Chickenlips Knitting

Which proved to be a big mistake, given my hypercritical family.

Michelle: "Mom, that's disgusting!"

Mr. Stitchjones: "Why do you have pr0nographic wallpaper?"

Sigh.

So now my wallpaper is this:

Cute, adorable, fluffy bunny rabbits. Something to which nobody could possibly have any objection.

Unless, of course, you're with PETA...

This was my first time working with Rowan Wool Cotton, but it won't be the last. It's soft, lightweight, has great stitch definition and behaves better than Calmer, at least I think it does. So even though I probably should have used a smaller needle to do the garter stitch borders, and fudged the neckline a bit because my bra still shows, all in all I'm pleased.

Hell, you've seen me in my bathroom before, so I don't think you'll mind the obligatory mirror shot. I'm holding in my stomach for all I'm worth.

I didn't write up an actual pattern, but I plan to put this up on Ravelry. If there are any requests for a pattern, then I'll write it out.

Being a fan of the color green, I get my fix with dyeing sock yarn in "The Trees". So just for laughs, I made a couple with the last of my superwash merino worsted. These are spoken for, but no worries, I ordered more yarn today!

Ms. K's Bombshell sweater, pre- and post-blocking. The actual color is best shown in photo #1.

Details--

Pattern: Bombshell, by Stefanie Japel, from the first Big Girl Knits book

Yarn: Berroco Comfort, 4.5 balls

Needles: 24" circs, US 8 and US 3

Size made: 1.5 x (approx. 46")

Wish I had a model! It's hard to photograph a sweater like this. When I put it on a hanger, it looked like a shapeless blob; yet laying it out flat gave me a difficult angle for picture taking. Unfortunately, the sweater isn't the right size for me or the right shape for Michelle. I'm praying that the garment will fit its intended recipient, Michelle's teacher. It was a gamble, trying to make a shaped and fitted top for someone without any opportunity for fittings, but Ms. K is worth it and I just relied on the accuracy of my daughter's descriptions for shape and size.

More than half done is my first attempt at designing a top. It doesn't look like anything much yet, so I don't want to take pictures until it's done, but a lot of it is a mindless knit (stockinette in the round) and I cranked on it all the way home from Tri-Cities yesterday and most of today. It being Mother's Day, I didn't have to do a dang thing but eat strawberry waffles and chicken quesadillas that my family made! Fabulous. That was really all I wanted, anyway.

Yesterday's outing got off to a rather frantic, disorganized start, but turned out okay. We arrived at the Richland community center at about 9:00 am, an hour before the event was to begin so that we could set up, only to find out that we couldn't get in until 10:00. The organizer insisted that she notified all the vendors of the time change by email; perhaps she did, but nobody got it! So it was a mad scramble to get everything set up once the anal retentives who run the community center finally deigned to let us in, and the space was small so the vendors were crammed up against the walls to allow room for the spinning circle. The other thing was that the community center is adjacent to a park along the Columbia River, and a huge Komen For The Cure walk/run event was happening at the same time, which took up all the parking until about 12:00 noon. Finally, though, we set up our space as best we could, the sea of pink T-shirts dispersed, and while I didn't sell any yarn, I did sell about half a bin of fiber! I came home happy to have some cash, because now I can scour the interwebz for good prices on undyed fiber to prepare for Black Sheep Gathering.

Speaking of which, it's now time for me to be dyeing in earnest!

I saw Rachel at knitting/spinning group the other night, and was able to give her this little cardi for her daughter who will be arriving next month! The details:

Pattern - Daisy baby cardigan from Knitty

Size - 0-3 months

Yarn - Merino/silk from Jenny of Bare Sheep Yarns , fingering weight in "Irish Luck"

Needles - Size 3

This was a hella fun knit! I made most of it while watching the Game Show Network with Michelle. Even found a chart for a shamrock and knit it into the front, how clever am I.

The FO's just don't quit! Teacher's Bombshell is all done. I washed it this morning and it's drying. The pic is still in the camera, so I'll post it next time.

My Wild and Crazy Imagination

Yesterday, Michelle and I both woke up headachey and felt lightheaded through the day. She was worse off than I was; she felt and looked sick and stayed home from school yesterday. We both felt worse last night, so I jumped to the (wrong, thankfully) conclusion that we had a carbon monoxide problem in our house. We have a gas furnace, water heater and fireplace. I called NW Natural about 10:30 last night. The least fun thing about this whole fiasco was having to wake Mr. Stitchjones, who goes to bed by 9 pm. While the operator at the gas company emergency line was telling me to open windows, get all people and animals out of the house and go to a neighbor's until they could send someone out, my poor hubby just stood there in a daze. In the end we put our coats on and waited out front, with the dogs in the back yard and the kittehs let out, since it looked like nobody was up on our block. A technician arrived within 15-20 minutes and checked out all our gas appliances with some doohickey, then told us everything was OK and we could go back in the house. As to why my daughter and I both felt lousy yesterday, I can only ascribe it to some sort of mystery virus! We both feel pretty much OK today.

***

This afternoon, Mr. Stitchjones and I are heading up to Tri Cities, Washington for Fiber With A Twist. I like this event's purpose: "to have fun while using fiber in unique ways". I have 8 gallon-size ziploc bags of brilliantly dyed alpaca fiber, which I purchased undyed from Lilly of the Valley Alpacas in Modesto, Calif. It was really nice white huacaya roving, but so loosely combed that it fell apart when I tried to dye it. So I ended up dyeing it in pieces and can sell it as sliver. By going to a couple of spin-ins, I've found that there are felters and crafters such as dollmakers in addition to spinners who attend these events, so hopefully my bagfuls of alpaca will sell!

Happy Mother's Day to all moms reading, and a wonderful weekend for everyone.

Ahhh. Got home yesterday. As I get older, I notice more and more how much I appreciate the simple things, like my own bed, and perhaps this is an overshare, but my own bathroom! I'm now back among the things that feel "just right".

Thank you so much for the condolences. Your caring meant a great deal to me and helped me through a difficult time. The past week has been an ordeal, without a doubt. Jason and his mom are doing about as well as one can expect. Somehow I managed not to assassinate my brother-in-law, who was at his most obnoxious early on. I wrote a poison-pen letter that I stuffed in my purse, so if I should get hit by a bus or something, my true feelings for the scuzbucket will be revealed, but I'll have shuffled off this mortal coil so it won't much matter. I also found this website, Just Rage, that is a great cyberspace dumping ground for anger. Warning--don't visit the site if you don't like frequent use of the F-word! I have to admit, I became pretty desperate for coping mechanisms over the past week. So there was the poison pen, the website, and oh yeah, I ate lots of chocolate. I still feel like a slug, it could be emotional exhaustion...but is probably the chocolate.

I did lots of knitting on various and sundry projects...and haven't finished a one, except for a nifty thing that still needs to remain secret. Hopefully next week I can post the pics. I also broke ground on my very first sweater design! Whatever the chocolate binge didn't fix, the endorphins from the creative rush must be helping, because I instantly feel more positive when focusing on yarn and the beautiful things that can be made from it.

Well my dumplings, I'll be off now to knit a few rows, so that I can finish a thing or two and have show and tell, not just tell.