Sackgirl's Evil Twin

Sackgirl is becoming my nemesis.  Yes, she is cute and perky, but the worst is that her head is hard for me to shape.  It not round, but sort of square, a little bit wider on the bottom and tapering slightly towards the top.  She's making me crazy.  When  I started this project, I was like, "Ok, I'll just improvise!" and I thought it would take me one skein and a few days.  Well, a few days has turned into a few weeks and one skein has become two and maybe even three!  I am not knitting Sackgirl.  I am knitting her evil, teenaged, difficult twin.  I don't like her much right now.  The knitting is hard on my hands, so I put her down for a while.  Since I've picked her up, I more confused than ever.  I hope we can salvage our relationship.  (Cry, cry.)

We Got Mittenz!

I finished my Cabled Owl Mittenz today!  They were so easy, I almost couldn't believe it.  The only other mittens I made were crocheted a few years ago, and I lost one.  These mitts are going on a cord ASAP!  They'll be no divorced mittens for me!  I worked a little bit on my Sackgirl.  She's a real brat.  She hurts my wrists and I need to buy another (2?) skein(s).  My deadline is before Comic-Con, so I have two more months.    In any case, I'm just praying she doesn't need to be disciplined (aka ripped) for being a bad Sackgirl.  I have my reservations about her mouth, as I cast on 35 stitches, and now they grew giant, like double the size of the ones on the needle below.  (I should take  pictures of what I'm talking about.  Basically I am making the mouth with a short-row toe.)  I'm hoping when I pick up the stitches, it will go back to the shape it's supposed to be.  If not, I will k2tog on the next row until it's the right size again.  The worst part is that the top of the mouth is stretched out and the bottom isn't.  Optimal for a frown, not a smile.  Ugh.  Oh well.  Like Tim Gunn says, "Make it work..."

Lastly, I wrapped up a present to myself with a big, fluffy ribbon:  yarn from my stash and the pattern for Baby Cables and Big Cables, too.  I want to start on January 1st, 2009 as part of my knitting resolution to make a sweater next year.  I really want to downsize the stash a bit, not that I have alot, but just because.  I really should add I need to downsize the fiber stash, too. Most people don't have three sheep in their closet!  I am nervous that the Plymouth Colorspun DK in shades of pink and gray will be too much for the delicate design, but I've seen garments knit with the same yarn (on Ravelry, of course), and hope it will be subtle enough to pull it off.  I guess I'll be able to tell after the first few rounds.  I added size 6, 32 inch addis to my amazon wishlist because, well, because damnit, it's my first sweater, and I should have tools that enable me to finish it as smoothly and quickly as possible.  Nothing is worse than working a project you've been looking forward to, only to find out that your tools aren't right for the job.

I've been toying around with the idea of a cabled shrug and tube sweater.  Basically, it will have a large collar, will only be about 6 inches long or so, owl cables will run vertically around the back and front and it will have gigot sleeves. I've never really knit a sweater before. I know that it will have to have inset sleeves. I guess that bottom up would work best for the owl cables. I think it will also have about 1 inch of ribbing, because I couldn't stand it if the bottom were all mis-shapen and rippled. I guess I'm just thinking out loud here. I guess I can knit a front and back, sew them together, pick up stitches for the collar, then knit the sleeves, pleat the sleeves at the top for fullness, and then continue to knit until I reach above the elbow and then decrease until I have the correct diameter for the rest of the arm, or rib the rest of the way down. It also may have eyelets at the decrease area to thread i-cord and a pompom bow. I feel like this owl cable obsession is really bad for me. I was going to use the Adriafil Party I got at Smiley's, but alas, Lion Wool-Ease Chunky is so cheap and easy to use, not to mention, easy to take care of. And it will match all the rest of the owly accessories I have been making.

Whew! Half-way Through the Weekend!

Been uber-busy this week at work.  On top of that, I've had a full-on mitten obsession.  I only have half of the second one to finish tonight and I'll have another FO.  So what, I have several other wips that I need to work on, I started two more projects.  The pile of yarn vomit on the left side of the futon has been growing and growing.  I'm starting to think that yarn comes from the same planet as Tribbles.  Oh well.  J and I plan on doing some elfy stuff tomorrow, like making stuff for Christmas.  Friday night, I went to a Christmas tree trimming party.  My co-workers were like, "Stop freakin' knitting!!!!"  It was making them crazy.  The next party was J's birthday party.  She went to FIT and all her friends are crafty and fashiony.  When I busted out my knitting, they were all like, "OMG, that is so cool.  Show me how to do that!  What are you making?"  It's funny how people's perception of knitting in public can be so different.  My knitting group would never dream of having a party and not knitting.  

Speaking of knitting groups and parties, the Sit n' Knit Christmas party at the Gin Mill was this afternoon.  It was awesome! MisplacedPom knit me a pair of super-yummilicious merino wristlets in pink!  It's like she knew they'd be for me!  I can't wait to show them off at work!  As an added bonus, she also gave me a cabled bangle.  This is so cuuuute!  I was thinking of making some for gifts, and I think I'm convinced now.  Dollar store, here I come!    ZsaZsa7 loved her new felted clutch.  I was so happy it went to someone who liked it.  Well, off to eat a Philly cheesesteak and finish my mitten.  I think I'm going to have an end of the year resolution:  to finish all WIPS before Dec. 31st so I can start on my first sweater: Baby Cables and Big Ones,  Too.  That's all for now!