Knitting This Week

Woot! I've got two more finished objects!

Fingerless gloves for Missouri

Another gifty-item. Yes, it was made
from the leftover yarn above.

(For now, that's all you get, since it's a present for someone who might be reading this.)

 Originally, I was going to crochet the gloves so that they would get done faster, but that plan failed. It's been so long since I crocheted with any regularity that I was not even remotely happy with the results. The fit was wrong, the fabric was too dense, and my gauge changed from one to the next so while one mitt was almost too tight, the other was far too big. So I tore them out and put them on a circular needle. Anymore, if I have to make two of something I always make it two at a time on a circular needle, just to make sure they're identical.

Now that I've got those off of the needles, it's time to get back to the samples I'm making for CENSORED. I picked up some great yarn a couple of weeks ago when there was a Nano write in held just a few doors down from my favorite yarn shop, but once I got home I realized that it was far too thin. Once I have the funds, I'll go back and grab a second skein of each color so that I can hold it double.

Since most of the CENSORED projects aren't great for taking to and from work, I also pulled some socks out of hibernation. These have been languishing for a couple of weeks while I tried to knock out a few other small projects:

These are made from the toe up, using Serenity Garden--it's actually the same yarn as the fingerless gloves, but a different colorway. I've also got this yarn in pinks and browns; I love working with it.

I made these as a tube, then marked where I wanted the heel to be. Using DPNs, I tore out the provisional stitches and put in an afterthought heel. Now I'm just going to keep knitting until I run out of yarn, and I should have some nice high socks--I'm hoping for knee high, but we'll see.

The downside to all of this productivity is that I had to put the London Calling cardigan back on hold, and after I finally got the new circular needles that I needed for it! Very frustrating. But, it'll still be there after the holidays when I hope to get back to it. Since it's mostly small pieces left now, those will become my knitting to-go once the socks are done.

Just a heads up: after fighting with Blogger for the past two weeks, I've made the decision to change my host. Sometime either this week or next, I'll be moving the whole thing over to Wordpress. URLs will change, and things will look a bit different. I'm not sure how or if the archives will be effected, but I'll let you know so that you can update your bookmarks. Please be patient with me and cross your fingers that I don't accidentally bring the whole thing crashing down!

Promises Fulfilled

In case you were wondering, Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries lived up to and exceeded expectations. I managed to watch the entire series over the course of four days, and while I would love for there to be a second season, I'm okay with the way things ended; it was very tidy even if there is still room for the story to grow. For those who don't have Netflix or aren't big television fans--the series was based on a series of books. I've got the first volume requested at the library and will let you know how it goes.

The other promise fulfilled this week would be my mitts for Missouri:

She asked for these a couple of weeks ago. After a couple of setbacks, I cranked most of them out this week, which means that it is time to start in on my Holiday knitting. Thankfully, that's just two small projects. Hopefully they'll be done quickly!

Finished Objects!

It's been a while since I had any of these, isn't it?

First up, I made another Charlotte. For this one, I used a different yarn and a smaller needle size for a slightly different fit. These photos were taken before blocking. Once it's dry, I'll get some nicer pics that I can add to the pattern page on Ravelry:

(FYI, the Charlotte pattern is on sale for 50% off on Ravelry right now. You can also download through the patterns tab above, but I'm not sure if that link will reflect the discount or not.)

Yesterday, I spent all day writing and knitting and sewing. Missouri requested a rice cozy, and I found the perfect fabric for it at Joann's. No pictures of that yet, but I also finished this, a replacement for my favorite flamingo tote bag that is sadly falling apart:

The inside of the bag, complete with interior pocket. The lining fabric comes
from a box of vintage skirts that I was given last year.

I also made a couple of other little goodies, which will be going off to my partner for a swap I'm doing, but I don't want to post photos just yet--I will once she gets her package, just in case she decides to pop by the blog.

Body Work

I finally cast off the body of the London Calling cardigan!

Now I just have the sleeves...and the collar...and the button band...and the finnishing...

I might be at this a while yet.

Somewhere Over the Rainbow

Normally, I’m a solid-color knitting kind of gal. I like simple things that go easily into my wardrobe. 

If I’m feeling feisty, then I whip out two-color knitting, or knit with a variegated and solid. 

Sometimes I use variegated or tonal yarns, but usually those projects end up being gifts for other people. If it tells you anything, most days at work I wear a solid, plain color tee shirt, and slacks.

 I’m very boring in real life.

But lately, I’ve got three projects that just have me giddy about color. Especially since I don’t have to do anything special to them to achieve the effect:

That’s right. I’m all about the rainbows right now.

I can’t divulge too many details about, since the two sweater bits pictured above are gifts for someone who may or may not read this blog.

The third project is also a gift.

For me.

It’s not technically a rainbow since it doesn’t follow the ROY G BIV color progression (Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, and Violet for non-artist/science geeks)but you get the gist. It looks rainbow-y to me.

I have not taken photos of those yet, but will for next week now that they are actually starting to look like something.

These have been my bright spots in the midst of a very stressful week. I would say that I'm glad it's over, but I work all weekend so it isn't, really. Hopefully things will start looking up next week.

And since I just love the song (and the movie): 

I Dyed a Little.

I finished spinning the last of my fiber a couple of weeks ago. The result was a nice, but very boring silk yarn, so I picked up some kool-aide, and threw it in a pot with the yarn.

I forgot to take a before picture until it was in the pot. The fiber was natural white, though the grey I tried (and failed) to dye a few years ago with food coloring. The grey was okay, just not really what I wanted.

This, naturally, made me think of this:

Which is one of my favorite movies (we won't talk about the books, especially the third one).

(No marmalade was involved in the making of this yarn.)

After about an hour simmering in blue raspberry lemonade, I wound up with this:

It's hard to tell, but the tweedy looking ball actually has some white in it still, so it's not a solid blue/grey. For that matter, the smaller one also has some white in it, but not as much. I haven't figured out what I'm going to do with it, but I can't wait to knit it up.

Pico Review: Knit, Swirl

Title:  Knit, Swirl

Author: Sandra McIver
Price: USD $24.27
Notes: When I mentioned knitting a circular swearter, someone linked to this book for inspiration. I was curious right off the bat, because I love the look of circular or "swirl" sweaters. I picked up my copy from the library, just to give it a quick browse before committing the $25 to the book, since I'm not usually a sweater knitter (see London Calling sweater, on the needles since 2010).

Now that I've looked through it up close, I can say this: It's got great photography, lots of good information on the different shapes that can be used with this type of sweater (basically, knitting a flat circle with sleeves, which then drapes itself into a nice cardigan). I think many of the designs are beautiful. The book itself is quite thick and well made, and lies open flat, which makes it great for knitting directly from the book if you're so inclined (that being said it's a very heavy hardbound book, and I'd prefer to make a copy of each page I'm going to use).

Bad points: Every single sweater in this book has textural ridges. Here is the book page on Ravelry so that you can see what I mean (you can also click the "look inside" feature on Amazon, linked above. It's probably best illustrated by the image on the back cover). It's not that these are bad...they're just not to my personal taste. I would either find a way of hiding the increases to that the sweater could be knit all in one stitch type, or replace the garter/reverse stockinette bands with some kind of open stitch work (again, hiding the increases within). Or just knit a basic pinwheel swirl jacket, incorporating some of the elements from the book.

This is still on my wish list, because I find that the technique information at the beginning of the book is more valuable than the patterns it includes.

Rating: three out of five skeins

CENSORED

As you all know (hopefully, anyway!) I've been working on a book of knitting patterns for the past year. I got a contract, and have been working on patterns and samples.

Until Monday night. Monday night, I was hoping to get shipping info for my yarn support (yarn provided by the publisher and a willing company to make samples, which are then used to promote both the book and the manufacturer). Instead, with no reason and no warning, I was informed that CENSORED has been cut.

That's right. The book has been dropped.

I don't think I have to tell you what a blow this is to me. I'm completely devastated. That's not just a credit I have to remove from my resume, that's the entire budget for yarn, photography, tech editing, and printing up in smoke.

I've put the last year of my life into this. I don't want it to die, but I can't do it on my own. I'm barely paying the bills from week to week; paying for everything else just isn't possible.

I've come up with a list of options here (Ravelry link). Take a look if you are so inclined, and weigh in with your opinion.

Shh!!!

You can't tell anyone.

I'm making a present.

I can't tell you who it's for, or what it is yet, because she might be reading this. I don't know.

But oh my god, I love this yarn:

Bernat Mosaic in "Calypso", just for the record.

RAINBOWS!!!

It's That Time of Year Again

Remember this?

It's the sweater that never ends: London Calling.

For those keeping track, this would be my fourth year of working on it.

Last year, if you recall, I discovered that the cables on the decreases of the shoulders did not line up, so I started over and decided to make the entire thing seamless (or nearly seamless. There will still be seams at the shoulders and on the armholes). Most of this work was done last winter. I've got maybe 3 more inches to go before I split for the armholes. Since I'm almost done with a ball of yarn, I figure I will just knit until I run out, and then join new yarn to make the right front, back, and left front. I think that once the body of this sweater is done, the sleeves and the finishing will go a lot faster. One thing I need to do, though, it sit down with the pattern and microsoft word and rewrite the decreases. Since it came from a magazine, space was limited. Full directions for one of the fronts is listed, but for the other, it just says "do the reverse." Um...okay. Very detailed. I'm also going to make a copy  of the directions for the decreases on the back. The stitch pattern is very easy to remember, but the shoulder shaping? Not so much.

I have no ambitions of finishing this sweater this year. Sure, I would love to. But I'm only working on it to kill time until I hear back from my publisher. Once I get the yarn for the samples for the book, I'm not going to have time to knit on anything else--particularly since I'm also making a couple of baby gifts for someone at work.

Clearly, I need at least one extra set of hands.

Out of Context

Hey, look! It's a finished object!

Pattern: Context by Kristen Briney

Yarn: main color--Cephalopod Yarns Skinny Bugga in a grey that I can't find on their site, "Geek". Contrast color is Bugga in "Spanish Dancer." (70% superwash Merino wool, 20% cashmere, 10% nylon. Skinny Bugga is fingering weight, Bugga is sport weight). I used a full ball of Geek, and about 1/3-1/2 of a ball of Spanish Dancer.

Needles: US 4/3.5mm

Notes: I made a few modifications to the original pattern. I decided I wanted it larger than pictured (I was hoping for something shawl size, but was out of luck), so I knit until I ran out of my main color. I did four rows of garter stitch after the end of the pattern, and then did the bind off row in the contrast color. Without cutting the yarn, I went straight into picking up stitches for the ruffle.

The original instructions for the ruffle call for it to be in plain stockinette, using a kfb increase in every stitch on right side rows, purling the wrong side rows. I decided that I wanted something more open, so I knit the the first two stitches on the right side rows, then did a yarn over between every stitch, knitting the last two stitches. The wrong side rows remained purled.

After only four rows, however, I was starting to run out of circular needle (that's what happens when you have almost 700 stitches on your needle). On the next rs row, I grabbed a crochet hook that was just slightly larger than my needles and did a modified crocheted cast off.

What I ended up with was an epic ruffle. It's kind of funny--I love ruffles on hand knitted objects, but I avoid them like the plague on anything store bought.

So why is this the Out of Context scarf? Well, first there are the modifications to the pattern. Second, the colors. Anyone who knows me knows that I am NOT a fan of our local college team. I don't even like the school very much, but that's a political diatribe I won't get into here. Anyway, I usually avoid the scarlet and grey color scheme whenever possible for that reason, but in trying to match a color to that grey, which has some yellow undertones and bits of grey and tan in it, the orangy-red of Spanish Dancer was really the only option from what I had on hand.

I think they look fabulous together.

I love this scarf.

I am not sure I can bring myself to wear it in public, however.

But perhaps I just need to get over my issues and appreciate the knitting. After all, the scarf itself has no affiliation or political leanings.

I'm just a girl with a scarf. Call me a Buckeye, and you might find out how pointy my needles really are.

 

That Wooshing Noise...

It is currently 11:39 p.m. on Wednesday night, which makes this post a full 12 hours later than I usually post. And since I still have about four rows left on my current project, which will not get done tonight, and I think my self-imposed deadline is pretty well shot.

I'm working on the Context Scarf by Kristin Briney. It's a super easy lace pattern with lots of garter stitch--which is the only reason I'm knitting it.

While I was testing out yarn samples for the book, I was struck by the fact that one of them would be fabulous for lace. Initially, I wanted to make To Infinity and Beyond, but lace and I do not get along. There are issues, mostly regarding numbers. No matter how many times I count, they are just never right. I ripped out my foundation rows six times before I finally gave up and found my current pattern on Ravelry. It gives a nice lace-y effect without making me want to rip my hair out.

I'm down to the last bit of border, and then the ruffles. I'm hoping to have it cast off by this weekend, and with any luck I can show you pictures on Friday. In the mean time, I'm knitting away.

The "Quickie" Project

...is taking slightly longer than I thought.

So I've been thinking for a while that there are two things that I need in my bathroom, which kind of also became Hermes' room when Jolie was staying with us (did I mention that she finally went home, after over three months? I am overjoyed! Sweet cat--not so great to have around when she makes you break out in hives and attacks the host kitty for no reason).

The first thing is a mat to go under the litter box, so that the litter doesn't get tracked all over the place. With hardwood floors, it ends up all over the house. I could go out and buy a rug from Target or wherever, but why spend the $10-15 when I have yarn?

Yeah, I know. I'm knitting something for my cat to wipe his paws on. Clearly, I have crossed over into crazy cat lady territory. But here's how I'm looking at it:

1. It's something mindless that will keep me occupied while my brain is still restarting.

2. I like knitting.

3. If it makes it easier to keep the house clean, then I am all for it.

4. It saves me $15, since I already have both the yarn and needles, and what else am I going to do with two balls of acrylic boucle? Cat crap seems like a good use for it....

I swore off boucle yarn about six weeks after learning to knit. If you don't know what it is, boucle yarn, rather than being smooth, is covered in little loops. Those little loops love to catch the tips of unsuspecting knitting needles when attempting to insert them into a stitch, and also love to snag on anything and everything that gets within six inches of them. I've knit with it. I've crocheted with it. The one thing I haven't done with this yarn that I would love to do is set it on fire, because I'm sure that acrylic would make some lovely, multi-colored flames.

And heaven forbid you have to rip it out.

I've actually found more practical uses for eyelash yarn and fun fur than I have for boucle, and it's easier to work with.

The second thing that I need (I use the term "need" loosely) is a second mat to go under the cat food/water dishes, since Hermes likes to take his water dish for a walk and the sound of ceramic dragging over ceramic is not something I like to hear at two in the morning. When we lived at my mom and dad's place,  his food and water were on a rug, and he had no problems. Here, he will stick his paw in his water bowl, drag it six inches to the right and take a drink. Then he'll move it eight inches to the left, and take another drink. But no, he's not done yet! Next he walks around the dish, and the process repeats an additional 2-3 times before he's satisfied. By this time, the floor is soaked.

I do not even pretend to understand him. I'm just trying to get a decent night's sleep.

And a bonus, since Bill asked for it:

If you haven't seen the other Hermes comics, you can find them here.

ETA: Thanks Rob, for pointing out the error with the link. It should be fixed now. Blogger won't let me link to just the correct search results, but keep scrolling for more the comics.

Random Three

I keep missing my blogging deadlines.

Nothing wrong, this time around. I'm just behind on almost everything (still. Always).

Mostly, I'm just glad that last week is over. I'm just trying to make up for all of the stuff I missed because of all of the crap that was happening.

so in the mean time, you get a list of three random things, since that is all I can manage right now.

1. I've been using the Sterling to draft an outline for....version eight? of I novel I'm working on. So far it's up to eight pages and is looking more and more like a novel in and of itself.

2. Tomorrow I'm planning on finally sitting down with my steampunk typewriter. It arrived just before the convention back in April (as in, the night before we left), but with everything that's been going on I completely forgot about it until in the madness of cleaning I found it in the living room. How pathetic that I can't even remember the make and model at this point? Anyway, tomorrow it goes in for surgery and hopefully I'll be able to repair the damage to the carriage that it endured during shipping.

3. Sketches, swatches, and yarn lists are in to my editor, so the real work on the book should begin shortly. Just waiting to hear her thoughts on what I sent her.

be back on Wednesday. Let me know if you find my brain laying around between now and then....

The Health Benefits of Knitting

So in the last few days, I've (re)discovered something: I'm an anxious person. I get depressed easily.

I knew this before. I was under treatment (counseling) for a while, and when the issue came up we decided that since it's primarily situational depression, and really only gets bad a few times a year and then for short bursts, that it was something which could be managed through diet, excercise, journaling, and other non-chemical treatments.

A big part of that for me is knitting. My friends from high school can attest to the fact that if I don't have something to do in my hands, then I kind of go stir crazy. I don't have to actually be doing it, it just has to be there. The act of holding a pen and having a notebook or sketchbook in front of me is much more calming than just sitting there with nothing in front of me.

For the last few years, knitting (and sometimes crochet or embroidery) have been my constant companions. I never leave home without them, and if I have to, I've usually got a little notebook so that I've got something.

I don't know where this twitch came from. But the last few days I've been on detox, as it were, while my yarn is decontaminating.

At the end of last week, we discovered that we had bedbugs. So on top of the hives and the heat rash, I also had parasites living in my bed. Which meant cleaning everything, including all of my yarn and craft supplies.

Now obviously, a ball of yarn or a half-knit scarf can't go in the dryer like everything else we've been washing. A friend suggested bundling everything up in garbage bags and sticking them in the back of my car on a hot day. If it it's 112F, then the bugs die.

Brilliant! I thought. I loaded up three garbage bags of craft supplies and costumes too fragile to be washed, stuck them in the car with a thermometer and went to work.

Three days later, and I'm still waiting. So far, 110F has been the maximum.

Three days with no crafting at all, and it's supposed to be cool here for the next week.

I am not handling this well, let me tell you.

I have been doing more writing in the last few days to try to compensate. I've been playing video games and finally gave in to Missouri's urging and joined Tumblr (you can find me there as PerilousProse--I've been posting kittens, history, and writing related stuff. And typewriters), but I won't be myself and this blog won't be back to normal until I can knit again (I've been cheating a little and knitting in my car before work. I figure that if it's there, I might as well).

In the mean time, cross your fingers that I don't go off the deep end before this is over.

Don't Mind the Ice

Ignore that frost over there in the corner. It's just hell freezing over. Do you know why?

I've got a finished object.

With pictures.

How often does that happen?

I started this super-basic shrug about 2-3 weeks ago at the Ravelry/Pride meetup, and finished it up this afternoon. It was such a lovely, sunny day that I took my mannequin outside for the photoshoot.

The yarn I used is a mystery yarn that I picked up in Italy a few years ago. The ball band is long gone, but I remember that it was 100% linen. To date, this is still the only linen yarn I've ever worked with, but I love it. I bought two or three balls of it (I think it was something like 2-3 euro each; a steal) and used the first one to make a Turkish rib scarf for my mom while I was away. Somehow, it never got entered into Ravelry. :/ I feel like this is a gaping hole, somehow.

At any rate, I do know that it was purchased here, and if I remember correctly, it was the house brand. If you happen to be in Firenze, though, don't go expecting to find this exact yarn--it was on clearance and I grabbed the last two balls, so it's probably discontinued. Do check out some of their other yarns, though. This one was great to work with and I swear each ball has about a billion yards in it. The scarf I made for my mom was rather massive, and a single ball made this shrug--with some leftover.

Oh, did I mention? That yarn shop will also let you buy bulk yarns by weight. I did not take advantage of that when I was there (that would be a dangerous rabbit hole for me) but if I ever go back to Florence, I will.

The shrug itself is extremely easy: yok2tog all the way around the first round, then knit the second round. Repeat those two rows for about an inch, then split and work flat (substituting a purl row for the knit round) and work for 18". Rejoin in the round, and continue for another inch before binding off. For a finishing touch, I picked up stitches to add the ribbing. If I'd had a little more yarn left over, I would have added ribbing around the shoulder/neck/hem area, but I was about two rounds short of what I needed. Missed it by that much.

The conclusion of this project means that I'll be buckling down in earnest to make samples for the book soon--as soon as I nail down the final yarns and relay them to my publisher. At the moment I'm using some of my samples to swatch a couple of patterns that may or may not make their way into CENSORED. Right now the big challenge is that all of my yarn support yarns are much thinner than all of the yarns I worked with originally--by about half, if not more. Writing the patterns with the yarn held double would, I think, make most projects prohibitively expensive for the average knitter (at $32 a pop, who wants to buy eight skeins for a scarf? I feel bad enough asking for four...). At minimum, this means going back and reworking all of my charts and the thus-far-completed patterns...for a third time.

But, considering that last night the cat and I were fighting over who got to use the sample skeins as a teddy bear...I don't mind too much. Hey, when it's THAT soft, who can complain?

UFO Sightings

I made a few small dents in the UnFinished Object bin over the weekend. On Friday, I cast off the dish mat that I started just before we moved into our current house--back in November, I think. It's been languishing for a while. First because lack of yarn, and then because I just plain forgot about it.

When that was done, I had some scraps leftover. Not enough for a new project, but enough that I felt bad about throwing them away. I remembered seeing several small balls the other day when I was organizing the stash, so I laid them all out on my bed, grabbed a couple of crochet hooks, and started work on some more squares for my scrapghan (afghan made of scraps). It's been well over a year since I made any progress at all on it; partially because of my wrists (the main reason that I don't really crochet anymore) and the fact that I've been concentrating on other things.

I finished Missouri's socks, too. No pictures, since they are currently wadded in a ball under her desk. :/

I've got about six inches and then the trim left on the work shrug. Hoping to finish that up today or tomorrow.

Lastly, my first batch of yarn for the book came in last week. One of the blends is a superwash merino/cashmere blend that is DIVINE. More details once I get the rest of the yarn and can really start to play around with it.

Odds and Ends

I've done a little bit of shuffling around on my projects this week. I usually try to keep no more than 3 active knitting projects going at any one time, since that seems to be the limit of my attention span.

My nook cover--which you'll hear a lot more about once it's done--is on hold at the moment. I need something stiff, sturdier than cardboard, to use as an insert, and so far haven't been able to come up with anything. Book board would be ideal, or perhaps a really heavy matte board, but I'd rather not buy a full size sheet when I only need two 6x6" squares. I'm hoping that among my many artist friends, I can find someone with some scraps lying around that they'll let me take. If not, I may break down and get a full sheet once I've knocked a few other projects off of my list. In the mean time, it's hibernating in a storage bin on my new yarn shelf:

Last weekend for Pride and the Raverly meetup, I decided that I needed a new project. I've been tripping over the same hole in my wardrobe for the past couple of weeks, so I pulled some really old yarn out of my stash (it's been marinating since spring of 2008) and cast on for a really simple shrug to wear over tank tops at work. We're not supposed to wear tank tops, but I don't have any sleeveless tops (basically, a tank top with a 4" strap) so at least this way I can be a little cooler and not show my shoulders.The yarn matches about 75% of my work clothes.

Another need that I've discovered--or rather, rediscovered--is for another dish drying mat for the kitchen. I started one just before we moved into this place, but never got around to finishing it. I fished it out of storage while my hand was bothering me, since it's plain stockinette and uses much larger needles than all of my other projects. It's moving right along and I'll probably finish it tonight or tomorrow, provided I don't run out of yarn first.

My last project is the socks I'm working on for Missouri. No pictures of those just yet, but they should be off the needles this week and I will post pictures then.

I know it's a little early but for those in the US--Happy 4th!

Knitter's Weekend Part II: TNNA Designer's Lunch Meetup

One of the things I've been wanting to save up to get for a while are a couple of professional memberships/certification programs. It hasn't happened yet, but this weekend while The National Needlearts Association trade show (TNNA) was in Columbus I crashed the party for an informal lunch meetup with a bunch of fellow designers and writers in the industry. There were so many people that I got a bit of sensory overload trying to listen to four conversations at once. I bounced around from one group to another, listening mostly, but still made some great contacts with other designers and industry professionals.

Next year, I should be able to get into the show itself. Technically, I could have this year, but I didn't get my contract for CENSORED until just before the show, and I didn't want to be asking my publisher for badges when nothing had been signed yet. I caught a few glimpses through the doors as people came and went, and it looked amazing! A few years ago when I was an intern for a yarn company part of my job was setting up the booth and trolling the show floor to take in the competition, and it was the most incredible collection of yarn, publishers, and designers I've ever seen. Between Pride and TNNA, this weekend made me happy to live in Columbus--not an easy feat!

Some of you might have gathered that with all of my out and about over the weekend, I missed Typewriter day, which is true, but in a nice coincidence, one of the conversations I was listening to turned to typewriters at one point! A couple of designers were reminiscing to their early days in the industry, when their submissions were done on a typewriter and some of the challenges it posed. I think that by and large most of them are very pleased to have things like Microsoft Word and Photoshop to make patterns and charts easier to put together!

Hopefully, I will have a typecast up for next week, but I need to get the house to myself first. I also injured my hand last week (nothing serious, just a really bad bruise) so it's somewhat difficult for me to lift all 40 pounds of Prince Henry (the KMM) onto my desk right now. I could use Caffrey, the Sterling, but I need to type up the next installment of the Post Club and Henry produces neater text. Although, his keys are a little stiffer and I'm not sure I could manage them right now, at least not for several pages of text anyway. Hopefully in a few days it will be back to normal or near enough that I can get back to work. Just using the computer keyboard/mouse aggravates it (though knitting doesn't seem to be much of a problem, provided I'm not working cables. I wonder why?).

Oh, and in brighter news, the laptop has finally found it's way home, after two weeks away. According to the tech, there's nothing wrong with it. How accurate that statement is, however, remains to be seen.

Don't forget, you've still got a few days to enter the Birthday Contest!

Now You See It, Now You Don't.

Chameleon Circuit.

Well, here it is. Actually, I lied--the pattern became available yesterday.

One of the most frustrating things about working with illusion patterns is that they can be really hard to photograph.

I whipped up this TARDIS chart over the weekend, and made it available through Ravelry (you can also download it here and read all of the pattern details). It's free, and is intended to be worked into existing patterns as an embellishment of sorts--hats, socks, scarves, etc, rather than as a stand alone. I want to work on a larger, more detailed version, but that will have to wait a little. Too many projects to get off of the needles before work on the book begins in earnest!