Ebony and Ivory...living in perfect harmony

The other day, my roommate C's girlfriend told me I have the craziest memory of anyone she knew. My other roommate, J, overheard this and started laughing. All this came about because I was rattling off a very long list of old Disney songs without forgetting any of the lyrics. I can't help it. I heart Disney. I also apparently heart many old 80s songs that should be forgotten.

But I started a new (and I hope very fast) project for the store and every time I pick it up, those lyrics just keep poppin' on up like a frickin' Pop-Up Video episode on VH1. Yes, I watch VH1. I'm only 27 and I haven't been able to keep up with the crazy MTV kids since I was about 19.

This here is the Helsinki Hat Scarf (very creative name) in Rowan 42. The yarn? Is the recommended yarn, Rowan Cocoon. It feels like cotton candy, just without the stickiness or the gaudy fluorescent colors. It's truly, truly beautiful. A bit pricey, as is most of the Rowan line, but scrumptious. The needles? They are ebony needles from Lantern Moon. My first pair. Definitely not my last. Someone kept raving about them and I buckled and bought them for this project since I promised my cousin to make him an Urban Aran at some point and it'll use the same size. They're so smoooooth. (If you get the obscure Dead Man on Campus reference, I heart you, too.) I think I love them even more than Addis. Dang, this knitting thing just keeps getting more and more 'spensive.

We also got in a huge shipment of Noro Silk Garden and I decided to rip out the Kureyon Lady Eleanor and start anew:

Methinks this will be given to my mother. She wanted a big shawl and I don't have the patience to go through another Clapotis, considering that I haven't finished the one that's on the needles.

I also participated in my first swap. Ravelry's Fiberflix group hosted a Halloween scary movie/yummy yarn swap and my lovely swap partner, Lisa (who unfortunately doesn't have a blog) sent me movie snacks (all of which I promptly consumed within a period of 24 hours) and Shaun of the Dead, which I watched twice over the weekend. Zombies + British humor + Queen = Good Times. She also sent me the most beautiful skein of Smooshy, ever.

The color is called "Dusky Aurora." I told her my favorite colors were the "in-between" ones. Burgundy, teal, plum, rust, etc. I was floored when I got the package and the yarn contained every last one of those colors.

I could stare at this yarn for a week. I think I have. Wow, I need to get a life.

FO: Purple Overload Socks

Purple is supposed to symbolize mystery and royalty. It's also apparently connected to the spiritual seventh chakra in feng shui applications. I think I'm needing something spiritual lately, because I'm obsessed with purple.

Diagonal Cross-Rib Socks
Pattern: Favorite Socks
Yarn: Dream in Color Smooshy in Virtual Purple
Needles: US 1 circs

I definitely f'ed up the toe on the second sock so that they're not even. Whatevs. I was working on them at my parents' place last weekend and my mom wanted them for herself. I may actually cave this time. She grabbed the finished one out of my bag and tried it on while I worked a few rows on the second. Then she dropped hints like, "You know I like purple a lot" and "My feet are very cold." Sometimes I think she's the silly kid and I'm the serious mom. And then I remember I'm really not very serious so maybe we're both just silly.

I definitely will be making these socks again at some point. They're really easy and the yarn goes so well with them. I have another skein of the Smooshy but I think I'd like to try making this pattern again with a slightly more variegated yarn.

When the sock is left alone and unstretched, I really appreciate the spirals that appear. Btw, this yarn lasts forever. I did ten pattern repeats on the leg and nine on the foot and I still have enough yarn left over to make another short sock.

Now, here's some more purple. Basically, the purple loveliness of the Kid Classic is annoying me right now because I continue to try and get gauge and it will not happen. I am just going to have rewrite the pattern for my gauge and I am mad. So, lovely and fluffy Kid Classic is sitting on my bookshelf while I painstakingly go over the pattern. In the meantime, I started the Woven Trellis Scarf for my best friend. She wants a scarf. I thought I was through with scarves, but at least this one is not a lot of work for a very impressive result. Although I might kill someone when I reach the end of the fifth cord and still have to knit another one.

I also decided Mr. Smoke Shawl is going to have to deal with a partner. Part of the reason I'm finding him so fiddly is that I do not like the feel of cobweb-weight yarn while knitting. I like the end product, but it's not something I like working with. I'm terrified of snapping it, it feels more like thread as it runs through my fingers, etc. This is sad for a part of me, but the other part of me likes the fact that I know this about myself now and won't make the same mistake again. I'm going to buy another lace or fingering weight yarn in a navy or midnight blue and pair Mr. Smoke with it.

I am also sooooo close to finishing the Hourglass:

Yes, this looks like a lump of moss. It's really a finished sweater that needs a wet block and a sewing-in-ends marathon. Badness of superwash wool is that you can't spit-splice the ends, durnit.

I did the neckline hemming in a contrast color. It looks wonky but it lies flat when I put it on. The first time I knitted the sleeves to the yoke, I got two inches in before I realized I had sewn in one sleeve facing the wrong way. Dammit, I can't live with a mistake like that. A slightly wonky neckline only when folded or flat? I can live with that. Those ends are just the tip of the iceberg, man. You should see the inside of the sweater. Yikes.

A Bad Case of the Blahs

I am running around frantic half the time trying to get things in order for MFA sundries such as letters of rec, requesting BA grade reports, narrowing down the list of schools to apply to, streamlining my creative submission, writing a personal statement, etc. That last one is pretty amusing since half of my work involves editing other people's personal statements and I can be a pretty harsh critic.

On top of all this, I started working two/three days a week at an LYS, Annie & Co. Needlepoint and Knitting. The needlepoint store has been there for ages, but the knitting part is new and has only been open for about six weeks. I took the job because I work from home and hardly ever see anyone unless I'm going "out." Also, I am no longer in denial and admit that I am absolutely obsessed with knitting. While I love working there, I'm going to have to be more productive non-knitting-wise during the other days of the week.

Also, I've swatched a bazillion times with the Kid Classic and I cannot get gauge to save my life. Boo. Gauge is suggested on US 6 needles. I've tried 4s, 5s and 6s. I sort of fall in between the 5s and 6s, so I'm trying it this time around on US 6 Addi lace needles as opposed to regular Addis.

And for whatever reason, I am just sad this week. You know, when nothing's "wrong" but you just aren't really at peace with the world? It usually passes within two weeks, so I'll just have to bide my time until it lifts.

These make me a teeny bit happier, though:

The pattern is the Diagonal Cross-Rib socks from Favorite Socks. Yarn is Dream in Color Smooshy in Visual Purple. The yarn is, indeed, smooshy. And every time I say it, I think of that part in Finding Nemo when Dory finds a baby jellyfish and says, "I shall call him squishy and he shall be mine and he shall be my squishy." I can only say that I loooooove this yarn. I want to eat it. And make a mattress out of it. It's also a tremendous value. It was $22 for 450 yds. Yowza. I finished one sock and have one repeat done on the second.

Complete non sequitur: Doesn't this look like Bart Simpson wearing a big purple turtleneck???

Maybe it's because I caught an Inside the Actors Studio last night while finishing the first sock. Instead of one guest, they featured the entire regular voice cast of The Simpsons. It was highly amusing. Watching Nancy Cartwright while the voice of Bart Simpson comes out of her mouth is really interesting. Same with Dan Castellaneta and the voice of Homer.

I did make some progress on Hourglass:

What you see here is one finished sleeve and one just-started sleeve which is now actually a one-third finished sleeve. So I just have to finish two-thirds of that sleeve and join everything up for the yoke.