Stalling

Yeah, I'm still not done with Icarus. I'm not sure what my problem is. I'm just not motivated enough to finish it. I'm 3/4 of the way done with row 3 of the 4 edging rows. So I have half of row 3, row 4, and the bind off. I should be able to finish it in a couple of hours at the most. Maybe I can hunker down and do it today. *crosses fingers* Anyway, instead of finishing it, I've been stalling with other things. First up? My mom's Christmas socks (Man I hope she doesn't read my blog... I don't think she does... but one never does know... mom, if you're out there, avert your eyes please, and LEAVE ME A COMMENT so I know...) Oh hold on red cabled hat is done soaking, need to get it out.... Oh man I have to share this with you guys... when I put the hat in the wash, it stunk like dogs and the water was clear. Maybe a little cloudy because of the wool wash (which I got from the Loopy Ewe...) but otherwise clear. Now look at it.

Eeeshk! It's okay though, the hat is still red... weird, right? Anyway... back to what I was saying before we were rudely (not really... not the hat's fault, now is it?) interrupted. Right, socks. Ok, now mom, avert your eyes. Actually, just go away. Go on, get out. :) Love you! Anyway, the socks.

I'm doing a few rounds on them a day right now, but tomorrow I'm going to work on them for an hour or so and finish the first one, and hopefully start the second. No, definitely. If I don't I won't. You all know me. I have the worst case of second sock syndrome... but look, a heel!

And please, for goodness' sake, do NOT click on those pictures... I haven't shaved my legs in a few days and you do not want to see that...

Anyway, and then today, I decided to do Nancy's scarf. Twenty-five minutes of soaking, a half hour of pinning, and 90 pins later...

It's officially blocking... and people were right! Wool wash is INCREDIBLE. I hated the feel of this scarf before but I can already tell I'm loving it from now on. My blocking method? I soaked it (Instructions for the wool wash says 15 minutes) for 25 minutes because I wanted it to be nice and soft. Before blocking, I threaded that white strand through both sides, to help with the blocking (and it did, a little), and then I stretched it out to 5 inches all the way down (which really opened up the lace, I bet you can see it a little better if you click on it. Please ignore the dog hair...) and blocked it to death. I also used a spray bottle filled with the same wool wash to make sure it was nice and wet as I blocked it, so it stays. Finished size? 5 feet, 11 inches. Before blocking it was... um.. ok I can't find it. Well, it was... I think like 65 inches? Now it's 71 inches so... sounds right. Anyway, that's where everything sits now. I'll try to blog before Thanksgiving, but if I don't, then Happy Thanksgiving!!!!!!!!

Rewards

Ok, first of all, before I say anything, I have to say this. GO BUCKEYES!!!!!!! We beat Michigan 14-3... Even though our offense wasn't great (Except, of course, for Chris "Beanie" Wells-OSU Had 229 rushing yards, and Wells had 222 of those!) our defense was awesome and we managed to hold them. It was a pretty good game. Anyway, on to other stuff...

I got my reward yarn in the mail today. It's Dream in Color Smooshy sock yarn, and the color is "cool fire" and I LOVE it. Deeply. I may never buy any other sock yarn. I dunno, most of their colors aren't really variegated enough for me but that's ok. I love love love this color. It's my reward yarn for when I finish Icarus. I'm not even going to wind it into a ball until I get Icarus bound off. I'm halfway through my third row today. When I finish this row I'll have 10 rows of Chart 4 left, then I have the four edging rows, and the bind off. The end is definitely in sight. If I can do all the rows I'm supposed to do today and tomorrow, I can finish it on Monday! Wooohoo! I'm so excited. I'm tempted to go work on it some more... but I'm not. :) I'm gonna blog and then look for a pattern for a baby blanket, and for a sock pattern, so I can immediately cast on on Tuesday for new projects. Would you like to see my reward yarn?

It's so.... SMOOSHY! I love it! Anyway, today I also got the two circular needles I need to try to knit a sock on two circs. I'm really excited to try it with my mom's socks because then I might actually finish them... things move sooooo much faster for me if I use a circular needle than a dpn. So, I'm off to finish my work on Icarus for today so I can move on to something else!

Finished a Christmas present, on to some others

Last night I finished a Christmas present hat. I have some pictures of it! Wanna see?

And I swear it's SCARLET not Orange, RED dude... No matter what the pictures tell you. Here's a modeled picture.

I pretty sure the person I made it for has a bigger head than me. Hopefully... Otherwise it'll be in their eyes all winter. The stats are listed on this post, if you wanna know them. Don't feel like retyping them here. Anyway, here's a picture of the cables.

Aren't they pretty? :) So yesterday, when Dave got home from work, he had a surprise for me. He said he knows how much I want to have a baby, so he bought me this.

Yarn! I was so excited. I mean, it's acrylic and I'm a bit of a yarn snob, but it's ok for a baby, I mean... at least it'll be washable, right? He also got me a skein of Bernat christmas cotton lol, which I'll be using to make dishcloths for everyone.

And that picture, my dears, is my sister's Christmas present. Sorta. Underneath of it is my list. Here's how it breaks down.
-Aunt Joy- Done but needs blocked.
-Nancy- Done but needs blocked. (So far so good...)
-My cousin- Done but needs washed.
-Angie- about 90 percent done
-Dave's mom- about 25 or 30 percent done
-My mom- About 25 percent also (I'm switching from dpns to two circs. I LOVE circular needles, sooooo much faster....)
-Becky- maybe like, 10 or 15 percent done?
-Linda- Haven't bought the yarn
-Emmy- Have the yarn but not a pattern. :) It's ok though, hers can be late, I'm buying her clothes.

Hmm.. keep your eye on the counter in the sidebar. Eeek. I swear it's moving faster than it should be...

Also, in Icarus news, the faeries haven't finished it, but I'm getting there. I have 20 rows left and then the bind off. It takes me 35 minutes to do a row. I figure if I can do 5 rows a day for the next three days (four counting today) then I'll be done with it in time to wear it for thanksgiving. Oh dear god, all the knitting... I need to get off the computer lol!

Time to make a change

Sorry it's been a few days, but my friend was over and I was too busy to blog. :) But never too busy to knit! I've made a new pledge. I'm going to do at least two rows on Icarus every day. I did my two yesterday, but not today yet. I'm going to do them probably after Dave goes to bed. He goes to bed at around 9... I go to bed at like, 2:30, so... lots of knitting time lol. I've mostly been doing Icarus, and my sis's secret project, and the red hat. Remember me talking about the red hat before? If not, go ahead a look, it was just a few days ago... anyway, it looks like this now.

Ahhh! Ok, no it doesn't. It looks like this...

Er... sorta. Only not so bright and... fake looking. Here, maybe on a different colored background...

Eeek, I give up. Use your imagination. It's a hat. Nuff said. Anyway, after I finish a few Christmas presents, I'm going to make these gloves for myself.

I really like the ones on the left... but I like the ones on the right too! I'll probably do... hmm... well I don't know yet! I guess you just have to stay tuned to see which, if either, I do. See the little ladybug shaped thing? That is a little game that was in my cereal this morning, and i beat it in like 20 minutes. It's real easy. It was in my Sugar Smacks. Yummy. Anyway, when I went to get the camera, this is what I saw in the living room.

And this is what I saw when I got back to the office (where the little yellow chair is...)

Apparently they're quite comfy lol. Anyway, a couple weeks ago my friend Emmy and I decided to take a picture of this sign, I'm not sure if anyone that reads this besides Angie will appreciate the humor but here ya go.

Ha. Funny, right? :) And I also wanted to share this because... well it's important. If you like this song go to Itunes and buy it, every penny they make from the sale of this song goes toward aids research and stuff, to help mothers and children in Africa. It's called "Great Divide" and if you think "Ew, it's Hanson" then.. well, when was the last time you heard their music? Ten years ago? Trust me, it's A LOT different. Just give it a try. Please?

Startitis, and a little ranting

Ok, so all this finishing lately has given me, for some reason, a bad case of startitis. Which isn't so bad, I'm casting on for all kinds of Christmas presents. But starting project after project leaves me feeling as though I'm not making any progress on anything. I did actually make some progress this weekend on a few projects. I'm now 25 inches in on the Irish Hiking Scarf. That is the thing I worked on the most this weekend. I'd take a picture, but I could just say "Hey, go look at yesterday's picture. Now imagine that, but times three" cause... that's basically what it is. It's good tv knitting though. Only if I'm watching something interesting. If I'm watching something boring, you can forget it. I've also gotten several inches done on my sister's Christmas present. But as I can't show you a picture of that, and wouldn't even if I could (here's a hint: See what I said about the Irish Hiking Scarf), I guess I'll talk about the project I just cast on for.

It's a plain Jane boring (ish) cabled hat. Actually, it's smariekknits' 3 am Cable hat. I'm making it out of Lion's Wool, in scarlet, because my intended recipient deserves wool. I'm not saying who, as they may or may not read this, but I will show a picture, as this person doesn't know I'm making them something. It's not much of a picture, but you came here for pictures, so I'm giving it to you.

I know, ooooh, ahh... Or, you're saying "Dude, you have like, 2 rows done on it and the picture sucks." But what do you want? I JUST cast on and my camera doesn't like red. Maybe it'll look better if you click on it. You know you want to, so go ahead and try. We'll wait. *taps fingers impatiently*

Ok, now that you're back... would you like to hear the other news? Ok, here it is. Brace yourselves, it's something you may not have heard before. Men are JERKS. Yup. I know, big, life-altering news. What inspired this? Well, today my friend Emmy and I went to the yarn store and the pet store. Silly me didn't know I had to call and tell my husband when I was leaving, as he knew I was eventually going. When he couldn't get an answer, he called Emmy's cell (I don't have one right now). She didn't answer (we were driving and her phone was on vibrate) and so he called again. And again. And then he called, of all people, my DAD. My dad is sick, and we're all really worried about him. He acts like he's about to die. He did NOT need to be bothered. So then Emmy feels her phone buzzing and I answer and he's ALL OVER ME. And I was pretty much ok with it, even though he was mad at me because I hadn't called him all day (he's working. You'd think he'd call me when he gets a chance instead of me calling when he's with a client.), and I never called to tell him when I left. So then we get home and my dad calls me all worried because he didn't know that I was ok. Not only did he call my dad and bother him with this, but he NEVER CALLED HIM BACK to let him know I was ok. So I called Dave, furious. I told him he's being ridicules, he has no right calling me at my dad's house. Um, hello? I DON'T HAVE A CAR. How could I get to my mom and dad's house, 35 miles away, without a car? Hitchhike? And then he gets all pissy with me, telling me I'm being unreasonable. Like this whole thing is my fault. So... I made him dinner. I did. I MADE HIM FREAKING DINNER. You know what he did? He came home, and had a couple of errands to run (which believe it or not I was ok with) and then while he was out, even though he knew I was making him dinner... he stopped at McDonald's. I HATE men.

Sorry about the rant, but I feel better now.Back to our regularly scheduled knitting content. On to the love of my life, Icarus. Please, don't ask about it. We're not speaking to it right now. The rows are so long that I've sent it to the corner to think about what it's done. Maybe I'll finish one of these projects and then go back to it. (No way it'll be done by Thanksgiving at this rate... :( Oh well... )

Yet, oh so far away...

So, I cast on yesterday for the Irish Hiking Scarf for my mother-in-law. I'm making it in patons classic merino, in the color Worn Denim, on size eights. I took out one cable repeat. I love the way this yarn knits up in this pattern. It's so squishy and soft. I don't know how I'm gonna make it through the whole thing. I am officially.... *measures the scarf, frowns, remeasures, and sighs* Eight inches in. Wow. Yeah I'm gonna die... I mean... seriously? I need to make this thing like, SIXTY INCHES LONG? Oh man... anyway, here it is.

I also cast on for part of my sister's Christmas present - it's my computer knitting - but I can't post the picture here because she reads this. Or, tell you what it is... so... how about I distract you with news of Icarus. The news? Oh, right. Well... there is none. See... the faeries still haven't come to finish it for me. I'm waiting. Impatiently. Hmm... maybe... maybe I should do it? That sucks. lol I'm still on chart 4. I'm getting there though, I am....

Anyway, today my friend Emmy and I went to dinner with my sister and my mom at Olive Garden. It was a lot of fun. At the next table was a girl I went to school with and her 13 month old. She was talking to us and she knew me and my mom's name and my sister's name... but I could not remember her for the world. When I got home I looked her up in the yearbook, and I remember her now but... how is that even possible? I'm not THAT old... clearly I need help. Anyone else have a similar problem?

So Close

Ok, so I'm so close to being done on Icarus it's starting to seriously bum me out. I finished chart three last night, and I've now done the first two rows of Chart four. I decided to take it and a couple of other things outside so I can show everyone what they really look like and not what my camera decides to interpret for the day. Would you like to see? First we have my sister-in-law's ugly scarf... I really hate it, can't wait to give it to her lol.

You can see that it's actually not QUITE as hideous as it appears in some of the other pictures. Ok, so maybe it is. I don't know, your call. Anyway, here's the other Christmas scarf I made.

That one is definitely much truer to color than the original. And, my true love, that which I adore more than any other... my Icarus.

That's... as good a picture as I can get with it still on the needles. I got a close up of the detail for you all though.

It's hard to see but take my word for it. It's GORGEOUS. But, I have to admit, as much as I seriously LOVE this thing... enough is enough. I have to cast on for something else. I'm not sure what but I HAVE to. I have no choice in the matter. I'm going to go crazy working on this and only this for much longer. Do you know it takes me 40 minutes to do a right side row?? FORTY Minutes? That's crazy! So I haven't decided what it's going to be, but something is going to get started this weekend. I'm going to sit down and work on my Christmas present list, see what yarn I still have to buy. (Is it really that bad? I haven't even bought the yarn yet? Oh dear...) Anyway, I leave you with this.

He says "Mommy, it's cold outside! I wanna stay out and play!!"