Makers' Monday

Oops! Better late than never.  I almost forgot today was Monday.  Actually, what happened was yesterday, I thought it was Saturday and that I had another day to get this week's Makers' Monday post written.  I've definitely got the 'KD Confusion' thing going on.  I get this way each summer.  I never know what day it is.  I just go to work every day and when I run out of clean uniforms, I pray it's my day off.

Anyway....  Because of my date confusion, you're being treated to a hastily written post today.

I've almost finished knitting my Blue Heron cowl that I mentioned last Monday.  Although quite splity (or is it splitty?  I'm a horrible speller and Spellcheck says both are wrong,) this yarn has been a delight to work with.  I'm absolutely loving the drape of the knitted fabric.  My original plan was for this to be a long, twist around your neck a bunch of times type cowl but....  Since I didn't check my gauge or even count my cast on stitches....  It turned out to be the perfect mini poncho size.    I'm only a few rows from casting it off and can't wait to wear it to some nice, chilly, air conditioned event.

But even more exciting than my knitting....  Do you see my shirt?   I know it's upside down but....  It's a tank tank. 

Stolen Tank, photo courtesy of RVAMag.com

Did you hear about the stolen military 'tank-like' vehicle that lead police on a chase through Richmond  a few weeks ago?  While the reality of it is pretty scary - I mean, what if the thing had been armed and the driver angry rather than just in need of a ride home.... 

I was at work.  Where else would I be?  Photo courtesy of deskgram.org

But honestly, it was pretty dang funny.  You can see a brief video of it here.  And because it was funny, the news went viral.  And because it went viral, there was a t-shirt made.  Or rather, a tank.  A Tank tank.  I had to have one!

And with that, I'm going to leave you so I can go deal with that awful scraped up nail polish and get back to knitting.  Happy better late than never Makers' Monday!

Makers' Monday

With no other plan than 'a cowl with some super simple lacy bits on the edges and a bunch of stockinette in the center,' I cast on an unknown number of stitches while hanging out in the waiting room of the local tire shop the other day.  It was a day for living dangerously.  Just like making the decision not to put air in the slowly flattening tire before driving to the tire shop, I didn't bother with gauge or even a stitch count.  I just cast on stitches until I couldn't stand it anymore and the Need to begin knitting took over.

Casting on

Then I came home and finished my So Faded sweater.  Yes! You heard that right.  I finally finished it!

So Faded Sweater

Okay, okay.  I finished the knitting.  There's still the matter of a few loose ends to deal with and it needs a bit of blocking.  But I finished the knitting and it fits perfectly.  I should clarify - it fits me perfectly.  My mannequin is slightly petite with weirdly pointy boobs.  I am the exact opposite.

And I'd like to add that So Faded is officially my new favorite basic sweater pattern.  There was no sewing up involved.  None at all!  And the neck line is brilliant!  There are short rows, well, not really - just extra rows, on the back that help the front lay flat instead of doing that weird bunching up around the neck/across the collar bone thing that so many raglands do.  Oh and the cuffs were an inch of ribbing instead of three or four. 

Yep, this is definitely my new favorite sweater pattern!  And the sweater deserves a much nicer photo but I'm working with the little bit of time I have.  A hastily snapped cellphone picture in front of a mountain of unorganized junk will have to do.

Blue Heron Metallic Cowl

As soon as I cast off So Faded, I went back to knitting the Blue Heron Metallic cowl.  The yarn is slightly splitty but I'm loving it's sparkle!  Assuming that my living dangerously method of casting on produces a circle long enough to wrap around my neck twice (and it looks like it will) I think this cowl will be perfect for indoor/outdoor wear on our milder winter and/or over air conditioned summer days.

That photo has me stumped though.  The project bag is showing up with the exact correct color, the knitted yarn is almost exact, but the yarn bowl....  In the photo, the yarn bowl looks like it's been left out in the weather for about 15 years.  In reality, its wood has a much warmer and polished-to-a-shine tone.  Weird. 

I wish I knew more about photography.  I really should take a class.

Makers' Monday

I broke the rule.  I rebelled and went yarn shopping.  Yarn shopping before I'd knit up an entire drawer full of yarn.  I'd promised myself no yarn purchases until I had an empty yarn drawer.  But seriously!  Who was I kidding?  And actually, I've done better with the goal since I set it way back in November than anyone ever expected I would.  I've had many more months without yarn hauls than with. 

And I only bought two skeins.  I got lucky My wallet got lucky.  I'd completely forgotten why I don't venture into the city more often.  I hit every single stop light in the state of Virginia and even more traffic jams on the way to the yarn shop.  I didn't arrive until about fifteen minutes before they closed. 

And before you say anything, I went in for needles.  Needles that I'd called about, they said they had, but when I got there, discovered that they don't carry them after all.  I was disappointed and frustrated to say the least.  So you can see why I broke the No Yarn rule.  

Only two skeins.

I must be missing wearing my jeans because oddly, both skeins are called Denim.  And even more oddly, when I insert the photos into the blog, the yarn changes color.  Both skeins are much darker/grayer.  They both look much more like actual well-worn, faded denim than they do in these pictures.

Cascade 220 Superwash Aran Splatter

This Cascade 220 Superwash will most likely become a pair of fingerless mitts, or maybe a hat.  Probably mitts.

Blue Heron Metallic

And this Blue Heron Metallic will be a cowl or scarf.  I'm not normally into shiny sparkles but this yarn just called to me.  It literally jumped off the shelf and threw itself into my arms.  Well, that's not true.  The aqua green skein threw itself off the shelf and into my arms.... but I decided the blue would go with my fall/winter clothes much more so than the aqua.

I'm so excited about knitting with the Blue Heron Metalic yarn, I'm thinking seriously of binding off my So Faded sweater sleeve right where I'm at so that I can start knitting with it.  I mean, it wouldn't look weird at all if one sleeve was a normal, long sleeve length and the other was above the elbow.  No, it wouldn't look strange at all.  Knitters would understand.  Right?

Right??

Dammit!  I guess I'll finish knitting the sleeve.  But I won't be happy about it.

Three on Thursday

Three very random facts...

1.  We had over 12 inches of rain last month.  It's made driving to work a little tricky for some folks.

2.  I have Friday and Saturday off this week!  A Friday And a Saturday!  Two days, back to back!  On a weekend!  I'm slightly worried about what the boss might be buttering me up for.

Rock the Red!  photo courtesy of nhl.com

3.  The Caps just may bring home the cup tonight!

Join me over at Carole's for today's Three on Thursday link up.

D-Day

D-Day doesn't get much attention anymore but it has always been acknowledged in my household.  Our 'celebration' is fairly solemn.  We fly the flag and we spend a few moments thanking and remembering those men and women who gave so much that fateful day.

Omaha Beach, June 6, 1944; photo courtesy of irastehmann.com

Since I'm off to work in a few minutes, I'll simply say a little prayer and leave you with a link to a previous D-Day post.

Makers' Monday

I'm hoping this post improves as time passes.  As it stands, although this is Monday's post, I'm typing it on Saturday night.  Saturday night while I'm a bit more focused on the Caps' game than I am the computer screen and I have a few celebratory drinks under my belt.  And, as I type this, the post is currently photoless.  I'm hoping I remember to take a few shots tomorrow before I head into work.  We will see.

But shots of what, you ask?  Well, I've knit a sleeve and a half on my So Faded sweater.  Well, okay... honestly, I have a sleeve and a quarter.  Maybe closer to an eighth.  The point is, I've started the second sleeve.  I'm making progress. 

So Faded

The second sleeve is knitting up a little slower than the first.  I decided to use the Arleta colorway for the sleeves instead of fading them.  Although my Arleta skeins are the same dye lot and were ordered at the same time, they are very different from each other. 

photo courtesy of twitter.com

Woot!  Woot!  We scored again!!

Sorry.  I'm a little excited.  And a lot distracted.

Anyway....  The first sleeve was a big old beautiful mess of fluctuating color and the second sleeve was coming out all stripey.  Luckily I had a partial skein left over so I'm alternating the rows.  No more stripey affect.  Knitting time wise, it's no different but untangling the twisted yarn time wise....

Second Sleeve

But it's fine if the sweater is taking me longer than planned.  You might be sick of looking at it but I'm Loving knitting with the Hawthorne yarns and I'm quite pleased with the way the sweater is turning out.  And it's June.  I won't be wearing it anytime soon!

Hat #19

And, after a two month break in my knit-a-hat-a-week plan, I've finally cast on another hat.  This hat will be number 19 out of 52.  Luckily I was way ahead of the game and now I'm only four hats behind schedule.  I can come back from that.  I'm not totally defeated yet.

And now, back to the Caps game....