It’s a disaster

No pics in this post because I have absolutely nothing that I want shown.

The Odessa hat is a lesson in frustration. As nice as the beads look, I know I’m doing them in such a way that they are not quite lining up right on the hat. When things are not in a line when they are supposed to be that drives me nuts. Also, I’m starting to worry that the yarn might be too slippery to stay on my head. I have very thick hair and it takes a mighty hat to contain all of it. Odessa might not be up to the task…but it’s so pretty…

And then there’s the coriolis sock…JUST when I think I’m getting it right, something goes wrong. I totally screwed up the instep arch, but I know what I did now so i can fix it on the second sock. The leg went by well enough, but then I completely screwed up the cuff. I don’t know what I was thinking. I have to rip back quite a bit and try to salvage it…then I get to do it all over again.

I need a break. Maybe I’ll sew another one of those box bags….

I think I may have actually lost my mind

The internets are a place filled with magic and wonder. Somewhere between the celebrity gossip sites and half-baked political blogs, you can sometimes find things that actually make your life better than it had been previously.

I never knew just how dull my existence was until today. I hadn’t known it, but something was missing. Something I never could have guessed I needed until I saw it and I just KNEW.

I must have, as soon as possible, a Tin Can Granny Square Tote Bag.

I found the above work of unspeakable beauty while at work and had to go out shopping for it right away. Instead of scrutinizing skein after skein of yarn at the LYS, I was comparing the colors and aestetics of the various soda cans at the A&P. I eventually settled on Diet Cherry Vanilla Dr. Pepper based on its color scheme (I have leftover white and red acrylic in my stash), unlikelyness of choice (Coke was too obvious), and tastiness (gotta drink this stuff, ya know. My friends might be willing to help me out with this one since it’s diet).

This also has an element of construction that sounds like a lot of fun. Since I picked up some wire, beads, and beading pliers,  I’ve become more interesting in the old Shop Class style of crafting as well. I’m really looking forward to cutting up the cans with my awesome new spring action titanium bladed scissors (not as badass as they sound. got them at Target on sale). I can also snatch a pair of my mom’s gardening gloves. I’m also wondering if I should pick up some goggles as well. I’m really paranoid about stuff happening to my eyes, so I’m willing to be overprotective of them.

Do I sound overly excited? Because I am. I can’t *wait* to get a move on with this little bit of heaven. I even sense this might make for a new knitting bag!

Picking through the carcass

So Rag Shop is going out of business. This upsets me a bit, since I spent a lot of my childhood in Rag Shops getting fabric with my mother. As I was on my back from the comic book shop, I figured “what the hell” and went in to the one on the way home. Opportunity to pick up the little odds and ends of knitting and crochet for cheap, right?

Oh my God it was the most depressing thing ever. Even the fixtures were for sale. Like, metal shelves and stuff. And almost everything was gone, but I decided to scavenge whatever I could. My first mistake was going through the sewing patterns. What I really really really want these days is a new apron. My old one (made by me in Home Economics class almost 10 years ago) is kinda starting to fall apart and I’ve yet to find one for sale that I like as much. Ideally, I’d like to find a pattern for a cute, 1950’s style apron, but even if it can’t have a retro feel, I’ll just take and apron. I know I can wing it (get pice of fabric, cut out shape of an apron, cut out ties for neck and waist. you now have an apron), but I’d like something fancier. The leftover patterns were things you could not pay me to wear. And so many horrible Halloween Costumes. How they managed to make a princess costume for a 5 year old look decidedly un-cute I will never know.

The rest of the store was a mess too, but I wanted to get something. I mean…it was like a dollar store! So I picked up a couple of teeny crochet hooks and somehow found myself in the embroidery isle. Then, just as mysteriously, I found myself leaving the Rag Shop with crosstich canvas and a ton of embroidery floss.

I managed to pick up materials to learn a new craft plus a bunch of stuff for my existing hobbies for less than $20…unfortunately at the expense of a long standing chain of fabric stores, but still! Crosstitch!

Something to write about

I finally have something that seems to merit a knitting blog. I recently discovered the magic of the top-down-raglan sweater. This seems like the perfect way for me to get in to creating the kind of sweaters that I really want to knit for myself…
But GOD FORBID I start off easy. No no. For my first self designed sweater, I’m making a zip-front hoodie. The main body is a nice minty-green, and there will be a contrasting side stripe in a soft yellow. But again! Too easy! That contrasting strip will be decorated with this cable pattern. Also, I’m making it out of the super-affordable Knitpicks Merino style, so even if I completely fuck it up and end up with a three armed monstrosity, I’m only out like 20 bucks.
Knitting is one of the few crafty, creative things that I have any skill at all with. Knitting cable patterns is a bit tricky, but I seem capable of keeping my head on straight and just following the chart. I love the look and texture of cables, but quite frankly most cable knit sweaters look like large potato sacks. This is a way of adding a little cabling to something I’m actually going to wear.
I tested out the cable already and it’s not too far out there that I’m going to screw up on it when it’s show time. Take a look:

It’s got a nice level of complexity to it without making me want to stab myself. That’s a pretty good likeness of the color, as well. I’m really excited to get started on this. I’ve almost got the math figured out, too.

BUT! First I need to finish the puff-sleeve cardigan I’m working on. I just need two more raglan increase sets and I can finally get to work on the body. I hope those will be done by tomorrow if not tonight.