Lady Librarian

I love John and Gareth. John teased Carole, Carole teased John, Gareth rushed out to snog Carole and then came round to the video link where John could see the fan asking him questions to dance at the camera. Utterly hysterical.

Gareth Dancing for John

Tea time at the Grand Floridian Cafe!

0419091645.jpg

Happily relaxing at the amazing Caribbean Beach Resort.

0419091422a.jpg

We have arrived! The view as we walk to our room!

0419091345.jpg

Taking a drive in Dad's new convertible!

Bit chilly at 55 degrees, but still a lot of fun.

0412091535.jpg

Knitting: Uh.
Originally uploaded by Sydwi.

ARGH. ARGH ARGH ARGH ARGH ARGH.

Argh. Houston, we have a problem. Except, no - a problem is manageable. This is a sea of problems and I don't know where to begin fixing them.

The first one was a nightmare - I must have been very distracted, because I'd realize that I had pulled a needle out of its stitches several times. I also lost the round marker a few times. I also dropped a few stitches and while I did successfully pull them back up (first dropped stitches ever), it resulted in a bumpy messy row.

Then came the second one. Everything was going good, everything was going grand, I counted the rows above the thumb on the first one (9) and then matched it on the second and bound off.

Yeah.

Why do nine rows not match? Why do the 13 of the thumb gusset not seem to match? Why did the bind off roll on the second one but not the first? How did the gusset on the first end up in the palm and not the thumb, like the second? (Yeah, totally the missing marker, but why didn't I make myself believe my thoughts that it didn't look right?)

Do I rip out the second bind off and extend it? Do I rip out the first one down to its cuff and try again? Do I rip off the bind off and pull it down to match the second one's length instead? ARGH! My simple fast not-even-a-pattern has turned into the worst project ever. And these were going to be *useful* for God's sake - it's damned cold in my office at work. SIGH.

The yarn is nice, though - Springvale merino from Three Irish Girls in the January yarn club color Benevolent. It's sproingy and soft and feels absolutely gorgeous. A little splitty at first with the bamboo dpns, but easily managed.

Knitting: Finished Mittens
Originally uploaded by Sydwi.

I've been able to give away some knitty gifts lately, which was really fun.

The latest was this mitten set. I love these mittens - the yarn, the colorway, they are lovely and warm. But they did not fit me or match my winter coat. Luckily, my co-worker Heather saw them, liked them, and they matched her coat. I brought them in and success! They fit as well. So now she has a lovely warm pair of mittens and I feel all warm and happy that someone actually wanted my knitting. Win-win!

I also gave some very tiny pieces away at Christmas. I knit up this little pouch to hold a cute Germany ornament for a themed ornament exchange. I was dear Grossmama mailing a little gift to Tib Muller, from the Betsy-Tacy books. *g*

This little sachet went to my friend Krissy. The silky purple made me think of her:

I sewed a little bag crammed tight with apple cinnamon potpourri and stuffed it and pillow fluff into the purple squares. Basic, but pretty and I hope she liked it!

I also had a knitting-related gift set for Kristine and another for Jennie. I took clear empty ornament balls, wound some mini skeins of yarn and stuffed them, garland and knit ornaments inside. They came out so cool and I think many others will receive an ornament next year, as well!

Full Moon
Originally uploaded by Sydwi.

The moon was absolutely gorgeous, especially with all the snow framing it. It was a quiet, still night, peaceful but almost foreboding. It was a night when vampires could have gone walking or werewolves might have come alive and it would have fit the mood.

(This, btw, took many, many attempts to make it work, to the point of thinking it never would. In the end...basic flash. Go figure.)

Calorimetry
Originally uploaded by Sydwi.

Look what I made! I cast on last night when Jennie and I popped in a first season episode of Stargate Atlantis and cast off tonight just after another first season episode of Stargate Atlantis. *g* Probably about five hours of knitting, total, plus extra finishing time.

This is a Calorimetry, in a soft-spun corriedale wool. The colorway is Ianto, dyed by YummyYarn of Etsy, and based on Ianto's excellent suits. The button is sparkly and from a cheap pack at JoAnns.

I modified the pattern in several ways - I used a US7 needle instead of US8, cast on 96 stitches instead of 120 and did 8 repeats of row 5 and 10 repeats of row 7, instead of 15 and 17 respectively. Too many people had complained that the pattern turned out huge, and they were right. I may have done an extra set of repeats, but the 96 was absolutely perfect and the width is still fine. It doesn't smoosh my bangs and it does cover my ears, which were the two things I wanted from this.

And, well, look. I'm damn cute in it. ;)

I have two more skeins of this on the way, and they shall be matching De-Lovely fingerless mitts. This will be a classic set that Ianto would certainly approve of!

  Sparkle Knit
Originally uploaded by Sydwi.

A scarf for my mother! It's about twice this length now and going much more smoothly. It's a drop stitch scarf - k1, yo, k1, yo 2, k1, yo 3, k1, yo 2, k1, yo and then knit the knits and drop the yos. Easy technically, although getting the dropped yos to look smooth took practice. (ie, they are so not smooth here, although the last few unphotographed rows are!) I think it's looking neat, though, and it's going fairly fast.

I'm holding together a brown cotton, Araucania Pomaire, and a maroon sparkly mohair, Rowan Kidsilk Night, which is making a vaguely purple scarf. *g* Mom says she loves it, so yay!