Fetching, finished

But no photo today, I've still got to block them. Do they still qualify as finished?

Modifications to Fetching:

• Yarn used was Wellington Fibres 60% mohair/40% wool, colour: variegated periwinkle. One skein of this is 100 yards; I used nearly one whole skein for the pair, I think I have about five feet of it left. I picked up this yarn at the November DKC meeting.
• Increased length so they are really more like gauntlets; they now have six cables before the hand part.
• Addition of glass beads to each point of the picot edging.

The official colour name of the yarn is not how I would describe it. Periwinkle to me has always been a lilac-ky pale blue. This yarn reminds me nothing more than the old Crayola crayon colour "cornflower blue" (the new cornflower blue is a good deal paler on the Crayola website). It's a deep rich night blue, and is just barely variegated. The mohair makes it a bit on the fuzzy side, so the cables don't have the nice definition the recommended Debbie Bliss Cashmerino gives. I plan on picking up some of that and making a few pairs (some with the extra length) as gifts while I am in Norway next year. I'll need something portable to knit and I think they'd make nice gifts to the folks I'll be meeting there.

When I put them on, both the colour and the beaded picot points remind me of a story I wrote as a teenager about a mermaid. J. may or may not remember this story... Probably best if she doesn't as it was merde, albeit better than the other ones I wrote at that time (beaucoup de merde).

Progress continues on the twined Von. I am working on the body portion, but it is slow going with 354 stitches on the needle. Soon I will have to start the shaping. Tonight we're heading out to see the new Bond, so I should get a fair bit knit before the movie really gets going!

No knitting photos as mentioned previously, so here instead is the first photo I took in France.

We were quite taken with the pigeons in France, as they seemed to behave like other birds: roosting in trees, hanging out in flocks, waiting patiently for crumbs. This was our first morning in Paris, and we were breakfasting on crepe-stand Nutella crepes. They were delicious and I so miss those stands!

Today's Earworm: Did Anyone Approach You, by a-ha
(Yes, yes, more a-ha. Get used to it. I'm having an early mid-life crisis. :P)

MIA, and A Plumbing Adventure

Poor neglected little blog…. More boring than usual (insert Chrissy laugh), but here’s a quick little update until I’ve had some inspiration to share some more. Part of this awakening thing is that my mind is going a hundred miles an hour and I’ve found it difficult to sit and pay attention to this.

Work continues on the twined Von sweater, albeit at a slower pace than usual, but I’ll blame the twined knitting method. I have completed one sleeve and am nearly halfway along on the second one, with little aggravation, other than having to untwist the two yarns every round or so. The fabric produced is lovely and thick, with a softer feel to it than the regular ribbing at the cuff, perhaps from the amount of manipulation of the yarn. It is a bit stiff, my only concern, that this sweater may not be so flattering on me. This is my next job, to calculate where and how I will do the decreases and increases for the shaping.

Oh, pardon me, also aggravating is that this type of knitting is not conducive to TTC knitting, nor standing-in-line knitting, so I must also blame this for my slow progress.

I am… Still. So. Excited. …about this sweater and method. I thought I’d picked out a design for between the shoulderblades, but I now am second-guessing myself and thinking of choosing something else – though I have no clear idea on what that will be. At least I have some time to decide as I expect it will be another week or two before I am anywhere near the centre back. Now, if only I can get myself to the library and stay there (goddamn it, sit still), and do some research…

Brief report on the TTC Knitalong: I had a rawking good time, but since others have written so much about it and they did not forget their cameras, I will not elaborate too much other than to say I met some really nice people, did not finish my socks, had WAY TOO MUCH coffee, bought the yarn for my twined Von, and oh yeah, met some really nice people. Kirsten and I are looking forward to the next one, in spring I think.

And on the home front, my husband would like me to tell the world that it has finally happened….

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My bad habit of removing my earrings at the bathroom sink, and leaving them on the shelf, has finally resulted in an earring plunging into the murky depths of the drain. I maintain that it was he who knocked it in, although I was the one that furthered its descent, in trying to fish it out in drunken clumsiness. It is a pull-through (anyone remember those from the first time around?), and its long straight part had caught lengthwise over the “X” of the drain two inches down. No matter how small and nimble one’s fingers are under normal circumstances, Strongbow turns those fingers into groping sausages….

Michael was less than pleased, did in fact say “I told you so”, did not do the “I told you so” dance, and asked me to go back to the place I bought them from for another pair so that he would not have to risk cracking the drain pipe while removing the trap.

As you can see, he removed the trap

With the help of Simon

And behold!
Currently there is only one pair of earrings loitering by the sink. I must remember to move them this evening.

Dull subject matter here, but subject matter at the very least.

Today's Earworm: Memorial Beach, by a-ha