At long last, a FINISHED OBJECT! Presenting...

FO: Yoda Sweater
Originally uploaded by purlgurl

Baby Yoda Sweater for Gretch's lil' boy to be...she's due in August, so I'm actually a head of the game. I think I'll knit a beanie to go with it. I thought i'd have yarn leftover, but will the seaming and making i-cords, I'm down to just a little jaw breaker sized ball.

It's a very cute pattern. If Gretch & her boy really likes it, I'll make them the next size up called not so baby yoda. I'll try to do as much as I can to avoid seaming, so I'll work the sleeves in the round again and see if I can knit the front panels along with the back at the same time.

Creating I-cord using a CSM aka circular sock machine

I love the fact that there's a Bay Area CSM group that is fairly close by (1 hour away). It's a great group of people that freely shares tips and techniques on using CSMs. Yesterday, one of the topics discussed was making I-cord using a CSM. The concept sounded so cool, I just had to go home and try it out myself. Perfect timing too, because I needed a few to finish up the Yoda Baby Sweater I made for a friend's baby boy to be. 

Here's how I created i-cord on my CSM (Legare 400):

1. Take out all cylinder needles except for those you need to make the I-cord. In my case, I kept 3 in place.
   
2. Thread yarn through yarn carrier.
3. Long tail cast-on the number of stitches needed for your I-cord (e.g. 3 for my baby sweater).
4. Transfer the stitches to the working needles on the cylinder.
5. Thread yarn through your yarn mast and make sure to use the heel spring to take up slack yarn.
6. Using your left hand to weight/pull down the tail of your long tail cast on, proceed to crank with your right. You may have to coax the first few rounds along as the stitches may need a little assistance in getting created. Once you get going, it should get a lot easier with each turn of the crank. 
7. Crank in the usual fashion, in one direction, clockwise. As the yarn goes past the last needle, since there are no additional needles on the cylinder and because the heel spring is being used, the slack yarn should be pulled up by the yarn mast. when you crank around back to the 1st needle, the yarn should be in the appropriate place to knit the next row.
8. Let me know if you have any questions or need clarification on the process.

Argh....I have TOO MUCH STUFF!!!

Oh jeeze. I'm just getting very depressed and disgusted with myself with how much STUFF I have. I'm going to make a middle of the year resolution to start destashing the over abundance that has taken over my house and my life! I'm not just including my yarn stash as that's the least of my concerns. I have purchased (more stuff-lol) an EZ Cube-esque light tent to photograph my stuff to list on eBay. I'm making a pledge to prepare and list a handful of things each week. It's just WRONG to have so much stuff. If it doesn't go on eBay, I want to either give stuff away to friends, donate them to local thriftshops or throw it away if it's of no use to ANYONE. I'm even planning on a garage sale next month.

OK, it's out there. Now...LET's DO this S#!T!!!

knitted wool swimsuit that won't felt?

i'm not sure how this will look on, but i wasn't able to resist clicking it into my cart. hopefully i got the right size. someone on ravelry mentioned that splish swimwear runs a bit large. i'm a TYR fan, but splish's designs are just so much more fun than the usual suits out there! 

still recouping from THE crash last month, but i've been swimming fairly regularly that past two weeks. it's about the only exercise that doesn't really hurt right now. i'm just getting back to my morning bootcamp (6-7am m-f) and i've made a commitment to going every day for the current 5 week session. my goals? to get the bootcamp's cool t-shirt for perfect attendance and to get myself prepped for muddy buddy in san jose next month. muddy buddy consists of 6 miles of running and biking with a partner (aka buddy). you each do the 6 mile course, while one is running the other buddy is biking, you trade off at the end of each running and biking leg and do obstacles throughout the course. the last leg of the competition is to do a commando crawl through a big mud pit! with my bruised ribs, i wouldn't be able to do it right now. i've got less than a month to get better. yipes.

i also want to dress up in some costume, but have not figured out something that won't get caught in the bike chain nor hinder me and my buddy going through the various obstacles. here's a vid of a muddy buddy in san dimas last year. maybe it will give YOU some inspiration to sign up! ;) it hasn't sold out yet. 

This weekend, I'll be a triathlon lurker...

Up until I dumped my poor ol' body over the handlebars during a bike dirt riding excursion a month ago, I was prepping for the Wildflower triathlon in Lake San Antonio, Monterey County, CA. The event transpires this weekend and I'm now the official cheerleader/wall flower of the group. I've gone back to easy laps in the pool for the first time this week, which I'm very happy about, but I have yet to go back to running and cycling. I still have issues going up stairs, as my hip and muscles surrounding the hip area are still bruised, lumpy and stiff with limited mobility in my left leg. Coughing, sneezing & laughing hurts because my ribs are also still bruised. I plan on bringing my knitting: Indigo Ripples & Wendy's Toe-up Sock so not all is lost. This is a weekend full of things I want to attend, but alas...Atleast I will be in the company of good friends...

Maybe you can check some of the cool happenings out for me?

• Alameda Antique Fair
• Maker Faire
• CNCH