Ladies and Gentlmen,

Please fasten your seatbelts and observe the no smoking sign.

I'll be back in the states pretty soon. Hopping on a plane on New Years and heading back for some Western culture and logic. See you guys soon!

That is after I get over the jet lag!

The Christmas Haul

Christmas Presents
Originally uploaded by magicknits

I decided not to post the other presents (most of which are video games, but also an awesome Spam shirt) since this is a knitting blog and I know that you're all more interested in the fiber content. So without adieu, here is the haul:

8, yes, count them, 8 skeins of Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock Multi.
2 skeins Noro Silk Garden
1 skein Noro Kureyon
12 skeins Knit Picks Essential Sock (the fall sampler packet)
Digital Knitting Counter
Stitch Markers

Yeah, I cleaned up!

Thank you to my family for all the yarn! I was completely surprised to see this much show up here in Korea! Woot!

Knit on...

Better Pictures

Sahara1
Originally uploaded by magicknits

DF took some better pictures this weekend of Sahara, so here is my favorite one of the bunch for your viewing enjoyment. Up next: The Christmas Haul.

Knit on...

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to you all! Happy Holidays!

May they be filled with yarny goodness....
Needles that never break....
Family you love....
Friends who will be with you, whether near or far away....

Merry Christmas, everyone!

The Voodoo Parade

Sorry there was no post yesterday. Somewhere between the massive amount of snow, the freezing temperatures, and the class schedule, I forgot to take a picture of the massive amount of voodoo wrist warmers. I finished the seventh, yes, seventh pair last night and here they are:I have one more pair to make today and I know they'll get done. I have to make one masculine pair for the one guy I'm giving something to, so I'll knock those out today and get working on DF's presents.

It snuck up on me this year for sure!

Knit on...

That Voodoo That You Do

That's the Christmas present that everyone is getting around Naju this year from me: Voodoo wrist warmers. They're fast, easy, and I can meet my goal of one pair a day until Christmas Eve to get them all finished I think. Anyways, here's pair number one:Yarn is some German superwash that I've never heard of from the LYS in Naju. They got comments at work yesterday which is good since that's who all I'm making these for. I'm hoping to get two pair done today between work and after school, so we'll see if I can meet that goal.

Other than that, I gave up on knitting presents this year for people. I just let time slip away from me here. I had wanted to make house socks, but I wasn't feeling the worsted weight sock love this year, so that one stalled and never made it past the first finished sock (I should probably finish the second just to get it over with). So, voodoo is such an easy pattern and the ribbing keeps me slightly entertained, which is why it's the present of choice now.

And thank goodness it's Friday!

Knit on...

Finished!

Without further adieu, I bring you the finished Sahara:Another nickname for this sweater is Boobs. When I showed it to my neighbor, she was like, You have boobs! Guess everyone is used to seeing me in the baggy sweatshirts and what not which hides my belly fat, and in turn the boobage. Here's the side shot:It shows off the boobage and also the belly. This is a sweater that's only going to look better and better as I lose some weight, so I'm excited about that.

Today is our school festival and to celebrate, I'm wearing the newly finished Sahara sweater. I'm looking forward to how everyone likes it. Hopefully they'll think it looks nice and not think that a fitted sweater is too tight, even though I tried to explain to them the concept of fitted yesterday and that didn't seem to work out well. Oh well!

Knit on...

I Give

Yeah, so I keep forgetting to post anything at work, so I give up and I'm posting from home today before I even get into school. Anyways, here's Sahara so far:Only thing left now is the neck edging which I'm really hoping I can finish up today so that I can wear this thing to the school festival tomorrow. I also had a bit of an earring fiasco this weekend.
Here are my new 16 gauge captured ball earrings. It only took about an hour to get the stupid things in. It wasn't because I was going up gauge, it was actually because of those stupid little balls. DF had to get them in for me and after an hour, we both agreed that I'm not taking these dumb things out! :oP

Knit on...

Almost There...

Sahara
Originally uploaded by magicknits

Sahara is almost completely done now. I finished the first sleeve last night and started the second one. Now I've just got to get that one knit and the neckband knit and the sweater is all done. I've even been good and have woven in the ends as I go so that I don't have to worry about the finishing at the very end, aside from two or three neckband ends.

Come on, Sahara! I'm ready to wear you!

Knit on...

PS: I'm starting to feel more human now. Still coughing and snotty, but no more fever and I went back to work.

We Interrupt This Knitting Blog...

To bring you Korean Flu 2008.

Yes, I have the flu. Yes, it sucks. Yes, I called in to work today because I felt like crap.

No, I have not knit much. I think I am about to remedy that now!

Knit on...

Now I Really Want It Finished...

Sahara try on
Originally uploaded by magicknits

I made the mistake of trying on Sahara this morning and man, does it fit like a glove! The measurements are perfect right now. I really want it to be finished now that I've tried it on. I still have two long sleeves and a neck edging and stitching to finish before it's wearable, but I think this very well may become one of my favorite sweaters. I like the fit so well that I am contemplating buying Labyrith from the same designer so that I can get another nice hourglass-shaped sweater under my belt. I'll probably pick up Wendy's book Custom Knits too so that I can make all my sweaters fit my odd measurements!

Today I didn't bring the sweater to work. It's just so big that it's hard to travel with it, so instead I brought dishcloth cotton to crochet a couple of cloths and a skein of the Shepherd Worsted to wind into a ball so that I can start the neck edging as soon as I hit the apartment, assuming I'm not so tired that I just crash and fall asleep. Today is one of my long days at work, so we'll see.

Knit on...

Sahara Progress Report

Sahara
Originally uploaded by magicknits

Here is the sweater after knitting all the hip increases last night. I should be done with the body of the sweater tonight and then can move on to the sleeves. I am hoping to get some spinning done tonight, so if I don't get the neck edging done on the sweater, I won't be too worried. I will be trying the thing on tonight though once I get the bottom diamond edge ribbing done. I'm rather excited.

Yeah, it doesn't take much, does it? :oP

Knit on...

Noro Socks

Noro Socks
Originally uploaded by magicknits

Well, I finished the Noro Socks yesterday and after wearing them today, I have to admit that they are one of the cushiest and nicest feeling pair of socks I own. No, they will not be replacing my Lorna's Laces by any means since that sock yarn is by far my favorite so far, but I think that if I am ever gifted more Noro, I will probably make another pair. It is thick and smooshy and I didn't have much of an issue with knots (only one) or sticks and twigs like other people have had. I made this a 56 stitch sock instead of a 64 stitch because the yarn is very thick compared to my normal go-to sock yarns. Still, it made for a very enjoyable pair of socks, even if the yarn was a little tough to work with. Up next: Sahara.

Knit on...

Some Days

Yeah, so for some reason my computer at work decided that it would be a great thing to run REALLY slow. Hopefully it was just for today, but everyone was having issues with their computers, so maybe someone managed to get a virus into the servers or something. I don't know much about viruses other than they suck and I really don't want them on my computer, be it work or not. So you're getting a late blog entry today until I see if I can blog easier from work tomorrow. Here's the state of the Noro sock as of this morning:I tried to make the socks match, but as is normal Noro for me, there was a knot tied in it, so the color changed a little quicker than it did on the first sock. That's all right though since I still enjoyed the color changes and knitting the sock. I have since finished it, but I'll leave that for tomorrow's blog post since I'll be wearing my nice, new, very warm silk garden socks tomorrow to work.

The kids have really enjoyed my socks. They see me knitting socks in the teacher's room when I don't have class and then look at my feet when I come to class to see if they remember me knitting those socks. It has become a sort of game with some of my third years as to what color socks Leah will be wearing today. Kinda cute actually.

And on one last side note, I was called a vampire yesterday my one of my students. I had straightened my hair and had on some darker lipstick than I normally wear since I'm now out of my normal shade, so I chalked it up to that. Well, today one girl goes, "Oh, teacher! Twilight! You look!" So, I'm guessing that straight, dark-red hair with dark lipstick means that I look like one of the characters out of twilight. I'll try to post a picture tomorrow and you all can decide for yourselves. I personally have not read the books or seen the movie, so I really have no clue.

Time to go knit some more on Sahara.

Knit on...

The Weekend

Sahara
Originally uploaded by magicknits

Ok, so post 3/3 for today. I'm really going to have to start blogging from home so that I can just go ahead and put all the pictures in one post, but I'm also lazy and mainly use my computer at home to watch DVDs and call people :oP Anyways, the weekend was good. I headed west to go visit DF and spend the weekend lazing around his apartment, finishing up the Nano book (I won, I won!), and knitting on Sahara until I ran out of yarn. I knew I should have brought another skein with me, but this gave me the chance to finish the Noro sock (see post below). I'm completely in love with the Sahara pattern and tonight I should get close, if not arrive at the short row shirttail shaping, so I'm quite excited about that!

Tonight Barbie and I are making a bunch of food. We decided that we wanted some good food this week, so we're going to both cook tonight and share the different foods. She's making homemade clam chowder and fried oysters and I'm making scalloped potatoes, and possibly chili if I can find some decent hamburger around here.

I'll let you know how the cooking spree goes!

Knit on...

One Sock Down...One to Go

Noro Sock
Originally uploaded by magicknits

I did manage to finish one of the Noro socks this weekend. I am actually already about 1/4 through the next one too, but stupid me forgot to take pictures of that one. Ah well. I like the color changes of the yarn, but I really do think that this will be my only pair of Noro socks. I'll use the rest of the sock yarn for scarves and other projects that can show off the color changes, although the feel of them is quite nice after trying on the first one. We'll see how they wear.

Knit on...

The Tree

Naju Tree
Originally uploaded by magicknits

My parents sent me a Christmas tree in the mail so that I would have at least a Charlie Brown tree to decorate my apartment. I had fun decorating it on Thanksgiving, as per my family tradition, and discovered only after decorating the whole thing that only half the string of lights work (it's a pre-lit tree). I did however buy more lights this weekend, so now I have a happy multi-colored twinkling tree decorating the tiny apartment!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Japan sea36
Originally uploaded by magicknits

It's pretty much over for America now. Last night I had a Thanksgiving dinner with some of the American native speakers in Naju and we had quite a feast. There were fried oysters, mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, asparagus, green beans, and rice pudding with vanilla ice cream. All in all, it was a good time. After dinner, I decorated my Christmas tree that my parents mailed over to keep with the family tradition.

There has also been knitting, but I forgot to take pictures of it. Hopefully I'll have some decent pictures of a finished sock and other knits on Monday. Everyone have a great weekend!

PS: for those who are wondering, the random picture is from the Japan Sea when DF and I went this summer. I needed to use a picture for the blog feature to work on flickr :oP

Knit on...

And Here's Sahara

Sahara
Originally uploaded by magicknits

Part two of the blog post for today! Sahara is about to be joined for work in the round, so hopefully I'll make some more progress on that. I'm also hoping to get in some spinning tonight since the alpaca roving has been sitting out taunting me to do something with it. I am still in love with the Sahara pattern right now, so the two of them will have to battle it out for who will get the most time.

I did get some writing in today. I'm hoping to work some more on the book for the next two periods and then after my last class of the day so that I can be just that much closer to finishing the darned thing. Then I'll let it sit and try to edit it sometime in January. Fun times.

knit on...

The Sock Progress

Noro Sock
Originally uploaded by magicknits

Yep, I'm still blogging via flickr right now because blogger is still being banned at the school for some reason. At least flickr does allow me to blog, albeit with just one picture at the top. Anyways, here's the progress on the Noro sock. I have since turned the heel and am about to start working my way down the foot. The next post will have the Sahara progress!

Knit on...

And Here's Noro

101_2366
Originally uploaded by magicknits

And here's the Noro sock in progress. I'm working on it a little more today, but I really need to make myself write. I've fallen behind the past few days and since I only have five days left to finish this novel, I need to get cracking. I'm hoping to be very close to 50k by the end of the day today. I don't have much time between classes today, so instead of knitting a few rounds on the sock, I figure I can make myself type and get the word count flowing again!

Knit on...

Finished Ziggy

101_2372
Originally uploaded by magicknits

Well, the school has blocked blogger again from the computers, so until I get that fixed again, I'll be blogging from flickr or from home. I finished the Ziggy scarves this weekend. I ended up adding more length to the first one and then using the leftover yarn for the second one. I gave the two scarves to their recipients today at school and they are both modeling for everyone around here, so I take it to be a sign that they like them.

I also started the Noro sock yesterday and I'll have pictures of that in the next post since I haven't figured out how to get flickr to allow me to post multiple pictures into a single blog entry from their site. Oh well!

Knit on...

Stash Enhancement

My stash nearly tripled this weekend when DF brought back yarn I had ordered and that had been given as a gift to me. My stash was really quite low though...I only had two skeins of Lorna's Laces which I was saving for a desperate sock knitting moment and the rest of the skeins for Sahara and Donegal. Poor Donegal. The sweater is sitting in its box, hanging out because I've become obsessed with the Sahara sweater pattern now. Donegal will have her day again soon though. Anyways, here's what DF brought back:Six skeins of Lorna's Laces. That's Franklin's Panopticon, Amy's Vintage Office, and Mt. Something that I can't remember its name.Four skeins Malabrigo laceweight. Can you say dragon shawl?3 skeins Noro Silk Garden sock. One will become socks, but I have other plans for the remaining two.
Two bags of hand-dyed roving by Jessi. I also had two skeins of kitchen cotton, but forgot to take pictures of them, so imagine blue and yellow cotton here :oP

Knit on...

You Know It Was a Good Weekend...

When it involves the purchase of a sheep hat:More tomorrow...

Knit on...

Uh, Yeah...

So it snowed yesterday. I don't mean that it just flurried some, I mean that it dumped a nice white blanket all over the place:There's a good three inches on the ground as I write this and it's still peppering down, so who knows how much will accumulate.

I did knit some last night too. Here's Sahara:I'm almost to the front armhole shaping now, so it's growing quite steadily. I would have knit more last night but I had a headache from the blasted weather changing so suddenly.

I also have been crocheting at school when not writing:This is the Ziggy scarf pattern. It's a very easy crochet lace pattern, but it certainly flies. I should be done with this one by the end of the day since I don't have any classes to teach.

Hopefully there will also be some writing today! :oP

Knit on...

Sahara

Let me just say that I am in love with this pattern. It's very simple, but the construction is keeping my attention. This is my first top-down seamless sweater in the round, so it's some new stuff for me, which is always nice. I love the color of the Devon Shepherd Worsted, I love the feel of the yarn, and I love how well this pattern is written.

Here is the current state of the sweater after knitting 20 rows of the front tonight:I did write some more. If you'll notice, the word total is getting very close to the 50k mark. I'm really hoping to have this finished by the end of this week so that I can spend more time with Sahara and the stash. I've missed the stash. Good thing they had that intervention for me yesterday :oP

Knit on...

An Intervention

I spent most of this weekend writing, hoping to hit 40,000 words by the end of the weekend. I was at almost 39,000 when I realized I needed milk if I was going to eat cereal for breakfast in the morning, so I took a walk to the store. When I came back, this is what I saw:I was concerned because I had not placed the yarn there. In fact, I have been intentionally neglecting the yarn stash this month because of the novel. I also saw that my novel was no longer on the screen. I read the letter and this is what it said:I started to get very concerned. The stash was now talking to me. Had I really neglected knitting and fondling yarn for 15 days now? Was I in need of an intervention? Had my novel really taken over all my free time? I picked up the skein of yarn and pressed it against my face, feeling the uber softness that is Lorna's Laces Shepherd Worsted. I looked at the needles and the pattern and said what the hell. I'll knit for a little while and then get back to writing.Yeah, it's horribly curled up because of it being plain stockinette, but this is the back of the sweater to the armholes....yeah, no more writing was going to be taking place this weekend.

It's 10 PM here, so it's pretty much my set bedtime here, but I can't...put...the...sweater...down...

I'm back!

Knit on...

PS: I intend to be close to finished if not completely finished with the novel by the end of this week. I can't travel with the sweater, so work time will be writing time. Don't worry, the novel is not going to be neglected :oP

This is a Knitting Blog!

Look, before I go any further:Knitting. There, I proved that I do actually knit. This is the feather and fan scarf of abandon. I call it this because I started it, thinking it would be nice and easy to work on while nano-ing, but no. I abandoned it, threw it aside as the writing muses took over and forced me to be a slave to the computer as the words just seemed to flow. Yesterday I had the day off work, so I knit some, albeit still not very much. I was more interested in cooking two huge pots of vegetable soup and freezing one. Now I'll have some nice, hot soup for dinners now that the weather has turned pretty cool.

Maybe I'll knit some this weekend too. Of course I'm at almost 35,000 words too, so maybe I'll just see how many more I can crank out and just how close I can get to the story's end.

We'll see :oP

Knit on...

I Will Knit

I want it to be known that tonight and tomorrow I will knit. My fingers are twitching involuntarily now and the book is about half way done. Plus I just found out that I get a day off work tomorrow. So help me God, I will knit tonight!

Anyways, here's the current stats:

Words: will be at 32,000 before I leave school
Chapters: 14
Favorite line in Chapter 14: Several wrong turns, some strong cursing, and two hours and a purchased map later, the unlikely group arrived at the city limits of Baysan.

Tomorrow...knitting...must...knit...

Knit on

Uh, What Knitting Pictures?

Uh, did I promise pictures of knitting yesterday? Clearly my mind if warped from this novel writing thing. I would take pictures of the knitting normally, if my mind wasn't thinking about weaknesses of certain main characters and how a certain bad guy is going to exploit those. I would normally knit if my head wasn't churning out plot ideas on how my main character is going to save his friend.

So instead, I give you more novel info! I do solemnly swear that this blog will go back to its usual pictures and knitting content once the novel is finished. I intend to let it sit for at least a few weeks before I go through and read all the craptapulous stuff that I have now written.

Word Count: 28,000ish
Chapters: 12
Character Deaths: 1
Flashbacks: 2
Near Death Experiences: more than I care to count.
Favorite line from chapter 12: Being almost killed in uncountable ways in the course of forty eight hours really puts things in perspective, he thought as he ate the piece of tasteless bread.

Knit on...

The Autosummary of my Book

I was reading the nano forums from the procrastination station and found this thread about autosummary in Word. For fun, I decided I was curious enough to see what words were being used way too much in my book. Here is my 10 sentence summary:

Brennan cringed. Brennan asked. Brennan asked. Brennan asked. “Brennan. Brennan nodded. Brennan nodded. “Thanks, Brennan. Brennan shrugged. Brennan nodded.

As you can see, Brennan nods and asks too much stuff :oP If Brennan were not the name of my main character, I would also be even more horribly frightened of this :oP

Writing, Writing, Writing

That pretty much sums up the weekend aside from a trip to an art show in Gwangju. It was a nice art show, but for the most part, I don't get modern art. Sure, there was some stuff I liked, but there was a lot of stuff that looked like stuff I might have drawn when I was two. Oh well.

The book is almost 28,000 words now, so it's growing nicely. I'm in the middle of a flashback with my main character, so that's giving me room to expand the story some more.

Knitting pictures tomorrow!

Knit on...

Knitting? You Mean She Still Knits?

Yes I Do! I do still knit people. Some things never change, even if they slow down a little due to writing a book and catching a stupid cold on my birthday. Thank you to everyone who commented about the birthday on here yesterday! The gathering at the apartment was nice, even if I felt a little like death warmed over. The good news is that I feel quite a bit more human today and my appetite finally came back, so that probably means that the worst of this is over, or at least that the leftover pizza and cake will be devoured tonight...

Anyways, look, here's my progress on a feather and fan scarf:Ok, I said I still knit, I didn't say I had been knitting a lot! I'll try to work on it some more this weekend, but I really need to sit down and get the word count up on my NaNoWriMo. We'll see which one wins out now.

Knit on...

Ahem

I do actually have to clear my throat to say this since the zicam has not cleared up the bug I have managed to catch. I am not as sniffly as yesterday, but I am really wiped out and tired. But on another note:

Today is my birthday, or well, it's the day of my birthday over here. I was born in America, so I still have about 4 more hours until it's my birthday over there :oP

Ahem :oP

There may actually be some knitting content on this knitting blog tomorrow. I know, it's hard to believe, isn't it?

Knit on...

I Do Still Live

Hey, everyone. Just popping on to let you know that I still live, but I might be catching a cold. Tonight when I get home, I am hitting the Zicam in hopes that if this is a cold, it will wipe it out. Right now it feels like my sinuses have a life of their own, so we'll see.

I have been knitting some on the scarf, but due to brain cells possibly joining the party in my sinuses this morning, stupid me forgot to bring the picture that I promised yesterday. If I am able to function when I get home, I'll try to post it. If not, just imagine a whopping three inches of feather and fan lace in knitpicks turquois splendor.

And it looks like we have a new president now. My blog is a politics-free zone, so I won't share my thoughts about it on here, but it looks like there will be a lot of change coming for sure.

Lastly, the word count on my novel is almost 16,000. I hope to get to 17000 by the end of tonight, but who knows how well I'll be writing when I get home.

Knit on...

OtherKin Random Update

My favorite line from the book so far:

All Brennan wanted to do was to have a cigarette and sleep and hope that when he woke up, he would be back in his dirty apartment without any voices in his head or things randomly catching on fire.

We Interrupt This Knitting Blog....

With a writing blog. It's November, which means for thousands of people, it is also National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo for short. The past couple of years, I have watched as Renee and Kim have been writing, sometimes competing in nano. Well, this year, I had a story that really needed to get out of my head and onto paper. I'm really good at coming up with decent story ideas, but I never get around to finishing them because I tend to write as if going down the rabbit hole. This year is different though.

This weekend, I managed to log in over 10,000 words on my story. So far at school today, I have logged in almost 1500 words and will probably have more by the end of the day if I am still feeling the story grow.

So, yeah, this is a knitting blog, right? I did knit a little on Friday, and I have knit two repeats today on a feather and fan lace scarf. That's the extent of my knitting right now. It's been at a stand-still since last week when I was writing the last parts of my outline so I know where to direct this story.

I'll have pictures of the two-inch long scarf tomorrow though. And probably more word updates!

Knit on...and write some too.

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween to everyone. Since there is lack of knitting content, I'll leave you with a little Burton for Halloween:

Socks and "Shrooms

I just finished the second Camo sock, but I won't have a picture of the finished sock until tomorrow. So to hold you over, here's what it looked like this morning when I took a quick picture:But it's all finished now and I'm happy about that. Now I'm going to start a really basic feather and fan lace scarf because I want something that is no brainer since Nanowrimo starts in two days. I'll be focusing most of my attention on writing, so the blog may be a little scarce with new knitting material for a while. I will still be knitting though because I just have to. All work and no fiber makes Leah cranky.

On another side note, I went out to eat last night and had a mushroom stew which was to die for:That's a big pile of 'shrooms with some thinly sliced beef. I now want more.

Knit on...

A Finished Sock and Another on the Way

I did finish the first camo sock yesterday while at school. Here's the finished product:And the second sock should be finished by this evening since I don't think I'm going to be up for working on convoluted colorwork. I might do some spinning though since Wednesday is for spinning.

Last night was a lot of fun. I had a few people over to the apartment for a stitch and bitch/ eat American food in the land of Kimchi. We ate mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, roasted garlic, PB&J, and cookies. All in all, it was a great time. Add to that the washing down of the food with Screwdrivers and it was even better. The best part though? We have now converted another chick to the realm of knitting. She learned to cast on last night and how to make a knit stitch. By the end of the night, she didn't want to stop and I'm betting that she's still going on the fabric right now!

Knit on...

When All Else Fails...

Look, a sock!Lorna's Laces (I mean really, you're reading my blog...what else would I be using?) in the Camouflage colorway. This is just a plain vanilla sock that I'm making for my neighbor Barbie. I originally loved the colors in the skein, but when I started knitting it up, I realized that these really aren't my colors. But I do think they are definitely her colors. So, she'll get a pair of socks, which works out since her feet have been cold here recently too.

Not much else is new on the knitting front. Donegal is stagnant again because I was not motivated to work on it at all. I have to admit that the speed of the sock is making me very happy right now. I think I just needed something small to pick me up and get me back on track.

Knit on...

For a Knitting Blog...

There hasn't been a lot of knitting going on. I do have a new sock in progress, but due to the craziness of the past week, I didn't get much else done. This week should be quieter and I should start making some knitting progress again. I did wind up 8 skeins of Shepherd Worsted into balls this week, so I accomplished something yarn-related :oP

More to come this week. Sorry I've been quiet and not posting. I should be better this week!

Knit on...

Donegal is Growing, Slowly but Surely

Here's the updated picture of Donegal. It's now 12 inches long and I'm hoping that this week I will get a lot knit on it since last week was so crazy that I wasn't able to get much done on it.I'm liking the sweater more and more each time I look at it. It's a pleasure to knit and it's turning out pretty good considering this is my first colorwork aside from the poker scarf that I knit DF. The only bad thing is that it doesn't travel well since it has 11 different colors in it and it's growing pretty fast.

Since most of you have no idea why last week was so crazy, let me just give you one word: Josephine. I don't want to go into it on the blog in case anyone were to find it over here, but it was a bad week. It's getting a little better today, but it still sucks. Thank goodness I have lots of knitting to do to keep me sane!

Knit on...

The Most Politics You Will See On This Blog

Because things have been crazy at the Magic Knitter residence, I have no knitting content to show you. I finished one sock and am working on the second, so hopefully by Monday I'll have something decent to show you! But for now, here's the most politics you will ever see on my blog:

We Interrupt This Knitting Blog....

To share the newest Korean-related music video :oP

Since There Was Lack of Content Earlier...

I present, how I feel in a yarn store:

more animals

House Socks

I didn't knit a single row on Donegal last night, so there's no update to that progress. I did get most of the cuff done on the first slipper sock:As you can see, it was a terribly exciting knitting day.

I don't have much else for today. Hopefully tomorrow will show at least a finished sock, maybe more.

Knit on...

One Scarf Down, 6 Pairs of Slipper Socks to Go

Well, I finished the Irish Hiking Scarf this weekend and it's all ready to go into the Christmas presents box:Not the greatest expression on my face, but the scarf looks good :oP This one will go to my grandfather. The green one I made earlier will go to my grandmother. I'm making slipper socks for everyone else. I cast on yesterday for the first one and it's going OK using the two circular needles method. I didn't have any size 4 DPNs here, so I'm making due with what I have. I definitely am a DPN girl rather than 2 circs.

Of course I also worked on Donegal. It's about 12 inches long now, so only 4 inches more to go before I can start doing the steeks for the armholes. Here's the progress so far:It's growing at least. I've found that I like this sweater from a distance. When you look at it up close, the pattern turns into a blob of random colors, but step a foot or so away and it turns into this with the scrolls actually starting to show up. At least it's getting there. I'm still optimistic of being done with this before the end of winter and being able to wear it one time before putting it away for the Spring.

Knit on...

Two Knits for the Price of One!

Normally it's one or the other per blog post, but today you're in luck. For this blog post and this blog post only, I bring you not one, but two knitting projects! Step right up and see the colorwork that is Donegal:The knitting has taken on a mind of its own. It even throws up its own ends when it has had enough for one night:The scarf also has a mind of its own and said that it needed a length shot since it was neglected in yesterday's blog post:It didn't listen to my protests that I was in my pajamas for the night. Then it posed for a more subtle picture, all curled up and looking pretty:Now that the knits have had their blog time, I'm off. Thank goodness it's Friday. Oh, and it's also SnB with C tonight. Coffee, cake, yarn, and good company is always a good thing.

Knit on...

Spinning, Spinning, Spinning...Now I need to ply

Wednesdays are for spinning, so I hunkered down last night with the alpaca roving and spun up a second ball of the singles:I've got enough roving to probably do another 1-2 balls of singles. Since I didn't weigh the roving before I started spinning, I have decided to andean ply the singles so that I can get every last inch out of the yarn. The singles are a light fingering (aside from that big fluff end on the second ball there) and I hope that they will make a decent worsted weight yarn when all is said and done. I'm anxious to start working with this yarn, so I'm probably going to have to ply next week at the very least so I can have some yarn to fondle.

I also spun this much more of the roving once the second ball was off the spindle:It's not much, but there's enough there that it's going to keep me from plying unless I finish it up. I might just have to neglect Donegal knitting tonight and finish up some spinning so I can ply like crazy next week. We'll see what mood I'm in tonight when I sit down and decide what to work on.

Hm, fondle alpaca or work on colorwork...what to do?

Knit on...