Thursday Is for What the Hell Is This?

When my friend, Kris, shared this photo with me I was really perplexed. I mean, what have The Residents been up to? They look FABULOUS.

The Kid Is Funny

I asked Older Son to text me the grocery list. He said he would but then didn't send it.

Me: Dude, where's my shopping list?
OS: (sends snapshot of list)
OS: BTW, that'd be the worst stoner comedy ever.

Thursday Is for What the Hell Is This?

Sorry for the late post. I've been staring, dumbfounded, at these photos all day and still don't know what to say about them.

Thoughts?

Tideline

Pattern: Tideline by Bristol Ivy from Landing
Needle: US11 Addi Clicks
Yarn: Bunny by Tahki Yarns (long discontinued)
Notes: This project has been on my needles since last fall. I only worked on it at my Monday night knitting group and only sporadically. Even though this yarn says it's bulky it look awful on the called for needle size, 13. So I sized down my needles and ended up with a less dramatically sized cowl. The one in the book is enormous. Mine is plenty big but doesn't have that dramatic pow! I also would have run out of yarn on the bigger needles so it all worked out.

CanCans

Pattern: CanCans by Erica Lomax
Needle: 2.5mm Addi Lace
Yarn: Hazel Knits Artisan Sock in a Rogue colorway (one of a kind)
Notes: This is a great little pattern. Not too much patterning so they go quickly but a lot of interest in the finished product. These were a gift for Jodi, a fellow Purlygirl, for our annual retreat.

Handspun Baby Socks

Pattern: Baby Socks to Match EZ's Baby Sweater on 2 Needles by Christie Mazurek
Yarn: Handspun Bison
Needle: US3 Addi Lace
Notes: Squeeeee! These are the cutest, fluffiest, softest baby socks ever! I love them.

Thursday Is for What the Hell Is This?

Are you a fan of Lost?

Or the Hollywood classic Spartacus?

Can't get enough of those lovable Ewoks?

Here's the knitter's homage to all of those. With a little Renn Faire thrown in to boot.

Autumn in Garrison

Pattern: Autumn in Garrison by Kate Gagnon Osborn
Yarn: Handspun Wool/Mohair
Needles: US5 and 7
Notes: I knit it as written with no changes. This fuzziness of the yarn obscures the pattern somewhat but I still like the end result. And I love using up all this old handspun. This yarn was made by me in 2006!

Ripple Shawl

Pattern: Ripple Shawl based on Evelyn Clark's Knitting Lace Triangles
Yarn: Handspun wool/silk from Dawn's Custom Carding
Needle: US6 Addi Click
Notes: I knit 11(?) repeats of the Ripple pattern and then one Medallion. I miscalculated how much yarn I had so I couldn't knit the edging. I knit a few rows of garter and bound off.

Thursday Is for What the Hell Is This?

I was going to post this one simply as "Angry Duck." But after talking it over with Wes it's now "Angry Bird with a Menorah on its Head."

See for yourself.

Thursday Is for What the Hell Is This?

Dear V0gue Crochet,

What the hell is this? There's mesh and faux cables and fins and this model is still totally naked. What is the purpose of this amalgam of texture? How incredibly uncomfortable will it be to sit in? It's 2000-3000 yards of polyester. This is 24-33 skeins of yarn! This will cost $312-429 to make!! The largest size will weigh 3.6 pounds!!! What was the thought process here?

The Blahs

This weekend it hit me. I had The Blahs, also known as Knitters' Ennui. I looked at the projects I was working on (a third Retro Prep sweater, Tideline, baby vest) and just felt so "meh." In fact I felt so blah about them that when I realized I had left my Retro Prep in the my car I didn't have the enthusiasm to stand up and walk outside to get it.

I needed some inspiration. I flicked through my Ravelry queue. Meh. Seriously, I have 228 items queued and already have the yarn for dozens of them and I just couldn't get excited about any of it.

So I decided to work in reverse. I pulled out several containers filled with yarn and spread them out on my dining room table. A ball of handspun that I made in June 2006 caught my eye. I did a pattern search for 30-50 yards of bulky or super bulky yarn and picked the Winchester Hat. Knocked that sucker out in an hour.



Then I was energized. What next? I scanned the table. Wool/Mohair/Silk also spun in 2006 when I was a baby spinner. It's not great yarn. I've tried using it for other projects and it never looked right. I decided to just knit a simple triangle shawl with it but as I was starting I changed my mind. A customer had been knitting from Evelyn Clark's Knitting Lace Triangles at the shop last week. I'm a huge fan of Evelyn's and love that book. It is no longer in print but Evelyn revamped and released it as an e-book last fall. I chose to do the Ripple Lace throughout. I might throw in some Medallion Lace toward the end. But I can barely put it down. I'm back in the game and over The Blahs.

What do you do to overcome The Blahs?