Excess

I took Friday off as a mental health day, so I had a long weekend to enjoy! And enjoy it I did. Though I was very sad to hear over my Twitter feed that Knit Happens is closing its doors, I can't deny I squealed a bit when I heard that they would begin their closing sale on Friday. Friday, which I took off! And which the SO had also conveniently taken off! He was hoping we would be able to watch meteors at an ungodly hour on Thursday night/Friday morning, but his plans were foiled by rain, leaving him free to drive me to the sale.

We arrived before the store opened. There were several other knitters hovering outside the door. We joked about circling like vultures waiting for lions to leave a carcass. We were mostly polite when the doors opened, filing in with some degree of order. Stocks for some items that I was interested in were clearly low or depleted already (curses), but I still scored pretty big.



That, my friends, is 11 balls of S. Charles Tinka and 2 balls of Filatura di Crosa Superior - otherwise known as the ingredients for Leyfi.

I nearly plotzed. The Superior was 50% off and the Tinka was 60% off and this sweater, which I thought was far outside of my financial reach (Superior retails for $25.00/ball, bringing the tab to $50 before you even add in the Tinka), is now going to be MINE. MINE MINE MINE AHAHAHAHA.

Ahem. Sorry. Of course this world is not perfect, and I now face a sizing issue. I have enough yarn, according to the guidelines, to make the 40" size, plus a ball of Tinka to spare. However, this leaves me with no ease at all in the sweater. The next size up takes one ball of Tinka more than I have, and would give me 4 inches of ease, which seems like it might be too much. Rar. Right now I am leaning towards making the 40". Knowing me it's unlikely I will get exact gauge anyway, so maybe if I'm lucky my gauge issues will give me a little extra ease (but not too much).

But I'm getting ahead of myself. I also got this:



Schaefer Andrea, 100% silk, in colorway Barbara McClintock. I don't know what this will become. I'm thinking about Waves of Grain, maybe? I feel like it should be something corn/grain related (there are not, as it turns out, all that many corn-related lace designs). I can't help it - I'm a theme person. I'm kind of regretting not signing up for Bad Cat Designs Summer Swatch Me thingy, because this totally looks like corn growing on stalks to me.

Once again, though, I'm getting ahead of myself. I have a ton of projects to worry about before I get fussed about that.

Anyway. In addition to the above-mentioned yarn, I got a Euclan sampler pack. I have tried Kookabura wash and Soak wash, and Euclan is the only one I haven't tried yet. I also snagged an Addi Turbo lace needle. I want to try one of those babies out. I love my KP interchangeable needle set, but it's true that they aren't the sturdiest. If I like the Addi lace needles I may invest in an Addi interchangeable set. However, the lace interchangeables that they've come out with have shorter tips than usual to accommodate a 16" cable. I don't want shorter tips, I find them very uncomfortable to work with, so I'm absolutely waiting until they come out with full length tips. In the meantime, I'll try the one I bought and see how I like them.

Since I was in the area, I went to check out Fibre Space, since I had never been their before. OMG. So much love. I really wish they were easier to get to/closer to my home. I walked in and they had big signs that said LACE, WORSTED, FINGERING. I thought, FINALLY, a yarn shop that understands how I shop. I went straight for the lace area, and then straight to the sock yarn. I looked over all the other yarns, too, but it was so nice to be able to immediately see all the yarn in the weight I needed/wanted.

I bought this:



And this:



The top is Fiberphile in a colorway whose name I have totally forgotten, and the one on the bottom is Dragonfly Fiber Djinni in the awesome colorway "Reluctant Dragon." I am now on a mission to find the perfect dragon-themed sock to make with it. I squealed a little when I picked up this yarn because it uses the same yarn base as my beloved Casbah.

I also had a little falling down during the week and ordered yarn from Fiber Optic, so in addition to the yarn I bought on Friday, I came home to two skeins in my mailbox.





I regret nothing. (though I must observe from the last few pictures, I seem to be going through a green period)

I ordered gift yarn from KnitPicks to get a jump on the Christmas knitting (also some birthday knitting for which I am woefully behind) and that...did not arrive. Even though it should have. I'm going to have to call the post office because I am really annoyed that my packages are not coming. My package from Twilight Knits has also not arrived, and I'm really mad about it. I contacted her and she definitely mailed it, and she is very graciously sending me another skein, which I really appreciate since I don't hold her responsible for the failings of USPS. Either someone else is getting all my yarn deliveries, or someone at the post office is hoarding it for themselves. I am not amused. I know my address has been correct on all these packages, so I don't know what's going on.

In addition to all this yarn acquisition, I did actually do some knitting. All this shopping has induced some guilt over some of my UFO's, so I pulled a bunch of them out. I finished my Summer Flies Shawl since I was close to the end - although this took a great deal more time than I expected because of the ruffle. My love of ruffles will kill me one day. I adore ruffles on the finished project. I hate that the only way to get a ruffle is to rapidly increase from a reasonable number of stitches to an insane number of stitches (or the reverse - either way, you are knitting an insane number of stitches) and then knit stockinette until you want to die.





At least it was a worsted weight yarn. Cut it a little close with the yarn requirements on that one. The picot bind off took foreeeeever. These pictures are unblocked, since it was late when I finished.

I finished a swatch for the Simone sweater from French Girl Knits (shut up. it still counts as finishing if you started the swatch more than four months ago).



I didn't get guage. I was closest on the size 8 needle, but I may have to knit another swatch with a 9 to see if I can do better. Supatight Knitta strikes again.

I pulled out my featherweight cardigan and began binding off the collar. This project needs nothing but that bind off and sleeves to be finished. Shameful.



I'm a little worried my bind off is too tight, even though I'm using a needle something like three or four sizes up. I need to decide whether to keep going or undo what I've done (again - I started out with a needle only one or two sizes up) and try again with either a larger needle or a different bind-off technique. I wish I could remember what I did for the bottom edge, as that bind off is both beautiful and appropriately stretchy.

Not pictured is Veronique from French Girl Knits, which is also on my list of "just suck it up and finish it" projects. This one needs to be seamed before I continue, and I intended to block it and then seam it, since seaming unblocked edges seemed like a recipe for madness. However my hatred for blocking and my hatred for seaming have combined to sideline this project for months, which is really too bad because I really, really like the garment in the book. Therefore, I commit to you, blog, that before I post again, I shall block and seam this piece so that I may knit on. Once seamed, it will be knit in the round until I'm satisfied with the total length of it, and then it will need sleeves.

Both of these garments are knit in fine weight yarns - Veronique in Kidsilk Haze and the Featherweight cardigan in a laceweight (knit picks gloss lace, I think) so even though there isn't much left to be done on them, finishing these still represents kind of a lot of knitting. Boring knitting. Time to get some movies from Netflix.

Self-Indulgence

Current knitting frustrations aside, my stash has experienced considerable growth over the holiday, even though only a couple of people got me yarn for Christmas.

The SO's mom gave me this:



and this:



(note the lovely handmade drop-spine box she presented it in)

The panda silk is so lovely I am considering whether it could possibly be used for something other than socks. Not that I don't love socks, but it would just be so pretty in a lace scarf or something like that. Pondering.

On top of this, I have managed to make her something of a knitting convert. She does crochet some, and learned to knit once many many years ago, but up until now she has continually protested that purling was awful, the height of all evils, something greatly to be detested, but then on New Years' Eve I showed her how to do it and she found that it was not, in fact, as difficult as she had thought. She promptly took herself to a yarn shop, procured some large needles and a variety of novelty-ish yarns, and is knitting away. Score 1 for the knitters! (she does, however, protest that she is only going to knit square things...and socks, eventually)

Such a convert was she that she called me about Aylin's anniversary sale, and met me there (even though she had already been and bought a bunch of stuff). I procured this:



One of the ladies working there looked at me and said, "Are you making...the scarf?" and I had to laugh and admit that I was indeed. Baaaaaah.

I also bought this:



The SO's mom (I shall have to think of a better way to refer to her, because that is getting tiresome and sounds oddly disrespectful to me) gave me a kit some time ago for a tilli thomas bag using these yarns, but she had only bought one skein of each, and when I looked at the yarn requirements, I found that - one skein was no where near enough. Fortunately, my memory was equal to the task and I was able to get matching skeins last night. They might be different dye lots, but they are close enough. I know I could have asked and Aylin's could've looked it up for me, but to tell the truth...I didn't want to admit in front of SOMom that she didn't buy me enough. It was very generous to get it for me at all and I didn't want her to feel bad. I am determined now to knit this bag up ASAP since I am sure she must wonder why it is taking me so long to make it.

Before I even left for Christmas I had ordered this:



which will become a Hemlock Ring Blanket. I'm going to go back and find the Ready-Set-Knit podcast knitalong for that too and pretend I am part of the cool crowd who knitted this ages ago.

I also ordered this:



Which is a sparkly mohair that I got for so cheap that I am sure it is not entirely on the up and up. I have had an uncomfortable feeling ever since I got the order confirmation and saw that it was shipping from Turkey. I will have to do more research before I buy anything there again. This is, alas, more Christmas knitting, but no deadline on it for now. A work friend wanted a white sparkly snowflake scarf. well, 2 down...I will have to work on the snowflake thing. But it's not as if I don't have resources. I have all this to draw on:



Wasn't that a lovely segway? Have some edging shots - big ones, because I could not find any that showed the edging to my satisfaction when I was looking to knit it, so here's hoping someone else will find these useful:





I was squinting at many other pictures trying to figure out if the purl side really was supposed to be the right side, and couldn't figure it out, so - I hope it is! I am somewhat concerned because I can't figure out how this is supposed to be the right hem, because it totally looks like the left hem to me in every way. Except, I guess, when you are knitting, because you are holding the shawl upside down? I am sure I could e-mail the designer or ask on ravelry and have her answer my question very nicely, but apparently I am determined to figure it out without help. It looks fine the way it is, anyway, so I'm trying not to fret. The edging does make it so pretty and feminine looking!

One more, to show a little more of the pre-edging:



I love the row of eyelets it's making along the edges. Should certainly help when it comes time to block! If that day ever comes (I am almost done with 1/2 of the edging).

If she does not like it I may cry. Kind of a lot.

Back to the yarn pr0n...

When I got back from my lousy vacation, and everything seemed to be going wrong, I bought some feel-better yarn, and it arrived to thrill me the day before yesterday - but I didn't see it until I was on my way out to work yesterday morning, so I grabbed the package and took it with me, ripped it open in the car, and admired it all day.

Handmaiden Casbah in Topaz:



and Peridot:



I didn't realize how much blue was in the peridot until I took that picture, but I checked the skein and it is definitely there. If it were on the other side, though, it would show more green.

I have decided that I really hate my current sock, and I think it is on its way to the frog pond. I already frogged back to the ribbing, thinking I just hated the way it was working up, but I really think I just can't stand that color combo right now. (it's hand dyed and I feel guilty for saying that - I'm sure the designer is a wonderful person and that this colorway is perfect for someone that I have not met yet, and will eventually meet a happy fate)

I started the Noro scarf yesterday to give me something simple to knit at choir tonight, but the rest I have put aside for now. Sockwise, I am caught in serious indecision. I am having a hard time letting go of my current sock, no matter how much I hate it, and I am having an even harder time deciding what I would knit and what pattern I would use. I did buy the Pink Lemon Twist new fallen snow pattern, but I just don't know.

Everything else must wait until the Christmas knitting is done, and so, alas, must this:



I am DYING. As a side note...I managed to make one of the footman joints about a quarter of an inch shorter than the other one, because I am apparently measuring impaired (really, I think that it has more to do with it being difficult to put the screw in without accidentally pushing the treadle either up or down before the screw makes it to the joint, but both possibilities are valid). Is this a problem? Am I going to be miserable? Should I just buy a new footman joint and fix it right away, and am I sabotaging myself as a new spinner by having uneven footman joints? Or am I being overly anal and is it really not that important?

(Please note that the smear on the treadle does not in any way mean that I do not love and respect my new wheel. I was just a little clumsy while oiling the hinges. I swear to be a better, more coordinated person in the future and not so reckless with the application of the oil. It is my first wheel, and I was excited.)

More stash to come, when I remember to photograph the rest of it. I have at least 4 more skeins to show!

50% and a new LYS

First things first - I give you, exactly 1/2 of Scheherazade, which is pretty much the maximum I can accurately photograph anyway:







I had a really difficult time with the edging at first, not becuase it's hard (it's not), but just because I had this feeling that I was knitting out into space - it was bizarrely scary to knit out away from the main body of the stole. I had to redo the first row more times than was really reasonable. I cast on 24 stitches, counted, found I had only 23, cast on one more, counted again, and then purled back with more difficulty than I anticipated (I had forgotten how much more difficult the first couple of rows are because there is no weight to hold the stitches on the needle taut). Then, I started on the first chart row, got to the end, and discovered I had done something wrong, because I had too many stitches left over. I unpicked, recounted, and found that I had 23. Perplexed, I picked back, cast on one more stitch, did the whole thing again, and still had stitches left over. Really confused, I picked back again, counted stitches again, and again found that I had 23.

More confused than ever, I re-cast on that 24th stitch AGAIN, but this time as I purled back I actually thought about it and realized that having one stitch too few did not explain why I kept having too many stitches when I got to the end of the charted row. Then I realized that my eyes had just glazed past the s in the first box of the charted row. I was supposed to slip the first stitch, and that was why I had too many. I still don't know how I kept getting 23 stitches, but when I followed the directions properly, I got to the end of the row and everything was fine. After that, I really had no trouble.

When I completed the last row of the stole body, I rearranged my stitch markers so that I had one every 14 stitches, rather than every 10. I did this because the edging repeat is 14 rows (28, actually, but you only bind off a body stitch on the wrong side rows). That way I knew that if I got to the marker and I was not on the last repeat row, I had done something wrong. I didn't have any problems with this, but having the marker there did help me figure out which row I was on a couple of times when something distracted me and I forgot whether I had already moved my marker magnet or not.

After I took pictures I unpinned it and put it away. It seemed like tempting fate to try unpicking the cast-on just then. I have never worked with a provisional cast-on before so I decided it would be best to do it while well rested and not on a knitting high.

A new LYS has opened up right near the SO's appartment (so conveeeeeniant! I told him that the next time he puts his foot in his mouth to skip the flower shop and just pop into the yarn store). It's called With Yarn in Front and I don't think it has a website yet. It took me several tries to get there during open hours but I was very pleased. It's clean, organized, not too crowded (though this may change as they get more stock in - still, I really like the openness. I can't stand the crammed feeling of most yarn shops, where I can't turn around without fear of upsetting something), and the owner is very enthusiastic and helpful (almost too much so, but it is their first week or so, so I forgive). She proudly showed me what the shop had, including some milk yarn (so soft!) and corn yarn (feels like cotton). The prices were really nice, too.

The SO gamely went along with me and when I selected a skein of Jojoland Harmony laceweight (880 yards for 8 bucks - keep in mind, though, that it is actually finer than regular lace yarn, which I did not consider - even so, I think it's a good deal), he bought it for me! He is so sweet. I was intrigued by the color changes. I think I am going to try it out on the Knitspot pattern Elm Row. The colorway I got is called Harvest:



and I really wanted a fall-type pattern, but nothing too complicated that would be obscured with the colors. A leaf motif seems perfect. I'm really excited to see how it works up; it was all I could do not to ditch Scheherezade and cast on! However, it will take a little more thought than that, I think, because the yarn is finer weight than the pattern calls for, so I will have to (gasp) swatch and figure out how many pattern repeats I need to add to get a nice width. Then I'll just keep going until I run out. I have a feeling this may result in a short scarf, but if so, I'll live. In this weight it's definately an accent scarf rather than a warm scarf anyway. The suggested yarn is any laceweight that is about 400 yards per 50 grams. Harmony is 880 for 50 grams. It'll be a learning experience for me for sure - I am a little scared of ending up with a really oddly proportioned strip of knitting, but I am going to forge ahead and see what happens.

But, first things first - the other half of Scheherazade!

All is forgiven

As always, I forgive Knit Picks their slow shipping because I am always happy when the package finally arrives. Along with my replacement needles, I got Harmony needles in 3 other sizes (so now I have a pair each in 7, 8, 9, and 10...plus a spare 7 from the broken set), as well as two pairs of nickel 3's and a pair of nickel 1's to aid my sock knitting efforts. I got the 3's for the cast on and first few rows and the 1's for the heels, since I use 2's for socks.

I am loving the chart keeper. It made working on Shedir much easier last night. The place holder magnet kept me from having to search all over the chart for the row I was working on, and the keeper sat nicely over the arm of my sofa and, later, on my bed. Very nice. I did knock it off the sofa once at which point all the magnets kind of went flying, but no big. I put them all back and I knew what row I was on, so I was fine. I finished the repeat I was on and got halfway through the second repeat. The pattern is visible now and it looks very nice, though I do lament using such a dark color. The color is beautiful, though, and the texture is nice, so I am not too fussed.

I could really use a hat and gloves for myself, but I refuse to go buy what I would rather knit, and yet I don't know when I will get around to knitting them! I can keep Shedir if I think it will be too big for Leslie's sister so at least I will have a hat. I have the chenille scarf I made ages ago. I just need something for my hands. Time to plot!

No News

My Big Black Socks are up to 9 inches now, so yay for that. I have made no progress on Shedir because I lost the pattern, which I had enlarged so that I could read the chart better, and had to print it out and enlarge it again. I finally had it again yesterday plus the leisure time to work on it...but the SO was sick and comforting him became my priority. This comfort mostly consisted of holding him while he lounged on me, which prevented me from also holding my needles (don't think I didn't consider it, but it was immediately obvious that it wouldn't work).

The yarn for Odessa has arrived, and I expect my KnitPicks order to arrive today. I love Knit Picks, I really do. I love their yarns and I love their prices.

I HATE their shipping. It is the only complaint I have with them. The yarn leaves their distribution center in OH, gets to WV in a day...and sits there for exactly 3 days. Almost every time. On the third day, it leaves WV and usually gets delivered the next day. So, I really ought to get it in two days...but instead, I get it in no less than 5. I think I'd be happier if they had a tracking system that didn't tell me where the stuff was. I would much rather believe that it takes 5 days to transport yarn from OH to VA rather than knowing it only takes two to three days and that the additional time is entirely designed to DRIVE ME CRAZY.

I think it is a scheme on the FedEx end to make sure that our stuff does not get to us so fast that we have no reason to get expedited shipping. FedEx is evil.

Hats Off

Well, I didn't do crap this weekend. :oP I had a lot of fun but I didn't get much packing or cleaning done at all. I did the bathroom (sort of - the bathtub still needs scrubbing but I did clean out & pack the stuff from my drawers and cabinets, and I cleaned off the counter and sink).

However, I did get a lot done on this hat, which I decided to make with the Manos del Uraguay cotton that I had bought. I'm knitting the large size since I was too lazy to knit a swatch and check the guage. Also, because I would have had to buy needles to knit the swatch with, and then a larger set of needles if I needed to switch up, which I didn't feel like paying out for. So, I just started on the large size, hoping for the best. I haven't decided what I am going to do with the finished project anyway so we'll see how it turns out. I may keep it, or I may give it to RJ. The colors I'm using have a strong mental association to her in my brain and as she is moving to NC she will need something to keep off the sun.

Knitting in the round has proven to not be terribly difficult at all. The decreases were also easy, except for the counting part, which I always have trouble with. A few stitch markers made that part easier.

Anyway, I did great and even added a pretty stripe of light blue onto my green hat (I think of it as Laura Ashley green) - and then I got to the part where I was supposed to switch to using two circular needles, and the whole experience kinda went straight to hell. :oP I think I have gotten the hang of it now, but I made some mistakes in the process, and I am not sure how the end product is going to look. It was a little disheartening because the project had been going so well. One of the reasons I chose this pattern was to give me a chance to practice some of the techniques I will need on my gloves when I start them, so I began the project without many expectations, but I got attached to it as I worked so it was kind of depressing to think it might all be ruined in the home stretch. :oP

C'est la vie, I suppose - no sense pouting until it's done, since it's hard to tell at the moment whether I was able to successfully fix my problems or not. Anyway, if I put my mind to it I should be able to finish tonight, or tomorrow at the latest.

Oh no, when I went to knitty to get the link for the double-circular technique I saw their sponsor ad for The Impressionist Collection and just about died. SO PRETTY. The one that they had on the ad that actually caught my eye was the beaded silk in Les Fleurs. WANT. But so expensive!!! That's over $3 per yard!! And what on earth would I do with it? I like the Snowscapes one too...AGH.

::covets anyway:: I'll just have to make a note and keep it in mind for a gift for my mom or grandmom or something like that. Something very special.
I have no idea what beaded silk would be good for but it is just so purty.

ANYWAY, I really wanted to do this project this weekend but Michaels does not carry needles of the size that I needed, so I ended up going to Capital Yarns - and they had the right size, but only in the Addi Turbo needles, which are a) expensive b) metal. However, I have seen these needles touted in several places as wonderful, so I decided to go ahead and try them.

I don't know whether they are really and truly faster than other needles, but I do think I prefer my bamboo. The metal ones are (shockingly) hard, and also pointer than my bamboo needles. This is a problem for me because somehow in my own bizarre way, I have developed this style of knitting in which I frequently push on the points of the needles to slide the needle down rather than sliding the stitches up. My left thumb and right forefinger are the ones I use the most freqently for this; the former handled it okay but the latter, not so much. I tried to simply stop doing things that way, but it has already kind of become habit and it didn't work so well. So my right forefinger is feeling very abused this morning, especially since I sliced it rather messily while opening an envelope after I got home last night.

The ability to actually finish a project in a reasonable amount of time has endeared knitting to me forever, and I think I can reasonably say that this is not just a phase. I lurv to knit. ^_^ I will probably go in spurts on it just like I do on my other crafts, but I don't think I will be giving it up any time soon.

When I lamented not having a cat to knit toys for, I did not consider how many people I knew that have cats. I now have catnip and cotton balls (to use for stuffing) in the house and I think I will knit until I have a whole basket of feline dim sum. Then I will take the basket to D&D (reserving a couple for L's cats and RJ's kitty) and send everybody home with some cat toys. I'm a little worried about the cats ripping them open and eating the cotton balls, but I will knit them as tightly as I can and tell everyone not to leave the cats with them unsupervised. I don't think I could live with myself if a poor kitty choked on a toy I knitted for it. :oP

Self-serving Giving (or, making stuff for the sake of making stuff)

bored bored bored...I'm not sure what is the matter with me the last two days. :oP I'm in one of those phases where I just want to crawl in a hole with my crafting and ignore that the rest of the world exists. Possibly this is because I am so close to finishing a project, but I'm not sure. I hate being so close to the end and then having life get in the way. :oP

And, of course, the rush I get from finishing a project pushes me to look at working on something else and that is when I end up starting 8 projects and finishing none. So I'm trying to keep myself a little more focused, but it's not working well. :oP

I did go to the Yarn Barn yesterday. It was nice...not as much variety as I would have liked and I felt a bit watched the whole time I was in there. It probably wouldn't have bothered anyone else but it drove me crazy. I think it was just because I was new. And the ladies that spoke to me were trying to be helpful, but I am the kind of person who prefers to be as ignored as possible until I actually come looking for help. Especially since I didn't really go in there looking for anything in particular. I wandered from yarn to yarn, looking and touching and reading labels and thinking and all the while feeling a little uncomfortably observed. It was 'workshop night' so there was a whole group of ladies in there working on their projects, and the whole room turned to look at me when I came in, and it was just a little freaky.

Again, I don't think any of this is necessarily unusual or bad, I am just paranoid and nervous by nature - if no one notices me, I can't do anything embarassing. If no one is looking at me, I can vascillate all I want without worrying.

Anyway, I did end up buying some pretty cotton thinking I could make Karen a kind of floppy sunhat with it to wear while she is on zoo duty. The only thing is, when I got home and read the knitter's review on the particular yarn that I got, the review said that it does not wear well. Which I guess is okay for someone like me who will not use a hat that often, but someone like Karen will probably want to be able to wad it up and stick it in a bag and stuff like that, and it might not work out so good. So now I just don't know what to do with it. :oP I might just go ahead and try the hat anyway, or I might just make a different one for myself. I don't know.

The yarn suggests using a needle size of 4-6.5 and the floppy hat uses a size 2 needle, so I'm also not sure about that...is the cotton she used a different weight than my cotton? Should I just knit a swatch and see how the guage comes out? I'm not sure. :oP

I have two skeins in a light blue and two skeins in a medium green. I think they would look nice either individually or striped together.

Maybe I should just give up the hat thing and put the cotton away for a while. I'm so wierd.

I have a problem in that I tend to make gifts for people based more on the fact that I want to make that project than on whether they will actually want/use the gift. I have stitched a ton of items for my mother and only one has she expressed any real enthusiasm over. I am always also suggesting things I could make for my dad and having her point out gently that he is not likely to use/want any of the stuff I have come up with. :oP

The crafter's curse, I guess. Self-serving giving is something I will always have to struggle against. I am having that problem with this Andean Treasure shawl from Knit Picks. I totally want to make it, and it is such a fancy yarn that it would make a great gift for my mother or grandmother...except that neither TX or Louisiana are really great states for shawl-wearing. :oP And my mother has reached that season of life where staying warm is not really an issue. I might just make it for myself sometime, but we'll see.

Of course, I must also be wary of getting in over my head. I am still new at this whole thing, so I really ought to practice some of these techniques on cheap yarn before I do anything fancy.

It is as with all of my crafts - must be wary of getting in over my head just because something is fun and challenging. :oP Enthusiasm can be a curse.