It's official. We're homeless. As of 10:30 this morning, we signed the papers and surrendered the keys. YEAH!!!!!! We take possession of the new house 9am Friday morning! I'm so excited, I can't sleep.
So what do I do? Why, I'm a knitter. I cast on for another project! I'm working in Lion Brand Microspun, which is the recommended yarn for this particular project. What is it, you ask? Well, here's a little picture from the pattern, since I currently have NO idea where my camera is in the jumble of boxes. I started this outfit (in crochet) in random yarns several times, back when I didn't think there was anything better than Lion Brand, and I didn't understand that *any* yarn could be substituted with *any other* yarn. So, working it again tonight in knit and the right yarn is making me feel like I've come full circle. It's really cute, too, and will be on LMV. So far, I've got bot legs going on the back, and have finished the crotch shaping. I'm using the purple (which on the website does *not* look anything like the yarn,) and I have two balls of contrasting color, but I'm not liking them together. I may go to the store tomorrow and see if I can get one or two more contrasts, depending on if they have anything that will work with what I already have.
The odd thing, as I'm knitting, a thought flashes through my head. I wonder, am I getting gauge? I know, I know. I *should* have swatched. But I didn't. If it's smaller than the written measurements, then it will fit now. If it's bigger, it will fit later. LMV is on the smaller side (she's still fitting into some 9m clothes, at least around. She's a bean sprout, though. Got that from ME!) so sizing is a little off for her. Finding her shoes that fit *and* she can walk in? Near impossible - she's still in size 2 - or three if they have adjustable straps - while most kids her age are in 4 or higher.
So, in a fit of... well, I don't quite know but I was definitely off my rocker, I signed up for Mystery Stole 3. What have I gotten myself into??? I'm hoping it's a way to help me finish a lace project, so everything else is going to be sidelined while I work on this. (Except, of course a fairly mindless traveling project.) I think I may have picked out the yarn - silk in anthracite - and the beads - matte gunmetal - but I'm waiting to place the order until I have an address for them to go to. (I'm not exactly a placing the horse before the cart kind of gal.) Once it gets in I will actually swatch it, beads and all, and decide if the silk will work, or if I want a wool laceweight. So, just in case, does anyone know where I can get a smooth or semi-smooth wool laceweight in black or grey tonal? And, hey, if they have a pale pink tonal, that'd be great too!

Labels: house, MS3, tutu onesie

I've been meaning to steer people to trek's contest post for some time now, but I just keep forgetting! So, go, help her get 290 comments on a single post. That's double the original number of 145, which was passed pretty darn quickly. It's one post per customer, though, which is why it's taking longer to reach the new goal. If anyone reads here that doesn't read her blog, why not?!? Go over and leave a comment!

So, the closing on our house got pushed back to the original date - June 12th. Oh, well, it would have been nice to be in the new house by next Friday, but it's only two weeks out from there. Not that long in the scheme of things (everything inside me is screaming that is BS - that it's years and lifetimes away!)

I've got all but the last inch done on one sleeve of MMT's Weasley, with just one last sleeve and a collar to go the end is most definitely in sight! I may make a trip out to the LYS today to pick up a size 5 circ to do the collar. My Denise kit is packed away who knows where right now, and I don't want to wait 'til I find the box and unpack to finish the sweater.

I know I've mentioned I adore anything Google, and now that I'm working on the stash spreadsheet, I've got it on Google Docs. So if anyone is actually curious how much sock yarn I have, or what is planned for that alpaca I got at Aspen Ridge Alpacas, here ya go! (I'm putting a permanent link in the sidebar, too.)

And, just for fun:

What Kind of Knitter Are You?

You appear to be a Knitting Goddess. You are constantly giving and are unconcerned with reward, you simply want others to love knitting as much as you do. If someone wants to knit miles of novelty yarns, you are there for them. If someone wants to learn short row shaping, you can help. There are no taboos in knitting, only opportunities to grow. Everyone should have friend like you around if they want to learn to knit, and there's a good chance that your passion has rubbed off on a few others.http://marniemaclean.com
Take this quiz!








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Labels: house, misc, Weasley sweater

Have you seen this??? I want to make one....but I've still got about 3/4 of MathMan's Linux Illusion Scarf to finish. This'll have to wait until that one is done. :/ I would love to be able to wear it to the movie, but there's no way even if I cast on right now. I just don't have that much time to knit.
Speaking of not having the time, here's a picture of what is sucking up my time.Isn't it beautiful?? The driveway was poured about three days ago, but I haven't been back by to take an updated picture. The person buying our house wants to close early - like next Friday early, but both realtors are telling her that is impossible. One of the inspections that needs to happen is being pushed back - not by us, but by the inspectors. There are only three companies servicing the area and they are all extremely busy at the moment. -But- it looks like we may have everything done by the 29th. Only four days off, then we can close on this beauty on the 1st. What a wonderful birthday present! I hope that works out, cause otherwise, my birthday will still be crazy without the gooey new-house center in the middle. :P
Anyways - the reason for the house sucking up all my time is that we're having to make hour and a half trips about every two hours. Packing and storing is a massive time-eater. But the happy is that my parents are loaning us their garage for storage so we don't have to pay storage fees! Yay! The sad? We have a *lot* more stuff than we thought we did.
Well, gotta go pack some more. I will say that as long as I'm not driving, I'm making great headway on the Chevron scarf. It's now almost four feet long, and a great mindless, don't-even-have-to-look-at-it knit for in the car.
ETA - durr. The link of what I want to make...

Labels: house, pattern

We bought a house! We have one month to get packed and out of this house, and three days later we move into our new house. Brand spankin' new! Never been occupied! How did we get this lucky? The hard part? MathMan works regular hours, and MMT requires constant supervision. Packing and moving is going to be a pain.

MathMan beat me to packing up the "shadow frame" of oddballs and samples, so I snapped a quick shot of the sock yarns on the wall. Right after I took this picture, they were all down and in a box.

I had been talking to someone about knitting back, and I got MathMan to take a quick video of me working on the Chevron Scarf. I slowed down so it wouldn't just be a blur. Hmm - I don't have the time to set up a YouTube account, and it doesn't look like I can imbed, so you get a link.
Here's a shot of what the scarf looks like currently.

Labels: chevron scarf, house, stash

Firstly - thank you to everyone who comments here. Makes me feel like I'm not just some crazy mumbling to herself. I try to respond to everyone, but sometimes blogger just won't let me reply to a comment, so I occasionally post a response as another comment. Just so you know.
Whee! I found an online cataloger for personal libraries on Meg's blog. We all know I'm a joiner, so I started inputting some of my books, and I even put a widget in the sidebar over there.-----> That's not even half of my books - I'm down in the city looking for a new house (SQUEE!!!!) so that's just what I can think of off the top of my head. Minus my guilty pleasure from the earlier post, of course.
Currently I'm working on two things. No, that's not all that's on the needles, but it is all that I'm actively working on. The Weasley sweater for my girlie. It's out of Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece. It's splitty, but not as bad as some other yarns, and I *love* the hand and drape of the fabric. It's out of English Rose for contrast roll edging at the hem, collar and cuffs plus the big letter on the front, and a LimeLight for the body. As I'm typing all this, I feel as though I've said it before. Oh, well, if I have I'm sure you can skip over that part easily enough.
The other thing I'm working on is a sort of stashbuster project - I had two skeins of Koigu from last fall that I tried to make into socks several times. I >heart< style="font-size:85%;">I fell off the wagon. I got another two skeins of Koigu to go with these two - and I'm loving how it's knitting up, too - but I also got two skeins of CTH Supersock in two different colorways to make another. I am glad I did in the end, though, because it's a fun, easy knit. And I like knitting back. :) Someone asked me how this is managed. There is a video on knittinghelp.com, but I'm also working on getting someone to hold the camera so I can post a video of how I knit and knit back.
I've been shopping for my HSKS swap pal. Do you know how hard it is to find stuff in Hufflepuff House colors that don't look like a bumblebee barfed everywhere? But I found yarn that I wish I had gotten two skeins of - it's that pretty, and still the right colors! And I got the things to make the bag, too. (Sorry for the stealth, but she knows who she is, and I want everything to be a suprise, down to whether I'm knitting, crocheting, sewing, or *paperfolding* a bag!)
On the house front - I'm looking at one today that is Brand. Spankin. New. Someone had a builder build it, but the deal fell through on the table. It's in a lovely neighborhood, with great parks and close access to MathMan's commute, but because the builder is having to sit on it and lose money, it's selling for 50,000 less than original list!!! How excited am I? Other than that, I've got the list narrowed down to three houses that MathMan is going to see with me tomorrow, then it's decision and offer-making time. I'm going to have a dedicated craft room!! (With a Murphy bed - gotta have somewhere for guests to sleep...)
Wow, I'm wordy today, and without a single picture. Could be because the camera is in the other room and I have a sleeping baby on my lap. Oh, well, I promise pictures later!

Labels: chevron scarf, house, HSKS, stash

So, I was a bad girl yesterday. Went into B&N for a look-see since I was in the area. They had Favorite Socks. Now, I've been wanting this book as I'm new enough to knitting that I don't have any of these patterns. So, I decided to grab it. I also saw a stitch dictionary. Very well done and positively LOADED with nifty patterns of all sorts - lace, cables, colorwork, even simple knit and purl patterns. It's called The Big Book of Knitting Stitch Patterns. Got it, too. I even saw Sensational Knitted Socks. I looked through it (for the first time) and wanted it bad, but I didn't get it. Showed restraint on the one most likely to help me with designing my own patterns. Go figure. But then, when I was at the counter I noticed a paperback: the next in a series that is a guilty pleasure. I won't cop to the name of the book or the series, but needless to say, it's only about a step up from trashy supermarket romance. Just has a little more woman-power and a little less save-the-damsel-in-distress.
So, socks are irking me lately (except the Sparkle sock) so they are all in time out. I'm knitting the very first thing for MMT - the Hug Me Sweater from Brown Sheep. I'm even using Cotton Fleece, which is a bit splitty but not *too* bad to work with. I like the feel of it. It's going to be in a pretty rosy pink and green, mostly the green. The store only had one skein of the pink in, and as it's such a production to go in, I decided not to wait. They aren't new purchases, probably about three months old, but I dug them out due to the yarn diet I'm imposing on myself after last week's splurge.
I did, however get some fun things for my HSKS swap pal, and she knows who she is. It may not be a secret swap, but by golly, it's going to be a secret package!!!!
So, we are finalizing negotiations on the house!!! I'm so unbelievably excited!!! We're finally getting out!!! The bad - it *won't* be such a production to go to the LYS. The good - it *won't* be such a production to go to the LYS!
In other good news - the girlie now has a front facing seat. I know, just because she meets requirements doesn't mean it's safer for her to sit front, but she DETESTS riding in the car, and the trip home with the front facer was much more pleasant than it usually is. She's not rid of the rear, it will fit her for another ten pounds, and ten inches, and I'm almost positive that the latter will come first.
Also, I'm adding links and saw this. I. Must. Knit.

Labels: house, HSKS, MMT, stash

We just got an offer on our house!!! YAYAYAYAYAYAYAY!!!! I have to go and be excited now!!

Labels: house