattern about 2 months after I bought the yarn. It was the perfect pattern for the yarn...but it wasn't available for sale until "late 2008." WTF does that mean? (Blue Moon Fiber Arts said around early fall 2008.)
That's, like, six months, at least. Suck.
Finally, in November of 2008, I found it. I ordered it.

And then I got bummed - I've been waiting forever for this pattern; finally, it was out, it was for sale, and it could be mine. But they would mail it to me.

MAIL?!?

Like....MAIL?!?!?!?

Those who know me should know that I never use bold & italics together. That is how serious this was.

Really, I was super irritated - why not just email me the pdf? Let me download it? Or something? Don't you know how long I have been waiting for this pattern?

Somehow I managed to survive long enough to witness the arrival of The Pattern.
IT came today.
It was TOTALLY worth it.
Behold:



How beautiful is that?



It came in its own sheet protector, perfect for slipping right into my binder. It's printed on nice, thick paper, double bound in full color. It's more than I could ever have wished for. Except for maybe the proper size needles to knit it on... But they shoud be forthcoming, as a well timed gift... go figure.

SQUEEEE!!!!!

2 & 1/2 Months Later...

You would think that someone who is unemployed would have so much time that they'd be blogging all day. It seems to me that wasting time while at work is so much more fun that blogging at home. Funny that.
Anyways, I have been quite productive on the knitting front. I'll try to post some here, avoiding those that will be gifted this holiday, although my readers number very few, some of those very few will no doubt be receiving knitted gear from me later this month.
My most favorite recent FO:



My fist Monkey Socks!



I'm really happy with how they came out. They're pretty, and super comfortable, and took me less than a week to make. I made the second sock in two days. I'm using real sock yarn now, so hopefully they'll stand up better than my Hederas, which are beginning to get a bit fuzzy.
I made a my first hat, with leftover yarn from the booties I made for Baby B, and gifted it to Baby M. Kindof a "we're all in this yarn together" thing, in my weird way.



Edges are a little bit curly, I hope the baby doesn't mind.
And my labor of love over the last few months, which I am proud to say was completed well before the baby shower, is the Moderne Baby Blanket for Baby B:



Really tough to get good pictures of this with my camera, but for scale, consider...well, it's huge. Each of the boards it's sitting on (there's 2) are 36" wide. Hopefully they won't loose the baby in it. But if they do, it should be a soft & warm place to be lost.
The pattern is in Mason-Dixon Knitting, and is apparently available for free if you go to their website. I looked for it, I couldn't find it, but if you have Ravelry, you can look it up there. Errata, should you get the pattern, is stangely not available on their website (?) but is available here. I would have done the edges differently, if I would have known how they would look - they look kinda like the wrong-side-out to me.

Currently:



The Uncle Argyle Scarf from Son of Stitch n Bitch, for brother J. He won't read this, he does even know what a blog is. So it's safe.
Cool huh? Here's the catch:



Get it? It's reversible. Have you knit a reversible piece yet? Good times. Do not attempt while trying to pay attention to anything mildly interesting, except maybe an audio book you can kinda tune in & out of.
Was really challenging at first, but it's getting easier (I could almost watch hockey while knitting it last night). I also manually copied the chart onto graph paper, which allowed me to make myself notes in each friggin square to remind me what to do without constantly checking the key. I won't try how to explain it here, because even explaining it verbally is hard, but suffice to say that the key is opposite on every other row. And each square on the chart is actually two stitches. And it takes some paying attention. Did I stress that enough?

Overall though, I'm really excited about it, and I've given J & Ma permission to steal it from him if he doesn't wear it. I might just steal it myself.

Lots of other projects have been done, but for reasons mentioned above I won't list them here for the time being. Lots more to do too...and I've made a vow to knit all the yarn I bought at Stitches West last year before A & I go back this year. I think I have a month or two, shouldn't be a problem.

On a sadder note, my camera has died due to a sequence of unfortunate circumstances including humidity, sand, sacred birthing stones, and an untimely tumble off the back of the couch. Picture quality will be lower for a bit until I can rectify this. Please bear with me. On the other hand, the sand & humidity was totally worth it. And the bruise on my knee is fading.