New Website official!

http://www.goodcrafternoon.com

It's up and running and even has my Olympic sweater up there for review. Check it out!

And once I get myself together, I'll put one of those redirecting code-thingies in! Yeah!

New name for blog

Don't get me wrong--I adore Miss Dottie Knits! Afterall my nickname is Dottie and I knit. But does it get to the essense of my completely crafty cheeze-whiz dipped soul? I don't think so.

So, my sweetie gave me a belated Valentine's day present and bought me the following site name:

Goodcrafternoon.com.

"Good Crafternoon" is a very silly name that I call my projects when they sometimes go a bit too crafty--too zany--too glue-gun-rific. I always wanted to do a comedy sketch featuring some lady who effused her delight over puff-painted sweater and peanut butter covered pinecones.

But part of me delights in crafting gone wild--bedazzled jean jackets, potholders a plenty--they all bring a smile to my face.

So, I'm going to embrace my inner craftiness and continue to write about it at www.goodcrafternoon.com starting this weekend.

Let me know your thoughts on the name.

Blockheads

Well, the Domiknitrix came over and we had a blocking party!

Here are some pictures of D. blocking a piece that will be featured in her upcoming book. What is amazing about the coat is that although it is all done in garter stitch, it is curvy and sexy and just so wearable. She has this way of reinventing pattern design through innovatative stitch combinations to create thoughtfully sophisticated and hip knit pieces.



Check out her site at www.domiknitrix.com.

She inspired me to block my Olympic Apricot. Here it is in all of it's plummy beauty. To get the pieces to fit perfectly, I laid them on top of one another. Please note that the apricot holes are even matching.

But look at that arm! Holy crap--what the hell happened? The way it is right now will make me look like I have an arm goiter. Excuse me while I go re-block the sleeves. Does anyone have any tips on how to block something properly? Obviously I'm a total dolt at it.

After I block it I hope it will dry out by end of day. I fear I might have to take a blowdryer to it to help it along, because I need to stitch it up Friday to make my Olympic deadline. Oof!

FINALLY!

These blasted sleeves are done and I'm off to block the heck out of all three pieces today. I think I completely mangled the tops of the sleeves so it will take a true Christmas miracle to get these demon things to fit.

In a rather crabby mood. Just can't seem to get anything done except eat possibly everything that is not nailed down in the house, It's a complete carb overload. Tomorrow I'm going to WW if it kills me. I will not waddle down the aisle come Nov. 18th. I will embrace 6:00AM kickboxing classes and weight training. I will love salads with light dressing and Lean Cuisines. I will write the great American food journal. But today, I can't eat enough crap. And really don't care.

No pictures today, but I promise glorious ones tomorrow. For tomorrow I have a visitor--the lovely Domiknitrix (www.domiknitrix.com) and will post pics tomorrow.

Interweave Magazine

I got my Interweave Knits Magazine in the mail--I always get mine at least a week after everyone else does. Why is that?

Anyway, I didn't find a single thing I wanted to knit, which is absolutely OK by me, since I have enough projects to last me through the year.

Oh, and if anyone is reading this out there, please check out Chez Plum's site (http://www.chezplum.com) One of the few things I AM planning to knit is her Isabeau shrug. Fell in love with it the moment it was first posted. Slyvie did me the HUGE honor of adding me to her blog list. Hoorah! Don't you love the name of her site? Plums are my favorite fruit and I've been wanting a tatoo of a plum for a good four years. Also http://www.figandplum.com site is dreamy too. What is it about plums?

Blocking update later today.

Torn between two lovers

When will these stupid sleeves EVER be done? I watched three episodes of Rollergirls with knitting in hand. The only thing I had after this TVtime was one inch of knitting done, a sore elbow and a desire to go out and buy some roller skates.

I think roller derby would be a fitting way to start my work-out regime when I'm off this medical leave, but there is something a touch daunting about a sport that offers you a chance to simultaneously lose pounds and teeth at the same time.

But imagine how cool it would be to have Miss Conduct on your side? She is five feet a fury coming at you!

Anyway, once I finish this Apricot jacket I'm want to knit Something Red from Knit and Tonic's site. It's such a pretty cardigan, isn't it?

Would it be too tragic to knit it in a cozy brown? I need a brown sweater desperately and the lines on this one would be so cute. Something Brown? But of course that is after I finish Apricot and of course the baby sweater, which I haven't even cast on for and need to finish by Feb. 27th. Gulp!

And what was that Mary Jane cardigan?

Olympic Update

OK, this will be super quick because I need to get back to knitting, since I'm determined to finish the sleeves today on this apricot jacket. And then I'll just have to block and stitch it up! Whoo hoo!

I always knit my sleeves at the same time on one circular needle to ensure that I'm making increases at the same time on both sleeves. But man, they do seem to drag on when you do it that way, but when you are finished--you are FINISHED!

I would have pictures to show, but while flying back from Miami to SF, my suitcase went missing with the back and two front pieces of the sweater in it. I'm hoping to see it later today.

BTW, I finished Yarn Harlot's book and it was wonderful. If you haven't bought it already (but I'm sure you have because everyone else in the knitting world has finished it) go buy it now.

OK, off to knit.

And once I'm finished with this I can knock out that pink baby sweater for my friend, which needs to be finished by next Sunday. Yoinks! Wish me luck!

What is your stash like?

Well, since I'm rocking the Knitting Olympics, I decided to read Yarn Harlot's book--which was given to my by one of my dearest friends, Rosymare. And I just finished the chapter about yarn stash. I know every knitter out there has a stash problem right? Thank you Yarn Harlot for making me feel like mine wasn't soo awful!

I used to have an extreme stash problem to the point where I had a bookcase full of yarn. But I foisted a large grocery bag of chenille and mismatched acrylic yarns onto a friend who had a passing interest in knitting. But in less than two months I still had a crap load of yarn. How does this happen?

But since my surgery I have been on this amazing organization kick, which has led to a major re-haul of my stash. So here are pictures of it:




Please note the oh-so-shabby-chic placement of the big green pitcher “carelessly” filled with knitting needles and some vintage bakelite knitting goodies given to me by my sweetie.

And yes, I bagged bundles of matching yarns for uber-organization. And even tried to organize it by color, but only got halfway. As you can see, I have truly do have a crap-load of yarn. It seems I’m attracted to red and green yarns with little shots of plum and brown and gray mixed in. And a wee bit of blue to special blue-loving friends.

It’s very interesting to look through one’s yarn stash and remember all of the projects assigned to certain yarns. Such as thing lovely chunky tweedy blue and gray yarn from Rowan that I bought for Rosymare to knit her a sweater, but realized I didn’t have enough yarn. I’m now saving it to knit her baby a sweater when she gets pregnant. Or some leftover angora mix that I will one day be transformed into that heart scarf from Knitty. Dear sweet Yarn, I promise, I will knit every last inch of you.

Oh and an update on my Apricot sweater I'm knitting for the Olympics. Well, I am very near finishing the two side panels and hope to cast on tomorrow for the sleeves. I have definitely slowed down--so naughty! But hope to pick up a few hours of airplane knitting on the sleeves. My hope is to finish it early next week. Wish me luck!

Team Dotson!

It’s official—the knitting Olympics has begun and I’m off to a running start.

Since I arrived in Florida Friday, I have made my swatch and already finished the BACK of the Apricot sweater. I even surprised myself with that. But alas, I'm feeling a bit under the weather, so we'll see if I can keep the pace up. I left that eevile Mary Jane bed jacket at home in SF. Bah!

And since I'll be in Florida, I will be taking pictures, but not posting them until I get back to the Bay area late next week, so you can see my progress on the Apricot jacket.

Now if I could only figure out how to get that little button thing on my site. As you can see, I’m not good at this compooter stuff, but with the help of my sweetie, I hope I can make it better soon.

And as soon as I finish the apricot sweater, I'm off to knock out an extremely lacy baby sweater.

Elizabeth Beeton

And here it is in all of its uber finery. Elizabeth Beeton.

Last year, I bought one of those quilted short jackets from Old Navy in black. And I love it. It’s perfect for SF weather and I think I’ve worn it just about every day since I bought it. But it was rather austere in it’s blackness and needed something colorful and knitted to liven it up a bit.

Enter Elizabeth Beeton.

Yes, I took those lovely frilly wristlets called Mrs. Beeton from Knitty and then made a matching frilly neck warmer/scarflet/doodah/thingy called Elizabeth by the lovely and talented Kate Gilbert. http://kategilbert.com I’m assuming everyone in knitting Bloglandia knows about Kate. I’ve been reading her blog for more than a year and have watched her go from living in France about to be married to producing one of the cutest babies in Canada.

I knit all of the items out of Rowan DK Cashsoft and Rowan Kid Silk Haze. The greens aren’t all that close in color, but I think together they made a nice tweedy fabric. And they are sooo soft. It was an absolute joy to knit with. I didn’t want it to end.

Elizabeth was a dream to create. It only took one episode of Project Runway to knock it out! So easy and yet is looks totally fancy. I did make one change—I did knit the frill near the chin using both yarns, not just the kid silk haze which is what Ms. Gilbert wrote. I love it. In face I LURVE it!

Mrs. Beeton proved to be a bit of a let down tho. I don’t know if it was my fault or what, but the ended up being a bit big and the bell edging was well, kinda floofy! Like Seinfeld’s pirate shirt. I think perhaps a bit to twee for me. And I even went out of my not to do the beading. I’m not sure. But they are so very soft and really to give me a bit of warmth.

And and er, forgive the string hanging...

Knitting Olympics

I haven’t even finished this sweater of doom, but I’m already dreaming about my next knit—the lovely Rebecca Apricot sweater that I’ve seen made my almost every other blogger out there. I do have a bit of fear, because every person that has knit this has been like a size negative two! And I am * ahem* a touch bigger. But not for long as I begin the uber wedding diet to end all diets. In fact I call it the lifestyle change—THAT is how uber it will be.

But enough about that—let’s get back to knitting!

I’ve already bought the yarn—I’m going big on this—Rowan calmer—in a lovely blueish-plum. I think it will be the perfect thing to knit next week in Florida. Nice cool cotton in such tropical climes. Ah lovely!

OH! I know—I’ll do it for the Yarn Harlot’s Knitting Olympics!http://www.yarnharlot.ca/blog/olympics2006.html How cool would that be? It is supposed to be feisty knit—something that challenges you— yeah--I could do that! Whoo hoo!

So, here is a little work in progress that has been something of an irksome project. The Sweet Mary Jane bed jacket. Or as I sweetly like to call it—“Total pain in my ass.”

Actually, it’s not that bad. The four row lace is very easy, but somehow I keep mucking it up and it seems to take FOREVER to get anywhere. I’ve been knitting so fast on my other projects that this seems like I only finish about an inch a day. But then again, I am using size 6 needles with the equivalent of hairy mint dental floss, so I’m going to give myself a bit of a break.

I started knitting it with Addis Turbos and wouldn’t you know it—they kept slipping off, so I changed to bamboo ones and it seems to be making a difference. I got that tip after reading some of the feedback on that gorgeous Fig and Plum site. Man, she takes the most beautiful

And what about poor Elizabeth Beeton, you ask? Ah, a most troublesome problem occurred. I can’t find the sweet buttons I just bought to finish off the project. How awful is that? I even have the needle threaded waiting to attach the buttons. But perhaps it’s a good thing—perhaps I’m meant to find different even more glamorous buttons at Jo-Anne’s fabric later this month. Wouldn’t that be nice?

Comfort knitting

Knitting is very comforting when you are convalescing. Cozy wool around you and a cat curled up on my lap purring away.

My cat, Minnow has been so sweet since I came back from the hospital—she’s taken to sitting on my lap, purring away as I knit. She has never done this before. Don’t get me wrong—she’s always been a lovely cat…well to me at least... So what is she hisses at almost every other person? Or uses her poops as weapons? But to me, she’s a little puffball of goodness.

Even with all of her mommy love for me, she never sat on my lap for extended periods of time. But now, she is simply content to sit on my lap sending positive kitty energy to my lady bits. My Sweetie thinks Minnow random act of kindness is a ruse to get closer to my always present glass of water so she can knock it over and drink from it. We’ll see…

Anyway, I’m working on Elizabeth Beeton—a different twist on a scarf and mitten set that I’m creating out of Rowan DK Cashsoft and kid silk haze. Holy crap, is it soft! And I thought the Karabella merino wool was spectacular. It may ruin me from ever knitting with anything else. Hmmm… Would it be bad to ditch the wedding and spend all of my money on yummy yarn like this? Probably.