One Big-Ass update

As I haven't posted in a while, I figure I'll stuff a bunch of items into one post!

1) I went on the TTC Knit-A-Long on October 28th. I was on the North team and we hit AlterKnits (awesome new store at St.Clair W and Oakdale. They even serve food!), Knitomatic (Where Haley was kind enough to give us a goody bag of sock yarn and Reese Peanut butter cups), and Lettuce Knit (where our Sophie went nuts on the Lorna's Laces......again).

As for my swag, I didn't spend too much, just enough. And I bought no "random yarn" (def: yarn that you buy with no project in mind, just cause 'it's pretty' or 'it's on sale'. this yarn usually spends a LOT of time in your stash).

Check out the picks of my coat, Elvis (yes he knits!), and Sophie's mountain on Sophie's blog.

2) Socks are done! YAY my first pair of socks for me. I promise to post a pic later.

3) Work is busy. TOO BUSY. At least I am getting overtime pay so I can cover my aforementioned knit-a-long swag.

4) Just started a shawl to wear to my cousin Trevor's wedding next month. I still have to start sewing the dress (no, I am not knitting a dress. That would be extra stupid crazy).

That's it for now! Off to Queen Street to get rattail cord for my dress (thou shall not go to Romni, thou shall not go to Romni....)

Creativ Festival Goodness

The Creativ Festival was many weekends ago (I know, extra-slow blogger. I try). I went on a Saturday, which is unusual for me. I usually go on a Thursday or Friday night to avoid fabric-snatching old ladies, but I took 2 classes. The first was on machine knitting, which was very good. Makes me want to get a decent knitting machine, but I think I will master the $2-garage-sale Classic Bond first. The second class was continental knitting (I'm a right-handed thrower, like most in these parts). It takes a while to get the tension sorted out, but once you do, knitting is a breeze. Purling, however, leaves something to be desired.

As for the "show" itself: almost no knitting stuff. As usual, quilter's stuff was out in full force. So I loaded up on quilting and sewing stuff, and only got 3 knitting-related items: Addi Turbos (for $12 from Headwaters Wool) and 2 magazines.

OOOOHHHH!! And I was under budget to boot!

A little Gauging Snafu

First off, I want to say that Tool at the Molson Ampitheatre last Saturday was AWESOME!! If any of you get a chance to see them live, TAKE IT!!

On to the snafu...
When I first saw the Gatsby Girl Pullover in the Fall 2006 Interweave knits, I knew I had to knit it.

So I bought the yarn (a substitute, too poor for Rowan), got out my needles (3.5 mm) and set out to gauge this sucker. The pattern says 28 sts and 36 rows = 4" on larger (3.5 mm) needles. So I cast on about 30 sts and knit a few rows in stockinette stitich.

WAY to few stitches per inch.

So I tried 3.25 mm. Same result. As 3.25 was my smallest single point needles, I went to the Headwater Wool site to look into getting some smaller Addi straights. I decided to look at my LYS instead because Headwater doesn't carry quarter sizes (at least on their website they don't). The Addi straights there were too pricey, so I went to Wal-Mart and got Boye 2.75mm.

Still too few stitches per inch.

Then I took a good look at the pattern and realized something: the pattern only has a small stockinette section at the bottom of the pullover. The rest is mostly rib stitch (k1, p1).

So again with the 3.5 mm, using the right stitch. In the end, the right needle size was 3.75 (another trip to Wally's for some Boye's).

So the moral of the story is: Read the pattern first! (Especially if the stitch type isn't clearly stated in the gauge section).

Now if only I can make this pullover in less than a year....

...And nobody lost an eye!

But someone picked up extra stitches (10!) making a scarf, but we won't talk about it. After all, it was the yarn, not the six Coors light! But I digress...

Last Friday, I hung out with drunken knitters (because, you know, sober knitters are WAAAAY too normal!). When I told a certain redhead, he said "Someone's gonna lose an eye." No eyes or other body parts were lost, but fun was had! And I have 2 pictures to prove it.

Here is one of Sophie's super-neat skeleton, chillaxing in a sock designed and made by rocketbride. Look for it (hopefully, fingers crossed) in a knitty near you (if she can find a suitable photographer).NOTE: Sock pattern does not include skeleton.

Here is another awesome pic. Yours truly forgot her tape measure (and this is before the drinking started!) and I had to borrow one. Sophie's tape measure came with a few extras...

There's an arm-warmer and a few other objects I can't identify. Oh, and if you look closely, you can actually see the tape measure.

Good times, good times. I think I'll do it again next month!

Times they are A-Changing.....

New Year, New life. Including new boyfriend, which may shock some of you.

Truth be told, there were three things that were keeping me in my old relationship: Love, fear, and obligation. I think that towards the end, there was way more fear and a ton more obligation than there was love. And there was a bit of resentment thrown in for good measure. I mean, here I am at 27 and I kinda feel like I squandered my youth. And I ain't getting any younger. I just settled down to young because I was extremely afraid of ending up alone. Now I am alone (well at least living alone) and it isn't so bad. I am trying new things, and I intend to move back to Toronto by June 1st. Woohoo!

In other news: I am current destashing books, yarn and fabric on ebay. Just search for user madhatress.

So, if anyone know of an apartment available in the West end of Toronto, let me know!