Long Time No Me

I know. It's been ages. And the longer I went without blogging, the more reluctant I was to do it again, which is kind of sad since I have been home for a couple of weeks now. I think I lost my mojo a little bit. While I don't have it back entirely, it is a little bit more back now. I'm pushing through, you guys! The thing is though, that it is hard for me to knit when I don't have anything else to do because I am between jobs. When it is something I look forward to doing, I can't get enough. When I am not doing anything it seems like busy-work and I resent it a little, which I hate! Because I love knitting and it's not knitting's fault that I have nothing else to do except helicopter-parent a fussy cat (which mainly involves watching a lot of naps).

I should be knitting more because of Nerd Wars and this month I have made much more of an effort. I have one project completed, hope to have one more completed this weekend, and hope to get partial credit for at least one more. So that's something. I will post more about what I have been knitting, but this is probably one of my most favorite things ever and I finished it earlier this month (no buttons yet, of course):

It is made from the Bellyphant pattern and is in navy and lime green color and is even cuter in person!

Round One Has Begun

Very. Overwhelmed. Right. Now. The challenges have been posted for this month's round of Nerd Wars and while there is tons of flexibility and lots of creative possibilities I am finding that I don't quite know what to do with myself. I need to shape up before I go to Looped tomorrow because otherwise it's going to be like going to the grocery store when very hungry and drunk.
*runs into wall*

Nerd Wars Have Begun!!!

Never has war been so fuzzy and friendly! For those of you who are not familiar with Nerd Wars, you can find out about it more here. I have been placed on my first choice team- Team Writer, with other lovely knitters who are fans of Castle and other amateur sleuth shows, like Murder She Wrote. Over the next three months we will be taking part in a series of knitting challenges related to our nerdery and will totally dominate those other nerds!!** I am really really excited about this. I was so nervous I wouldn't get picked for Team Writer, not only because I love Castle, but also because I had grown fond of other Team Castle hopefuls as we talked about NWs in the weeks leading up to selection. I am excited to join them and others and knit things related to one of the most adorable amateur sleuths ever!

**or have tons of fun trying

Snug as a Bug

I don't think I have mentioned my (second) first sweater here? Or I have mentioned it, but haven't gone into much detail about it. It is the Francis Revisited pattern and I am using Cascade Eco in a pretty basic gray color. I didn't want a color that stood out too much because it is my first sweater and I want to wear it and I was sort of limited in color choices when I bought this yarn. The Eco stands for "ecological" but it was also the most economical because I didn't want to spend a lot of money and then get bored or have a ton of weird colored yarn and you get a lot of yarn for your money with Eco and it is nice and sweater-y. So now I have all this yarn and a sweater that's about 3/4 finished- I have to make a sleeve and do the cowl neck, but I don't have the heart to work on it right now, and it's not because I am bored.
It's because I tried it on and it is a little...snug.

In its early stages. I would take a new picture but I'd prefer to ignore it right now

I know it's going to get a little bigger when I block it and it's hard to get a sense of how its going to fit when the stitches are on scrap yarn but it's making me a bit sad. I am not tremendously busty and based on the pattern it should be a smidgen too big in the chest area but there you have it. Of course this means I am trying to lose weight to fit into a sweater which I haven't even blocked yet. Sigh. I will work on it this weekend. And I know it will fit wonderfully once it's blocked but till then I am going to mope about it and work on UFOs (so maybe this isn't all bad?) and eat like a little bird.

A Weekend of Knits and Giggles



started...



I spent last weekend with the lovely ladies of the DC area's Creative Knitters Guild on their yearly retreat in Arlington, VA. It was one of the best weekends ever, full of wonderful conversation, many laughs, and of course lots of knitting. I overpacked like I always do, but less on shoes this time and more on WIPs and yarn with which to start new projects. Though I continued work on my rainbow socks and first (second sweater) I really wanted to start and finish this Peacock Hat, which I did and did and it is perfect.



It was so nice to hear everyone talk about what they were working on and seeing knitting in action. As I have mentioned here before (I think) I don't really have any friends who knit (actually now I do!!) and so for me knitting has been somewhat of a solitary activity. My husband and friends are really good sports and try to get into whatever knitting mystery series I am obsessed with or will be really supportive when I describe my provisional cast-on related stress but being around people that get it first hand was amazing. It was also really inspiring to see the things my new ladyfriends were knitting and I hope with time and practice I can knit up such beautiful and complex items.



...finished!!



Part of me feels like the weekend was this wondrous dream from which I am still recovering but the hat that I made proves that it was very very real AND the next one is only a year away! Can't wait!

Toe Up From The Flo Up

I have started my first pair of toe-up socks. I am pretty excited about this, first of all because knitting socks is one of my new year's resolutions, but secondly and mostly, because I will be able to plan the cuff better when I know how much yarn I will be working with. With my first pair of socks, the green cuff-down ones, I was very stressed out about the length of the cuffs. They could be bigger but there was no way I could really go back because I only realized I would have plenty of yarn left over once I was almost done with the toe. This would probably stop being an issue once I knit more socks and got a sense of how much yarn I needed, etc. Until then though, toe-up may be a thing for me. Also I was dying to use this yarn again from my tinked half-sock featured a couple of weeks ago.

I am using Wendy D. Johnson's Generic Toe-Up Sock Pattern and so far it is going pretty well. (I am only on row 7 or so). The provisional cast on aspect is a bit of a turn off for this, and generally, but as I recounted a few months back, I think I have the hang of that and kitchener stitch so it should work out alright.

An Adorable Sweater

For an even more adorable baby. She looks absolutely perfect. I could look at this picture all day (and I may have done that).