Neither Hip Nor Funky

I’ve been finishing up all the presents that I need to take to NC with me when I leave for vacation tomorrow. I made this little tank for niece.

Pattern: Monica

Yarn: Knit Picks Shine Sport in Butter(2 skeins) and Apricot (1 skein)

Needles: Addi turbos US5

I knit up a size due to using a thinner yarn. Like many others, I also converted it to knit in the round, and I made the straps a bit shorter due to garter stitch’s tendency to stretch lengthwise. The pattern ruffle is made up of twice the number of stitches as the body. I made a less flouncy ruffle with only 50% more stitches than the number of body stitches.

Quick and Easy. A nice, summer beach top

I knit this up quickly and quietly a couple weeks ago, but I just hadn’t gotten around to getting my photographer to help me with a couple photos.

So I now present this little knit to tide us all over until I finish up some of those WIPs.

Pattern: Zeebee

Yarn: Knit Picks Memories in Fly Fishing

Needles: Addi turbos US2

I finished this in just a couple days. It was addicting. I put it on the needles, and all I wanted to do after that was garter stitch short rows. The pattern is a great little formula that will work with any weight yarn; you just insert your gauge number and desired size take off from there.

I am overly paranoid about using non superwash yarn for my socks, so I was excited to see another great way to use this variegated, fingering weight yarn. I was inspired by Rodger’s short row hat to make this one. I would change it up a little bit if I knit another one, following Rodger’s recommendation to work eight sets of the short rows instead of four, wrapping two stitches at once. This way it would mimic the traditional eight sets decreases at the top of most hats and make it a little less square on top.

No problem with this one, though, and I love the wedges formed by the colors at the top of the hat.

It is not a style of hat that I will wear often, but it will be a great soft cap to wear while camping.

Koigu KPM # 1201

Behind the scenes moment:

I originally tried for a lemonade set up, with the yarn in one glass and the lemonade in the other. However, since we normally get a organic, natural lemonade, the lemonade was much lighter in color, almost clear. So…….many of you can see this coming…….I used food coloring. Um, it turned the lemonade a radioactive shade which looked like it would give me superpowers for drinking it.

Going with the painting was a much better idea.

The stag is back.  I’ve redone the edges with a smaller chevron.  The pre-blocking measurement is now at a little under 13 inches, as opposed to over 15 inches….much better.

Monica for my niece, in Knit Picks Shine sport.

Glee, finally past the split for the arms

Salina, in Rowan Felted Tweed in Herb

Retro Rib in Fleece Artist Sea Wool, Undulating Rib in Socks that Rock (Both from Favorite Socks), Vinnland in Lisa Souza Sock

*Remember that part in Dumbo with the trippy, psychadelic and rather stressful sequence with the color changing elephants that multiply.  Yup, my WIP list is a bit like that right now.  I can’t settle on a project, so I keep casting on.

To distract from the lack of knitting and my forgetting YPF last Friday, here is some Fiberlicious fun. It’s some Wollmeise courtesy of Kristy being completely amazing and sending me her leftovers. The deep colors make me drool. I’m not sure yet what I will be making yet, but with 67 grams leftover, I have some options. The droolworthy yarn is pictured with some of P-funk’s homemade maraschino cherries, also droolworthy.

I am knitting, but I don’t have that one project that I am in love with right now. The stag was that project, but he has been put in time out for being to big a stag…that stud. Thanks for all your suggestions on how to fix the size issue. I have heard to many horror stories about trying the shrinking in the dryer, and I don’t think that it will shrink up enough with regular blocking. I’ve decided to rip back and do a half-size chevron on each edge. It didn’t take me too long to do the chevrons, so I am really just procrastinating the ripping and winding of the yarn.

Other than that, there are 3 socks, and then there’s Glee, still slogging along. (I’ll try to give you some WIP it Wednesday pics.)

Maybe this lovely yarn and my recent Koigu purchase from Lint will motivate me. (For Portland people, they are at 30% for their closing sale right now. I always feel a little bad buying things at closing sales for some reason, even though I know that they need to clear out stock.) Or maybe that swatch I made for Salina will take off and become my new love. I’m sure a project will catch my obsessive love soon.

At least, I hope so because I am surrounded by discounted yarn now. “How?” you ask. Well, I am now working part time at Abundant Yarn and its cafe. Hmmm, a job with yarn discounts….now that I can handle. The stock had been getting a little low a few months ago, but they are really bringing in tons of new yarn now. I’m in love and want to roll in all of it. Stop by and visit me….you can interrupt my yarn rolling if you must.

So now my job situation is half solved. I’m still looking for some part time jobs that will use my masters degree, but I think that it might be healthier for me overall to only have my foot halfway in the social work field. That way my other half can hang out with the yarn.