Get off my back...

...you stinkin' shrug.

I can feel you watching me everywhere I go, but smothering will get you nowhere buddy. Just ask the Mystique pattern that keeps "bumping" into me as I try to clean the unholy sty that I occasionally call a bedroom. Familiarity breeds contempt, and the more you harangue me about finishing (or casting on--I'm looking at you Mystique) the more appealing the non-demanding Cinched Waist top becomes.

Picking up the number of stitches that you keep insisting I need to requires fortitude...and possibly some liquor...or an incredible, yet non-consuming movie. Maybe I'm exaggerating--you're not really asking for much. But in a world recently filled with Malabrigo Sock, how can you expect me to stay focused?

Speaking of, I have to get back to my busy schedule of staring at the Mal and wondering which pattern is worthy of it.

A day without yarn

Well, if I'm being honest with myself I could never survive a day without yarn. My conspicuous absence yesterday (it was conspicuous--I have followers now! *yarny dance*) stemmed from the fact that I'd spent 6 hours at the mall helping my dad. The local mall was hosting a "hurricane expo"--this being Florida and all--and my father's office was invited not only to man a booth, but also to give intermittent presentations. However, complications meant that for a good part of the day, my mom and I were manning the booth--causing me to kick myself for not having the foresight to pack a project.

Also, someone needs to alert the mall that they've made a serious oversight: they have absolutely no craft stores.

To celebrate getting through a day filled with false smiles, talking to strangers, and carrying heavy objects, I devoted myself to finishing the back of the DIC Shrug. This morning I hit ribbing once more, meaning that if I work my tail off I might be able to finish the shrug in just over a week.

Unfortunately, between the mall and the shrug I've been unable to devote any time to uploading pictures. I would promise their impending addition to the blog--but I sense you're begining to doubt me.

YAY! Someone's reading this!

(hug) to Jamie!

I'm still working on pictures; hopefully they will be up by the end of the weekend!

In other news, I took yesterday off from the KAL in order to cast on with some of the acrylic yarn I found in my stash. I'm making the Cinched Waist Top by Vladimir Teriokhin from Vogue Spring/Summer 2006. I think I found enough Simply Soft Brite in Rose Violet to make the top--and maybe even add some extra frill, or longer sleeves. I decided it would be easier to give into temptation and knit a few inches of the corset waist--then get back to the DIC Shrug.

Don't tell Surfie.

Failure

My resolve has already cracked.

This morning, my mom offered to take me to the awesome local yarn store--the Knit and Stitch. I initially declined: I knew the temptation that lurks in Cocoa Village, and I didn't want to put myself in danger of breaking the yarn diet. However, I decided to check the store's newsletter anyways. (I told myself that I wanted to check the class schedule...yeah right.)

All it took was the phrase "shipment of Malabrigo sock yarn" and we were in the car. Well...actually, we had to wait for a thunderstorm to pass--during which time I convinced myself that I only wanted to meet the yarn. I'd never seen it in person, and it's always good to feel a yarn for future reference (that sounds oddly dirty--but we'll ignore the potential psychological ramifications).

In the car I decided that if they had any of the three colors that I'd been stalking at Eat.Sleep.Knit (indiecita, solis, and terracotta) I would buy one skein--but that was all I was allowed.

When I arrived, I found what I really should have anticipated: a decimated Malabrigo sock section. They'd had all the colors in at the begining of June, but they'd sold faster than water and bleach right before a hurricane (why do we need the bleach for a hurricane? Really, someone tell me).

But amongst the wreckage: five skeins of terracotta. I know own two of them.

However, I'd like to believe that the knitting gods don't really mind: as a sign of good faith, they graced me with a free knitting pattern for a beautiful shawl.

What was that about an honors college?

So I frequently have moments when I realize that I've missed something obvious. For example, during my first blog post, when I substituted "darn" for my usual colorfully unladylike vernacular it took me three paragraphs to realize that it wasn't just a nicety to my potential readers (if I have readers), it was also a pun.

Or the fact that every few months I realize that the Stitch (copyright Disney) key chain I attached to my needle binder is oddly appropriate, though completely unintentional. (Maybe my subconscious loves indulging in puns when it knows I'm not looking?)

For the ESK DIC KAL (eat.sleep.knit dream in color knit-along; if no one is reading I might as well use abbreviations) I decided to continue my new habit of recklessly flying in the face of instructions--instead of knitting flat, I'm knitting in the round. I tried to think through the problems this might pose to the project as a whole and decided it would be fine.

Last night I noticed something strange going on with my shrug--the sleeves had lovely little stripes going in quick succession, but the back of the shrug was knitting up into bigger stripes and blocks of color. I'm ashamed of how long it took me to figure out my knitting phenomena. Eventually it hit me: knitting in the round for the sleeves caused different color alignments than knitting flat for the back.

In recognition that I'm a darn idiot, I will leave you with this:
Midvale

Good Behavior is encouraged

Despite manifold temptations from my favorite online yarn store (see the links to the right), I've been a good girl and I've stuck to my yarn diet. I've watched as skein after skein of my favorite yarns have arrived in new colors, and my favorite colors have waltzed in on new yarns. Each time I feel my addiction leap forward, I try to remind myself of next years tuition. I may have money for the minute, but in a few months I really and truly need to be an adult--a transition that will be so much easier if I stop acting like a spoiled brat and start the maturation process now.

It might also help that I'm having recurring nightmares about trying to pack up all of my stuff and move out of my dorm.

The universe has smiled on my attempts to be a realistic and sensible person--a fact that hit home today.

So far I've had very nice evaluations (my college doesn't rely on a grade system--but trust me, written evaluations might make you miss a good old anonymous GPA), but today I received a doozy. It's always satisfying to do well in a difficult course--especially when the teacher is at times scant with her praise. I believe that this good (okay, great) evaluation is cosmically connected to my trying to reign in my wild yarn accumulating ways.

But even better than getting a good evaluation:

While I was cleaning my death corner (a corner of my room that is notoriously avoided during other cleaning sprees because it is more or less a black hole of doom devouring all the odds and ends that I'm never sure what to do with) I discovered yarn that I don't remember purchasing.

Really pretty yarn. Enough to make a sweater with.
Who needs to buy yarn, when you can discover it for free?

For once I'm glad that there's more room to clean...who knows how many potential sweaters may be hidden in there?

It's not you, it's me

Dear Surfie,

It's not that I don't love you...I just think that we need to take a break. You probably saw me this afternoon, working on the Dream in Color shrug with it's tantalizing lace pattern and sultry color variegation. It's not that I want it more--I signed up for that knit-a-long before I even met you. You don't want me to back away from a commitment do you? What kind of knitter would that make me?

Please just give me a week, and I promise I'll come back to you. I'll knit you for the rest of the summer...but maybe we'll do some double dates.

I miss you, painstaking stitches and all,
Twitch