Sea Anemone Knits

Edit: if you’ve made it here from Yarnival, I say “Welcome and shake you warmly by the hand” Lovely to have you here! I do hope you’ll come back.

Disclaimer:

It’s usually not the best idea to drink and knit. That being said, it’s NEVER a good idea to drink and knit LACE. You can see where this is going right?

I’ve been having a hard time coming up with things to blog about because well, my two current projects are both secret knits for people who could very possibly stumble across them here. Makes for lots to talk about knitting wise. Until tonight.

Tonight, I went to happy hour with a friend from work and had a few drinks. I show up to knitting group and brashly proceed to whip out some lace. I’m sailing along, feeling pretty cocky - I mean, I am after all, successfully knitting lace after a few drinks. Before I know it, I’ve done two and a half rows of edging on Secret Knit #2. Then disaster stikes. I paused, talking with the girls and when I look down…

I have DROPPED a nupp!! But not just any nupp, it is a nupp on the previous pattern row which was twenty million two and a half rows back… *begin sinking sense of doom*

I freaked and as Kelly is our resident lace person, I turn and hand it to her and make a strangled noise that somehow was to the tune of “GASP-ohmygodhowdoifixthis?????” She takes it, looks at it a minute and hands it back saying that I can either fix it or rip SK#2 back a couple of rows.

Know right now that ripping back was NOT an option. So I wrap up SK#2 and head home. Once home, I take out my handy dandy wee box o’magic (wee box containing my magic and some of the stitchmarkers were given to me by the wonderful PlumTexan - who I might add has not blogged in over two months…ahem.)

On the left, I keep a wee tin with some moo cards in it, a wee nail file and some darning needles. On the right, I keep a set of kitchner stitch markers, a wee pair of newborn nail clippers, various stitch markers, a tape measure, and last, but most importantly not least (at least in this case!) a wee ball of pink cotton yarn for lifelines and emergency corrective nupp sugery.

(I wish I could have gotten pictures of the entire process. Oh well, I’m single, thus I’m my own photographer, stylist and model. I’m also my own grandpa!)

First, I picked up the yarn behind that loop floating free in that red box up top and wrapped it around the needle 5 times. (5 times because thats how many stitches my nupps call for. If your nupps call for 7 stitches, by all means, wrap it 7 times, capisce?)

Next I beg forgiveness for this really crappy paintbrush drawing I’ve done to illustrate how to fix a nupp…

Ok, you see those burgundy stitches on the knitting needle? Those are your newly wrapped stitches.

Then, you see that green phantom floating loop? (It’s the original dropped stitch) Take a small piece of pink yarn and thread it carefully through that loop. Now holding both ends of the pink yarn together, thread them onto a needle. Now use that needle to pick up all 5 wrapped stitches, pulling the green phantom floating loop through.

Last, put the green phantom floating loop onto the knitting needle and collapse from exhaustion.

You, my dear dear partners in crime, you have now performed an emergency corrective nupp surgery. You should pat each other on the backs.

(More disclaimer-y goodness: This is by no means the correct way to fix a nupp in a technical sense. But it will simulate a nupp and be virtually undetectable to the nekkid eyeball in yore head once you knit past and keep on keepin’ on!)

Because I joined Liz’s Sock in a Day Challenge, I got tagged with the ‘8 Random Facts’ Meme. At least I’m not alone, everyone else participating got tagged too. Thanks Liz!

Ok, Rules!

1. Each player starts with 8 random facts about themselves.

2. People who are tagged write a blog post about their 8 random things and post the rules.

3. At the end of your post you need to tag 8 people and post their names.

4. Don’t forget to leave them a comment and tell them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

Annnnd…. 8 Random Things about me!

1. When I was younger, I found and bought a book to learn to speak Elvish. (You know, like Lord of the Rings?) J.R.R. Tolkien has been a household name for me since before I was born and some of my favorite memories involve being a little girl tucked under my Papa’s arm when he would read me Tolkien before bed. At any rate, I found this book and thought it would be cool to learn.

2. I still have both my baby blanket and teddy bear. They are as old as I am and yes, I still sleep with them on the pillow next to me most nights. (Don’t judge, I’m single and you know you used to do it too!)

3. I can’t chew gum. Well, I can, but I can’t just like hang out chewing a piece of gum for hours like a normal human being can. I chew it, and without even thinking about it, swallow it like 30 seconds later. When I was young and impressionable (Stop laughing. I’m not so impressionable now. Seriously. I’m not.) I did get kinda concerned about that ‘chewing gum staying in your digestive tract for seven years’ thing. But I asked my Grandpa Bob about it once and being a Dr. with a wicked sense of humor, he promptly strung me along for a bit and then later told me the truth. It digests. And in less than seven years. Hah!

4. I can parallel park in three moves or less. Thanks Mom!

5. I can tie cherry stems in a knot with my tongue. No, I didn’t grow up hanging out in a bar.

6. I am deathly afraid of cockroaches. Deathly. Have you ever heard that “Everything’s bigger in Texas,” well, I’m here to tell you that there is some truth to that statement. I have seen the cockroaches in other states. Our cockroaches make Hummers look puny. I got the skin crawlies when I read that the Houston Museum of Natural Science was paying $.25 per roach (PER ROACH PEOPLE!!) in order to collect enough for some exhibit they’ve got going on. Not only that, but our bitches FLY - they have got wings and aren’t afraid to USE THEM. That, my dear friends, is really freakin disgusting. Ew.

7. About once every year or two I get the strongest urge to pack up and move to a new city. I haven’t actually done this yet. But I dream about it. Unfortunately, that’s no way to make a living that I could survive on for long enough to save money to move again.

8. I may be the only remaining knitter on the face of the earth who has not: knit jaywalker socks, or a clapotis.

There! And because I’m too indecisive to tag anyone in particular, if you’re reading this, consider yourself tagged!

glee /gli/
–noun
1. open delight or pleasure; exultant joy; exultation.
2. an unaccompanied part song for three or more voices, popular esp. in the 18th century.
[Origin: bef. 900; ME; OE gléo; c. ON glȳ; akin to glow]

Synonyms: blitheness, cheerfulness, delectation, delight, elation, enjoyment, exhilaration, exuberance, exultation, fun, gaiety, gladness, hilarity, jocularity, jollity, joviality, joy, joyfulness, joyousness, liveliness, merriment, mirth, pleasure, sprightliness, triumph, verve

But MOST importantly, she is now a prodotto finito.

Freakin finally, right?

Lastly, my apologies for the extreme boobage (at least it’s covered!!!) but I was really really pleased to find out that there is NO gaping. None. Whatsoever. It lays nice and flat like it ought.

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I got to join in Mother’s Day festivities this weekend as well. See, for years now I’ve told my mom that she ought to just get accustomed to the idea of having a grand-kitty as I’ve got no plans to provide her with grandchildren. Well, Sunday morning, I received this

“I love you very much which is why I am sending you this Mother’s Day card even though it’s a difficult thing to do since I am a cat. I know you love and cherish me also but a rumor has surfaced and I need reassurance that it isn’t so…”

Is that not the cutest thing ever?? (I do have a Mom with a sense of humor! I love it!)

Y’all know I love my little furry schmoo.

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Last week, Kelly gave me yarn for taking care of her kitties while she went to MDSW. Um! Hello pretty??

It is all I can do not to cast on some yummy things right now! But I’ve got a couple of shawls to finish first. :/

Happy Birthday to my blog! It’s been around for one year today! Yay!

Besides saying ‘yay’ (Yay!!!) about my blogiversary, I kind of can’t really think of much to write, so I won’t. Do like the elephants and enjoy some (virtual) cake

Worker bee #1 walking up to group of coworkers: Hey, here’s two of the people I’m looking for.
Worker bee #2: Scatter!

That was the atmosphere around the office today. No one wanted to do anything that involved work. But who can blame us? The a/c for the entire building was shot through to hell and back. So it stayed hot. All. Day. Long.

I got lucky though. I left on time today (duh, it was hot!) and came home to find a surprise in my mail box. Woo! I had a very sweet package from the International Crimfighter as a “Thank you” for letting her stay with me while she was in town week before last. You know, because it is *such* a hardship having a friend stay with you for a few days!

She remembered that I’d been stalking the Black Purl colorway for a while and had several thwarted attempts at buying it. Now I can knit some socks in one of my favorite Lorna’s Laces colorways! mmm, squooshy!

She also sent some milk chocolate sponge candy. Kelly has been talking about this stuff recently and I’d not thought about it too much except to note that it looked kind of cool on the inside. And now I’ve got some to try. (Kelly, I’ll bring it on Thursday so you can have some too!)

Thank you Jet! I’ll be digging into the sock yarn soon for Liz’s blogiversary Sock-In-A-Day knitting challenge!

I also got my copy of IK Summer ‘07 today. There’s a few things that I’m interested in, with variations of course.

Really, it would make my butt appear much bigger than it already is, but I love the stitch pattern and would like to write it into a shawl pattern or as a sweater border.

I really like the sleeves and the whole idea of the knitted pleats. But I need to find a way to make the bodice of the sweater more flattering for me. I don’t want to look like that Kirby nintendo character.

Lastly, this sweater, I LOVE this sweater.

This is not the first sweater of Shirley’s that I’ve seen and immediately loved nor, I’m sure, will it be the last. The only modification I could want is making it a v-neck instead of a turtleneck. High necklines do nothing for me except highlight the fact that I do not have a pretty long neck, but a short one. So, to the modification table I go.

I could tell you about my progress on the Swallowtail Part Deux, but really, there’s no point in showing you photos of the shawl looking the same as it did a few days ago. It’s grown. I’m not saying it hasn’t. I’ve got one row left before I start the three edge charts and then it’s time to block it! and block it good! (sorry, got a little carried away there!)

Saturday found me making a quick trip over to High Fashion Fabrics with Meredith where I picked up a dress pattern and some contrast fabric for the loteria fabric I picked up last week. I also stumbled across this fabric which I’m fighting the urge to go back and get!

I bought this pattern:

I bought the pattern so I could sew the green dress pictured there. I’ve done a little digging around the internets and found a website that has a very pretty merlot colored jersey fabric that I want to use for it. Their fabric is like half the price of jersey that I’ve fondled seen at fabric stores here in town. So I may be placing an order with them sometime soon. If I do, I’m thinking about also buying a dress amount of the jersey in a nice grey color that I saw as well. I do want to change the straps though. I’m going to eliminate those pesky bowtie straps and make the straps slightly wider and of the variety that do not tie. Now to get over my fear of zippers…

Tonight, I got up close and personal with my sewing machine again for the second time in the last couple of weeks.

It’s not tall enough to hold straight needles, but it’ll hold a coupld of circulars and some sets of both short and long dpns. I wish I’d had some interfacing to make it feel a little sturdier, but really, this is one of the better sewing jobs I’ve done. I even pressed the fabric as I went to keep it all nice and neat. Going out on a limb here, but I say that the pressing as you go thing was an insanely brilliant not a bad idea.

I also finished my Gardenia Leaves footies a few weeks ago. The bind-off is a bit snug, but really, since I don’t get to wear socks really anywhere but at home and on the weekends, I’m ok with the snug bind off. I won’t have to tug the socks up! I got the yarn from The Fiber Denn. I’ve bought yarn from her before and I’ve always been impressed with the lovely softness of the yarn as well as the freakin COLORS. Hello perfect fat stripes much?? Currently until the 15th of May, she’ll donate a hefty portion of the proceeds from the sale of certain of her yarns to her local pug rescue and I think that that is pretty cool. You can check out better details here.

I’m just way too glad to have them done. The plain stockinette sucked my soul was a little bit boring.

“what do sea anemones look like when they are dying?”

If you do a google search on that phrase, I am the top two results out of 120,000. What gives?? While going over some stats for the site, someone found me yesterday by searching that phrase. Thats just sick. Of course, now that I’ve quoted that phrase, I’m almost certain that I’ll end up with a few more hits. Ew.

The International Crimefighter was in town this weekend. So Saturday afternoon, a few of us converged upon my apt.

The Crimefighter showed off her STDs

We were shown the cookie love by Plum Texan

And at the end of it all, Liz (sadly blogless) gave me a new headband made out of my Hourglass Sweater leftovers

Lots of fun was had by all and my normally deathly quiet apt was for an afternoon filled with laughing and chatting and knitting and baking and all around good times and it felt really good.

I worked on a “new” shawl this weekend. It is my 2nd swallowtail shawl (IK Fall ‘06). I made some fantastic progress. I am 3 days and 14 repeats into it. (Bragging much?? Perhaps a wee bit) I did some maths and like everyone else, came to the conclusion that if you want the three edging charts to work out perfectly, then you need work the budding lace chart #2 in multiples of 5. (Ex. 19 repeats and then the edgings; 24 repeats and then the edgings, etc., etc.)

One amazing (to me) little bit is that with being 14 repeats into the body of the shawl, you’ll never guess how much yarn I have left… ok fine! I’ll show you!

Honestly, considering that I have one more untouched ball of this stuff, I think I’ll be able to finish the shawl with no problems.

Now the astute reader may notice something familiar about this shawl besides the fact that I’m working the same pattern. That’s my challenge to you. What here is the same??

I had been planning to keep this shawl when I am done. I mean, I L.O.V.E. the yarn and I would love a bigger shawl, but in the end, I’ve decided that this will go to live with my good friend Anne (who has started knitting! Yay Anne!). Back in January, we were emailing back and forth one day and she mentioned that she could use a shawl and I jokingly told her I’d get started on one for her - in pink. (She is a wee bit averse to pink). And now, the more I get finished on this shawl, the more I know that it is her shawl and not mine. She will love it and treasure it accordingly and really, what knitter could ask for more?

In other news I bought some fabric this weekend.

The floral will be for a summer skirt that I hope to settle down and make in the next month. (No, you are NOT allowed to laugh at me for that statement!!) And isn’t the Loteria fabric freakin AWESOME? I’m thinking a needle case or baggie of some sort perhaps? We shall see! I love living three blocks away from Houston’s best fabric store!!!

And one last before I go hit the hay, you HAVE to check this out!!! It’s a very awesome FO and totally brag worthy for her.