"Gentlemen... behold!!"

Here is the lovely pink acrylic that I was given the other day:



My knitting-needle case is the first sewing project that I have attempted since seventh-grade home ec class. The upside to making my own is that it cost me a lot less than buying one and I was able to customize it: I tend to knit on smaller needles so I was able to make more pockets for small sizes, and fewer for the big needles that are so popular but of which I have so few. The downside is that I, the color-disabled, was forced to pick fabrics that matched each other. I suppose I might have made the whole thing out of the same fabric but I think I would have gotten confused about which piece was which. I am just that sewing-disabled. Anyway, it worked, and I have a needle case that is Hard to Miss:





When I bought the bright orange ribbon at my local sewing shop, the man ringing me up asked me what I could possibly be using it for. Which is a good question, since I have some left over. What can I do with grosgrain ribbon of THE brightest orange? I've got enough to go around my head once, so I think I might pull an Angela Bower and wear the leftover ribbon in my hair. :)

In an ongoing effort to photograph the finished projects of the past year, I offer you a not-great photo of my recently completed legwarmers. I chose Mountain Colors 4/8's Wool in colorway Lupine to make these: one skein made two cozy legwarmers with plenty leftover for who-knows-what. I used the legwarmer pattern in Melanie Falick's Weekend Knitting as a guideline. Although I made these to wear with skirts (all two I have) I have found that I really like wearing them under jeans and trousers. I think I am going to make another pair with black at the bottom, because I love wearing them in my chilly workplace but the blue isn't "regulation dresscode." I fight against this inane dresscode as much as I can, so I can make my work legwarmers look however I want just as long as the bottom inch is black. As usual, when faced with the problem of having to make something up on my own, I am paralyzed and unsure what to do... and I'll probably go with my original idea as usual.



The green and blue parts of the wool did make a predictable spirally effect around the tube, but the difference between the two colors is not great, so from a decent distance the legwarmers look all blue. I hate hate hate color pooling on handpaints, even though I love the handpaints themselves, but am unsure if I want to go to the trouble of knitting a single piece from two different skeins to prevent color blocking.... especially if it's something small and self-contained like a sock. KnitPicks has some great house-label yarns out now that are inexpensive and pretty, but the non-self-patterning sock yarns seem to pool a lot.

I am still plodding away on Ms. Ruffles, having finally started on the second ball after ripping back a million times because I keep dropping stitches (yarn is way slippery). I have put the Teva Turtle Shrug away for now, even though I like the project, because I am simply more excited about working the Ruffles. I promise to return to the much more useful shrug once frivolous pink Ruffles is finished. I am finished with the stitchy-stitching on the argyle vest, so now comes the dullest/hardest part for me: picking up for the neckline. Having drafted the pattern myself, I don't have a handy sheet of paper anywhere that says "pick up xx stitches on right side..." and I never seem to have enough "time" to sit down and work it out for myself. However, I have vowed to complete the vest while argyle is still in style so I have a deadline of sorts. Right now I'm more concerned about getting through tonight: the tuesdayknite crowd is coming over to my place today and I have done 0% of my cleaning and shopping in preparation. I did, however, make the Turkish Coffee Pear Bread last night and it came out ok (thank god). My oven is unpredictable and tends to revolt when it knows I'm baking to impress: this time I stayed seated by the oven and checked it to make sure it wasn't going to do that temperature roller-coaster thing it does.