Too Bad 'You Knit What?" Is Defunct.

The spring Interweave Knits Preview is up.


I was thinking of doing a critique of it - and there are certainly three things I like.....okay, more like two. Aleita Shell, Bleeding Hearts Stole. But I realized that, overall, I could sum up in one word - a rarity for me.

Meh.

Questions? Comments?

As long as they pay for the yarn.

Celebrity Knitting Queue

1-Tea cosy for Sarah Michelle Gellar, to give poor Buffy a break for one measly hour.
"I don't want any trouble. I just want to be alone and quiet in a room with a chair and a fireplace and a tea cozy. I don't even know what a tea cozy is, but I want one." Buffy, Buffy the Vampire Slayer 3:1

2-The Widdicombe Fair afghan for Shiloh Pitt-Jolie (Jolie-Pitt?), to give her something cuddly under which to hide from her mother's resentment that the little girl was born and not adopted.

3- Cabled willie warmer for Pee Wee Herman.
"It's like you're unravelling a large cable-knit sweater that somebody keeps knitting, aaaaand knitting, aaaaand knitting, aaaaand........." Pee-Wee's Big Adventure

4-Scarf made from hundreds of big, many-coloured crocheted and knitted flowers, for Macy Gray. Because she's a good kind of crazy that way.

5-Single-ply cashmere/silk twin set for Reese Witherspoon, to teach her that happiness depends on fiber content.
"No, David: nobody is happy in a poodle skirt and a sweater set." Jennifer, Pleasantville


6-Felted soundproof earmuffs for Katie Holmes.

7-Postmodern legwarmers for Karen Kain.

8-Set of beanies for the barenaked ladies, one of my all-time favourite bands. Because they'd wear them.

9-The Intolerable Cruelty skirt for Jamie Lee Curtis.

10-Icarus Shawl for Britney Spears. Not that she'd understand.

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Thanks to Knititch for the idea for this post.

Terasen can wait.

I can't believe I forgot to post about this, but contest winner Kris has a draw of her own going on right now. Check it out. Tell her you came from HSBoots.

Remember when I said yesterday that I have already spent the $100 G00gle is going to pay me at the end of February?

Did you wonder what I spent it on?

Hints:
1-I've been wanting it for over a year.

2-It will be my meisterwerk.

3-It is coming from here.


Oh yes, oh yes. I finally bought it.

I must say: lace is WAAAAY cheaper to knit than Fair Isle. This sucker is going to be about $240 by the time I have paid for the extra yarn (it needs to be a bit longer to be useable) and the exchange from pounds sterling. Hopefully Postes Canada Post doesn't sock me for duty - sometimes they are merciful (and sometimes they're not).

But money isn't everything, and this will be a really beautiful piece. What better way to spend some settlement money?

An Inner Monologue, and a Winner.

Just to get the technicalities out of the way, here was my scientific method. I assigned names to numbers from 1 to 21, scrawled said numbers randomly on a piece of interlined paper torn from Charlotte's notebook, folded the paper, shut my eyes, and jabbed with a hatpin.

"Okay, let's see. Which number is closest to that hole? Ah ha!!"

Kris, it's your lucky day! Send me your address by email (see sidebar) and I will have your winnings in the mail by Friday.

"Oh this is gonna be so great. She's going to love this yarn. Yay!

"Wait a second. What is this I feel? Badness? Guilt? Sympathy for the disappointment of my commenters? Oh crap."

So, I jabbed again.

Ames! Girl!! The hatpin loved you!

"Crap. She's my sister-in-law. People are gonna think it was a setup. Should I have a do-over? But that wouldn't be right: I jabbed her number, fair and square.

"Now I feel cheap for not giving away all of it. Should I give away all of it? It's only $90 worth of yarn...and the G00gle deposit is only a month away...but I've already spent it.....WHAT IS THE MATTER WITH ME?!? They are all grownups!!"

But I'm still so very sorry.

Hopefully it won't be long before I can do another one of these...think positive!

Free To Good Home

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COMMENTS ACCEPTED UNTIL 4.00 PM PST MONDAY 28th.

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Here we are, at Half Soled Boots' 198th post. Coincidentally, my G00gle revenue has just reached $100, which means I get paid next month, which is GREAT NEWS for a stay-at-home mum suffering from a lack of jingle in her jeans.

To celebrate, I think I'll give away some yarn. In fact, I have decided that, in the interests of my stash reduction and to share the love a bit, I'll do a giveaway every time G00gle pays me. It just puts me in such a good mood when that happens. Also, that way, if I end up giving away something I'd really prefer to keep, I can afford to replace it. I can also afford to tuck a few extra things into the recipient's box.

I don't often get paid, actually - only about every five or six months...the clicks do take a while to add up. But whenever I reach the magic number, I'll post a request for comments. Anyone showing interest will be entered into a draw of some sort.

Today's prize will be your choice of one of these four Valentine-tinted skeins of sock yarn, all of which retail for about $22 (although at least two of them are no longer for sale).



From bottom left to top right:

1) Fleece Artist (unnamed colourway) washable, hand-dyed 100% merino. 325 meters - 115g. Ball band gives tension at 26/4" on a 3mm needle. This yarn comes from Nova Scotia - I bought it at Victoria's Beehive Wool Shop. The colour is lively and intense - cheerful, tooth-achingly pink. It is tightly spun, and has a beautiful, almost silky sheen. This is a candy store yarn if I ever saw one...it makes me think of the cool spicy crunch of Island Farms' Peppermint Candy ice cream - with swirls of melted pink sugar and rocky chunks of crushed magenta sweetness.



2) Seacoast Handpainted washable 100% merino, in colourway "Raspberries". 560 yards (no weight). Ball band gives tension at 7-8/inch (no needle size given). This one makes my mouth water...the colours are delicious, ranging from a cool silvery grey to an intense purpley magenta. There are bands of rose, orchid, lavender. This yarn reminds me of nothing so much as heavy, softly whipped cream streaked with the chilled juice of fresh, dusky berries swirled in....or the purple-stained fingers you get when you've been picking them right off the canes. (Are you getting the idea that I love this particular skein?) I bought this from Pick Up Sticks.



3) Blue Moon Fiber Arts' "Socks that Rock" in colourway Rose Quartz. 100% superwash merino, mediumweight. 380 yards - 5.5 oz. Tension is given as 8 stitches per inch on size 2-3 needles. I bought this yarn in Washington, USA, where I had trouble picking from all the beautiful shades. This colour was so appealing - pink overall, but with many subtle variations throughout the skein. The colour ranges from flecks of a bronzey-peach, to sections of pale mauve. The pinks are subdued - very subtle. (The close-up photo, below, does not reflect the colour as accurately as the group picture above.) The yarn is tightly spun, with a matte finish. Readers of the Yarn Harlot might recognize this yarn from the "Big Pink Thing" she knit for her friend with kidney cancer. When I read that post I was happy I had already bought this yarn - figuring it would be hard to find that colour from now on.



4) Sweet Georgia Yarns' Handpainted Sock in colourway "Merlot". 100% merino, NOT SUPERWASH. 420yds/384m - 112 grams. Tension is given as 28-32 over 4" on a 2.25mm - 3.25mm needle. This yarn also came from Pick Up Sticks. The colour is not as deep as I thought it would be - I guess that's why it's called "Merlot", not "Cabernet Sauvignon". The reds range from a pale, orange-tinted rose to deep ruby. The yarn has a matte finish, with a medium spin. I knit my Common Welsh Green socks out of a green version of the same yarn, and I can vouch for its longevity. It wears well, due to the untreated wool which felts slightly with wear. You should also know that, having finished an entire pair of toe-up socks with one skein, I have a great deal of yarn left over - definitely enough to knit some booties, possibly enough to have added another whole repeat to each sock. The yardage is excellent.





What you must do, elegant and clever readers, is simply comment that you'd like to be included in the draw, and which skein you would prefer to have. (Or, you could say you haven't decided -- we can talk about it later.) I will announce the winner on Monday, January 28, and will mail the prize by Friday next.

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Oh, I should also say, pet-free-smoke-free-well-loved-not-stored-in-sunlight.

A Profanation of Holy Writ

Dear Person Who Last Borrowed Aran Knitting from the Library:


I borrowed this book both before and after you did. Did you think I wouldn't notice?


I don't know who you think you are, but if there's a hell you have earned yourself a special place in it for slicing four pages out of an out-of-print Alice Starmore reference and pattern book.





I can assure you that anything bad that happens to you in the future, whether during the knitting of St Brigid or at any point thereafter, is entirely and completely due to your cowardly desecration of this most sacred of texts. Not only is it a STARMORE book, but it's ARAN KNITTING and it's A LIBRARY COPY, you utter Philistine. You deserve whatever punishment heaven and the knitting gods mete out for your crime. Get ready to be jostling Judas Iscariot for elbow room in the ninth circle of hell.


And I'm TOTALLY TELLING. The library and Ms. Starmore will BOTH hear about this disgusting show of selfishness. They may not be able to do anything to you in this world, but be sure you will get your comeuppance in the next.


Indignantly yours,
Shannon


PS: With all my heart I wish you moths.

S'Wonderful

Ten Things I Like About You

1. You are very different than me.

2. You savour the small things.

3. You know what it's like to have loved - and lost.

4. You like lists.

5. You make me think in quotes.

6. You never forget my daughters.

7. You have sumptuous taste in yarn.

8. You don't have to have everything figured out.

9. You have an eye for beauty.

10. You surprise me.

Thank you.