Done. Well, done-ish. I think Kathleen psychically understood how hard this knitting was becoming and thus scheduled her wedding on Friday--enabling a two hour road trip to Philly which greatly facilitated the Great Tentacle Knit Out of 2007. I still have to go through the frightening and unpredictible process of felting it, which due to a last minute yarn shortage, may or may not work out. I ended up using alpaca to finish it and as soon as I finished I heard this faint memory in my head telling me that alpaca does not felt well. Hmmmm..... More importantly, while it is waiting to be felted, the octopus has a second calling in life.....
...as a bright orange wig. It was even better before I knit the bottom and the "stuffing portal" because it really looked more like a hat. But I didn't have a camera. Too bad.
More importantly I never have to knit another tentacle in my life (unless, ahem, the felting doesn't work, but I refuse to consider that possibility) and am now freed up to work on other enticing projects. I went through my whole stash and pulled out all the things I am "working" on. It is like a little museum of yarn, or an obstacle course of yarn, depending on your perspective. I pick museum. As I have an expensive degree in professional tour guide-ing I will put all that education to work. On your right you will notice........
... the honeymoon sock(s). Note it's small and portable size and not so woolly wool. For these reasons it shall be reserved for the upcoming African adventure.
Up ahead we have some yarn from the "early sock" era.
Otherwise known as when Sarah finished her pair of honeymoon socks and, though she had yet another pair to knit, went to the yarn store and was seduced by a whole stack of yarn. Its hard to say no when something is so cheap and so intriguing (will it stripe? checker? varigate? ahhhhh the suspense).
Down the hall you will encounter the "mirage tank top"
This tank is lovely in every way, the yarn is soft, the colors float enticingly across the surface, the fabric drapes with an elegant ease. Alas, it is all a lie to trick me into loving it. Unfortunately, it looks so indescribably awful on me that I can't bring myself to finish it. I have learned the lesson for the 23rd time that chunky ribbed knits look beautiful on hangers and very small people, perhaps even bony people. I am now contemplating whether I should rip apart something so pretty, or finish it and give it away. The dillema lies in the fact that A) I have no idea what else I would use the yarn for and B) I don't think I know anyone who would look very good in it.
Next up on our obstacle course, ummm tour.......
The shape shifting yarn. It started life as a sweater, then became shawl number 1, and now is shawl number 2. It insists every time on being much smaller than it should be. To keep it from becoming socks I have purchased the yellow balls of yarn to make a lace trim around the edge. Lace + mohair does not equal fun. It can't be ripped out and I hate lace because I always have to rip it out.
As I was dodging, umm, contemplating my options I began to feel the pull of the socks. As I sat down to peruse the internet for sock patterns, I came across this. It is not a sock, it is The Mystery Stole 3. It is secret agent knitting. You learn the pattern on a "need to know" basis. Basically, every week you get a new part of the pattern, knit, and see what happens. I love this idea. So I signed up and ran to the yarn store as soon as I could. Because everyone else in new york has evidently done the same thing I had the choice of knitting it in red or red. I chose red. Though now that I have it at home I realize it is more of a rust orange.
Then I sat down to look at the first clue (I'm a little late so there are already 2 clues out). Hmmmmmmm........remember how I hate lace? It is the most insanely complicated lace I have ever seen. OK not really but it IS the most insanely complicated lace I have ever thought about knitting. We'll see how this goes, I will try to ignore the socks.............
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