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I'm happy to report that my fur skirt knitting project is finally finished. Don't mind the photo -- I had to edit out the background so my horribly messy bedroom wouldn't show. Because I'm weird like that.

So yeah, I'm happy with the way it turned out and I'm plotting to wear it sometime this week.

What's next on the project list? Believe it or not, I'm working on Christmas presents, as well as a very special hat for someone wonderful [and you know who you are].

For a close up look at the skirt texture http://thegofish.com/archives/click here.

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I must accept the facts. My fur skirt will take weeks to knit. I literally sat couchside knitting for 90% of the day. I've got maybe 8 inches of skirt knit, total. Maybe.

I feel somehow gypped by this whole experience. I hate yarn that is so small it takes forever to knit up.

Yes, all this yarn and knitting talk is sexy.

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As Dave pointed out in an entry of mine yesterday, "fur skirt" really sounds like it should be dirty. Dirrrrrrty. But it's just me having more fun with knitting.

There's not much to show yet. The yarn is small and the knitting is slow going. I think I have a four inch tube of skirt knitted so far, but I have to say that I'm more than happy with the way it's knitting up. The color is great and I love the furriness of the yarn [the yarn, if you're interested, is Valeria di Roma Cisne in Sepia]. An added bonus which I could not have predicted is that the resulting knitted piece is light and, therefore, appropriate for summer. If I really bust my ass this weekend it might even be done in time for my Manhattan trip on Monday, and wouldn't that be fun?

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I forgot to mention that I finished a sweater I've been working on. I believe the pattern is out of the latest Interweave.

So yeah, I wore the sweater to work today and felt all proud of myself. It was a fairly easy pattern, not too much shaping and no fitting armhole pieces together so it didn't turn out looking like ass.

And don't you like my Vanna White pose? I should definitely be on television somewhere, turning letters professionally. Or at least lounging on crappy furniture.

Anyway, for anyone who is interested in this kind of thing -- I used a http://thegofish.com/archives/double strand of brown yarn in fingering weight, a silk linen blend. It took about a week and a half to finish.

The new issue of Knitty was released sometime in the last day or two. I've been considering knitting myself a fuzzy skirt and after seeing this pattern, I'm ordering yarn tonight for it and going to town. I'm so easily amused.

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As if you already didn't think I was a freak, I stopped at Best Buy and purchased some knitting software yesterday. I'm purchased Instant Stitch, which comes with sweater design and organization software, and also a disk for cross stitch design [which I won't use, so if anyone wants it let me know]. I have finally dropped off the deep end.

Before you wonder why anyone would need knitting organizing software, you need to know that I currently have two gargantuan plastic bins full of yarn, and if I don't start using it soon that third bin will be started and then full in no time. I don't even really know what the hell I have.

And that sweater designer software is cool. I plug in my measurements, what kind of yarn I'd like to use, and determine what I want the sweater to look like, and it spits out a pattern with yarn yardage estimates.

And I'm pretty fucking psyched about it, so leave me the hell alone. Do I make fun of you for the geeky stuff you like?

And on a side note: many of you may already know that Dave from Blogdaddy was in a serious motorcycle accident on Friday. I'm thinking good thoughts for him, and you should too.

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Here's how you know I've gone off the knitting deep end: I happened to be wearing my new socks when I went yarn shopping on Saturday, and when I walked into the yarn shop and asked for a specific type of yarn, the salesperson was unpacking the same yarn I used on my socks -- so I showed off my socks and the salesperson was so excited she called out the shop owner and we all had a spirited discussion about sock patterns. I didn't even feel like a dork about it until I left the shop. Then I thought to myself, "Wow, I'm really a geek."

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I've already gotten one order for handknit socks, so I might as well open up the whole can of worms. If you want me to knit a pair of socks for you [you can see the socks I knitted for myself here], the cost will be $20-$40 [international orders might be a couple bucks more because of shipping], depending on the yarn and design you choose.

Here are the things I'll need to know:

1. shoes size and measurements of your feet [heel to toe, and also the width from the widest point -- in inches]
2. the type of yarn you would like - cotton, wool, acrylic and also flat, nubby, fuzzy, etc.
   
3. the color of yarn - multicolored, solid, etc.
   
4. add-ons - beaded tops, fur cuffs, etc.

It takes me approximately 1.5-2 weeks to complete socks [maximum], and your ETA will depend on how many sock orders I've got in the pipeline.

Email me for a price estimate or to order or whatever.

I also accept orders for handknit baby sweaters -- cost from $40 and up.

That is all.

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I finished my socks tonight during Buffy. How I love to finish a project! So socks finished, only three projects on needles left! Woo!

For anyone interested, the yarn is Schachenmayr nomotta Crazy Cotton. Each sock was roughly one skein. It's a little strange, but I really love knitting socks. Knitting in the round on double pointed needles is fun, and I love the weird presto chango magic of turning the heel. Knitting socks has the added benefit of being relatively immediate gratification-y.

I bought one more bunch of sock yarn last time I went yarn shopping. The next is brown and black wool. It's debatable whether or not I'll be able to control my urge to get the socks started. It's an addiction, I tell you!

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Um, yeah. So what does a newly blonde girl like me do on a Friday night? That's right, I cook dinner with my hot husband and finish knitting a sweater. Whoever said blondes have more fun surely knew what they were talking about.

What did I make? While I was dreaming about being a party guest at Christine's fondue party I went the healthy route and marinated chicken thighs in spicy yogurt marinade and the cooked them with couscous and green beans. Yes, I am [to quote Statia] "Martha Stewart's evil twin." Fear me.

Oh, and just so I make myself clear about something: I love the check yourself out registers at grocery stores. I don't have to deal with some bitchy anti-social worker drone with greasy hair and I have entirely too much fun making a spectacle of myself while attempting to scan my rack.

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There's something slightly off-putting about waking up in a puddle of drool. Honestly, we all do it. There isn't a person alive who hasn't found themselves cheek down in a wet spot on their pillow, saliva crusted in the corner of their mouth. It's just one of those gross things about being human. But it's made much worse when your husband is face to face with you, waiting for you to wake up, amused look on his face.

There should be a law!

I'm happy to report that all signs of my hangover from yesterday are gone. I think I would have felt better sooner except that the reek of those awful fruity drinks from Pod, identifiable by color only, was oozing through my pores, reminding me of the fun from the night before. There should be a deoderant or soap or something created to block that kind of thing. There was many a morning after in my earlier years when the stale smell of Miller Genuine Draft from a keg party kept wafting through my pores, keeping my head firmly in the toilet.

The good news is that I finished the baby sweater. I sewed the buttons on this morning and I am done. That makes me so happy, especially since this is my first official paying knitting gig. Technically, I guess this sweater will pay for my brunch today at Las Cazuelas with my friend Renee. And I'm so hungry for Mexican right now.

Obviously a sign of my returning vigor.

So I hear that France and Germany are putting forth their own proposal for Iraq. Good for them! It's nice to see a country other than the U.S. taking some initiative. I hope George, and Donald, and the rest of those assholes are hopping mad this morning. What really cracked me up is that the news reported this morning that George is very distressed since France and Germany are the U.S.'s "closest allies." Um, didn't your little flunky just refer to them as "Old Europe" the other day and basically call them out as ineffectual?

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I started a new knitting project last night. Someone here at work asked me to knit her a baby sweater like the one I knitted for Brooke's baby shower. I'm not a big fan of babies, but I sure do like knitting baby clothes -- they're so quick to knit.

I'm having problems with my fringey sweater project. The yarn I'm using is this great vintage yarn that I bought at a flea market. I thought I'd have more than enough to finish, but now I don't think I'll have enough. I have the front, back, and one sleeve finished. I'm halfway finished with the second sleeve and might have just enough to finish the sleeve, but not enough to make the turtleneck. I don't have much hope of finding more yarn to match, so I'm trying to come up with an alternative for the neck.

I'll be heartbroken if I spent four weeks on a sweater I'll never be able to complete.

The agony of defeat doesn't sit well with me.

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Now that the holidays are over, knitting has become a whole lot less about "have to" and a whole lot more about "this is fun." I finished the brown cardigan about a week ago, and I must admit that I am rather impressed with myself. Since my Pencam won't take a good picture, you can see the "official" picture that came with the pattern here. And it really does look just like that, except mine is a warm brown color.

And this is the sweater I'm currently working on. You can see from the fuzzy picture above how far I've gotten. I thought making all those little fringes would drive me insane, but it's pretty easy and mindless. And the sweater itself is very easy, and I'm happy with the way it's coming out. The other thing I'm working on is a hat for someone special who helped me in a major way recently.

My aunt sells handmade doll clothes at craft fairs and offered to sell sweaters for me if I wanted to make some to fit the dolls she sells for. And after Brooke's baby shower, one of my co-workers contracted me to knit a sweater like the one I knitted for Brooke's baby. So even though I'm a slow-ass knitter at least I can supplement my income with a few side projects.

I'm still half-embarrassed to say that I'm a knitter, even though it's totally trendy now and all sorts of celebrities have come out of the knitting closet. But I'm slowly getting over it -- I mean, on some level what girl hasn't ever entertained the thought of how sucky it is not to be able to find the clothes you want, and how cool it would be to make or design your own clothes? And so now I get to do that. And I'll have clothes that no one else has. I've started to design a few sweaters of my own, and I'm excited about trying out some of the designs.

I'd say that doesn't make me old-maidish. Instead, I'd like to think of myself as a fashion designer. That way I don't feel like my grandmother.

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We're having a baby shower for Brooke in a few weeks, so I finally got my shit together and knitted a baby sweater. I am pretty impressed with the way the sweater came out -- and I'm thrilled that I have my first paying knitting gig. Someone in the office saw my finished sweater and said she'd pay me to make one for her. Who knew?

Anyway, the colors are off in the photo of the sweater. Instead of blue and black, it's more blue, purple, and green, and it has little tiny fish buttons. Cute! It's a shame I don't like children.

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Warning: knitting-related post

OK, so I put the sweater I'm knitting aside temporarily so I could get some instant gratification in the form of socks.

I really like knitting socks. Knitting in the round is fun and socks knit up pretty quickly. And turning the heel is seriously exciting.

Yep, I'm a total dork.

The socks I'm currently knitting are for my mom. They are three different shades of blue and have blue furry stripes at the top. Last night I knitted just past the heel of the first sock, and tonight I'll finish the first sock. And then I'll work on the sweater a little.

So I have until January 3 to finish up two pairs of socks, and I have until Christmas to finish the sweater, and knit a scarf, a pair of mittens, and a wrap.

Think I can do it?

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So I finished knitting my very first sweater over the weekend. You can't tell from the photo, but it is a lovely pine green color. What you can tell is that it looks like a normal sweater...you know, doesn't have three arms or gaping holes or anything crazy like that. Yes, I managed to make a sweater fit for public wearing. Hooray! I'm so proud of me!

Of course, I had to redo the rolled collar just about three times to get it right. But hey, it was a learning experience.

And, just because I finished the sweater early on in the weekend, I decided to give felting a try. I knitted a cool orange hat and then felted it in the wash and this is the result.

buy steroids I'm just a knitting crazy person.