Best Christmas EVER.

So I didn't finish everything I wanted to. This is me and my very helpful little sister basting the quilt in the middle of the night, and my mom's feet, doing their damnedest to unsmoothe the layers. And the socks? Well, the first sock almost got finished. Luckily my mother is a knitter too and understood perfectly when she unwrapped a half finished pomatomus with needles still in it.


I did, however, give myself a few projects that didn't take an insane amount of time.




Two freezer paper stencilled tank tops (idea from grumperina) and a hand-beaded necklace for my sister. The necklace, in particular was a big hit.

And, the piece de resistance:




A modified print o' the wave stole, modeled by the recipient, my adorable grandmother. All in all, I was pleased with my various holiday crafting endeavors, but that's not why it was the Best Christmas Ever.

For the first time ever, The Lady and I hosted all the other lovely ladies of my family. The structure and dynamic of my family has changed dramatically this year, and for the better, and spending the holiday with four women and two pooches was the best thing I could imagine.

As for the aforementioned unfinished projects? They're both in almost exactly the same state they were in on Christmas morning, because everything is on hold for this.

Eunny's Anemoi Mittens. I am in love. Two-color stranding is actually turning out to be easier than I anticipated, though my tension could still use a little evening out. The above is one evening's work... I expect to finish the first mitt today.

Happy New Year all! It's nice to be back in blogland. (And yes, damnit, unsmoothe is a word.)

Quiet.

It's been a quiet week around these parts, and will continue to be so for a few more days. Firstly, I caught a nasty case of the stomach ick that's going around and am just now starting to feel normal, and secondly The Lady and The Camera have both abandoned me for the weekend. In their absense, however, much crafting and visiting of relatives shall be accomplished! (You just won't see it yet.)

In the meantime please read this. (The chances that anyone who sees this doesn't already read Yarn Harlot are mightly slim, but I'd like to give what little boost I can from my corner of the blogosphere.)

Happy Friday!

El Tracks, originally uploaded by furplepig.

Earlier this fall I spent a lovely couple of days in the Windy City. Not only did I get to visit some college friends I hadn't seen since graduation, but I also got hours at a time to wander the city on my own. It was paradise.

I'm a fickle girl.

(I'm also capable of intense devotion, but that's not really relevant to the story I have for you today.)



These are old news, really. I made my first pair of fetchings back in August, out of KP Wool of the Andes, and they looked like shit within one wearing. Blech. These are my redemption -- I sprung for the cashmerino.

These, however, have nothing to do with my fickleness. They were meant as a break from the leaf lace shawl, and served that function nicely. Almost the moment the shawl was done, I cast on for this:
Eunny's Print o' the Wave Stole. It's for my grammy and I love love love it. I absolved myself early on of the lace edging -- I didn't want to stress about deadlines, and I think she'll like it better without, anyway.

The pattern is lovely and the yarn (hand dyed by kbrece of kindred spirits yarn on ebay) is a gorgeous mix of burgundies, pinks and browns. The combination of the two, however, isn't necessarily one I'd choose again.

It's a bit muddled. At any rate, I made monster progress on this one right after thanksgiving, but then The Lady says to me, she says, "I thought you were making me a scarf?" And it's true. I was. A week earlier I'd picked got some nice, squishy GGH Aspen and some Really Very Large needles (US 35 maybe?) and cast on for a sideways scarf a la Elliphantom. But something was wrong. Every time I picked it up I was unhappy. The length was wrong, the WS was ugly... and it wasn't just the scarf I was pissed about. It was as if the yarn itself was making me upset with the world. Needless to say it got shelved for awhile, hence the subsequent needling by The Lady. And then, suddenly, I knew. I had this cheap wool-acrylic blend sitting in my very paltry stash, and it occured to me that it wanted, it needed, to become a So-Called Scarf. It's no Manos, but it's got a nice variegation thing going:
So I worked on that with admirable consistency for... um, two days before I said "this is lunacy! this isn't a christmas present, and i can't justify working on anything that isn't a christmas present!". So that one hit the WIP basket as well.

And out came the Pomatomus. These are for my mom, so I can justify the Lorna's Laces. I'm a big fan of this pattern, but alas, all is not well. I used US1s because, um, I had five of them, and only four 2s, but also becuase my mom's feet are very wee. And lest you judge me, I DID swatch. Well. I swatched in stockinette, and I got gauge... if anything it was a tiny bit big. But I tried it on this morning, and well...

Even Maya can tell something's not right. I can't even get the damn thing close to my heel. While my mama's feet are small, they're not that small.

So. It's back to the stole for a bit while I recover my sock pride. (And my eye is already wandering to post holiday goodies.)

And finally, in non-knitting news, I leave you with some proof that I'm making progress on the Plainspoken Quilt. I've finished the first two rounds of piecing and decided on the layout.
I cannot wait to have this thing on my bed.

Wishing them peace.

this is hitting me even harder than i expected.

they said goodbye to him not knowing if he'd return. he died not knowing that they were safe. it breaks my heart.

Eye Candy

Snake River Gorge near Pullman, WA

By the time I'm done with what I need to do each day, and can make myself sit down and relax and knit or sew or chat, I've pretty much spent whatever energy I have. And when I wake up again in the morning, I snooze until the very last possible second before I have to scurry about the very cold house, throw on my clothes, and get out the door. Everything but work, class, sleep, making gifts, and making my lady happy feels like a luxury I can hardly afford.

This picture reminds me that I manage, fairly frequently, to carve out narrow swathes of my time to sit with big, immovable geological features at sunset.