Innie or Outie?

I've read around and about the place that people are sensing a general leaning towards only showing finished objects on knit blogs. My personal belief is that hell, it's the holiday season and everything we're frantically knitting is kind of a piddly little project that only take as couple of nights. Like these.

Pattern: Urban Necessity Gloves by Colleen Michele Meagher, Magknits Sept '05.
Yarn & Needles: Cascade 220, 8886 (purple), 1 skein. The pattern says you need two, I say the pattern is wrong. I used 4mm dpns because I have lost every other set out of the about 5 that I bought from Knitpicks. I am atrocious.
Modifications/Gripes: None really to speak of except about the recipient, my sister. When I ask for measurements it's because I actually want to make something that is custom fitted that you will enjoy wearing, not because I am some evil terrible woman who must know every dimension of your anatomy in order to take over the world. Harrumph. By the way, they fit me so if the do end up being too big as I suspect they will, mail 'em back will ya.

But in the spirit of showing the WIPs, here's a little something I cabled without a cable needle at about midnight last night...

The embryonic beginnings of Coronet with the extra skein of Cascade that I thought I'd need for the mittens. I have plans to tweak the pattern, most because of the dpn "issue" I'm having, but also to include a liner or band of cotton/silk (left over skein of Cathay from Picovoli) to decrease the itch factor across the forehead. I'm not even bothering to ask for head circumference on this one since the flurry of Facebook messages in which I don't actually get the measurements I need will just piss me off. If it's too small for my enormous head it should fit her!

Saturation Point

I'm not buying any more yarn. Nope, none, no more. I may be a little late to the party but I'm thinking 2008 will be the year of stash knitting. For those of you on Ravelry I can tell you right now that my stash page... it's not even half of it.

Yes, yes I've been picking away at the sock yarn, weeding out the not so nice. And I have made a couple of things out of leftover, odd skeins of this and that. But I'm talking having enough yarn to knit at least 10 sweaters, 15 pairs of socks, one lace shawl and about a squillion baby doodads. It has to stop.

I have actually reached saturation point.

So my pledge to you (yes all of you) is that I will not buy anymore yarn until I have knit, um, stuff. Feeble, I know.

The times they are a changing

Remember this?

The same woman just returned home from Germany with two balls of sock yarn and enough bamboo yarn for a sweater. For me. As a souvenir.

I WIN!

7 Squared

7 x 7" x 9"

Delivered to Patricia's Yarns this afternoon. Two stash balls, down about a million to go :)

Loose Ends

A scrappy post in which I dazzle you with my startitis skills while not actually finishing anything (well, except the baby gifts...)

This weekend was Tawana's baby shower, hosted by the lovely Penelope in Something-or-Other Hill in Brooklyn. T'was a lot of fun with tasty food, yummy hot chocolates and even a mini-yarn crawl! My gifts... A burp cloth/wash cloth and a little cotton hat. I have never knitted something so steeped in girlyness in my entire life.

And look! A Snicket! This was finished off in record time on trains and in restaurants. The second has not yet been cast on. Why, you ask?

Because look! A flip top mitten! Made with Cascade 220 bought from Knit Away during the baby shower/yarn crawl and knitted on a very lazy Sunday while recovering from an excess of gin and tonic (ahem). My sister-of-the-midget-hands is not responding to my pleas for measurements (thumb and middle finger to base of palm) and so the project has stalled with one completed mitten. Crappy picture courtesy of the grey Manhattan morning...


And finally (finally!!) while I was looking through my blogs yesterday I came across a plea from Margaux over at TenTenKnits for help knitting "squares" (actually 7" x 9") for a charity blanket to help raise money for the Hoboken Annual Homeless Shelter Benefit.


Have superwash wool, must knit! My very first home on the East Coast was in Hoboken, it's a lovely little town. But after having volunteered at a women's homeless shelter here on the Upper East Side I am keenly aware of a whole subsection of the community that goes largely unnoticed by the general population. Homeless shelters do wonderful work and I am happy to help out in anyway I can. I'll be making a trip over to Hoboken this weekend if anyone else would care to join me, square in hand!

Amongst other things

I think I have a problem. The first step in tackling the problem is to own up to it. I'm addicted to socks.


What was I thinking? This is handwash people, handwash! And if that wasn't bad enough I'm cabling without a cable needle again despite the damage it does to my hands. But addicts make good liars. Especially to ourselves.


So I'll keep knitting despite the pain, despite the impracticality of the results.


Because my name is Misplacedpom, and I am a sock addict. Amongst other things.

Snicket, 60 stitches on US1s, Knit Picks Gloss.

It's not you, it's me

Honestly there is no reason why my knitting skills should completely fail me during the knitting of this hat. But none the less massive ripping and re-knitting, and ripping and re-knitting, and then ripping some more finally lead me to believe that this hat and I were just not meant to be friends.

But I persevered. And I'm glad I did. because even with the one missing row that slightly stuffs up the pattern, this is a good hat.

Pattern: Koolhaas by Jared Flood, Interweave Knits Holiday Gifts 2007.
Yarn & Needles: Knit picks merino style Frost, just over 1 ball. Leftovers from Alice.

It's my birthday....

... and I'll eff up my hat if I want to!

Koolhaas is kicking my newly aged butt. I reknit the top couple of inches at least three times last night and am still not ready to do the decreases. GAH! And I noticed a mistake somewhere in the third pattern repeat. DOUBLE GAH!

KoolhOWs

Did anyone else notice that it got a tit nippley outside? (Expression courtesy of Ali G.) The sudden shift in weather rather rudely reminded me that I hadn't managed during the balmy summer months to replace the Odessa that I loved and lost last winter, the one that graces my noggin in my profile picture up there. I was sad at the time, but honestly who doesn't revel in an excuse to knit?
Koolhaas (ravelry) is a very pretty pattern and not overly complicated despite the myriad of cables and twisted stitches. But boy does it wreak havoc on my poor joints! There really is no option but to cable without a cable needle and the intense gripping required for said action just about shot my hands last night.

But it is pretty. And we all make sacrifices for the pretty. Kind of like this:
Just to see if it fits ;)

Mitts are done!

Pattern: Thrummed Mittens by Jennifer Appleby, Interweave Knits Winter '06.
Yarn: Berroco Peruvia Grano less than 1 ball. Fleece from spinngginnys at Etsy, 3 oz.
Needles: 4mm knitpicks DPNs because I couldn't find my 4.5mm.


Flub: I missed out a round of thrums before making the hole for thumb on the right mitten yet somehow they stretch to make this missing half an inch unnoticeable.

Verdict: Love 'em! I had just the perfect amount of fleece for the thrum size I used, although if I make them again I'd use twice as much fleece and twice as big thrums just to make the fleece lining that little bit thicker.

My apologies, photoshop keeps crashing so I can't make the three pictures at the top into one which was my intention. I might go back and fix it at a later date if I feel so inclined! Also the matching PJ thrum thing was entirely unintentional!

On getting older

Last night I made the pilgrimage to New Jersey to see Bon Jovi. Good God, that man can undo me with a smile. HOT. Then I got to thinking, he's 45, how can I have a crush on someone that old? Because I'm not sixteen anymore. In a week I'll be 27. Don't get me wrong I'm perfectly happy being 27, it just came as a bit of a shock to me to realise that time hasn't stood still during the past decade. But don't worry Jon I still love you, you aging piece of manly perfection you.

Oh and here's a mitten....

Now with added thrums!

I bought the fleece for this about a year ago but never managed to cast on in time for winter. Better late than never. I kind of figured it would get cold again at some point. I'm using leftovers from my Killybegs, Berroco Peruvia in grano, and merino top from spinnggginnys at Etsy (she doesn't seem to be selling fleece right now but this stuff is lovely) for a mere $3!! Bargainous! The pattern is from Interweave Knits Winter 2006.

Thrum making is definitely the rate limiting step in this reaction but they're still progressing at a fine clip :) Toasty hands all round!