Since I've been here

Tried to update the photo with one from Flickr and it wouldn't go.  Apparently the picture needs to be on the computer.  Alas.  That doesn't help at all since I usually use the laptop.  I'll fix it later when I feel like using the desktop.  Meanwhile, Witchygirl will have to fill in.

The Ravelry site has been keeping me busy knitting things I never would have considered otherwise.  How about a moebius?



Or a pair of leggings?



Nothing like deadlines to deal with the procrastination monster.  Now that I'm learning what I can do, perhaps I will have a decent selection of knitted items to sell at craft fairs.

I recently discovered a fiber festival only a hop, skip, and jump from here.  We usually check out a fair first, but I've jumped on this one.  I have really, really missed the crowd at Stitch & Chatter back in Massachusetts.  Ravelry has much the same feel, with everyone knitting new things and showing them off.

More about the Sedalia Fiber Festival later...after I know if they will let me in or not :)

The Peeves Project

I'm progressing on the hat for Peeves the Poltergeist.  The ribbing is done, and the section where I hope to attach i-cord dangles if time permits.

Alas, this morning I saw that I had gained an extra stictch somewhere along the line and it messed up the row of p3, k3.  I toyed with leaving it.  What does a poltergeist care about a little mistake anyway?  Then again, why make something any shoddier than it has to be?  I dropped down to the mistake, fixed it, and knitted back up again.  Thank goodness for Elizabeth Zimmerman, may she rest in peace.  Without her idea, I would have had to frog every bit of the hat back to the mistake, rather than raveling just the 9 stitches in question.

Spent some time this morning checking out the bios of the Ravelers in the Ravenclaw forum.  It seems like every one of them has cats and blogs.  Then again, maybe everyone on Ravelry is so afflicted.  Am I home at last?  Cats, knitting, and blogging.  Love it!

Knitting at Hogwarts

Yesterday I started a hat for Peeves the Poltergeist.  Yep, I'm knitting for a ghost, as it were.  The last hat I did was crocheted and I had to re-work the pattern.  The original might have fit a house elf, but not a grown Muggle.

This project fits perfectly with my hope of busting my Wool Shop stash down to size.  I have (had!) two string bags full of yarn.  Most of it was Macauslan Shetland, but some of it was odd bits of doubtful parentage.  Some of these bits were quite odd indeed, being anywhere from four inches to four feet long.

This piece could also be called Kaffe Fasset Does Phrygian.  It will be random stripes of various colors and blends of colors combined with a Michelin Man stitch.  Right now I'm considering a frieze of blue eyes in one of the bands.  Weird is good for this project.

And I have until the end of September to finish, or I'm liable to land in detention.

Fun in Ravelry

I've been scouting out the Ravelry site.  There is more knitting stuff there than you can shake a needle at, yet is so organized that even I am not overwhelmed.  I've joined a stash busting group and a Harry Potter group.  Go figure, I'm nuts about a kid's book.  Guess in my heart of hearts I always wanted to go to Hogwarts, I just never knew it.  Maybe because knitting is such a witchly craft.  Take string and turn it into clothing, toys, whatever.  Magic

Took the log cabin afghan to the race track this past weekend.  Got a bit done, though would have gotten more if I hadn't partied so hard.  We go early and stay late and I am flat wiped out by the time we get home.  But my husband loves to watch the cars go round.  I like to knit and watch the wildlife go by.

The afghan traveled well, though.  Good ol' Red Heart, nothing can destroy that.  I love the way this pattern works up so quickly!  The colors change often enough to keep from boring.  The only downside is all the loose ends.  The trouble with color is...loose ends!  Hate weaving them all in, but also hate the dangling threads!

Taking the week off to prepare for a craft show.  I'll get to knit while wax is melting...if I can stay off of the computer.  Speaking of wax, it is back to the cauldron and the fumes of Mulberry.  Candles are another witchly craft.  Maybe there is a theme here.

Never thought I'd be back

After my feeble attempt to design a sock, I decided that designing was like writing a novel. Weeks spent (months...years...) only to receive a polite rejection: "This was a lot of fun, but not suitable for Knitty." Yeah, I know it comes with the territory, but I didn't have the heart to try again.

Yet, I still love to knit and will always need a place to yap about it. Joined Ravelers.com the other day and saw...imagine...a place to link up your blog. Readers! So here I am! Maybe no longer a madwoman talking to herself in the woods...

Lately I've had a jones for working with the really cheap acrylic yarns of my youth. I've crocheted two afghans since my last visit here, one in Red Heart Supersaver and the other in Simply Soft. I especially like the Supersaver...7 oz. for less than $3.00. The Simply Soft knitted up like a wet blanket and the broomstick lace catches on everything.

Back to Ravelers, that seems a cool place. You can itemize you stash...not sure if it is for convenience or bragging rights...and keep track of works in progress. Dare I list older projects, like the lace stocking that fizzled right around the ankle? Or the Boobalicious sweater? That's a cheeky project for a woman my age. To make it worse, I'm adding the Molly Weasely sleeves to it since I would rather not show my pale flabby upper arms in public if I can help it.

Well, off to tweak the site a bit, then snoot around Ravelers for a while

And it's all for me blog...

Me jolly jolly blog...

Hope everyone had a fine St. Paddy's! We listened to the music all weekend, IRA grousing and all. The leprechaun lanterns glowed and we remembered the days before we moved to the wildwood.

Haven't designed much these days, I'm too caught up in just the joy of knitting. I've completed a string bag and have started another. Have always wanted to do one, but never could find a pattern. Patternworks sells Louet Sales linen and the pattern came with it. Knitting with linen is like knitting with itty bitty bailing twine, but I'm sure the bag will last forever. The second bag I'm doing with the crochet thread available at A.C. Moore...much less expensive!

Still plugging away at the baby afghan and the socks for The Shuj. Have also started back in on dishcloth knitting with the Dishcloth KAL on Yahoo. Maybe I'll join the knitting ring through them and hopefully not hear snarky comments about pictures. I'll supply them when I can...and when I can take a decent photo.

St. Brendan's Fair Isle just grows and grows in my imagination. It now has a dragon on the back in addition to crosses, anchors, and maybe a shilleleagh or two. This will be fun if I ever get it nailed down!

Silk gauntlets

Silk gauntlets
Originally uploaded by rubyyarn.

Here they are...the red gauntlets! Looks like Flickr will send the picture right here. Saves remembering or copy & paste a URL. Can't see a lot of detail, but maybe that comes with practice.

Is a picture worth...

Saw a note in another blog from a gal who stated if a blog didn't have pictures she didn't bother with it. So I rushed to grab The Shuj's camera to add photos here. Got some beauties too. My favorite is a sock viewed through an eerie blue haze...though me dressed up as Caesar in red gauntlets is a close second. None of them displayed much detail in the knitting, so what is the point?

A blog is a diary, a record of things as they occur. Pictures are good, but not if they don't show anything.

So I'm over my sulk and back to the knitting. UFOs are piling up everywhere. Latest is an afghan for the latest grandneice/nephew in the family. I've found the yarn, Lion Brand's Wool Ease in a heather rose color. The last 100% wool baby afghan I knit got put through the wash (hot water, regular) and was in the dryer before mom realized you can't do that to wool! This latest offering has enough acrylic to put up with that sort of thing.

Did a schematic for Sir Walter and learned there isn't much room to play around with patterns in a gauntlet made with Silk Dreams. By the time I've finished drawing and testing, I may as well just knit the durn things and be done with it!

Good thing I'm not doing pictures since the image button doesn't seem to be working...