Playing catchup

Whoops. I forgot to post in a while. Maybe next time I will post about the plants. There is a new one...

Well, I have been up to a lot. Let's start with Harry Potter Crafts. I participated in the last swap, which was potions themed. Here is the very practical swap I received. From left to right, there is glittering body spray that smells like pear, brown sugar hand sanitizer, and baking soda based cleanser. And I think a small hand-knit sock.

I sent my recipient a potions recipe box.

This was pretty fun to make. I got the box at Good will and sanded and painted it. I am pretty pleased. I think if I make another, though, it will be even better.

I also sent her these potions. The sleeping Draught broke, but I sent it without the liquid. I put the correct number of drops of food coloring in each bottle so she only had to add the water to get these colors.

Haha. Funny stuff, right? Anyways, here is a scarf I wove. This one was tricky because the yarn I used was shlubby.Crystal Palace Yarns Waikiki in Kiwi/Mango. I am a bit smitten with it. It is nice and soft.

I also knit these socks from the Rockin'Sock Club in just under a week and a half. Pretty awesome, right?

They are pretty comfy. My next project is the Lilac Leaf Shawl. I have one end done and I am almost at the same point on the other end. I just need to have it done by October 15 for the Nordic Knitting Conference, which makes me giddy every time I think about it.

Also, I bought this funny magnet I drew for The Jerks Store. We will get pictures posted when it arrives and let you know how the quality is. $7 is a good price for a test though. Better than just buying a bag. Since Abe has a job now and I can never tell when the dishes are clean or dirty, we got this so I don't have to call him at work and ask.

Finally, I drew this the other day and I am pleased. I think it was inspired by looking at drawings of Regina Spektor on Deviant Art.

An Isaac'ed weekend

Here's a head kerchief thing I knit with three different yarns from the Phat Fiber box I bought a long time ago. I tried buying one this time but kept getting errors from Etsy so I think I am done with that little experiment. :(

My brother came over this weekend. We had a good time. He arrived before I got home from work, so Abe met him downtown, where they had coffee. Then they came home and played Team Fortress together. When I got home, we went to the Phinneywood Farmer's Market. Isaac bought Strawberry wine, Tayberry wine, and Blackberry wine and let us have the remainders of the strawberry and tayberry. Unfortunately, I didn't like either, but Abe did. So he can have those and I will drink beer. That night Isaac and I played some Lego Batman and it was awesome. I can't wait for him to come down and play with me again. Abe played through it once with me and that was apparently enough for him.

On Saturday, we didn't wake up until 10. Whoops. We went to Patty's Eggnest across the street for breakfast. I had swedish pancakes with strawberries instead of lingonberries. They were pretty good. Then we rushed over to the Sidewalk sale at Acorn Street where I think we (Isaac and I) spent 2 hours or so looking at the yarn. I found this great french one that looked like fur, but I wanted to make a whole purse with it and it was $8 for 17 yards. That was way too expensive. So I bought some other stuff.

The Waikiki from Crystal Palace will some day be woven into an AWESOME scarf. I think it will be awesome. It is the Kiwis/Mangos colorway and I just love it.

The Baby Alpaca Grande from Plymouth Yarns will be fingerless gloves. They were supposed to come with a free pattern, but I didn't get it because I forgot to ask. Though perhaps it is inside the band? Anyways, I can undoubtedly find a pattern on Ravelry, my love. It is so soft, you can barely tell you are touching it. I will make the fingerless gloves and see how it wears. I might get two more skeins to make a pair of the best slipper socks ever.

Finally, there is the Noro Sukko. I think I will be making the Swallowtail shawl out of that. It is a simple shawl pattern and it appears others have done that with success and it looks nice. The colors of the yarn are black, green and brown, as far as I can tell, but I bet there are surprise colors inside too. There always are.

Then we went to the Cartoonists North West meeting where Milt Prigee gave a talk/answered questions. It was fun. He does editorial cartoons, which Abe is more into than I am. Then we dropped Isaac off at the train station to get back home to his GIRLFRIEND. :) Good for him.

Anyways, the other thing I bought at Acorn Street was a skein of Noro to make a tea cozy. And make a tea cosy I did. (I think I just heard one of the dogs fart...) So here it is in all its glory. This is a nice pattern. I am not kidding. I think the whole thing can be knit up in 4 hours (small version). If I hadn't been distracted by how much I love the first X-Men movie, I think I could have knit the whole thing Saturday night, but as it is, I sat there just holding the knitting for a fair chunk of time. So I finished it Sunday morning while I drank tea.

This week on the Ten Ton Studios Sketch Challenge, the theme was Nocturno, an Argentinian graphic novel, by Salvador Sanz. Lovely, but I can't find it in English. Anyways, here is what I drew. It is also up on the Forum.

Last week, I also started the Lilac Leaf Shawl so I will have a Nancy Bush Estonian Lace Shawl to where when I go to the Nordic Knitting Conference in October! (I am taking Icelandic Lace on Saturday and Estonian Cuffs on Sunday.) I started with the other end so that I can knit the middle until I run out of yarn or finish the pattern, whichever comes first. My skein of yarn is about 50 yards smaller than the one called for so I wasn't sure I would have enough.

One of my friends, Celina, put a link to I Write Like on her blog. So I though I would give it a shot. Here are my results. I tried a bunch of things because that is how I am.

When I put in writing from the blog, which is a bit stream of consciousness: Vladimir Nabokov. Abe was impressed.

A story I wrote in high school (which I may end up turning into a graphic novel - 'Cigar Smoke' if I ever talk about it again): Jack London.

Office Cowboy is apparently written like Stephen King. (Haha. There is a joke in that sentence if you know of Stephen King's writing style well enough.)

The water lady story is like Harry Harrison, who I have no idea who that is.

At this point I stared to think it is just completely random.

Vergamon is apparently written like Dan Brown.

A paper for a TC class my last year of college: Agatha Christie.

Hmph.

I will have pictures of my plants in my next post, maybe.

Here is some yarn for you...

First, check it out - I made Abe a toy. I started this, no kidding, in July of 2005 and finished it in July 2010. Go Ravelry for keeping that information for me. I am crazy, yes.

Two weekends ago, we had a good ol' time. Saturday we went to my mom's and met my brother's new girlfriend, who seems nice. My mom and I spent most of the day washing 10 lbs of wool in her yard. That was a lot of work. Then I brought it home and I have been washing it even more. Boil it on the stove and dry it in the oven. I am done, and it only took 4 days to wash all 10 lbs! Now I have to card it and then I have to spin it. And probably dye some of it. I spun up a test of the 10 lbs of shetland(?) that I had already washed and it is a creamy lemony color. The one I am currently washing is quite white. And filthy. Lots of poop and bugs and grains (their food) and even pieces of hoof.

I also found this car on one of the blogs I read. Holy Cow. I would consider driving that, but not in the rain...

Maybe this is what we need to have a less jerky comic.

Uh...

More recently, since it seems I haven't posted in a while, we have The Jerks up at the Blowing Sands Gallery in Ballard. Our stuff should be up until about Aug 11. There are free stickers and some small comic books for sale. We hung out on Saturday night and hula hooped a bit. I don't know if we will sell anything, but a couple of the people there liked our stuff. The president (Mary Beth) of Cartoonists Northwest thought they were cute and liked the humor. So there are other people out there that like poop humor.

At one point, we also had a pinata, which was pretty funny. It was a mermaid that Mary Beth'd had for a while and put fresh candy in. We didn't have a place to hang it so they tried just tossing it in the air, but that didn't work. Then a lady with a cane let people use her cane to whack at it like a baseball. Eventually, no kidding, little Tootsie Rolls started coming out her butt. I was nearly doubled over with laughter. Good times.

I also started working on a Positions Swap for the Harry Potter Crafts group. I am pretty excited. I think the items are going to be great, when they are done. I hope they ship ok!

I've been doing the Tour de Fleece (spinning every day that the Tour de France is running). I was supposed to start on Saturday when I went to Mom's, but I got distracted by washing all the wool. But Sunday and Monday I spun up a couple skeins. One is teeny tiny. 2-ply lace yarn. The other is the fourth of five skeins of Monkey Farts Corridale from Spunky Eclectic which I really like. I somehow messed it up, but whatever. Hopefully the next one will go better.

Day 3:

Day 4 (from knittyandcolor in the Dragonskin colorway which I got in a Phat Fiber Box):

Day 5:

Day 6:

Day 7 (the same knittyandcolor but all spun up and plied; I also washed some of the Monkey Farts to make sure the color wouldn't leech too much, and it didn't!):

Day 8 (wool mill ends and carbonized fiber - I spun this while watching the very weird movie Krull):

Day 9 (from Xtreme Spinning in the Princess Bride colorway from the Phat Fiber box):

I forgot to take a picture of my spinning on day to. But I was just plying the singles from Day 9 and didn't even finish. I drew Arthur and Georgie stuff until about 9, so I didn't have much time. The backgrounds are getting more and more detailed, so I am needing more time.

Snow and Rain

When I was reading blogs, I found this website, the cartoonist studio. Here is my favorite studio, I think: Tom Batiuk, who does Crankshaft. It was fun to look at all the studios. My studio is currently the couch. I have a drawing board that fits on my lap, a TV Table that I set up to put my ink and water and nibs on. And all the drawing stuff that will fit, like the nibs and pens, inks and erasers, go into a fishing tackle box next to the couch. I also have a full spectrum light that I can set on it side behind the drawing board if I need to trace something, like this drawing! I did it on the "brown" paper, Yupo, which I call brown because it is made of polypropylene. It is fun to work on though. I used a water brush and watercolor pencils to make this. I like the trees and snow, but I don't know how well the girl turned out.

I also draw this, though I drew this in my spare time at work. It is on the cardboard from the back of a pad of paper that I had finished. I like it a lot. It was rather inspired by Edward Gorey. I didn't have a reference of his, but it turned out ok.

Here is this week's Ten Ton Studio Sketch Challenge . The first one is pretty dang funny. I would like to draw something, but I can't think of anything.

I started working on this cropped cardigan for summer (I say cardigan because I will be adding sleeves). I had about 800 yards of cotton and didn't know what to do with it, so I looked up the gauge, weight, yardage, and fiber on Ravelry and found 4 patterns that I liked to choose from. How sweet is that. I also found this top that I plan to make using two different colors of yarn. I might even use two different weights. I might have to modify the pattern a bit, but the top part could be a bit lacy. And this tank top, which is cute and simple and super easy to modify, I bet. And this little Hexacomb Cardigan that I want to make with robin's egg blue for the main part and a nice sunny yellow for the hems. If you look at it on Ravelry, there are some great color combos, so I might do another combo other than blue and yellow.

I have also wanted to start another Harry Potter kick lately. I have a bunch in my queue, so I will probably just finish up some of those, but I might start up on the Harry Potter Craft group again. This month is a challenge to create a transfigured object. Not sure what I will do yet. If anything. And I might join the Hogwarts Sock Kit Swap, round 11. I have at least 2 pairs of started Ravenclaw socks that I should finish. One is my own pattern. Another is from the Harry Potter knitting book, which is an okay book, but not great.

I was working on other socks, Ravenswirl and Ada Lovelace, both Rockin' Sock Club kits. But both ended up being too tight to fit over my heel, so I need to rip both out and work a bigger size or something. I am not sure what to do. More increases at the gusset on the Ada Lovelace? I think I will just make the L instead of the medium. Sigh. I had only finished the ankle on the Ravenswirl and the leg part wouldn't fit over my heel. Maybe I have a giant instep?

Abe's my etsy fiend.

So Abe is posting needles on Etsy for me because I can't be bothered. I am so busy doing other things that I don't have the 30 to 45 minutes or so it takes to do the photo shoot and all the data entry. Buh. Today he posted these funny spades needles.

We got our second comment on the comic, but it seems to have been spam. :'( After next week, I am not sure if I will continue to post comic updates on my Facebook page because I don't think anyone cares. We'll see. Maybe I can annoy them all into looking. It is weird to send the notice out to people who I haven't seen since high school, but whatever. I hear about their nights out drinking or their days out running.

I started posting The Jerks comics to DeviantArt. Though I will just post the previous week's comics there on Tuesday instead of the same day.

The porkchop dinner didn't turn out as well the second night light it does with the Cream of Mushroom soup. Oh well. It was still good. Surprise surprise, the french cook book food doesn't lend itself well to the microwave.

This weekend, I watched Delgo. I liked it more than Abe. It was a nice-to-look-at movie, for sure. Not the best, but interesting enough. It was just a plain classic story, but it was also a Family PG movie, so I didn't expect much. Actually, the concept art they showed throughout the credits was far more amazing than the art in the movie. I wish the movie had been done in the style of the concept art, which was gorgeous. From the concept art, it looks like there could have been more interesting detail in the movie, too, but for a Family movie, they have to keep it short. Weird voice cast, though. Freddie Prince Jr, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Eric Idol, Val Kilmer, Malcolm McDowell, many other weird ones.

I got an email from Amazon today about a book that comes out June 29, Knitting MochiMochi by Anna Hrachovec. Wow. I must admit I am excited for that book. Cute Cute stuff. On Ravelry, she has a bunch of cute patterns, like bats whose wings close shut with a button so you can hang them from the ceiling, baby alligators, pigeons that can actually perch on things, a resistor and a capacitor, "dust bunnies," a bath tub with bubbles, a toilet paper roll, and so much more. She also did woodins ("a tiny apparition that lives in fallen trees and is characterized by its asymmetrical ears and leaf tail"), which is a cute pattern from Knitty.

The Jerks is a live web comic!

Woot. So the comic is up: the-jerks.com. Every Tuesday, Thursday, barring Abe forgetting. We have about a month of backlog. I haven't really worked on much else, drawing wise. I do have these sketches I did during breaks at work.

Abe has been looking over the views on the-jerks.com and they are coming from all over the world. But mostly between 9 and 5 on the server time. Weird, right?

We did go see Iron Man 2 last weekend. That was actually a really fun movie and I have no idea why it got such bad reviews. I thought it was really fun and completely in the same vein as the first one. It was so loud though. Almost too loud for me to hear, but not quite, if you know what I mean. I am so glad we saw it in theaters. Maybe the bad reviews were from "traditionalist" Iron Man fans, but I know nothing about Iron Man except these movies. Abe and I were talking about it and we can't think of any good way to follow all the "canon" from the comics. They are going to draw in people with no knowledge of background so everything is new. If they just tried to take an existing comic and make that into a movie, it wouldn't translate well because the comics tend to assume a basic amount of knowledge (usually it seems to me). I like the approach they have taken where they make a story based on existing pieces of story. It is a new story based on old story. That way it is new to the newbies and the old fans. Old fans get to see live action pieces of the story they love but in new context. I could just be talking out my butt, but I like how they are doing them.

I have been watching Ten Ton Studios sketch challenge and their challenge this week is what a superhero of supervillain of your choice would look like from a different era. There are already some really good ones. I might do the drawing, but I don't know if I will enter. Can you say lazy? Scanning sucks. I dream of one day owning a scanner large enough to scan in one shot a 9x12 piece of paper. Ooh. That is about an inch or half an inch larger in width and length than my current one. Annoying, right? I have no idea what superhero I would draw or what era to move them too. Abe had a good idea that I will try though. If I can get it done in time, maybe I will post it. I only have to give it away if the winner likes mine enough and that is a bit of an honor.

I know I had an epiphany about the Water Lady story, but I haven't been able to bring myself to draw any character sketches yet. I really need to get on that. In my defense, I have been working on The Jerks and trying to focus on that. Though I guess sometimes I get distracted by drawing a picture for the circus story, which doesn't even have a story line yet.

This past Friday, I got my May Rockin' Sock Club kit in the mail. I am doing the Ada Lovelace sock. It came with a nice green Spirits yarn, which means it is barely colored at all, but I think it is lovely. The pattern is sort of steam-punk according to the description from the designer. It has a mix of lace and cables, which I just love. In fact, that is used on my spats. I think I should make some of those spats and sell them on Etsy. And some of my gloves. Today, I will get Abe to start posting items on Etsy. I have a fair number of items ready to post, but they need pictures and stuff and Abe can post them. Anyways, back to the new sock kit, I started Friday night and am currently working on the heel flap of the first sock. So I am about a quarter done. This cuff looks kind of short, but complicated, so it is hard to gauge. I am working on this instead of my mom's sweater. Bad Angela. But my plan is to work complete the first sock, complete the second sleeve of mom's cardigan, complete the second sock, and then complete the right front of mom's cardigan. Then I will basically be done with both. But not really, because then on the sweater, I have to block it, sew it, and knit the button band stuff. Which shouldn't take too long. And I can't finish that until mom gets me the buttons so I know how big, where, and how many button holes to make.

Home Sweet Homo Erectus

Finally, here is the painting I did while I was on vacation. Pretty fun, right? Well, I had fun with it anyways. I really like the eye sockets. This got me excited to do more painting, too, which means I might finally get around to doing something with poor little Umbrella girl.

In a couple weekends, we are going to do a craft fair with Abe's mom. Abe will have more information tomorrow, but it is in Lake City from 9 to 5 or 6. We will have knitting needles and other knitting stuff, cards (blue lady), and comics (Bus Stop). We will see how well the comics sell and then put them up for sell on etsy.

Margarita time

This past Sunday was my mom's birthday and we met in Burlington for a movie and lunch with my Aunt Carol, too. We went to the Cascade mall theater and Alice in Wonderland started 20 minutes late. Annoying. The movie was good, but not as good as I expected. I think part of it was the theater. The film seemed darker than it maybe should have been and the sound was pretty quite. It also should have been way longer. I think they cut a lot out. I think the white Queen needed more explanation because there were hints that she had more story but they never got around to telling it. Bummer.

Then we went to El Cazador for lunch. Abe and I had delicious Taquitos. And for dessert, mom bought us all a plate of Xangos to share, which is cheese cake wrapped in a flour tortilla and then deep fried. Sounded gross, but it tasted really good. It was an appropriate place for lunch because for her birthday, I made mom the Frozen Margarita socks. Those were terrible to make, but she seems to like them, so they were worth it. I got done with the first one and couldn't bring myself to make the second one. Mostly because of the annoying cactus on the ankle. And then to top it all off, when I finally did it. I put the cactus on the same side of both ankles so now she has two left socks. Agh. I put it off so long that Friday night we stayed up until almost 1 so I could try to finish the socks, but I ended up finishing them in the car on the way up to the movie instead.

The top of the sock is supposed to look like the salt rim of the glass. Haha. That was probably the most fun part. So before I gave them to mom, I asked her if she planned on having a Margarita, and she didn't so I was a little disappointed. But she thought the socks were so funny when she opened them that she showed them to the waitress and asked for a matching margarita. And I was too dumb to get a picture of that. :( But she is wearing them today, so I guess she must like them. And that makes three items off my list, though I also added one (Slip Jig socks from Rockin' Sock Club).

This weekend, I also finished the pencils for the bus stop story and started inking. The cover and first page are basically done. I need to add some white gauche to the first page, but that will be quick (I hope I don't completely mess it up).

Also this weekend, I got through all the Criminal Intent available for streaming, which was season 6. I started watching Rescue Me. That show is kind of depressing though (yeah, I know I just finished 6 years of Criminal Intent, a show about the worst or most complicated crimes).

Abe just informed me about a doggly adventure in jerkiness. He came out from wherever he was and found the dogs sitting all happy together on the couch with a pillow between them. On closer inspection there was a hole in that pillow which led to a hole in the actual pillow from which they dogs had been gleefully removing the stuffing. Other than the two holes, the outer one of which had already been there, the thing is fine. It is an old pillow from my grandma when I was in grade school or so. One side is Xmas and the other is little bo peep. Jerks.

In other news, it is so cold in our apartment, that in addition to my traditional PJ work outfit for Work-At-Home-Tuesday, I also have on my 'house sweater,' hat, fingerless mittens, scarf, blanket around my legs, socks, and slippers and I am still cold.

Queen of Beads resurfaces

This weekend I lost the pattern for one project I am working on and got mad at the other one, so I needed another project to work on. So I finished the Queen of Beads (rav) from the Rockin' Sock Club January 2009 kit. You know, the one that Nisa promptly chewed a bunch of the beads of one of the ankles of. Remember this?

Well, anyways, I worked on that Friday night and Saturday morning. It was really fun. It was nice to remember what a clever little pattern that is. Anyways, first I had to find everything and it was all over the place. The two socks had finally gathered together on top of my dresser under a bunch of other clothes. The remaining yarn with some beads was in the dining room. And it turns out there were more beads in the little package they came in in my knitting toolbox. Which is good because it looks like the cat ate a bunch of the remaining yarn and beads. Stupid cat.

So first, I removed the ankle starting from the lowest existing hole. I just wiggled that strand out until the ankle was detached. This was mostly easy though later it seems I lost a row somewhere.

Then I realized I didn't have enough beads so I ripped back the ruined ankle to get all the beads. I stopped ripping when I had all the holes, which meant I basically just had to start where the beading started so I used the existing topic and didn't have to cast on and work the 10 rows of rib. Which is always nice.

I picked up the stitches and started the ankle. I didn't find the extra beads until I had already started so I had to cut the yarn, thread on the extra beads and then I started up again. I didn't think I would have enough beads, so I left off the first row of beads, which is a pity. Oh well.

Once I had knit the ankle down to the length I had removed it (I just looked at the existing sock to tell how far to go in the pattern), I use Kitchener stitch to attach the ankle to the foot that was awaiting on stitch holders. I was hoping to attach it on an all knit row, but too bad, I guess. It was on a row with knit and purl, which was easier to do than some other rows. So I had to do the Kitchener stitch backwards at times, but that wasn't too hard.

Once I had it all attached it looked like this. Not too bad, I don't think. Considering. The colors are a bit off because the original sock had been washed, but one wash and I don't think you will be able to tell. I am pretty pleased with my darn clever self.

(that's LnO: CI in the background)

In other worlds, yes, Lost kind of freaks me out. I like to watch an episode of Star Trek: TNG before we got to bed after lost. That always cheers me up. You know what else cheers me up? The Highlander series is available for instant view on Netflix!! So I am about 3 episodes into that. It is pretty bad - early 90s clothes, grainy filming, and bad acting - but I do love it so. Connor MacLeod reminds me so much of Booth, too. Weird. So I watch an episode of that sandwiching a billion episodes of Law and Order: Criminal Intent. Which I freakin' love. Goren and Eames are my favorites, but I worry that they will be gone. Season 6 started without half the cast from the previous 6 seasons and only 1 of their exists was explained. So weird. It isn't even mentioned.

I would just like to point out that when I saw Abe installing Linux, I told him he would be back on Windows in a week. Every 6 months to a year he switches to Linux and then gets all annoyed and switches back to Windows. He really should just listen to me. :)

Finally, here are some pics. This is a couple of doodles I did at work while waiting for meetings to start. They almost always start late for one reason or another and I am always there a little early because I don't want to be late. You think I would learn. I just really don't want to be late though. The other is the pencil I drew for the DinoVamp comic. As a side note, some day I will try to color it in photoshop, but I think I really suck at it. I did have fun with that comic.

Olympic Cardigan

So. I won gold. Check out the medal I won. :)

I like the color a lot and it is comfy other than being a little too short. I find myself pulling it down all day long. When I am not lazy, I will reblock the bottom half. It is not long enough and stretches enough to be as long as I want. Next time, I would also move the big cable towards the center 4-8 more stitches. It is nearly in the middle right now. I like the two cables together.

The other problem is that the sleeves are just a skitch too tight. They fit, I just have to pull the sleeve on a bit. The sleeves are also about half an inch too short.

I got the whole thing done in a week and 1 day (Edit - I mean 2 weeks and 1 day-der...). I think that is pretty good considering I took time out to draw and stuff. I knit more than usual, but not all the time. I didn't take it to work with me or anything. And I was getting all moody because I hadn't been drawing so after about 4 days I took most of a night off to draw. I am pretty please with myself.

So I guess I should take a picture of the shoulder since that was the whole point of the design. Der.

If you have noticed, there has not been much drawing action and that is because I have been practicing inking and that has been involving pencils that I did not draw. If I want to post them, I have to ask the penciller. Which I do not look forward to. Though, I have to say, inking them has been super super fun. I did a Rocketeer and Hellboy. I think they turned out pretty well. And I had so so so much fun. I do have some inks of my own pencils, but they are not as good. I need really tight pencils and I have no idea what I am doing, so I better get practicing drawing tight pencils. Abe and I have a great idea for a way to practice writing and drawing. I think it will be really fun.

Knitting goals

Abe made his list of games that he started and never finished, so here is mine. It is all the knitting projects I have that are waiting for me. Don't be scared. I haven't even started some, but know exactly what I plan to do with the yarn.

1. First, I will list the one I already finished my Knitting Olympics cardigan. The sleeves are a bit tight, but other than that it turned out well. I might add reinforcing ribbon to the button bands, though. I will try to get picture up on Friday.
   
   
2. Stochastic blanket-for us-my pattern: this is a blanket I am making from all the left over Lion Brand Homespun yarn I have. I ask Abe for a number between 1 and 10 and grab a ball out of the bag. I am knitting it from the center. I have no idea who long it will take to knit this or how large it is, so I have no idea how far I am.
   
   
3. fingerless cable gloves-Abe-0%-my pattern: I have not started these, but I am really excited to. These will be my own pattern. Tweedy sock yarn from Knit Picks.
   
   
4. Striped gloves-for me-50%-Knitting and tea: I have one done but it was so fiddly I haven't had the energy to do the second. But it was mentioned on the Mason-Dixon blog, so now I have to finish. I might even fix the one finger that is the wrong length (too long).


5. Tidings of Joy-for us-0%-Knit Picks kit (no longer available): This is the Xmas ornament kit from Knit Picks. I have a number of them done, but I forgot to take pics or anything. I will work on these again next fall. I think I have done the candy cane, plum, cheery, and hat. Maybe another one. That leaves a lot to do though.
   
   
6. Nautie-75%-Knitty: This is a little snail toy. It is fun to knit. I am not sure why I have't finished it yet.


7. Tawashis: This is only sort of a project. I have a book and crochet hook and the yarn. I can make whatever I want. But the book is in Japanese, so when I get stuck, I am just stuck. I suppose I could ask on the Tawashi group on Ravelry.


8. Green Cable socks-for me-1%-my pattern: I started these at the M1 retreat a year and a half ago. I should probably finish these. But I can't use the needles they are on. Metal dpns. They really hurt my fingers. I love the colorway. It is XXL Trekking yarn. I had to try it because the Yarn Harlot raves about it all the time.


9. Cashmere Scarf-for me-25%-LYS Tour pattern: This pattern is from the first year that I did the LYS Tour. It is fun to work, but it is a fuzzy cashemere so I can't work on it when my hands are sweaty and that means working on it in the dead of winter, which we have not had this year.


10. Handspun Sailor Scarf-50%-my pattern: I had a dream of a scarf so I spun up some yarn and dyed it. Now it is in the knitting stage. I don't really like it, but maybe I will write up the pattern or something because other people might like it. It is a little weird. Maybe I won't.


11. Little girl's hat-30%-my pattern: My original plan was to make this for my cousin Jenny's kids, but I think I am taking too long and it won't fit by the time I get it to them. Oh well. I will save it for the next person who has a girl. It is green and yellow and pink and my own pattern. Double knit. Sort of fair isle-y.


12. Garden Daze-50%-RSC2009: Sorry to say, my least favorite colorway and pattern from RSC 2009. I knit the one and really didn't like it, so it is sitting.


13. Black Shrug-for me-50%-One Skein Shrug: I bought the One Skein Wonder shrug pattern from Stefanie Japel and this is a modified version with lace on the sleeves and a small lace pattern on the back. I like it but the sleeves are annoying me. I should finish it for this summer though.


14. Blue/Black Blanket-for us?-25%-some internet pattern: This was going to be a gift - 4+ years ago. I think I will just keep it for myself now. There was a pillow to go with it, but I started this when I didn't know much about knitting so the guage is WAY off.


15. Frozen Margarita socks-Mom?-0%-Tsock: Kit from 2008 Tsock clob. Not a fan. I might make these for my mom. Maybe this is what I will take on my vacation. Maybe not.


16. b/w long sleeve shrug-for me-1%-my pattern: I am excited for this to be done. But I only have about 2 inches and I don't remember what size needles I was using. For lace yarn. I think it was a 0. I took them out to use for another project. I just wanted something to give me long sleeves without having to wear a whole second shirt.


17. Ganomy Green-Abe-0% (ripped)-Elizabeth Zimmerman (EZ) pattern: Abe's hat. I started it and it was too small. I had to adjust the pattern because I am using sock weight yarn. It will look awesome when it is done, but I had to rip out and I will need to cast on more stitches next time. I already wrote down my notes for the changes. I just need to unkink the yarn I used already.


18. Blue slippers-for me-25%-my pattern: This is a dumb project. Worsted to Bulky weight acrylic yarn on large needles, but too small for the yarn. I just don't know what else to do with this yarn. Lion Brand Jiffy.


19. Cowboy boot socks-for mom or Carol-1%-Tsock: another 2008 Tsock club kit. Meh. Another pair I won't wear. Maybe I will make them for my mom or my aunt Carol. My mom's feet are a little bigger than mine and my aunt Carol's are a little or a lot smaller, I am not sure.


20. Random Baby Blanket-my pattern: I started this when I was working at my last job, I think. Anyways. I am not that far. I think it might have been for one of my cousins and I am less than a foot in. I don't know what to do with it. Maybe I will knit it up and donate it. Or save it for the next babyshower.


21. Nite Owl Cardi-for me-0%-my pattern: This is my own project. I really want to make a cardigan that looks like Nite Owl from Watchmen. I got some sock yarn in a good color from Knit Picks. I just need to come up with the "feather" stitch pattern. This is going to be a tricky cardigan to make.


22. Handknit Fliptop Mitts-for me-50%-based on some pattern: These are going to look great when I finish them. It is from my own handspun. I just need to get working on them. I think I am over or about half done.


23. Squid-for me-0%-print out: I got this in one of the Harry Potter things I did. It is all the yarn and the pattern I need to make a squid toy. So funny. I look forward to it.


24. Some hat-for me-0%-my pattern: I don't know what to call it. This is my own pattern and I have done some drawings for it. I just need to do it. This is one I plan to write the pattern for and either submit it to a magazine like Twist Collective or just sell on Etsy and Ravelry.


25. War of Roses socks-for me-5%-Tsock: Another 2008 Tsock club kit. I actually like this one. It is a bit tricky with some intarsia on the toe, but I can't wait to knit it up. Unfortnuately, she is stuck in the 80s because the socks are reversed colors. I am not sure if there is enough yarn to knit both in the same colors.


26. Firebird socks-for me-0% (ripped)-Tsock: Another 2008 Tsock Club kit. I like these ones too. But I did such a bad job the first time that I just ripped it out. So I will start these again sometime. I look forward to them. It is a mix of lace and embroidery to get an awesome firebird effect. Though with the right yarn, these could make some pretty wicked peacock socks. I would like to try that sometime. :)


27. Tsuspense socks-10%-Tsock: Yes another 2008 Tsock Club kit. Not a fan. Rainbow colors. Hearts and happiness. Again, reminds me of the 80s. The cool part was that each kit, she sent one color for the socks, hence the suspense. And she started at the heel.


28. Frenchman's Creek socks-for me-0%-Tsock: The last pair of 2008 Tsock Club kit that I will list. I kind of like these. But they have a giant lacy top. That might look okay with my Mini Gorgeous shoes, though. If I can wear pink socks (Cascadia RSC) with them, I can wear froofy lace.


29. Xmas hat-for us-0%-my pattern: This is some nice Lion Brand Wool yarn in xmas colors. I am going to do stripes. Long and pointy with a pom pom. Maybe Next fall.


30. Another Xmas hat-for us-0%-my pattern: This is acrylic yarn in a cool tweedy color. Not sue what my plans are with this.


31. Blue Ganomy-for me-0%-EZ pattern: This is for me from some Spin Cycle Blue alpaca and some handspun by me in black alpaca. Single ply. I don't know if my handspun is turning out ok. :(


32. Dragonfly bag-50+%-my pattern: I am not sure what to do with this. I guess I will finish it and felt it and make it a gift for someone. Or sell it on Etsy if it turn out nice.


33. Curtain-for us-not far-my pattern: Oh yes, this is from the pound skeins of acrylic in a boucle green and yellow. I want to make curtains. We'll see. That is a big project.It is cast on, but I have forgotten the lace patterns and I don't know if I wrote it down anywhere.


34. Corrie Vest-for me-40%-Knit Picks Kit: This is my current project. A $13 kit with 8 balls of yarn. Fair Isle. I am working on the underbust rows right now. I like it a lot. Though I am worried because I read that it sags a lot over the course of a day. It also has a steek, which I have never done before. That involves knitting it flat and then cutting it. You can sew on either side of the cut if you are worried it will come apart, but if you use wool, that is unlikely, I hear.


35. Netted socks-for me-0%-RSC 2009 kit: I love this color way. Not a big fan of the pattern yet, but that is just by looking at it. It looks loose, which I don't like in my socks. But that is one of the next things I want to knit. Now that I have awesome shoes to wear my handknit socks with, I am really excited to knit tons of cool socks.


36. Raven Swirl Socks-for me-0%-RSC 2009 kit: I am really looking forward to making these too. Cookie A socks. How could I not?


37. Noro Gaia II-for me-0%-shawl: I got some more Noro Kureyon sock yarn to make a lighter version of the Gaia shawl I already have. I wear the current one all the time.


38. Noro cowl-for me-0%-my pattern: This is going to be inspired by the Gaia shawl. I might do a feather and fan thing with a row of stockinetter and a row of lace. We'll see.I want it to be long enough to pull over my head, too.


39. Brown Socks-Abe-55%-my pattern: I have one done and the toe of the second. When I am done with the corrie vest, I should probably finish these before I lose them. They are just so frickin' big. And on US0 needles. Doh. I am dumb. But I didn't want teh fabric to be too loose. Anything large was too loose for my taste. Self pattering sock yarn. They won't really go with Abe's new shoes, I don't think. But he can wear pants.


40. Queen of Beads-for me-75%-RSC 2009 kit. This was the first kit from last year, but Nisa ate the top of one. I just need to cut off the top of that one, re knit it and sew that bad boy on. These are a great pair of socks, so I am looking forward to being able to wear them again. I will try to get good pics documenting this process. I should do it after Abe's sock. Maybe before. They are just going to be one of the fastest projects to complete.


41. Laminaria shawl-for me-0%-Knitty pattern: I have some green Sanguine Gryphon lace yarn I want to make this pattern with. I got it on the M1 retreat.


42. black shawl-for me-0%-Knitted Lace of Estonia: I just want to make any shawl from that book using this great Malabrigo lace skein.


43. Featherweight Cardi-for me-0%: I am not sure which pattern to use yet. I just happen to have some fine cashmere yarn, probably lace weight or finer, that I want to make a cardigan out of. There is the Featherweight cardigan and I got an interweave magazine with a great one in it, too. I have brown, white, and blue, so I could make both and still have some left over.


44. Lenore socks-0%-BlueMoon pattern: I have the yarn but I still need to buy the pattern. The pattern is only $6, or so, so that is not a big deal.

In addition, I have, but can't find right now, Viper Pilot Socks (which I love, they just take a lot of concentration, it seems), Tree of Life Blanket (which I messed up so I have to rip back a bit), Abe's Linux Penguin mittens, a green shrug (though I don't like it very much), a crocheted kitchen towel (from the LYS Tour 2008), cabled purse (which is really already knitted, it just needs to be sewn together and given a liner), Ravenclaw Quidditch Socks (which are too short, so I need to rip out the CO on the one I made and add another brown and blue stripe), Laundry basket (though this plan might not pan out - too floppy), Who dog sweaters (#1 and #2 as in Cat in the Hat), Unlucky Wrap (which was my practice olympic knitting for the summer olympics and I failed miserably), and Ravenclaw socks (I have one done, and they are pretty nice, but it is my pattern). These are all listed in my Ravelry projects, but they are not in my yarn closet, which I just cleaned. I guess I better clean my old yarn closet and see if they are in there.

And you know what. I also want to make the Andrea shawl and mitts, which I have nothing for. They are available from Knit Picks. The patterns by that lady are awesome, though I am pretty sure I have mentioned that already, now that I write it. I think I have enough knitting to get me through they year...Plus I have all the RSC kits that will come ever two months. I should get another one at the end of this month. And the come with two patterns, so I will want to spend and extra $20 for a skein to make the second pattern. I have decided to go with Monsoon for Flabella, January's second pattern. (Or, while posting these pictures, I found that somewhere I have a skein of M1 Retreat yarn. I might be able to use that.)

So you might think that if I do all this, I will use up all my yarn, but I still have three bins of yarn not used by these projects plus a bunch or roving to spin up. So I am trying to go on a yarn diet and use up all my yarn. Which now is a good time since Abe is still looking for a job. I guess instead of buying up blue moon yarn to make the second pattern, I should use sock yarn I already own.