Saturday, February 28, 2009

Foiled

So here's a boring pair of mini socks in leftover Fleece Artist merino, colorway "mermaid."




I show you that first because I want you to know that I can knit, despite what you are about to see.




Q: Where do beginning beginners begin when they learn to knit?



A: Garter stitch scarf.




I don't believe Dirtbunny has ever made a garter stitch scarf before. She does everything the hard way. But I knit myself a Bianconeri scarf in lovely garter stitch.






Except, of course, where it is not garter stitch:




I call it the Bianconeri Scarf of Drunken Champions League Woe.


Sigh. They are playing Napoli today, and Napoli is in free fall, so it seems like a perfect time to (1) bench ADP on the ostensible basis of resting him and (2) pull off a surprising loss to a far inferior team. Oh well. And Camoranesi is broken.
At least there's Gigi. Maybe he'll wear his purple kit again.
I am doing the collar of the crimson cardigan. 24 rows to go. If I finish before, say 3:00, we are going to the yarn store to buy buttons. If I don't, then I'm going to the yarn store on Monday after work. It's pretty (hee hee). I can hardly wait.
I hope it fits

Saturday, February 21, 2009

Sock progress

Prepare to be amazed.


Bunny has finished The Man's Self-Selected Don't Blame Bunny Socks:



Finally. Also, Bunny finished the Earl Grey socks, but was so eager to get them out of the house and in the mail that she forgot to take a picture, which is just as well, because they are navy blue and don't photograph well.

My cookie box full of leftover sock yarn is full, so it's time for some mini socks. But first, I think I want to finish the July Primes.

Sunday, February 8, 2009

Does Dirtbunny still Knit?

She does. She most definitely does. She's just been a little obsessed lately.


A few weeks ago, Dirtbunny had a birthday. Her birthday present was to go on a yarn crawl and buy yarn to make a spring sweater. She had picked out her yarn in advance (Rowan Calmer), she had a color in mind (blue) and she even had a gauge swatch done, yardage calculated, the whole shebang. And so on the appointed day, she went to the LYS--the one that offers the big birthday discount. Now it turns out that the big birthday discount applies only to in-store purchases, not to orders. And it turns out that the LYS did not have enough of the yarn in stock. We're not talking about not enough yarn for a Bunny-sized sweater, but not enough yarn for a normal-sized sweater either. In any of the colors. There would be no big birthday discount.


OK. So we'll order. Ask yourself: How well do you know your Dirtbunny? Think that over for a moment and then read on.


Can Bunny order the yarn she wants?


No


Even at full price?


No


Why not?


BECAUSE THE COLOR SHE WANTS IS DISCONTINUED.


Of course.


See? See? It isn't just me, is it? I'm cursed, right?


Sigh. Well and just Fuck it, thinks Dirtbunny. If I can't have what I want, then I'll just get a comparable yarn from what's in stock. And so she does. But not in blue, because blue yarn is apparently not being made this year. In pink. Yup. Pink is good, pink is fine, I wear pink all the damn time. And I bought a few other small things too. And I stacked it all up in the yarn chest because we will not be starting the spring sweater until the crimson sweater is done.


Fast forward two weeks. That goddamn pink yarn is burning a hole in Dirtbunny's head. It's nice. It's great. BUT it isn't what I really wanted. Bunny wants what Bunny wants. So we return to the LYS to order the yarn she wants, but not in blue, in yellow, so Bunny can replace the ragged yellow sweater she wears around the house.


And so she goes to the LYS. She needs 19 1/4 balls, which means she needs 20. They have 19 in stock.


See? I'm cursed, right?

Dirtbunny buys the 19 balls of yellow yarn. It has been a long long long time since Bunny ended up short and she gambles that it will all work out in the end. She is most certainly not obsessing over the extra one ball. It's not going to be a problem. She hardly ever even thinks about it. No big deal. So what? Lalalalalalalalala


And that is why Dirtbunny's yarn inventory has gone way way up.


But there is some good news. First, Bunny finished the brown beagle wubbie, which means that the last of the crappy brown acrylic from 15 years ago is finally gone.




Isn't it gorgeous? (not) But it's perfect for The Boys, and it closes the circle on a very important nagging pebble in Bunny's size 11AA shoes.


Also, we have socks:




The navy blue ones in the center are the Earl Grey socks. I am doing them on size zero DPNs because the pattern wants 72 stitches, and I normally do 60 or 64 so I need them to be smaller. The combination of dark dark yarn and teeny tiny stitches means it is impossible for me to see what I'm doing unless I knit with glasses off, right up in my face, and under a bright desk lamp. (Bifocals? Who said anything about bifocals? Shut the fuck up. How old do you think I am?) I offer no predictions on when, if ever, these are going to be done.

The peachypinky ones on the left are the July prime sock club socks. They're easy and kind of uninspiring, so I'm not spending a lot of time on them.


The greenyyellowbluepinky ones in the middle and on the far right are The Man's Self-Selected Don't Blame Bunny socks. Based on feedback from a recent poll, Dirtbunny let The Man into her sock yarn stash and permitted him to choose his own yarn for his next pair of socks. This is what he chose. I think they are very, very pretty. I'm a little surprised that The Man chose something so pretty, but hey, what do I care really?


And there is the Bianconeri scarf. The less said about the Bianconeri, the better. I knit on this while I'm watching them, but it's not helping them win.







I should probably give you a link to explain what the Bianconeri are, but they are playing a game live right now in Catania, and if I link them, I'll probably get a spoiler on the current score, and I'm saving the game for later. So

BIANCONERI = THE OLD LADY = JUVENTUS


Bunny's favorite futbol team. Although you could have googled it if you cared. Moving right along.




Now HERE is where I spend most of my knitting time:


[Please to notice one Yarn Bandit keeping an eye on me because I'm in the kitchen after all and you never know when I might give him a treat. Also, Kirby's dogbutt.]
Anyway. hmmmm.
Crimson sweater. Lovelovelovelove. &hearts&hearts&hearts Two sleeves and the back are done, half of one of the fronts is done, and I'm not bored yet. I have, however, poked a hole in the side of my thumb pushing on the tips of my addi Turbos , but I just tape it up and keep going. Cabley goodness. Yum.