hey, all.  I haven't posted anything in a while, but I have been knitting.  I even finished a pair of socks! 


they're fawkes (pdf) socks, knit toe-up using krafty1's modifications.  knit in Lorna's Laces shepherd sock, colorway Flames.  Ravelers, check them out here!

i often see posts on craftster that are against the advertising rules, against the new blog-linking rules, or even just in the totally wrong forum.  i've never pushed that "report to moderator" button, but i've thought about it.  i'm just worried about what will happen.  i mean, do all the alarms in the mods' secret hideouts go off and they put on their capes and tights and leap into action... only to discover it's just a post in the wrong place?  or do you guys want us to push that button to let you know so that you can keep craftster organized and awesome? 

okay, i recently saw a shrug all over the internets, but of course i didn't bookmark it anywhere.  it was a square or rectangle for the back, i think, and then there was a cabled edging all around it.  sort of like the circular shrug, only not.  and people picked it apart (definitely on flickr, probably on craftster) and said things like "yes, it's definitely just a scarf attached to a rectangle and the scarf gets skinnier at the top and wider at the bottom.  see the seam at the back neck?"  and i think it was a designer piece?

i've spent the past hour googling and searching this board with every combination of terms i could think of.  hopefully someone knows what i'm talking about!

ETA: i found it!  on tragicherione's flickr stream.  not really sure how that happened, but it did.  i'm off to knit!

hey, all.  i'm thinking about placing an order with jbw-- seems like people are generally pretty happy with them.  i figured i'd offer up the referral reward, though, since i did first hear about them on craftster.  so if you already have an account with them and you want 15% off your next order, pm me and i'll put you down as the person who referred me to the site.  i'll probably place the order sometime tonight or tomorrow, regardless of if i hear from anyone.

so my boyfriend is studying industrial design, which is basically anything that can be mass-produced.  this quarter, their project was to design and build a chair.  i think i saw him, on average, about an hour a day, despite the fact that we live together.  it totally sucked, but i think the end result was probably worth it.  what do you guys think?

all done!


i think he said it's called (paren.).  don't know why, though...


under construction:


that's me, sewing the cushion cover.  i accused him of running a sweatshop:


relaxing after a hard day's (or ten week's) work:

okay, so i just finished the last stitch of my first big lace project, a butterfly for my sister's bridal shower.  which is tomorrow.  but i don't know how to weave all those ends invisibly into the lace.  for that matter, i don't really know how to "tack" ends or finish projects made in anything other than animal fibers that stick to themselves.  i should probably get a good book on finishing, so if anyone can recommend one, that would be great.

but back to the matter at hand-- the dress which has to be wrapped up by tomorrow at 5:00.  help me!  please?

(and because everyone always asks, i promise to post pictures when it's done!)

...and he loves it!  i literally have to lock up my bamboo needles when i'm not around or my cat will find them and chew them up.  last night he even dug them out of my knitting bag to chew on them, despite the tempting ball of yarn sitting in the bag right next to the needles.  i really want to try bamboo yarn, but i'm afraid anything i make will be immediately chewed up (said cat likes to play with yarn but-- thankfully-- doesn't get that hand-knit garments become yarn if you chew them up).

anyone else have this problem or do i just have a freak cat?

i was wandering through my lys a while ago, and i accidentally bought some malabrigo.  i don't normally even like purple, but this just called to me.  about 2/3 of the first skein became my very own lake park hat on the plane ride home from san jose last weekend:


malabrigo is definitely the "fanciest" yarn i've ever bought or knit with, and i think this stitch pattern does it justice, don't you?


the colorway is "velvet grapes," and i cast on 80 stitches, did a twisted rib hem, and did 3 full pattern repeats before beginning the decreases.  it was getting pretty long, so i skipped rows 18-25 of the decrease chart, and i think it turned out fine.  what do you guys think?

is this too much to ask?  i understand short-row shaping, and i've done it before for toys, socks, etc.  but how do you use it to add bust shaping in a cardigan?  would you just knit from the center front edge to where you want the shaping to start, w&t, knit (or purl, whatever) back to the end of the row, and then continue like that, just doing the w&t at the armpit and not at the center?

also, i read a post where someone was talking about how the darts point the wrong way when you do top-down short-rows.  is this a big deal?

hey, everybody!  i started eunny's print o the wave stole last week as my first major lace project.  i'm hoping to make four of them for the girls in my sister's wedding this july!!  anyway, i'm using some recycled yarn and i'm not sure what weight it is, so i just swatched on a bunch of different sized needles until i found the one that gave me the look i wanted.  i blocked the swatches, but i left them at my parents house and now i'm worried that it's not going to be big enough.  can i block what i have done so far to make sure i'm going to be happy with the finished size, or will weird things happen if i block part of it twice?  also, will this positively or negatively (or not at all) affect the ease of picking up approximately 17 bajillion stitches around the edge to add the border?

thanks!