Remember this?


I’d be amazed if you do… I started it in Oct. Here’s a sort of updated picture…


All but one side and arm stitched up. Well, it’s been finished since I took this picture a couple days ago, but I haven’t been able to get a picture of the finished product yet. Since Le Bete Noir has been finished, I casted on this…

The Wool Peddler’s Shawl


Settling into the blahs

I’ve been feeling kind of blah towards knitting this last week… hence the reason there hasn’t been much here. I doesn’t help that my right wrist has been bothering me. Thankfully, my brace, ice, and BenGay have been close friends, and they work. The funny thing is it’s not actually my wrist that’s the problem, it’s my elbow. The tendons in my forearm pull it out of place and pressure is placed on my ulnar nerve, which makes my wrist and ring and pinky fingers ache and tingle. I have an exercise from my chiropractor that I usually forget to do until things hurt. The only thing that really makes it feel better is not knitting. *sigh*

I’ve begun the sleeves for Le Bete Noir. But they are languishing in my knitting bag with about an inch done of each. I’m glad I’m doing them together… less chance of me doing something to one that I don’t do to the other.

I know I promised pictures from the dyeing class I took on Jan 15. But, I forgot to take my camera (we all saw that one coming right?)… not like it really mattered… I was the only person who showed, so it was pretty laid back and drawn out, which was probably good for the teacher since her daughter was in a flip-over accident the night before. I will however post pictures of the resulting roving as soon as I remember to get it and my digital camera in the same room.

Knitting away

I’m nearing the end of the front of Le Bete Noir. I think I’ll take another picture when I start the sleeves. I’ve decided to knit them both at the same time so they at least turn out the same length.

I’ve started a little lacy scarf out of Frog Tree fingering weight alpaca as a gift for someone.

My friend that made my wedding dress offered bribes for a lacy shawl. I was considering it, when I came across a new color at Peace Fleece: Sheplova Mushroom. The color instantly reminded me of her. I’m thinking of making the Wool Peddler’s Shawl from Folk Shawls.

I got paid last week, and now that bills are situated and I know that spring tuition is handled I made a donation to MSF and emailed Stephanie with my donation amount. I am truly amazed by the amount that has been donated by knitters.

And soon… soon I should be finding out who my secret pal is for Secret Pals 4.

The post office finally pulls through

Back on Dec 15th I ordered an Extra Fine BFL sample from Copper Moose on eBay for a buck. I wanted to see how soft it was before I went buying 2 or 3 lbs of it. They mailed it out. There was waiting and more waiting. I got the stuff I won in an auction on Dec 22nd. So, I email Copper Moose and they assured me they had indeed mailed it, but would mail out another sample. The second mail sample arrived yesterday and is quite nice (now to see how it spins up). Who knows where the originally mailed sample is… could be at the South Pole for all I know. *sigh* I’ll laugh if it shows up in my mailbox three months from now.

Le Bete Noir is about half way to the armseye shaping. I’m getting work on it in at my work but am eschewing it at home for some reason. Thankfully, it’s 6 rows to the inch, so every 6 rows actually seems to get me somewhere.

I’m quite proud of myself for getting Designing Knitwear in hardcover for more than half off at Bookshop Santa Cruz. It looks rather interesting since it talks about actual shape of the human body and that sort of thing, which has perpetually confused me.

The dragging week

A short stop at the LYS brought me a copy of Folk Mittens and Folk Knitting in Estonia. I’ve flipped through both books and have started reading the interesting information Nancy Bush has at the beginning of the Estonian book. But, I haven’t decided if I’m crazy enough to try knitting a pair of mittens. A pair of socks in the Estonian book have certainly caught my eye though.

Le Bete Noir is plodding along since I work on it when I feel like it can. So, I didn’t work on it last night… there was no knitting at all last night. I have started my new exercise regime… well, it’s not all that new, I tried to start it a couple weeks ago, but the holidays interrupted it. The plan is to get at least a half hour of something that makes me sweat everyday. Mainly, I’ve been riding the exercise bike in our apt complex’s fitness room for 40 minutes (working my way slowly up to an hour). Last night, after exercising and a hot shower, I felt up to nothing more than vegging in front of the TV while cozy under a blanket. These days happen and I embrace them. *grin*

In other news, I am planning on taking a dyeing class this Saturday at my LYS. But, I don’t have any yarn for dyeing… I’m not sure I feel like spinning something up just for this class. I’ll probably just grab something white before the class starts.

Maybe I need chocolate

Spending my three day weekend in my pajamas and not going out at all seems to have helped clear up the illness (which, of course, meant I had to go back to work today with everyone else). I did more sleeping than knitting, but I did manage to finish the back of Le Bete Noir (but not photograph it) and cast on for the front. I’m about an inch of the way into the ribbing so far… but it is indeed the front and not the back… and it is good. Thankfully, it shouldn’t take me two and a half months to finish off the front since I no longer have a lace shawl to worry over. In fact, I’m hoping to get a good portion of it done before school starts at the end of the month…. and for while it’s still cold out. I’d hate to finish it and have the weather turn warm, so here’s keeping my fingers crossed that we don’t have a weird early spring like we did last year (it came at the beginning of Feb for 2 weeks, then got cold again for a few weeks before heading into the end of spring/beginning of summer). Considering the storm that blew through here this last week, I’m expecting a nice cold, wet winter… I’ve even heard rumors that this might be the beginning of an El Nino cycle. If that’s true, we should get many more downpours. *squee*

The Horizon

Now that the Sister Shawl has been completed, wrapped, unwrapped, and worn, it is time to look to the horizon and see what’s next…

Not much actually… I dreamt about knitting the shawl for 2 nights after I finished it. I did take Le Bete Noir down to Monterey with me and have gotten most of the armseye shaping done on the back. A worsted weight yarn is a big difference from a lace weight one…. I think my fingers were grateful for the larger soft wool. Of course, now I’m itching to make something for myself, so a pair of socks might be in order. My sister got me a gift certificate to Knitting by the Sea in Carmel, and I pick up some lovely superwash merino yarn… I got the Glacier Lakes color, although I was tempted to get the Tilting the Gizmo color because it was such a bright green color, which was odd cause I’m not a big fan of green in general. I’ll probably have to do toe-up socks since each skein is only 123 yards, but a nice soft pair of kick-around socks would be nice.

The Black Beast

Here it is… Le Bete Noir…

I’ve only got a couple more inches before I can begin the armseye shaping.

I got a few more rows on the shawl done at my LYS on Saturday. So, I’ve got 44 done so far… about 100 left to go and then the edging.

I think I need to start alternating which project I work on each night. Le Bete Noir is nice to do while watching TV since it’s knit plain. The Sister Shawl requires more attention, but I need to get it done (I’ve got about 2 months left to finish it and I need time to block it properly)… it’s just not conducive to paying attention to the lastest episode of CSI. Maybe that’s the problem… I watch too many shows that make me think and want to pay attention… I need to watch more stupid shows.

The Softness

Have I mentioned how soft the Bouton D’or Ksar is? Mmmmmm… nice to work with… occasionally has ply spliting problems if I’m trying to knit to quickly… but overall very nice to the fingers. I’ve almost got 10″ done of the back. I hope to take a picture of it tonight, and get it up in my sidebar so everyone can try to discern the beginnings of a sweater.

Unfortunately, I have not worked on the Sister Shawl since last Saturday. I hope to take it with me tomorrow when I go to my LYS after my preservation class.

I need to practice reading and knitting. Both my library classes are reading intensive… I don’t like doing it cause I’d rather be knitting. Just need to practice at combining the two, then I could feel productive.