frustrated stitches

Good morning, friends! [yawn, stretch]

I apologize for the infrequent postings lately. I am trying to sneak one in during the early hours today. I guess I hadn't felt like I had all that much to share lately, because I've been having so many frustrations with the knitting of late... but you know, maybe sharing the frogs is just as interesting or useful as the glorious FO's?

Anyhow, this post might could be my second installment of knitting tips & tricks. Here it is: Don't use Superwash yarn for felting. And a related tip: When you keep yarn leftovers, keep the ball band, too!



This was supposed to be my new felted cell phone cozy. After several trips through the laundry, it's still looking remarkably un-felted. I finally clued in after the third trip through the hot cycle that this was Superwash yarn. Oops. Back to the yarn stash... anyone need an elongated and not-felted pouch?

My main knitting project right now is the colorful little vest that had me so captivated a couple of weeks ago (this is the design I dreamed, and had to cast aside all other projects to start).



When I design something, I sketch it out and make a basic plan of attack, but things always change as I start knitting and the fiber starts to take form, and I'm led down different (and usually better) paths than the one I first imagined. So it's normal to have some stops and starts. I've definitely had those normal stops and starts with this little vest. No biggie.

But I'm also having arithmetic problems. Arithmetic (even when calculator-assisted) tends to give me troubles. This project has also been plagued by me thinking or calculating one thing, and then writing down and knitting something completely different. How does that happen, I'd like to know? Maybe there's something interrupting my more advanced thought processes - maybe a rogue idea that disrupts the process. I don't think I can blame it on drinking while knitting (though I have really been enjoying Big Boss's releases of Bad Penny and Helles Belles this spring -- y'all in the Triangle know what I'm talking about, right? If not... get to the Quickie Mart, pronto!). But I digress.

Hm... maybe that's how it happened. Rogue beer thoughts. Speaking of Rogue, did anyone anticipate the winners over at Beersipper's Pale Ale tourney?? Terrapin! I really would never have called it.

What were we talking about?

Oh right, the vest thing. Long story short, I've knitted and ripped this thing back half a dozen times, and in the closing stretch I got antsy and started measuring and realized that somehow, some way, instead of knitting a girls' size 6, I'm knitting a 2 year-old size. But you know, I'm okay with that. I know some 2 year-olds. One of them is going to be getting a really cute vest (and maybe a 6-pack of Bad Penny).

I do actually have an FO to show you:



This is the super-bright version of Super-Natural Stripes. It's been done for a while, but I didn't get a chance to take its picture until it was headed out the door as a new-baby gift last week. It was really fun, and I used Blue Sky Alpacas Dyed Cotton, which is just the dyed version of the Organic Cotton natural colors that I love so so so much. Why, oh why won't Blue Sky Alpacas hire me as their in-house designer and send me gobs of free yarn every week?? (Just thought I'd ask). I'm going to be adding a larger size to the current version of the Super-Natural Stripes pattern later this week, so if you've enjoyed that pattern, stay tuned for an update.

Now it's off to the showers. A big busy Wednesday awaits, and the downtown Farmers Market reopens today - hooray!