Today, I was ringing up a lady who bought all of this stuff for quilting. Like over a hundred dollars worth of notions and rulers and maybe some fabric, right? So I confessed I was interested in trying it out and she said “Don’t do it.”

I said, “Do you really need all of this stuff?”
She says, “It’s half price. And no you don’t,” pauses. “Except when you enter contests… then you become a perfectionist.”

“Wow. That’s serious,” I say. “But do you ever get home and look in your one bag and say, “What did spend a hundred dollars on?”
She deadpans, “You get used to it.”

“Maybe I should just stick to knitting.”
Scoops up her one bag, “Yes! You should, it’s wonderful, you have your yarn.”

“Have a nice day.”
“You too honey.”

I am still alive.

I have been working 2 jobs and commuting without knitting so I haven’t accomplished much in the way of projects.

I owe someone an earflap hat and I just can’t bring myself to do it! It’s probs totally warm now so maybe next year capty…

In the meantime, let’s just watch March Madness and re-runs of Buffy on Logo. It’s a good thing I didn’t fill out a bracket this year b/c I totally would’ve picked Georgetown who already lost. The women’s tournament starts today. Unfortunately, I have to work all damn day long. I’ll have to catch up tonight.

I’m kinda sad that it’s getting so warm here. I’m still wearing some of my wool hats in the morning and while I’m at work b/c it’s so cold but I’m going to have to buy some spring colored yarn. Debbie Stoller’s bamboo yarn is great for that.

See ya! Enjoy your Vernal Equinox!

My job blocks all the fun sites: gmail, autostraddle, all blogs, we get 1/2 hour window for some shopping but that’s all!

So it’s Sunday and it’s Eli’s 5th birthday today. I have to work at Joann’s all day but I’m taking a brief moment to put up a new post.

Shouting out to all the knitters, crocheters, and wool lover’s abound! Hi there, what are you working on?

I bought some of Debbie Stoller’s new yarn. She’s the Stitch ‘n Bitch guru, extraordinare! Love her. I need to make something for L. Her birthday is coming up on the 8th.

I also owe some people some earflaps but I’ve been sidetracked. They are coming sooner or later. See why I didn’t take your money?

Hope you are all well…

I got a temp job that starts next week. It’s nothing spectacular, not my dream job or anything but it will pay my rent and I will still have to work at my part time job to make ends meet. Whatever, at least we won’t have to move or sell blood or get rid of the pets. The only bad thing is that I won’t be able to go to Tennessee with my family for two weeks in December. L’s pretty upset about that but it just can’t happen, plus I will be spending Christmas alone. Well I will get to go to my mother’s house for dinner but she’s having all kinds of family from her boyfriend’s side there. I will bring my knitting and maybe a flask of something. My mom will probs make me help her cook, which is fine too. I will just miss the kids and L very badly.

OMG our eldest son asked us if there was a Santa Claus. He said the kids in school said only babies believed in Santa. Neither of us could look at him in the face.

So my part time job is at Joann’s Fabric and Crafts. I just wish it would pay more money, then I wouldn’t feel so guilty for having fun working there! I’m around crafting supplies all day! I get to virtual shop (only because I have no money to actually shop) and, I get to deal with the public which is sadly fascinating. Okay for instance, just the other day, I had a lady and her sister go through my checkout line. The first lady had no arms. She was totally normal about it. She paid for some chocolates or something with her debit card and damn if she didn’t swipe her card with her toes and everything! Then, omg, her sister proceeded to unload a cart full of Christmas decorations. Literally. $400.00 + worth of stuff. And she saved like $350.00 b/c our stuff is on ridiculous sale now.

And the people I work with are super nice. Quirky. Creative. Old, young, middle aged. It’s just so much fun and diverse from the same old office crew. **Sigh**

And I’m scheduled to work 12 hours on Black Friday. 9 to 9pm. BUT, from 6 to 9 I’m teaching a knitting class! Isn’t that cool? It’s on a knitting loom so it’s not actually knitting but it’s teaching someone how to make something with yarn. How fun and awesome is that? They are also teaching me how to run birthday parties. I helped out on a girl’s birthday party for 6-7 year olds. So much fun. They decorated picture frames and cupcakes.

It’s teaching me how to be nicer to people. And they want to give me some kind of night manager position so I won’t quit right away and I’ll get more money to stay. I kinda like not having any responsibility. (Although I got yelled at today for listening to someone else tell a story about fabric. It wasn’t my fault at all but the store manager saw us and what’s worse is the Stockroom manager was the one telling us the story. She’s even yelled at people for standing around talking. I think my manager is just stressed because of this week though.)

Anyway, I will have more stories from the trenches after Black Friday.

Happy Thanksgiving for those who celebrate and read me.
-C

So yesterday, L made Eli’s Halloween costume and it looks awesome. She did a whole Project Runway type thing where she cut the pattern Tuesday night and sewed it all day yesterday. I mean literally, all day up until the Fall Festival at Slade’s school. She even got really mad and bitchy at me because she was so stressed about the deadline. (Just like on tv!) Well we went and everyone recognized him as Max and said how cool the costume looked. I am so proud of her for making it. I wish I had one too!

This morning she gives me my Dominitrix knitting book and says, how fast can you make this snow devil hat? I looked at it and will attempt to make it in time for Halloween. The only bad thing is that I have to work from 11-7 Friday and Saturday. (I got a part-time minimum wage type job until I can get a higher paying tech job like I used to have **sigh**)

Anyway, have a great Hallow’s Eve and Halloween! I’m sure L will post some twitpics of Eli’s costume on Saturday.

Here’s a little story for you:
One day, about a year ago, I decided to start this blog just for my knitting. About 3 years now and hats are easy and fun to make. Each hat has a little story, so if you decide to purchase one, I will probably put a little note with it about the hat’s history.

Don’t worry, I have hand washed all of these hats in Woolite, so when you receive them, they will be gently used but very clean. You should always hand wash them in cold water and lay them flat to dry.

The shipping and handling is not included in the price of the hat and the cost is $7.00 within the US and $10.00 Everywhere Else. If you purchase more than one item, there is a small additional cost of $1.00 (US) and $2.00(Everywhere Else). In case you think that the shipping is expensive, here’s a little note: it also includes Handling. This means, I will probably wrap it up special and include some little card or note with it. Also, I have had experience with Shipping/Handling items at another online shop (*maybe you remember this) and the one thing I learned was that you never want to undercharge for shipping. I don’t want shipping/handling to come from my pocket-thanks.

I do plan on upgrading my store. I need to make a sale or get some donations before I can do that. As soon as that happens, I will take the store down for maintenance and spruce it up. I can’t oversell these items as they are one of a kind. *Done! Thank you for buying a hat Sarah!

Also about these items: go to my Flickr page to see all the pics of the hats in the Knitslo Shop Sets. Knitslo’s Flickr (Most of the hats have multiple pics now, they are still on Flickr though!)

If an item sells out, don’t worry. I will make more hats eventually. If you want to talk about a custom order, just email me at 1knitslo@gmail.com. The cost will depend on the hat and I will probably add 25% to the price since I have to make it.

If you don’t like my hats or think that I should add different items to my shop, I encourage you to make a donation below to my yarn fund so that I can make more/different things to sell.

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Thanks for stopping by and come back soon! (And don’t be shy about commenting!)

Pattern: School Color Mittens by Vicki Howell from Not Another Teen Knitting Book.

Needles: #5 DPNs. (Crystal Palace 6″ Bamboo)

I made some pattern adjustments (obvs. only used one color) but since these are my first Mittens, it took me a while to get the best outcome from the pattern. Then duplicating it again for the second mitten went better.

First Mittens

-CO 40 sts. (10-10-10-10). Join. Work K2P2 rib for 2 3/4 inches (20 rounds)
-Change to Stockinette St. Inc 1 stitch at end of next round (41sts)

Shape Thumb Gusset:
-K20, PM, M1L, K1, M1R, PM, K to end (43sts)
-Knit 1 rnd
-*Knit to marker, slip marker, M1L, knit to next marker, M1R, slip marker, knit to end (45sts)
-Knit 2 rounds even
-Continue from *, inc in this manner (2 sts every 3 rounds) 5 times – 15 gusset sts between markers
-On next rnd, remove marker and place gusset sts on holder. Make 1 st over gap left by gusset, knit to end of rnd (41sts)
-Work even until st st part of mitten measures 5 3/4 inches. [Placed marker to denote round count vertically - don't remove until finished in case you have to frog!] (23 rounds.) On next rnd, dec 1 st (40sts)
-*K8, K2Tog*, repeat around. [Placed another marker to denote round count vertically in case I messed up decreases and had to frog-- which I did several times.]
-Knit 1 rnd even
-Repeat these 2 rnds (dec 1 st every round) until 24 sts remain (6sts on each needle)
-Dec 1 rnd every rnd until 8 sts remain (2 sts on each needle)
-Cut yarn, thread tail through remaining sts, pull tight, fasten to inside.

Thumb:
[This is where I derailed from the pattern- first I worked in Purl where the pattern says to knit. I purled counter clockwise from the gusset so I could keep the stockinette stitch going around the thumb.]

-Place thumb sts on 3 dpns. Pickup 3 sts over gap and join. (19 sts) [The pattern says to pickup 1 but it left this huge hole in the gusset. I picked up 1 double st on the first needle and 2 double sts on the 3rd needle and that seemed to close the hole better. You just have to dec until you end up with 16sts total then proceed working the thumb.]
-Work in the round for 1 1/2 inches (9 rounds) from the pickup round. [I put a marker at the end (of 3rd needle) in case I had to frog back.] Where I had to decrease I used P2Tog – So I ended up with 16 sts total. (On the first round I started with P2Tog for the first 2 sts on needle 1 and P2Tog twice with the last 4 sts on needle 3. – On the next round I just had to P2Tog on the last 2 sts on needle 3.)
-P2Tog, P3, P2Tog, P3, P2Tog, P4 (13 sts)
-Purl 1 round even.
-Continue to dec 3 sts even across every other rnd, 2 more times until 7 sts remain.
-Work 1 more dec row (4sts)
-Cut yarn, thread tail through remaining sts, pull tight, fasten yarn to inside.
-Weave in all ends.

Bro: Black Opie Hat

E: Mittens/Hat

S: Hat/Gauntlets?

R: Boneyard Shawl

Mom: Boneyard Shawl

L’s Sisters: Boneyard Shawls x2

OMFG! I better buy some yarn and get working!

In other news: Scott Westerfeld is touring for his new book Leviathan which I am listening to as I type this. He’s coming to Changing Hands on Oct. 14th. Hell or high water, I am going!

Listened to So Yesterday and it was very charming! Cool Hunters vs. Jammers.

Visited Lola Cafe, Smeeks, Haus.

Hello Kitty Blood Power!

I was downtown at the train stop this morning when it happened. I should always keep a copy of my LYS’s class schedule on me so I can pass it out.

I finished one fingerless mitten yesterday and I’ve cast on the other one today.

http://www.straw.com/cpy/patterns/KidMerino-fingerless_gloves.html

I just knitted it one color since I’m testing the pattern. I ended up knitting 14 rounds after the thumb gusset and found that the thumb was a bit short according to the pattern.

I need help picking up the gusset stitches but I will see if I can do a better job with this one. If not I will go get some help. There are no videos online to show me how to do this! Very frustrating.

L. wants some now. Of course she does! Not so itchy though. Maybe I’ll go to TY&F and see if they have any of that Malabrigo Sock left in Eggplant. I can knit her a matching pair to go with her scarf. Oh and I should totally finish those felted clogs.

-Finished Boneyard shawl for me made out of some handpainted sock yarn I got in NM. I think I want to do one more out of the black microfiber shawl that I finished a few months back.

-Started ribbed hat out of leftover silky merino Malabrigo smoke color yarn.

-Started fingerless gloves – testing pattern with this itchy wool sock yarn.

-Still have feather and fan shawl, boneyard malabrigo lace, red blanket on the needles.

And I am caught up with the Sookie Stackhouse novels. I bought all of them on Audible and am super excited to read #10 coming out next year. I also want to read the short story compliation “Touch of Dead”. I have many feelings about these novels, which I will share in a later post. I wish I could talk to someone about them. I will email my one internet friend who has read them all.