eff-oh!

Yep, that's right! My impatiens scarf is done done done! Well, not technically done - I'm still blocking it and then I have to weave in my ends. But I'm done with the knitting and that's good enough for me! Here is a pretty, sorta artsy picture that doesn't really show off either the yarn or the stitch pattern, but goshdarnit it's the only one I've been arsed to take so far so I'm tossing it up here anyhow.



Better pictures will follow as soon as I'm done blocking it. Because blocking is magic and makes the stitch pattern stand out rather than looking like a pretty colored garbled mess of yarn. Urgh. Stupid thing won't fit on my blocking board, so I'm forced to block in sections. Should be done by tomorrow, though!

And, because I wrote out a nice neat organized list, I've moved along to STEP TWO of my Master Plan. Just past the cuff on sleeve #2 of my Stripey Sweater of Intimidation. Then just have to knit up the collar and button bands, sew the blasted thing together and find buttons for it. Ya know, no biggie. Should have that done just in time for the weather to be too hot for me to actually use it. Cause that's my luck. Yep.

plan of attack

So. I'm procrastinating again. Still haven't finished knitting the last sleeve of my sweater. Still haven't knit the second of my clownbarf socks. Started ANOTHER frigging project. Yep, I could no longer resist the siren call of the Ruca. Drastic measures are clearly called for. Thus, Plan of Attack.

Firstly, I will finish knitting my Lacy Spring Scarf. Because I've cast on for it, ya know. And all. Perhaps actually forcing myself to finish a project I've started will somewhat curb my startitis.

Secondly, I will finish that damned sweater. I hate it, and it hates me, and it just needs to get out of my WIP basket and into my closet.

Thirdly, I will finish my Valentine's Hat. Remember, the one I started on Valentines Day? Yeah, that one.

Fourthly, I will finish my second Clownbarf sock.

Fifthly, I will crochet up my lace vest that I've had planned for-effing-ever. Because I haven't crocheted anything in far too long.

Sixthly, I will use the remainder of that yarn, and the skein of Silk Garden I just bought (yes, I know) to make my Silk Garden Kerchief. Because after all that I'm going to need something mindless to recover with.

Seventhly, I'm going to knit something for Jason. Because it's been a while since I've made anything for him. Maybe the socks. Probably the socks.

And somewhere in all that I'm going to finally finish my Crocheted Tank. I've finally thought up a way to salvage it without ripping the entire bodice. I just have to undo a little of what I've done, and thus far I've been too lazy. Yarr.

So. This is my Plan of Attack. I'm now accepting bets for how long I'll actually stick to this. Personally, I give it a couple of weeks. I might make it to the "Secondly."

it's that time again...

...when I realize "gee, haven't posted anything in a long while, maybe I should." Because, ya know, the whole point of a blog is to update it? And so far I'm pretty much failing at that.

So. Knitting.

The Stripey Sweater of Intimidation is going. The first sleeve has given me very little trouble, until I reached the end of the armhole shaping instructions and still had twice as many stitches as I should have. After puzzling over it and adding up how many stitches I've got and checking several times for errata, I've just kept decreasing and it seems to have come out more or less the right shape and length. I'm very tired of knitting this thing. It's been one problem after another for me, and I'm ready to have done with it.

I also blame the Stripey Sweater of Intimidation for me buying more yarn even though I shouldn't have. See, even though I obsessively double-checked my yarn amounts when ordering, I still didn't order enough. So I had to order an extra skein. I actually ordered two extra skeins, because with my luck I still won't have figured it correctly and I've got plans for a pair of fingerless gloves. Well, two pairs. And this yarn can go to one of those. And you can't just place an order for two skeins, so I also threw in two pairs of socks' worth of sock yarn. And a cable needle. I know, I fail.

While The Sweater was in time-out, I started another pair of socks. Yep, rather than knitting up the companion to one of the several orphans I've got lying about. I know, I know. I'm using Cascade Fixation. The yarn looked bright and cheerful online, then when I actually received it the skeins looked like garish clownbarf. Then when I started knitting the cuff the colors looked bright and cheerful again. The sky-blue and lilac blended perfectly with the yellow and orangey-red. In a fit of helpless optimism, I named them my Tequila Sunrise Socks. And they were pretty.

Until I hit the leg. Then the colors started doing odd things. They began pooling funny. And unattractively.



And I just let them, because, hell, I don't care anymore. Let them pool. As long as the stitch count is right and the pattern isn't trying to make me scream in frustration, I'm good. Of course, they couldn't pool consistently, oh no, that'd be too much to ask for. Now that I'm on the foot of the sock, they've settled into making stripes. STRIPES. Still, as long as the pattern is correct, I really don't care.

All of my knitting hates me. I have begun to accept this.

And following that line of thought, I'm going to share a conversation I just had with my darling fiance.

Me: I've finally found a pattern for that Araucania Ruca I've had for so long! It took me forever but I've finally found the perfect one, and now I want to cast on!

Him: Shouldn't you finish one of your other projects first?

Me: Yeah, maybe, but I want to make this.

Him: You know how it'll go. By the time you finall finish it you'll be so pissed at it you won't want to wear it.

Me: What?

Him: It happens every time. You'll screw up the pattern, swear a lot, throw it in the time-out corner for a month, rip and reknit a dozen times, and just get angry about the whole thing.


As much as I hate to admit, he really does have a point. Although he was wrong about one thing - it's a time-out basket not a time-out corner.

So, Ruca, you'll just have to wait your turn to drive me round the bend. That is, if there's anything left of my sanity by the time I finish this soul-sucking sanity-eating monster that's masquerading as a sweater...