hey look I'm Queen Katamari!

Alpacas are awesome

I went over to Yarn Haven today and saw some alpacas from Circle E Ranch. OMG they were cute. And the brown one kept watching me as I walked around. Creepy, but in a cute way. He was way into posing for my pictures.



So naturally while I was there I bought yarn. What kind, you ask? Sock yarn. All sock yarn. Damn you, socks.



Wisdom Yarns 'Los Angeles' color 241, Wisdom Yarns 'Chicago' color 235, Wisdom Yarns 'Boston' color 213, Brown Sheep Company 'Wildfoote' in Gunsmoke. Mostly for Xmas knitting. I'm in the middle of figuring all of that out. It's never too early for that. That and a pair of socks for the Football-a-long. I think I'll use 'Chicago' to make something while I watch DA BEARS own all this season.

The Big Knit

http://www.innocentdrinks.co.uk/thebigknit/

I really want to try the ladybird one. Ultra cute. I might even send it to the UK, just for kicks. I like the idea of knitting for charity.

RIP Jaywalkers

I have ramen'd them. Yes, ramen like the noodles. I'm trying it out. They were messed up in too many places, and trying to remember to mess up #2 in the same ways so that they matched would have been impossible.

So.

I am making a modified pair of Priscilla's Dream Socks from the Interweave Favorite Socks book. All I've done is make them ankle socks. I really hate socks, especially the wearing them part. The only socks I'll wear are ones where you can barely tell you have them on your feet. So I figured to help motivate myself to finish a pair I'd make them in a way that I'd actually use them! They use shortrow heels and shortrow toes ... the heels went well, I'll let you know about the toes.

You'd be amazed how quickly socks knit up when you don't do all of that leg nonsense ...

I joined the Football-A-Long!

http://footballalong.blogspot.com/

And I'm stoked. It is tradition for me to knit or crochet while watching/listening to football. The Bears, naturally. Who are going to be FAMAZING this year. That's right. We're going all the way again, and this time we're taking home the gold.



I'll be finishing the Queen Katamari Earmuffs tonight, and I'm making slow-but-sure progress on the Prince set. I hope to have those finished in the next week or so. Knitting is so awesome.

FO: Luxe Neck Warmer

I actually finished this back in June, but I was busy with the whole European backpacking thing to post about it. Feather-and-fan no longer intimidates me. I still need to figure out how to do a looser bind-off. Suggestions are welcome.

Tomorrow I return to the Katamari earmuffs for Lisa. They are almost finished! Then I can start on a matching pair of Prince Katamari earmuffs for her husband Joshua. After that I'll get back to sock knitting.

If you can't tell, I need a haircut something fierce.

Knitting in Bath, but not in _a_ bath

Sock Knitting in Ireland

The wind kept blowing my yarn around, which was really annoying. Today I'm off to London, meaning that in two days I'll be at a SNB with a bunch of Angloknitters. How cool is that?

Stricken in München

This is in the gazebo at the Englisch Garten in Munich, Germany. One of my challenges is snapping a shot of myself knitting in each locale I visit, so here's one checked off the list! There are a few of me knitting in Salzburg floating around on friends' cameras. I'll stick one of those up here eventually.

Oh, and here is the progress of my first sock (from the sock book entirely auf Deutsch).


Sock knitting is so nice because it's small and easy to take around. My shrug is coming along nicely but it's getting too big to lug around with me while traveling in town. Oh well.

I'm heading to Dublin on Saturday! :]

Ich habe zwei Garngeschäften gegangen.

"The Ingenious Sock Book." Yes, it's entirely auf Deutsch. That's just more motivation for me to keep studying! I can't wait until I can start making socks. The patterns are pretty nice, and it comes with a fab pattern/size converter.

I have been knitting while in Salzburg, but I don't have much to show. I'm making a shrug from a pattern on Caron Simply Soft Shadows (I'm on a green kick so I'm using Color 0006--Dark Moss). It's a very straightforward pattern and I'm about halfway finished. You basically knit cuff-to-cuff, show up the seams, then pick up stitches and make a ribbed edging.

In regards to the title, I have indeed been to two yarn shops in Salzburg. One is called "Die Wolle" (The Wool) and is in the Malle - Hemetsberger off of Universitätplatz. The owner speaks English and is incredibly nice. I may go back for some sock yarn and needles ... maybe. It's a bit expensive (as far as € to $, not overpriced). The second is one in the Europark ... you just take Bus 1 or Bus 20 all the way to the end and it's on the second floor. It's called Filati, and I think it only carries Filati/Lana Grossa yarn from Italy. Seeing as Italy is only five hours away it isn't as much of a stretch as you'd think. The yarn was beautiful, although a bit pricey. A nice silk/cotton blend would be sehr gut for a pair of socks ... O:)

I hope all is well in den USA. I can't say I miss it ... Europe ist fantastisch! Tschüss!

A Friendly FYI

Knit 2 Together by Mel Clark and Tracy Ullman is only $5.50 at Amazon.com. It is definitely worth $5.50. Jump on that! I'm currently making the Luxe Neck Warmer, and it's fabulous!

Caution: some of the yarn they use in this book is hella expensive. So. Be a smart shopper!


Additionally, I went to Yarn Haven today and I love love love love love it! Definitely one of my top LYSs now. When a yarn is discontinued they mark it down by 20%. How hot is that? This review on Lime & Violet sums it up quite nicely. So if you're ever in the Greater Toledo Area you should stop in. I'll definitely be participating in the Thursday night SnB sessions this fall.

Katamari Queen Earmuffs

I just finished the One Skein bathrug I was making for my grandma (no pics ... it's just like the one I made for myself many moons ago, but this one is in Peaches & Cream in Cream [har har] instead of the speckly stuff). So now I'm shifting focus to a set of Katamari Queen Earmuffs for my friend Lisa. I'll be making Katamari Prince Earmuffs for her husband.

To give you an idea of how dorkily perfect this is for them, I'll tell you that the first dance at their wedding was the cover of 'Que Sara Sara' from Katamari Damacy.

Yeah.

In other news, The Body Shop is the best store ever. Well, maybe besides H&M. Top two for sure. The Body Shop is entirely vegan (hot!) and H&M is the IKEA of clothing stores. Oh, so I guess IKEA would be number one, and The Body Shop and H&M right below it. I'm going there tomorrow! IKEA is awesome.

Okay ... less random, more knitting!

Grr ... FO!

This summer has been so awesome. I'm actually finishing knit and crochet projects!

Additionally, I am very bad at embroidering.

London SNB!

I am SO going to a London SNB Meeting!

A few days ago I sent an email to Stitch and Bitch London and they replied to let me know about a get-together on August 2nd at 6pm at Waterstones Book Store in Piccadilly Circus. So cool!

One of my self-made challenges for my European excursion is to knit in public in every city I go to. This will definitely help!

Here is my challenge list thusfar:
- one punk show a week
- drive a right-hand drive car
- knit in public in all locations I visit (Salzburg, Dublin, London, Stonehenge, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Munich, Venice)
- participate in a London stitch-n-bitch
- visit at least one tea shop in each place
- see at least one live concert (non-punk related)
- take a picture of every Mini I see (more for Steph & Q than for me)

Subsequently, if you'd like a postcard leave me a note and email me your address!
byebyelove@gmail.com

The cupcake madness continues ...

I finished my second cupcake hat/GPS holder.

I love that picture because it combines three things I love: cupcakes, knitted items, and music theory.

I've also begun a lace-like scarf. This is my first endeavor into the world of lace knitting ...

Although the colors are terrible, you can see the stitching pretty well. And it's coming along suprisingly quickly. I've decided that this scarf is going to be my plane/train/bus project while in Europe.

Up next: Grr!

Grr!

I love everything that Alice Bell creates ... but I am especially obsessed with her pattern in the latest Knitty!


Isn't that the cutest thing you've ever seen? As soon as I saw the pattern I instantly added it to my "top priority" project list. I want to use one as my washcloth when I go backpacking!

Vegan Passport Holder

For a vegan, I do a really sh**ty job of knitting vegan. Most non-animal product yarn is so unreliable and stiff and gross, though. So when I buy wool I make sure I know where it's coming from.

Well, from now on I'm trying out a 100% vegan yarn diet. And it's starting with Korella, a yarn made by Coats GmbH out of Germany (Coats & Clark in the US). It is 53% Flax/57% Acrylic and is an absolute dream to knit with. Brilliant, brilliant yarn.

And here is my first creation:

A nifty little passport holder. I stuck my ISID in there for good measure, and to keep the old passport company.

I love making stuff. It's like some weird manifestation and conglomeration of my materialistic nature and obsession with diy ethics.

Yarn Shop Map

I decided to catalogue all of the LYSs that I've been to ... everywhere.

Check it out.

Yellow pins are stores I have stepped foot in and (most likely) made a purchase in. The purple pins are stores I've been past or have heard of and am making a point to visit eventually.

In keeping with recent entries ...

Here is another one about cupcakes.

Well, a cupcake.

... a knitted cupcake.

... a cupcake that's supposed to be a baby hat, but is a GPS holder instead.
Neato!

Now that I'm back from NYC

... I can get back to business. Like that scary list of UFOs I need to work on. Here are some developments:

An incredibly gay-looking beanie for my friend Rob. That's pretty much just the crown, and considering I started this about two hours ago I think I'm making good time.

The first half of a Yorick scarf for my friend Keith. He wants to pick up hot Goth chicks in Japan. This might just help him achieve that goal.

Some non-craft related news:
- They filled up the pool at my apartment complex. As a result, I'll be in it pretty much all day tomorrow.
- I have watched so much Top Gear that my inner monologue is starting to sound quite British.
- In addition to the above, I called gas 'petrol' today while chatting with a friend. That's just wrong.
- I leave for Europe in 47 days OMG.