Finally, some out-of-state yarning.

When I went to Colorado, it was too hot and I was too pregnant to walk to the nearest yarn store.

When I went to Cedar City, there was no good yarn at the local thrift shops.

Finally, on a recent trip to Yellowstone, I got to buy some fiber and fiber-related things. Let’s start off with the thrift stores in Idaho Springs:

There I got  two huge cakes of fingering-weight wool, in creme and a sort of 70’s green-yellow. A light pea soup. But the real find here was this wee little swift for $5. I’m fairly positive that it is a swift. It has all of the necessary parts and pieces. But it’s so kid-size! And also, it comes with four extending arms, and they all move independently. This should be just fine, but I can’t figure out how to make the arms stay in place – they will automatically fold themselves back towards the spine of the swift if I try to wind any yarn around them. I’m thinking of recruiting a tool-yeilding man to create some sort of blocking device for each of the arms, to be inserted in the diamond-shaped holes they create when you stretch them out. If that makes sense. Or, if you have any better ideas, please tell me.

Who am I kidding? This swift is so small, I’ll probably never use it. But it’s just so interesting, I had to have it.

Then, when driving through West Yellowstone, Montana, I saw a sign that said “Yarn.” I wasn’t expecting that at all. Turns out there’s a lovely gift shop with a bunch of yarn in the back, owned by someone who really loves fiber. She had some local buffalo and alpaca yarn, as well as some really nice brand-name standards. Small selection, but very vey well thought out. Anyway, I don’t remember the name of the store, but here it is on Google Maps:

As you can see, if you turn off of Canyon onto Madison, you’ll be there. It’s right next to a supermarket. I highly reccomend that you go here if you find yourself in West Yellowstone.

Anyway, here are the stats on the yarn I got there (unfortunately nothing local or terribly interesting): 1 skein of Plymouth Yarn’s Trabajos Del Peru 100% extra fine merino wool in color 008, and two skeins of Lamb’s Pride Worsted, one in color M-191 Kiwi and one in M-151 Chocolate Souffle. They’re all lovely, soft, and infinitely use-able.

ETA: Sorry if you’re having trouble viewing the photos. They work, I promise. And if they don’t, they’re not that great anyway.

Sneak peek.

• Can you believe my phone took this photo? It’s like living in the future.
• Turns out if you’re pregnant and decide after noon to dye 13 skeins of yarn outside that day (in July), you’ll probably die. Well, you’ll probably bring back your sciatic pain, kill your feet, almost forget to eat dinner, and have your first painful Braxton-Hicks contraction. Just so you know.
• I’ve documented what colors I used on every skein, if any of you want to be copycats.
• I dove into this after peeking at this tutorial, and with the knowledge I gained from this tutorial about sleeve dying last year. I won’t make a full-on tutorial here, because there are just too many out there. But I may list a few of the things I did differently.
• I’m kind of completely in love with every yard of this fiber.
• I’m too cool to wear gloves while I dye, so I have total Baba Yaga fingernails. It’s extremely sexy:

Indecision

Remember all of that talking I did about recycling sweaters? Well, I ripped a whole bunch of them. Thousands and thousands and thousands of yards worth. You can see the full pile in the background of this picture. I’ve washed, dryed, stretched, and skeined all of the cotton blends, acrylic blends, and dark wools, and currently the light neutral wools are in the tub.

Aren’t they pretty? But here’s the thing: I’m really tempted to pour half a gallon of vinegar in there and just dye all of it. Dye every single skein. Doesn’t that sound wonderful? I want to make some really deep greens, and crazy yellows mixed with a wee bit of pink, and wind up with armfuls of bright colored, happy, wonderful beautiful yarn.

When was the last time I knitted with a light neutral wool anyway? Quite a while ago, I think. But then again, when was the last time I wore a knitted object in the colors I’m dreaming of? Probably when I was six. Maybe I’ll go through the skeins and take a sweater or two’s worth out. But I really want to dye all of it.

Screw it, I’m doing it. Besides, fantastical yarns are expensive, and I can buy neutrals any time, anywhere. So say goodbye to these yarns – they’re about to metamorphose into some magnificent jewel-toned beauties. I’m really excited!

I’m awesome.

I recieved Vintage Baby Knits for my birthday, and immediately cast on the adorable Pearl Shrug (ravelry link). The pattern is great. I might be using a yarn with a bit too much color variation, but that’s okay. I’ll most likely want to knit this one more than once.

Anyway, on to the part where I’m amazing. This pattern requires a 72-stitch cable cast on for each arm. I have never done cable CO before, and as it turns out it’s pretty awkward for me to work. So, I figured the least aggravating route would be to not count stitches as I go, stop when I think I’m close, and then add or rip stitches accordingly. I went merrily along, and after a spell decided to count. The total came to exactly 72! This was before I had eaten any breakfast, so I figured it was probably just a low-blood-sugar induced hallucination. I had some breakfast (with the most delicious Braeburn apple butter, from here), and even with steady fingers the total was still 72. I’M AMAZING.

For all of you non-knitters, casting on exactly the right amount of stitches without counting, especially when the number of stitches is large, is like … driving a car while wearing a blind-fold, and not only not hitting anyone/thing, but reaching your destination. Just, you know, slightly less life-endangering.

P.S. The specific apple butter I’m talking about isn’t available online, but it’s worth the drive to Colorado.

Dead end.

I’m currently not packing for a weekend trip to Colorado. This trip will technically be five full days, I’m going to a convention that I’m really not all that interested in, and I have no other plans. I plugged those factors into my knitting calculator (available at most local yarn stores in the invisible-but-totally-necessary section) and the calculator replied that under these conditions, I should travel armed with at least five knitting projects. Which would normally be easy, as I have chronic cast-on-itis.

However, I’ve completely run out of knitting and crocheting mojo. Bullets:

• I had the mojo once. I had a whole basket full of mojo.
• I then got really into recycling yarn, which is very labor-intensive and time-consuming when you don’t own a swift. So I pushed the mojo to the side for the sake of the sweaters.
• I started Frou Frou (ravelry link), and was loving it. I was doing it in the Oatmeal colorway of Lion Brand Fisherman’s Wool, which is the softest colorway of the bunch. And I love the drape of granite stitch on a large hook. I got through the back, sleeves, and one half of the front when I realized that the monster I was creating in no way resembled a sweater. If I attempted to seam it it would perhaps look like a sweater for an amputee in a distorted mirror if the person looking at it was polite. I knew my stitch count was off. I adjusted for it. I counted again and again. I want to rip the whole damn thing, divorce it, take all it’s money, and then cut the brake lines in it’s car.
• I want to make this shawl (as inspired by Oiyi) with the red skein of Shetland that I dyed. But it’s too itchy. And to stiff? I don’t know.
• I started some baby socks, which are a great pleasure to knit. But then I lost one of my four US size 1 dpn’s. You need at least four to make socks.
• I’m working on some worsted-weight socks for me, but I would need my computer with me as I’m making huge modifications to the pattern and I don’t trust the modifications to be remembered or well documented with my phone or a notebook.

Dammit! I’m so frustrated by this. I brought some needlework, but I know that as soon as I get there I’ll get my mojo back. It’s been that kind of week. Screw it. I’m packing these things and making it work:

• 2 sweaters to rip – both laceweight nylon/alpaca/wool blends.
• 260 yards of vintage worsted weight bright yellow wool
• The three leftover skeins of worsted weight hand-dyed shetland
• One spool of size 20 crochet cotton
• Two small skeins of worsted kitchen cotton
• One skein laceweight wool
• One skein Berroco Ultra Alpaca
• One two three skeins of various variegated/self-striping sock yarn.
• Two skeins of random wool/acrylic worsteds, one grey and one bright orange (hidden in my clothes bag because this is getting kind of ridiculous.
• 101 Designer One-Skein Wonders and 101 Luxury One-Skein Wonders
• Super Stitches Knitting (a stitch dictionary)
• Crochet hooks: sizes N, I, H, G, 00, and 5
• Dpn’s: 5 size US 7’s
• Straights: US sizes 11, 10 1/2, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 4, 3, and 2.
• Other essentials, such as a measuring tape and gauge/needle size calculator
• I don’t have the awesomest circular collection, so I’ll maybe not bring any.
• Also, I have some US 6 straights just sitting here, might as well bring them, too.

Wow. Sorry for this post. Terribly boring. I’ll let you know if I’ve run out of mojo permanently.

Oh. Also, we’re taking the Porsche. So I’ll let you know how on earth I fit all this damn yarn (which has no damn purpose) in the damn car. Thank goodness for cross stitch.

Cherries aren’t very tasty.

We have a big magnificent perfect-for-climbing cherry tree in the back yard. In previous years we’ve slaved over this tree to earn a good harvest and I think that’s only worked … once? Like six years ago? There were always worms. So many worms.

This year, we completely ignored the tree. It doesn’t deserve our attention because it doesn’t treat us nicely. (Soon I’ll publish a children’s book about this to teach young girls about young boys. College students use metaphors.)

Since we stopped fawning over the tree, it realized that it has to pull it’s own weight, and this year we have an impressive harvest. Not very many birds, no worms at all (that I’ve seen), and the fruit is just beautiful. I haven’t seen any mutant cherry siamese-twins, which is nice because those are icky.

Then we realized that we don’t really like the taste of cherries. They’re actually kind of disappointing. Totally unacceptable!

I think I’m going to make this pie sometime this week, but if any of you a) have ideas about what I should do with the cherries, or b) want to come over and pick yourselves some free fruit, feel free to comment. With all the rain we’ve been having, I’m thinking cherry-time is only going to last another weekish. They’re at their reddest right this second.

Lovefest: Leethal, flowers, and a monster

As usual, the pictures are the links.

I kind of have a huge, long-lasting craft crush on Lee Meredith, also known as Leethal, of Do Stuff! Click the picture for a link to a post filled with the most amazing things. Seriously, every picture makes me die a little, it’s so good.

These light-bulb vases (found via Dollar Store Crafts, who found it via a couple other people) are so very lovely. However, since I live in a very Republican state, I’m afraid I can’t pull them off without being white trash. Screw it, I’m okay with that. We have scores of Hollyhocks in my yard, and they’re terribly difficult to display in vases, but these would be perfect.

Monsters are about the most fun things to sew. And this one (found via Dooce, who just had the baby this was intended for) is just delicious. I want to use it as inspiration to make one of my own, but I’m thinking it should be made of a patchwork fabric. And have a bow on it’s head. And a crocheted curly-que tail. I don’t know who made the monster, because Dooce’s post is more about the custom onesie.

Mess.

This is just one corner of my craft/work/television/dining space. But I figured it’s the easiest way to show you what I’m most often working on lately. (Also I have a post coming up about mountains and mountains of recycled yarn … just you wait, it will be wonderful.)

LoveFest: damned French perfection, time-proof crochet, and fabric pom-poms

Les Grandes Filles Mode’lles did a blog post ages ago about the most perfect knitwear in the land. (As usual, the images are the links.)

Lion Brand Yarn, one of the few worthwhile blogs from a yarn brand, wrote about how to save swatches of crochet for posterity. I want to make a card/cigarette case like this. Bah. Too much work.

Molly Chicken’s Fabric Pom-Pom tutorial is absolutely wonderful. Wouldn’t these make the cutest baby mobiles? (Just so you know, I forgot the word “mobile” and spent exactly four minutes searching for it. I had to go to etsy to find the right word.)

Boob-ball

Pattern: Celestine Socks by the Berroco Design Team
Pattern Source: Free on Berroco’s website
Yarn: S.R. Kertzer On Your Toes 4 ply in color 3200 Wild Print
Needles: US 0 dpn’s
Date Started: March 22, 2009
Date Finished: April 1, 2009 (yes, that was over a month ago. Shut up.)
Ravelry link.

This colorway, specifically when ending a point with either the orange or the magenta, really looked like boobs at first. But now I think it’s pretty darn cute. It was challenging and interesting, but I was still able to knit on it during classes.

Eh. Other than than I don’t have much to say. Finished this one far too long ago.

Oh, I did do some sort of modification to the tips … I think I added one row before tying off. I will probably add two rows next time, because the pointier the better. (That’s what he said.)