I'd love to go with you...But I'm bringing my Knitting!

Woe is me.....I am just about the most boring person on weekends and prefer to use up every single minute of this free time to knit & crochet my little(big) heart out. This weekend I am going to stay at my good(best) friend BCB's Dad's house with her to celebrate(drink) his birthday. While I am so so so so so excited about this little excursion there is a voice in the back of my mind saying, "When will you knit Claire? Will you have plenty of time to knit?". Luckily BCB understands(accepts) my crafty obsession to the extent that she will ooh and aah while I show her my latest 12 active projects and even plays along when I tell her to stroke the wool. (Even giving me a obligatory "wow it's so soft"-which in turn makes me sigh with a grin & remember why she's my favourite friend) In addition to my overnight bag which includes the "necessities" like undies, toothbrush, etc., I am bringing my jumbo Lexie Barnes bag which I am already stuffing to the brim with multiple projects, extra wool, needles, notions, etc. Packing this back is a stress in itself because what if I forget something vital? No stitch markers? The horror! Yes, I would bounce back and use some scrap yarn in lieu of the bright plastic rings but the initial shock of realizing I'd forgotten something could be enough to damage me forever. It'll be alright....I can do it. I can be normal. eheheh. We'll see about that. In other news...I finished something!!! WOOOOOO HOOOOO!!! May I present Clacker's Calorimetry (sans button because well....I wouldn't be me if I had TRULY finished it)....

Sit up straight? I prefer to slouch....

I love when knitting turns out the way I hope it will. This pattern is an example of that lovely feeling. Wendy from knitandtonic.....I bow to you for bringing me Le Slouch. It is so much fun to knit and this wool choice is superb. Although I must admit the thin parts of this thick and thin yarn have me gritting my teeth on occasion. Some of it is so thin that I'm afraid to knit the stitch for fear I'll snap it. No breaks yet though so I guess that means I'm learning to loosen up my death hold on the needles. I'm knitting it in the round on a 16" circ instead of dpns which helps. I love circular needles and will probably start using them exclusively in lieu of straights at some point in the near future. My tension is a lot better on them (rusted root doesn't count) and my hands/arms don't hurt as much as they do when using straight needles. Now, if I would just win the lottery so I can buy every size circular Addi Turbo has to offer, I will be a happy happy girl.

Silly Silly Girl

I was reminded of something last night. Knitting by the light of the TV while drinking wine do not mix well. I had started to feel very comfortable with knitting the Chevron scarf so of course why would insufficient light and inebriation bother me? I'm a master knitter I can knit under any circumstances!! BAH!!! My having to frog several rows of the Chevron is proof of how untrue that statement is. I'll never learn.

I'm melting

It was really really hot today. 116 degrees. I think there must have been some humidity too because my sinuses were killing me. It's miserable when it's this hot. I don't have the energy to knit. The chevron scarf is all that I can manage because there's not much thought to it. I finished my rusted root except for the ribbing around the neckline and sleeves. It's too small. I tried it on and I thought my lungs were going to collapse. It was THAT tiny. I know I'm a tight knitter but come on!! I must have a death grip on those needles! I'm hoping I can block it and make it grow. A lot. It's so damn cute and I can already envision it paired with several different pairs of pants I have. I'm almost finished with the Ribby Shell so as long as I don't sabotage that one as well then maybe I'll get to wear it. Fingers crossed.

Orangina Progress

This is a really simple 4-row lace pattern. I haven't screwed up many times. The only thing is that it's taking me a long time to get anywhere. I only do a few rows at a time because when I knit lace patterns I tend to tense up my hands and fingers. So they poop out pretty quickly. The picture sucks because my digital camera is broken so I had to use my cellphone. It really is a beautiful colour and I can't wait to wear it when (if) I finish it.

Harrrrumph!!!!

I'm getting ready to rip back my Rusted Root for the 3rd and hopefully last time. I realized that I was doing one of the sleeve increases in the wrong spot. I thought it was looking a bit wonky and kept telling myself to trust the pattern. Absolutely the pattern can be trusted. I on the other hand, can not. Tuna would tell me just to leave it because "No one will notice". He will never understand. Poor thing.

Stop Surfing and Start Knitting!!

I've been awake for an hour now and have been drinking my coffee and reading knitting blogs. Dreamily gazing at everyone's fabulous projects. Trying to forget about the fact that I have 15+ projects in the works. Currently I can think of 3 that are intimidating the crap out of me.

1. Ribby Shell from Chicknits - I diligently did 2x2 ribbing on this blasted thing for 13 inches. I compare that type of knitting to listening to my Mother-in-Law talk about her hip surgery and the resulting bone shard from her femur. Not that I'm not concerned. I truly am. However, after the 1st listen it gets super old. The new joke with Tuna and I is to use the phrase "I have a shard" whenever we can. It makes us laugh way more than it probably should. Anywhoooo, after almost poking my eyes out to alleviate the boredom, I have split the front and back and have reached the shoulder shaping on the back. It seems I have come to a part of the pattern that is in a language unknown to me. What I really mean by that is I have no *!&$^% clue what this part of the pattern is talking about. Am I retarded? Am I missing a certain part of my brain that I can't understand what dear ol' Bonnie Marie Burns is referring to when she simply states "bind off 6 sts once then 7 sts once then 7 sts once. Finish Row". Excuse me, WHAT??? After reading this "instruction" 5+ times, I calmly put the shell aside and muttered numerous swear words under my breath. Then I started a new project to make myself feel better.

2. Back to School Vest from Fitted Knits - Damn it I love this book. Ms. Japel's patterns have always made me a bit giddy. She is incredibly talented and I wish wish wish I had even an iota of her skill. Almost finished with this knit and I came to realize that my wishing didn't come true. I'm supposed to have a certain number of sts on my needle so I begin to count them with a whir of excitement in my belly because I just know I'll have the right number. Oh Holy hell....she says I should have 16 but my count stops at 14. Count again...I must have skipped a few numbers. Nooooooooooooooooo. 14 it is. I have screwed up. Will I notice if one strap isn't as wide as the other? Of course I'll notice. I have to frog back to where I bound off for the neck. I am terrified to perform this act. I will put this project in the closet and not visit it again until I feel capable. That was 2 weeks ago and I have pulled the vest out of the closet several times. Only to stroke it lovingly a bit and then weep and put it back in the closet. In classic Me style, I start a new project to make myself feel competent.

3. Rusted Root from Zephyr Style - I cast on for this a few nights ago. It scares me and I haven't even screwed up yet (I don't think so anyway).

Danica

Oh Danica....how lovely you are. I will miss you so much when I finally get around to mailing you to Sissy. I can only hope she will appreciate your beauty as much as I do. Be assured that if she doesn't wear you everyday, I will bring you home. You will not be an only child. I am in the process of knitting you a sister. But she's staying with me.

Why is this so hard?

I'm trying to set up this blog and had no idea I would find it this difficult. I see all these blogs out there on the web that look so great and would love to be able to make mine the same. Alas I have no patience for reading directions so I'm stuck with this generic looking blog for now. It's Saturday and I'm watching the time waste away. I woke up at 7am and it's 10am. Where does the time go? I'm waiting for Moo's friend to come and pick her up and then would like to devote most of my day to knitting. I'm still on painkillers from having my wisdom teeth removed so I'm a little distracted and am finding it hard to concentrate on doing only one thing at a time. I am hoping to correct the mistake I made on my first attempt at a pattern from my new favourite book, Fitted Knits. I was so proud of myself for getting as far as I had in the pattern and then felt extreme disgust with myself when I realized that I had screwed up. I calmly set the project aside and moved onto something else. I really need to pick it back up and correct the mistake so I can move on to hopefully finishing it today. I'm afraid of ripping back because I'm scared that I won't be able to correct it and then might possibly have a nervous breakdown over it. In the meantime I'm going to try to figure out how to post a link to my finished objects.