I HAVE been knitting...

...more than usual, actually. Since I finished school last month, I have so much more time to knit, and I love it! Especially now, since the weather is actually behaving seasonally. I think the high for today is supposed to be 45. It may finally be fall here in Kentuckiana.

So, here's a picture of what I'm currently working on:

Pattern: Shalom Cardigan (Ravelry link)

Yarn: Cascade Bollicine Revolution

This yarn was on clearance at WEBS for less than $3 a ball. I bought enough to make the cardigan, but as I was knitting this bulky yarn on size 11 needles, I decided that a short-sleeved bulky sweater isn't really practical for me. So I decided to make it long sleeved. I called WEBS to ask if they could match the dyelot. And ya know what? They did. Which really surprised me. As far as mods go, I followed Ishi's lead, with the exception of adding sleeves. Love this thing so far.

Now, on to my Gathered Pullover.

It's done!

Obviously, it's not a long sleeved sweater, but I'd had it with working sleeves on this thing. I tried following the pattern, and it got me into trouble. Then I tried just picking up stitches around the armhole to make sleeves, but that didn't work out either.
I ended up with a bunch in the armpit area and a sleeve that was a bit too tight on the upper arm. This caused the shoulders to pull downward and make me look like I was trying out for Flashdance. No thank you.

Now on to my Stirling Cloche.

I really love cloches. They look so sleek and sophisticated. I found a really cute one in my One Skein Wonders book and decided that I would actually order the yarn called for.
Big mistake.
I hate boucle yarn. I don't know why I thought this would be any different. I can't ever tell if I'm knitting into the stitch or just a loop of the boucle. So what do I do? Why, I order it in black, to make it even harder to tell what I'm doing.

The pattern advises you to hand felt this cloche in very hot water. My bathroom sink was a mess, because this yarn sheds like nobody's business, and it bled. Terribly.

After hand felting it twice, it still came out waayyy too big around, and that's saying something: I have a huge head (It's hard to tell in this picture, but, if there was a rogue wind anywhere near, it would send my hat flying). I decided to felt it in the washer, and the yarn was still bleeding.

And then it was too short.

Meh.

On another note, we went to the Big New Comedy Club (names may have been changed to protect the innocent) downtown last night to see Norm MacDonald. It was a good time, and the comedians were all pretty funny.

The club, however, rubbed me the wrong way. Maybe it's just because I'm used to the Comedy Caravan, which has that local feel to it. Anyway, this Big New Comedy Club books only the big names in comedy, which equates to big ticket prices. That's OK. I expect that.

What I don't expect, however, is for said Comedy Club to tell me that I have to purchase at least 2 drinks while watching the show. Seriously? Didn't I already fulfill my obligation to them by purchasing a ticket??! I pay, you make me laugh. End of commitment, right?

And what would they do if I didn't purchase 2 drinks? Would they hold me hostage until I did? Am I naive? Is this standard practice around here? In all honesty, there's a good chance that I would have had more than my 2 beer minimum, but that just irritated me to no end.

Oh, and their food's over-priced.

Bitter much? You betcha.