bag 'n' trash -- home of monster yarn

WIP Wednesday

so today, with the threat of ice-ing, and not the good kind, i stayed at home and decided to do some work here.  i'm not the work from home type by the way.  i need people.  but on the other hand, i got a lot done.  so it wasn't a wasted day.  and look at this?  i actually will manage to post before dinner!

other than the daily grind, not much going on.  i finished a sock though and am working on the heel of the second.  i had hoped to be able to finish a pair within a week ... you know start 2009 with a bang.  but work got in the way (i finished the first sock in 2 days while on vacation).

oh i know, they're pooling but i kind of like them.  and i'm a little in love with the 2x2 rib.

i'm also bringing out some old knits from BR (before ravelry) including the cowl below.  i "designed" and knit this in early 2006.  you can probably find a blog post about it.  it was knit from a weird discontinued noro yarn called kujaku.  anyway, i wear it a lot, usually folded over like a turtleneck.

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day 264 -- i'm really glad i didn't go to work today.  a neighbor is having trouble getting up our street!

I Did Nothing Today

except work on a new sock!

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day 259 -- two more days of vacation.  it's kind of depressing me.

Whatever I Want Wednesday

it's the end of another year. usually at this time of year i'm thinking about resolutions and doing a mental breakdown (or having one) of my accomplishments.  but not this year.  nope.  mostly because 2008 was a bust.  i don't think i accomplished anything that i had planned to in the past year.  (i'm not going to check either).  i'm fatter than ever.  still in the same job i hate (thanks craptastic economy).  still have no siding on the walls of my house, etc.  and if i think too hard about everything i didn't do, i'll just get maudlin and eat chocolate and get even fatter.  so i'm just not going to do it.  i can only do my best.  and maybe that will be my resolution for 2009 ... try to be the best that i can be.

ha!  that was easy.

and on that note, i present my final FO of the year. a stocking cap for me.   after making this hat for my father-in-law and not wanting to part with it, i decided to make one for me too.

i used 5 different colors of patons classic merino for this one too, but instead of changing colors every 3 rows, i changed them every 15.  the wider stripes are much more slimming i think.  ha!

and at adrian's suggestion, i made three pompoms for the tip instead of just one.  a girl can never have too many pompoms.   as always, any details have been raveled.

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day 257 -- happy new year kids!

So It's Been Snowing for 3 Days ...

and earlier today i measured the snow that had piled up.  fifteen inches people!  and that was 3 hours ago.  and it's still snowing.  which is fine with me when i have no place to be. (true, i still have some christmas shopping to do, but i wouldn't have shopped today anyway).

so other than some shoveling (so i have gotten some exercise) i've done nothing but knit all day and take some photos.  and photos of my knitting.

these are a christmas gift, a pair of house socks.  nothing special but i hope the recipient enjoys them.  the details are raveled here.

and this is the most adorable beret that i test knit for through the loops.  this one is called "katie" and you so want to buy this pattern (it's two patterns for the price of one).  (i apologize that the photo isn't great, but it's all i could manage today.)

so that's it for now. 

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day 247 -- thanks so much for the birthday wishes yesterday and today!!

It's Official, I Hate December

ever have times in your lives when you feel anxious and exhausted and time has been flying by and yet you have nothing to show for this anxiety, exhaustion and time warping?  yeah that's where am i right now.  (feelings that aren't being helped by this stupid, insanely slow work computer.  hello!  who do i have to sleep with to get a new computer? )

for example, it's taken me 3 weeks to make one sock.

one sock!

and the only person i want to buy stuff for is me.  i know,  it sounds selfish but at least i know what i want and i appreciate everything i get for myself. 

oh and this ...

right now i'm not feeling the love. i'm a little further along then is indicated in this photo but i'm kind of hating it. the main reason is the yarn. ever frugal, i'm trying to use the extra knitpicks palette that i had after finishing babette. and i don't think this is the right yarn for this pattern. (the 'right yarn" is kid silk haze -- hahahahaha -- um .. no.)

*screams!*

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day 236 -- 10 more days!

This Did Start As A Knitting Blog

Whoa!  It's been about a month since I've written a knitting post.   And the thing is, I've been knitting.  let's start with what i've finished.  shall we?

if you recall, about 6 weeks ago, i posted some photos of two pair of socks that i was in the middle of knitting.  at the same time, both socks (for each pair) together.  yeah, that was a freakin' nightmare.  and something i'm never doing again.  the two socks together thing.    almost took all the joy of knitting socks from me. can you imagine?  anyway, sometime in november, i finally finished them. 

and i'm even wearing them all together at the same time!

these are through the loops mystery sock I and II that i knit up using some madeline tosh yarn in my stash.  i've ravelled the details here and here.  for the cabled version i cast on 72 stitches, for the plain, i cast on 68 and i knit them up using US size 1 circulars. 

that's it for now.  i have to save something for tomorrow.

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day 230 -- i wish today were friday

Saturdays Are For Knitting and Watching Hallmark Movies

yesterday, after my wacky dream about my friends, i called one of them up.  the one i've known since we were in the 8th grade.  and i was relieved to learn that she was not mad at me.   in fact, we had a great chat.  it's funny.  she lives barely 20 miles away from me and we rarely see each other or talk, but when we do, it's like we're bffs again. 

my saturday started with the alarm going off at 3am.  30 minutes later, we were driving to the airport.  i dropped j off for his flight to japan and by 5:15 i was back home.  i took out the trash for trash pickup, let the cat out, and went back to bed.  later on in the day, i did some knitting -- i've got a couple of new projects on the needles -- and watched bad movies on the hallmark channel.  for lunch i ate leftover green bean casserole.   i wasn't entirely lazy though.  i did empty the dishwasher.

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day 225 -- i swear i'll get more done tomorrow

Mertle the Turtle

so the stegosaurus cowl -- what does it look like on?

it's pretty long for a cowl, allowing you to pull it up over your head.

like this. 

and ...

like this .. if you don't mind looking like a turtle.

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day 199 -- crazy day at work today.  and i can't believe it's already dark.

Noro November

i've been blogging for so long now that i don't feel bad about recycling old posts.  except for some rare exceptions, i don't have the same readers, and after 4+ years, even those who did read back then are bound to have forgotten.  i  know i've forgotten.

anyway, one such post, written almost 4 years ago to the day, was my first "pattern."  in honor of it being noro november and because i've gotten some requests for details since i've posted flickr pics, i've made some edits to the pattern and re-issued it under what i think is a much better name. 

the stegosaurus noro cowl.

this is a great pattern for using up random skeins of noro kureyon (or silk garden if you're a little bit of a petite flower and find noro kureyon a bit itchy).  it'll also work with any yarn that has long color repeats.  the randomness is what makes it fun to knit (for me anyway).

the pattern can be found in my side-bar there to the right under "original patterns."  i've also posted the pattern on ravelry.

as always, it's free for your own personal use.  don't go making a bunch of them though and then go selling them on etsy or anything.  that'll just piss me off. 

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day 198 -- recycling is good.  look at me being all environmentally aware.  *snort*

WIP Wednesday

no real progress has been made since last wednesday.  still working on the mystery socks.  and i'm already behind.  i think we're supposed to start the foot, and i haven't even turned the heel.  oh well.  although i brought the socks to rhinebeck with me, i ended up not knitting one stitch on them.   

i did start a cowl, then i frogged it, then i started it again.

i'm further along on the cowl.

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day 187 -- i'm not done with rhinebeck, just taking a little break.  jesus, it's cold in here.  and how cool are these birds?