There is a certain mini-dachshund...

...by the name of Noodle, who lives with my cousin Kelly not too far from Times Square in NYC, and who will be the fashion plate of canine fashion plates by next week. The other dogs at the dog park will be so jealous.

Unfortunately, I do not have a mini-dachshund myself, so I was forced to settle for a local model in order to show you the sweater I made. The wool is Cascade Bulky (loved it!), the model is, of course, Dash. (He didn't even mind.)

Bryspun: great customer service!

I just faxed them a letter about my broken circular needle. I got a phone call within an hour from a service rep.

She apologized, wanted to know if I still had the packaging, and explained that it's a known problem that they had early on when they came out with the circulars. Something about the glue not withstanding changes in temp and elevation.

They've completely revised the product and are sending me a new one, plus a free set of DPN's size 3.

So, kudos for Bryspun!

Modified glittens and a temporarily stalled WIP

My dad requested that I put mitten flip-tops or whatever you want to call them on his fingerless gloves. Now, I thought the gloves looked pretty darn handsome before, but we must please the unhappy/grateful customer, mustn't we? (Sondheim, anyone?) I found a yarn at AC Moore that nearly matches the Knit Picks yarn that I did not feel like reordering, and although it's not nearly as soft and silky it worked just fine.

I ended up having to write the pattern for the mitten tops because my early attempt to hack an existing mitten pattern was a total flop. I also finished off the thumbs because glittens always have finished thumbs. One came out a bit pointy in appearance but fits fine.

It's all FINE do ya hear me, fine I say.

Pics (closed and flipped open):
















Finally, the Pearly Elegance shawl...my size 11 circular died. One needle completely snapped off and the other one is about to go. So until I get another one, here are some pics of the WIP. I think it's going to be pretty although I'm not yet sure if I will keep it, auction it, or give it as a gift.

To my loyal readers (if applicable)

(Laura, I'm talking to you mostly since you told me about this. Thank you!) I just changed the comment settings so anyone can leave a comment, not just registered users. I had no idea I had control over that! So if you'd like to say hey, please do! Here are a few more exclamation points if you happen to be lacking!!!!

Never argue with somebody when you're an idiot

I emailed Knit Picks to tell them I thought there was a mistake in the Pearly Elegance Shawl pattern. It talks about a 10-stitch repeat when in fact I was counting by 12's and it was looking fine and working fine.

The nice but somewhat condescending customer service rep wrote back and said I was wrong, but "if a 12-stitch repeat is working for you, go right ahead and use it." Bitch.

So I re-examined my technique and found that I am doing yarn overs wrong. I've been adding a stitch where I shouldn't be.

Why, you ask, did the pattern still work out for me? Ah, the wonders of math. The cast on is 125 stitches and there are 5 border stitches. Voila, 120, a number divisible by both 12 AND 10.

Lucky me. *twitch*

Goals for 2006 (not related to yarn)

1. Be more kind.

2. Lose 26 pounds in 2006, which both sounds catchy and represents just 1/2 a pound a week.

3. Be more selfish, in all the good ways.

4. Do 10 stomach crunches every day in January, 20 a day in February, etc.

5. Start yoga. Again. It works.

6. Take the GREs and get act together for the long-term.

7. Go on a real vacation.

8. Be a better housekeeper or earn enough money to justify housecleaning service. (see #6)

And my yarn-related goal:

1. Keep on learning: lace, intarsia, fair isle, embroidery, etc.

Happy New Year!