Owie, owie, owie....

Okay...so this entry only has a teeny little bit to do with knitting, but I just want to complain....tonight, when I was planning to take things easy, I won't be able to do any knitting...grr...I went to give blood today. I thought, 'Yeah, after giving blood, I won't want to do anything particularly strenuous, so I'll just sit at home and knit'. But noooo....I had to have my worst blood donor experience ever....my entire left arm is completely useless right now...I'm not even using it to type right now. They kept adusting, and re-adjusting the damn needle, and now I have a wicked bruise and a good deal of pain at my elbow. And you know how much I'm needle-phobic too....gawd....and the kicker was that they had to stop the donation early, so I didn't even get to make a useful contribution after my trouble. The nurse tried to reassure me that they probably got enough for it to be useful for something, but I have a feeling that she just said that to make me feel better. I think it was a combination of them missing the vein and my low blood pressure that caused my problems. I noticed I was the only one they asked to keep squeezing that wadded up paper ball....ugh...

[not going to use capital letters anymore cuz it's just too much trouble to press and hold shift with one hand]

but in other news, i'm goin to a conference in montreal next week. 5 hour train ride = knitting!!! youpiee!!! je peu trichoter!!! hopefully i'll make all kinds of progress on my xmas gifts. less than 2 months, and I still have 3 projects to finish....yikes!

Socks of pain

A while ago my sister requested that I make her a pair of handknit socks. I finally started them earlier this week, using some Lorna's Laces in the Tuscany colourway. I think I can post pictures of these because they aren't a surprise, she pre-approved the yarn ahead of time. But, they will still be considered a birthday/Christmas present. =)



Sometimes when I knit I experience some minor RSI in my right wrist, which is why I normally wear a support glove on that side. But after starting this sock, my left wrist started to hurt too. Yesterday during the day I was experiencing some interesting pangs of pain. It's ok now, and I'm hoping that I just needed to get used to knitting a tight gauge on teeny tiny needles (US1) again. I've never had particularly strong wrists. Have you ever experienced any knitting-related RSI?

Stashy goodness!

OK, since there is literally nothing in the way of WIPs that I can post about, I figured I'd take some pictures of recently purchased yarn. Neither has been definitely earmarked for a specific project in particular (though I have some ideas), they were just too yummy to resist. =)

First, off eBay, some Silk Garden (3 skeins) in the discontinued colour 36. Note the beautiful pink!



I dropped by Newbury Yarns yesterday because I was in the neighborhood. They have a lot more yarn now, and parts of the store are taking on a bit of that yarn store clutter. =) I found some Cherry Tree Hill Glitter Alpaca in yummy colours:



You can't see it in the photo, but there is some gold glitter in the yarn. 99% alpaca, 1% glitter. =P

Finally, some photos!

As I promised, here are some photos of projects that I've been working on.

Here's my attempt at the multi-directional scarf that you told me about. I'm using Noro Shinano, and boy is it ever fun to knit with! This one is for my dad...don't you think the yarn just epitomizes 'Dad colours'?

Sometimes I get careless and forget to turn around the short row and end up knitting to the end. Happens when I'm all distracted...like at the Stitch 'n Bitch....

Next up is the start of the wrist warmers that I'm making. I think this yarn will make a good Kitty hat too. Incidentally, my friend did love the kitty hat that I gave her.

As you can see, I have very little progress on these right now...

Lastly, are the two mystery projects. They're gifts so I can't show the whole thing, but I just couldn't resist taking a quick photo of each.


Ahh....fuzzy....

That's it for me right now!

First Stitch 'n Bitch

I went to my first ever Stitch 'n Bitch last night at Lettuce Knit. It was a lot of fun, and I totally didn't notice the time going by! Lots of really nice people with cool projects. I discovered that you can't really bring anything too complicated though. With all the chatting going on, it's easy to get distracted and make mistakes. The store has a bunch of Koigu kersti that I want to get to make the mittens from the Knit Wit book. I might just go back there on the weekend and pick some up...haven't decided on what colours to get though. As if I didn't have enough yarn at home already! LOL!!!

When I get home, I'll take some pictures of the multidirectional scarf that I'm making for my dad. I'm pretty sure he's not going to stumble on this site any time soon ^_^ I've also started the Voodoo wrist warmers with that pink mohair stuff, so I'll take a picture of that too. Now that I've started knitting with it, I'm pretty sure that it won't be too itchy to wear.

I'm still knitting, really I am....

Well, there is currently an explosion of yarn in my room, but I can't talk about any of it because it's all for presents! Things are progressing pretty well so far, but my floor is an unholy mess of bags and I can't wait to get all this yarn knitted up and given away so I can buy new stuff! =P I did do some stash enhancement on Monday, Windsor Button was having a 20% off all yarn sale, so I picked up some Lamb's Pride worsted for a little experiment to be detailed later, and some of the new Queensland Collection Kathmandu Aran in a creamy colour for some tweedy mittens.



Um....and that's all I have for now. Sorry for the very boring entry. Hopefully I'll start knitting poast-able things again soon.

Oh, and check this out. Very interesting things-to-knit, no? =)

Kitty complete!

Hooray! I've finished the kitty hat! I decided not to put the pom poms on there because my friend doesn't strike me as the pom pom type. Credit goes to Jamie for helping me take pictures of it.




I found that this hat is actually a bit to big for my head. Not width wide, but lengthwise. I think the next time I make it, I'll do less of the stocking stitch. After making this one, I think that the mohair should be okay with the ears. I forgot that you had to sew two ears together to make one.

wow... this hat makes my head look big...

I was thinking...

Yeah...I know..."What? Karen was thinking?"... but I really needed to figure out what to do with all that pinky-rose mohair stuff that I have. And I think I've got it! I've decided to give away the red kitty hat that I'm making. I have a friend that is going back to Japan to live, so I think I'll give it to her. Then, I'm going to make a whole set of stuff for myself with the mohair. I'm going to try to make a kitty hat out of it, some wrist warmers, and a scarf. I'm not sure what kind of pattern I want to use on the scarf, but I'm thinking of something with big needles, and maybe a bit lacy. What do you think? Do you think the kitty ears will stand up okay? Is mohair too itchy for a scarf? Ahhhhh! I'm thinking again!!! Just when I thought I had everything decided....*sigh*

Comments welcomed!!!

Meow!

The kitty hat is finished! I don't have long enough arms to take a picture of the whole thing, so here it is in parts. First the head and ears:



Then the pom-poms:



What a fun and fast knit! Now I just need to wait a month or two until it gets cold enough to wear hats again. =)

Hey, it's October! You know that that means? The end of the Yarn Diet! I have actually been buying yarn here and there for various presents and such, but nothing specifically for me. So when I saw some Rowan Plaid that totally matched my purple-and-pink scarf what else could I do but buy a ball to knit yet another hat? For those days when I don't feel like wearing the kitty, I guess. Or I suppose I could make some mittens. In any case, here is the Plaid next to the scarf and the kitty hat:

Great party!!

Okay...I just got home from the book party for Amy Singer's new book 'Knit Wits'. And I have to say that I had a really fun time. The book is absolutely fab. The designs are so cute (hello, ice cream tub cozy and yoga mat holder?) and I just want to make one of everything in the book!! A lot of the designers were there and I got them to autograph their patterns. They had all sorts of wicked door prizes too (knitting pattern-a-day calendar...dangerous...), but being the unlucky chump that I am, I didn't win anything. But I did get to chat with a lot of amazingly creative and super nice knitsters, and make some new friends. And here's a little something special for you, Adrienne...


I also bought some Noro Shinano to make a scarf for my dad for Christmas. I'm going to give that pattern you gave me a try. Hopefully I won't screw it up too badly. I'll post a pic when I get further into it.

Speaking of screwing up, here's a picture of the first ear flap to my kitty hat. Can you tell me if you think it looks weird? I thought I was having issues when I was making it, but I'm so spacey right now that it kinda looks okay right now. I don't know...I must be going insane or something. But I figure that I should probably seek some advice now before I get too far on that foot-long I-cord.