Confession: Somewhere along the line I seem to have lost the ability to crank out a blog post.

I used to just throw something up on the blog and go. Now it takes me an average of 2 hours to write a blog post. NOT GOOD. I do realize that I am quite possibly the world’s slowest writer, but that’s insane. Besides, no amount of editing or rewording will ever disguise the fact that I have only the vaguest ideas about the proper use of the comma. Or grammar in general, for that matter. And not every photo will be perfect. Because, hello! Expecting my cracked Crapshot 200 to take beautiful non-blurry pictures all the time falls under the heading of Not So Reasonable.

A slightly blurry butterfly pic, taken Tuesday

Among other things, I’ve got multiple un-blogged projects started and a couple of FOs I’ve been sitting on. Not to mention all manner of other knitterly minutia that could use a little blog-time. Time to get back in the saddle.

So! My September resolution is: blog more; obsess less. I am optimistic.

p.s. This post only took about an hour to write. Improvement already!

Posted by Elli at 11:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (31)

Look, more socks!

The Specs:
Pattern: A toe-up version of Priscilla's Dream Socks by Priscilla Gibson-Roberts, from the Fall 2000 Interweave Knits; also in the book "Favorite Socks."
Yarn: Luna Park Ornaghi Filati.
Skeins: 2 balls in colorway 203.
Needles: Bamboo dpns, sizes 1 and 1.5.
Start to finish: June 16 - August 18.
For: Kricket, who claimed them first.

Hello. We are shortrow toes.

Notes:
Another pair of two-month live-in-my-bag pull-out-when-I-have-a-spare-moment socks. Seems I consistently have about one socks-worth of free minutes a month. It is nice to know that it all adds up to something, isn't it? See what the non-knitters are missing out on? Accidental productiveness. Incidentally, non-knitters are also strangers to the thrill and danger of shot-gun sock knitting...each day knitters everywhere risk their lives knitting in the passenger seat. What if the airbag deploys during a minor fender-bender and causes the knitter to be impaled on their own bamboo dpns, turning a minor incident into a spleen-puncturing ordeal? Wait. I seem to have lost my train of thought. Oh yes...the socks.

I knitted these in pretty much the same manner that I did the last pair. If you are curious about my conversion to toe-upness you can find the details in that FO report.

The Yarn:
The yarn was pretty meh. Meh-ness previously blogged about back in July.

Always looking for new and thought-provoking angles, Thunk insisted that we take a few shots like this:

I like to think of it as the Wicked Witch of the East shot

Final Verdict: Soxy. Time to cast on another pair!

Posted by Elli at 11:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (33)

It's my birthday, so I made you a present!

Hello. We are knitterly mailing labels.

Instructions for use:
1) Go here to download the pdf.*
2) Save a copy.
3) Print.
4) Cut apart.
5) Inscribe with address/short poem/recipe/instructions to your dogsitter/short message.
6) Affix to package/letter/knitting basket/significant other/whatever else you can think of, using tape/rubber cement/paste/mucilage/static electricity, or your adhesive of choice.
7) Enjoy!

*Requires Adobe Reader, which can be downloaded for free here, if you don't already have it.

Posted by Elli at 9:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (80)

I love August. It is my birthday month. It's hot and sticky and lovely...and the month I start thinking about Christmas knitting. I can't be the only one, right? Admit it. You've been planning and scheming too. Project Number 1: Chicago, from Rowan 37.

Hello. We are wee flowerlings.

My big sister Rae has reallyreallyreally wanted this exact sweater, in the exact pattern colors, for a few years now. I have to say that I admire her persistence. Now that I've finally managed to find the Calmer* on sale, I'm really to go.

I started the trim this weekend while up in Michigan visiting the fam [gratuitous adorable nephewling pic here]. I'm making myself knit all 54 of the itty-bitty flowers before starting the sweater bits. I know I'll thank myself when December rolls around. 16 down...38 to go.

It's August 14. Do you know where your Christmas knitting is?

*colors: sour, lucky, coral, blush.

Posted by Elli at 11:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (38)

Here's what the Rowanspun Aran and I have been up to lately:

Hello. We are cableicious.

Say hi to the Cabled Riding Jacket by Teva Durham. Cabley goodness and tweediness galore.

You probably can't tell from the picture, but the whole sweater is knitted in one piece up to the armholes. This makes for rather slow going, but there is the whole no side seams to sew up advantage. I'm concerned that it might be a little tricky to set in the sleeves this way, but I guess there's no point worrying about it until I get there.

I'm currently in the middle of the waist shaping, which is very cleverly achieved by doing a bit of decreasing in the filler stitches and then increasing the frequency of cabling to draw in the fabric. So far things are cruising along nicely but I've read up a bit about this sweater and it sounds like the next section (the bodice shaping) is where things get a little hairy. I've got the errata printed out and there are chocolate chip cookies in the freezer, so I should be ok. I hope. I'm sure you'll hear about it either way.

Posted by Elli at 1:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (35)

A couple of weeks back I was waiting for that Rowanspun Aran to show up and I got a little antsy. So I decided to knit up a quick hat to take the edge off.

-Pattern: Cap Karma Hat, from Smariek Knits.
-Yarn: Handspun Bulky from Handpaintedyarn.com.
-Skeins: Less than one skein of "Sunset."
-Needles: Size 7 for ribbing; size 8 for the rest.
-Start to finish: July 18 – July 19, 2007.
-For: Me!

Notes:
This is a nice little hat pattern. I was drawn to it because the cables make the hat pucker in a zig-zaggy way and, as we know, all it takes is a nice zig-zag and I'm putty in your hands. Plus, cables! I had to make this one.

Yarn:
You may recognize the Handpainted Bulky from Thunky's Hidden Agenda Sweater. I kind of hated the yarn back when I knitted the sweater, because half of the skeins seemed to have been spun by someone whose instructions read "spin thick and thin singles" and the other half by someone whose instructions said "spin singles of a consistent thickness." Since I just needed one skein for this hat I figured I was in the clear.

Not so much, it turns out. The yarn itself was fine, but the dyejob was fabulously craptastic. After an hour or two of knitting I looked like I had severe jaundice of the fingers. Most of the dye washed off my hands with a good scrubbing, but it stained the edges of my fingernails (and nothing says sexy like nasty yellowy nails. Yuck).

On the plus side, the dye stopped bleeding after three good washes and the lovely sunsetty color doesn't seem to have faded. You have no idea how gross the wash water was though. It looked like radioactive lemonade.

Mods:
I made the whole thing shorter, so that it wouldn't swallow my head. I like my hats to just cover the tops of my ears.

Final Verdict: Yummy! A great pattern, but use different yarn.

Posted by Elli at 8:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (31)