Mmm, coffee.

I'm working on Knit Picks' Cabled Mug Cozy pattern right now, and it's cute so far.

I have time to work on this because:





I got those Men's Convertible Gloves done (another Knit Picks pattern). I love finally finishing patterns that were in my craft bowl. It's still overflowing (as usual) but not as badly.

Knit Picks Gloves, DPNs, Stitch Markers, and Other Accomplishments/Failures

Accomplishments the past few days:



Even though I used DPNs to hold my stitches, I still managed to finish 1.5 gloves. The pattern is from Knit Picks, it's the Men's Convertible Gloves pattern. Making them for a friend, and then I have to make another pair.



I am not a perfect knitter, but they say practice makes perfect? One glove complete, the other is almost complete.



I managed to take a picture today of my TUSAL jar for the Totally Useless Stitch-A-Long The best SAL ever, in that it involves saving your threads and other tiny needlework bits. You work on whatever you want and save the leftovers. Yeah, there's yarn in there. There are tiny shreds of quilting fabric in there too, because I can't follow instructions. I love this SAL. It's my favorite. You should join.

I cranked out a couple of articles for one site this weekend. One was even crafts related.

I also managed to get up to work to add some classes to my teaching schedule as well as pick up some supplies.



Wire. Oddly, all of this is for knitting. The wire, the fabric, the beads. How? The fabric is becoming a needle organizer to hold my DPNs, and the beads and wire are for stitch holders because if everyone else jumped off a bridge I'd do it too.

The problem here comes up in my list of:

Failures



I know NOTHING about beading. Beads in needlework? Oh sure. Beads on wire? I don't know wire. I don't know supplies or tools or the best way to thread things unless it pertains to needlework. After attempting to close these things 3 different ways I've admitted defeat and will now do what I was avoiding doing earlier. Find and read some instructions.

*sigh*

I also have no idea what this guy is supposed to be:





I am befuddled.

Another failure...2 partial socks started, 2 frogged. One is a Knit Picks pattern. The other, well I just knitted it on needles that were apparently too big so that's not a big deal. At least I did it correctly!



Pretty sock from Knit Picks pattern with Knit Picks yarn on Knit Picks needles...all frogged now. The other sock, I was halfway down the foot before I realized it needed to be frogged. :( I can't yet check 'make a pair of socks' off my list of goals.

In other failures, I took pictures for an article to write on storing wool roving but have yet to write the article, re-size them, and upload them.

Knitting socks, and Valdani threads.

My order from Knit Picks came today. I'm trying to learn to knit socks (shouldn't be too hard) so I can knock it off my list of 101 things to complete in 1,001 days. The color of the yarn is Peacock multi (sock yarn) and the brown yarn is for some Men's Convertible gloves (there'll be pictures of the pair I'm currently finishing up soon...this is yet another pair).

In an interesting twist of events (common around here), JoAnn's asked if I'd teach a class on how to knit socks that will start up this fall. You betcha?



Welcome to crash course crafting. My name is Rabid and I'll be your host for this roller coaster ride...

In other news, remember Garden Party? The free pattern is here. At any rate, I'm making a much bigger and more intricate one for Valdani to take overseas.

The color of the thread is the same, but the fabric is different and the design will be adapted considerably so it'll look different.



If you're interested, keep on coming back. I have to have it out of here by August so it'll be another mad dash to the finish line. Just how I like it.