Not so happy Wednesday

It has been a blog worthy week, but the phone call I got five minutes ago has left me feeling a little sad, and not and all like posting.

My hamster has gone to the great wheel in the sky.

Am gutted. Poor little Dagon...

Made it to 100

I should probably post something deep and vaguely meaningful for my 100th post, but I'm still shocked that it's Friday, so intellectualism is mostly beyond me.

The most fabulous thing about today is that I'm wearing my volcano socks. This is them in their previous incarnation



These were hideously ill-fitting, but they are my current favourite item of clothing after the overhaul. In fact, I was so bouncy after making myself some perfect socks, that I immediately cast on a new pair.



The yarn is some Knitpicks Memories which I got in a swap last summer - from the same person who sent the volcano sock yarn. The memories is much thicker, or at least feels that way after the skinny Essentials yarn. I've turned the heel already, and am going to work my way up to (hopefully) knee sock height over the weekend.

An executive decision was also made this week. I'm not going to start making mitred squares out of sock yarn. I need to realise that Denial is not just a river, and that in 5 years time I'm just going to have silly amounts of little squares shoved in ziplocks and abandoned in dusty spaces underneath beds.

OH has been on the phone to the Louvre today as well. This is a good thing (tm) as it appears that their email mostly gets delivered to the ninth circle of hell. In order to put in a claim for our camera (wot got nicked there) we need either a photocopy of our report (not too taxing on the brain cells) or an email that says "GaietyGirl reported her camera stolen on this date at this time. Signed, someone who works at the Louvre. (easy peasy).

Hopefully they'll be co-operative, and instead of being forced to post camera phone shots or recycled flickr pics, I might actually be able to give those one or two people who still read some actual yarn porn.

Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Bootie boom

Friday already? How the *bleep* did that happen?

It is almost the weekend, it's gloriously sunny, and in general (with the odd hiccup here and there) life couldn't be better. My dad is being discharged from hospital for good tomorrow, I'm finally getting some weekends back, and it looks like it's going to be a very busy but enjoyable summer.

A rather productive one too, if the month to date is anything to go by. I'm part of the Stash and Burn knit down on Ravelry, and between that and ChoreWars, my needles are just flying! Granted, a lot of it has been in the form of smaller projects, but really I think that is true stashburning.

My particular stashy problem has always been the assortment of single skeins of something delicious that I couldn't leave behind. Add to that the large amounts of sock yarn that I'm left with after making a pair in my size, and it can turn into a veritable mountain of .....bits.

I've come up with a solution so simple and elegant, that I'm absolutely proud of myself.





This is a still-to-be-seamed Saartje Bootie. I've made a couple of pairs before, but always out of yarn specifically bought for the purpose. I love these booties. They're quick and easy, and can be made out of practically any weight of yarn. They're easy to size up and down, and are the best thing ever for using up left over bits of skeins.

Not sure what I'm going to do with the potential explosion of booties around the house, but it should be worth it for the expression on OH's face alone *evil grin*

Mitred squares are something that I've been thinking of as well. While I realise that it would take approximately eleventybillion of them to make a blanket or throw, they are fab for sock yarn leftovers. Plus, through some freakish co-incidence, pretty much all of my sock yarn leftovers vaguely match, or at least don't clash.

While it seems like a good idea now, am I just lining myself up for the mother of all UFO's?

In my head, I'd make some squares after each pair of socks, and start seaming them together. Avoiding pooling, however, involves waiting til there are a selection of squares going before starting the sewing. Would I just end up with drawers of squares that will remain unseamed 'til the end of time? After my death, will people still be finding ziplocks of squares in the attic and under floorboards for years? Instead of "crazy cat lady", will I be "crazy square lady"? Or will I just crack under the pressure and lock myself into the spare bedroom, sticking the damn things to the walls, and cackling like a loon?

Who knew that leftover sock yarn could be so damn scary......

The one in which I go "D'oh"!

This morning, I was checking on the shawl which I pinned to the spare bed last night. It's belonging to one of the girls in SnB, and she somehow managed to bribe me into blocking it for her. I think her claim was that she knew how much I wanted to play with my blocking wires again. Hrm.

Anyway, due to me having a well overdue Eureka moment (followed swiftly by the D'oh moment of the title), here we go!

Taaaa daaaaah!

I realise that it's completely crappy quality, but I was so chuffed for figuring out that the usb cable for our new external hard drive looked amazingly like the weird usb connection on my phone....
Well, I couldn't stop there, now could I?


Washcloths. There have been a few of these going around lately.








There's a rather grainy-looking sock that I'm working on...

It's in knitpicks yarn that I got from a fantabulous yarn swap. It's called Volcano - what's not to love?? The socks I knitted with it, for starters. They were the first pair I knitted for myself, and they were beautiful and soft and squishy and made for someone with toes 3 inches longer than mine. So they recently got frogged, and are being reworked in a very satisfactory manner.

What else?

Oh, there's my new babies from Collinette.

My name is GaietyGirl, and I'm a Jitterbugaholic.
Apparently Jitterbug is very similar to BMFA Sock yarn, so you can see where the problem might start.

Finally, just for poots and giggles, my new birkies!



As you can see, I'm far too enthusiastic about inflicting my crappy camera phone pictures on the world. I miss my real camera so fricking much, and the museum where it was yoinked won't answer my many "I just need an email from you for my insurance people" emails. Which means no new camera any time soon. Schniff.

Still, no time to get maudlin.
It's a gorgeously sunny day out, the pile of washing that was threatening to eat my soul is dwindling fast, and this afternoon I get to drink lots of iced-triple-shot- caramel-macchiato-with-extra-drizzle-s with some of my favourite people.

I love summer.

Blee Ess Jay

I started a baby surprise jacket today. I thought I was being very clever and using up some random small skeins of acrylic in my stash. It was pink, but not too girly.

3 hours in, I caved, and frogged it to death. The sensation of the yarn on my skin was making me want to never knit again. It's now in little balls in a ziplock in my "to go to Oxfam" box in the hall.

Clapotis is going well though :)

Busy busy little bee

Am I!

Or am I blatently fibbing because I have no camera?

Nah. Brain far too mushy for that this morning...

After my last post, I made my way to town for SnB(or whatever we're allowed call it this week) and started a new Calorimetry in Sublime extra fine merino, in the best shade of purple evah! I'm helping a fellow SnB'er learn short rows, and thought this would be a good project, so I'm knitting along with her. I've made a couple of them at this stage, so they are a pretty quick knit for me. In the spirit of it being a KAL, and me not being a crappy teacher, I'm holding off at the half way mark, so that I can go through the rest with her tomorrow.

This did, however, leave me half way through an instant gratification project, without the instant, so I cast on another one. Yup. I suck at project monogamy.
It's in Sublime again, and this time in Angora Merino, which occasionally causes me to sneeze while knitting, but the finished article....lets just say I could use some alone time with it!

Caloris don't use up much yarn - another bonus - so I decided to make myself a matching pair of Fetching. Perfect chilly evening wear for those of us who have ever-present cold fingers and ears.

I was vaguely good at the same time though. Each piece was made as a break from fantic sock knitting. Husband's (still getting used to saying that!) stripey socks are finished! They are a few inches short of being knee socks and he loves them. I was less in love with the miles of stitching involved, but I adore the Regia Kaffe Fassett yarn. Fab colours, lovely to knit up, and wonderfully comfortable to wear. What more could you ask for?

My order from Collinette arrived as well. It has been removed from the postage bag, but not from the giant ziplock. I may have licked the ziplock. I'm not letting myself even have a squidge yet though, as I need to get the thumb done on my second fetching and sew in the ends (these five minute finishing jobs are the project-death of me, they really are) and cast on an actually planned project, which I got the yarn for weeks ago.

So, should it be booga bag or clapotis next?
I have a choice of cascade 220 heathers of twilley's freedom for Booga, and the finished bag would be very handy indeedy. Clapotis, however, is waiting to be made in Lorna's Laces Lion and Lamb. Another yarn I need some alone time with.

It has also just occured to me that I seem to be going through a total blue period with my knitting. Does anyone else go through phases like that? Even without noticing it at first?