Midnight in the garden of good and evil

I was having a bit of an ADD weekend this weekend and just couldn't seem to focus on one project.

I did a little more knitting on the Starry sock (though I am considering sending it to the frog pond.)

I knit a few more squares on the crackghan (always good ADD knitting because you're still accomplishing something if you walk away after only half an hour)

I did manage to finish the body on the Tea Leaves Cardi

I even managed to knit about six inches on the arm before I got bored and moved on to something else.

And what was that something else? The skein of Top Cat that I dyed a mom's a few weeks ago...

...has been sitting caked up on my coffee table ... taunting me. I've been trying to be good and get at least one more thing off the needles before I cast on for something else (right now I have two sweaters, and three pairs of socks (not to mention two afghans and a catghan).

But I did sign up for 10 shawls in 2010 - and I did cast off my Fluffy Cat shawl last week (details coming soon - when mom takes some nice pictures of it and I get the pattern together)

And this yarn is waaaay too pretty to be made into just socks - it has to be shown off. I wasn't in the mood to design something myself - so I scoured Ravelry last night and came across Frozen Leaves - so pretty

It took a little finagling (I'm not great with charts) and a few false starts but I'm finally grooving on it

It's definitely a "distraction-free" knit, but well worth the effort. I want to knit just one more row to watch these giant leaves unfold!

Are sea monsters supposed to be this cute...?

... because this one is freaking adorable!I've been stuck at home for the past two days with a brutal sinus infection, so I decided, instead of working with the sea slug version, I'd start over from scratch and maybe figure out where I went wrong. I'm glad I did because this wee little Nessie is damn adorable - I almost don't want to give her to Dave for Valentine's Day.

This time I opted for a pink belly. I really liked all the suggestions I got when I requested a belly colour - and I almost went with yellow, but I wasn't sure if I would have enough yellow yarn. So on the first one I did a blue-green belly, similar to what was used in the pattern - but it just wasn't doing it for me. Then I spied this pink yarn in my basket. It's perfect!
And it's such a fat little belly - you just want to smoosh it!

I used glass seed beads for the eyes to give them a little bit of shine.

And as mentioned before - though the pattern calls for worsted weight - I used sock yarn, so Nessie is much, much smaller... how small?That small!

Yes working with sock yarn on 2mm needles made a fiddly pattern even fiddlier - but look at her... she's so cute!

And don't worry about Nessie's slightly deformed brother - I'm going to disembowel him and redo his belly. Eventually (because I'm in no rush fiddle that much any time soon) he'll look just as cute!

Now I need something mindless... Crackghan anyone?

Evolution of a sea monster

I did a little more work on the starry sock, but mostly tonight I worked on Wee NessieNow she looks like a giant sea slug - I was looking at others and discovered I have messed up somewhere... my tail is waaaay too fat. I'm debating on scrapping it and starting over, or working with what I got - it's for Dave - and just like him - this Nessie is a little... special...

Technical problems aside (it's totally not the pattern - it's me) as far as Hansi patterns go, this one is pretty easy - but if you're thinking of attempting it (or any other Hansi pattern) make sure you can handle lots of wrap and turns, lots of Kitchener stitch and tonnes of fiddly little bits. But the patterns are so cute and ingenious, they are worth it!

Ikea - how I love and hate you

As most readers know, most of the time, my work area (which is my living room) looks something like this:(actually this is an old picture... today it was much worse)

I've been toying with the idea of getting a new coffee table for a while, one with some sort of storage option so I can keep the top tidier- so Ikea to the rescue. I spent a few hours browsing the website and finally decided on the cheapest one - at $30 you can't really go wrong can you?

So I went to Ikea after work today

First - I think that all the stupid, inconsiderate people must have had a play date because they were ALL at Ikea at 5:30 today. Screaming children running rampant, people texting and shopping (and walking into me), an entire extended family arguing over a sofa and clogging up the aisle, etc. You name it - if it was dumb and inconsiderate they did it.

Bad shopping experience aside, I got out of there with a coffee table, floor lamp, and hanging sweater organizer for $80 - not bad. Of course, someone did try to back into me in the parking lot ... twice (once while I was walking to my car, and a second driver who tried to back into my car while I was driving past)

So now to assemble before Dave gets home (1- we don't build well together, 2) he hates all things Ikea and I didn't want to hear about it)

Apparently Ikea is saving money by no longer paying someone to pre-drill holes. They do give you a handy little plastic measuring stick so you you can use a hammer to tap the screw in and mark where the whole is suppose to go. It's a good thing this is particle board and I can drive the screw in with a screwdriver - because I don't know how to use my drill (I have one - and it's mine, not Dave's - but I've never used it... I believe in Women's Liberation, but somethings are just easier to make a boy do... besides what else do I keep him around for?). It's probably not a bad thing though, because those pre-drilled holes never line up right anyway.

So, it went together with relative ease - and I was quite pleased until I turned it over and realized my floor had scratched the very thin veneer - good thing I got the black one - Sharpie marker repair anyone? I also found an old doily which covers the worst of it.

I had no trouble assembling the lamp, but some how manage to smash two light bulbs in the process. The first by lifting the lamp too high and smashing it against the ceiling, and the second shattered in my hand as I was screwing it in.... who needs a drink?

But, the table holds all my stuff beautifully, and the lamp gives me a nice warm glow with some optional directional lighting... and look how nice and tidy it is now?
And why yes, that Barbie is riding a Siberian Tiger on the lamp...
Why do you ask?

Never judge a book by it's cover....

..because something that looks like this......ends up looking like this....It's so much nicer than the skein and it makes me think of crayons! I cast on for this Friday night and finished it up while watching Season 3 of the Tudors. (Which despite it's gross historical inaccuracies is a fine piece of television viewing.)

Of course instead of casting on for the second sock, I worked instead on the Fluffy Cat Shawl (big thank you to mom for helping me get it out of the time-out chair). I cast off for it this afternoon and it's blocking now...It's really a shawlette - measuring about 46 inches wide. Once it's blocked I'll get proper pictures and release the pattern.

And after that was done I still didn't cast on for the second crayon sock.

Nope, I gave into the siren song of the Starry that was already caked and sitting oh so innocently on the coffee table. I was considering knitting My Vampire Boyfriend with it. With a colour like "Gothic Rose" it seemed appropriate - but my printer is out of ink so I can't print out the pattern.

Instead I started designing my own sock:It's a little hard to see but it's pretty eyelet lace that is just chock full of sparkles.

I have to confess myself a little disappointed with the Starry. Despite all that sparkly goodness, the yarn just isn't that soft, it almost feels like working with acrylic - not much give or sproing. The Socks that Rock is much nicer.

Despite that, I'd like to work a little more on it, but I've been neglecting the house work all weekend and there are a few chores that really have to get done before I go to bed (I'm getting that "look" from the cats, and unless I want to wake up with a few unpleasant presents in my bed - I'd better go clean the cat box)

Definitely more than the recommended daily dose

Both Mom and I had today off - so we decided to have another Mommy-Daughter day.
We accomplished several things that have been on our to do list, but by far the coolest is this:A few months back Mom was dying yarn without me (of course) and stumbled across a way to dye the yarn that made it go from light to dark, with a really neat tweedy-look along the way. She immediately knew she had to design a pattern for it. Today, we finally got the pattern together - It's call Girl Next Door and comes in three sizes, infant, child and woman.

Even better - you can get it as a kit in the shop with our squooshy and scrumptious Fat Cat DK in a special Chromacolour line. We put four kits up in the shop today:
That one is my favourite - I called it Pickle!

One of the other things we accomplished was a trip to Julie's where I picked up a 2mm round needle to do Wee Nessie's belly, a skein of Berocco Ultra Alpaca for Dave's fingerless gloves, and I got a little something for myself....
I splurged on a skein of Dream in Colour Starry in Gothic Rose. I know one one my resolutions was to knit from my stash unless I needed to buy something for a specific project (Like Dave's gloves)... but this has SPARKLES!!! (Yes, I'm easily distracted by shiny objects). I've been trying to steal a skein of Mom's Cocoa Kisses for months... but then I saw the Gothic Rose. Seriously - sparkly socks are just too cool! (And think of how good the left overs will look in the crackghan!)

I also brought home a skein of yarn from last week's dying session. As soon as I dyed it I knew I needed to keep it for myself
It's Mystic Midnight and it's going to be a shawl, as it's way too pretty to be just socks (not that I'm knocking socks). The picture does not do it justice, it's too dull. The colours really pop in real life, I wish you all could see it.

I also snagged another skein of yarn off mom today:She got a bunch of Socks That Rock mill ends in a special Blue Moon sale. This one intrigued me and I just have to see what it will knit up like.

I also snagged some samples and leftovers for the crackghan
Now I don't know about you, but I think that's more than enough fibre for one day!

There's something lurking below the surface...

Even though I have several projects on the go, I couldn't resist casting on for just one more.
It's one I've wanted to do for a while:
Hansi Singh's Loch Ness Monster. As you can see I've got the main part of the body done. All that's left are the belly and the flippers.

The pattern actually calls for worsted weight yarn, but I'm making mine with sock yarn, so Nessie will be small enough to fit in the palm of your hand. It makes it a little trickier to pick up stitches, but it's going to be uber-cute! I need to get a 2mm round needle before I can do the belly though, and I still have to decide what colour to do.... any suggestions?

PS - thank you for all the well wishes on my health. I'm feeling much better now - though the cats still can't make chicken noodle soup....