Still With The Not Knitting

Last year, BF and I set ourselves up on Etsy and promptly did nada with our storefront. Okay, so she was busy having a new baby and I was at work all the bloody time. We posted 3 items, and didn't really check back. Until now.

I had forgotten how hard it is to design jewelry! Satisfying work, but much more about the aesthetic than knitting socks usually is. As my primary material of choice are Delica Seed beads, and I have no real training, I probably have more trouble because of my lack of experience than because of anything else.

The above photo was taken toward the end of attempting to get flattering photos that showcased the color and also the sparkle of the beads. Arg. I think I took in the neighborhood of 50 photos with a wide variety of arrangements and came up with five or six usable shots. I think I've heard that this is par for the course. Drat.

So, I may or may not be putting up new items in our humble little shop. I am trying, and I have some apparrel ready to be photographed and posted, but I think the jewelry end will be slow going. I love making shiny things, but I just don't think I'm very adept as of yet.

Oh yeah, and the DIC Shrug is blocking and waiting for seaming and edging. Woot! Photos to come. Of me. Wearing something I made. That isn't a sock. Woot?

So - Where's the Knitting?

As you might notice, that isn't knitting. I'm busy learning something the hard way yet again. I'm teaching myself to use the sewing machine my BF's mom let me borrow, and that needle case is my third project.



As usual, there is shocking lack of patterns, which means my corners stink. But I'm gaining experience quite quickly. I think my next endeavor might be a skirt from a book I saw at Powell's: Sew What!.



Aside from the sewing machine marathon of last night (I finished putting together a log cabin quilt top, hemmed some fabric for napkins, and you've seen the needle holder) there has been actual knitting as well. Cast-on-itis, probably. I was feeling pretty good about having a good clear-out - giving my single socks mates, getting somewhere on those blankets, the shawl and the sweater. And then some well-intentioned stashing got all out of hand. View the carnage:



The DIC Shrug.



Endpaper Mitts in Noro Kureyon Sock.

And various and sundry other bits. Oi.

So - what's up with you?

Log Cabin Blues, Indeed

It seems that my choice of names for my latest (and belated) Log Cabin project was more apt that previously expected. In setting up Excel to help me chart my colors and arrange a final pattern for the various squares, I inadvertently figured out a way to calculate precisely how much progress I'd made on the blanket. Being all for precision and perfection, I went ahead and did the math.

Conclusion? I have just now crossed the halfway mark. Gah.

Happy discoveries of the day: a Loopy Ewe group on Ravelry, and a DIC Shrug that only requires 2 skeins of Classy. I'm thinking "Into the Mystic" is my color of choice for that last one.

Not All Business

It seems that while I was away, racking my brain for a topic that could be somewhat interesting to write about and read, I missed a couple comments by Quail Hill and Yarnhog! Sorry ladies. If anyone is still reading. I guess when we changed our email setup here at home (and server, and internet provider, though sadly not hardware) I didn't get things quite sorted with Google and Blogger. Whoops.

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Ravelry, wonder that it is, has served to show me that I have way too many projects "in progress". Well, hibernating, really. My commitment since for the last few weeks has been to get some of the single socks into pairs and possibly finish off that blue log cabin disaster in time for Mother's Day. The Pi Are Square shawl is still wallowing, but I'm 3/4 done with the border. Just a little at a time is all I can handle, I swear. The things that seem to be easiest to get finished are the things that don't take a year or more to reach FO status. It must be some reverse law of physics; I think the Yarn Harlot said something like "projects that aren't finished stay unfinished". My PRS shawl must be a test case.

Just in time to fill my WIP queue, Spring '08 IK arrived last week in my hot little hand. Just love getting good mail, don't you? I'm totally loving about six different patterns, but most especially the Flutter Sleeve. I was thinking it might make good use of something with a little linen drape, and I've been dieing to try out Knit Picks' CotLin. I know, somewhat cheap on my part, and I could make all sorts of justifications about buying Knit Picks and staying within budget. However, the honest fact is that I actually do want to try out that yarn.

(was that too self-conscious?)

The other thing I've been a little obsessed about starting are Eunny Jang's Endpaper Mitts. After my little experience with the Celtic Spiral Socks (a bit bumpy, knit too tight) I think I'm ready to try something else. Which means I've finally found a use for a skein of Kureyon Sock yarn. Let me just qualify this with the fact that I was super excited the minute I heard such a thing was coming out. The very next minute (the one in which I discovered it wasn't superwash) I was totally bummed out. My feet could felt cotton, for booger's sake. But I've been biding my time, knowing an opportunity would present at some juncture. I think they might resemble the color changes of the Kauni geometric and the finished product with either be hideous or wonderful. I've been cruising photos of other Endpaper FO's on The Rav, and finding that really good contrasts make a more attractive FO doesn't get me down. I'm going to try anyway.

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So that's me for the end of V day. Hope you all had a great one. See you on Ravelry!