Big League Chew is Gross (a dyeing project)

We've all been there: the big yarn purchase that you later regret, because the color is crazy, or the texture is weird, but in the moment you think, for example, this is awesome, this pepto-pink, lavender, grape-purple variegated lace yarn.

Seriously?

I'm having strong doubts about strongly-variegated lace yarn in general, because it seems to detract from the lace work. But this knitpicks gossamer, colorway "sweet peas," is the most vomitous colorway I've ever worked with.

It looks like that gum from my childhood, that came in "pink" and "purple" flavors--dump two pouches of Big League Chew on the table, swirl it all together and you get...this horrible yarn.

Something had to be done.

So I snipped the working yarn of my Zimmerman pi shawl; I unscrewed the needle tips and put on the caps of my knitpicks options needles; I wound all of the unknitted yarn of this colorway onto my swift to make two long hanks. I dropped the half-knitted shawl and the two hanks in the dyepot with a bunch of raspberry blue Koolaid and cyan food coloring.

It came out great. Thank god.

I'm still not sure about the variegation with the pi shawl though, because the ever-increasing diameter causes the colors to pool in not-so-awesome ways. I might end up dyeing the final product a darker color. But the other 1500 yards I have of this colorway look great, and will make a good rectangular shawl or baby clothes.

Check Out my Booty...uh...Bootie?

So my best friend in the world is pregnant.

This is excellent news on the knitting front. There's nothing like sitting down to an episode of Jon Stewart on the TiVo with a new project, and having it done by the time the episode is over.

Ah, the joy of baby booties.

I have made exactly one bootie, from Erika Knight's Simple Knits for Cherished Babies, a book my mother bought for me when I told her I was engaged. Ah, mothers.



It is the cutest thing I've ever made. It's on display, and my M.A.P. walks by it in the house and glances at it out of the corner of his eye with a combination of dread and uncontrollable excitement. I keep reminding him it is not for us.

But it is so cute, I can understand his temptation.

Does Erika Knight have a blog? I can't find it if she does.

Question for the Public

Given my propensity to start and start projects and leave them unfinished, and given that my dearest MAP is a furniture-builder when he's not doing his real job, and given that I hope (expect) him to build us some lovely furniture for the house we just bought, am I being hypocritical if I get on his case about starting and starting and starting carpentry projects and not finishing them?

Am I?

heh heh.

I did happen to finish my blue Japel shrug from Fitted Knits, but at the very same moment, started the diamond scarf out of Wenlan Chia's Twinkle's Big City Knits. I seem to maintain this stasis of 4-6 projects going at any one time. And yet this seems okay with me. Given that I'm knitting. And knitting is (1) small, (2) relatively inexpensive (ha!), and (3) not something I expect to be eating dinner on.

No. Not hypocritical. But I'm open to others' opinions on the matter.

Current-Project-Self-Motor-vation

This post is for me, mostly.

(Ha! Like all of these posts aren't "for me". Blogging is self-serving, self-aggrandizing, self-centeredness at its best. Anyone who says differently is kidding themselves.)

This post is for me because, like all fiberartists, at least the ones I know, even Dr. Fibersmarts starts and starts and starts projects and does not finish them.

There are a variety of reasons for this. Boredom. Season change. New and exciting books. (Can anyone say WENLAN CHIA?)

So, here are some projects in process that I will finish, and will post when they are finished, because now that I've put them here, the world will hold me accountable.

ONE: Soy-silk Skinny Scarf

(Slip one, k1, p2, k2 p2 rib, repeat to end; sz 9 needles, Patons soy/wool blend, variegated, in "natural blue." This would be one of those "boring" projects. Actually, I love it. But now it's summer and I don't need a scarf. I'll do this one during Grey's Anatomy.)

TWO: Black Crochet-Rib Mittens


(I'm using the Lion's brand microspun doubled-up for thickness, sz 9 hook. Front- and back-post double crochets. I have one arm done. Must finish other arm, add thumb and finger pockets. Total time remaining: one-two hours. What is wrong with me?)

THREE: Japel's "Boob Tube"

(I'm using this dreadful shiny blue yarn I bought at a cheap-o craft store on a whim one day thinking it was "just lovely" -- but I doubled it up and I'm using my brand-new Denise interchangable circular needles in size 17 to warm up for my first Wenlan Chia chunky knit project and this is actually turning out okay. The pattern is on Japel's web site here.)

These are my "other" projects -- not counting my "real" project, the shrug that is almost almost finished.

Oh, and the recycled-yarn afghan that is currently packed in a box because my house was on the market. Jeez. I certainly hope none of you were following that project.

Knit Shrug #2 - from Fitted Knits

Who doesn't love Stefanie Japel's new book Fitted Knits? I certainly do. Top-down construction (raglan-style), circular knitting, slim fits. What's not to like. Seriously.

I started with another shrug, using worsted-weight blue yarns. Here are some pictures of the work as it has progressed.

First, look at how the kfbs make the beautiful raglan structure -- growing and shaping without seaming. So cool. I love knitting.


This is the shape of the shoulder piece, as I continue to work on a sleeve. Yes, it looks bat-man-esque.


Here's the sleeve laid together, with the arm opening aligned with the raglan "seam" and the edges just waiting to be seamed (after I've put the ribbing on)...


And here is the seamed sleeve -- my first seaming! It looks just like those seams I used to rip out so gleefully when I would salvage yarn. Note the rib edging.

Here's that sleeve from the outside, with that lovely ribbing. (oh, I do love this project. and knitting. did i mention i love knitting? i've slipped into lower case letters.)

Just a side note: My friend and I are working on our dissertations, and our other friend is here studying for his comprehensive exam. We have just reached a consensus that novels about knitting are dumb. And I'm a knitter. I have a knitting blog. I still think this literary trend is dumb.

Go knit. Then read a romance novel.

Here is where I am at the moment -- the ribbing and increases around the bodice. Same 24 rows as the sleeves, but with increases at the four angles -- I'm very excited about those.

Also, I wonder if those people who write novels about knitting actually knit. I can't help but think that if they did knit, they would knit, instead of writing novels about knitting. And if they DON'T knit, but instead write novels about knitting, they would be ridiculous poseurs.

Actually, I must confess. I know a novelist who wrote a novel about knitting. We don't get along. And I've never seen a set of knitting needles in her hands. So, to temper my strangely strong opinions on this topic, I should have provided this information up front. This novelist is not a nice person. She was mean to my very-nice-person friend. Don't be mean. It isn't nice. I digress. ("Dramatic Irony.")

Back on topic: here's how the shrug looks now (on my faux leather desk chair). It will be finished soon -- like, this weekend, since I have nothing better to do. I'll model it for you then. Then, on to the next project -- the shrug from Wenlan Chia's new book -- Twinkle's Big City Knits.