Still Shimmering.

In case anyone got confused, I'm still knitting the damn thing. Just on size ones and twos instead of sizes zeros and ones. I'm most of the way through the neck ribbing (again) and the husbeast agrees it looks better - more flexible and, well, ribby. So I'm probably not just telling myself this to feel better for destroying the first attempt. (The husbeast is making noises about this like he did when I threw dishes at him, early in our marriage. I doubt I will ever hear the end of it. Fifty years from now, when I'm struggling with some knitting, he will say, "Well, you can always slash it to shreds with a knife.")

I did a crochet cast-on with pink yesterday (I swear, I will get photos soon, Trish); the yellow bits mark every 25 stitches so I dont' have to go back to the begining and re-count the whole thing every ten minutes:

That's it there. Sorry about the glare; my photography, as always, sucks. Probably should have cropped that a bit, too. Anyway. I used a size three, which is large for this, because it would give me a nice big cast-on so that when it came time later to take it out, I could see what in hell was going on. I then knit off the cast-on onto some double-point size ones. Unfortunately that makes the edge wavy and look like crap BUT IT WILL BE FIXED LATER.


See? It's wavy and looks like crap.

I also knit a couple rounds of plain stockinette before starting on the ribbing, for the same reason as the oversized cast-on: So when I take out the cast-on later and stitch it down, I can see what in heck I'm doing.

So anyway. The Blue Shimmer continues. I'm making better time with these bigger needles, too. I'm too stubborn to give up, especially after the money I spent on this yarn. Plus, what would I enter in the state fair?


Yesterday I placed an order at Halcyon Yarns for the new brown (remember the big stripe of brown through the gauge swatch that I didn't like? I think I've got that fixed), a knitting needle, and a ball winder.

That's right, I've made it 20 years without a ball winder. Mainly due to laziness and a willingness to hang a skein of yarn over my knee and knit from it. That's not gonna work so well with a one-year-old in the house. Plus these little cones of yarn for the Blue Shimmer are really starting to bug me. I'm gonna turn them into center-pull balls. Maybe they'll be easier to work with. (I've got one monster light blue cone for the body that I think I'm stuck with -- if I play my cards right I might be able to knit the entire body with no ends to join or weave in. It's almost like cheating.)

There was bad news on the needle. It was a 24" size one, for the body of the Blue Shimmer, and I really wanted an Inox, but apparently Inox only goes down to size two. (I'm pretty sure my beloved size two circular that I've used to knit piles of lace for twenty years is an Inox. I wish I was sure so I could buy a bunch more.) So, anyway, I got an Addi Turbo. I've used them before and I remember them being okay.

It can't possibly suck worse than the Susan Bates. (Annie? You hearing me this time?)

So, back to knitting and baby chasing. (There has been a shift in the balance of power -- the baby pulled the cat's tail, HARD, yesterday. The cat has been avoiding her since. Perhaps I won't be baking catnip cookies.)