Mitts of the Dystopian Future are complete, and I even have the pattern finished!. It's your basic fingerless mitt with a chunky rib wrist and some added short row shaping at the end to provide knuckle warmth but enable finger mobility. Perfect for freedom fighting in the dystopian future!

Always working on something, I've started a girl version of Cobblestone for moi. Yarn is Greenwood Hill Farm Merino and I LOVE IT. This is about the most perfect yarn I think I've ever encountered.

But before I can work go back to working on this, I have been tagged by Mai!

Rules: once tagged, you must link to the person who tagged you. Then post the rules before your list, and list eight random things about yourself. At the end of the post, you must tag and link to eight other people, visit their sites, and leave a comment letting them know they’ve been tagged.

1. I don't like chicken unless it has been McNuggeted.

2. I'm a big fan of Arnold Schwarzenegger movies. Such a big fan, that I spelled his last name correctly on the first try. I even own the soundtrack to Conan the Barbarian. (I wouldn't have voted for him, though.)

3. I have a giant hairy mole by my ear. It is only partially hidden by my hair and for kicks, I rub it on Monkey King. You know, to hear him scream.

4. I've recently perfected the bacon/avocado/fried egg sandwich. Then I overdosed on them and now they seem kind of gross to me.

5. I kind of wish I had a fake tan.

6. I have a really hard time thinking up random things about myself.

7. I utterly loathe morning radio, and if I hear it from another car, I roll up my windows.

8. I'm really excited to redecorate my living room this weekend!

Okay, I don't know who to tag, but if you want to play, do! And let me know, because I want to read all your random things.

Is done! Well, sort of done. You see, I've completed all the knitting and finishing, but my bag needs a liner. I thought I could skate by without one, but I got hit with the reality stick that an unfelted knit bag? Is kind of full of holes. But the knitting is done, the pattern is written, and here it is!

 

I'm super happy with the way this came out, the dimensions, the shape, all of it. STOKED, I SAY. I did have to totally cannibalize a purse strap, however, as my DIY strap totally sucked ass. And I do mean Le Boot-aye.  

See all that yarn at my feet? That's the stash enhancement that's been going on this week at the House of Skein. Behold, my extravagance. Now I can't afford to breath air for the rest of the year, but that's okay. I CAN STILL KNIT.

 

One more pic for the road. I'm sorry about my face, it's stuck that way.

Uh, in the future! For now, we have progress shots. Progress is good, right?

Usually my process is to think long, hard, and mightily over each and every aspect of what I'm about to make. This time? I had the idea for this bag kicking around in my head for about a week until I decided, in the yarn store, that I needed to make it RIGHT NOW PLZ SELL ME YARN, THX. The woman working there was most helpful with my dithering and led me to this lovely Cestari Cotton Wool Blend. This yarn is so great!!

Okay, this represents the one skein I took home with me, and 1/4 of knitting that needs to be done and 1/2 of the "front" of the bag.

 

And here is the stitch pattern I'm using. This particular stitch pattern is really cool (um, says the woman who chose it) but for this bag I only like this pattern if used vertically. This made for some interesting problem solving when it came time to figure out how to actually construct the bag itself. Let's just say a lot of swatches, a lot of silent glaring.

 So that's what I've been up to. I must say, I've been having lots of fun with this pattern. The hard designing part is over, now I just need to find the perfect purse strap (or, ANY purse strap) and some closures for the finishing.

Oh, I made a washcloth, too. Louet Linen yarn (waves to Superstarra Christie). This yarn was ugly to knit with, but once I machine washed and dried it, it was lovely. Very drapey and pretty with a nice sheen. I love using to wash my ass. FYI, lace = very exfoliating. For my ass.

I've added the Cashmere Neckwarmer to my Yarn Abuse Originals (btw, I feel extremely happy that my list of original patterns is growing. Even if the patterns never get made by anyone but me, I feel like I'm "giving back."). Feel free to take a look and if constructive critcism needs to be offered, offer away! Nicely. I'm sensitive. And PMSing.

Same bathroom, better photo. 

I'm no guru on the subject, but one of the things I love about knitting blogs is the look into another persons Fashion Reality. Fashion magazines provide a general guideline for What Is Hip, but only up to a point. I mean, seriously, I'm not fucking wearing high waisted skinny pants. Just stop it,Vogue. Ditto the tuxedo blouses. WTF.

My favorite blog thing, my most favorite, is when someone designs something, for themselves. Now, like every other person, I love a well executed Twinkle sweater, a hardy and classic Zimmerman, an elegant lace shawl from the latest Interweaves, and all the other wonderful creations from the endless cornucopia of the knitting world.

But a personal design. When someone says, "This is what I like, and what will look good on me," and they go ahead and fucking make it. I get a frisson at the thought. It's the feeling I get when I look at a pattern posted on personal blogs, or on Craftster.org. It's the feeling I had the entire time I knit this hat:

And the side view (my favorite view):

I even have the pattern for this all ready, right here: http://www.yarnabuse.com/the-kim-cloche/

And for the road, my "OMG, So Emo!" picture.