gaysknits

this could be considered a pretty disappointing year in knitting...

unless you like smalls...you know...hats and gloves!  i started out the year making fingerless mitts and pretty much ended it doing the same. january brought the youngladygrandaughters birthday and pom pom arm  warmers and it brought friend phils birthday and a pair of extra large fingerless mitts. the end of this year brought us the guys sisters birthday and two more pair...one armwarmers and one fingerless gloves and in between  i made 6 hats, 2 cowls, 1 scarf, 2 small triangle scarves,  a dozen sets of mitts and a christmas stocking.  early in the year i made a sweater, the asymetrical cardi and vowed not to make any more sweaters but i eased back into sweatermaking with gaia at the end of the year which is really more of a shrug than a sweater.  then i decided to add longer sleeves to the asymetrical cardi and now i love it so much more.

 i also cast on for a full fledged turtle necked long sleeved pullover sweater in of all things...wool and mohair and cashmere but it is still a belly shirt with sleeves at this point. it is my own design and is being designed as i go but i doubt that it will be finished before the end of the year 2009...eh stranger things have happened. i gave away  all six of the hats i made. i gave away one of the cowls, seven of the mitts, two of the scarves and the christmas stocking. the christmas stocking to the neices second boy oh boy, mitts for friend phil, the guys sister and my own sister got a pair of mitts and a cowl and her little trooper a fish hat and baby mittens.  the little guy got a swell cap and a pair of fingerless gloves and he promptly poked a large sized hole in the cap...hmmm...that didn't make me smile. the youngladygrandaughter a pair of arm warmers and a slouchy beret and a pair of fingerless mitts.  bob's wife got a scarf and the mom  got a small triangle shawl.  i made three chemo caps for the kahuna and he told me the other day he couldn't have lived without them...they were life savers...he made me blush and i was touched by his words and since he is now a knitwear convert...he also picked up a few more knitted caps from the free table at the hillman cancer center courtesy of knitters who believe in the kindess of strangers. 

a picture of everything i have knitted this year that i have left in my possession  does not amount to much of a picture but along the way i got to know a sister i didn't know before, i helped some people out, i returned a favor or two and i made some people happy. it was nice making things people wanted or needed. along the way i fell in love with wool and i introduced myself to malabrigo and fell head over heals in love with the stuff. i also discovered i loved knitting with lace weight yarn this year and now have some malabrigo lace and some shibui silk cloud both in my stash waiting to be knit into a cardi and a pullover respectively...at some point...maybe hopefully in the near future.  both yarns were purchased with a specific pattern in mind.  this year i  discovered that for me that is the best way to buy yarn. everything i fall for and buy because it is pretty or i like it or it is on sale for a great price ends up not being used. thus the noro niji i have in my stash and truly hate not using but i can't for the life of me figure out how to use it or  what to use it on or even who would want to use it. maybe a hat or two...or a felted seat cushion...or something...i don't know.  i also have been converted back to the lys for my yarn buying.  i like touching it and seeing the color and knowing firsthand if it is itchey or not. same with boots i like buying them at the store because when i order them online i just end up sending them back.

i hope to knit some sweaters this winter and finally i want to say that i do wear the sweaters i have knit...just infrequently which i have decided is fine with me.  first  of all i knit for the pleasure of knitting a certain this or that with a special type of yarn or to make something up that is dancing around in my head.  the end result is not the important part of the process for me and besides it is really just too hot at work to wear a sweater. i finally got rid of those troublesome hot flashes and now the heating and airconditioning man is messing with me and cannot...to save his own soul...regulate the temperature in our building. sigh and  later...love   g

i talk to myself...

all the time. i talk to myself while i am at work constantly...i have wierded out several people who have at one time or another sat in the cube next to me. i talk to my self while i drive...a lot.  as a matter of fact i composed a  whole post the other day on my way to work and it's  a shame i didn't tape record it because it would have been a good one and now...i forgot what i was even thinking about at the time.  i would blame it on the early hour of the day but the truth is i forget lots of things these days. it could have been that i finished the book i was reading and now i must find another one to start on tuesday at approximatley noon while i eat my lunch...that doesn't leave me much time. it could have been that the four pounds of peanut brittle i made were a huge hit with the mom as was aisling fall shawl...multnomah which she is going to wear as a scarf.

it could have been that i have agreed to make another pair of armwarmers by thanksgiving and i have no wool do make them with (they were requested to be made in black).   the black wool was added to the tail end of an order of yarn i placed at webs and they have yet to ship it. as a matter of fact not only have they not shipped it but they put a hold on my credit card in an amount that does not include the particular yarn that i placed the order for in the first place.  grrrr. now i am in a holding pattern. it could have been the news that i am knitting a sweater.  it all started innocently enough. i ordered some purple  cashmerino and some navy cashmerino  for some knitted gifts and while i was at it  i nabbed some wine cashmerino  because it was a heck of a bargain but it was not enough to make a whole sweater out of so rather than make a  a cropped something or other i decided to make a striped something or other.

i started out with a pattern in mind but as soon as i cast on i changed my mind and now i am not making that but something else entirely...that is if i ever get the rest of my yarn from webs.  grrrrr.  all this is cutting into my i have to knit i promised to knit a christmas stocking for one of the boy oh boys before christmass decorting time and that time has arrived hasn't it?  also i am desperately seeking a sweater coat and god knows i don't know why because i am way to cheap to pay for a nice one and i am way to picky to wear a cheap one so i have no sweater coat.  i may have to knit one.  it will take a long time i suppose and it will most defninately cost way more than i would ever pay for a store bought one but i'm thinking i'm going to go for it as soon as my gift knitting of a pair of arm warmers and a christmas stocking is finished. i was considering the vogue knitting pattern...the long coat for the sweater coat but now that i think of it i may just go for the tilted duster.

i think it suits my body type better.  we shall see.  i have already obsessivley started looking for yarn for it and planning another mohair project for my future winter knitting.  this is starting to sound like stash building to me.  how about a couple of crappy pictures of the  fall shawl. i loved this after i got the hang of it and will make another...some day...maybe...but i doubt it i ususally don't like to make the same thing more than once. later...love   g

sometimes tiny is better...

fortunately this is one of those times.  i do not usually knit with fingering yarn.  i can honestly say i have never in my life even purchased fingering yarn before now.  usually i don't have contact with anything finer than worsted. unless you count the chevron scarf i knit in 2008 out of sock yarn and since then  i haven't wanted to recreate the hours and days and months it took me to finish the sucker.  hell i think i wear the thing just to punish myself for making such a loooooong  time consuming project  and because it is soft and comfy and colorful and it is about the only colorful thing i have ever had in my wardrobe!

me and the little guy had a picnic of sorts last weekend and wore our handknits to enjoy the sunny gorgeous fall afternoon  at the marina. this week i have dabbled in chunky yarn...the purple bliss scarf for bob's wife...she loved it...and i have dabbled in fingering yarn.

 

who knew it would be a new found love of mine that fingering yarn...and the multi who knew i would fall  in love again with the multi having previously turned against it because if it's habit of willfull misconduct and after having pooh poohed it's tendancy to do whatever the hell it wanted to do as far as color and pattern goes. multi fingering wool seems to work nicely...in this particular case anyway. did i say wool??? wool???  yes the wool has become another new found friend to me. i don't know if i am mellowing or losing my mind.  i rescued this yarn from the  clearance bin at the lys and my intention was to throw it in the bottom of the hat box until sometime shortly after hell froze over and then i saw this pattern.  multomah.   i had the perfect yarn for it.  one skein of fingering weight multi wool yarn.

 

this pattern has made me feel stupid and exercised my brain at the same time  and it really is simple but i have made mistakes and poor judgements ending in my having to spend some time tinking back.  i am happy with the results and would only be happier if i would put this sucker on a long piece of scrap yarn and see what it looks like all spred out. maybe  i'll do that but maybe i won't have the time.  i intend to finish this up and have it blocked and ready to be delivered to the mom on wednesday evening and presented to her as a birthday gift...along with the three different kinds of peanut brittle i am making her.  it's is a busy saturday for me so i am off to be busy and i will see you on the other side of the weekend maybe?   later...love   g

gee he looks...

swell in that hat!  the little guy wow...he's getting so big and growing so tall and becoming so grown up...just...wow when did that happen?  i didn't know that when you go to the first grade they give you a pill that turns you nto something that you weren't the summer before.  now i know.

this is the swell cap which is supposed to have earflaps but when it came right down to it the little guy who has a mind of his own and has a flair for fashion too i might add nixed the earflaps. he chose the yarn and i couldn't have done a better job.  i was having trouble making them look seamless so i had decided to add them later anyway so when he said camo hat...blue waves...no earflaps  it was simply finished before it's time.

it was done a bit sooner than i anticipated any way because it was a pretty quick knit and it looks adorable on him errrrr what i meant to say was he looks super cool and mighty hip in it! happy trick or treat and don't be like me and eat too much caaaandy.  later...love   g

today turned out to be...

a much more gratifying day than yesterday was. up early. had coffee. went to the store for a few things...my latest craving is for noodle bowls...go figure.  friend phil came over with his monster snake and he, the guy and i fed about 120 feet of the thing down the drain and voila....water is running freely again and no trenches were dug in my driveway, yard or basement...whew! any way the two of them are off delivering wine and me...well i'm strutting about on the deck in gaia.

on the deck in the summer like sunshine and warm as could be temperatures i might add.  there are lots more pics of this on ravelry too! 

it is hard to believe it was cold and frosty just a week ago.  the guy and nephew and riding pal  will probably get a motorcycle ride in this week while the weather is nice and the leaves are gorgeous but i'll be working the rest of the week. next weekend i hope to be doing a little work in my yard and since the youngladygrandaughter is now in possession of her driving permit maybe a drive or two around town will be in order.

mean while knitting  on the purple bliss scarf continues and i continue working on smalls in the hopes that i'll have lots of small xmas gifts this year and pass the time before the snow flies around here.  later...love   g