I'm kind of over getting ready for the craft fair. I have one more little plum hat in progress that I'd like to finish, and I'll put out cards for custom orders. But I'm not sure that I'm going to sell as much as I have made, so I'll stop after this hat. I have a woman who says she's going to come over today to pick out some baby gifts to buy before the craft fair, but she's also said that twice before in the past few weeks and then just not come by. So we'll see. I did tell her that there won't be much left after the fair, I hope that's the truth.
I just had a rush of eBay auctions end, and I sold 6/7 yarns listed this morning. I'm quite pleased, a few of them sold for quite a bit more than I was expecting! I have another rush of auctions ending this afternoon. I should really check in to eBay sellers' rehab. I think I'm okay as long as I'm not selling family heirlooms for 99 cents.
I started a new sweater on Monday. I probably shouldn't have because I have more than enough projects going already, but I needed a little break from craft fair knitting and Good For Ewe knitting. And it is Autumn, and I had a bunch of orange worsted weight that's been calling my name for a while, and I've been wanting a sweater project and a lace project and this kills 2 birds with 1 stone. And I'm so in love! I'm knitting the fitted version of the February Lady Sweater and this is my first project ever knitted with negative ease! It's a little terrifying and I'm scared it won't fit or will make me look chunky in the wrong areas, but that is my biggest regret with all of the sweaters I have ever made- all are warm and comfy, none are flattering.
I'm even knitting something from the bottom up that's going to require me to sew sleeves on afterwards. It's been a really long time since I've done that- my past (probably) 8 sweaters have all been raglan, and all but one from the top down. So I really feel like I'm in new territory for me, and it's exciting. And it's very very orange. Enough of the chatter, here are some pictures after 2 days of knitting on it.
That's the waist shaping. The lace pattern is 7 stitches across and you essentially take 2 lengths of the lace pattern, turn it in to 1, knit for a bit and then bring it back up to 2 lengths. I think it's very clever.
The bottom is supposed to be 2 inches of garter stitch. Mine is a smidgen longer than that, but that just contributes to the extra 1.5 inches of torso I'm making. But since it's garter stitch in the round it's actually supposed to have a buttload of purling, which I think kind of defeats the beauty of garter stitch. I just knitted the round 1 stitch past the first marker, wrapped, turned, and went back. The only "side effect" of purl-less garter in the round that way is a little eyelet row on each side of where I wrapped and turned and a couple really dense stitches that got knitted twice. I actually kind of like the little eyelets though- it's just one more personal touch. I normally don't take the Easy way out, but I thought EZ would approve of this way to eliminate a couple hours of purling. (I'm a very slow purler) For those reading and not sure what I'm talking about, EZ is Elizabeth Zimmerman, the Opinionated Knitter. She published many books about how people who write patterns are morons and how her way was better. She was a pioneer of making sweaters in the round and she absolutely abhorred purling. The Fitted February Lady Sweater is a version of EZ's February Baby Sweater, which is garter stitch and gull lace. Then a bunch of knitters started knitting adult versions of the February Baby Sweater, which are adorable on other people. I tried one on and just looked pregnant, which isn't a good look for me, especially since I'm not pregnant and don't plan on becoming that way for a very long time.
So long story short, my new sweater rocks. I love it's orangeyness, I love how quickly it's going, and I love that it's eliminating a sweater's worth of Cascade 220 from the stash. I'll still have 11 sweaters' worth of stash after this sweater, but I'm making progress. And if I live to be 120, I might actually finish all my stash!
So...non knitting news....
My Christmas Cactus got excited and became a Halloween Cactus.
And I painted 10 glass ornaments with glitter paint. Okay, a 1st grader could have done it, but I'm still thrilled with how they came out.
The Lacie bonding/slobbering continues. As does the dining room floor peeing. And that's all folks! Have a great Halloween and a lovely November!
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