So, I'm having a bit of fabric anxiety. You know when you get a really lovely fabric and you have to take scissors to it, but need to have a lie down at the thought?
Yeah.
I've been working on Na'ama's pants skirt. The fabric she sent me is this goooorgeous eyelet lace tablecloth. My solution is tand am getting ready to transform them into a really coolo work on the patches while I screw my courage to the sticking point about the fabric.


In sock-land, I've finished one of the Daughter!socks and started the second. They're in Knitpick's Dancing, Ballet. There it is, right next to the pansies and on top of the catnip.
I've swatched for MladyM's socks and have the measurements, so I can start once I finish the Daughter!socks. They will be in Knitpick's Simple Stripes, Vineyard than you can see in the picture and soft as a baby's behind. These are going to be really nice socks.. The yarn is more beautiful She's trading me some hand made Christmachanuyule cards for them and they are going to be *ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS* She's even making some different ones for Yule, some for Christmas, and some for Chanukah. My holidays are complicated.
So, things are moving along pretty well. I'm only focusing on two projects right now rather than four or five. I do still have that damned shawl to work on, but I've put it on the back burner because I think I'm too stupid for lace right now. Best to get caught up on all the socks. Of course that means that Iree's groovy cool (I hope) cardigan is going to have to wait. I've not even swatched it yet. No worries.

I want to swatch that fair isle I charted. I want it baaaaad. Sooooo baaaaad. It's all Greek and it's going to be rainbowdy and so very cool. I've got to pull it together. I've got to work on the projects I've already got going. Have you seen the sidebar? Have you seen how many things I've got going? That reminds me - I need to add a couple things.

Gods above and below, save me from myself.

Okay, so I've returned from the gathering and guess what - I have another project to do and more yarn to order.
Oh no. Not more yarn. Please Brer Fox, don't throw me into that box full of squashy yarn. Anything but more yarn.
(We must increase our stash, it is our precioussssssss)

Oh, I got Steph's new book. Gods bless that woman. I'm only on chapter three and laughing my ass off. Totally worth it.

Yes, Beck, you can borrow it.

Down to the wire. We're short on Bardic Olympics prizes by maybe one or two.
Hmm...
Embroidery? - too distracted
Knitting? - no time.
a garment to sew? - umm, no.
crochet? - maybe. I've even got a project half done.

Then the inspiration hits. I have a canvas that's been half-painted for the longest time. I couldn't even say how long. So I throw a couple crows onto it (which is what it's been needing) and then stop before I overwork it.
I really like it, it's very cool.
Maybe I shouldn't give it away?
No, I should totally give it away.
I hope it doesn't suck.
What if they're not into crows?
Is this a self portrait? Am I being vain?

...you'll have to forgive me. I get a fair peice more emotional over something I've painted than any of the needle crafts I do. And I'm going through all the "I've just finished a painting" emotions within the space of 20 min rather than drawn out over several days or weeks.






So, yeah. Here's the photographic evidence. I hope the photos do it justice.

One down.

I finished one of the Husband!Socks. He has yet to try it on, but according to my calculations, it should fit perfectly. Here are pictures:













The second picture has my hand there to get an idea of the scale of this sock. It's 72 sts in all, but the yarn is double stranded to make the gauge reasonable. Single stranded would have been over a hundred some-odd stitches per round.
Love in every stitch...and there are lots of stitches.
Perhaps it is just as well that he doesn't want a sweater.

Oh, and knitpicks is out of the yarn until June. I'm going to need two more balls of it before I can finish. So, that's six balls of Knitpicks' Essential. I'll have some left over, but that's alright. I'm good with that. I could make myself at least another pair from the leftovers.

I also finished these for a Bardic Olympics prize:























Both butterflies are native to Tennessee and I have embroidered them as best as I could so that they would be identifiable while you were blowing your nose and looking at butterflies in the wild. 'Cause you might.
One never knows about these things!

As long as everyone remembers to make and/or gets made in time what was promised, we'll be in business. By my count, I think I lack only one prize, but the CoWs may yet surprise me. They usually do and in the most pleasant ways.

So, a quick update.

Iris knit one more row tonight, more or less by herself.

I've made a little progress on the Mystery Shawl and I'm approaching the end of clue 4. I actually have nine more rows to go on this clue.

We got our KnitPicks order today, which means I can make more progress on the Husband!Socks (which I've nicknamed foot-sweaters) and then start on a pair of socks I'm making for a lady. She has size 6 feet, so that will be a fair sight quicker than the Husband!Socks.

I got the materials and measurements for a bridesmaid's dress I'm making for extra pennies.

I'm distracted by random cross-stitching.

I still don't have the fabric I need to finish cutting Miss Kell's cloak that I wanted to have done by now.

I feel some startitis coming on. I think I caught it from Becky

By the by, Thanks to all the CoWs for their booty-kicking efforts in providing prizes for the Bardic Olympics.

I have to brag. Check this out! She's four and a half and knitting. Not to mention reading. She still needs a little help on both, but I am so amazed. I'm going to cry, I think.



















She can only do the knit stitch right now, but this is so amazing to me. She'll sometimes call it cat barfing because of the knitting rhyme we do.

In the front door
Grab your scarf
Go out again
Before the cat barfs

At this point she makes a fake burp sound and giggles. She loves knitting!


She did one row of ten stitches tonight and probably another row tomorrow night. She says she's making a monkey scarf.

Just a shortish post today.
I've started making two embroidered hankies. I did two designs with butterflies that are native to Tennessee. They're pretty cool. One's a southern dogface, one of the sulfurs, and the other is an Appalachian azure. I chose those because of their names and because they're not just monarchs or even zebra swallowtails. Those are very pretty, but not everyone knows these other ones.

I'm making slow progress on the Mystery shawl 2, but it is progress and I only actively hate it when I'm on the part where I have to knit lace on the purl row. I'm actually quite proud of my knitting monogamy, but it's slow going. I want desperately to finish the Husband socks and move on to...smaller socks. I also want to maybe make a fair isle cardigan for my little one. She'd totally be cute in such a thing.

Okay, so today and yesterday we worked on the Ostara quilt and in all our virtue got maybe three or four blocks done each day.
We're not getting it done by Ostara. It is too much. Right now, due to the cessation of usability of one of Becky's captain's chairs, we've had to put it on folding chairs and sit on the floor to quilt. Soooo, we've asked Mr. Carl to make feet for it. It hurts us, precious.
From stem to stern, my right side hurts. Wrist, hip, ankle, and head. This does not make for much quilting at all.
On the upside, Becky finished her contribution to CoW prizes and I think she's going to have another one as well. I'm thinking maybe a set of embroidered hankies 'cause I enjoy doing those.
So, our plan is to set the quilt up for Ostara for to work on and hope we can get it done by Beltaine. It'll be okay.

tired now.
I got three, maybe four rows done on Mystery shawl#2. I want to be done with this...thing. I'm certain it will be lovely except for the places where I frelled up and it looks like poop on string. I've seen poop on string, very nice string, in fact. It's not a pretty sight.
I got one and maybe a quarter of a second block quilted on the quilt that CoW is doing for Ostara and I am so done with that quilt. It too will be lovely when it's finished, and I've got others doing this with me, but we have little time and much to do.
I did manage to wrangle a Bardic Olympics prize out of Herr Jim. That makes...(counts in head) five? Which means we need five more which means oh ye Gods I'm stressing out way too much over this, I think.
I don't even have a birthday present for my sister. Perhaps I should rename the blog "A lame mace is in jest" if just for today. I'm feeling whelmed.
tired now.
(isn't this where we came in?)

Just a short post today. I've added a few things over on the sidebar there, not the least of which is my OLYMPIC GOLD MEDAL! Go me!
I've also added a list of items that are currently in progress. woot!

I managed a small paid job yesterday. A lady, a transplant from New York, was hanging out with her sister and her sister's grandbabies at the park yesterday. She had this groovy leather vest with all kinds of Vietnam-related patches on it and she asked if I could sew some on for her. I told her what I charge and hooray! Pennies for me! I'll have to get some more button thread for this kind of thing, but it's totally doable.
I've also got a pair of pants that is going to be a skirt from my friend Na'ama that she's paying me to fix up and a bridesmaid's dress from a friend of my L.A. Bill (that's John's stepdad).
Go me!
I guess it's more mystery shawl today, but I'm okay with that 'cause it needs to get done.