Category: Knittastic!

Whoo hoo! After a yarn shortage scare, where I had to take out a row just so I could bind off, I have gotten the Booga Bag off the needles! (Picture on Flickr, with a mini version over in the sidebar.) Now I just have to find a pillowcase with a zipper and I will be felting it tomorrow! Yeah!

I love the colors, and I can’t wait to see how it turns out when it is felted, but I can’t even begin to explain how glad I am that I am done with this bag. I’m not allergic to wool, but there is something about this yarn that triggers a bad allergic reaction in me. I suspect it is the dye or the finishing that they use when they make it, and no one else has complained of issues with it like I have. Hopefully when I felt the bag, it will pull out the dyes that are bothering me.

I have the yarn to start knitting my Sophie bag (a dark, rich purple), but I think I’m going to work on my Clapotis first. The only other project still on needles is the “Jay Allen scarf,” named after Jay since I only worked on it in panels that he was on at SXSW. (I learned I’m a much better listener with the laptop closed and knitting needles in my hands.) I’m over halfway done with it, so it shouldn’t take too long to finish it up. I can work on the Clapotis at the same time. New projects – wheee!

While at a technology related conference like SXSW, it is really exciting to find another knitter. While waiting for the Accessibility shoot-out to begin, I turned around and spotted a lady wearing a Clapotis scarf, and I almost screamed. I immediately pointed out to Matt, “See! Another knitter! We are everywhere!” because I had pointed out earlier that there are a lot of knitters online. A whole target market that people are really missing. So it was a thrill to meet Julie of Yarnmaven, and to admire her absolutely gorgeous scarf. I’m definitely going to have to get some of that yarn – it is beautiful!

That I-cord? I’m tired of working on it. 5 stitches, push. 5 stitches, push. And I have to work it in English, because when I tried to do it Continental it looked really wonky. So it’s going slowly. *sigh* Almost 4 feet done, only two or three more to go.

If you’ve done a Booga Bag out of Kureyon yarn, how long did you make your I-cord?

It doesn’t help that I’m allergic to this particular yarn. I have no problems with wool, so I suspect it is how this yarn is dyed. My next felted bag will be in a different wool. I would be done with this already if I wasn’t limiting the amount of time I worked on it so that I could breath the next day!

It’s Wednesday, and know what Wednesday is? It is KNIT DAY! Whoo hoo! My friend Katy (who reads all of the knit blogs but doesn’t have one of her own … yet …) picked me up this morning and we finally found Yarns 2 Ewe! We managed to drive right past it the first time, as the sign is gray with blue lettering and right under the awning – we saw the Vietnamese restaurant right next door, but missed the sign for the yarn shop. A call to Mike so he could look it up online give us the street number, and we managed to make it there. It was ok to be lost though – I had never been to that part of the Heights, which was gorgeous, and we got to see Harolds in the Heights! (Yeah, that means nothing to anyone else. Mike didn’t know what we were talking about either. Katy & I were excited to see it though!)

Yarns 2 Ewe was packed full of fabulous yarns – some which we had seen before, and some that were completely new to us. We both loved the Rowan DK cotton that we saw. They said it was new; I believe they just put it out yesterday. They also had a ton of sock yarn, but I resisted the urge to buy any more. I need to knit my first pair of socks before I build up a stash! We did find some Koigu Painter’s Palette Premium Merino wool that we both liked. Katy had made “Caryl’s Kerchief” (from FoxyKnits) out of it before, so we picked some up. It is sooooo soft.

After we massaged all of the yarn at Yarns 2 Ewe, we headed back to the north side of town for the Sit & Knit at Twisted Yarns in Spring. I love that shop. Have I mentioned that before? I showed Lynn Anne (the lady that taught my sock class) that I had mastered the Norwegian Purl (opens a PDF; more info at Knitting Geek and Spelling Tuesday). I started on the I-cord for the Booga Bag and got a foot or two done while I was there. I also picked out yarn for the Clapotis, because, after all, Je suis belle et ça ne demande aucun effort. Therefore I need a beautiful scarf/shawl.

After we picked Jason up from school, we went over to Katy’s house to check out some of her finished projects and to browse through pattern books. *sigh* Oh, the fabulous things you can make. Then she took us home and Jason and I zoomed over to the doctor’s office to pick up our new glasses. Now I have sassy glasses (picture to come) and I’m ready to knit!

The Booga Bag body only has about 7 rows left now; I’ll finish it as soon as I have the I-cord ready. If you want to check out my progress, I took a picture this morning. Almost done!

Guess what? Guess what? I learned how to cast on! I learned how to do the knit stitch! And it seems like every 6-8 rows that I knit, I end up having to rip some back out – so now I have mastered getting it back on the needle after I rip a bunch out!

It’s just a practice piece, so why am I so worried about mistakes? I guess I’m afraid my teacher will crack down on me and give me a bad grade. Wait. I’m not getting grades in this class? Really? Well, I don’t care. I want to do it right, without having to rip it out over and over again!