I Must Be Crazy

I must be crazy or at least delusional. Some people have delusions of grandeur. Mine are more delusions of free time. Remember, about a month ago, I joined a bunch of KALs?

Second Wave Clapotis KAL -- I managed to "finish" the Clapotis. Okay -- so I still haven't fixed it, or woven the ends in. I did manage to get it off the needles.

Secret of the Stole -- I swatched on size 4s, but wanted to try it on size 3s. I never did and then I just dropped-out. Oh well. I'm knit stalking somebody who is knitting it, so I'll knit vicarious through her.

Halloween Mystery Shawl -- this is finished and I love the pattern. But I haven't started it yet. And I still haven't found beads fro it.

So this weekend, I'm focusing on the Mystery Shawl. The Husband has been warned in advance that the weekened was dedicated to the shawl and laundry. (We don't own enough clothes to skip a weekend of laundry).

So far seems sane, right?

Did I mention that I joined another lace KAL? Yup. I got sucked in to Mystic Waters (Ravelry). The first clue was posted on Wednesday, so I'm already behind. But I do have my yarn - Malabrigo Lace in Blue & Emerald

Yes, those are beads, and no, the pattern doesn't call for beads. But I got confused and bought the beads. Looking at the first clue, I think I can see where beads would look pretty. There are a couple of other folks who are going to add beads, so being a couple of clues behinds would be to my advantage. .

I'm also working on a secret test knitting project. (Hee, I'm a test knitter!) I can at least show you, my faithful readers, the yarn:

Oh yeah, there's another shawl KAL for the Spring -- Spring Surprise Shawl (Ravelry) Yes, I did sign up but I already have the yarn:

See I told you I must be crazy.

etsy Friday

I don't have any actual things to show you. For once, I managed to get through a week without making a purchase. But I can't let a Friday go buy without something etsy, so I thought I'd share how I manage to find so many things to want/buy.

Lots of folks aren't happy with the search capabilities of etsy, and I have to agree. However, there are so many ways to browse and let new and different products that you didn't know you needed find you. On the front page, there's the Main Showcase. You get to see a great mix of items and it changes every day. I found a cute little leather bound notebook the other day.

And for to get ready for Halloween, there's a special Halloween Showcase. This showcase changes every day too. Since I didn't get my Halloween Shawl done in time, do you think the Husband would buy me a necklace instead?

Have you found a different, fun way to browse through etsy?

Finished Cleaning = More Knitting

I love how having a clean house motivates me to finish up knitting projects. I still need to fix the Clapotis, but in the meanwhile I got some other things off the needles. They aren't FO's because I still need to weave in ends, wash and block, but I couldn't wait to share.

First is One Row of Somebody Else's Handspun Scarf based off of the One Row Handspun Scarf by the Yarn Harlot. (Ravelry). Its been my mindless TV knitting and I didn't take any pictures since I decided it would be a good plane project. I made it out of 80/20 alpaca/wool blend from the Illinois Green Pastures Collection. (Ravelry). It was pretty soft, but not as soft as some other wool, however it knit up into a dense fabric. It is going to be really warm - too bad I won't get to keep it. I realized that it would look great on my Dad. I hope he likes it.

The other one is the Storm Water Scarf. (Ravelry) I've been working on this one for awhile -- usually on the train. It is Handmaiden Sea Silk (Ravelry) - It was interesting to knit with, but I couldn't see knitting a huge shawl out of it.

I like how the end is making little points -- do you think I should block it straight or accentuate the points?

Cleaning Up My Act

As you saw in my previous post, I cleared off the KNITTING TABLE OF DOOM!!

I present to you, my dining room table:

No, I didn't just sweep everything off the table onto the floor. I did go through it and organized all my knitting stuff. My sister moved to a smaller place which didn't have room for this:

The dogs were very interested:

So, I gathered up all my knitting stuff - except for my stash ('cause it won't fit in there), organized it and ta da:

Awesome, no? The best part, if things get disorganized again:

Morganna says, "Great Momma, now come cuddle on the couch."

To Block or Not To Block -- That's One of the Questions

My Clapotis is off the needles. It has been off the needles for awhile but I had to clear off my KNITTING TABLE of DOOOOOM, so I could spread it out and take some pictures. I used Brooks Farm Solana (Ravelry) and did 8 straight sections. I have a little leftover ... I need to weigh it so I can see if I could've gotten another straight section.

Isn't it beautiful? But do you see the mistakes? Let's look a little closer.

How about little closer?

Yup -- I forgot to drop a stitch.

Twice.

Any suggestions on how I can fix this? I didn't notice until I had bound off all the stitches.

I know that most folks aren't blocking their Clapotis, but I think that it would look a little better if I get rid of the serious curling on the corners. Any thoughts?