fishie’s aquarium

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…

I really really really really really want to knit Cherie Amour in the new issue of Knitty. SO bad, that I’ve already bought yarn and swatched. The only thing keeping me from taking this pattern by the throat is the watermelon top. I WILL NOT START a sweater before I finish the one I’m working on. Ground rules. Technically I’m not supposed to have more than one WIP in the first place, but I get impatient.

I want to be working on Cherie Amour by the weekend, and since Kate wants me to make her a skirt she can wear to Endfest on Saturday (dammit why did I agree to this before I realized how late in the week it was already?) I need to be knitting my ass off. So I stayed up until 3:30am working on it. Progress: the front is done, minus the finishing touches. All I have left is the back and the finishing.

Can I do it? We’ll see.

No pictures for you though.

I posted them in my other journal without a lock

But more closely on topic for this journal, I bought lots of yarn while I was there and more importantly, did LOTS of knitting too.

The hot pink fuzzy coat from hell is taking shape. I’ve got the body completely done, and I’m making progress on the sleeves. Problem with the sleeves is, my yarn gets a LOT shorter when it stretches, and it’s hard to measure their length when you’re sitting in a car.

This was my progress when I was in Santa Cruz:

I did get a little bit of the watermelon shirt done, but not enough to take a picture of.

I bought pretty yarns:

The entire haul

Schaefer Laurel (two 400 yd skeins) in Katherine the Great

Blue Heron Egyptian Mercerized Cotton (one 1000 yd skein) in Raspberry

Maggi Knits Maggi’s Linen, 5 120 yd skeins in hot pink, 2 in variegated orange/olive greenish-brownish

And two blue cascade fixations for a CHRIS THONG. Har. He’ll wear it too, I’ll make him.

I’m bad, bad, bad, I know. I haven’t updated in a while and I’ve been knitting a lot. I finished the TTV (but I don’t have FO pictures; hey, I said I was bad):

It ended up being a little bit longer than in that picture. I tried it on when I was halfway through the bottom ribbing, and with all my alterations it FITS PERFECTLY.

Item: Third Fourth time’s the Charm
Pattern: Turtleneck Tube Vest, Fitted Knits
Needles: 6 and 4, 24″ circs
Yarn: KnitPicks Shine Worsted, Ebony
Time to Complete: About two weeks?
Unusual Knitting Location(s): Cast on at a camp ground by Crater Lake
New Skillz: farking RLI’s *spits* Also, first time I added this many modifications
Notes:

Alterations I made:
• After the increase rows were finished, I worked 4 more rows (2 RS and 2 WS) with no increases before casting on the stitches for armholes. I did this to avoid the bottoms of the armholes digging into my armpits and it worked PERFECTLY.
• When the stockinette on the front proceeded past the fullest part of my bust, I worked decreases on either side every other round until I reached 39 stitches on the front. I’m busty with a tiny waist, and without doing this I would have looked pregnant.
• I didn’t start knitting the bottom ribbing until the stockinette had reached a satisfactory distance from my bosoms, and I did ribbing until my last skein ran out.

I made quite a bit of progress on the Hot Pink Coat from Hell in the few days I was working on it (No pictures yet, I said I was bad). I’m completely dreading picking up stitches to do the lace panel on the outside (I CAN’T SEE THE STITCHES WITH THIS YARN!!!) and it’s not a very portable project being a giant cone. So when we went to Kate’s family’s cabin last weekend, I brought my watermelon yarn and cast on the Drop Stitch Lace tank:

I’m working it in the round as opposed to two pieces and then seaming. I like the circle :3 And it goes fast. Wheeeeee! One problem with the bottom-up construction is I’m paranoid I’m going to run out of yarn, but I’m sure I’d be able to get more without too much of a problem.

If it’s not obvious, I’m on a Fitted Knits kick. Finished the shrug, halfway through the tube vest, and I’ve already got the yarn for the drop-stitch tank. So what’s next? I think I’ve fallen for the Long Coat with Chevron Lace:

Here are the specifics from the book:

Gauge: 10 sts and 13 rows = 4 inches
Size 13 needles
Suggested Yarn: Cascade Tuscany Grande, 1755 yards

I have a 50% off discount for Joann.com right now, and the only yarn I liked that MIGHT get the right gauge was some Red Heart. I’m checking some other online places too, but it’s hard to find super bulky yarn anywhere.

Red Heart Casual Cot’n Blend Yarn in Preppie or Black Grape
Spinnaker

More than anything, I’m figuring I’ll probably end up making a nice fuzzy coat out of one of the giant cones I have, but I’d want a scale first so I can figure out what my yardage is. I’d hate to get 75% done and run out of yarn. Ew.

UPDATE

EUREKA

I seem to have gauge from the bit I did. The one problem I can see this yarn bringing up is that there is NO STITCH DEFINITION WHATSOEVER. But it’s soft and pink and I got a GIANT cone of it. I *think* this one is Squish, but it could be Cush.

I’ve been in love with the Turtleneck Tube Vest ever since I bought Fitted Knits, especially since it seems like it would be instant gratification.

This thing has been giving me nothing but trouble. It starts out with my visual thinking having problems understanding the instructions for LLI and RLI (lifted increases). I need pictures for most new stitches like this, otherwise I don’t really understand how to do them. It also doesn’t help that there seems to be a typo with the LLI instructions (you should be knitting into the stitch TWO rows below, right? Right???) Anyway, started this at Crater lake last weekend, so I had no access to internet things to help me out. I ended up ripping out all my progress when I realized I’d been doing the LLI’s wrong. Then I ripped out a second time when I realized I’d done the RLI’s wrong. Turns out I wasn’t doing the RLI’s wrong at all, they just knit a little looser thatn LLI’s and look fine when you’re wearing the garment. I didn’t know this yet, since the stitches look fine the first couple rows before they loosen up. But I’d ripped out and restarted only to have NO difference whatsoever.

Observe:

LLI vs RLI

I reknit this bit THREE TIMES

I worked on washcloths out of shrug yarn leftovers until I ran out, and spent the rest of the drive home eating. Mmmmm food.

When I got home, I looked for visuals on how to do the RLI correctly, and found…. nothing. Maybe knittinghelp.com calls it something else, but I didn’t find it on there. I decided to just accept it the way it was and hope that the stitches look fine after blocked and while being worn.

I was beginning to get worried that the garment wouldn’t accommodate my ample bosoms, so I did the increases for the medium size, then worked a few non-increase rows so the armhole doesn’t dig into my armpit (I HATE that!). Then I did the 18 cast-on stitches, and spent all yesterday on the body. After I’d gone through an entire skein, I tried it on. And it was way too big.

wtf.

I was a dork, and forgot that those 18 cast-on stitches WOULD be the accommodation for my ample bosoms.

For posterity’s sake, this is how far I got before I ripped out to restart for the FOURTH time:

I love the yarn, I love the pattern, but I’m am NOT enjoying this cursed top.

Item: Ugly Retro Shrug
Pattern: Two-Tone Ribbed Shrug from Fitted Knits
Needles: 6 and 4 24″ circs
Yarn: Cotton-Ease
Time to Complete: Less than a week
Unusual Knitting Location(s): CRATER LAKE
New Skillz: Uh…. Make 1 Purl was new?
Notes: I was a dork, didn’t count my rows right, so I ended up a couple rows short, and had to redo the ribbing to get the right number of stitches. This yarn does NOT knit tighter with smaller needles, and I ended up having JUST BARELY ENOUGH green to finish the ribbing.

Almost done!

The only reason I’m posting this now is because I’m supposed to be working on my Lab for tonight.

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMM. Started it the day after I finished those damn socks (Sunday) and wheeee look at me go! I’m going to call it a two-skein wonder because I’m amazed I had enough yarn for it. I got two skeins of cotton-ease from a swap, and decided they’d be perfect for this shrug. Cotton ease is significantly thicker than the Cascade 220 the pattern calls for, but when I went down a couple needle sizes, it seems like it’s working out JUST fine! I’m more than halfway done after working on it for barely four days.

Two-tone ribbed shrug from Fitted Knits in Lion Brand Cotton-Ease.