Something new for me...swatching

But first- the DNA scarf is blocked, ends are woven in, and Kevin's worn it. (Then put it away for the winter.) The scarf grew a TON in blocking. It's almost 8 feet long, which actually works well to wrap it around Kevin's neck and then let it hang down on a coat. It has a huge tendancy to curl, which blocking helped, but you have to smooth it out when you put it on. I'm a little disappointed that the blocking flattened out the base pairs (I think) inside the DNA structure. Oh well. I promised him this around 2005, so I'm glad to have finally done it.

I'm also working on a WendyKnits sock in Knipicks Felici, but it's been put aside for the project I'm about to describe. (ooh- and I got new yarns in for my blanket, but I need to do this next thing first...)

So swatching...

I'm test knitting a project for the yarn store. It's a cute little mobius style wrap - one of my friends actually made the basic version of it- but this is a variation with a lace design. The design- I can handle it no problem (though the yarn is so slippery it would be tough to recover a mistake.)

However, it's a good thing I love this yarn- I have spent HOURS swatching. I'm thinking the gauge might be impossible. I've swatched on every needle from size 9 to size 15 and I can't get close to what the pattern calls for. I'm going to bring the swatches to the store and see which needle they want me to go for. If it was me, I'd just pick one, and the design stretches, and I'm sure it was fine, but it's not for me- it's to check the pattern. I need to know what they want.

I really should go to WI

visited 39 states (78%)
Create your own visited map of The United States

Kevin's DNA scarf is blocked and ends are woven in. It looks good- but it's really long and tends to curl :( Pictures soon.

A FULL day

I present to you the DNA scarf! It's 3 feet now, so I'm getting there. (I have plenty of time! It's not even summer yet, much less winter!) This will be Kevin's graduation present, as hopefully he will be getting a job at a DNA company.

I'm really enjoying this pattern, but man do I keep messing it up! Just really stupid mistakes since i'm not really paying attention to the pattern. The picture is courtesy of Kevin. He got a new camera: a Canon Rebel T1i. (He also got an awesome lens for it.) So I'm having him take all my pictures now.

So what else happened today? Well, I went to an ice skating competition at the mall. It was a very small competition- just 2 hours, but I wanted to be around to congratulate all the kids I skate with. While I was there I knitted on my sock yarn blanket. My first swap came back- I have 38 new colors to knit with (there was 1 repeat, and I got one fewer skein then I sent-40. No big deal, though I'm a little annoyed with the "swap Mom" because she had put my name in the thread as an unidentified package, and when I PMed to apologize, I mentioned that my name WAS on the bag (and there it was on the bag when I got it back) PLUS I labeled my skeins with my name, it would not have been difficult to determine who I was... I've hosted swaps before and she was being lazy... sorry, just ranting) Anyhow- the yarns I did get are very nice, and I can't wait to start working with them. One seems to have either angora or alpaca in it, so I'm going to toss it aside. I don't want alpaca in the blanket, and angora doesn't really fit with the whole "sock" theme. Kevin helped me wind the yarn, and this particular skein gave him fits. Poor thing. Guess he won't be helping again.

Then, earlier this morning I made lotion bars. I got this kit from Brambleberry.com and loved it. It contains enough stuff to make at least 15 lotion bars (about 1 oz each). I made 5- 1 unscented, and 4 with different scents I have. I really like the Energy scent that comes with the kit. (Not completely in love with the Chipotle Caramel I also selected. It smells like a jelly belly- maybe Caramel Corn? Not like actual Caramel, but like scent. Bummer. But I am going to give it a few tries. I need to get more Pineapple Cilantro next order. I love that one so much and use it all the time.) Anyhow- the lotion was super easy to make, and so easy to use. It's a softer lotion than the bar I got from Chagrin Valley- which sometimes doesn't melt easily and you have to press hard. This melts on skin contact and is perfect. It is a little oily feeling compared to commercial lotion, but that's because it IS oil. The skin absorbs it and you don't feel oily after a few minutes. It's so luxorious feeling I've wanted to reapply it so many times today. Which is silly, because it's so moisturizing, there is absolutely no need to reapply. I've got lots of them though, so if you're interested in one, I might be up for a trade... (Remember, they are my first ones, so they aren't perfect)

And then, two more things today. First the super exciting one. I caught a Wollmeise update on Claudia's site for the first time. I have 2 grab bags headed my way; Blacks/Browns and then one that is a total mystery. I just cannot wait.

Lastly, Kevin and I played Killer Bunnies for the first time. Uh- that did not go well. I feel like that even though you CAN play with just two people, it doesn't really work. Lastly, we kept forgetting rules, and killing off bunnies that shouldn't have been killed, etc. So finally, we just gave up.

And now- Spaghetti Frittata is ready! Time for dinner.

AAARGH!

This weekend I started knitting a DNA scarf for Kevin. Hopefully it will be done before his graduation! (He could have used it today- it's freezing here.)

Anyhow- I'm using Knitpicks Gloss Lace, and the cables are popping great on it. The problem- I keep miss crossing them. Since it's for Kevin and not me, I want it to be perfect. First- I crossed them in the wrong direction- rip out. Then I knit on the backside when I should have purled- so the DNA backbone had purl show up on the rightside... oops- rip.

So I got those mistakes fixed and was about 3 repeats into the scarf. And then I noticed it- another set of purl bumps on the DNA backbone. I just ripped out an entire 40 row repeat to get back to it. That was the entirity of yesterday and todays knitting.

I am so bummed, but I want this scarf to look great. I cannot believe I have to reknit that whole repeat again.