FO-tastic

My first FO post. Is it strange that I feel like I’m embarking on some crazy journey? I feel like this is the next leg of my trip to complete and total knitting obsession. Not that this is a problem—oh, no. I am totally cool with being a sociopathic knitter. I think it’s quite fun that all my friends, acquaintances, and anyone who has seen me in passing all know me as, “Oh, yeah! The knitting lady!” I actually really enjoy having this identity, this thing that sort of sets me apart as a passionate person. I love talking about wool, bamboo, silk, and what have you; and extolling their many virtues to any ear within hearing distance. As of late, I especially love the reactions from non-fiberheads when I express my intense excitement about Rhinebeck. Yes, I am going to a yarn convention. Yes, yarn people have the same fervor about yarn that anime people have about anime. Yes, there will be knitting celebrities at this con. (Hi, Yarn Harlot!)

Oh, right, did I say this was an FO post? I suppose I should quit my yapping and cut to the chase. I should warn you, though—this one’s a double whammy. All these years as a blogless knitter have left me with too many projects to blog and too little time to do it in. I’m going to try to do proper posts for old FOs, but they may come several at a time in order to “catch up,” if you will. Right! So first up, this

is what has been on my head almost every day (hot or cold) for the past week.

Ysolda’s Gretel
Yarn: Ella Rae Classic, around one ball (I finished what was left of one and started another. So much for using up leftovers.)

Colorway: Can’t remember the number, but if I were to name it, I’d say, “Rustlicious.”

Mods: None, unless we’re counting the two cables I turned the wrong way.

Notes: This yarn is quite nice, if you can get your knitterly paws on some. Very lofty, and just rough enough to take a spit splice effortlessly, but still fine to wear against one’s forehead/neck. For the record, I got mine at Webs.

Basically, I am in love with this pattern. So lovely, so well thought out, so exciting to execute. Ysolda, I want to marry you. I want to try all your patterns, and most likely marvel similarly at the cleverness of them. I want to fly to Scotland and give you a big smootch. I want to buy you a kitten, unless of course you are allergic.

I feel like I probably should have ended this entry with Gretel, rather than these babies

that I knit up for my kind, sweet man-friend. (One is in the wash…hopefully.)

Basic Toe-up Socks

Yarn: Knitpicks Essential Tweed, one and a half balls. The man doesn’t like long socks, damnit. (He’s got enormous feet, so this is no small favor for a sock-knitting girlfriend.)

Colorway: Inca Gold

Mods: None, as I didn’t use a pattern. I really just pulled these out of my arse. They’re so simple, I don’t even know that they deserve a write-up, but I am a blogging noob and probably overexcited.

Notes: I hemmed and hawed about Adam’s big honkin’ feet while making these, and then when I finished, they were a smidge too large for him. Thank you, irony. Oh, and I almost forgot! I entered these guys in the Knit a Second Sock in September forum on Ravelry, and I actually won

a prize! Trekking Superwash, handdyed by Abundant Yarn and Dyeworks. Isn’t she beautiful? Big thanks to Stephania for organizing the forum and supplying the lovely prize.

This ends our scheduled programming for today, and hopefully you’ve enjoyed the ride as much as I. It feels good finally to be here in Blogland, I think I’ll enjoy my stay.

I can’t stand it any longer!!

Even though this is a knit blog, and knit blogs are traditionally filled with pictorial documentation of projects past, present, and future, I cannot wait even one more day to start sharing my knitting life with you, the faceless internet. Until my beautiful camera arrives, I will pepper these posts with pictures of things that are similar to the things I am writing about, so you aren’t left in the dark, oh faceless internet.

So let’s get down to business. As of right now, I have one FO (finished object, in case by some bizarre coincidence a non-knitter stumbles across this blog), and at last headcount, three [active] WIPs (works-in-progress, by the same token). I’m not going to mention how many discarded projects are hidden around my apartment or ends I have left to weave in, out of fear that I may face litigation for causing an epdemic of heart failure amongst knitters.

I’ll start with WIPs, so we can all end on a happy note with an FO. Right now, I’m working on a generic top-down raglan baby cardi out of

Valley Yarns Longmeadow.

This is for my best friend, who moved on way across the state, and I moved the other, so we rarely get to see eachother anymore. I’m hoping that showering her with handknits on a regular basis will make up for the distance. Oh, and let the record state that I am doing the body in olive, and the collar, cuffs, waistband, and button bands in yellow.

WIP number two: Ysolda’s Gretel. I love you, Ysolda. This beret is adorable, you are adorable, yay on all accounts. I’m working it in:

Ella Rae Classic.

As a note to anyone thinking about trying this pattern: it is meticulous. Try it, you’ll like it.

And as for WIP numero tres, I really can’t do it justice without a camera. So internet, you’ll have to put your waiting caps on.

And now, the moment I’m sure you’ve all been waiting for, wherein I vainly boast about my FOs. Or FO, if you want to get technical. So about a month ago, I realized that although we have been dating for over two and a half years, I had yet to knit my dear, sweet (large-footed) boyfriend a pair of socks. This had nothing to do with fear of any curse; for I am cynical and don’t believe in anything, let alone some foofy knitting curse, muahaha! Ahem. Anyway, this had nothing to do with the curse, just that I hadn’t thought of it. A travesty, you say? I agree, and so got to work quickly. Unfortunately, my plans were waitlisted do to us moving and a mild case of second sock syndrome. Flash forward to the beginning of this week, when I realized I had better get my keister in gear if I was going to finish this damned pair of socks before Socktoberfest, and there you have it. Socks under pressure (really the only way I can work, honestly). In any case, they’re simple, generic stockinette toe-up socks with a short-row heel, out of

Knitpicks Essential Tweed.

I promise a proper writeup when the blasted camera arrived, but for now, this little lady’s got homework to do.

My Heart Goes Pitter-Patter for You, Canon Powershot

I cannot even begin to tell you how anxious I am to receive my new camera. I have so much yarn, and so little time! This dillema is further compounded by the fact that there was a mixup at buy.com, where I purchased the camera. See, my lovely boyfriend (pictures to follow when said camera arrives) and I recently moved, and I hadn’t yet changed my address with my bank because I get my statements electronically anyway. So in a fit of utter camera lust, I typed my new address as the billing address for my check card. Obviously, this was incorrect, and I got an email from buy.com, informing me that they could not ship my purchase because the billing address was incorrect. So I emailed them, explaining the situation, and now here I sit, sad and camera-less. (I do want to put it out there that buy.com is doing the best they can with my scatter-brained mistake. I hold no animousity toward them.) Add this to the fact that I also ordered a Ravelry tee-shirt that won’t ship for another five weeks, and the sum equals one lonely, shirtless, camera-less blogger. Woe is me.