My First Noro

Posted by Emily |0 comments

Once upon a time, I used to stay up really, really late playing computer games. These days, I'm up really late knitting. No one is ever allowed to accuse me of being addicted to computer games unless they say I'm addicted to knitting too. All that time I used to play World of Warcraft is now taken up by yarn and needles. I'm still wearing my wrist brace though.

It is 3 am my time and yes, I have been up all night playing with my new yarn and new patterns. I went to my knitting group today and visited the yarn store. I went in there with two projects in mind and came out with yarn for one of those projects and an entirely different project. I need a job so I can spend my money on yarn. I mean, I need a job so I can pay for food and other important things. And also yarn. Lots and lots of yarn.

I left Borealis with 2 skeins of Noro Kureyon for Earthtone Wristwarmers for me and one skein of Atacama by Araucania for a lace hat. As soon as I got home, I started casting on both projects. I, uh, don't cast on in public. My friends would likely be mortified and I would be embarrassed. Anyway, I adore the Atacama, but the lace pattern kicked my ass. I will give it another go tomorrow when I'm more awake.

I also adore the Noro, but I'm doubting the wisdom of using it for something that's meant to be tight up against my skin. It's lovely yarn but I'm afraid it's a bit itchy for wrist warmers. I haven't decided if I should just knit it up anyway and see how it is, or if I should just find another pattern. At the moment, I'm leaning towards knitting and making a decision when I can actually try a wrist warmer on. Yes, it's a lot of work wasted if I decide to frog it, but hey, I'm a process knitter. I can get away with stuff like that while maintaining my sanity.

Two more things before I try to get some sleep...

1) I love my knitting group. I count the days until the next meeting. Maybe this says something about how sad my social life is, or how obsessive I've become about knitting, but it makes me happy so it can't be all bad. Three days until our next Stitch n' Bitch!

2) It's April 5th and there's a fresh inch of snow on the ground. Go Minnesota weather.

60 Monday

Posted by Emily |1 comments

Today is my mother's 60th birthday. Shh, though! She doesn't want anyone to know.

My family made the trip to Winona, MN to visit my grandmother today. A two hour drive one way means lots of knitting time! I started and finished what was supposed to be a Mobius Cowl, except I forgot add the twist when I stitched it together. Therefore, I'm calling it my UnMobius Cowl.

This was my first attempt at trying increases and decreases. It went fairly well, considering. I had one major screw up on my third pattern row which I was able to tink successfully and re-knit. The UnMobius Cowl has some issues, but they aren't obvious. Hopefully someone will want to wear it!

I used the raspberry Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick and Quick I wrote about early. Here's the Ravelry link to the project (and the pattern) if you're curious.

The two scarves I've been working on are finished as well. The first one looks very cool, but isn't that great. The second one made from the Claret Lion Brand yarn I mentioned in the previous post is really nice. It looks pretty good with my Patagonia vest too!

I got lots of compliments on it, so I'm rather proud. It's huge but very snuggly and warm!

Knitting club met last Saturday and it was so much fun. It's great to sit around, drinking coffee/tea, and chat with other women for a few hours. It's also fun to attract attention from passersby and have random conversations with cool, interesting people.

While we were knitting, an eldery Irish gentleman dropped by the coffee shop. Upon seeing us knitting, he told us this lovely story in his great Irish brogue. Imagine the accent while reading his paraphrased story (I wish I had a recording!):

"When I was a kid in Ireland, my mum used to knit sweaters for us all the time. One winter, she stepped outside to use the loo and I went over to her knitting and pulled some of it out. When mum came back, she had no idea who did it, but she was MAD. She figured it out though and got her revenge. She made me wear the thing when she finished! Had uneven sleeves and looked terrible!"

Hanging out in random coffee shops is a great way to meet interesting people, and is one of the best things about my knitting group!