BTW

I forgot to mention an interesting phenomenon when I spoke about my lovely little swatch. As an unforeseen consequence of my left-handedness, when I knit the swatch following the chart as usual, I ended up with a mirror image of what I was supposed to be making (some kind of flower). I find this quite fascinating. Obviously, knitting a swatch was a good idea, I'm going to have to follow the chart from left to right, instead of right to left if I want an exact copy of what I'm supposed to be knitting if its not a symmetrical design. The only other instance of my lefty ways affecting my knitting is M1L and M1R. I have to switch those, because the lean in the wrong directions. weird huh.

I also would like to note that my MS3 is partially blocked now. I say partially because I ran out of pins and direct sunlight when I started blocking it before. I have since bought more pins, but haven't had the time to finish the job. Blocking is kind of a chore I think. At least the wing part looks pretty now. I have to remember to buy the pattern before Melanie takes it down, I want to knit the double winged version in a different color. :)

So far my self discipline has been holding up. I'm finished the gussets on the second sock, maybe I'll finish it by Monday, so I can start my sweater. I anticipate needing a break during the long stretches of stockinette, so I can work on my comfy socks as well. they'll go quickly.

And I think I've finally found a solution to my paragraph problem!! Apparently blogger doesn't like the tab button. Double enter seems to seperate paragraphs just fine though.

As the Seasons Change

I've finished the summer time tunic. The ribbon I had bought for it ended up being too short by a long shot, and I had to go buy more. I like the new ribbon much better anyway. I don't know what I'll use the other ribbon for, I'm sure I'll find something eventually.
I started the short row hat by Veronik Avery, and I love it. I had a few false starts ( I was tired and not reading the directions properly) last night, but I've been working on it all day at work and I hope to finish it tonight. I'm using Patons SWS, which is 70% wool and the rest soy. It has an interesting texture to it. The color repeats may be slightly longer than those in the original hat in the photograph, but its close, the pseudo-entrelac really shows off the color gradation quite nicely.
MS3 remains unfinished for now. I don't have any space with the packing up to work on it.
I'm desperately avoiding working on the damned Christmas stockings, and I really need to start, the clock is ticking faster and faster. I can tell already I"ll never be able to knit based on sale of completed items, at least not if other people dictate to me what I must knit. I need to get my ass moving on the designing thing.

Vacation Knitting

I'm going on vacation starting Thursday, and I 've started a new project to take along to the beach with me. I can't work on the MS3 because I need a flat surface to lay out the chart and the beach will seriously interfere with my knitting. So I've decided to keep it simple and work on some mindless knitting that I won't need to look at a pattern much for and won't have to worry about sand and such. I ordered Camilla from elann.com and have the first 3 inches or so of the Summertime Tunic from Interweave started. I have the pattern printed out and put in a plastic sheath (the ones that snap into your binders) so it won't get wet. The name is perfect and it's super super simple. I'm taking the MS3 with me to the campsite, I think I can work on it there. And when it comes time to do the 1x1 ribbing on the tunic, I'll need the size 4 needles from the MS3 to do it. I've already put some waste yarn in my bag so I don't forget ;)
I've also got the Short Row Hat from interweave all set up to go too, but I don't know if I'm taking it with me or not. the Soy/Wool blend will be too warm to work with during the day, but may be OK for the evening when its too dark to work on the MS3.

Is it just me or am I way over thinking this????

Of Wool and Turtles

I've been very productive this weekend. I had a lot of stuff on my list of things to do and accomplished most of them, with a lot of knitting done in between as well. I'm almost finished clue 4 of the MS3 and its looking really good. Thank you Melanie, for designing such a wonderful piece of art for all of us to work on together. I'm having a blast. Because I chose to elongate the shawl I had to do a repeat, which I finally finished. All I can see now is this :

I've practically got the repeat memorized, at this point I really only need to look at the chart for the border and to get me started at the beginnning of the row. It makes the knitting go much faster.

This is what I've got done so far:

And my turtle Torpedo (she's damn speedy) has been helping me, although honestly, she doesn't do much.

Unfortunately, I was unable to go to the meeting today, becuase the lady I was going to ride with, her car broke down. Luckily it will be fixed tomorrow, and wasn't as bad as she had originally feared. Hopefully next week we'll make it. And congraduations to her on her new niece :)

I've made good progress on my MS3 this week, much more than expected actually, since the last couple weeks I've only really been able to work on it on the weekend. I'm a little apprehensive about putting in the lifeline, but after a little research, it sounds straight forward, so it should be pretty easy. *gets up to put the lifeline yarn in her bag before she forgets and doesn't have it when she needs it* I'll post some pictures next time, hopefully this clue will be near completion by then, since I'm lengthening it. MS3 is the only knitting I've been working on, so I may start the other half of mom's pair of socks soon, just for a break.
Hopefully, if everything works out OK, I'll be able to meet some of the other MS3-ers in the area tomorrow and knit in company. I'm really the only knitter I know, being mostly self taught, and I'm sure I do Weird Things with my knitting that other people don't. (For one, I'm left handed, so to many other people I will appear to be knitting backwards).

In regards to the recent release of the HP book, I enjoyed it immensely, even though the first half kind of dragged on ( OH! We're hiding out in the woods and don't know what to do!) The body count at the end was high, which I appreciated, if only for its realism. Not all the Good Guys are going to survive. Murphy's Law dictates.

Cheers!

**By tomorrow I mean Sunday. Obviously I'm disoriented.

Greetings!!

HI! Welcome to my shiny new blog:) I will warn you in advance, I am highly unlikey to post on a regular basis. That being said, Iwill most certainly do my best to do so. Having just this past May graduated from University, I find myself at loose ends with the world, as most pirates surely do. I have a BA in ceramics, fat lot of good that will do me. There is no job market for ceramics. So my other love will hold me in good stead, as there is in fact a gallery local to my parent's house which is interested in my knitting. My knitting, which I learned in my own free time, away from university, with no instruction ( and thereby free). Go figure. I correct myself-- It would stand me in good stead if I could actually bring myself to knit items for the gallery in question. WHO the hell wants to knit Christmas Stockings in July?!?!?!?!?! I've been busying myself with socks (stocking-like, right? right. ) for meself and family, and have joined the MS3 group, the knitting of which gives me immense joy. Lace is perfect for summer, and the beading!! OOOH the shinies. I've never beaded before and I love it. Those of you who didn't get in on MS3 woe is you! and be sure to get onboard for MS4 next summer, its a blast!