Life, the Universe (of Yarn) and Everything

Yes, I've been gone a while. No, I don't want to rehash it. Suffice it to say that it involved my Mom, the Hospital, Scalpels, Staples, and a lot of knuckle-gnawing. Things are better now and I want to share some of the nicer things that have happened in my absence from blogging. The first photo is a progress shot, badly taken, of my Coachella tank top. I'm loving the way the yarn is feeling. 65% silk, 35% bamboo. Yum! Oh! And it's on a cone, so very few tails to weave in due to not having to join a new ball of yarn! Win!

There's two stories to this picture...

I'm telling the funnier one here. That swirly knitting thing there is a hat, knitted in the round. But wait! you say. Doesn't knitting in the round use more than 3 needles or a circular needle or something?? Well...yes. Yes, it does. Usually. Unfortunately, the 4th needle for this hat kind of ... died.




Yes. Died. See this bent and twisty sad looking piece of metal? Yeah, that was my 4th needle. It got used for some ... repair work ... and didn't quite make it through alive. No, it can't be bent back into its original straight and pointy-ness. Trust me. I tried.


Oh, but the next picture cheered me up to no end! I kind of needed some S.E.X.
No, not that kind of sex. Stash Enhancing eXperience(s). So, I went online and got lured in to some sample packs of summer yarns. And then, Ames and I went on a Yarn Spree! This photo is a melding of the two experiences. No, I'm not telling how much I spent. But I did stay within the budget I set myself (somehow). Oh and some of the yarns aren't shown, but that's because they are duplicate cakes and one is being used for a "secret project."

The last photo is, I guess, my birthday gift to myself. A drafting table (that tilts!), a stool to sit on. 3 different types of drawing tablets (only one shown, but if you look in the bottom left corner you can see just a little bit of another one), and a whole lotta pencils! Colored pencils, drawing pencils, some charcoal sticks...

And, of course, I haven't had a chance to sit down and actually use any of it yet...

So, see. I haven't fallen completely off the face of the planet! I'm still around. Just doing a little more lurking that chatting.
:D

Love Bites Swap received!

I got my swap package Monday! Here's a phot of what she sent me! Some really great stuff in it. Great enough that I had to fight with Kitten to get to it.

There were some really cool dual-sided coasters that she made me.





And this little guy. I call him my 'date'. Unfortunately, Kitten thieved him away from me almost as I was taking this photo. There's a lot of other goodies, but these were some of the better photos.

So another big THANK YOU to my lovely swap partner! I love it all!

Shop, Swap, and Knit

No photos today. And some of the commentary might be vague and/or cryptic.

Koolhaas Update:

That demonic really cool hat that I talked about in the last post. Yeah, you know the one I'm talking about. Yeah, well, it's in the corner because after 2 more attempts, the yarn is screaming in pain, my finger refuses to cooperate with me, the cat is slightly more psychotic, and OH thinks I've been sampling too many yarn fumes. So it's going into the naughty pattern corner for now. I'll get back to it at some future date (preferably armed with um...something scary).

Back to our not-so-regularly scheduled post.

I finished the shawl I'd been working on (Foulard, pattern here) and am happy to report that the recipient absolutely loved it! Even her husband gave it good reviews, so 'scuse me while I do my little victory dance.

I also started on a Clapotis (affectionately renamed 'the clap'). So far, so good. I went downstairs a bit ago to give OH an update. Here's how the conversation went:

me: I'm almost ready to start on section 3 of the clap.
OH (absently): Yeah? I didn't know they had a program for that...

Beware trying to update anyone not familiar with your world, especially if you're not sure you have their complete attention or the WIP at hand. That was my funny for the day.

If you don't already know, I've signed up for two swaps! One is the Igor Thwap, which hath been very fun tho far, and I have to thtop getting thingth to put into it! My thpoilee ith ath exthited ath I am, I think. And yeth, we talk in Igor-thpeak. But we're Igorinath, so we don't always lithp.

The other is the Love Bites Swap, which is-in case you can't tell-vampire related goodies! It's also a secret swap. So, even though I've got lots of goodies ready, in progress, or on order, I can't share them just yet. But there's been some really cool ideas brought to my attention. I had to make myself stop buying and start assembling or else I wouldn't get it done and I would probably have to ship it in either a very large box or several smaller boxes.

I went shopping today to get some things for the swaps. I was trying to concentrate more on one than the other right now so that I can keep things straight. I'll get the other one bought next weekend. Ames, I really am sorry I wasn't much fun this trip. I could give you several excuses as to why, but neither of us really needs that, now, do we? Suffice it to say that I'm more or less better now.

I also have to put together the A/V portion of my group's presentation this weekend. I want to have it all done before Monday so I don't have to worry about it anymore.

Cookies and happies and warm toasties to you, my readers!

Post-Holiday Bare Bones Update

Okay, okay. I know I haven't posted in like 10 days. Do I get any points if I mention that I was dealing with (I think) _four_ Christmases, and none were in the same place?

Got lots of goodies. The only person to get me anything yarn-related that isn't a knitter was Mom. She got me a knitting loom and some notions and some tote bags. Hey, I never thought anyone actually listened when I griped about never having enough notions or bags to put projects in lol.

I have to work today *snarl* so I don't really have time to get photos uploaded properly. You'll just have to wait until next post.

In other news, I got my tour t-shirt from Kim Harrison recently. It's all I can do not to wear this shirt out! There were also some other goodies with it (b&w m&m's with White Witch and Black Curse printed on them, shoelaces with Once Dead, Twice Shy printed on them, and a packet of the Angel tomato seeds). If you haven't read Kim, then the last sentence probably doesn't make much sense.

Anyhoo, I'm off to do some pre-work chores.

Happy Recovery-from-the-holidays, everyone!

GIFTS!

Ames and I exchanged gifts today! See, we did but we didn't know what we were getting each other. Waaaaay back in August or something, she had the awesome idea that we could make each other "knitter's survival kits" for Christmas. So we did. And that was really all that was said about it at the time. We didn't set any limits (as far as I know anyway) and we really had to work on keeping our ideas and things secret. Which is kind of hard when you're buying stuff together. See that little purple bag under the L? We both bought that bag for each other. We actually agreed to get one for each other and change the inner contents. It was great fun to do. I think we're going to keep doing this for the holidays for each other. Does that mean we just started a tradition? Hmm.

So, to list all the spiffy notions and everything:
Photo 1:
The bag everything was in (Stoplight red with orange interior and scads of little pockets inside! The perfect sizes to hold needles and notions and even the keys on an attached lanyard.)

Photo 2:
(Clockwise from top)

A handmade yarn cake holder in green (sitting atop my niftiful card)
Size US 6 dpns
My awesome crocheted "LISHY"
A toolbox filled with more notions (listed below)
Size US 2 14" Straight needles
The purple bag filled with Hersheys Bliss (w/ almonds)
A ball of Patons' Classic Merino in colorway Palais

Photo 3:
(On the lid)

Straight Magnets
Stitch holder
Cable Needle

(In the compartments, Top Row and Large Compartments)

Measuring Tape and Thimble
Scissors, Row Counter, and Stitch Markers
Hand Lotion
Assorted Sewing Needles

(Bottom Row)

Needle Coils
Sweater Needle Holders
Assorted straight pins, safety pins, and buttons


Is this not the coolest gift or what???

If you want to see Ames' goodies (as in her gift, get yer head outta the gutter, you!), check out her blog. I'm sure she'll post it soon ::grins::