Purlene’s Corner

No pictures, as my five-year-old camera battery has finally given up the ghost, and won’t even stay charged long enough to take one picture. I’ve got replacements on the way, so there will be a picture taking frenzy when they get here. Until then, it’s all text, all the time here at Purlene’s Knitting Hideaway.

I have knocked things off the WIP list! GLORY! Say goodbye to the Neauveau Scarf, say goodbye to Linda’s mittens (frogged, and will be picked up later), say goodbye to the hated store scarf that just needs to be given to the store, and I am at the gusset of the Hedera sock #2, so it’s almost done. I feel so accomplished. Granted, my apartment is a wreck and I haven’t gone to the grocery store in two months, but whatever – my WIP bin is getting smaller.

Next up is Mema’s wrap. I’ve got a bit of traveling ahead of me over the next few days, so I need something that’s portable and won’t be finished in the blink of an eye, so I can lug it around airports and whatnot. I’m leaving the chilly world of Chicago for sunny sunny Charleston SC, where the temperature is supposed to be in the high 60s/low 70s all weekend. YAY. Sunshine! No snow! No slush! No ice! I’m going down there for a family visit – the grandparents, brothers, aunt and her family all still live there, so it’s going to be like a family carnivale of something. And lots of knitting; my poor Mema has broken her leg, and won’t be able to run around with me. Woe. But I get to spoil her, which will be fun, and see if she likes the wrap. And if she doesn’t, well, that’s an excuse to go LYS hopping and find a pretty yarn that she likes better!

I’m just babbling now. Ha, welcome to the inside of my head.

Of the good:

Neauveau Scarf, yarn from Neauveau.com. Size 13 needles.

One WIP down, twelve to go. This scarf is definitely not one for tossing gaily around the shoulders. It is dense and heavy, and fantastically warm. And of course I finish it just as spring is beginning to peek around here, haha. That’s ok. Seasons cycle.

Of the bad: I had to frog Linda’s mittens. Or mitten, really. It was so freaking big, you could have put two hands in there. Horrible. So, I’m starting over. What is up with me and sizing lately, I ask you.

So, in the interests of full disclosure and maybe the impetus of shame, I give you my current list of Works in Progress. ALL of them, even ones that haven’t been touched in months.

1. Knit One Purl Two Ribbon Tank
2. Mercury Messenger Bag
3. Mom’s Riverbend Socks
4. Linda’s mittens although not for long, yay
5. Stashbuster socks
6. Mema’s wrap Mmm. I screwed up the pattern out of hubris, and probably need to start it over. Sigh.
7. Simple Fitted Bodice that’s actually gone in a negative direction, as I am frogging the whole thing to start over smaller
8. Neauveau Scarf
9. Hedera socks I have one sock, and the cuff of the other. I’d like to have these done by next week, so I can give them to my aunt. They could be good plane knitting.
10. Rainbow socks
11. Hourglass sweater this is actually going to be frogged, as it’s not a good match of yarn and pattern.
12. Store scarf of hatred I don’t hate the store, I hate the scarf. BORING. I don’t know what I was thinking
13. Scarf for Lily I don’t even know if this counts as in progress, as I’m still poking around with patterns and whatnot. She’ll have it in time for next winter, haha. Oh, my.

I think that’s enough, don’t you? And yet I have so many projects I want to start! I want to knit up a collection of the Soft Drawstring Pouch from Last Minute Knitted Gifts. I want to do Jared’s Cobblestone sweater in sapphire blue for my brother, Eunny’s Bayerische socks, a new Hourglass sweater for me out of appropriate yarn, and my newest brain wave project – I want to knit every pair of socks from the Interweave Press Favorite Socks book. I have one pair done (the embossed leaves), and even though I don’t care for all of the patterns, I love the idea of knitting an entire book of socks.

I swear I have the worst case of startitis. And it’s chronic. Thirteen items is too many, when I have so many other things I want to knit. So, starting this weekend, I am FINISHING THINGS. I know I won’t finish everything before starting something new (I mean, let’s get real here. There’s a reason why I stopped working on most of these.) But I figure a ratio of 3-1 should work to empty out the WIP basket. So, here are my rules.

For every 3 WIPs I finish, I get to start one new project.
“Finish” includes seaming, weaving in ends, and blocking.
The new project must be completed before starting work on the next thing on the list.
The 3-1 ratio is not set completely in stone, but will basically be adhered to. (You never know when someone needs a quickie hat, right?)

Here are the first three projects I aim to finish. I figure I need to go for things that are either on deadline or quick knits, so I can get that lovely feeling of accomplishment.

Commuter knitting: Store scarf of hatred (commuter knitting is outside of the project list, because it has to be portable and fairly brainless)
a. Linda’s Mittens – due on MONDAY OMG.
b. Hedera
c. Neauveau scarf. Good lord, it’s knit on size 13 needles, it shouldn’t take THAT long.
New project after that? Probably socks, but a short quick pair. Like footies out of worsted or something from the book.

I can TOTALLY do this!

Wow. I mean, WOW. I’ve screwed up knitting before, but I usually knew how it happened, or realized it while I was doing it. Not so much with the Brown Scarf.

Not so bad, right? A few ends to weave in, some kind of sloppy psso, but really, it’s a functional servicable scarf. No. That’s just creative draping.

You guys. I have no idea. I mean, you would think I would catch this before the bindoff, right? NOT SO MUCH. It’s going in the basket of shame until I know what I’m going to do with it – but with this yarn (Rowan Tapestry), frogging isn’t really a good option. It’s very sticky and easily ripped. This scarf may be tossed. :(

Wow. You never know how crappy your keyboard is until you get a new one, and typing is a pleasure once again. Thank you, Dynex, thank you for providing the world with $20 keyboards that actually plug into the PC. <3

I was recently accused of being stingy with the pictures, and told to “update your blog, PUUUUUURRRRRRRlene!” So, here. Enjoy.

My SnB took a fieldtrip last weekend to some out-of-the way (for us) yarn stores. Our first visit was to The Fold in Marengo. You know it’s a good yarn store when customers literally gasp with delight when they enter. The first sight when you walk in the door is shelves and shelves of beautifully soft undyed roving. Once you’ve taken that in, you see the spinning wheels, spindles, carders and all the accoutrement of the spinner’s craft. There was a class in progress where they were learning about color, about hue and how to use a color wheel. I eavesdropped for a while, and then moved on. I know nothing about spinning, so I fondled the roving (occasionally grabbing a friend to come over and “shove your hand in this, omg”) before heading to the yarn mecca. The Fold stocks Socks that Rock. They do! Right there in the store! I had never seen this. All three weights, new colors, familiar colors, beautiful beautiful yarn. We drooled. We drooled a LOT. Then, we purchased.

Tanzanite (purple) and 24 Karat (the other one). I grabbed mediumweight so I could work with a slightly larger needle this time, whew. Sparkli, I think I’m going to steal your Jaywalker idea for tanzanite. It’s truly gorgeous.

We lunched at an adorable diner that I forgot the name (bad ames) but where I was served an amazing chicken pesto salad pannini, mmmyum. Then it was off to the Fine Line Creative Arts Center in St. Charles, IL. What a nifty place! If I lived closer, I’d totally be there. It’s a studio center, and they have classes in so many different arts – weaving, pottery, painting, other fiberarts, you name it. I was fascinated with the loom collection, and kind of wanted to sit down and whip out some cloth. Not that I know how. Their yarn selection was somewhat limited (as one would expect, they’re not an LYS) but there were some delightful surprises. And again, we shopped.

Lambs Pride, worsted, in fun variegated colorways. :D I used the Goldenrod to make a cutie-pie hat for Hat Attack 2008. <3

Finally, we went to Wool and Company in Geneva. I think I could easily move into this store. So pretty and inviting, and so chock-full of woolly goodness. They had a wonderful selection – good old standards, a large Noro area (if you’re into Noro), a good sock yarn section with Koigo and Claudia and OMG SUSHI YARN.

Sushi Yarn by The Painted Sheep. The actual yarn color isn’t quite as intense as the picture would indicate. It’s more of a soft tomato-ish haze of awesome.

And I bought my first Manos.

Wildflower colorway, Number 113. It’s hanging on my wall right now. Instant art!

Today’s schedule: Finish setting up new DVD player (the old one, after communing with aliens for many months, finally gave up the ghost last night). Finish unravelling grey sweater. It’s ok! I’m redoing it so it won’t be quite as slutty looking; I’d like to wear it in public without shame, you know. So I’m frogging the whole thing and starting over. It’ll be fun! Finish seaming last commuter sock (pictures to follow in next post). Wander graveyard with Chara again. :)

I like Saturdays.

I’ve been knitting up a storm, but nothing is really picture-worthy at the moment. I will say that I’m probably going to frog the sweater I’ve been doing and try it at a different size. I feel like I should be upset about this but it’s going to be interesting. I’m knitting the Simple Knitted Bodice and I’m loving the pattern – HOWEVER. I think I need to go up a size for the top, because the girls are too big for the neckline. The size I’m doing is perfect for the body, though. I’m not sure how this will work, as I’ll be decreasing something like 14-21 stitches around to get the waist right. Perhaps I will e-mail Ms. Japfel and see what she suggests. I don’t know, man. I tried it on for my best friend, which was silly, as she always tells me I look great, even when I clearly do not. It’s sweet, but not helpful at all.

So instead of knitty pictures, have some of the graveyard over by my apartment. Chara and I took a ramble there last weekend.

Hm. I find I have more to say on the sweater topic than I thought. I think I’m going to have to seriously modify this sweater to account for the girls. I was getting overwhelmed with all the tweaks I need made, so I had to make a list.

What I want