its just like knitting a bike...

its just like knitting a bike...
Originally uploaded by Skeintily Clad

i'd forgotten how to turn a heel.

a few years ago i could do it in my sleep. but i stopped knitting. and now i want to start again. i've got a perfectly good sock-and-a-half that have been sitting on the needles for a year or three... no problem, right? just finish that second sock and BAM, i'm back in the knitting groove. well, @*&#$&(%#.

its all good. i'd like to thank West Wing (season 2), Underwood Cellars Pinot Noir (2009), and Cosmic Pluto's short row heel tutorial for the assist.

oh, and this might also be my way of saying 'hi, i think i'ma start blogging again!'

Angora Rabbit needs a home

I have a friend who is looking for a new home for a 1-yr old white english angora bunny. She will give her away free to a good home, cage included. I wish i could take her, but can't. If you live in the boston area and are interested, please send me an email.

Hello World

proof of my crafty existance:


I excavated a path to my sewing machine and started working on my quilts again. yeehaw. This Monkey Wrench (aka Friendly Hand or Milky Way) quilt top is finally coming together. and looking AWESOME if i do say so myself. I'm so easily impressed. haha.

I get terribly bored cutting hundreds of half-square triangles and i have a tendency to stuff quilts that i'm bored with in the closet for years at a time (ahem, pink baby quilt). I've developed a new strategy of working on two quilts simultaneously. My friend G says its strange, but i doubt i'm the only one to do this. Since they are each at different stages of the process if i get bored piecing individual squares, i can switch to sewing strips of squares that are already done on the Provencal quilt. This has allowed me to make tons of progress on both quilt tops without getting bored and doing something else entirely. I really want to finish these. The "Pirates of Provence" quilt was started over 4 years ago, and the Blue/Green one is a married present that is >2 yrs late. I'm almost done with both tops now!! yaay!

And no, i don't switch the thread color between quilts. There are more than a few people out there who will be horrified that i'm not using a matching thread for each quilt. Maybe i'm lazy, or maybe i'm just not fussy. i don't care. Since this is not hand sewn and not a decorative top stitch, these threads should never be seen, right? Why do they need to match the fabric??

where i is?

in the lab, mostly.

i have not posted here because i have an extreme case of creativelessness. By the time i make it home each night i have zero desire to do anything creative. No knitting, no spinning, no sewing. nothing. I just want to veg out and watch idiotic things like "Girls Next Door".

anyone have a spare muse they'd like to lend me?

There should be something pretty in this post... so here is a cool photo i took of the bridge in Charleston, SC.

Have you seen this sock?

Have you seen this sock?
Originally uploaded by Skeintily Clad

-- Ochre Alert -- this is an activation of the missing sock network --

Missing: one handknit sock.

Last seen: Saturday July 7th, 10 am. Reagan National Airport in the vicinity of Gate 44.

Height: 12 inches
Weight: 36 g
Color: shades of lavender and green (handpainted)
Age: 1 week old.

Distinguishing characteristics: superwash merino. Knit from the ankle down. Sock is finished, but ends are still loose. I removed it from my carry-on to compare length with the second sock. When i took out my knitting on the plane, the first one was gone. :(

Stashsplosion Saturday

Last Saturday I hosted a Craft Brunch & Swap & Dye at my house, aka "Stashsplosion". My house is not huge, we were quite full with about 12 people.

There was some actual swapping, but mostly people brought stuff that fell into the "this can't live at my house anymore" category. First we slopped a truly obscene amount of yarn into the middle of the living room floor. There was much fondling, ogling, bargaining, and laughing. Brunch and mimosa's helped. We shared stories of bad yarn decisions and abandoned projects. (I gave away a practically complete kids sweater. Its been stuck in that state for 5+ years. I am never going to finish it. Nor am i going to frog it. It is better that it just go to someone else's house where it might be worn someday.)

Two of the gals in attendance are new knitters without much personal stash. They each received a whole bag full of yarn to "seed" their new stash. Another attendee is allergic to wool, and she made out like a bandit! There was quite a lot of cotton and acrylic yarns in the pile that people no longer wanted, but that she could put to good use.

After a few hours we took a break, cleared the brunch, and i showed a few people how to dye yarn. Gina has been itching to knit Clapotis. I recently ordered some undyed merino/tencel for her and she decided that "Saturday is a good day to dye". (go ahead, try to say it without making the evil-badguy-in-a-Bond-movie voice. i bet you can't!) She painted up a whole whack of it for that project.

Surprisingly, nearly all that yarn found new loving homes! I explicitly said that the leftovers couldn't not stay at my house. Out of the whole pile of unloved yarn, only this one bag remained. I will deliver it to some church, school, or thrift store that might put it to good use. (Boston area suggestions welcome!)

mon Clapotis est finis

its a scarf...
Originally uploaded by Skeintily Clad.

its more of a mini-clap. width of a large scarf, but very long. and very warm!

600 yds of handpainted Bluefaced leicester yarn. 1 week of super easy mindless knitting. I know i'm years behind the pattern trends here, but i will agree with what others have blogged many times before. There is definitely a naughty little thrill in dropping stitches ON PURPOSE and not fixing them. tee hee.

Here i am wearing it in my lab, unblocked. I'm too lazy to block it and i rather like the curling anyway. Hey, i'm giving myself major credit for actually sewing in the ends the same week that i finished it. we've got to cherish our minor victories in life.