FO: Banana Republic Knock off hat

Pattern: Banana Republic Knock off hat by metaphysical muse

Needles: Denise US 10.5

Yarn: Red Heart Grande in Country Blue

This would have been a quick knit if I hadn't had to rip out and make some adjustments. Probably my own fault for not doing more math. I followed the pattern but kept 54 stitches for the body of the hat. I don't remember how many rows I did before the decreases but I knit 9 stitches placed marker and repeat around the hat to give me 6 decrease spots evenly spaced. I didn't have a button so I stitched on a snowflake. It's fine for what it is. The yarn cost me $1 at Ocean state so this is a fine machine washable hat for outdoor activities.

I was going to post on my Christmas gifts but paypal has royally pissed me off. We are off to the in laws tomorrow and are stopping in at webs for some yarn for a sleeping cap hubby requested. I need mittens and he got me this cool gadget for colour knitting so I wanted to treat myself to the Bird in the Hand mittens. I remembered I had a few dollars left in an old paypal account from several years ago. So I got in and tried to order the pattern. Not a good experience for my first pattern download. It took like a half hour to get the transaction to go through. Now I have no patience left. At least I have the pattern and can hopefully knit the mittens this weekend. Happy Holidays!

FO: Trinity Stitch Hat

Here is my new slouchy Trinity Stitch Hat!

Pattern: Trinity Stitch Hat from Craftster

Needles: Denise Interchangeable US 8 and US 10.5

Yarn: Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Bulky in Sable, less than 1 skein

If I hadn't had to knit this twice it would have only taken one longish evening to make. As I was joining the second ball I decided to try it on, the hat fell down over my eyes and was huge the first time I knit it (yeay for being able to try things on as you go). Apparently I have a tiny head so I had to rip out the entire hat and make a few mods the second time around to make it work with my yarn. Here they are:

Mods: Instead of the US 9 I used for the ribbing the first time around I used US 8 and made the ribbing using 64 stitches. I did the ribbing for 1.5" and when it came time to increase I switched to US 10.5 and did *K2 increase one by knitting into the stitch below* all the way around to end up with 96 stitches. I worked the stitch pattern (k1, p1,k1 into the same stitch not the indicated p1,k1,p1) until the hat measured 6". I then followed the instructions for the decreases until I had 32 stitches. Then I did one pattern round (row 3) and then K2 together for the next two rounds. These will use just less than the 125yds in one skein.

I really like the way that the hat came out and am glad I ripped it. I probably could have cast on even fewer stitches but it has stayed on fine the few times I've worn it since Friday night. I even learned how to finish a hat with 2 circulars instead of going out to buy 10.5 dpns. I put one 10.5 and one 8 at each end of two cords from my Denise set and it worked great. I can't sing the praises of that set enough. I also really like the way the looks inside out, maybe even better than the right side. Yeay for a reversible hat! I may make another some day in a more drapey yarn.

Work may cause me terrible amounts of stress but I am lucky enough to have the next week off so there will be much knitting going on. Since my gifts are all done (after a slight unraveling incident with my Mom's gift today, I almost had a heart attack but I'm not ready to talk about it yet) I've been knitting my old WIPs. Today I finished the right front of my Drops jacket and it is blocking away while I knit the sleeves.

Penny was helping me with my knitting and Christmas preparations but it just became too much for her and she passed out. Poor tired puppy :)

Some work has been done on my Tangled Yoke Cardigan but I'll hold of a picture until I break for the sleeves. A post on my gift knitting soon to come!

Victory is mine!...almost

My mom's gift was finished on Sunday night and is all blocked. Unfortunately I'm not sure how I feel about it. I'll give more details later but here is a teaser. More pics on ravelry.

My Dad's gift is almost done but I ran out of yarn of course. I'll be making a stop tomorrow to get some more. On the bright side this means I can knit for myself today :) I'm thinking it will be on a trinity stitch hat. It is ridiculously cold out and my current store bought hat doesn't do anything nice to my appearance. Perhaps I'll even get some knitting done on my drops jacket, I really want to finish that and wear it.

Finishing these gifts feels so good. I'm relieved to have all my holiday knitting done before Christmas this year, unlike when my sister got un-assembled parts of a sweater...let's not talk about that. If I get around to it I may make some mug cozies but thankfully there is no pressure on those. I hope next year to have better projects to give, I'm a little unsure of how these will be received. I know my family will appreciate them I just hope they like the styles I picked. Well, I hope all of your knitting is going well, mine may be all but done but that doesn't mean my shopping is...

Ouch

What do you get when your husband is out of town, it snows 16 inches in 4 days and your neighborhood looks like this?

A really, really sore back. These pics are after Thursday's storm. I'm too tired to take any of the almost freshly shoveled yard after last night's snow. I went out this morning but I need to scrape off the driveway again before my husband gets home so he doesn't slide into my car. I have shoveled 5 times already since Thursday afternoon and I have one more time to go. It looks like it is stopping out there so after this post I'm off again. I feel like I am going to die. My poor husband has been traveling since 8pm last night on planes and cars and should be leaving the airport to come home soon. I hope the roads are ok. I personally have had enough snow for this winter, my back can't take anymore of this.

Alright, enough of my complaining. I still haven't finished my mom's gift, too much time shoveling and my arms have been too sore to knit at night. I'm hoping for today or tomorrow. My dad's hat came out way to big and is now being re-knit. I should finish that in time. I knit a little bit on the drops jacket and a few inches on my tangled yoke while at my parents house yesterday since I obviously couldn't work on their gifts.

My sister and I hit some outlets in Clinton CT in her wonderful car with heated seats (my back loves her) and we stopped into Saybrook Yarns while down there. It was a nice shop in a very cute town and conveniently near the Starbucks we were stopping in at. They have a decent selection but Woolworks and the Knitting Knook are still my favorite CT stores. It was my sister's first time in a LYS (not a knitter) and she thought it was pretty cool. She spent the time asking me for items made of this and that yarn so I don't think she minded the stop. The woman who helped us was friendly and I picked up some Lamb's Pride Bulky in sable for a trinity stitch hat. Maybe if I get at least one Christmas gift done today I can cast on. We'll see how I feel after my last shovel of the day. Sigh, I don't want to go but husband is thankfully an hour away now and he needs room to pull in. I think I deserved that yarn yesterday :)

Ugh

What is Penny staring at you ask? My Dad's coronet hat that I am not going to give him. This thing came out huge and just doesn't really look good at all. Wrong yarn. I've already started another hat for him but I don't know about that one either. Ugh, we'll see. In other Christmas knitting my Mom's gift is almost done which is really great and being so close is actually motivating me to finish it. I'm hoping for tomorrow.

I haven't done much else, I finished the left front of my Drops jacket awhile ago and did a three needle bind off at the shoulder. I did this for my minimalist cardigan and I really like how neat the seam looks. I really like this project and I can't wait to get back to it. I doubt I'll make the Christmas deadline I had hoped for but it shouldn't take too much longer after that. I'm still a little worried about it being too loosely knit but we'll have to see.

Have you seen these trinity stitch hats appearing online? I love them and I desperately want to make one. Add to that my mom suggested I'd look good in a beret type hat and that I really needed a new one and the temptation in almost unbearable. Once I finish my gifts I will allow myself to pick up some yarn. I can't wait.

Progress :)

I love it when a weekend comes along and I make some good progress. I finished my Dad's gift and the back of my Drops Jacket.I've never made anything on needles so big before but the almost instant gratification is really nice. If this were the only thing I were working on I bet it would be done in a couple of weeks. My photos do no justice to the color, it is a beautiful olive green and I can't wait for the finished product. When we were at webs I initially had a brown yarn in my hands but the only had one skein, I am so glad I wanted this jacket bad enough to pick up the green yarn, it will be so much better for me. I hope to have this done by Christmas too if possible, it would suit the occasion. I may be overly ambitious though. I also worked on my Mom's gift and knit one row on my Tangled Yoke Cardigan. I have more gift knitting tonight but I may mess around with a hat pattern, we'll see how the evening takes me.

I got up yesterday and noticed how addicted to knitting I am, this is how my couch looks all the time, I can't remember when anyone last sat in this area :)

The only good thing about winter is the excuse to sit inside under a blanket with a movie, hot beverage, and your knitting. That and sweaters of course :)

I have a problem...problems...

After looking over the credit card statement and my current WIPs I realized (my husband helped) exactly how much I've spent on yarn over the last 4 months. It's a lot. My bathroom could have been redone. Well, maybe that's a little bit of an exaggeration but not by much. To be fair I had pretty much no stash previous to this, just leftovers and a few skeins of novelty yarn. Add to that the store closing sales at the Fabric Place and some serious stress at work and boom. I have a butt-load of yarn. I can make myself feel better about this by saying oh I used some birthday money, oh it was a big sale, oh I've never been to webs before, etc but the fact remains I went a little too crazy. I have plenty now to keep me busy for awhile so I am officially on a yarn diet. I need to curb my spending (which I never thought I'd hear myself say as I am insanely stingy with money) so I can only hope I get gift certificates for Christmas, gift yarn doesn't count :)

My second issue is with all this new yarn I can't seem to stop casting on new projects. As evidence I present this.

Hiding under my snowman tree is the newly cast on Drops Jacket in Berkshire Bulky. And what is that to its left you ask? Why that is my hibernating Print O'the Wave stole I started this summer. I put it aside to start on the Christmas gifts, one of which I kept (Minimalist Cardigan), one of which I finished, and two that are still in progress. Why aren't those done? Well I had to make my husband his dashings, I needed both those neckwarmers, and I had to cast on for the Tangled Yoke Cardigan. Sigh. I know what the real problem is, I don't enjoy knitting the gifts I am making and so I find it hard to make myself work on them for extended periods of time. My Dad's gift hurts my hands if I work on it too long and my Mom's is both annoying and hard on my eyes. I long to get back to my Tangled Yoke and my stole, to knit on something I really enjoy working on. I've made a deal with myself that if I get a certain amount of knitting done per night on the gifts I can then work on something I like. It's like doing your homework before watching TV. At my pace I will finish in time but I still wish I could make myself get them over with sooner so I only have 2 WIPS... and one hibernator. I'm not too worried about the stole, it is more of a fair weather knit and my friend is getting married in June, I have time before then to finish it. But I already need a hat for the winter and I'm sure other things will come up that I must have. I wish my discipline that keeps me going to the gym in the mornings and cooking every night would work its way into my knitting. Well, that is enough complaining for one night. I'll save my feelings on truncated words and unfriendly terms for another day. I have to go do my homework now. Then, maybe some fun stuff during pushing daisies!

Webs!

I have to say I love Webs and I wish it were closer. Man they have a lot of yarn, it's so hard not to go crazy there. I was a good girl and stuck to my list, even left one item off to keep myself within budget. My husband was a good sport for going out of the way especially when I got us a little lost...but he got something good out of it.

Pattern: Dashing from Knitty

Yarn: Berroco Love It in an Olive colour, little over 1 skein

Needles: Colver Bamboo US7

I think he enjoyed the store, it took him awhile to make a decision as to which yarn he liked best. I was a little surprised he picked a cotton yarn but the finished product looks and feels great. I think they will wear really well too. I cast on Wednesday night after we arrived and had them finished by Friday evening so it was a pretty quick project and now my hubby will stop bugging me for them. Not that that is a bad problem to have, any excuse for more knitting is fine by me :) I have some yarn left and am thinking I may try to make myself or his nephew a smaller pair if there is enough. I will definitely purchase this yarn again.

As for myself :) I picked up 9 balls of Valley Yarns Berkshire Bulky in Olive for a Drops Jacket.


7 skeins of Berroco Peruvia in Chipotle for a Tilted Duster I bought that Interweave Knits magazine for

And finally the Spring 2005 issue of Interweave knits for the vintage pink cardigan pattern though there are a few other items I'd really like to make from this magazine as well.

All in all it was a very successful trip and I think it may need to become a permanent stop on the way to my in laws :) I do like my LYSs but for brands they don't carry Webs rocks. I meant to knit more today, my Mom's gift is a little behind schedule but we had to start the Christmas decorating process today, yeay! I think now that all the errands and cleaning are done I'll sit down with my knitting and maybe swatch a bit with my new yarn, I've been waiting all weekend to play with it!

I also have to add that I absolutely love my most recent neckwarmer, I've been wearing it out and around the house and it really keeps me nice and warm, I want to make some in every color! They are a nice little accessory to have this time of year.

FO and Happy Thanksgiving!

Every so often I see a pattern that I must have that instant. I saw this on Ravelry Monday and made it that night because I needed it right away!

Pattern: Baby Cable Rib Neckwarmer by Kerry Moorhouse

Yarn: Berroco Pure Merino

Needles: US9

I cast on 4 extra stitches (70 stitches total) since I wasn't using a bulky weight yarn and it worked out great. I think I love this more than my previous neckwarmer even though I couldn't find any cute star buttons. I do have a thing for hearts, and apparently neckwarmers :)

I'm off to the inlaws for Thanksgiving tomorrow with the added bonus of a pit stop at Webs! My first time, can you tell I'm excited. I have a list but will I stick to it...

Enjoy the holiday if you celebrate!

Lurking

Ok so I'm a big time lurker. I lurk on knitblogs I lurk in ravelry forums, I even go through people's ques (hey, it's great for getting ideas). I feel like a stalker so I'm attempting to speak out more, I made two comments on blogs and a few ravelry posts this week! I think my reluctance to speak comes from my incredibly shy nature and from my self consciousness. I don't feel I have much to add if someone has received 25 comments on how nice something looks, but I am determined to give input if it is requested and I think I have valuable info to add. After all, I would want people to do the same for me. Stumbling into the knitblog world has really helped me, I've learned new techniques and been introduced to ravelry which I absolutely adore. I updated my sidebar to include most of the blogs I read regularly, I find all of these really interesting with great knitting skills showcased. What I like in a blog is opinions on patterns, yarns, needles, anything that might open my eyes to something I may not have thought to try on my own. I'm also a big fan of pictures and mainly stick to blogs that have a fair amount (very childish of me I know) so that is what you will see represented in those blogs. I try to make my own blog something that I would want to read, something that I hope other people find helpful and fun. Maybe I also use it to shamelessly show off my cute dog too.....

Now that I've outed myself back to the knitting. I cast on for the tangled yoke cardigan and I'm loving it already, I'm never going to get these Christmas gifts done at this rate.

I think I've come to the realization that I am a sweater knitter. Maybe it is a phase but after Campanula and the Minimalist Cardigan I am just dieing to make more sweaters. I don't know if it is the process, the patterns, or having a comfy article of clothing at the end of the project but I can't seem to stop myself from casting on and preparing for more sweaters. My queue at ravelry is full of them. Feel free to go snoop in it, I'd snoop in yours :-)

An ungifted FO...

Thankfully technology is cooperating with me today so I can show you this

Pattern: Minimalist Cardigan from Fall 2007 Interweave Knits
Yarn: Berroco Ultra Alpaca -Under 4 skeins
Needles: Denise size US7

It's a finished Minimalist Cardigan! I have to tell you I did not like this sweater much when I first saw it in the magazine. I didn't really have any plans on making it until I began to see them in blogland and now I have to say I love this sweater. It is so cute! I originally started knitting this because I got some yarn pretty cheap from a store closing sale and was going to gift it to my sister in law. A word to the wise, don't try on gifts for a photo shoot. You may like them too much. To be fair I don't think this is exactly her style and I think she'll find it to itchy. At least this is what I'm telling myself... I think this came from my revelation on gift knitting. I'm only gifting things to people who really want them and will really enjoy them. It seems a waste of time and money if my knits end up in some drawer never to see the light of day. I don't want to give someone a gift they don't like as well. Anyway, I knit the smallest size and it is a little snug but I wore it to work today with a tank top underneath and it was so comfy. I can totally see myself making another one someday. This took about a month with other knitting projects in between. The only mods I made were the three-needle bind offs for the shoulders which I really think made the sweater much neater. I am getting better at seaming but I can't say I love it. I think I will employ this technique more often.

I have a lot more work to do on my mom's gift but it is slow going. It doesn't help that I did this

and got my needles for it today. I see a tangled yoke cardigan in my future!

Lots to catch up on

I have quite a bit to report on today to make up for the lack of posting this past week. It's hard now with the time change to get any decent pictures so my weekends are going to be the only days I'll have to work with. For today since I have time and an FO to show you get some crappy pics.

First my finished neckwarmer. I love it. Very warm with less bulk than a sweater. This took me to evenings to knit and another day to block. I ended up using some scrap Ultra Alpaca to sew the button on since it matched my coat and I like the added color. I love how my temporary placement of the button with scrap yarn turned into a permanant addition. Notice my lovely fetchings in the photos :)

I highly reccomend making one of these.

Yarn: Classic Elite Dushess 0.66 skeins
Needles: Denise US11

I've also been making progress on my Dad's hat based on the coronet patter. This bothers my hands so I don't work on it too much at a time but I think I'll finish by Christmas and I hope he and I both like it.

I am also in the home stretch with the Minimalist Cardigan.

Knitting both sleeves at once is great for making sure both are the same lenght but takes a long time to see progress. I'm going to start the cap shaping and hopefully finish tonight which is good because this came tuesday from Webs

Screw it. Blogger sucks and won't let me add pictures now. I'll re-edit this post tomorrow, I want to do some actual knitting.

Stupid computers

I'm a looter...

I'm officially looting the Fabric Place as it closes. I feel bad but money is tight and 40% off is a good deal. I went for more Berocco Pure merino but that was gone. I ended up getting some really nice Classic Elite Duchess for these neckwarmers. It's a lovely cashmere and angora blends that I hope will work well. I'm going to try tonight, I need a short break from my Minimalist Cardigan. I hope the buttons I picked up work, they didn't have any larger ones left. Hopefully I'll have an FO to show soon!

Ravelry!!!

Yeay I got my invite today!!! I am known as katiekakes and am already putting stuff up. So excited!!! I have to drag myself away from the computer to actually do some knitting tonight. I have two sleeves left on the minimalist cardigan and have been making good progress on a gift for my Dad. Hopefully I won't spend all my time stashing projects online and not actually knitting :)

Progress Shots

My knitting companion helps display the progress shots of my minimalist cardigan. The back, right front and about half of the left front are done. I hope to make even more progress during Heroes tonight. And a better but puppy less shot:The three-needle bind off went well but made knitting the collar a bit annoying. Overall this is fun to make and I'm not sure I'll be able to give it away...

Thoughts on my new needles

I have to say overall I am very pleased with my Denise set. The cords are thick and the do keep a kink when taken out of the pack but it didn't interfere with my knitting at all. Today was quite warn and we had a lot of sun coming in through our living room window. My needles were sitting on the coffee table and when I picked up my knitting the warmth of the sun had softened them up and removed the kink. So I don't count that as a down side. I was concerned the plasticy feel might be a turn off but the needles are slick and actually feel quite nice, much less harsh feeling than metal needles. I've also not experience any snagging at the joints with any of the yarns I've tried out. I'm sure the knitpicks set is great but being able to use these needles to make hats and having more length options make this a great fit for my needs. I would highly recommend them to anyone. The donation to fight breast cancer is also terrific.

While dealing with the lady bug infestation (we caught 30 Friday night alone, no joke), and having family over today I did manage some knitting but no pictures yet. My hands were getting a bit tired so I decided to hop on the Internet and give them a rest, I'm flying through the minimalist cardigan. I'll try to get some pics up tomorrow.

I leave you with shots of Penny's favorite part of the weekend, our Saturday trip to the beach. I love the off season, no crowds and dogs are allowed.

Damn that was fast

Ordered on Friday night here by Monday. What a great surprise when I got home. I'm going to try them out tonight after I finish my homemade mac and cheese. mmmmmmmmmm cheeeeeese.

Finished Piece

I managed to finish up the back of my minimalist cardigan. I'm trying a three needle bind off for the shoulders so hopefully it works out right. One piece took about 2 weeks which isn't too bad. Penny seems to like this one.I like knitting this, very good for TV knitting. Since I didn't get an interchangeable needle set for my Birthday I used some amazon credit to order a Denise set. I'm really hoping I like it so I can save my Bday money for bills and put off getting the knitpicks options set. Hopefully it will arrive this week. I think I am going to knit exclusively off circulars, it's easier on my hands as sweaters can get pretty heavy. I tend to knit on the couch and the long straights aren't great for that. I'm off to enjoy the rest of this fabulous fall weekend.

Happy Birthday to me

I am fortunate to have people who love me enough to spoil me on my birthday. My knitting related gifts:

I'll let you guess which one was from my husband. The others were from my fantabulous sister.
Unfortunately I had to work today and the atmosphere isn't too great there these days. I plan on making up for my poor day with some leftover lasagna my mom made yesterday (she is the best cook EVER) and some knitting on my print o'the wave stole during Heroes. I figure on your birthday you are allowed to put aside the gift knitting and work on something for yourself :-)

The lasagna awaits...

Sick day

So I feel pretty icky today and decided to stay home. My husband was kind enough to give me the cold he picked up last week. But sick days are great for knitting, I cast on for the minimalist cardigan and joined the knit-a-long. I think I got a good amount accomplished.

I think this will be a fairly quick knit, I'm enjoying it so far. The ultra alpaca is a nice yarn to work with.

I've finished up a pair of fetchings, sorry for the crappy pic but Penny has no thumbs and can't help me take a picture.

These were knit in Berroco pure merino on size 6 dpns, a little over 2 balls. Should make a nice gift. Now back to the cardigan or another gift...?

I've been really bad...

My latest acquisitions from the Fabric Place store closing sale. To be fair they are for gifts and were 25% off. Stuff is pretty picked over there, all but the giant size addis are gone so I think this may have been my last stop there. Perhaps in a few weeks I may see if stuff is 50% off but I doubt there will be anything left. I have 4 skeins of Berroco Ultra Alpaca (love that stuff) and two black Berroco pure merino. The red is beautifully deeper than this picture and will be for the Minimalist Cardigan from the fall interweave knits. If it is done in time and I can bear to part with it the sweater will be a Christmas gift.

I had bought one skein of the black merino in a previous visit and thought it would make lovely fetchings. I was right but check out what happened when I weighed the yarn to see if I had enough for the second glove.

That's 27 grams without the thumb. I decided to soldier on and have an excuse to go back to the Fabric Place and get more. This is how far I am so far. I should finish tonight.

Just the top cable and thumbs to go. Good thing I went back today, I bought the last two skeins of black. The extra will go towards a hat I hope to design. Should be neat if it works. I just now realized I may not have enough ultra alpaca. Damn! I'm always one skein short. We'll see how it goes, I can always shorten the sleeves a bit. I wonder how much others have left over. I'll have to check the blogs and my gauge, maybe the knitting gods will smile down on me this once.

Shadows

Check out the neat shadows we saw today, looks like a painting on the wall :)

I've been bad lately

First the yarn, then the needles, then shopping with my sister, then this followed me home from Stop and Shop on Sunday:

To be fair this is sold out online and in the yarn shops I've visited lately so I got a bit nervous and made a deal with myself that if S+S had it I would get it. They did :-) it made my day. That's what happens when I grocery shop alone, I wander into aisles usually passed over. I desperately want to make the tilted duster on the cover, I can't tell you how many times I've almost bought yarn for it. Almost stopped on the way home, even now I want to place a knitpicks order. But I'm being good. I need to do some more knitting for others and wait to see what I get for my birthday in a week or so. It's so cool though. There are a bunch of things in this issue I want to make like the tangled yoke cardigan and the minimalist cardigan. I want to try the snowflake socks too and get my fair isle on. If I thought I could finish in time I'd make these all Christmas gifts but who am I kidding? Two sweaters and a bunch of other knits? No way. I have to admit the motivation for gift knitting is dwindling. Some I feel will really appreciate the gifts but others I'm not so sure about. It's hard, I want to make everyone gifts but part of me doesn't want to waste time on something that will never be worn. Is that awful of me?

Anyway, I have been knitting and the pink/purple yarn I bought last week has become a gift :-)
I'm not entirely sure who will get it yet so I'm not posting a picture but I'm pleased with it. The Berroco pure merino is really nice stuff. The black I think will become a pair of fetching gloves if I have enough. If they aren't gifted I've been wanting a pair of black fetchings for myself. I made a pink pair over the winter and I love the pattern. I need to find time to make some fingerless gloves for hubby before the winter chill sets in. So many projects so little time.

I've also started this gift, a bag in modea cache

I'm making it up as I go but so far it has a seed stitch bottom and stockinette sided. I'm thinking a seed stitch band around the top and a zipper close but we'll see. I'm using US9 20 something inch needles and it's really tight. If I get the needle set I want for my Bday I'll make the length shorter and hopefully it'll be easier on my hands. I got the yarn for $1 a skein at ocean state job lot over the winter. I knew it would be a future gift but it took a while before I got an idea and got started.

I'm working with the Lane Borgosesia on my new addis and I must say I love them! Best. Needles. Ever. No kinks, sharp tips, and smooth enough that the lace slips nicely off them. The swearing has stopped and I'm making good progress on that item. If only every needle was an addi...

Last but certainly not least is my Print O'the Wave stole.

I'm at the tenth repeat of the pattern. I'm going to make it in one piece to avoid the grafting line so that's about 24 repeats to go. I love knitting this but I only get to it in small doses once I've done enough gift knitting a knight that I don't feel guilty switching. Just think how slow this would go if I started that duster...

Addis!

Well I managed to leave work on time and made it to a lovely yarn shop in Warwick, RI yarns at lace wings to get myself a little gift. If it's to make a Christmas gift it's ok right... The owner is a very nice lady and the shop has some nice stuff. Thankfully they had size 3 addis to hopefully remove the anger from my knitting :) it is supposed to be a relaxing hobby after all. I will be sure to follow up on how the new spiffy needles are working. Sadly though no yarn followed me home this time. I'm still feeling a little bad for spending money this week and nothing jumped out at me today. I guess that's a good thing, I have a bunch of projects going now. I'm off to eat and try out my new needles!