Month: February 2004

I’m finishing up mystery knit 2. All I have left to do is to finish sewing it together (and hiding the ends – which I left until the end so I could bury them in the seams) and sewing in a zipper. The attached i-cord took me way longer than I expected, so it did not end up being a finished object over the weekend. Maybe next weekend?

And then, since I’m really, really, really tired of charcoal gray wool, I think I’ll knit a quick, bright felted tote to carry on the plane with me to Italy. I’ll probably add a lining and have it (the lining) zip close at the top. Do you think that’s too ambitious? I did knit this same bag in just a couple of days at Christmas time, but then again, that included a several hour car ride…

Anyway, all of this is causing Rogue delays. The knit-along start date was Feb. 15th, but I can’t realistically see starting it until we get home from Italy. Oh, well. It’s definitely not going to be worn before next fall/winter anyway!

Twenty skeins of this gorgeous green wool came in the mail today! The yarn is from Ireland, aran weight, and as it says on the label “natural feeling”…in other words, it’s 100% wool, and not really soft enough for next-to-the-skin wear. But it is surprisingly soft. I can’t wait to see how it knits up!

I’m going to try to resist the temptation to do anything more than swatch for Rogue, though, since I’m trying to finish mystery knit 2…

There aren’t enough hours in a weekend, even when you take Friday off and make it a three-day weekend. But at least I managed to get some travel shopping done today — just a couple more things to find, and a couple of pairs of pants to shorten (yay) and I can start packing for Italy!

Do you ever wish you were still two and could have a tantrum when something really upset you?

Sometimes I do.

I guess that’s kind of silly. Especially since we’re not talking about some earth-shattering event here…just a mistake in the way a pattern was written, causing me to have to rip and re-do part of mystery knit 2. In the end, it was only an hour of my time, but I spent a lot longer than that dwelling on it. Isn’t knitting supposed to be enjoyed?

Thankfully, my yarn from Ireland for Rogue hasn’t turned up on my doorstep yet, so I had no distractions from ripping and re-doing. I’m hoping for a finished project by the end of the weekend, although it involves a lot of attached i-cord (which I’ve never done), and a zipper (which I don’t have yet). So, maybe there will be a mostly finished project by the end of the weekend…

You knew it had to happen, right?

Given my current level of dissatisfaction with the projects I’m working on, you knew there would have to be something new…

I went ahead and joined the Rogue-Along! Of course, I don’t have the yarn yet, only the pattern…the yarn is (knock wood) winging its way here from Ireland as I type.

In the meantime, I’m being very, very good, and making fantastic progress on mystery knit 2. Yeah, I know, I started it more than 5 months ago. It was going to be a Christmas gift, then a birthday gift, then a Valentine’s day gift. Now we’re looking at…what…a Mardi Gras gift? Maybe. Especially if that new yarn takes a few more days to arrive!

I won an ebay auction for some yarn I really, desperately wanted…and I got to buy some wool roving that I lost the auction for but the high bidder didn’t pay…

And that’s enough ebaying for me for now. As if I didn’t before, I now have enough yarn and wool to keep me busy for the foreseeable future! (Although I still need to buy more bobbins for my spinning wheel…)

I’ll post pictures when I get it all!

Alright, I have to be cryptic because it’s a gift item. I’m working on a cross-stitch on perforated paper. As this was my first project on perforated paper, I didn’t realize until I’d already started it that I absolutely hate working with perforated paper. I can’t find a good way to hold it, I’m worried that the paper is going to rip when the needle gets stuck and I have to force it through, and I can’t get any sort of rhythm going because the needle keeps getting stuck. (And I can’t use a smaller needle, because I still have to fit three strands of thread through it.) A section that (on fabric) should have taken a couple of days, tops, has taken me more than a month to get through.

It really seems – with a few exceptions, of course – that all of my projects lately have either been frustrating or have been things that I feel “obligated” to make. Maybe I need to start something new…or start buying gifts instead of making them for a while…or just admit that every gift I’m going to make this year is going to be several months late. (There’s a huge backlog already, and it’s only February!)

OK, OK, I promise I won’t post anything more until I can post without whining. :)