Domestic Geek

I totally forgot to mention that the ball winder I ordered on Joann.com came this last week. They had a 40% off one item special if you order through their site, donchaknow? I also threw in the Paton's Street Smart book so I could have the "Must Have Cardigan" pattern that everyone (including The Harlot) is raving about. I'm not near skilled enough to make it yet, but I will be and when I am, I have the pattern.

Of course, Marcus wasn't home when it arrived and I wanted to wind so badly. I'm really bad at remembering to ask to have hanks wound when I purchase them and they're absolutely everywhere. I mounted it to the bench in the craft room, put a skein around the back of a chair and away I went. It didn't go so well - darned chair is too heavy to turn.

I explained the dilemma when Marcus got home that evening and he offered to hold some while I wound. He makes a better swift than the chair, but still couldn't keep up with the winder. I've been putting it off, but if I'm going to make use of this winder, I'm going to have to make a swift (no way I'm paying $80+ for the umbrella kind). I found a site with instructions to create your own, so tomorrow I'm off to buy wood. I've got a couple of modifications in mind, so we'll see if the hardware stores carry what I think I need, or else I'll have to take a trek to the woodworker store.

So, I've been working on my Noni Green Earth Market Bag that I started about a month ago. It's not going well (I blame the crappy work schedule).

I've redone the bottom three different times. First, I was doing something really funky when I turned the rows and they were impossible to pick up stitches from. Second time things were going well until I had decided I was going to knit a few rows one morning when I got home from a 12-hour shift with only 4 hours sleep the day before and ended up doing the rows backwards and no longer had solid stockinette. Being tired and cranky, instead of just putting it down and taking out the 4 messed up rows when I was fresh, I had a tantrum and frogged it all. *sigh* This third time, I see a blatant error — a stitch that I somehow managed to twist or something in about row 8. I'm doing my best to ignore it (since it's going to be felted for goodness sakes) and I just picked up the stitches for the sides.

I decided to be clever and use a crochet hook to help me pick the stitches up faster since I've already wasted a month getting to this point. Well, I managed to twist every single one and have to untwist on the needle as I knit. Yeah, that is saving me oodles of time. Oh, well...knitting is fun and relaxing...right?

In other sad news, I'm already behind on the Afghan KAL. We're three weeks in and I'm still on my first square. C'est la vie. At this rate, I ought to finish in about two years. LOL

I got my Ravelry t-shirt I ordered in the mail today. It's so pretty, but the neck is cut a little tight. We'll see if it feels better after washing.

So, I knit in public yesterday (no pics) and I went up to the Estes Park Sheep and Wool Festival this morning. No time for thoughts or pics from the festival as I have to leave for work soon (danged night shifts suck much), but I'll post a recap and pictures tomorrow. I've really caught the Alpaca bug and also vowed I am going to learn to spin soon.

Hey, everybody! Today is Worldwide Knit in Public Day. I took the day off from work tonight, so after a few hours of sleep, I'm heading down to Parker to hang out with my peeps down at Purls of Wisdom. I'll post some pics if I actually get anything accomplished!

As if I don't have enough WIPs, I joined the Great American Afghan KAL at Purls last week. The afghan consists of 25 squares and the goal is to knit one a week so that it'll be ready to put together by Thanksgiving. Well, me being a relatively new knitter and work totally sucking much donkey butt lately has already put a crimp in that plan. I cast on last Saturday and ended up frogging my square (hrmph, six rows) yesterday. I totally jacked something up trying to knit with little to no sleep. Stupid. So, today we cast on square 2 and I have no square one yet. *sigh*

I've seen some cool stitch markers out there made from felted beads. I found a tutorial today on Knitty.com on how to make felted beads. I just need to either find some roving in the color I have in mind or get some plain and learn to dye it myself.

I've also become rather addicted to making other felted things. I found a pattern on Ravelry for a Noni Green Earth Grocery Bag that I just have to make. I picked up the pattern during a stop today in The Knitting Habitat (they're having their 2nd Anniversary sale this weekend) and then toodled down to my most favorite shop Purls of Wisdom down in Parker to get the yarn and to visit with Jenn. When I had finished my purchase, she found it absolutely hilarious that I asked for a plastic bag to take home the yarn for a "green" bag.

So, I need to put a little kibosh to the rampant yarn (and other item) buying I've been doing lately. When I'm down and trying to avoid dealing with things, I tend to participate in retail therapy and I've been buying A LOT of stuff lately. Time to get my butt in gear, deal with the things that are bothering me and get back to actually crafting instead of just planning and buying. That said, I'm going to go cast on my grocery bag.