just taking a quick break from my holiday knitting to let ya know that i’ll be at mass market 5 on sunday, december 13. mass market 4 this past spring was a lot of fun, and full of treasures, so i’m psyched to do this again. last time i just brought some zines and handspun yarn, but it being winter now, i’ll also have lots of knit goodies.

more details coming as soon as i get ‘em! in the meantime, you can creep on this for more info.

i seriously can’t believe how time is flying by. november, already? agh! i have been very very busy lately, assembling and packaging zine orders, working (because i know i never mention it, but i actually have a job, where i spend many hours during the week), and of course, knitting. for halloween, i was a squid. i knit my costume:

i will try to make better pictures happen soon. in the meantime, ravelry details are here. i have also been working on a number of other projects simultaneously. so far the only one with progress really worth showing is my brother’s christmas sweater. i feel okay posting this here because a) i don’t believe my brother reads this, or any blogs at all actually, and b) he picked this sweater and the colors out himself, so the only surprise will be whether this actually fits him. that said:

a very blurry photo, and also this morning i ended up knitting pretty much down to where the bottom of the pocket connects, which is awesome because it means the end of the body is near. i don’t mind some stockinette, especially in the round, but a men’s size xl sweater is a LOT of stockinette. i’m using the yarns suggested in the pattern, brown sheep lamb’s pride worsted and noro kureyon, so at least the yarn is a delightful treat after the pound of acrylic i used in my squid suit.

i’ve also made a good chunk of progress on my mom’s woodland shawl. originally i was trying to do that most quickly because i’m using my size 6 circular for it, and that’s also the needle i need for my sister’s sweater. my thought was that i could be thrifty and not buy another needle in the same size. i could just work one project, then the next. BUT. the size 6 i already own is a bamboo needle, which i’m not totally crazy about. it’s old and the points are getting dull. so if i bought myself a nice addi turbo circular, i would really be making more of a long-term investment than an impatient impulse purchase. am i right?

it feels like i have accomplished a good deal over the last few days. however, i am not singularly responsible for my progress. i owe a lot to netflix for making all of murder, she wrote available to watch instantly, to so delicious’s awesome coconut milk coffee creamer, and to new harvest roaster’s mild coffee that makes it easier for me to stay caffeinated all day without making my stomach feel like it’s on fire. i am so excited about the gifts i’m giving this year. also so excited about endless murder, she wrote marathoning. i leave you with this:

happy november!

granted, my main priority right now is holiday knitting. but it doesn’t mean that i’m not still peripherally aware of the massive destash that i promise will happen…after christmas. still, for the moment, it may be helpful to some of us to learn from the wisdom and experience of others. so:

from twist collective: ask the problem ladies: jostled by stash. no “stash only” yarn diets – i love this advice!

and a few projects that actually really make me want to dig deep into my suitcase of yarn:

this knit banana. of course. also, this womb.

as discussed at a knitting night a few weeks ago, this hot water bottle cozy is kind of amazing. i do not actually own a hot water bottle, but this pattern makes me want to. a hot water bottle and  knit cozy would also make a really nice winter holiday present, just sayin’.

i am also considering making some of these little hearts to attach to my christmas present wrapping. (um if i haven’t mentioned that i LOVE christmas, consider yourself warned. i love it so much. it’s my favorite time of year. i will talk about it nonstop until january first.) you might suggest to me that these are more appropriate for valentine’s day, but i say nonsense. or, i say that i will use them for both.

french press cozy. i have a french press. so why not?

and these are called bunny nuggets. i think the word ‘nuggets’ is a little sick, and that alone makes me weirdly want to knit these. also, they are cute.

you might be noticing that these are all sort of ‘novelty knits.’ here is my logic: when i think about things that i am going to wear, even one-skein projects like a hat or cowl, this is when i get excited about buying new and exciting yarn. it is not a time when i get psyched about the idea of using a leftover half skein of wool-ease. a french press cozy and a banana are knits that i don’t really want to invest money in, and therefore make a lot more sense for stashbusting.

enjoy your monday! be good!

i lied a little about doing nothing but knitting from now on. yesterday gary and i took a little field trip to mt. washington state park to hike around bash bish falls. bash bish. i know.

it was totally beautiful. we drove back roads through massachusetts and connecticut and got to enjoy tons of changing leaves, small towns and hot apple cider. when we finally got to the falls we ate vegan chicken salad sandwiches on top of a very scary ledge on the wrong side of the scenic overlook guardrail. i am so afraid of heights, but it was still really great.

totally cheesing. there were so many no swimming signs but seriously, you don’t even know how much i want to swim in this. also after four hours in a car, i was so psyched to be playing outside and seeing things like this. also, i totally knit in the car while navigating, so this still manages to count as productivity. my life is so fun sometimes. and now back to knitting!

sunday was rainy and gross from start to finish. so basically, it was perfect for digging into my christmas knitting without feeling guilty for not being outside enjoying awesome fall weather. this year i am being perhaps overly ambitious in my gift-giving. so overly ambitious that i cannot even reveal my full list to you at this point, because i am afraid of feeling ashamed if i can’t do it. so you will learn about my christmas projects only when i have substantial progress or finished objects to share.

and since it’s going to be more than a little while before i have actual finished objects to share, for now i will just revel in something i finished last march.

colder weather means that i finally get to wear this sweater again. and i realized that i’d never shared pictures of it after sewing the eyes on, and i really think the beads made it look a lot more finished. everything about this sweater makes me happy. i love the yarn (cascade ecological wool), the fit is pretty much perfect, and it’s covered in little owls. remembering that i knit this in a mere four days also serves as good gift knitting inspiration.

goodbye for now! my yarn is purchased, my netflix queue is ready, my apartment is well-stocked with coffee and soy milk. if you need me, come and see me. this will be occupying most of my evenings and weekends from this point on. maybe i’m acting like i don’t love the stress of this kind of challenge. that’s a lot of crap. i kind of thrive on this kind of pressure. i kind of love this in a sick, sick way.

add to that list of projects to-do:  one baby kimono for the new baby cousin i will have as of thanksgiving this year.

at least baby knitting is tiny!

but fortunately this will also count as destash, as just left of the center of this disgustingly large suitcase full of yarn, there happens to be some light aqua baby yarn. why do i even own that? all signs point to having a serious problem.

today is the birthday of two of my favorite people back in pittsburgh. i hope they’re having a really excellent day. in providence, it’s drizzling and cold and exactly the kind of day i prefer knitting in bed with felane to biking half an hour in said drizzle to get to work, but that is what i did. i was, however, rewarded with a seasonal treat at my office. pumpkin scones! just a little reminder that i love this time of year, regardless of drizzly commutes.

fall is always most productive for me in terms of knitting. i’ve been bundling up in the living room with the windows open so i can enjoy the fall air, drinking hot apple cider (sometimes adult hot apple cider), marathoning tv shows on netflix instant queue (so far: 30 rock, this american life and weeds), and crafting my little heart out. my progress: i finished one of the halloween costumes i was commissioned to help out with, and i’m halfway through the pair of socks that i mentioned in my last post. i’m starting to feel tempted to take a break from everything to knit myself some new gloves now that it’s cooling off, but that might just be my knitting add kicking in.

over the weekend nicole and i went to the mermaid’s purl in wickford.  i had never been to wickford before, and it was really charming. the mermaid’s purl was packed with very tempting yarn treats, but i actually was really responsible and only bought the yarn i needed for my little sister’s christmas sweater. i ended up buying this:

it’s berroco ultra alpaca, which i think will make for a super cozy and soft sweater. and i think the color is perfect for the banana tree pattern, and it’s a color my sister will actually wear. she’s just like i was at eleven, which is to say, extremely particular about things. even though she picked out the sweater pattern, and i’m using one of  her favorite colors, i’m still terrified that something about the finished product will be ever so slightly off and she won’t like it. does anyone else have this problem with knitting for preteens? i’m scared!

other than tackling my list, worrying about my sister’s tastes, and drinking so much hot apple cider, i’ve been playing around with my spinning wheel a bit. i spun up a quick skein of singles with the batts i bought at craftland this summer. there’s a lot of amazingly glittery angelina in this, so it was hard to get a picture where the color was totally accurate. but this is pretty close:

it ranges from very skinny to maybe worsted weight, and for the most part there’s almost no overtwist. the colors are really pretty, but i have to say i’m still not 100% psyched on the end result. i think because it’s one of those skeins that looks nice as a skein but i just can’t imagine what it will look like knit. only one way to find out though.

agh. current priorities: purple socks, brown/green hat, squid suit, gloves. expect some serious FO posts soon. enjoy your octobers, everyone!

i know i have talked about my yarn stash before. i know i have talked about it almost obsessively. i have taken pictures of smaller fractions of it. (never of the huge suitcase full of yarn in my closet. even i have a point at which it becomes too embarrassing to own up to.)  but i’m going to continue talking about it. and look, here’s another one of those suggestive photos:

but i promise you this time i am really trying to tackle my stash problem head-on. i am going to get this under control. i have been organizing my yarn, winding it into neat, stackable cakes when possible, and trying to actually think about what i can realistically knit with it. i am also considering photographing each yarn and adding it to my stash on ravelry. here is a question: do any of you find that to be helpful in making sure all that yarn gets used up? i’m wondering if i add the yarns to my online stash, will it a)  publicly shame me into using up said yarn, b) remind me about my yarn situation while i’m browsing patterns, thus motivating me to choose patterns that will use up the yarn i already own, or c) at the very least, satisfy my weird compulsive organizing tendencies?

here is my current crafting situation: i have just used up most of a skein of sheep shop company’s sheep one to make a pair of mittens. these will be photographed and put on etsy soon. stashbusting! i am also using two skeins of sock yarn from my stash to knit myself these legwarmers. i also just received an etsy order for a pair of socks and a hat from a dear friend from high school. i am also helping two people with the sewing of their halloween costumes, and still knitting my own halloween squid suit. this sounds like a lot, huh? it kind of is, but i’m staying pretty well on top of it.

and of course, even as i type this, i am planning to go yarn shopping not once but twice in the next two days. this is because i am knitting this sweater for my brother and this sweater for my sister. christmas knitting! but of course, i do not already have the appropriate yarns for these sweaters, and i cannot let my siblings down, so i really HAVE to buy more yarn. but then i am really committing myself to the elimination of so much of my yarn. really really really. this is so out of control that it can’t wait to be a new year’s resolution, and will have to be an october 8 resolution instead. feel free to make an october 8 resolution for yourself as well. after all, it’s almost the weekend, and almost a three-day weekend (if you get columbus day off, which i do), so i can’t really think of a better time to get started on a new resolution.

i like these days when i feel about two steps away from taking over the world. good good things.

i know i should be writing about something like the g20 in pittsburgh. and i do have my concerns about that. but the thing really keeping me up at night right now is, probably unsurprisingly, diablo cody buying the rights to sweet valley high. there is really nothing i can say here though that has not already been said.  however, as someone who possibly takes ya lit a little too seriously, i will just reiterate some of the finer points that have been made recently and say that if i see enid rollins on a burger phone,  i will flip a table.

as for yarn-related content, i have some serious etsy updates to make soon. gotta find a way to finance all those svh and bsc books i thrift. but in the meantime, maybe you want to take this little treat off my hands:

it lives in electronic form over in my etsy shop, but in tangible form it lives in my apartment and i came dangerously close to knitting with it this weekend. help me stop the madness. this yarn is delightfully soft and the colors are amazing. and i hear yinz want to be responsible and start your holiday knitting early this year…

quickly before i go to sleep (i mean, it’s after 11 pm, so it’s past my bedtime) i want to let crafty friends, especially crafty friends in rhode island know that i’m going to be helping out and running the stitch and bitch on thursday nights from 6 to 9 at waste not want not in providence.

you can bring whatever projects you like – knitting, embroidery, alterations, anything. there is a $3-$6 donation for use of the space and supplies (you can root through scrap fabrics, etc to use in your work). come craft, enjoy some tea or baked goods, maybe do some shopping, whatev. if you don’t knit already but would like to learn, i’m also happy to help out with that. i’ll be there weekly, and it’s really nice to meet new people, and also to see people i already know and love, so come hang out!

the other really important piece of knitting news i have is that i have (finally) started my halloween costume.

it’s a squid. you can tell, right? i just started this week and obviously i’m making this up as i go, due to a surprising lack of squid suit patterns out there, but i think i can pull this off. i’m starting with the body and working down through the tentacles. then i’ll pick up stitches and knit the hood/headpiece last. i’m using the caron pound of wool, and while the color is good i think, the feeling of this yarn isn’t so much. but i think it’ll do the job, and if i end up wrestling any whales on halloween, i won’t be damaging fancy wool. anyway, expect some more interesting squid suit updates as i get to the more exciting parts of the costume construction. and keep your fingers crossed for me!