What’s that? Two sweaters, you say??

So I’m working on not one, but two, TWO!, sweaters. So maybe I like to be productive. Oooor have crafting ADD. Whatev. But my point is, I am awesome, and so are these patterns. First one up, is a green kimono style sweater. Here’s a progress pic, with my lovely kitty Shion:

It’s going to have a dark brown border. So far it’s actually been an almost boring knit. The shaping is minimal, which probably explains that, but it’s been easy peasy as it’s seed stitch border and stockinette body. I’m pretty happy with that, but then got Nicky Epstein’s Knitting On Top Of the World from my awesome awesome grandma for Christmas, and thus, had to start the Mongolian Warrior Pullover. Progress pic with photograph of photo now:

This has also proved to be an easy peasy knit so far. So easy peasy, in fact, most of that pictured above was knit while DMing a Pathfinder campaign. Do I have mad skills or what? *preens*

Of course, the whole reason I started the Mongolian Warrior Pullover is because I actually had yarn on hand that *should* work for it. Hopefully. I kinda swatched, in that half assed way I normally do. I know, I know, bad knitter! But the truth is, if it doesn’t fit me it’s gonna fit at least one of my awesometastic friends, so I can always give it away. Really. It doesn’t bother me at all to gift things I won’t use, even if I made them. Also, years of making shawls that are knit ’til I’m bored and a custom made sock pattern for my feet have made me lazy. Some would say I’ve always been kind of lazy. Or not so kind of. but the point it, some days it takes too much effort to take effort to do something not half assed. And I’m okay with giving away the products of those days if I don’t like them, because at least I enjoyed the journey.

Anyhoo, I found out I need MORE needles. Specifically, size three dpns for the glove patterns I wanted to start tonight but couldn’t due to lack of appropriate size. *grumble* So I’m going to have to ask one of my besties to pick some up for me, as she lives by a local yarn shop and I do not. but she’s a nice person, and will do it for me because I’m awesome and she’s awesome too. ^_^ But once I get those, I will start making gloves. Woo, more things to use sock yarn with! I can add something to the list of stuff to make that will shrink my stash! Because it’s still of epic proportions.

Well, I think that’s it for this post. It’s a bit stranger than usual because it’s late, I’m coming down off of a Rockstar, and my blood sugar is high. So my attempts at seeming normal are probably pretty shoddy right now. But that’s okay, I only try to be normal so I don’t ramble on and have my audience lose interest. I try to stay focused is the thing. But I’m okay with being weird.

Stashbusting fun

So I’m still alive, just feeling too lazy to post. I’ve been busy trying to use up my stash so I can buy more yarn and fiber. Kind of hard to justify more of that when it’s taking over my bedroom and kitchen, hehe. Christmas went well, I made a lot of my gifts, including handmade lotion. It was totally awesometastic. It turned out well, and everyone liked it. I made a lot of cowls too, and those seemed to go over well too. If I can learn to weave this year, I’m thinking of making woven scarves for Christmas this year. A nice handmade gift, a new trade learned, and I can then tell my in-laws I am putting to use the rigid heddle loom they gave me years ago. Triple bonus!

So my knitting currently consists of baby blankets for others, a lace shawl I really really should get around to finishing, a border I need to finish and sew onto an otherwise finished shawl, a couple more shawls (if you haven’t guessed by now I love shawls) and  sock I need to finish so I can knit the mate already. Spinning wise, I’m trying to finish another spinning project that doesn’t have much left at all to it, a pretty blue project on my newest spindle that I started so I could spin woolen and escape the worsted projects I had going, some pretty merino I’m trying to support spindle (again), and some gray (heh) norwegian wool I want to try and chain ply into a sock yarn. I don’t know if that one will be suitable for socks, but I want to at least make sock yarn from it.

Sadly I don’t have pics right now of anything, but hopefully I will stop being lazy long enough to get pics up for you dear readers to see the awesomeness I have been working on lately.

In fun, off-topic news, I started running my own Pathfinder campaign and am totally having a blast with it right now. I am finding I like DMing more than I like playing, surprise of surprises. One of these days I want to learn GURPs and run a game, as it seems like it would be fun. Someday though.

I still need rainbow yarn…

dammit. >_< And rainbow spinning fiber. Ooooh, that would be sweet. I’m gonna see what I can do next month, though, so that’s cool. Anyways, I finally started using the reclaimed yarn from the sweater a friend of mine bought for me from a thrift store, with the intention of frogging. I frogged it, but didn’t find any use for it until now. Bam! Shawl-in progress:

 

Of course, being a super fast knitter, it’s like twice the size shown in the pic. I’m calling it Vintage Dreams. I’m gonna try and finish it with a knitted on fancy pants border. ^_^

Other than this, though, my knitting has pretty much been Christmas gifts, seeing that it’s almost that time of year and all. Which I’m not gonna post, at least not yet. Mustn’t spoil the surprise!

That’s pretty much all I have for now, but I felt the need to update anyways. ^_^

Fibery goodness!

So I got Corgi Hill Fiber yesterday, after running around everywhere trying to find it. But it’s mine now, and I’m gonna share some (admittedly bad) pics of said fibery goodness! Fist up is Storm Raven, superwash BFL in a yummy black color:

Next up is Betel, a Polwarth/silk blend in more of a purpley maroon:

Then Merlot, a bfl/silk blend in a reddish hue:

And the one I started spinning for a contest, Vamp, in another reddish color (can you tell I like red?):

The only decent pics are the last two I know, I’m gonna try and post better ones when I have better lighting. The last one, Vamp, is what I’ve been playing with the last two days. ^_^ So much fun to spin! I’ve never spun Falkland before, and it’s fun! I love trying out new fibers, because each one has different characteristics that makes it super awesome plus a million to experiment with. ^_^ Not sure what I’ll make once I finish up Vamp, but I’ll find something hella awesome to make with it, or pull an awesome pattern out of thin air like I tend to do.

 

Not much for this update…

But I did finish that silk shawl I was making. You want proof? I got your proof:

It actually took no time to make, it just took me that long to search for the charger for my camera, break down and buy a battery charger for the thing. So it took awhile, but now I can update this blog again without crappy cell phone pics! Hurray!

In other, somewhat but not really interesting news, I’ve been spinning a lot more than knitting lately. I’m knitting a bit here and there, but mostly it’s spin spin spin. And even that’s been rare. See, I’ve been tired lately, and haven’t had the energy for anything. Turns out my thyroid function is low. But now that I’m on medication, I’m slowly getting more energy, and thus able to do more each day. Which means more crafting has been getting done, woo! I finished my very first skein of worsted spun yarn last night, and finished some yarn I was spinning for my friend tonight. I also ordered a bunch of stuff from Etsy again, a new nostepinne, as I lost my other one, and four braids of fiber from Corgi Hill Farm on Etsy too. I can’t wait for the fiber to arrive, I want to pet it soo much! And spin it, of course, but pet it too and cackle whilst doing so. Because I can.

I got mothed! Plus two finished objects

But sadly, only pictures of one. The other is only kinda finished, I should still block it, but I can use it as it is since it’s a shawl and whatnot. The unblocked one got a tiny hole eaten into it, but I was able to darn it, and it looks like it’ll hold up for a while. I figure it adds character. ^_^ The other one is also a shawl, done in Sensations Rainbow Boucle, in the red print coloway. Pic!

I really like how it turned out, it’s quite comfy. I’ve got a couple more shawls floating around that I should finish too, I know of the silk one, the fancy lace one, and the Storm Clouds one. Knowing me though, there is at least one more buried under something somewhere. I figure if I can finish one more project, preferably a big one, I can start a new shawl. That will be my treat to myself. ^_^

Also, Sunday night was my first night soloing a Pathfinder campaign all by my lonesome, my own storyline and everything. It was so much fun. *grin* I still have a ways to go to be the world’s best DM, but I did a good job still, at least I like to think so. Still, there is always room for improvement, so I am aiming to improve, as it’s only fair to those that play my campaign, and future ones as well (both future players and future campaigns, hehe).

Burbank shawl and silk yarn

I got back a few days ago from visiting my aunt in Burbank. We mostly knit, which was totally awesome and rekindled my obsession with knitting. A couple days before I came back I started a knitted shawl with Patons Lace Sequin in the Ruby colorway. I finished knitting it tonight. Here it is in all it’s unblocked glory:

 

I made the pattern up as I went. You can tell where I got bored because that’s where the pattern changes haha. I like the shawl quite a bit, but I have to admit one thing irritated me about the yarn. The dye rubbed off on the needles I used. I still have a skein of it left too, as the shawl only took one of the two skeins I bought. I’m thinking a big scarf or small stole, somewhere in that range. That will wait though, as now that this is finished I can start working with one of the yarns I got down there. Here it is, in all its 100% silk glory:

I’ve only just started the shawl, but so far I am in love with this yarn. It has fantastic drape. I finished another project down in Burbank too, a faggot stitch scarf worked up in Lorna’s Laces Shepard Worsted Yarn in the Shenanigans colorway, but I don’t have a pic of it yet.

I also have two skeins of Patons Lace in the Patina colorway. I’m thinking stole with that. Possibly two, heh. I love knitting.

OMG! Pic spam!

Mostly wips, but they are pics of things I’m working on nonetheless! Well, except the finished pieces. Those are obviously done.

This shawl pattern was taken from Martha Waterman’s Traditional Knitted Shawls. I did it using Knit Pick’s Serrano for the body and Bittersweet Heather for the edging. I uh, still have to block it though.

This is fiber from Corgi Hill Farm on Etsy. It’s 50/30/20 merino/angora/silk. Different to spin, but still fun (in small doses at least, haha).

 

This is the small first skein of the above fiber. I’m not happy with it, not completely, but then again we are our own worst critics.

This fiber also came fro Corgi Hill Farm. I bought it because the colorway is “Red Queen” and it reminded me not only of Alice in Wonderland, but also of Devil May Cry 4, as that’s the name of Nero’s sword. Man, I’m such a nerd. ^_^

This is the thank you gift Corgi Hill Farm sent me for buying from them. So far the top is spinning up like a dream.

This is the beginning of my chakra shawl. It’s sleeping right now, because I’m not happy with how tight the cast on edge is.

If you’ve seen this already, sorry. This is a hat I crocheted using alpaca I handspun from the fold myself.

 

So, uh, I thought I had more pics. I guess not. Too bad, but what can you do? Exactly. Take more pics for a later post. Yay!

 

I cheated on my yarn diet

But got some nice rainbow-y yarn from it. Look!

I also cheated on my “no starting until I finish something” diet, but look again!

See? Isn’t it pretty? I actually managed to get it at Michael’s Arts and Crafts. Score! The only other rainbow yarn went to a project that I gave away years ago, and I figured it was time to show some gay pride, and what better way to show it than through a knitted item? I know, I’m a genius. ^_^ So I started knitting my first gay pride item. I have another one planned, too, using this skein of awesome:

That’s gonna be a kitty hat, yo. An awesome kitty hat. ^_^ And maybe a beanie as well, but don’t quote me on that. Anyways, I still plan to get Chroma’s Prism and Felici’s Rainbow, this was just an early start.

Also, I am going to Fanime again this year. Woo! My bf is able to go this year. Double woo! I am so excited I don’t know what I’m going to do for the next two days, hehe. I loved Fanime last year, this year will be no different I’m sure. Well it will be in one way; I’m medicated now, so hopefully I won’t need the earplugs. Stupid noise sensitivity when I’m no medicated, grr. But yeah, I totally have that to look forward to. ^_^ I’m gonna remember my camera and charger this year too, so I will be taking pictures of the awesome. Aww right. Once I’m back I will be regaling you with stories of the awesome, so don’t worry.

So it’s come to that point again…

Where I need to actually finish something and stop starting projects. So I’m trying my best to finish a few things before starting something. I’m still on a yarn diet too (I have THAT much yarn, lol) but I’m going to cheat on that diet next month and buy some rainbow yarn, because I need to show some gay pride, dammit. I’ve decided to get two kinds, both from KnitPicks: Chroma’s Prism and Felici’s Rainbow . I figure those are nice and rainbow-y, and are in my price range (which means I can get more muahaha!). I also might spring for some weaving yarn from Paradise Fibers, see if that helps me out any when it comes to that. As far as fiber goes though, I’m ordering some purple stuff to spin for a friend, but none for me. I’m happy with what I have on hand for the moment. I mean, I have like, three kinds of wool and two kinds of cotton to spin up. That should keep me for a while, heh. As far as projects go, I have two baby blankets I need to finish, a gazillion dice bags, several shawls, a sock (once I get the mate back, at least), dishcloths, the list probably goes on, I just can’t think of what else I have on the needles at the moment.

Also, as my birthday just passed, I got an awesome present from my bf. The Red Riding set of movies, and Shugurui: Death Frenzy, an anime I am falling in love with so far. The only drawback is both the movies and the anime require a ton of attention, so whatever I’m working on usually sits unattended in my lap as I try to piece it all together. Which is cool, because I tend to like things that make me think (though I do admit to being easily entertained, heh), but not so cool as it means things that should be getting done, aren’t. But since our netflix is down, I’m probably going to bust out the DVD’s I own but haven’t watched (thanks to netflix, haha) and watch some of those, which might further cut into my crafting depending on how complex it is. But that’s okay, I can take breaks. ^_^

not much else going on. Don’t really have any relevant pics to post this time, aside from this lovely gem: It’s a lovely singles of corriedale wool that I spun worsted, hurray! once I finished it up, I wound it off, unspun it a bit (as if I were plying), wound off, and set the twist. Once it’s dry I’ll post most pics. I really love the color and luster of this batch of wool. It’s fantastic. I’m thinking this singles is getting made into a hat, probably crocheted, but I’m not quite sure yet. I have enough for that, but I might spin more of this lovely fiber and make something bigger. But I’m leaning towards hat. ^_^ Oh well, we’ll see once I get some projects out of the way!