Weekly WIP Report (+FO!)

I finished the socks for my mom's boyfriend!



Pattern: No pattern
Yarn: Ehh.... Regia something?
Needles: 2.25 mm dpns
Comments: I'm so NOT USED to knitting socks for big feet!

I'm glad they are done though. Now I only need to finish my boyfriend's scarf and all my Christmas gifts will be done. Here you see me working on it:



Yes, it's very cold in the house! I have half of the scarf done, I just finished the first skein and I have two. I love how there's a zigzag in the colours.

Last night, I used my ball winder for the first time to wind the angora that my SP10 pal sent me. The next project will be mittens (for me!) I think.

News!

This past week has officially been the craziest week ever. But at least I have great news: I finally quit the job-that-I-hate on Tuesday! I gave them my two-weeks notice so I'll be out of there forever on December 4 (a day after my birthday!).

You have no idea how happy it makes me. I never knew what "hating your job" really meant before working there. I can't believe I stayed there a year! I will miss a few of my coworkers but that's about it. I feel so unbelievably free!

I'm leaving because I found a new job that looks absolutely fantastic. I spent a day there this week and I loved it. So it's promising. BUT (yes, there's a but) it's only part-time. That means that I will have to find some freelance work too (anybody needs a French translator or proofreader?)

It looks like 2008 will be an interesting year. Working part-time means that I'll have a lot of time to knit and blog (yay!) but I'll have no money to buy yarn (or much of anything at all). The good news is that my boyfriend just had a promotion so I don't have to worry about not having enough money for the bills too much, but still, I don't want him to pay for everything so most of the money I'll make will go towards bills, rent, food, etc. I do think it's worth it in the end because I'm pretty sure I will love this new job and hopefully I'll get a full-time position someday (I just don't know when, it could be months, or years, you know?). But no new yarn sucks, especially since I don't have that big of a stash. Oh well.

My birthday and Christmas are coming up and I'm pretty sure I'll get *some* yarn money, so hopefully I'll be able to buy enough for a sweater. Then it's going to be a "knit from your stash" year!

M.I.A.

Sorry I've been missing in action lately. I couldn't do a WIP report because my camera has no battery and things have been CRA-ZY! Everything should be back to normal soon and I'll be back to regular blogging.

In the meantime, check out the the Fearless Knitting KAL, hosted by Melanie of Lotus Knits! (who has a contest going on on her blog btw, check it out!). It's a year-long KAL and the goal is to conquer your fears. You want to knit socks but DPNs scare you? You want to try fair-isle? You want to master steeking? This KAL is for you. We'll encourage each other to learn new skills in 2008.

I already have a few goals in mind, but I usually post them in my end-of-the-year post so they will have to wait.

I'm feeling it...

I'm seriously thinking of frogging the Woven Trellis scarf and use the yarn for this scarf instead. Similar look, less tedious knitting.

Weekly WIP Report (+FO!)

The mitts are done! They are cute, I love them!



Pattern: Endpaper Mitts, by Eunny Jang.
Yarn: The pink is the merino sock yarn by Fearless Fibers. The grey... I'm not sure! It was the yarn from my Fair Isle socks, that I ended up frogging. I think it's Patons Kroy but I'm not 100% sure.
Needles: 2.75 mm and 3 mm DPNs
Notes: I love them and they were very easy and quick to knit. BUT if I were to make them again (and I just might), I wouldn't do the faux seam. I hate that grey line in the middle. Oh well.

And I need to say again that I LOVE Fearless Fibers. The yarn is soft, it has great colours and the skein is HUGE! Seriously. With one skein, I made a pair of Roza's socks, then I used the leftovers for the mitts, and I still have this much left:



It's still a pretty big ball in my hand. (And now I imagine all the Google hits I'll receive from people looking for big balls in my hand HAHA. Fooled you!)

Okay. Now the WIP. Since I'm done with the mitts, I need to finish those Christmas presents. I've worked on the socks for mom's boyfriend:



I want to finish them and my boyfriend's scarf ASAP so I can knit for me again without guilt. I see more fair isle in my future, yes I do!

I call that willpower

I went to my LYS today and I'm pretty happy with myself. There were sooooo many nice things and I really wanted to buy. But I only got the new Interweave Knits and yarn for my Secret Pal. And because it will be the last gift and I'll reveal myself in the package, I can post a picture of it!



The picture doesn't do the yarn justice. It's 100% cashmere and it's a dream to knit with. What can I say, I'm a good pal and I always keep the great gift for last :)

No yarn for me, but like I said, I did buy the new IK. Am I the only one who thinks the girl on the cover looks a little bit like Jennifer Garner? There are a lot of cute patterns in it (I esp. love the celtic bag) but nothing that I want to cast on for right now.

What I do want to cast on for right now, is the Cardigan for Arwen. The funny thing is that it wasn't even in my Ravelry queue (which now contains 74 items) until this afternoon. But I saw Kate Gilbert at the LYS and she was wearing hers (the original) and it was BEAUTIFUL. And now I want one. Like now. Maybe I will end up buying yarn for my 30th birthday after all. (I think it would look perfect in Andean Silk, in Bluebell. Or maybe Hollyberry.

My Endpaper Mitts are done and being blocked. You'll see them tomorrow.

The new Clapotis?

It seems like there's always a pattern that becomes the "it" pattern. The pattern everyone knits. Multiple times. Clapotis was one. The Monkey socks was another.

Today, Knitty revealed the surprises for fall. There's a cute hat and a great cardigan. And then there's the Juno Regina stole.

I.am.in.love. (And I have cashmere for it.)

I went to add it to my Ravelry queue. I was #516 to do so. I think we found the new Clapotis!

To shop or not to shop, that is the question

I have this little yarn closet (I've posted pics before) and in it there are two big baskets of yarn, a smaller one with sock yarn lots of books, a couple of project bags and a plastic container with some more yarn.

I've mentionned it before, I don't have a huge stash, but I don't want one. I don't want yarn everywhere in my appartment (now if I had the space for a yarn room, things would be different). The problem is that while I don't WANT too much yarn, I still itch for new yarn. I love to shop for it, I love to buy it, I love to bring it back home or to get it in the mail. And with the strong Canadian dollar, I'm even more tempted to buy the whole Knitpicks inventory. Currently in my cart are some Essential sock yarn in Ash and African Violet, enough Swish Superwash in Camel Heather to make a Central Park Hoodie, as well as some Knitpicks Harmony DPNs (2.25 mm) and the book Fitted Knits.

*sigh* Why can't I be happy with what I have? I'll try to be. My goal is to not buy any new yarn (for me, Secret Pal does't count) until I finish:

a) Two projects currently on the needles (Endpaper Mitts and boyfriend scarf)
b) Kate Gilbert's Fireside Stocking (but only if I feel I have the time to finish it before Christmas, after I finish the above projects)
c) A pair of mittens
d)the Streakers shrug
e) A hat

Sock yarn is not included in the above BUT I can't buy any new yarn until I finish FOUR pairs using yarn that I have.

That's a lot of knitting for me and if I succeed, I probably won't buy new yarn for MONTHS!

(Now that I think of it, I'm sure I'll want to go yarn shopping to celebrate my 30th birthday next month... oh well...)

Weekly WIP Report

This weekly WIP report will be about one WIP and one WIP only : my endpaper mitts, which I've been knitting obsessively for the past week.

And I'm proud to say I now have half a FO!



I love it! And I want the second mitt now! I'm almost halfway done with it too. Expect a FO pic real soon!

Now go and cast on for your own pair, they are lots of fun!

Things I need to share

Ok, readers, drop everything you're doing and go on Jennifer's blog to see the fantastic costume she knit for her son. Seriously, I don't think I've ever seen anything more adorable in my life. (Now Jennifer, I dare you to knit the same one for your husband next year. ;) )

Also, Cass at Shut Up, I'm counting is holding a contest. With some yummy prizes. Go participate and tell her I sent you! And read the replies while you're there, they're interesting.

Finally, someone found my blog by searching for "little porn" and it made me wonder what that person was looking for exactly. Just a little bit of porn? Porn with little people? (It exists. I sort of accidentally saw some a while ago.) I also got the fat legs request again. Oh well...

(Stay tuned tomorrow for a completed Endpaper mitt. Now I need to cast on for #2.)

Edited to add: In exactly ONE MONTH I will turn THIRTY!