Intimidated by warm fuzziness

Confession:  while I yearn for luxurious fibers to knit with, I cringe at the thought of actually using them.  Silk?  Mohair?  These are idols I worship at, not merely yarn to be used as I would an acrylic.  Gracious relatives that know me and my addiction have gifted  me with some of these amazing yarns.

Among my gems are five skeins of Rowan's Kid Silk Haze in a color called "Marmelade" and three skeins of Noro's Silk Garden, also made with silk and kid mohair with a touch of lamb's wool.  While I did celebrate a thirtieth birthday earlier this month... these are actually gifts from previous years.  

What have I been doing with these luscious fibers?  Mostly hoarding them, like a dragon.  In fact, I don't want you to look at them too hard in case it makes them lose a touch of their softness or their enviable coloring.

While I did flirt with projects for each of these yarns, I still couldn't bring myself to try them for fear I'd screw up on the pattern.  Yes I know I can unravel them; but I don't want my precious yarn to lose anything from my mistakes.  Besides, the inevitability of needing to trim ends and thus CUT these beauties?  I'd rather slash a finger... well not quite, but close.  

In my heyday of playing World of Warcraft, I was very very tempted to use the Noro to make my own Murgle from a pattern called "More than a Fish" by Ixetal Cilona.  However, having had no experience with making amigurumi, it seemed like a terrible idea to try and learn on my precioussssss Noro.  Still, aren't they cool?  Just check out some of the finished ones like Nordly's on Ravelry.

Also I thought about using the Rowan's Kid Silk Haze with a project posted in the Winter 2007 issue of the ezine Knitty.  Featured was this gorgeous cowl pattern by Rosemary Hill called "Ice Queen".   The yarn is so lightweight that you can put small beads on it which look like little ice crystals.  Even though this yarn is as light as a feather, the "haze" makes it surprisingly warm, all while being so soft you just want to rub it until your fingers fall off.  Of course it wouldn't have been very "ice queen-ish" in the marmalade hue, but doesn't that mean it would be warming in color as well?  Then the sad realization hit me.  I don't wear cowls.  And while I usually give away nearly everything I knit, the hoarding dragon within me wants to hold onto these luxury fibers even after they stop being in skein form.  Then again, knowing me, that may never happen.  

Oh the materialism!  It reminds me of when I was in grade school and Junior high.  I would get these Lisa Frank stickers.  While I loved looking at them, I never stuck them to anything.  I knew that whatever it was would eventually be tossed or forgotten and I couldn't stand that; so in my desk they remained.  After discovering boys I did happen to forget about my Lisa Frank stickers.  That was of course until I found them again in my college years.  Finally I was able and grateful to use them.  They were perfect for sticking all over government addressed envelopes, when taxes were due, responding to jury duty, etc.  

Hordie Hat

I'm torn. I love knitting. I love WoW. At times though, trying to find WoW related projects means embracing my mortal enemies, the Horde.

WoW is separated into two factions, the Horde and the Alliance. Whenever you make a character on WoW, the first thing you decide is what faction you will be a hero for.

While searching Ravelry for a knitting chart depicting my the Lion insignia of my beloved Alliance, it seemed I could only find patterns for the significantly inferior Horde symbol. Truly tragic I know. Some day I fear I may have to come up with one (assuming I get more talent). Anyway, I knit a generic hat pattern, which I found on the AMAZING Kody May's Blog (please visit this knitters, she's kind of awesome). Afterwards I did duplicate stitching of the *cringe* horde chart on the front. Here's the result:

Not knowing what to do with this, but feeling the need to show the folks I play WoW with (I desperately crave approval from anyone and everyone); I brought it with me to visit my friend Lexi's brother. He's a fellow guildie and Buttonshire was at one point a Hordie (thankfully he wised up). Anyway, I brought it with me when we visited him, and somehow it found a home with him permanently. I just had an unpleasant thought... I hope he doesn't revert to being part of the unclean Horde masses!

Oh, I feel a the need to post a quick disclaimer: While there is just a smidge of bias in here, I think that there are good and bad people no matter what faction you choose. I just like teasing and pretending I care. Much like my whole UCLA vs USC cross town rivalry thing. When it comes down to it, I'm not desperately invested in believing one is better than the other. Again, it's just kinda fun to pretend like it's a huge deal when really it has about all the significance of choosing which statement you like better, "six" or "a half dozen".

Butterball's Disgusting Oozling colored hat

Another Wow story for you all. Over the summer my idle hands got the itch to knit again. Frustrated with all of my wips (works in progress), I asked my WoW playing friends for suggestions on projects to do.

I’m partial to making hats, so when my guildmate (we're both in Anxiety on Perenolde), Butterballs , mentioned that he wouldn’t hate it if I sent him something, I jumped at the chance. After quizzing him thoroughly, I found out he liked what I consider to be one of the fugliest (not a typo) colors ever. Fortunately for him, I found a yarn that’s somewhat similar to what he was describing. I eventually swallowed down the bile that had come up after seeing it, and knit him a hat.

Ear flaps, tassels, and a pompom later; this atrocious creation came into existence. Not so sadly, this is my only picture of said abomination. A warm welcome to Kevin (aka Steelrain), for bravely wearing and being the model of this monstrosity.

Disgusting Oozling - similar color, no?

I ended up sending it and (despite the hat) Butterballs still talks to me on WoW. Is this where I mention that it takes all kinds to make up this world?

WoW and Dropped Stitches

World of Warcraft and knitting can go together in so many different and strange ways.

Last night I logged in and jumped on my Warlock so that I could do the special Halloween event that’s taking place right now. While there are a few million people that play WoW, you typically only interact with the few hundred that are on your particular “realm”. Though, for the special event (fighting the Headless Horseman), you will meet up to four other players who might be from other realms. Last night, I noticed our group’s healer was from a guild called “Dropped Stitches”.

The Headless Horseman

After the fight, I asked the healer, Nyanaeve, if they were a knitter. She quickly responded that she was. Immediately we both asked each other “Are you on Ravelry?” A fast giggle later, we exchanged user names. Apparently the Dreanor realm has an Alliance guild of Ravelry Knitters. I love the name! Not only a knitting reference, “Dropped Stitches” refers to beating an abomination in the game called “Stitches” (the ugly brute on the left).

"Stitches"

What a wonderful small world (of warcraft)!