The tank is done!

See, here's a headless me to prove it! Too bad the blasted thing decided to pooch out in a couple of awkward places. Now it can be thrown into the bottomless closet of doom!
















Went to the family reunion. Was told that my attendance was 'mandatory' since one of my grandmothers was supposed to be there. Key words = supposed to be. Guess where she was. Not at the reunion. She went to Tennessee. Argh! Still, I guess it was okay. I saw some other family members (also not at the reunion), spent some time outside of work with Mom and Pop.

This coming weekend, though, I am not making plans!!!!! Hey, Ames. Our weekly ritual does not count as plans unless it can get us out of some other obligation lol.


Here's a photo of my current project. It (hopefully) will be a shawl. Yes, this is what most of my projects look like in the beginning. Only not quite as neat. Yes, there are two balls of yarn in a 'yarn bra'. (I did not name the thing, I swear!)

This shawl is the Forget-Me-Not Shawl over on Elann's site in the free pattern section. I hope I'm up for the challenge. I'm currently on attempt #3.

Attempt #1 was frogged due to my inability to count.

Attempt #2 was going well until I got to the second pattern row (row 11 I think) when a simple yarn over made me have a headdesk moment. Did I mention that this was after I forgot how to do my decreases and had to look them up on KnittingHelp, then remember how to properly reverse them to suit my knitting style.

And, before I got to the pattern rows on attempt #3, I had the bright idea to look at the written pattern (since I learned to reverse decreases on the written patterns) and compare it to the chart to see if I needed to change things up in the chart.

I think this is part of the reason I have trouble knitting something *exactly* to pattern. I always, always have to change something. Ask Ames. She's dealt with me and patterns before.

So, needless to say, I'm pretty sure that the tapestry that I'm doing has to be frogged and restarted as well because I did the decreases in the wrong flipping direction. Yes, it matters. Well, it does to me.

I'm going to go forage for chocolate now....

Shawl n Crawl

Firstly, I finished a shawl! It's the Luna Moth shawl and I really want to make another one, but in a different color. This one is going to be a Christmas gift for one of my grandmothers. She requested one and survey says that she'll like it. Cross your fingers...















Secondly, Ames and I went on a yarn crawl today. We had funds, a full tank of gas, no a/c, polar pops, and a fistful of directions. Believe it or not, we found our way to the first stop with no problems. No wrong turns, either!


See, we even have photos with some of our yarn cakes.









The owner of Clementine's was kind enough to let us know that what we had planned on as our second stop no longer existed, and printed out some directions for us to a different place instead.

Third stop: Mass Ave. Knit Shop! I had been here before, but it was Ames' first time. She reacted much the same as I did when we walked in. Which was to stop, gape, and absorb the atmosphere. Sometime during our perusal, the rest of the road trip just kind of ... disappeared. But, neither of us were disappointed with that fact. We spent several happy hours petting yarn, picking brains, concocting patterns, and yarny goodness! I even tried my hand at making yarn cakes with my purchases:










The cakes you see in front of me were wound by me, with one exception. Don't ask which one because I honestly don't remember.










Behind me, you'll see Dru hamming it up as well. (Forgive me if my spelling is off, Dru!)
















And then, much later in the afternoon, we decided it was time to take our new stuff home and introduce it all to its new friends in our stashes. Of course, it's all clamoring to be used right now but I shall be strong and finish the buddy tank first!

(Oh, and you can see my new, much shorter 'do as well.)

Intermission

I may have to *gasp* take a break from knitting. Or get a hand masseuse. But I really want to finish the eleventy billion projects I have around the room. Honest!

OH once suggested that I need another hobby. After my incredulous look, he hastened to clarify that I needed another hobby that wasn't knitting related. Doesn't that constitute heresy or something? Of course, then I turned him into my human swift for a while and he didn't mention it again.

What all do I have on the needles today, you ask? Well, I'm so glad you did ask. I have:

1. A hat for Pop (probably for xmas) over halfway finished.
2. Wristwarmers/cuffs for a cousin of mine (barely started).
3. Tank top (buddy knit with Ames) small amount finished so far.
4. A swatch/tapestry that I'm designing (roughly a quarter finished).
5. A shawl (Luna Moth Shawl) that is over halfway completed.
6. Another shawl (Kiri) that's been hibernating for a while now.
7. A scarf (Candle Flame Scarf) that's hiding out in one of the knitting bags.
8. A blanket/throw for an uncle. He's been patiently waiting for this thing for over 2 years.
9. Two! baby blankets that need sewn together.

And that's just off the top of my head. That also doesn't count all the things I want to make. I think I'll save that list for another post.

I'm going to go eat more chocolate now, I think.