Roll wit' it, Tomato!

So I made Tomato from No Sheep For You, which is a cool book and a cool pattern. Very easy, took me a week to make. I raised the neckline a bit cuz it would have been slightly scandalous otherwise. I definitely plan on making more, or at least more top down tops.



But this yarn. I used Blue Sky Alpacas cotton. Now, I distinctly remember liking this yarn and enjoying knitting with it earlier in my knitting history. Then again, I also remember having no problem working with 100% acrylic and that certainly isn't the case anymore. Okay, so a tiny bit of it is my fault, as usual. I did swatch, but not in the round, so my gauge tightened up a bit when I ended up making this in the round. I was already going for the smallest size, which was already 2 1/2" smaller than my actual bust size. But in reality, this top came out about 4" smaller than my actual bust. Don't worry, it still fits (knits stretch nicely, people, even in cotton), but it's a bit stiff. Actually, it's a lot stiff. Almost like I'm wearing cardboard. In the previous post, though I complained about the bleeding of Jaeggerspun Zephyr, I did note that it has exceptional drape, even when knitted at a tight gauge. This yarn, not so much.

And do you know what a stiff cardboard-y top does? I bet you can't guess. See, it remembers my rolls. Now, when I stand up, I'm a pretty slim girl, comparatively speaking, but I'm not going to lie, some rolls do appear when sitting. Well, I discovered to my great dismay, that my rolls leave an impression in the top! Yeah, I know it's funny. To you. I stood up the first day I wore this and lo and behold, what Koreans would call sam-kyup-sal (3 layers of flesh) was imprinted into the very fabric of this shirt. Just hanging away from my torso, still showing the fat rolls of a minute ago. Thanks a lot, BSA cotton. You're the best.

Plus, knitting this stuff hurt my hand like a mofo. I'm talking pains shooting up my right wrist for real. Owie. So I think I'm sticking to blends from now on.

In other news, I went to Maryland Sheep and Wool festival the weekend before last. Everyone I know thinks I'm insane, and with good reason, admittedly. Yep, my broke ass bought a ticket to the east coast, rented a car, got a motel room, and went to a festival OF SHEEP!


Wait, 2 quick diversions. The first, there was something freaky going on in the room next to mine. We've all stayed in one of those no-tell motels before, we know how it goes. But this was unlike anything I had ever heard before. It was screaming. And I mean just that, screaming. Screaming. "AHHHHHHHHHHHH!! AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!! AAAHH, AAHHHHHH!" Not moaning, groaning, talking, just screaming. Don't know how many hours, cuz I lost track. So if ever you're thinking of offing someone, know that you can do it in a Red Roof motel without fear of anyone calling the police.

Second diversion, have you all seen this trailer for Black Sheep. Whoa.

Okay, back to MDSW. I took a drop spindle class and haven't touched my roving since. I suck. And I kept thinking I shouldn't suck, because sheep hair is a lot like my hair. I kept wondering, would I get any better at this if I first took my pick to it and sprayed it down with some afro sheen? I considered braiding it, or perhaps adding it as some sort of psychotic extensions to my own hair. Then I just accepted that I suck and moved on. But I did manage to spin this:




Um, since Ipod Cozies are all the rage amongst knitters (I don't want to ever hear a knitter who made one of these look me in my eye and tell me crocheters make a bunch of useless trivial stuff (like doilies)), what about an Ipod Shuffle Cozy? Those things are only about an 1 1/2". A coin purse, that can hold one coin? Huh? Huh?


But outside of the yarn, the festival was cool. I'll show you festival goodies on another post. So for now . ..