Let's get ripped.

I've been knitting a lot lately. If this semester was about collecting yarn this summer is about knitting it up. I find it hard to sleep in the summer so late-night/early A.M. knitting is the name of the game. I'm re-watching some gems, including the LOTR trilogy and Clarissa Explains it All.
I WAS Clarissa growing up, from the crazy ensembles to the mom enforced tofu and brewers' yeast laced diet. The only trouble with my knitting is that it's been a total RIPFEST. Things are going wrong left and right and to be honest, I haven't minded the ripping one bit. It'll all be worth it in the end.

Next in the to rip pile is Coachella:


I tried it on this morning and the armholes are reeeeeeeeeeeallly right. I think Suede might stretch a bit but I was planning to neaten the edges with a crochet border but that would make it unwearable at this point. I'm planning to lengthen the racer back strap and change the rate of increases before re-joining in the round.

Also ripped, a store sample, Grumperina's Art Deco Beret (pre-beaded chart knitting, so no big loss):

Knowing myself I didn't knit a gauge swatch (ahem) but just dropped my usual needle size. This made the cool (tubular-ish) cast-on ribbing too small by a few inches.

Also being ripped a decent amount for minor tweaking is Bamboo Grove, a cleverly constructed top-down henley in the works for the fall catalog. Kirsten in customer service is the queen of top down!


Last but not least...my summer job rules. People ask me if I'm getting sick of yarn and the answer is "HECK NO." One of my tasks is writing descriptions of nwe yarns, which puts me in a really good mood. After awhile you sort of feel like you've seen it all and it's easy to slam a yarn or pattern book but the description writing requires a sort of Pollyanna, best case scenario outlook. It carries over to other things, which is awesome! Oh, and today I arrived to find a big sack of new Rowan yarns on my chair. There are some fantastic new colors of Kracksilk Haze and one of Kid Classic that I'm over the moon for. Kidsilk Aura (the heavier version of KSH) promises big things, and it was a long time coming. So many patterns for KSH start "with yarn doubled..." Love the fabric is produces, but it can be annoying.

Speaking of color, I've been obsessed lately. This day at the printers only added to it! This is Kathy and Penny checking color accuracy with total focus!

This was so fun, it was straight out of another childhood favorite, Reading Rainbow.



Rememeber Color Me Beautiful? I'm trying to purge my closet (and yarn stash) of colors that don't agree with me and I've finally submitted to reading this book. According to some online quizzes I'm a Deep Winter! I can live with that =) I hope this Shi Bui color will be okay. If not, hey, it's for feet!

CR