Temporarily off Sleeve Island

But I am done with one Grace sleeve and finished the cuff of the second. I've got my marching orders for my secret project so that will be my focus for a couple weeks, leaving me without much blog fodder.

In the meantime, I'll share a little of my stash that hasn't made it to the blog yet. I believe I once mentioned I got a green skein of Handmaiden Casbah along with the Ruby Red that became my Cowl of Kindness. This green skein will definitely turn into a pair of socks, but I'm not sure yet. I recently purchased The Eclectic Sole from Purlescence, so I've got a candidate (Rivendell) or two for it.


But somehow showing just a skein of yarn isn't enough, so I'll veer into my previous (but still very current) thing for makeup. Just when I think my yarn addiction is OTT, I head over to my ole stomping grounds on the makeup boards and find that my yarn thing is reasonable compared to lengths some people will go to get a lipstick, even a free one, like the one below.


During my visit that resulted in my Eclectic Sole book purchase, I mentioned to IrishgirlieKnits that I had spent some of my yarn budget on MAC (Cosmetics, not computers) during their Friends and Family sale (15% - ended last week - sorry!), I was gently reprimanded for not sharing good deals on makeup.

So I'm going to make amends for it now. For all my knitting buddies in California, you can get an "exclusive" MAC lipstick called California Dreamin' for free by the end of the month. It's a Lustre finish, which in MAC-speak, means it's semi-sheer, but not as much as a lipgloss, thus making it more wearable for a wider range of skintones. If you do a google search, there are swatches on the makeup boards (not sure if non-members would be able to see the pics though) and some makeup addict blogs online.

The deal is that you print out this and present it to your local freestanding MAC store - not their counter at Nordies, Macy's, Saks, or any other department store, but the actual MAC store that stands alone either in the mall or your local trendy shopping area - and then they give you this cute lipstick for free. Really!

The crazy part? Apparently someone on eBay was supposedly selling a bunch of the actual paper postcards (on the East Coast!) to any buyer willing to fork over $10, when it was the same e-mail link posted that all the MAC Addicts could get for free. Then again, when MAC released their Barbie Collection (yes, that Barbie), there were eBay bidders vying for just the postcard promoting the event. When I last kept track of this craziness, the bids had gone as high as $50! For a postcard! It wasn't even any of the makeup collection itself.

So, see! Knitters are not the crazy ones in this world. Unless they're also a makeup addict like me. ;)

Knitting buddies that work together...

shop together. At tapmouse's "request" (she's got a recalcitrant laptop), I'm posting her part of our order:


l to r: Carbon, Count Cluckula, and Smokey Blue


Along with our BMFA order and my Woolgirl sock club kit, my zknitter project bags came arrived as well. I love them! I already had a few sock project bags, but wanted something a little bigger than those, but smaller than my Namaste or sheepie totes. I thought the bag(s) Zonda made for Irishgirlieknits were so lovely, that I finally picked my fabrics and asked her to make me a couple bags or so.

Thanks so much & wishing you well, Z!

Sleeve Archipelago

I've been trying to satisfy the product knitter side of myself by focusing on the sleeves on my 2 sweater WIP's,


but it's hard to stay motivated and not get some knitting malaise.

Hopefully this totally fun Woolgirl Sock Club kit will help.


And this STR haul definitely will! I was so excited I didn't even bother finding the best lighting out in the yard to take a pic (northern backyard lighting kinda sucks anyway). I even went so far as ordering the same colorway in a different fiber.


And not only did I break this self-imposed rule when buying Blue Moon Fiber Arts yarn once, but I did it twice:


The Luscious Single Silk (LSS) on the left is intended for a Shetland Triangle made famous in knitter blogland by this gorgeous version. Shall I wind and cast on, away from the Sleeve Isles?

Cotton Koolhaas

pattern: Koolhaas Hat
yarn: Lion Brand Cotton Ease in Charcoal
needles: KP 7 & 9 circular (Magic Loop)

It's a hat, so of course I didn't swatch. Because I'm a tight knitter (still) I automatically went up a needle size, not realizing that the thicker cotton blend I was using would make for a larger hat anyway, so I ended up doing 4 repeats of the diamond pattern rather than 5 for the men's size.

This chemo hat was originally intended for someone I knew a little from long ago who is undergoing lung cancer treatment, but I botched one of the cable crosses halfway through the hat. And of course, I didn't notice it 'til I bound off and weaved in the ends. And the offending crossing was in the middle and not at the "halfway edge" of the Magic Looped round where I could understand doing a miss-cross. D'oh!

So now I'm trying to figure out what to do. I'm debating whether or not I should send it to him anyway in hopes that as a non-knitter he won't notice or if I should just give it some charity somewhere in his honor since it's got the one mis-crossed cable.

Monkey Kaw Kaws & a Cowl of Kindness

Pattern: Monkey by Cookie A
Yarn: Socks that Rock lightweight in Kaw Kaw - dyed for Camp Crows Feet Sock
Camp
needles: KP "1.5" (2.50 mm) circs
mods:
- Channel Island cast on that we learned at Sock Camp.
- Standard slip stitch heel since I've already done the St st heel on my Algae Monkeys


I'm ready to keep my neck warm next winter, though my 2 monkeys considered turning this into a tube top. Well, technically Monkey1 wanted to, but Monkey 2 could actually do it with room to spare. However, this mommy says no to Monkeys and a cashmere blend yarn. 'Cause it's mine, all mine!


pattern: Cowl of Kindess based on Chawne's Socks of Kindess
yarn: Handmaiden Casbah (Ruby Red?)
needles: size 8 KP circs
cast on 104 sts (did not do a gauge swatch so can't tell you what it is)
unblocked dimensions: 9" high x 10" across flat

Going in circles

Not feeling the flat back-and-forth knitting projects (plus they're both sleeves), so my active WIP's are circularly knitted:


Monkey Kaw Kaw Sock 1 is done! Started my second sock, but need to take a picture of my first Monkey Kaw Kaw sock with tapmouse's 'cause mine patterned lighter than hers - quite the lesson in the whole different knitter/different needle size/different gauge (more row than stitch) can make hand-dyed yarn look different.


I also started my Cowl of Kindness (sorry, Ravelry link) in my Handmaiden Casbah skein (Ruby Red?, size 8 needles, yarn held double.) The cowl pattern is based on Chawne's lovely Socks of Kindness.


Am also doing a Koolhaas hat that is slated to go to someone specific or to a charity as a chemo cap.