Here’s something I got in the mail the other day:

Ten skeins of Rowan All Seasons Cotton, color “safari.” Very nice stuff. I’ve not decided what I’m gonna do with it yet. All suggestions will be considered.

And here’s my olive Noro Lily that I got in the mail yesterday. Yum! This may well become a Haiti with short sleeves.

Another Knit-along!

Didja see the pattern for the totally adorable Fiona bag that Brooks has created and posted?

Kristine at Knit Happens is hosting a Fiona knit-along. She’s started a Yahoo Group for it here. The bag takes a total of four skeins of Mission Falls 1824 Cotton (three of the main color and one contrast) so it’s not a budget-breaker. And it looks like a fun knit. So of course I’m gonna be knitting along! It starts the same day as my Ingeborg Knit-along — May 15. So I’ll have my main project and my commuter projects all set for me.

Cotton . . . the Horror . . .

In yesterday’s comments, Tam conjectured that I must have used Svale at some point in the past, and that’s why I’m not using it for Haiti.

Yep. That’s right!

Anyone remember back to Summer of ’02 and the Svale Tank? I started knitting it in June maybe? And abandoned it in disgust. I hated that stinking yarn. Shoved it in a bag and never looked back.

Which brings me to an interesting topic. A commenter yesterday conjectured that ripping out rather than putting away a mistake was the sign of an experienced knitter. And congratulated me on reaching “the next level” because of my recent ripping.

Now, I found this mildly offensive, though no doubt it was not meant that way.

If I’m knitting something and I hate the yarn and hate the way the project is turning out because of the yarn, I’ll dump it and not bother to rip it. Why should I? I’m not going to use the yarn again. (See comments about the Svale yarn above.) It has nothing to do with how experienced a knitter I am, or reaching some level.

Really, the only reason I bothered to rip Abby is because I like the yarn and wanted to reuse it. And I may have mislead some yesterday with the comments about having a tantrum or not. The point was that I surprised myself with how little it mattered to me that I had wasted a few precious knitting hours on something I decided wasn’t going to work for me. Knitting time is my most precious commodity. Hence the comments about adult attitude.

I reserve the right to shove anything I want in a bag and abandon it, without offending the gods of knitting or screwing up my karma.

By the way, I forgot to take a progress photo of Haiti, so as a consolation prize, here’s a progress pic of Tina:

Almost to the armhole decreases on this puppy.

Okay. Have a nice weekend, all. Lucy says “relax!”

I would like to point out to you all that my experience with Abby proves that I’m All Grown Up.

In the past, if I started knitting something and didn’t like it, I would shove it in a plastic bag, hide it in a closet, and have a tantrum.

Yesterday, instead of doing that with Abby after I decided she was too big and unflattering, I ripped her out and (gasp) started knitting something else with the yarn.

I’m so proud of myself. I’m such an adult.

One of the worst knitting tantrums I ever threw was when I was in college, over a pair of Scandinavian 2-color mittens. I was making a pair as a gift for a friend, and had painstakingly modified the pattern chart and charted her name above the wrist.

And I knitted two right mittens.

I was so mad I ranted and raved and jumped up and down on the completed mittens (yes, I was childish). Then I went out and bought a gift for my friend.

But the good thing is that I’ve never made that mistake again!

So anyhow, here’s the Tina progress for the day:

I’m in Love!

With this:

This is a 10-drawer plastic storage tower I bought from Staples (the photo is from their website). It is my new knitting needle storage solution.

I have a lot of needles. I’ve had them stuffed in baskets, crammed in file folders, etc. Nothing worked very well, so I’ve been on the hunt for something better. This critter is the answer! It has ten drawers, so the top eight drawers hold all my needles — circs and dpns — from size 0 to 7. The second to last drawer holds sizes 8 and 9, the bottom drawer holds everything larger.

I do have a bunch of dpns smaller than size 0 — I’ll figure out something to do with those.

Here’s the fullest drawer — the size 3 drawer:

Yahoo! I’m in needle nirvana!

Haiti

From my comments, it sounds like I’m not alone in thinking that Kolibri is a b*tch to knit. That makes me feel better. And now that I’m in plain stockinette it’s much easier to knit. Knitting a lace pattern with it was just plain nasty. Kolibri has a tendency to split as it’s made up of a bunch of plies, so you have to be careful not to miss a tiny ply while knitting.

But the resulting sweater is going to be nice, I think, so on I knit.

See? This is another sign of my mature attitude, no? I’m sticking with cotton yarn even though I don’t enjoy it, because I know the results will be worth the effort. Get me.

Fortunately the Lana Grossa Point that I’m using for Tina is a dream to knit. The teeny bit of elastic added to the cotton makes all the difference. I wish it came in a lighter weight — dk or sport!

And thanks to you all who left thoughtful comments about sizing and self-perception yesterday. I see I’m not the only one who has issues with this!

Lucy sez:

I have no issues with self perception. I am perfect. Full stop.

She also wants to know if she can borrow the car tonight.

(You can get a pet driver’s license from ChloeCards.)

I was knitting along on Abby yesterday morning on the train, and stopped to take a good look at her.

She was huge!

This is a mistake I make all the time, and it’s all tied in with self-perception. I stop. I repeat to myself:

“I’m not as huge as I think I am. I’m not as huge as I think I am.”

I have a bad tendency to make sweaters wa-a-ay too big, because I perceive myself as being much larger than I actually am. And that’s made worse by the fact that I’ve been on a weight loss challenge with a friend and have dropped a few pounds recently.

So . . . here is Abby “before”:

And “after”:

Farewell, Abby! You were fun while it lasted.

I almost cast on for Abby in size small but decided against it. The truth is, she’s boring. A straight stockinette boxy little sweater.

So . . . meet Tina. Yes, I am a fickle girl, dumping Abby like that. But I think Tina will be a more flattering design for me.

Haiti

Nope, haven’t ripped this one out. No plans to either.

I am now in the oh-so-boring stockinette portion of the sweater. Le yawn. But I love the sweater and am yearning for the finished product, so I will persevere, even though I’m not fond of knitting the Kolibri.

But as I knit, I keep thinking how nice this design would be made in Noro Lily. And as it happens, I won ten skeins of Noro Lily in an olive green. I believe that would be more than enough for the version of Haiti with short sleeves.

Note to Jocelyne in France:

I tired to respond to your email several times, but my emails bounced back as undeliverable. For some reason, I can no longer email anyone at wanadoo.fr. But I wanted to let you know I didn’t ignore your message!

Lucy sez:

Would someone rub my tummy, please?

I can’t begin to tell you how much fun I had yesterday! Because I had lunch with four very special people.

Em (Everybody Loves Saturday Night), Rachael (My Glass house), Bethany (Rachael’s sister), and Maeve (Knitting Musings) met me downtown for a knitting meet-up. We had such a blast. We sat in Union Station, working on our knitting, then had lunch in a restaurant there, still working on our knitting. I was soooooo tempted to blow off work for the rest of the day and hang out with them til they had to leave for New York, but I was a good girl and went back to the office. After a two and a half hour lunch.

Here we are, knitting in public! Bethany is not pictured because she was acting as photographer.

Rachael brought me a “Knitting is Sexy” bumper sticker. As you can see, I wasted no time putting it on Xena’s bumper.

I think it’s wonderful that I can meet up with four people I’ve never seen before, feel an instant connection and kinship, and have the time of my life. Blogs can be a very good thing indeed!

But golly. I have no FOs to show you today. Am I a slacker or what??!!

But I can show you some progress on my Haiti tank.

The Dale Kolibri I’m using to make this is beautiful yarn — 100% Egyptian cotton with a lovely sheen to it. And I love this color. But it’s not particularly enjoyable to knit. I have my usual cotton complaints. Very unyielding, non-stretchy yarn. I feel like I’m knitting with string. Blurk.

But I think that Haiti is the perfect design for this type of yarn. No ribbing to stretch or sag, and a simple boxy shape. I think it’ll be very cute when done.

The actual color is more forest green than shown here. I took the photo without flash, because the flash made it look too shiny and obscured the pattern.

Oh, and I can show you some progress on Abby, too, as I worked on it during lunch yesterday, as well as on the train. I absolutely love this yarn! It’s so soft and springy and fun to knit. Must . . . buy . . . more . . . Lana . . . Grossa . . . Point . . .

By the way, I posted the particulars of my Not-Colinette Poncho on the Official Poncho page, so anyone who would like to know what yarns I used and how much of each, check it out.

Lucy sez:

Don’t hate me because I am beautiful!

It’s FO Monday! I had a busy weekend.

First, I finished the Not-Colinette poncho.

I love it! I could carry Lucy as an accessory:

Here’s a close-up:

And next, I finished the Checkerboard Shell.

Please excuse the bra strap in the photo.

Oh, and I finished the Giotto tank as well.

And I Have WIPs

This is my progress on the Abby top. Just what I did on the train on Friday.

I also started another project. “Haiti,” which is design # 12205 in Dale book #122. I’m making the cropped tank version from Dale Kolibri cotton yarn, which I bought from Elann a while back. It’s got a pretty pattern around the bottom. Here’s the start of it:

As usual, Lucy had a nice weekend, relaxing with her daddy: