My first bandwagon! I’m so excited! I imagine this is how a teenager feels the first time they light a candle for a wiccan god and then put on a fresh pair of spider pants to wear to a Tool concert.

I’m joining the Amazing Lace Knitalong. Not only does it force me to post my progress (and therefore make progress), but it will involve interpreting various challenges in a hilarious and creative manner. For example, if they say that I must photograph my lace high atop a bauer, I will merely photoshop a picture of my lace into a 24 screenshot. Oh mirth! Oh verily.

I’m very close to starting the Spectator Grand hat by Annie Modesitt. My yarn is fully dried, and I just have to wind it up into balls and knit a gauge swatch. I might decide to practise first with some scrap yarn so I can get used to yarn-overs and such. I want this hat to be perfect.

I’m rolling all my coins up into little packets. Talking about it makes me think of Katamari Damacy and rolling up little thumbtacks and things. I save all my twonies and at this point I have $300 in twonies and $150 in loonies, plus some extra rolling around.

At one point I bought a packet of strawberry flavoured paper that I never ended up using and put into my big jar of coins for safe-keeping.

Now all my coins smell like strawberries.

I can’t stop smelling them.

Handy tips for washing yarn:

You know how they say “wash it in really hot water so the soap can grab onto the yarn?” This only applies to yarn that hasn’t been dyed. If you have bright red yarn, use cold water. I used hot (almost boiling) water for the first tubfull, and poured a whole lotta colour down the drain. I am an idiot.

If you plan to use a plastic potato masher or “squishy” to manipulate your yarn, make sure there aren’t any major bits that stick out, so you don’t end up tearing your yarn. I didn’t have too big a problem with bits sticking out, but I think I’ll file down the sides the next time I do a load of washing.

I used two basins, alternating between and prefilling basins while waiting for the other to soak, sometimes working on two batches at the same time. It’s a lot faster.

Winding your yarn into hanks (rather than balls) is very important. The more places you tie the hanks together, the easier it is to sort them out. I tied mine together in 3-4 places, which was a big help.

It’s been almost a week and I still haven’t moved in. First my landlord told me the wall would be fixed, then he told me I’d have to wait a month and a half. I asked for compensation and he got really angry but at least now he’s doing something about it. Apparently he’s now waiting for it to rain this weekend so he can find where the leak is. He didn’t say he’d patch it up when he found the leak, which I probably should have asked about. I don’t trust him further than I can throw him. If it doesn’t rain, he’ll just bite the bullet and fix my wall, guaranteed (or so he says). Fortunately, it looks like it won’t rain very much: Today: A mix of sun and cloud. 30% chance of showers late this afternoon. Tonight: 30% chance of showers. Saturday: Sunny with cloudy periods. Sunday: A mix of sun and cloud with 30% chance of showers again.

I couldn’t find any more green yarn, so I’m putting Brit on the back burner until it’s back in stock. On to the next project! I went shopping yesterday and bought two sweaters. One of them is red, the other a light dye-able colour. (I also found 14 oz of cotton for $7.47 at Walmart! I think I’m going to buy it the next time I’m there, as well as some $4 fiber-fill for amigurumi.) Anyhoo, the red sweater is very soft and last night I frogged it. Soon it will be hat-shaped!

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My first crochet project! It looks really crappy, but when it’s stretched out around me it looks great.

I can’t finish this as I’ve run out of yarn, but hopefully it’ll be done in a few days. I took this picture last night but then also made some progress this morning. I’m halfway through the second shoulder strap, so all I really need to finish is the back!

I was incredibly tired last night so I didn’t get down to bloggin’. I vaguely remember mumbling to Les that I had to write down all the things I was going to blog tomorrow so I wouldn’t forget them, but then I passed out and I’ve forgotten them. Here’s a brief teaser for what I remember:

I crocheted half a shirt yesterday! It’s from Rowan 35! It’s green and stretchy! I’m worried it’s too small because it started out as rough practice with only vague waist measurement and took on a life of its own!

I moved!

My new room has only 3.5 walls!