Everybody's gotta learn some time

As some of you may know, I make sock monkeys for a Charity based here in NYC. While this little hobby has provided countless hours of entertainment for my family (just think what a monkey tail between the legs looks like), it's also spawned a whole new creativity thing for me. So far my role within the charity has been limited to fundraising (making a selling the monkeys) and attending a board meeting or two, but last night I decided to take the plunge as see what the charity is really all about.

Up in the posher regions of the UES, on Park Avenue itself there is a women's shelter. Last night I helped to run a workshop to teach these women how to make monkeys. Now I know that some of you are probably thinking, "what the hell good is it to teach a homeless person how to make a freakin' sockmonkey", and I have to admit I was a little skeptical myself at first. Frankly I was downright terrified of how the idea and I would be received.

But these women were so friendly and attentive, creative and boisterous I had a whale of a time, a complete natural high. Of course I was saddened by the number of women with obvious disability and mental health issues, the women who could have been, should have been someone's granny. I'm supposed to help put every other Wednesday, but I have a feeling I'll be back there again next week.

If you knit it...

... they will procreate. Of course, I could have that the wrong way round but I'm pretty much sure my friends are having babies just so they too can have a handmade hoody extrodinaire. I'm sure word has spread of the wonderous baby gifts I will shower upon those with child and that's why just about everyone is getting busy at getting busy these past few months.

Yeah, that's gotta be it...

I think I confused myself

Remember when you were younger and for her birthday, you'd proudly present your mother with some crap or other made out of loo rolls and fluff? Well I suppose I'm a little past the kindergarten stage, but I'm hoping the "accept crud from off-spring" gene is still active in my mom:

I had such good intentions, but somehow they disappeared into a cloud of turd. Firtsly, the black baby cord I chose tore in a bazillion places after jamming my sewing machine with fluff prompting a complete remake using cotton fleece, and then the eyes and head were placed wonkily during a rather juicy conversation with my house mate.

*sigh*

I just hope she remembers she's a tarus and isn't totally confused by this. Oh bugger, I think I got that wrong too. Well it kind of looks like a bull in sheep's clothing, right?!?

The sound of silence

I can't even say this blogging hiatus has been filled with the clicking of needles since vintage unknown-plastic needles do not click. They do, however, let out the occasional squeak and that is a little disconcerting. I have the sleeve cap, seaming and the neck to go and I have a completed sweater. This may well be a record for me, a sweater in less than a month (try two days for the back, one each for the front and first arm, and one for the rest of the second and you'll soon realise how deep my obsession with this thing goes...)

But alas, visitors for the next week may well relegate this sweater to the back burner. But I will return, oh yes, I will return.

There is a reason for the terrible picture

Bright evening sunshine + I don't know how to work my camera(Lack of photoshop since computer died) = Doing my best in paintshop.

You know you love the way I just covered over the glare with a brown rectangle. Come on, you know you do...

After posting a long list of WIPs, I think I'm relegating them all to UFOs while I start yet another new project. It's just they way it goes, right? This is the back of the karabella Marble-Shawl sweater, except not in the lovely, expensive yarn but in a cheaper substitute. And when I say cheaper, I mean I turn into Storm after knitting for a couple of hours and start shooting electric-blue sparks out of my fingers.

I think I may have misjudged the ratio of acrylic to wool in this yarn and my nylon-y needles aren't helping much, but saying that the yarn does have lovely autumnal colouring (it's called vermont spun) and hopefully will produce a sweater which can be worn and washed with a higher frequency than the pricey karabella. There, I've successfully persuaded myself that acrylic rocks. Oh dear, oh dear.

The System is Down

My baby, my ever-faithful-yet-gimpy laptop has decided to go crazy, insisting that the shift keys are being pressed (even after surgical removal of said shift keys) and refusing to start up. It's two weeks til I get my interim laptop and I hope I can survive that long without my precious google to answer all my burning questions *sigh*

Lack of interweb initially meant that I could spend more time crafting instead of just plain reading about crafting, but in reality it meant a lot of half-assed attempts to finish up UFOs and start new projects. Currently in the works are:

1. Seaming and edging the brown Garn Studio cardigan. I'm sure I'm committing some kind of crochet-mortal sin when I say I'm actually sewing the seams by hand instead of using the crazy, ugly method given in the pattern. Sometimes the needle and silk really are mightier than the hook. One side is done, the other side is sneering at me from it's corner.
2. The frogging of two sweaters I bought for the yarn. OK, so I'm not that hard up for cash that I can't go out and buy yet more yarn to add to my burgeoning stash, but I thought that this whole process might actually be fun. Ha! The one sweater I'm frogging right now is not the worsted weight it purported to be but is in fact two very fine lace-weight strands knitted together which have an annoying tendancy to snap. Bad news for the sweater I was planning to make, good news for the socks I have no idea how to knit. The other sweater smells like old lady and is awaiting a quick spin in the washing machine where I will no doubt bleach the *beep* out of it, or shrink it or some other such nonsense.
3. I started a softie loosely based around the wee wonderful's wee bunny pattern, and the cute-face trash I found last week. But then I ran out of polyfil and steam and just thought it looked a little too weird, so it's languishing next to the half crocheted up cat that I think will soon be metamorphasising into a frog.

So that's why there's no show and tell, just some tell. Hopefully later in the week I can bring back some colour but right now words are all I have.