Books in Singapore

I found Kinokuniya in Singapore.  It was fabulous, but a little tricky.  Everything was shrinkwrapped, and I can't read Japanese.  I managed to muddle thru.  I made mistakes. 

 That white lace book with red lettering?  It has a picture of the knitting princess they featured in Knitter's a few years back (#82).    I was really disappointed to get back to my hotel room and find it was a "how to knit" primer.  Blah.

When I told my brother I went there, he said you could get the staff to show you the books.  But he just opens them himself and makes a mess.  That sounds about right.

They also had a great Borders that had a new British knitting magazine I hadn't seen before!

I love Japanese magazines because the projects are just so wearable.  Seriously, look at this!

Need another opinion

I am trying hard to finish up UFOs. I ran across this, an entrelac sweater started last October, in Austermann Inverno. I figured out where I was, sat down, did a few squares, and really looked at it.

There is no way the front will match the back. Given entrelac's tendency to spread, the front is a good 5" wider than the back.

It's kind of....quiet. Misty. Do I really want such a serene sweater?

I was a little worried. I started the project based on yardage, and a little nervous, because I know I need to reknit the back to fit the front. I wasn't sure I had enough.

Then I saw my big ball of Berroco (mumble becauseIdon't remembertheyarn's name ..crap... Mosaic Iusedonthe cardi) Optik, that I salvaged from something else I frogged last week. And it just might look really good with the Inverno.

In order to do that and have it come out looking ok, I would have to take it back 2 tiers, and then add in a total of 2 tiers. I have 6 of 10 done.

In the meantime, more Inverno has surfaced. So running out of yarn is no longer an issue.

What do you think? I am standing by to listen. (Actually, I am sewing buttons on that last cardi, but you know...)

What would genius do?

I found a whale of a sale on this yarn. The reviews said it was WONDERFUL yarn. The price was great. I couldn't quite make out the color. I didn't think it could be THAT bad.

The yarn came in today~all the reviews were spot on. I, on the other hand, was WRONG. The yarn is every pastel under the sun, and they all cancel each other out, leaving a murky, muddy mess.

I could dye it. There's a fair amount of rayon tucked in with the animal fibers. I could add another strand and carry along. Either way, this yarn needs a personality makeover. (For a lazy woman.) Right now, I have two possible solutions: stb or pra. I abbreviated them, because I want to hear what other people think.

Colors in the yarn: mid orange, pastel yellow, blue, green, lilac, pink.

What is your solution?

ETA: Be specific! Please tell me what color would you use!

You should shut up and knit before we figure out that you are both stupid AND annoying-

--Welcome to Betsuary. In celebration of the bestest of months, I am digging thru the photo albums for fun and general amusement. I plan on a different decade each week. We will start with the 1960s-I think this was from 1968. It's funny, when we are little we cheese for the camera. Then, when we are older, we don't cheese, but are offended when our photos show us as sullen dorks.

--Dorks, like cream, rise to the occasion, and claw their way to the top of the dumbass pedestal. There's a lot of dork posturing on Ravelry.

--Take for example the YarnSaleORama forum, where one of my friends posted a link for a decent quality, well known, bulky yarn at a fire sale price. Someone had to pop on there and say "Oh, too bad it's not dk or fingering weight...." Oh, you mean, "Too bad it's not spun from fairy farts during the light of the last full moon and dyed with plankton recovered from Matanuska Glacier!" That's what you really mean. Shut up and find your own bargains.

--Or recently on the "DesignerKnockOffs" forum, someone was asking for a pattern of "LeReallyExpensiveFrenchBag". I was trying to encourage, and talked to the seeker about the design elements, and how she might fake them, and generally, just encouraged her to try it. And the moderator (who lives in Florida, and is a beginning knitter) pops on and says "Oh, and do two patterns, because I don't like felted bags. And I think you should make latigo handles." Oh, GRRRRR--knit your own LeFakeO.

--And Hat Attack-I am sooooo crazy excited about the upcoming Hat Attack! It's a knit group, and of course someone had to pop on and say "Oh, too bad it's knit, because I haven't caught the knitting bug, I CROW-SHAY." I had to step in and say "Oh, you should start up the crochet version." I think she shuffled off in her bathrobe.

--These people clearly indulge in too much whine. None of these people ever smacks themselves in the forehead and says "Wow, I COULD try that." I'd like to help them out with that smack. For starters.

"Her whole life has been an experiment in terror"

I love that line. And on the knitting front, I have done my best to live up to it. Over the past two days, I have cast on at least three different projects, ripped out four (I think) and still have two...no, three projects on the needles. Just knitting disatisfaction, I suppose. I went thru my patterns and found some cute stuff, but nothing I want to do right NOW, with the things I have on hand (um, I mean, at the top of the pile).

I learned something today. I suspected it, but now I can prove it's true. If you work short row angles in variegated yarn, guess what happens?

Nothing. Yeah, ok, fine. Don't be all snotty about it.

BTW, you can see tam photos on the last two posts from December.

I told my little brother about the tam thing, and he's all "That's nice, in a 4H kind of way." And I think yes....and no. I understand trade shows. My hat is a sugar sprinkle on a flaming six quart sundae with seven kinds of fruit and chocolate liquer made by elves on alternate Leap Years. I GET it. But my dad used to take us to the county fair and tromp us thru the exhibits. I admired EVERY single blue ribbon. This is my ribbon. And no one else in my family has this, this need to make shit, or play music, or draw, or write, or dance.

No one else, Bets, just you.