fishie’s aquarium

I hate doing traditional work, and I’m constantly looking for a way to use my creative brain to earn yarn money. When I got into sweater recycling, I realized that I honestly enjoyed unraveling sweaters more than I’d enjoy using the yarn, and being unwilling to directly support people using animals for money meant that I really couldn’t just dye bare yarn and sell it like a lot of people do. Sweaters come in a lot of colors, and a good number are available from thrift stores in white or cream. These colors are easy to dye over.

I’d toyed with the idea a little, thinking that I could have yarns that stuck to my sea theme (”fire coral” for a red and orange yarn, “kelp forest” for a yellow/green), but I never did anything with it. But thanks to this thread on Ravelry, I’m motivated to do it. Not with the sea theme though: I’ll actually use my psych degree to make money for being creative. Now, what color would “Self-Actualization” be?

Once upon a time, I had just learned to knit, and a boyfriend’s crochetting mom gave me a gift certificate for her favorite yarn store. Not knowing anything about yarn, I went there, browsed for a long time, and managed to find one vegan yarn. I bought two $12 skeins. It was very pretty. I wound it up into balls shortly after buying it, lost the tags, and forgot about it.

Three years later, I was starting to become a serious knitter. I had obtained my first real knitting pattern: Stefani Japel’s One Skein Wonder. Realizing I didn’t have enough of that yarn from my first ever yarn excursion to make anything else, I decided to make the the One Skein Wonder. At this point in time, I had four pairs of needles to my name: the pair of size 7 straights I got for a birthday present from my knitting roommate, size 2 and 19 straights I bought for novelty, and a pair of size 6 circulars I also bought for novelty.

I had no concept of gauge, or swatching, or knitting the next size up to make up for gauge. I used my size 6 circs. I finished the shrug, after running out of my main yarn and having to do all the trimming with a some grey acrylic and black eyelash that amazingly didn’t look horrible. It was slightly too small, and I’ve never worn it, but I love how it looks and it’s my first ever garment, so I’m attached.

I’ve always wondered what this yarn was, but never had any idea. I remembered that it was mostly something like viscose and had a black tag, but looking through the worsted weight viscose in Ravelry didn’t turn it up. So I just assumed it was some really obscure yarn and I’d never find it.

Jump forward to two days ago. I was especially bored one night, and started a quest. I WOULD find this yarn. I knew that Noro used black tags, and looking through all the Noro yarn in Ravelry, I found it.

It’s Noro Hinageshi SS. Apparently it’s bulky weight, with a recommended needle size of 8 to 10. And while it’s discontinued, it’s still available for sale in a few online shops, and for less than I paid for it.

My dilemma: Do I unravel my first ever garment, currently unwearable, and use the yarn with the right size needles and make one that fits? Or do I just buy more yarn and remake it? I’m tempted to buy more, I mean, look at colorways 8 and 11, but I’m not supposed to buy more yarn. Can I make an exception for discontinued yarn? Buying yarn would allow me to make one with long sleeves…

I love this hat. It’s Odessa by Grumperina and it’s genius. I cast on Saturday night, finished it Sunday evening. Yarn is Debbie Bliss Pure Silk; I used the needles specified in the pattern.

This was my first time knitting with beads, and I think it turned out wonderfully. I also have a bunch of yarn leftover (see last picture) but I don’t think it’s enough to really do anything with.

My only complaints are the yarn I used was a pain in the bum to wind up (it kept slipping and tangling) and there were thick spots that look noily in the hat, and the size 6 DPNs at the end were pretty fiddly.

The issues I have are completely trivial though, and are 100% due to the yarn. There are very few patterns that I feel compelled to knit again after I’ve finished them, but this one is going to be knit over and over. The stitch pattern was amazing and I’m thinking of making a slinky Odessa-dress.

I haven’t posted in a month, but I have a good excuse: I feel guilty making posts with no pictures, and the computer with my uploading software is in a room filled with asthma attacks. I’ve invested in some handy dust masks from my local hardware store, and so now I have no more excuses.

I’ve been buying lots of yarn and knitting a lot. Despite me trying to use up my increasingly large stash, I received a giant package of yarn in the mail yesterday. This is what happens when I find out that an online yarn retailer sells “mystery bags” of leftover dye-lots and extra skeins and sells them at a huge discount, with the catch being you don’t know what you’re getting:

That’s a lot of yarn. The full list of my plunders:

(1) Brown Sheep Nature Spun Worsted
(2) Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk !!!
(2) Hill Country Yarns Sweet Feet (two different colors, one skein makes a pair of socks)
(2) Lily ‘n Cream Solid, one dark purple, one light purple
(2) Lion Brand Jiffy, one black one red
(1) Lion Brand Wool ease
(1) Noro Silk Garden !!!
(1) Patons Classic Wool Merino
(2) Patons Shetland Chunky
(2) Queensland Collection Kathmandu Aran
(2) Southwest Trading Company Karaoke !!!

There were some things that I could have gotten from Joann’s, but some things that I couldn’t have, and since I bought two bags I got doubles on a lot of things (and they’re the same dyelots!). They say each bag has $50 worth of yarn, and I really feel like I got my money’s worth, especially since I’ve been pining over Karaoke for a while and got TWO in a GREAT colorway (it’s purple/blue).

Anyway, I’ve been doing more than just buying yarn, I’ve been knitting too. Remember the Cable Down Raglan I knit for NaKniSweMo? I finally got around to blocking it this week. I had run out of yarn so I had to do half length sleeves, which I hate, and when I tried it on… guess what: It’s too big. Gaaahhhh!

I was gifted some yarn over the holidays, and decided to use the Tahki Taos from Kate for the Cropped Cardigan in Fitted Knits. I had just enough yarn to make it, so I started knitting. Then I kept knitting… and kept knitting… and ended up with a very not cropped sweater coat. Even with some major modifications, it still doesn’t work with the boobs. Ah well. I can always wear it open.

My most recent finished object is my Intolerable Cruelty. I cast on for it on the Yarn Train to Portland (really, I swear I’ll make a post about it!), and I finished it just over a month later. It was stalled in the middle while I was swatching feverously for the dress that was going to be in the sequel to Sensual Knits, but it looks like that book has been moved to the “maybe not” status and so I’m not facing a deadline anymore. So I went ahead and finished the skirt.

I used the recommended yarn (SWTC Bamboo) and only used barely over 3 skeins. The skirt isn’t as form fitting as I was hoping (I have the hip measurements for the small, but apparently my thighs are XSmall), but the drape is amazing. I could flounce around in this all day.

So what am I working on now? This damn scarf:

It’s Liesel, and I love the results, but the process is monotonous but not easily memorizeable. This was going to be my winter scarf, but I think I’ll end up hanging myself with it if I finish it before spring. Last night was the first time I’d touched it in almost two months. I think I’ll cast on for Odessa soon. I’m probably going to try it with the beads, which requires obtaining them. Hmmmm…