my first nad mani!

i dunno if i should start a separate blog for nail arty stuffs. i mean, it's still craft. it's definitely one of my demons. i can barely keep up with one blog i dunno if starting another is really... well, wise. we'll see. for now, here be m'first Konadicure!
(click pics to make huge)

OPI Parlez vous OPI?, m60 plate

i got the plates in the mail yesterday. super fast delivery from OCNailart. they are in California (right? i mean, it's "OC" nail art...) i ordered these Thursday past. Monday POs weren't delivering cause like, it was a holiday (US peeps) and then Blammo! they were delivered early Tuesday. i couldn't play with them til the end of the workday thouhg so i was crankypants allll day : (

this is my 'station' just fartzing around and becoming familiar with them.
(and making a mess : )

no that is not a real Amex gold card. i have a bunch of these fakes from junk mail. i am not using the Konad scraper because i don't want to scratch up my plates.

yes those are delicious Gothsocks i am wearing. Teenage Drama Queen my latest FO which has yet to be blogged. oh wait, i think i just did : )

i also did Jess'

Migi Pink and yellow (from the silver set), m57

in other news, i got a Lamy Safari for Valentine's day!

In Piiiiiiiiink! i has a pink Lamy yay!


China Glaze Recycle with Migi pink and yellow (from the Silver set)

that's the latest!

yarn dust?!

me winding some Wollmeise 100%, gettin' dusty

after a hundred or so yards more

yes that is a chunk of yarn dust right there

i believe the correct response is something like "wtf?" accompanied by a headscratch

avoiding ladders while knititng in the round

make sure the tip of the new needle is touching the butt of the last needle worked before making that first stitch. i do this with circs and with dpns. doesn’t matter.

i flipped the work around so it should look as if the work is in front of you.
this was fiddly so work with me here.

click photos for full view

the new needle (2) inserted in to first stitch on working needle (in the front door)


wrap the yarn around and pull taught (grab your scarf) . the new needle (2) will touch old needle (3)

keeping this tension complete the stitch (out the window, off jumps jack) as you do this new needle and old needle will join with and rub up against waiting needle (1)it will be a ladderless party!

January 5

Check it out, i knit this much sock today:

so far...
plus i did like 6 rows on my Multnomah since yesterday.
it took me most of the day to decide on this stitch pattern for the sock. i originally wound this up and had a go at charade. it was a fail .way to tight after the heel . you remember me and heels not getting along right? i have to get through at least one more pair before i am truly truly convinced i have it down. since i have cast on like a dozen socks over the past year, me and toe-up goes know each other pretty well. i like to start them with circs but as you can see i am knitting the foot of these here with dpns.


what you see: a toe-up sock with lozenge stitch pattern in Sanguine Gryphon Bugga! differential Grashopper. acquired at SS09. Signature 2.5 mm Double-Pointed needles. i go around with 5

the early part of the eyar has seen me spinning just a bit. i mean i had to play with my Kuchulu. it came with a sample piece of Finn wool and i have been taking my sweet time with it. also came with som esuper silky silky. it's like floaty cotton candy threads. i can't mess with that.
i'd better go log in a few more rounds...

Kuchulu! and Happy Solstice

i received my Kuchulu today! and on winter Solstice too! what a great gift i gavem myself <3 the Kuchulu is Jenkins' new and smallest low-whorl turkish spindle. i thought the turkish delight was small, ha! stay tuned for pictures ; )

unicorn found

i could always do short rows. i mean, i can follow pattern instructions. no problem. it's that there would always be something aesthetically bothersome about the heel once i completed it. holes, asymmetry, ill fit. i had tried every kind of technique, wrapping, double wraps, hiding the wraps, no wrap, double stitching German, Japanese, crazy YOs. you name it. if i asked for help and someone said "try this heel" i would do it with an open mind. over 3 dozen individual socks hells and that doesn't count the frog and repeats. than. last night. blammo. i unvented my own. NO HOLES. symmetrical as a mirror reflection, no wraps. just magical. the unicorn of short-row heels. it took me a year but i have earned my sock knitter badge !

knots

breaks happen. many reasons for the sudden ones. some days it's a choice between "crafting" or "blogging about crafting". most of those days i choose the former. rather than try to play catch-up, i am just gonna jump back in. double-dutch style.