Too Many Irons in the Fire (posted by Lani)

It's been a weird week, I have to say. I've meant to blog some but just never quite got around to it; every time I sat down and thought I would, something else happened. I've been scatterbrained, I guess; I've done a little sewing, a very little knitting, a fair amount of crocheting, a bit of dyeing, and a little bit of kitty-sitting; Onyx kitty is, well, let's just say he's no longer all boy, and he's feeling a bit puny as a result.

Sewing: Using my $12.99 Singer (another buy from my thrift store, officially the most wonderful thrift store in existence and yes, I seriously paid $12.99 for a 1980s Singer complete with one-touch buttonholder, in dusty-but-working condition) and some fabulous funky fabric off eBay, I made a couple of throw pillows for our sofa. Cording, zippers, they have it all; and the best thing is that even Steve, amazingly enough, was as taken by the pure funky coolness of the fabric as I was.
     

Aren't these great? And perfect for a couple with 3 cats!

Knitting: Just puttering around, swatching various yarns to see what I'm going to use for Sizzle. No solid answer yet, I've gotten gauge or close to it with a couple of different yarns but nothing is really stirring my grits just yet. Plus I cast on a ballband warshcloth; those things are too easy to resist having one going at all times just for relaxation knitting.

Dyeing: Dyed some laceweight Knitpicks yarn in long, long, long runs of color (I re-skeined it in a 40-foot loop prior to dyeing). It's drying now; I'll take pictures once it's dry and either skeined back up or wound. I have another skein that I'm going to do in shades of blues and greens, but I wanted to try this thing with the long runs first and see how it worked up.

Crocheting: I think I told you I'd finished the T&Q chenille afghan but wasn't sure whether I was going to put a contrast color border on it or not. I've decided that I definitely am going to do that, and picked up the yarn for it today. That'll be done this weekend. Next I started work on a Stitch Sampler (also known as Bobbles & Lace) afghan for Steve's parents, in colors chosen by Steve; here's the beginning of that, along with the various yarns.

Very Fall-y, isn't it? I was surprised by Steve's choice of colors, but I think the end result will be pretty and I'm really enjoying working on this. You're never working in one stitch pattern, or even one color, so long that you get sick of it (this may change as I hit some of the single-crochet rows towards the outside of the afghan!). I do have a question for anyone who's done this afghan before (Beth, I'm looking at you ...) -- did the center lacey section buckle up for you? I have the correct stitch count and all but it really almost seems like that lacey circle is too big. Maybe once it's washed it'll ease up? It better; I'm damn well not ripping back now! At any rate I'm enjoying working on this pattern to the point that I started thinking -- and you know how dangerous that is.

In my stash, in some of the plastic bins in the top of the closet, I have a bunch of Caron Jewel Box yarn. I'm wondering how this afghan would look in an almost monochromatic look in Jewel Box, using a larger hook of course; I have Pearl, which is creamy white with an iridescent thread; Moonstone, which is creamy white with a gold thread; and Amber, which is golden yellow with a gold thread. If I did the afghan mostly in Pearl and Moonstone, with just a few accents of the Amber ... I'm thinking it might make a great Christmas gift for The Girl Who Loves Pink. OK, I do realize it's not pink, but white and gold are traditionally princess colors, right? So that should work just fine for her. What do ya'll think? Annie? Beth? Anyone else who reads this? Alternatively does anyone else have an alternative pattern they think would look pretty in that Jewel Box?

And Mom -- before you think I've forgotten you, your afghan is in the rotation here too! I'm just constitutionally unable to be project-monogamous ;) My aim is to finish all three afghans in plenty of time for Christmas, along with doing a Sizzle, and at least one of Marlene's modification of the Branching Out scarf, and of course I want to try socks, and I need to make Onyx a Kitty Pi to make up for heartlessly abandoning him at the vet's yesterday for them to do mean, cruel things to him ... I've got my work cut out for me.