Tuesday, September 09, 2008

I'm wearing this today.

Sarena (shrug)
Yarn: Stupid Lion Brand Cashmere Blend in Camel
Needles: US 8 circular, Tapestry needle
Pattern: Free
Raveled here

It's been a while since I knit anything and my favorite excuse has been that it's too damn hot to be touching yarn and I'm surprised anyone's knitting anything right now because obviously we should all be running amok in our bikinis and drinking icy things with umbrellas in them.

But then, I'm not doing that either. Sad.

And that's because I decided to go back in the water with the evil yarn and needles to knit something. ACTUALLY, I finished knitting something. Perhaps just so that I wouldn't have to run around in my bikini because hellooo. Still though, let's not get distracted.

Please join me while I gape in amazement because this knitting business has been a rare occurrence despite the header up here that's obviously a liar.

Thanks to Philigry, who makes a million gorgeous knitted things at a rate that is just thisclose to nutty, I found a pattern and an FO that convinced me to stop whining about the utter failure of my Hourglass Sweater (I don't want to talk about it) and just get back on the horse that is knitting.

And, y'all, I do not like horses. Big scary teeth, etc.

Anyway, I think the thing she said that convinced me went something exactly like, "This is a great beginner pattern. If you can knit, purl, cast on and off, you can make this."

Yes. My thoughts were that I might as well be a beginner with the shit sandwich I made of that Hourglass sweater, and while I clearly can't do math, stitch a consistent gauge when using two needles of the same size (Addi, I have a bone to pick with you, beotch) or make two things the same size (Sleeves, you're not my favorite either) - I was confident that I could still HOPEFULLY knit, purl, cast on and cast off.

Thankfully it appears that this confidence was not misplaced. And, AND the sleeves are the same length, size and gauge which I think you may realize is a small miracle.

I'm sad that this is a reality of my life.

But I am happy to say that when presented with a project that, by all accounts (Philgry + Ravelry + Berroco = All) is "very easy", I can actually follow the 4 line pattern through 8 skeins of yarn and turn out something that resembles the pattern instead of a big pile of horse doo.

What I'm not happy to say is that I was too gun shy from previous horrible failures to buy yarn for this going back into the water business, so I went into my stash to see if I had anything I needed to use and wouldn't make me want to cut myself if it got jacked up from intense frogging which resulted in me unearthing some Lion Brand Cashmere blend. This sad yarn was purchased during a misguided whim back when one of their catalogs showed up at my house with a pair of awesome "Cashmere Arm Cozies" knitted from this "cashmere" yarn.

And you know how I can't resist fingerless gloves y'all. And that is just what "Cashmere Arm Cozies" really are - fingerless gloves with long arms.

Now, why, after all this time avoiding their prickly nylon-y yuckiness, I decided it would make sense to buy four skeins of their yarn for the purpose of knitting cabled fingerless gloves WAY beyond my threshold of patience, I do not know. But I did it anyway. And then I knitted about four inches of one "cozy's" arm before throwing the whole thing in the WIP basket and walking away.

Because I hate cabling (sorry, I have anger issues specifically with cable needles) and also because I was not so wild about the blend of this particular yarn. Because it's not so much a cashmere blend as it is WOOL (see I can't wear wool) with some nylon (EW) and a scant amount of cashmere (specifically 13%). And, according to my fellow Ravelers, it pills like a bitch.

OH WHOOPIE. Something to look forward to.

So, here is what I learned in class today:
  1. Never use Lion Brand Yarn when you could be using Lana Grossa Pashmina
  2. I can knit things that don't look like poo
  3. Cabling is not for me
  4. This is a nice shrug for those days when September thinks it's fall (today)
  5. If I try not to think about it, I might get through the day without ripping the 72% wool away from my skin

14 comments:

  1. You said the F word.

    And, yes, I will be attempting this one because I actually am a beginner (as demonstrated by my tube top of a headband that is up on my site).

    Yours is gorgeous. BTW, did you ever show us your ugly librarian sweater? Did I miss it?

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  2. oh, i love it! I've been looking for something "easy" because my MIL's birthday is in a month. I just might try this.

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  3. It's nice that you're knitting things, and I'm glad your projects don't look like poo (but maybe they look like pink shits?) (HAHAHAHA), but I'll be glad when you get back to garden updates so I can comment intelligently. Because the crafty stuff goes right over my (NOT CRAFTY) head.

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  4. That is a way cute shrug. Me likey.

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  5. Ok, I'm a guy who has knit a few times (not much success, nor much completion), so as GAY as it's going to sound, I'm going to say that looks like it turned out really damn good! Congrats to you!

    And I love the Finny tag in there - cool!

    Wait, was this one of those posts where we're supposed to comment on melons?

    Cute puppy too!

    And yer just gonna have to accept it - F..a..l..l.. is just about here!

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  6. PS Love the modeling poses! Seriously!

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  7. Very, very nice Finny. And now you must get busy knitting some sort of butt cozy 'cause when it gets cold, you're hiney is going to need some cover for the decoration in those jeans!

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  8. Fin-Fin! This is so bella, it looks like it should be in one of those knitting magazines. I'm so jealous!

    And oh GAWD, yes, I too know the horrors of Lion Brand yarn. Specifically when I was naive enough to fall for it being recommended in a knitting mag and realizing far too late that it was all just an evil subliminal marketing ploy, resulting in my first full official sweater being knitted with total and complete junk that had *gasp* acrylic in it. Don't remind me, the horror, the horror!

    Countdown??

    PS Alessandro in *this exact moment* without even knowing I was writing you a comment, says, "Jessy vota per McCain??"

    WHAT?

    "Perchè sembra che può essere una a cui potrebbe piacere la Palin."

    WHAT?!?

    "Are you serious or are you joking?" I ask.

    He bursts out laughing. "Are you serious?" he says. "Do you think she'd go for someone who advocates shooting wolves from an airplane? I think no," he says. And this shows that perhaps he knows you better than I thought??

    Baci!

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  9. you are working it!! Love it Fin. Nicely done!
    And the tags are fab-u.

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  10. Awesome knittery. I too cannot stand to knit when it's warm. Knitting (and tight pants) are the only things that get me through football season.

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  11. I need that for my office where it is a chilly 70 degrees since it is still 9freaking7 degrees outside.

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  12. The race is oh-so-close, I need a running update.

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  13. The weather has shifted a little this week. Looks like you'll get lots of wear out of that shrug!

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  14. this turned out sso nice! I am in love with the color! I think i need to amke another one for myself in black! fab! It looks great on you.

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[2013 update: You can't comment as an anonymous person anymore. Too many douchebags were leaving bullshit SPAM comments and my inbox was getting flooded, but if you're here to comment in a real way like a real person, go to it.]

Look at you commenting, that's fun.

So, here's the thing with commenting, unless you have an email address associated with your own profile, your comment will still post, but I won't have an email address with which to reply to you personally.

Sucks, right?

Anyway, to remedy this, I usually come back to my posts and post replies in the comment field with you.

But, if you ever want to email me directly to talk about pumpkins or shoes or what it's like to spend a good part of your day Swiffering - shoot me an email to finnyknitsATgmailDOTcom.

Cheers.