Knitting Friends!

So great to meet back up with Suze, the gal who taught me to knit in the first place. She's going to be my ME (master electrician) for the PCPA show! We may have to go on a yarn hunt together soon. I told her she was worse than a crack dealer, as she's also gotten some other people hooked. Apparently one of my spot ops is a knitter as well, as there was some teasing about her not being able to find a way to tie/bag her knitting properly enough to take it up to her spot with her. (Our front spots are above the audience's heads, so everything that you bring up there must be tied to you in case it drops.) Unfortunately, during the show, we're all (well, except Suzy, unless something bad happens with the lights) too busy to knit. I have too many cues to call, and they have too many cues to take, which is sad. I'm sure we will still get some stitch time in, though.

Added some length to the mittens, although I'm still not to the hand decrease. Did a few rows on the Rainy Day scarf yesterday, as well. Today's the 10 of 12 (the actors are called to work for ten hours out of a twelve hour period...which means for techies it's really more like a 14 of 15 or so), so I probably won't have much time to work on it today. I do get to finally give the scallop baby blanket to Misti and baby Evan soon, though! Yay!

Craziness

This weekend was totally crazy. Finished Creation at midnight Friday, came home, was up until 1:30 because of irritating roommates, Saturday was an all-day event for John's show (on the road by 8a.m. - that's a little less than six hours of sleep for me, as I got up at 7 - got home at about 1:30a.m., which, for those who are counting, is indeed a seventeen and a half hour day, of lots of physical labor and stress. We have really got to start loading those shows in the day before. Lighting takes far too long, and is much too important to rush), then got up at 7a.m. Sunday (yes, that is less than five hours of sleep), packed, and made it up to Santa Maria in time for a 2p.m. rehearsal for My Way. After that, I met the poor family who has to put up with me and my wonky schedule for six weeks, unpacked, got some food, talked to Steve for a while, and promptly crashed around 8:30...which is the earliest I've been to bed since I was about seven years old, I think. It was sooo nice to not have to get up early this morning! I lazed around a bit, worked on my mittens, played some games of word yacht on my computer, went LYS hunting (SCORE: there is one a couple streets over from the theater, and it is my favorite one that I have been to so far! Manos, Noro, Cascade, Crystal Palace, lots of books and magazines and patterns, nice cozy layout, the lady was nice, even though she kind of gave me a funny look. Santa Maria is kind of a smaller city, and maybe they aren't used to people my age coming in and drooling...too bad their only classes right now are for crochet. Maybe I'll learn to crochet, too...), met up with Paul and Chrissy to go over some contract/show stuff, found out there are NO SOUND CUES in the show (it's all live band, YIPPEE!!) and lots of light and spot cues, but it shouldn't be too bad now that I have Chrissy's book and a cd of the music. Now I get to go home, put in some fun songs (the show is a Frank Sinatra revue), learn where some cues go, and KNIT! I might get to the hand decreases on the first mitten tonight if I'm ambitious! (And, just because it gave me another yay-moment, some advice I gave about a multidir-diag actually made sense and helped someone on the KR Forums! Woo!)

Last Day at Creation!!!

As much as I like the Rainy Day scarf, it is getting a bit boring to knit. Of course, it is going much slower than the multi-dir scarf. That one was garter stitch, short rows, and I was working on it over my dinner breaks at the Cathedral. Since I have to go up to Santa Maria for six weeks on Sunday, I've been spending dinner breaks with Steve lately instead of knitting. So I'm getting some work done on it everyday, but not as much.

I have about a half inch more to do on the ribbing for the first mitten. I have the daytime off - John and I loaded the show into the trucks yesterday, so I don't have to work until the Creation show at the Cathedral tonight (last day last day last day! I'm not happy about it, really....). Which is nice, because I have to do laundry and pack for Santa Maria...and hopefully get some knitting and Guild Wars in before I leave! My book for My Way is about as done as it can get until I go up to Santa Maria and Chrissy and I go through a quick paper tech. I'd love to get to the thumb gusset on the mitten today, though...

General All-Around Busy-ness

With not only two, but three, shows to work on right now, I haven't had much time to knit. Which I find very sad, because I'm pretty certain that knitting is the only reason that certain people have not gone suddenly and mysteriously missing. I'm hoping and praying I get tomorrow off! It sounds really lazy, considering that I just got back from a couple days in Vegas, which was a "vacation", but man, I haven't had a day, or even just an evening, to just...relax...about since the start of this month. Even Vegas, fun as it was, was still a lot of moving and busy-ness. I'd love to have tomorrow to do some laundry, put my book together for My Way, knit, and watch Law and Order on TNT with Steve all evening. Maybe I could actually get some progress done on those mittens! (Yes, the mitten saga has restarted itself AGAIN...back to size 4 and 6 dpns...3 inches is a lot of rows on size 4's!) Rainy Day scarf is the only project that's been getting any real attention lately, and that's only because I bring it to work for breaks. It's going slowly but surely. I'd hoped to be able to have it done by the time I finish at the Cathedral next week (five more shows for me there, and then I don't ever have to deal with them again!! happydancehappydancehappydance!), but not sure how well that is going to work out. We'll see. It looks pretty cool so far, if I do say so myself. And I do. At least I finally have housing for when I go up to PCPA. And Steve said he'd help me go up on the 28th AND would come back for Opening the weekend after that! Yay!!

*shameless plug* John Gabriel's Magic, Redefined show is currently on tour! The next performance will be this coming Saturday, August 27, at the Carpenter Center for the Performing Arts in Long Beach, CA. $10 off ticket prices if you order them in advance, although they are also available at the door. You can even see me on stage! Despite that flaw, it really is a truly amazing show, and great for the whole family! */plug*

Ahh, vacation...

Vegas was fabulous, but not nearly long enough, of course. The city I love, the guy I love, the family I love, all in one place! Good food, fantastic shows, great fun! Can't wait to go back!

I was not allowed to knit while IN Vegas (and wouldn't have had time or desire to, anyway), but I did get some work done on the road. My Rainy Day Scarf for Amanda has been started, and looks really nice so far. I didn't really know what the pattern would do, other than rib, but it does this really nice little twisty thing with the stitches, so it looks like a bunch of small twisted cords running down the length of the scarf.

And, as promised, a photo of the recently completed Multidirectional Diagonal Scarf. I am really quite proud of this one, and it was fun and fast to make!

Y Finis!

Finished the multidirectional diagonal scarf at the show last night. Will put pics and notes up when I get back from Vegas! It turned out quite well, I got lots of compliments on it while I was knitting it. Apparently, two nights or so ago while I was working on it, a knot somehow slipped its way through and is very visible on one side of the scarf. I'm pondering if I need to frog all the way back or if there is anything else I can do to fix it. Started the Rainy Day scarf as my take-to-work project, and it is going well so far. The Blue Mists is really quite a lovely color combination. Have re-started the Easy Mittens as well (AGAIN...easy...heh...). I'm bringing the scarf and the mittens to work on in the car, even though it's only going to be a four or five hour drive. Pics to come soon!

blah

I don't know what is going on, but I have been having the worst time trying to settle down and work on something lately. I just have been getting distracted and frustrated very easily. Maybe it's just "that time" of the month, but so far, I have frogged both the start of my first mitten AND my Diamond Lace Shawl twice today! The mitten was honestly way too small, and had to be frogged and restarted, then realized after restarting it I STILL didn't have the right number of stitches on it, so frogged it again and stuffed the yarn back into the bag. (I did get a great tip from Fran on the KR Forums on how to size it properly, though!) Decided, and have been pondering this for a while, that I really DON'T like the lacework in Homespun, so scrapped that shawl completely. Decided to do a quick dishcloth shawl with it instead, because the color is pretty enough that I think it could hold up the simple pattern. Started it on size 13's, even played around with learning Continental style knitting on it (it's slow, but I CAN do it now!), and then decided it was too loose, so scrapped it again and will try it on size 11's. It seems like the only thing I can work on for more than one or two rows right now is the multidir-diag scarf, which is actually coming along quite well and looks very nice. Maybe my body is just in a scarf mood. I really wanted to get to the thumb gusset on the first mitten today, though, so I'm disappointed.

Boogaboogabooga!

The Booga, she is finished!

While I like the speed of the twisted cord, only about half of it felted together and the rest untwisted itself. I may put new handles on at some point, but doesn't she look pretty now?

A better pic of the multidir-diag 

Beginnings of the multidir-diag scarf. The guys at work think it's the neatest thing since sliced bread. I think I've finally settled on a Rainy Day scarf for Amanda and her Blue Mists, although I will have to make sure it is The One, and I really shouldn't start another project right now. Oh, and Mom's hat and mittens will be in a color called Pines. So pretty! Can't wait to start! Too many projects I want to get done!! 

**Editor's Note: have realized that the pic is very dark and will have to take a better one during the day tomorrow! *sigh* I've made enough silly mistakes tonight, time to go to bed!

Guilty Pleasures

First off, I should have learned from my surprise Noro Kureyon buy that I should NOT walk into a yarn store confident that they will NOT have a yarn I am wishing I had. If I expect them to not have it, they will. The right colors, the right amounts, etc. Every time. That said, I went into Michael's today with the sole intent of buying another skein of Homespun in Country so I could continue to work on Winter Night #2 while at work tonight. I had CALLED the store a couple days ago and specifically asked if they carried Lion Brand's Wool-Ease as well, but BOTH ladies I talked to swore they didn't, so I walked in supremely confident that this would be but a mad dash in to get one hank of yarn that I really did need tonight. I walk back to the yarn section, and my eye is caught by an interesting self-striping acrylic (can't remember the brand) that made me think, "Hmm...I could use this for the multidir-diag scarf. But not today. Only getting Homespun today!" So I walk over to LionBrand's section of the yarn area, and notice Wool-Ease Thick & Quick on the shelves. "Hmm...I *could* use that for the girls' scarves, but no varigated colorways, just solids. Must get Homespun." Notice WOOL-EASE, very clearly marked "worsted weight Wool-Ease" in ten or so different colors. Am now a bit miffed at the idea that the people who work there and answer phones obviously have no idea how to check their own inventories, but I'm here for Homespun. Besides, they would never have the colorway that I am looking for. The ONLY yarn colorway that I have found that has the colors that I really wanted for Becki's scarf in it. Well, damn if they did have it! LionBrand Wool-Ease Autumn Print, the EXACT yarn that I had asked if they carried and was assured they didn't. About ten skeins of it in the bin, $2.39 or so per skein. Grr! So, not only did I walk out with my Homespun, but two skeins of the Autumn Print, two skeins of Wool-Ease in Blue Mist for Amanda's Christmas scarf, AND two skeins of a dark grey/green that I can't remember the name of and am not recalling exactly enough to get the name from the website. *sigh* The whole stash is out in my car - I was too embarrassed to let Steve see me drag the bags up! Where am I going to put this?? Also, now I have to find a simple, fun pattern for Amanda's scarf that will look good in a mostly-solid color. I have a pattern in my head, but I don't know how to make it work, and I can't find anything "close enough" online. The gray/green is going to become Mom's mittens and hat. It should match her dark green dress coat.

I put aside Winter Night and started on the multi-diag at work tonight - I couldn't resist using the pretty yarn! I've already gotten so many compliments on the scarf, and I haven't even finished the second triangle yet!! Pics will be up this weekend, when Steve is gone and I can lug the stash up here.

Project Update!

Finally finished the last border on Winter Night #1!! Yay!! It's done! I may have to go back and re-seam some places, though, as the seaming near the beginning of it is pretty loose. I'm also having fuzzy ends of woven-in strands pop up all over it, which I'm not quite sure what to do about. Will have to ask. Anyway, I can officially cross one project off my list! Yay!


Also sent the Booga Bag and accessories through the wash to felt this morning. I sent it through the hot wash/cold rinse twice, and it didn't really look much different. Just like wet wool. I ran some hot water in the bathroom sink, added the teeniest bit of detergent to it, and tried one of the swatches, and it already looks ten times better. I must have forgotten to add detergent to the wash the first time! I did the same to the rest of the pieces, but I am going to run them through the washer (with detergent) one more time as well. I can't do it again right now, as I have to go meet up with John to go over some stuff for the show, so the bag and the pieces are comfortably drying outside whilst I wait for a more convenient time to felt them all yet again. At least the colors are pretty!



Oh, the swatches are because I was pondering the idea of making a varigated multidirectional diagonal scarf for a friend and then felting it to get basically a scarf of very colorful triangle-funky lines. One is the (correct) pattern in garter stitch, the other weird-shaped one is how I *thought* I could adapt the pattern to be in stockinette. The colors didn't varigate as much as I would have liked for the swatches, though, so still not quite sure what I want to do with it.

The start of the Knitted Stripes afghan. I am going to have to learn duplicate stitch to get rid of those yarn ends in the middle of the row back near the beginning. What was I thinking?! 

Winter Night afghan #1. You can see the border along the top and the left side. I'm going to finish this one by tomorrow! 

Booga Bag (prefelting) 

Homespun Diamond Lace Shawl detail