AnotherPurl :: a knitter's life

Out of the chocolate mines!

I just returned from the chocolate mines that is working in any store that expects a Valentine's rush.  I worked at Au Chocolat most of this week (and am vacating for the rest of it), and it was a nice change of pace.  I don't think of myself as a good candidate for the retail business, but I'm not really bad at it and I can be taught.  I'm going to go back to the store before my hair appointment and get a little tiny bit of chocolate for my hair dresser and a chocolate covered twinkie for my husband (and probably something for me).  I haven't been to the gym since Monday, because working in a place as busy as the chocolate shop is pretty much like exercise.

Monday I bought the buttons for the Tangled Yoke, and *cough* bought the yarn to make abotanicity.  I want to make that sweater next, because I've been looking at it for months.  It technically fits within my stashalong goals, because I finished two of my UFOs (the smallest ones).  I'm close enough to the end of the Tangled Yoke that I can taste it, and it should be done today.

Windsor Button had my magazine.  Heck, they still even had the pen that I kept in the magazine to mark off what I'd done.  My hubby went to the store yesterday to see if they had it and huzzah! they did.  Otherwise I'd be checking today (chocolate land didn't close until nearly 7 with the rush of people who came in right at 6).  I think I have 3 separate projects that I might be able to finish this weekend, so it will be a good knitting weekend.

Maybe my hubby will do a reprise of his good deed from yesterday and print the sweater pattern out for me.  Then I could start two new patterns this weekend!

the saga continues

Massachusetts is a bit windy right now and the meteorologists are predicting more snow.  The wind, unsurprisingly, woke me up at about 3 a.m.  I took the opportunity to do some more work on the Tangled Yoke.  I finished the neck band shortly before going to the gym.  I finished grafting the underarms over breakfast.  I then went to Windsor Button to pick out buttons (lower cost ones so if they don't work I can exchange them given I hadn't finished the button bands yet) and to generally get in trouble.

I got home and picked up (third or fourth time's the charm) the stitches for the left button band and then put the knitting away.  Because it was cold, I made bread (two floors of the building now smell like homemade yeasty bread) and did laundry. 

I'm hiding from American Gladiators right now and wanted to go back to my knitting.  Umm, the magazine?  No where.  I might have left it on the train or maybe I left it at Windsor Button.  Whoops!  I probably won't have time to check tomorrow.  The chocolate shop will be the most happening place in town pretty much all day long.  I know the band is garter rib and I'm pretty sure that it is a set up row and then 6 more rows before binding off (it's truly driving me bonkers that I can't remember the one crucial detail).  Heck, I even remember the instructions for doing a 3 stitch buttonhole though they aren't internalized yet, because I haven't made one yet.

I can't remember what the starting sequence is for the set up row.  Is it p2?  p1?  Those are most likely, because the edges are pretty much all stockinette (or at least the stockinette column of the ribbing if that makes any sense).  I wonder if I go on Ravelry and ask if someone will take pity on me and tell me the one little bit of information.  Or maybe after American Gladiators is over and it is safe to go back to the living room I'll see it winking out at me, completely surprised I couldn't see it there in plain sight.

Yeah, that's what will happen.

it's not all knitting...

Just mostly knitting.

I've been really lazy this week (in blog land among other things).  There's a lot to say and to do and this weekend will be completely booked.  Next week I'm working at Au Chocolat Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday (hocking chocolate to the masses, delicious chocolate, glorious chocolate... and other sweets as well) for the Valentine's rush.  I'm hoping to get some knitting time in the mornings and the evenings, but other than that I'll be completely booked.  So, in no particular order.

I ordered from Adagio Teas earlier in the week and got my package yesterday.  I damaged my last tea strainer and decided for the moment that it would be better to use tea bags for all of my loose leaf teas.  So, I now have 100 tea bags (well, 98 - I had a cup of earl grey and a cup of Mexican chocolate tea).  Their service, per normal, was stellar and they even included a free sample of their Valentine's blend tea (chocolate and strawberry).

I have been working on cross-stitch over my lunch breaks and I finally feel like I'm getting somewhere.  Given the piece I'm working on has a lot of black (border mostly), the fact that I'm working in color is just amazing!  I had forgotten how much I like working with the Weeks Dye Works.  I'm making much better progress now that I'm not thinking about how much border I have left.

The Tangled Yoke is still progressing.  I actually woke up early enough this morning to get some knitting in before I left for the office, so I only have 8 rows left of the cabling.  It's truly pathetic.  My only excuse is I have been playing Bust-a-Move Bash.  Popping bubbles has really been all my brain has been up for most evenings this week (well that and some work on the Frog Camisole - I'm almost at 3 inches).

it was Super Tuesday

Yesterday, I left work before lunch, feeling ill and run down (it's what I get for waking up in the middle of the night with the sick).  On my way home I voted.  I did my little part for Democracy, and then I went home and slept.

I made dinner (Vegetarian Shepherd's Pie), played a little bit of the bubble pop game on the Wii, and then I slept some more.  I woke up today feeling much better.

I feel like I haven't gotten any knitting done.  Never mind that I am in the home stretch on the Tangled Yoke (which is in exactly the same position it was on Monday) or that I have almost 2 whole inches of the Frog Camisole (oh, so little!) or that I am almost done an entire sock that I started over last weekend.  It just doesn't feel like anything is getting done.

So, I'm thinking.  So dangerous.  I'm thinking about the next project.  Ignoring that the next project is already decided.  When I finish the Tangled Yoke, my size 4 needles will be available for the Lacy Dress.  Hopefully by the time I am done the lace portion of the bottom, my size 0 needles will be available for the ribbing.  I want to start something else.  It must be a disease, but I want to start either Bell Curve or Abotanicity.  During those times when I should be knitting but haven't been, I look at the yarns I might want to knit these with.  For the Abotanicity, yarns that are gorgeous but not quite as affordable as the Trekking (whoops).  For the Bell Curve, a yarn from Webs (maybe RYC Soft Lux, it's on sale).  I'm not sure why I'm doing this to myself, because I have plenty of yarn for other projects.  Heck, given I'm not knitting the Sirdar into the Tangled Yoke, I have about 8 or so skeins of yarns that I can make into maybe the Alicia Tabard.

So many choices and so few hours to knit them all into.  Sometimes I think the Ravelry queue (and pretty much all queues) are both blessings and curses.  I will never have time to knit everything I'm interested in, but putting it on the queue keeps it in my mind and makes me less likely to let the idea pass into obscurity.  Maybe if I grow an extra set of arms (with hands)?

still not finished

I had overtime this past weekend, which cut in a little on knitting time.  No problem, I thought, my hubby is going out Sunday morning and I don't have a lot of cooking to do, so I can do the cabled portion of the Tangled Yoke then.  In the meantime, the Frog Camisole is a bit hard on my hands so I'll take a bit of a break and work on socks.

So, yeah, I'm at about the heel of a sock.  But I'm not finished the cabled portion of the Tangled Yoke.  Rows 1-5 took me almost 4 hours.  I have a tendency to tink when I make a mistake rather than ripping back.  It is much slower to tink, but it feels safer.  I always feel like I'm going to go to far or have too hard a time putting the stitches back on the needle.  So, I needed to tink.  I messed up the middle two cable crosses (I did the cables over 4 instead of over 3) on row one and needed to tink back two 276 stitch rows.  Whoops!  So, I'm on row 8 of the cable pattern instead of being done.  Hopefully by the end of this week I'll be there.  It's close enough that I can feel the completion.  When I'm done this will be the largest and most complex project I'll have finished.  I did 2 rows this morning (so math tells me that 2 rows this morning plus two rows next morning, etc. means I'll be finished the cabled portion by the end of the week for certain).

My current sock project is born from the random skein of Opal I had in the stash.  Gosh, I feel like they are ugly socks, but at the same time by not frogging them when I first thought that I can see that there is a pattern to it all and that the pattern itself isn't ugly just a little zebra like.   Zebra.  Like bulbous bouffant... or maybe macadamia.

it's not twisted!

at least as far as I can tell.

However, the 288 stitches of the lace rows for some reason are taking me about 45 minutes to complete.  That feels truly pathetic for a simple feather and fan.  I'm not in any big rush, except that I will allow myself to buy a bit of yarn once this top and the Tangled Yoke are both done.  So, maybe I am in a rush.  I want to buy more yarn (though I don't need more yarn).

I have some overtime tomorrow (more money for yarn?), so I will be able to knit tonight and tomorrow afternoon and Sunday morning on the Tangled Yoke.  I want to get the next 18 rows done, done, done.  I can feel the completion getting awfully close. Nom, nom, nom.

I'm slowly adding a few more knitting blogs to my read list (while I do use bloglines, I am moving to doing more with my del.icio.us).  I don't always care if the writing is the most stellar.  Mine certainly isn't.  I love this craft and I love finding people who have the art, the craftmanship or the creativity to inspire me to do something new, branch out and not just knit a few more scarves or hats.  There are times when I feel that for all I can do with knitting that a lot of it is a bit half-assed.  It's the short cuts in blocking or poor yarn choice for a project or just not paying attention in a project.  I want to make a project equal to the brooklyntweed or doggedknits.  I want to make something functional or something beautiful and know I did my best and that my best really was good enough.