Knitting

...I just haven't had much to say.

I'm knitting on a variety of projects:

• a shawl I got fed up with a long while back and have finally returned to working on. It's going better this time.
• a pair of socks for Randy in Black Trillium's Heavy Merino Sock -- yum! I'm done with the first sock and working (top-down) on the leg of the second sock.
• I've finally cast-on something for me and by the time it's done, I probably won't need it: a shrug in Lion Brand Homespun. The great room can be quite chilly at times and I'd rather layer.
• a multiple-ditty bag project I'm dreaming up (inventing?) as I go. This one is using leftover sock yarns. So much for that sock yarn blanket I had planned...
• a little something for Valentine's Day. It's done, I just need to get some accessories.grin

I'm still working on my gaming character sheets. At this point, I'm trying to work on two sets at the same time. One is the v3.5e set and the other is a Pathfinder set. Not a whole lot has changed, but the parts that have affect the layouts of a couple of pages. I suspect Wizards might give me a little trouble in Pathfinder. I'm also struggling with creating class-specific pages for classes like Psionics -- classes I've never played. So, I'm talking to my three gaming groups and trying to get feedback on the data that's most critical.

I'd like to work up some spell sheets -- have the entire text of a single spell on the sheet, so the character's prepped spells are readily available. But some spells take so little room that they'd be a wasted of sheet space.

Randy has suggested a sorted list of monsters/creatures by various types. It's easy on the Wizards of the Coast site to do that sort of thing, if you've got their v3.5e Monster's page bookmarked. But what if you want only aquatic creatures? Or only desert creatures? I mean, a wandering monster check can't really give you Dire Sharks (do they exist in d20 SRD?) if you're in the middle of a desert, right? It looks like I'll have to build a database to do it right. Hmm...how do I do that again?

Meanwhile, I'm trying to pick up some JavaScript and PHP to add a Pathfinder template to the RPGProfiler we're using. It's times like this I miss having an office of my own -- less going on around me, less activities to catch my attention and drag me out of my very deep learning curve.

I came across a window cling designed by Jen Delyth of Keltic Designs last week. It's the perfect basis for a circular shawl, so I bought the cling. When I got home, I hunted down a website for her work and promptly sent her a message. Sure, I'd like to do all the work of designing this and turning it into a shawl, but when it's done, I'd really like to be able to sell the finished work. I received her response the other day:

Hmm... Should I still work on a shawl design for this? I'm not sure. I mean, I'm not a professional, so it'll probably take me a year, at least! I've still not completed the design on the shawl for my mom that I promised her. Sigh. Maybe I should finish Mom's shawl first and then work on this new idea?

But, speaking of my own designs, have you seen the little guy down on the right side of the blog lately? As of this writing, there's 39 projects of him and he's in 147 queues. Squee!

Lately, I've been feeling the need to get into something more mentally challenging. I think there's some things in my projects listed above which could fit the bill...I just need to clean my desk and get to it.

I've been meaning to post this all week....

Last Saturday, I went down to Gilbert with some friends to Mesquite Valley Alpaca Farm. We were able to actually go into one of the pens and sit with the alpacas. All 179 pictures are in their own set on my flickr.

Lindsay wants a kiss:

Buzz accepts some food from me:

Rowan looks all Celtic with Janus and another alpaca in the background:

Frank gets close to the alpacas:

Nick feeds an alpaca:

This cria (baby alpaca) is only 3 days old!

We had a blast and learned a lot from Linda, the owner of Mesquite Valley Alpaca Farm. Thanks for having us!

I have too many friends who've had mothers or mothers-in-law who have had too much power and influence in the wedding decisions. I can't stand by and watch in silence any more!!!! I am The Wedding Defender!

My super-power is to make the mother's of brides and grooms cry---it's not their wedding, damn it!!! Beneath my every-day clothing lurks the most awesome matron-of-honor gown, "automagically" appropriate to the wedding I'm about to attend next. With my powers, I cow the mothers whose demands reduce my friends to tears. Instead, I turn those tears back on the mothers, enabling sons and daughters to have the wedding of their dreams and thus ending the vicious cycle of Wedding Stealing!!!

If I had a "signal in the sky" it would be that tradtional image of two bells side-by-side, topped by a ribbon, which sends most females into "wedding frenzy". Shine my symbol in the sky and I'll come running! Mothers of the bride, beware of...

The Wedding Defender!!! (echo: er-er-er-er-er)

This post needs a little introduction. If you read here often (or as often as I write here these days...), you probably already know I'm addicted to Ravelry. I have about 95% of my stash photographed and listed in Ravelry. Since I already have my entire book collection entered on LibraryThing, it was relatively easy for me to put my entire library on Ravelry---I just have to remember to put any new books in both places. I browse for patterns, drool over yarns, destash and buy, swap and trade. I read a lot of posts and write a fair number myself.

One group I'm a member of is the Karma Yarn Swap. I love this group. To me, it's a microcosm of what Ravelry as a whole is: crafters taking care of each other and helping each other out. Most threads in this group are started by someone offering something they have they no longer want. The OP (original poster) might mention how (s)he wants the thread to be limited, if at all. There's a Purple thread, a Lace thread, a Dishcloth-cotton thread... And, when someone has the time and interest, there's a "Kick-Ass" thread which lasts for just an evening or an afternoon. Things swap *fast* during a KA thread; it's best to have a couple items you're willing to destash which could be considered KA and have the postings for them (with all the links and etc. ready to go), so you can just copy/paste and beat the clock.

But there's a newer thread which has caught my attention: the Rub My Lamp Swap. This one started differently. The OP "found" a genie lamp and rubbed it. She made three wishes and waited to see if someone out there could/would be her genie. (There's always fine print, but you can look at the top of the thread for those details.) Whoever said "I'll be your genie" then put their 3 wishes up...and so it went.

What does Mal say in Firefly's pilot? "The wheel never stops turning, Badger." And it came flying back to me in the form of a gifted genie lamp from Mysteri1229. I wracked my brains for three wishes---my birthday just came and went and I got the needles I'd really been hoping for... Oh! I forgot about my Wists. So, I sorted through there and made sure that the items I selected were all within guidelines. But, to be fair, I also made sure they weren't too restrictive. (At least, I hoped not.) DigitalDurga jumped in and said she wanted to be my genie. Well actually, she said:

Even with life stepping in and slowing things down on her end, my package arrived safe and sound today...and just blew my socks off! I was able to compromise with my camera and get some fairly decent shots of all that came in the box.

One of my wishes was for buttons for the sweater I want to make Randy. The pattern calls for 10 3/4" buttons. She sent me five groups of ten! Wow!!!! I haven't started on the sweater yet, so I don't know which of these I'll use.

I mentioned I'm just learning to really crochet. So I asked for some really cool freebie patterns that were favorites of my genie. She sent me three rosewood crochet hooks and a 2GB Cruzer with patterns on it! My favorite two patterns so far are the (crochet) Asian Dragon and the (knit) Vernal Equinox Shawl Surprise. The Asian Dragon is a purchased pattern which can be purchased on Ravelry or at Skyfirearts Creations.

I also asked for some SpindleCat Studios stitch markers. I listed a couple single markers that I like because I know I am picky. I bought a whole bunch of stitch markers a couple years ago and have been giving away or selling them, because they aren't a style I like. If someone might be spending their hard-earned money on a wish for me, I wanted them to have a chance to please me. *grin* Well, my genie went overboard. She got three different kinds of markers. Two were of the styles I requested---and one of those there's 4 of! And the third style? A hook-style for crochet! That's my first crochet stitch marker!

So, I'm sending out a huge thank you to Mysteri1229 for RAKing me with the Lamp. And another huge thank you out to DigitalDurga for her amazing package of goodies! I am honored to know such generous people. Crafters rock!

I thought I'd break my long (unintentional) silence with a post about lace. I've probably said it all before though... My husband may soon commit me to some twelve-step program for lace addicts 'cause I love the lace.

And yet... it drives me kinda insane.

To be fair, some of the problem is being a Sinister knitter. I never know exactly when I should follow the directions and trust it to all work out, like my "nephew" Soren's baby sweater:

Those who know the Baby Kimono pattern, mine came out backwards. I followed the directions...and that means left becomes right and right becomes left for me.

For lace, there's just a whole plethora of questions, which I found myself asking over in the GoddessKnits group. As always, Renee was quick to pop in with clarifying examples and others chimed in with suggestions of how to handle the charts.

As you can see over on the right, I'm currently working on Renee's pattern, Dracula's Bride. It's going to be absolutely *stunning* when it's done...and I'm going to have earned every single blasted "oooh" and "aaah" I get! *snort*

I should try to take it out and get some decent pictures of it...but have you ever heard what unblocked lace looks like? I think the term "yarn barf" is close, despite that term being frequently ascribed to the part of the skein that comes out when you're trying to find the inside end.

For other Sinister knitters who wish to try their hand at lace, let me save you lots of trouble: read the charts LEFT to RIGHT on the right-side rows and vice-versa on the wrong-side rows. So far, I haven't needed to change any specific stitches, just the order to read them in. I've been meaning to go in to Tempe Yarn and Fiber and sit down with Terry and see what, if any changes a Sinister knitter needs to make for slanting increases and decreases that are not symmetrical.

Oh...and for this shawl, I once again ordered from Beadaholique.com. They were incredibly speedy in getting my order out, even though I didn't put a rush on it... (You know how it is when you're jonesing to start a new project and waiting for supplies...)

Speaking of shawls and lace... I've been back to work on the Trinity Wedding Shawl/Stole for my mother. The pattern itself is less unwieldy now---I managed to streamline it down to "only" twelve pages...from 27! So, hopefully, I can stared alternating work between the Trinity shawl and Dracula's Bride. And maybe take some pictures of both!

...is on sale!

I'm stalking Perchance to Knit for colors I can use or drool over as more "Susie Yarn" is added to the shop. That's what we call it here in my house. And it's the only yarn my husband wants socks out of. He swears it's like wearing a shiatsu massage all day on his feet!

But, there's a new shop to look at, for the spinners out there. Not only could I purchase "Susie Yarn", I could also stock up on some "Susie Roving" over at Perhance to Spin! Oh, yum....

I debated sharing this news with my small readership, 'cause I'm not gonna be here all day to catch each skein as it's uploaded! I'm off to catch "Quantum of Solace" this afternoon (yum...popcorn!).

After that, we're headed to Home Depot where I plan on looking for heavy gauge copper wire to make our Christmas Saguaro from. More on that when there's something to show.

So, head over to those two Etsy shops and get your knit on! I'm sure there's someone on your gift list who either loves knitted items or loves to knit (or spin)!