And Now for Something Different!

First off, the Easter Hamsters are going fabulously. I've finished three so far, and I have two more on the needles. I bet I can get 24 before Monday.

Lest you think my brain is entirely taken over by toys, I finally took a photo of a project I finished a while ago. Not a great photo, but hey. I'll take what I can at this point.



This is Ester Bitran Hand-Dyes Linares yarn that my SO bought me. It was my first yarn that wasn't bought from a big box store and holy goodness I absolutely hate it. The colors are gorgeous, and it was so pretty and shiny in the skein. I had original plans to knit a very drapey, loosely knit vest, but that plan very quickly got abandoned. This yarn is a beast to work with. Not only is it splitty beyond all belief, if it catches on anything, including a rough spot on your hand, it frizzes up and won't return to its original smooth shape.

Plus it smells funny.



When I frogged the project, it was painful. Next I tried to knit Aubrey. While I'm sure the pattern is perfectly fine, it looked like cat vomit in this yarn. This coupled with the fact that I knit the majority of this while watching trashy TV shows with my dear friend Veronica. That was a very bad idea at the time because I was a new knitter and couldn't really read my stitches- so the entire thing was freakishly lopsided. I snapped a photo and threw it the back corner of my room and tried to forget about it for a while.

Finally, while going through some of my scraps, I came across the balls of yarn that weren't eaten up with my Aubrey. Grudgingly, I realized that I really should do something with that yarn, if only so I don't have to look at it anymore and get angry. It was after my recent success with my Baktus, I decided that it was perfect! Nothing could go wrong.

Except the fact that it was hideous. I don't think I even really made a dent in it before I frogged it.

Finally, out of sheer frustration, I found La La's Simple Shawl. I started knitting and was pleasantly surprised. Not only was the yarn not looking like cat barf, but the pattern was really simple. I think it took me all of two seconds to memorize, and I happily dragged this project along with me everywhere. I love autopilot knitting. While complicated knitting is fun, I can only really work on it when I'm alone in my apartment, so it's easier to have autopilot knitting.

This wound up being engaging enough that I wasn't bored, but simple enough that I could listen to lectures or engage in conversations while knitting. And the end result really makes me happy. Although I still hate this yarn.