It's not the stick, it's the movement

Sorry Katy for stealing your subject line, but I couldn't resist when I heard Debbie say it a week ago!

Firstly, to settle some matters. I did not have sexual relations with that yarn" And any 12" references you may have heard froma certain someone were...well...probably not exaggerated. In the end, however, it seemed better to leave the 12" in than to rip it out, and no, I don't regret it.

Actually, I've been quite inspried by my knitwear designer friend and I'm elated that he's come back to the blogosphere! Jumping off from his most recent post, and in the spirit of the first week of what I endearingly call "Mating and Dating Season," I thought I woudl dip into the topic of sexual knitting myself.

Jon looked into the more tactile and sensory similarities between sex and knitting, but I think it's fair to say the two are similar in several other ways:

Sex involves moaning and wailing sometimes even screaming - so does knitting (come on, admit it - you've screamed with pleasure at finishing a project or figuring out how to do a complicated stitch!)

A large part of sex has to do with sensation and touch - have you fondled or stroked your favorite yarn lately?

Sex can be a very intimate affair - and while one is quite intimate with the yarn one is working with for any given project, a knitted gift can also be a symbol of intimacy

The after effects of both knitting and sex (if you're doing either of them correctly) is a calming relaxation after intensely moving one's muscles

I'm sure there are others I'm missing. Feel free to share in the comments if you have any that you're particularly fond of. ;)

I think this might just be part one of a series of sexual knitting posts. I have actually been thinking about this idea for quite some time now.
Non-sequitor pic of the bib progress:



It's almost done, and now that I finally have a pair of airplane safe scissors that I got from a sewing kit I'll be able to finish it alll up.

And finally fun quote from last night's SNB: No! I haven't shown him my stash! A girl's gotta keep some things private!

Addendum

A couple of things of note:

I still have to write the podcasting blip for Heather's book (yup, those are two seperate links there - HTML all over the place here!)

I still have to write a short blip about me for Heather's book (ok, that was just copy paste...).

I still need a headshot for Heather's book (more copy paste...).

I kinda like the bib pattern, especially knitting the icord into the top of the bib. That was fun. I just wish I could stop doing icord sometime soon and start weaving in all those stupid ends (don't worry, photos to come).

I've got an extra SP06 IK zine. Anyone want it?

Those socks are so not getting done before I board the plane. Maybe I'll finish them on my way to Seattle and I can start the Jaywalkers while I'm there or something. I'm contemplating bringing my laptop with me to work on the aforementioned blips for the book which would cut into prize knitting time.

Man, I'm so glad I'm not currently working on the book. I'd go insane. I think Heather really is going insane though. It's ok. We'll throw her a fab launch party to make it all worth it. We should start planning that soon kids!

It's Not Easy Being Green

Indeed, it's not. I have my first finished green project. I present Morehouse Merino's Birdwatcher's Beret:


It's made with Morehouse Merino's (coincidence?) Fetherlight. Problem? It's a bit big. Perhaps I didn't check my gauge or something. I hope it will fit someone else that I hope will wear it. I have a few ideas as to who to give it to. Looks like I'll have to get a new kit or something. I just plain don't like taking apart FOs. When they're done, they're done. If it doesn't fit me, then it was obviously made for someone else right?

I LOVED working with this yarn. It didn't split. It loved my plastic needles - though I get the impression that knitting Morehouse on anything less than bamboo or wood is a sin - it just feels to natural to let plastic touch. I liked that there was hay in with the yarn. I think some people might be turned off by that, but I just thought it was uber cool. I can't wait to get the cash and start that amazing sweater from Weekend Knitting. It will be the best sweater ever (and it's knit in the round so I won't have to do awful seaming!).

In other green news I haven't even touched the embossed leaves socks since I sat for Kara's portrait. I'm going to need the needles for a pair of jaywalkers that I decided to cast on with some Mountain Colors yarn I bought at Flying Fingers when Katy and Blogless Ruth (or maybe Jewell?> and I went on the yarn bus.

That's the Mountain colors on the top. I've always thought they'd make great Jaywalkers. I just have to print the pattern (heh for work having printers I use for personal use!).

The only non-green thing I'm actively working on (no, the Olympic Sweater is still not done - it's still kinda reminding me of being sick) is the orange bib for one of my co-workers' newborn. She was due on Saturday and the kid hasn't been born yet, so perhaps it's just waiting for the bib. Here's what I've got so far:

Please excuse the blue right next to the orange. I don't think the Denise set had Debbie Bliss Cotton Cashmere yarn in bright orange on their list of things of things to knit with. Anyway, it's working up quite quickly. If I get on it, I might be able to finish it by the end of the night or tomorrow during lunch. The only bitch is going to be weaving in all those damn ends. each petal was started and ended on it's own. I eliminated one end by careful planning and forsight, but still...there's another eight ends to weave in after it's done.

Oh, and my spring issue of IK finally arrived. I'd been waiting for it for at least a month. It seems like they've completely messed up my subscription. I've been holding out, waiting for it to arrive in my mailbox before i pilfered it's pages for knowledge and inspiration. Now that it's here, well, it's kinda anticlimatic. I feel like ignoring it out of spite. Damn you IK for not arriving early like everyone else's! Damn you for arriving to me months after the issue hit stores! Sigh. I can't ignore you forever...I must have the fiber knowledge that lies within your bounds...

Anyone remember that song by K's Choice from eons ago?
It's not a habit, it's cool, I feel alive
If you don't have it you're on the other side
I'm not an addict (maybe that's a lie)

How is it that yarn can be so easily compared to heroin and crack?

What a project whore!

Yes! that's right, i've become a project whore. I just cast on a whole new project (it's not on the sidebar yet because i'm uber lazy). It's from the pattern swap that Jill held at her apartment on Sunday. Counteless other bloggers have reported about the festivities of the day (Here's one and another and yet an additional perspective just so you have an idea of how it all went down). I'm maintaining that the real reason I didn't bring my camera is that I didn't want to have a record of any illegal activities (sick how that word changed in five years from using substances to infringing copyrights!). Yes. That's the party line anyway.

So what is the new apple of my eye project wise?
I'm making two of these suckers for the new babies of the office. I've always wanted to make something out of Debbie Bliss yarn, and there was that Cotton Cashmere just sitting up there in the basket looking all bright and shiny! So I got some of it to make some bibs. Two of them. I feel much better now that I'm looking at the bib on a boy in the picture. Makes me feel a lot more sane because both of the babies are boys and I was a little leary of maknig a petal bib for a boy. But whatever. Here's my gorgeous new crack yarn:



Yup. Two babies. The orange bib will be going to Queens and the green one will be going to Houston, Texas. No really, did you seriously think I could get away without buying any green yarn? I mean, it's such an awesome color. We'll try not to dwell on the fact that the apple green Birdwatcher's Beret or the kermit green Embossed Leaves Socks haven't been touched in a week.

It's not the color that's turning me into a yarn whore, it's just...well...I like it. Yes, I'll admit it. I definately derive pleasure from being able to choose which project to work on and then consoling the rest like my yarn herem - reminding it that I still care. Part of this I think was brought on by the knitting olympics and part of it from being sick. I really didn't have an easy project started and so I tried to teach myself how to crochet, but you know what, there's just too many projects to be knitted before I get to that. I should really finish the olympic sweater so I can give Jewell the pattern back. Maybe I'll tack that on to my list of things to do this weekend.

Bad Blogger, no Doughnut!

There's been a lot going on in life recently that I've been neglecting the good 'ol blog here for. Two of the people I work closely with are on maternity leave, which means a lot more work for me. I've also had a bit of drama that I'm not going to get into here because that's why I have a livejournal (if you go looking for those entries though, they're protected). So now I'm here updating, and my tummy hurts. I think I just have a bad case of gas (yes, you all needed to know that!).

I have been knitting though. My personal Knitting Olympic aftermath is that I'm now a multi-project person. I used to be monogamous. When I got sick and I didn't have an easy project on the needles though, I started to flip out. There was no way I was going to work on the Embossed Leaves Socks while I was sick. That would have taken a bit more wherewithal than I had. I have since finished one sock and I have made significantly good progress on the other. See:



I've decided to call this color "Kermit Green." Because really that's what it is. Oh, the yarn's Artyarns Ultramerino 4. I like it alright to knit with. The pattern's making the socks a pretty speedy knit. I've never knit socks that weren't all stockinette, so I'm shocked that this is taking so little time. I hardly notice that I've made so much headway. I just need to do about 7 repeats of the pattern (which is a lot easier to digest than several inches of stockinette on tiny needles!). The first one fits perfectly, though I need to find a pair of shoes to wear it with. They're a bit thicker than I expected, but I figure I just need to get shoes that are about a half size larger and I'll be alright.

In addition to knitting those, I wound a few balls of yarn last week.



The ball on the left is Morehouse Merino Featherlight and the one on the right is a rayon metallic blend from Blue Heron Yarns (I'd link to their site, but there's really not much there. I'm a link snob as well as a yarn snob and a beer snob, what can I say?) in the color Old Gold. That's the skein that the hip scarf is going to be made of. I felt kind of dirty turning it into a ball. I mean, it was so beautiful as a skein. But it was kind of expensive, so I feel like I should actually do something with it.

Yes, it does appear as though green is the color this season. In fact, I'm thinking of getting some green Chuck Taylors if I can get around to a store to try some on. I have a feeling that the shoes are going to be a bit too wide for my somewhat narrow feet.

While I'm knitting socks for my feet, I decided that I should also knit something for my head, you know, so I don't topple over or something. Enter the Birdwatcher's Beret from Morehouse Merino. It only requires one skein of the Featherlight, and I really love working with this yarn!



I like how the tension's a bit tighter. It's making for a bit thicker fabric and it's kind of firm. It actually almost looks like it's been felted a bit, even though it's just a matter of gauge.

Oh, and I started realizing that if I don't like the quality of the photo I get from my camera, I can tweak it in photoshop. Starting with the last post, I have actually started doing this (I cropped the first shot and lightened up the one of the two alpacas). I'm still a wicked novice at this though, so some of them are kinda off (like the photo of the Birdwatcher's Beret has a bit wonky color. All in all it's just mostly lightening up the image. Things that I'd be able to do in the dark room that I can't because I a) don't have a dark room and b) am taking the images with a digital camera.

Regardless, I'm somewhat back, and will try to be a better blogger in the future. Sorry kids!

Hudson Valley Yarn Crawl!!

I woke up bright and early to meet Katy, Michelle, Jess, and Blogless Ruth for an adventure in the country!

Michelle met us with coffee and awesome muffins, and we headed out as soon as we all had arrived. Our first stop was the home of some fabulous alpaca! where Kelly showed us her alpaca and we learned about alpaca farming/owning and the things that alpaca owners think about.

I'm bad with names, so I don't remember what these alpacas' names are. But here Kelly is feeding them. If I had such beautiful animals, I'd probably have just as big a smile as Kelly does.

I think the brown one's named Cayenne and I have no idea about the name on the white one.

Then all of a sudden the alpaca started lining up and walking towards the barn in the distance. We were quite perplexed, but Kelly informed us that they usually get fed around that time at the barn, so we followed them (in single file as well) and were herded along by the best herd dog I've seen. We watched Kelly feed the female alpacas (is there a term for that?) and eventually wandered back to the car and back to the road.

Our travels took us to the Morehouse Merino Wool store. We wandered around the amazing store for quite some time. Not only was this place HUGE, but it also had a huge array of colors, other kinds of wool paraphernalia (roving and mats for dogs and all sorts of cute things like ram dolls). They had a huge selection of books to peruse as well. While I was there, I walked away with a kit for making a beret. I'm pretty excited about it and the wool is sooooo splendidly soft! I was tossing it back and forth as to whether I wanted to get the yarn for the Berkshire Pullover from Weekend Knitting by Melanie Falick. I would get the bulky Morehouse merino yarn that the pattern calls for in a blue tint called Moonlight (which I just noticed isn't on the website....*cringe*). It looks like a quick and easy knit, and the yarn was soooo soft. I'm feeling really stupid for not having bought it. But I should at least figure out if I'm getting any money back from the government for my taxes before I spend it (and damnit I'd better be getting some back!).

Anyway, after that we went through woods and on some nice dirt twisty roads. We had fun in the car. And we wound up somewhere called Countrywool. It was a really cute store. There was all sorts of different kinds of yarn there (including some forbiddingly soft cashmere!). In fact, I have a confession to make; until we went to Countrywool, I was pretty sure I didn't like Cascade at all. I probably based this on the Peruvian wool that I used to make my cousin's hat. The yarn kept splitting and it was scratchy and all that. I thought it was cheap. However, I have renewed my interests in Cascade. I liked making the socks for my mom out of Fixation, and am thinking of making my brother's sweater out of their superwash wool (cause damnit, he's gonna toss it into the washer anyway). It was soft enough for me to consider it, and I think the stitches would show up well in it. Each ball has a decent amount of yardage too, so there might not be that many ends.

We grabbed lunch in Rhinebeck, home of the most amazing fiber festival ever, and headed off again to Yarn Central. This place is home of Schaffer Yarns, and the Schaffer Yarns yarn they had there was pretty nice. They also had a lot of Berroco Yarns and other stuff. The woman there was so nice! It was so happy and cozy!!

After that short stop, we headed back to the road and over to Kelly's house to see the yarns she gets out of those beautiful alpacas. Que the "I can't decides."

Here's Michelle debating which yarns she should get:
You can see the look of pure concentration and weighing of pros and cons in that face!

I ended up walking away with some yarn from Luna and some from an alpaca that wasn't Kelly's but that I couldn't resist because it was just so soft. She told me the name of the alpaca, but I've since forgotten it. We spent about an hour there. And this is what Michelle still looked like:
You can see the concentration has started to fade and she's becoming giddy.

Of everyone, I probably got the least amount of yarn. I've been trying to deplete the stash before I get into more new yarn. However, I'm seriously regretting not getting the Morehouse merino bulky yarn. I have no doubt, however, that I will end up going there sometime in the near future. I've also heard that they're at the Union Square market, which is both exhilarating and frightening. I can like, call them and ask them to bring 9 balls of the desired color and they might do just that. This is a sort of yarn buying that is highly dangerous. But I'm very excited about starting the Birdwatcher's beret. It'll probably be done really quickly. I'm still working on the Embossed Leaves Socks, I have to put the neck on Angie, and I still need to get jump rings for the Hip Scarf that I'm designing. With all these projects, I think I'll have to put the Berkshire Pullover on the backburner for now (which is where it kind of started anyway).

Better!

I'm no longer sick!!! :)

I picked up and did a bit more on the Embossed Leaves Socks. I'll post a picture of my progress so far in a bit. I love how they're coming out and the kermit green Artyarns UltraMerino 4 is really doing the trick!

I also bought Deb Stoller's new book last weekend. The Happy Hooker. There's quite a few patterns in here that I'd love to try, and there's a couple crocheted patterns in the new Rowan Magazine that I'd like to try my hand at. Of course, nothing's going to happen with any of them, unless I learn how to crochet, so I had an ulterior motive in buying the crochet book. I never thought I'd want to learn how to crochet. so we'll see how it goes. I'm just learning how to single (double?) crochet now.

Oh, Melissa tagged me, so here's a shot, not outside my front door, but outside the fire escape which is on the front while it was snowing on Thursday. The window to the fire escape could be considered a door in some situations, so there you go.



I think I'm going to tag Blogging Beta, Gauging Reactions, and Illana

Hop to it folks! Damn, it was a challenge to find people who weren't in NYC.