Apparently I fail at blogging. I also fail at meeting my March goals:
I’ve taken on some extra commitments lately, though, hence the relative lack of knitting. So April’s goals will be a little easier to account for this:
I’ve mentioned this project a couple of times over the past couple of months. But it’s taken me awhile to post about it because honestly, stockinette rectangles are boring.
But by now I’ve done some of the ribbing, and I finally have this to show for it:
This is Tubey, take two. My first one doesn’t fit me anymore, so I’m making another.
It’s been kind of slow going; this Tubey seems like it’s taking forever. Even though I’m knitting a smaller size this time, I’m using a finer yarn at an appropriate gauge. So, there’s a hell of a lot of stitches in this. I’m sure it’ll be worth it, though!
I met all of last week’s goals, but to be fair, they were ridiculously easy:
This month’s goals are a bit more ambitious:
Yes, you read that right – I need to redo the Fairways charts. Not just the toe, which I’d already reworked once, but all of them, because I somehow managed to lose them. (My originals were hand-drawn, and stupidly enough, I never got around to copying them.) The main leg chart will be easy, but the heel and sole will be a bit more complicated.
Oh well. On the plus side, at least I want to work on that project now!
In other project news, I don’t think I’ve really posted anything about Tubey v2 yet. I really should get on that! Hopefully I can take photos later this week…
And now, Stitches West continued!
Marisa arrived on Friday morning. The Nut Graf had classes all day, but the rest of us spent all morning in the Market. Marisa and I continued in the afternoon, too, while Jessimuhka was at her class. I’d originally thought spending a whole day at the Market was excessive, but by the end of the day I was glad I had all that time – there was so much to see!
Not surprisingly, I bought even more yarn:
Tess’ Designer Yarns Superwash Merino. I can’t get this to photograph properly – it’s a slightly greener and darker turquoise in person. It’s one of my favorite colors in the world, so of course I had to buy it. It’ll be a cardigan eventually, perhaps a cabled one (hence the three skeins instead of two).
Tess’ Designer Yarns Super Socks & Baby Yarn. I’m not entirely sure what I’ll be making with this yet, especially since I only need one skein for socks and not two, but I’ll figure out something.
Brooks Farm Acero. This will be a tank or camisole. (And probably a pair of socks, too, since I don’t think I’ll use much of the third skein.) I actually wasn’t sure if this color would look good on me at first, but Jessimuhka and Marisa convinced me. And now that I’m seeing it in better lighting, I’m glad I trusted them – I really do think it’ll work. See, this is why it’s good to have knitting friends!
RedFish Dye Works 20/2 Silk. This is so much more beautiful in person, trust me. I was drawn to all the pretty colors in the booth, but this particular one wasn’t even on the display shelves. The dyer overheard Marisa pointing me toward the greys and silvers and then pulled out a bunch of other skeins for me from under the table. I’m planning on using this for the Cleopatra Wrap.
And though it’s not yarn, I also bought:
A pretty shawl pin. Which can also be used as a hair pin, and actually seems to be marketed just for that purpose on the web. But I’ll be using it just for shawls. Unfortunately, I can’t remember which booth I bought it from…
I also bought a couple of Cookie A sock patterns from the Full Thread Ahead booth. (Actually, her newest patterns aren’t on her site yet; some previews are on the Knitters Anonymous blog.) Just based on the pictures, I wasn’t sure I wanted to knit those particular socks, but the sample ones in the booth won me over.
On Saturday, Marisa and I took the Estonian Lace class with Nancy Bush, which was great – very informative. In addition to teaching us some tips and tricks, she also showed some gorgeous shawls and talked about her upcoming book.
We also stopped by the Market during break and after class. Man, talk about insane. It was a total zoo, and we had the misfortune of dealing with some very inconsiderate people (people bumping us without apologies, or ignoring me completely when I said “excuse me”, etc.) I didn’t actually buy anything on Saturday, which is just as well because I wouldn’t have had room for it in my bag!
And that was my Stitches West 2008. I had a very fun weekend with the girls, and I love everything I purchased, and I’m so very glad I went!
I know this update’s a bit late, but I wasn’t able to take stash photos until this afternoon.
So! I went to Stitches West for the first time this year. Unfortunately (or fortunately?) I went slightly over budget on yarn and goodies. But I was still under budget overall, since food cost less than I’d anticipated. And I’m not too worried about how much I spent, actually. I hadn’t bought any yarn since October, and I don’t need to buy any more for at least another few months, so it’ll all even out in the end.
Anyway. Jessimuhka and I flew up last Thursday afternoon. We took the bus and then light rail to the hotel, which went surprisingly smoothly. We checked in and waited for The Nut Graf to join us, and then we all headed down to the Market Preview.
Of course, some purchases were made:
Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock Lightweight in Star Sapphire and Aquaboy, and Silkie Socks that Rock in Sunstone. Believe it or not, I’ve never worked with STR before. I’ve never even bought any before now. But I’m so glad waited until I could buy these in person – I adore the colors! (The Aquaboy’s actually not that true to color in this photo, though; it’s a bit more green than this.)
Claudia Handpainted Fingering Weight in Sharks, from the Purlescence booth. This was on my Stitches shopping list because while I can actually get Claudia’s fingering weight in San Diego, this particular colorway is only available at Purlescence, as far as I can tell from Google. And being a Sharks fan, I absolutely had to have this!
Malabrigo Lace in Purple Mystery, from the ImagiKnit booth. I pretty much loved this yarn at first sight, though believe it or not, I almost didn’t buy it. (I was overly worried about the budget, I think.) Luckily Jessimuhka was there to enable me, though!
I also bought a Ravelry tote bag and sticker. I hadn’t originally planned on getting the tote, but I once I saw it in person I was sold! It’s a nice tote, and it will be perfect for lugging WIPs to knit nights.
This update’s starting to get super long, so part 2 will follow this weekend!
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