Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi...

So given the pattern name "My Hope", and the Schmutzerella Yarns Galaxy Far Far Away yarn club offering of "Into the Garbage Chute, Flyboy!", is there any way this particular shawl could not be named A New Hope? I think not.

For anyone who thinks it looks good enough to knit, go forth on Sunday when the pattern is available and buy! All proceeds for the month of July are going to the Make-A-Wish foundation, one of those charities that should be near and dear to everyone's heart. Let's all get together and help grant three wishes this year!

Camp Tikiha- I Mean Loopy

So I finished my first Camp Loopy Project, Veera Valimaki's Folded sweater. This is the second of her patterns I've knit, and I've found both well written, easy to follow, and with beautiful results.

I lowered the neckline by casting off after the folds and then working back and forth. I detailed better on my project page, I think. The alteration wasn't a failing of the pattern, so much as my dislike of high necklines of any kind. I know it's a lame picture, but here's the only one I've got:

So now that I'm done with project one, I'm looking to project two. I have about 1k yards of Malabrigo Rios in the Azul Profundo Colorway. At first, I was thinking I'd make Jared Flood's Hemlock Ring. Then, I started thinking... I could make a vest with 1k yards, even in my size. Yes I could.

So here are the contenders:

The Bramblewood Vest, by Christina Wall

Angostura, by Ysolda Teague

Now I know that not a lot of people read this - I haven't posted often enough to make it worthwhile for most people - but if you read this before the end of June and have an opinion, please take the time to let me know!

Here I Go Again...

After promising myself that I would NEVER, EVER go back into retail, here I am, starting my own Etsy shop.

Admittedly, this is different than working for 'the man', some faceless corporation in another state. On the other hand, it also means that I suceed or fail on my own ability. Scary. If there's a customer service issue, I can't just point at Minnesota and say 'my boss made me!'

Of course, this time I'm actually selling something I love and believe in.

Ahh well, I suppose we all grow and change, attitudes and opinions are malleable, and most of all, I need more money to feed my fiber and dyeing addiction. So yeah.

The First Draft

I know more people talk to me on Ravelry than here, but still. I have a store, and I'm going to shout it from the.... middle of nowhere.

What?

There are no mountains anywhere near me!

We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming...

So look at this, here's me.

Bet you thought I'd dropped dead, or been in a horrible accident, or... oh, you just thought I'd gotten lazy and stopped posting here? Hmm.. Okay, fine. Be that way. You know, correct.

My excuse, let me give it to you.

Between finishing my college program, looking for a regular job, and getting my new Etsy shop ready, life has been a little nutty. So yeah, pretty much no posting here at all. Not much more on Ravelry. Practically no spinning. I can see that I've touched you deeply. No no, please don't cry for me. I'll make it.

Anyway, let's see if I have anything cool for you...

Well, there's The Sock Report. This is Janel Laidman's recent work, in convenient online magazine form. There are not only socks, but lace shawls, and even cute little toys. You can buy the patterns seperately, or all together, and I fully recommend getting yourself these patterns.

Why am I going on about it? Well, because I test knit the Semadar Sock for it. Not only that, but my one finished sock picture is featured on the pattern page. Go me, right? Even if you don't want to buy the whole magazine, you need to knit these socks. They are awesome, fast and easy to knit, and... come on, guys, I test knit them. How cool is that?

Here's my picture:

And here's my project. I tried to give some helpful advice on the nupps, since people seem to struggle with them, but they're really not so bad once you get used to them. Despite a lack of time, I've already half finished the second one, because I adore them, and want to have a matching set. You know, like socks are supposed to be.

Doubtless, there's most for me to say, most times people wish I'd shut up more often, but I'll save it for another day.

Spoiler: There will be pictures of animals. Because animals are awesome.

bitches gotta eat: dear white people, i love you.

bitches gotta eat: dear white people, i love you.

There arew no words for how awesome this post is. I'm not a re-poster, but seriously, ALL THE PEOPLE must read this.

Ta-da!

My random post, just so I can put up yet another set of pictures of my finished Pogona. Yes, I am that happy with it.

Love the construction of the shawl, loved knitting it, and love wearing it most of all.

This is the definition of irony

I know that a lot of people use this word incorrectly, and I know how it annoys "English people" - that is, pedantic people who obsess over the usage of the English language.

Yes, I confess, I am often one of these people. Particularly when I see someone use 'too' and 'to' interchangeably. I don't claim to be the end-all, be-all superior source of English grammar knowledge, but seriously, if you've graduated American High School and can't figure out the difference between "too much of a good thing" and "to be or not to be", you deserve whatever insults you get.

Here's what I'm talking about, straight from Wikipedia, which you know is always right:

"Irony (from the Ancient Greek εἰρωνεία eirōneía, meaning dissimulation or feigned ignorance)^[1] is a rhetorical device, literary technique, or situation in which there is a sharp incongruity or discordance that goes beyond the simple and evident intention of words or actions. There is presently no accepted method for textually indicating irony, though an irony (punctuation) mark has been proposed."

So what is my irony?

Okay, so you know how I was saying that I would make the last bit of my Pogona in garter stitch? Yeah, The previous six sections of the shawl had taken a minimum of ten rows, and since I spun the darned stuff myself, and since the violet had seemed to take the longest, I figured it would be the biggest section. I never imagined that the violet would take less than eight or ten rows. So when I started the violet section, I went into garter stitch... and two rows later, I found myself running low on wool.

Buh?

I weighed, and made another row, and realized that if I made any more, I would definitely run out of wool. I didn't know why, but still, I started binding off. About 3/4 of the way through bind off, I ran out of wool. Wow. Okay, first of all, it's sad how much I overestimated this section because of being burned out on spinning the same wool. Secondly... I did NOT want to frog back and bind off earlier.

What to do?

I went through my stash and found that I had very little bright violet to finish with. However, on my second attempt, I found something: a mini-skein sent to me by play at life fiber arts when I ordered some rainbow sock yarn, that was a very close mix of the indigo and violet colors I was using. After finishing the bind off in this, it's quite hard to tell the difference. I know how awful this is to read without any pictures, but I swear, a picture will be up soon. It's just that my lovely finished pogona is blocking right this minute. It's exactly as I pictured it, if vaguely annoying in the bind off department.