Twistedtexan's Weblog

Yes, I’m still knitting.  Here’s some proof (color is more accurate in the first photo).

Pattern: Emily Dickinson

Yarn: YarnluvinLizzy cashmere/silk cobweb lace

Three things I discovered about this pattern:

1.  Knitting with beads is kinda fun (I used the crochet hook method).

2.  Knitting with cobweb lace is kinda NOT fun.  Ok, more than kinda.  I hated it.  I’m not too keen on yarn that will float away if there’s a good breeze.

3.  Know what sucks more than binding off 513 stitches?  Casting on 513 stitches.  This was my first bottom-up shawl and I enjoyed watching the rows get shorter and shorter as I progressed.

There are also a few more projects cooking – although nothing really worth posting about.  Still working on Hubbster’s socks, I’m making myself a pair of jaywalkers out of hot pink and black String Theory yarn (love!!!), and I just downloaded the Streamside cardigan pattern.  Hopefully I’ll have some Tour de Fleece pictures tomorrow.  It’ll be my last day of vacation and I’m keeping LMT home with me for some mommy/daughter time.  How could I resist spending my last day of vacation with such a cutie-patootie??

This week I’m on vacation, a “mommycation” if you will.  After two failed attempts to take time off earlier in the year, I finally have the time to do so.  LMT has been in daycare, the Hubbster at work, which means I have the house to myself.  (insert fiendish giggles here)  I decided to do something productive with my time off.  Something for me.  After the arrival of LMT, my poor yarn room has become sorely neglected.  I don’t really have the time to go in there and knit, spin, crochet, or just relax.    Nevermind the fact that the room has become a dumping ground for laundry that needs to be folded and other assorted crap.  So I declared war and attacked my room with a vengeance.

Here are the before-and-after photos:

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Three of the four walls are grey with the fourth wall a deep purple.  I love the purple wall so hard it’s not even funny.  Gone are the boring beige walls, gone are the piles of laundry, gone are the endless piles of clutter.  I even managed to rearrange the bookcases so that the shelves in the center contain all of my knitting/spinning books, magazines, bobbins, tools, etc… and I also managed to get the yarn that was crammed in the closet out onto the shelves.  This opened up a ton of space in the closet for my ever growing fiber stash.  I feel such an overwhelming sense of accomplishment and pride when I look at my room now.  I can’t wait to spend more time in there!

Next up for “mommycation”… spin up one of my fiber festival batts for the Tour de Fleece!

I think that’s how I’m going to label madelinetosh from here on out.  What started out as a trip for more Cascade 220 for LMT’s blanket, buttons for Pintobean’s cardigan, and beads for the shop samples ended up with these:

madtosh sock in dahlia and duchess.

Now I suppose as far as yarn purchases go, two skeins of sock yarn isn’t all that terrible.  The disconcerting part is that I think I’m starting to develop madtosh radar.  Out of all the sock yarn in the shop, I was immediately drawn to the spot with all the madtosh.  At that moment, all of the other sock yarns ceased to exist.  There was only madtosh…

Now I just need to decide what to knit.  I’m almost certain I want it to be a shawl/shawlette with the two colors together.  So far I’ve come up with:

daybreak
akimbo
stripe study shawl – although I think the asymmetry of this one might drive me bonkers
lakedale

So what do you think?  What should I knit?  Decisions, decisions….

From this moment on I am going to stop apologizing for the crappy iphone pictures.  These days they’re all I’ve got time for, and it’s better than nothing. 

So…I kinda have startitis.  Ok, maybe more than kinda.  I have a full on case of it.  Here’s a sampling of what I’ve got going on.

1. Realta afghan

2. Frank’s Little Cables aka “Hubbster’s socks”

3. Springtime in Hollis for the new little Pintobean.  This one just needs buttons and an i-cord.  The i-cord will be made from some coordinating yarn that I spun on the wheel.   Whatever yarn is left over will probably go towards matching hats for Pintobean and her big sister.

4.  I also started knitting a sample for one of my LYSes using this yarn:

YarnLuvinLizzy’s cashmere/silk cobweb lace.  At first I tried getting it to work with Knitty’s shipwreck shawl, but I just wasn’t happy with the look.  I gave it a pretty good effort, going so far as to knit 70 rounds of the pattern.  (Translation: I was in denial, yet stupidly kept knitting.)  So, it came off the needles today and I will use the yarn to knit the Emily Dickinson shawl instead.  I think it’ll be a much better fit.  I have also offered to still knit the shop a shipwreck shawl, only with heavier yarn.  So YarnLuvinLizzy is going to dye up a batch of her merino/silk/silver yarn for the project.

See?  I’ve gone and lost my mind!  I’ve got 7 projects either in the works or in the planning stages.  Someone send the men with the large butterfly nets to come and collect me.

May 09, 2011 – My girl J had a beeeeeeeautiful baby girl! 

Just look at those cheekies!  I want to omnomnomnommmmmnommm them up!

Congratulations, J, ya done good my dear.  Now y’all just need to come to Texas so I can meet her properly.

P.S.  A knitting project for new niecey-poo has already begun.   

I lubyoOOOOooooooOOO!!

It seems that everyone around me has crochet fever, and I’m totally blaming KnittyKnurse.  She mentioned that she wanted to learn how to crochet and pointed out this awesome pattern: Realta Afghan (Ravelry link).  The next thing I know I’ve bought 14 different colors of Cascade 220 and have joined a Realta crochet-a-long.  I’m not entirely sure how it all transpired.  There’s just this haze of yarn and then it all goes blank…

So far the project has been really fun.  While I admire the designer’s careful thought and planning that went into her afghan, I know I will go batshit crazy if I attempt to do the same.  So to keep things fun, fresh, and interesting I have adopted the following plan:

1. Take ball bands of yarn and write the color name on it.
2. Put ball bands in a bag.
3. Shake the bag.
4. Pull out 3 bands and that’s what color the octagon will be.
5. Lather, rinse, repeat…

Here’s what I’ve got so far.  Keep in mind that it’s a crappy iphone picture and the colors aren’t at all accurate.

Did I forget to mention that this blanket is going to be for LMT?  (Hence all the crazy bright colors…)  My original plan was to make a small afghan that she can use when we convert her crib to a toddler bed (::sniffle:: hopefully we won’t have to do that anytime soon.  Little kidlet is growing way too fast.  But that’s a whole ‘nuther post).  However…my octagons are pretty big (around 8″ unblocked) so I’m going whole hog and will make a ginormous afghan she can use when she gets an official “big girl” bed.  Heh, it’ll probably take me that long to finish this project. 

So there you have it!  That’s what I’m working on.  I think it’s pretty safe to say that the sock-a-month club has flown right out the window, and I’m ok with it.  I still have all the yarn/patterns matched up for when I’m ready to get back to knitting socks.  THERE’S NO KNITTING POLICE!  If there was, I would have been arrested long ago.

Right along with KnittyKnurse.

When I started the 30-day song challenge, I didn’t realize that it would end on April 27th.  How appropriate that it would ask this today:

Your favorite song at this time last year…

One year ago today I gave birth to the most beautiful little girl, my Little Miss Texan.  The song I used to sing to her when I was carrying her is Everlong by the Foo Fighters.

“Hello, I’ve waited here for you

Everlong…”

Truer words could not be found.  I waited a lifetime for you.  Happy birthday, my sweet LMT.  Your Daddy and I have never laughed, worried, cried, or loved so much until you came along.

A song from your childhood…

Eesh, I might be dating myself a bit with this one but I LOVED THIS SONG when I was a kid. 

Bad, Bad Leroy Brown – Jim Croce

A song that makes you feel guilty…

Dirrty by Christina Aguilera (Um, ’nuff said.)

A song that you wish you could play…

Just listen to the notes played on the guitar.  I love how they flow like water over stones in a babbling brook.  There’s something so mellow and chill about this song; I could listen to this over and over.

Snow (Hey Oh) – Red Hot Chili Peppers