What's on my needles

The stitch markers are handmade and owly. Yes!

According to my Ravelry projects page, I have eight current works-in-progress. That's bad enough, but it gets worse when you factor in the fact that a) not everything I've got going is on Ravelry, and b) that's just the knitting and crochet. Not the embroidery, the cross stitch, the sewing, the mosaic plant stand...

I've heard this referred to as "startitis," but whatever you want to call it, I've got it bad. I've got projects in "progress" from this time last year, and we won't talk about the wedding afghan for the couple who got married in October.

That said, I've been working on this scarf/shawlette pretty steadily since I started it a week ago. It's the very popular Age of Brass & Steam by Orange Flower in Patons Silk Bamboo yarn. (The yarn is nice, but not as magical as I'd hoped. It's quite soft, though, and has a lovely sheen, and I think it'll be very nice draped around my neck.)

I have been on a major triangle scarf kick lately--I finished a different one (striped, cotton blend) immediately before starting this one, and I've got a couple other scarves on the go as well. All that stockinette makes it great TV knitting, so I had an excellent time on Sunday working on this and rewatching both seasons of Sherlock. (Come soon, season three. Sooooooooooooon.)

Treasury Tuesday: Cloudy Days

'Cloudy Days' by hooraycrochet

Because even gray days can be lovely...

Large Cloud Factory... PearsonMaron $50	Hermosa Pier - 12&... JennyHawesPhot... $15	Cloudy Day Ceramic ... ebenotti $158	Organic merino, han... HamptonArtisti... $16
Cloudy Day Tiny Ros... DeliciouslySti... $5.25	Raindrops Keep Fall... CarrotsCo $21	Gray Garland - Pape... ArtsDelight $10.5	Cloud Ring Sterling... MiiraC $57
White,Grey,Light Bl... leptitpapillon $59	Twinery Stone Gray ... TheJoyfulCup $11.99	Sky Designed Clouds... maclancy $24	Baby Shower Paper S... bevebylaurenfi... $8
Franciscan cup and ... EclecticBlueVi... $12	Hand knitted light ... LittleWhiteLil... $8	24 Baby Blue Umbrel... BelowBlink $4.5	Coin purse rain clo... oktak $30

Treasury tool supported by the dog house

I have a dark addiction...

This is not my entire collection.

...namely, stitch markers. For years, I just used paper clips (when I used stitch markers at all). They're cheap, bountiful, and work really, really well. But... they're boring. And they kept getting commandeered to, I don't know, clip paper and stuff. (Crazy talk!) And I kept seeing all these adorable ones on Etsy and Ravelry.

I gave in. I had to have them. And for someone who doesn't make a lot of jewelry, I have a pretty impressive bead stash. So I made a few. Tried them out. Liked them. Made a few more.

The rest, as they say, is history. I make them for my Etsy shop now too, but this is how it usually goes: make a set for Etsy. Make two sets for myself. Make a set for Etsy. Make another set for myself. Buy more beads--theoretically because they'll look nice in the Etsy shop, but really because I want them for my own. (Those skulls, man. Those skulls.)

And now that I'm knitting, well. That's a whole different kind to make! (Knitting typically uses closed-ring stitch markers, held between the stitches on your needles, while crochet requires removable stitch markers that clip onto the stitches themselves.) I won't pretend that I don't get excited when I start a project that needs stitch markers. Heck, I'll go a step further: sometimes I choose the markers to match the yarn. Sometimes I switch them out halfway through because I'm bored with those markers now, time for new ones!

I'm just saying: once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny.