Made Up Words

Spring has sprung!

2008-03-30T14:56:00.000-07:00

Well, it's that time again. Where I've held out on posting about my lovely FOs, and instead have been wearing them and demanding whomever sees them to admire them wholly. Today, two hats and a shawl!
First up, we have Tam C of knitty's three tams pattern. Size 8 needle, Patons Classic Merino and my very own handspun! I will be honest, the handspun quality is poor. The yarn is mostly overspun, with a few parts that are severely underplied. I didn't finish or balance it, so it is shown in all its wonky goodness. But, it is my own yarn, and I love it all the same. Roving was purchased from handpaintedyarn.com and spun on my ashford drop spindle. (That's right- this was pre-wheel yarn!)

Again, we have another three tams pattern. This one is tam A, knit with size 8 needles. The brown yarn is again Patons merino, and the pinky yarn is leftover Patons SWS- a yarn that always looks good in colorwork. I think the SWS yarn might be leftover from this hat. Every time I use up SWS leftovers, I always get a great FO. The drape of the soft singles yarn helps make this tam a lot less bulky than the one above. Everything else is about the same, oddly enough- other than this hat used up a LOT more main color than the one above. So make sure the working yarn is a full skein if you make this pattern.

Finally, my newest pride and joy is the Swallowtail Shawl from Interweave Knits. Only instead of a shawlette, I made this one HUGE. It easily wraps all the way around me and hangs all the way down my back. Yarn is Louisa Harding Grace. The color is really hard to photograph well- it is a pinky red that changes shades depending on the light source. (The silk makes the pink stand out more in the light). This is a pretty true color above though. Unfortunately, to get the picture above, I had to use flash to offset the windows behind it, and the flash washes the stitch pattern out. There are small, square ruby-red beads instead of nupps again. For an unknown reason, the edging gave me a harder time than the last shawl. It might be because this shawl has 2 more rows than the pattern calls for?

I loved working with this yarn, and would do so again in a heartbeat, were it not so expensive! This is also a singles yarn, so it was important to keep maintaining the twist to get the pattern to stand out and look even. The more I worked with the yarn, the easier it was to keep the twist. I think this would make a wonderful yarn for the Lady Eleanor entrelac stole from Scarf Style. It is warm, but light and lofty; the silk gives a wonderful hand to the touch.

So, that's it for the FO parade for this month. As always, there is more detail on all these projects, and extra pics, in my ravelry profile.

2008-03-17T00:16:00.000-07:00

Favorite Color Swap Questionnaire
1. What are your top three favorite colors?
Blue, green and pink
2. What crafts do you really enjoy?
Knitting! Love to knit. Also, beading.
3. What products do you really covet?
I love knicknacks, magazines, pretty much all those things you find at the store right by checkout.
4. What other activities do you enjoy besides your favorite crafty things?
Hmm. Well, I enjoy hanging out with friends and travel, but you can't really put those in a box. I do enjoy using my digital camera quite a bit.
5. Is there anything you collect?
Yarn? Does that count?
6. What is your zodiac sign and/or Chinese zodiac symbol?
I'm a Libra and I was born in the year of the Monkey according to wikipedia.
7.What are your favorite…
…scents/smells? Vanilla
…types of music and/or bands? I have a notoriously bad taste in music. Like a legendary bad taste.
…authors? I haven't really read anything that grabs at me recently. I loved reading Mario Puzo novels (The Godfather). But I adore magazines!
…animals? Dogs! I love dogs! Also, sheep (relating back to that yarn thing)
…places to shop? I like the Gap/Old Navy for clothes, and religiously shop at Target for just about anything else.
…season? Spring or Fall.
…yarn/fabric/paper/other craft supplies? Sock yarn- just about any kind. I'm really in a lace groove, so laceweight yarn is really nice. I sew some, but not a lot. Fat Quarters might be a good idea.
…candies or goodies? I don't really ever use candles, so maybe not them. I love candy! Especially that of the gummy/ chewy variety. And doubly especially the Haribo brand. Mmm, candy.
8. Do you have any wish lists?
9. Are you allergic to anything? Nothing that would be in the box, I hope! Although I'm sensitive to cigarette smoke.
10. Do you have any pets? What are they? Sadly, no. :)
11. Anything else? My ravelry handle is kelbel. I'm very excited to swap!

FO at last!

2008-03-11T16:22:00.000-07:00

She is done! And is it possible I love her more?

Bottom edge, pinned out and ready for her close up.

Swallowtail Shawl, IK Fall 2006.

Classic Elite Alpaca Sox yarn, one skein

size 6 needle
my ravelry write-up

My favorite part- the beaded edging

I think my favorite skill I learned last year (aside from knitting lace altogether) is how to put beads into your knitting via a crochet hook. It can be really tedious if there are a lot of beads, but it is definitely worth it. I wish I had some flower beads, they would have really added in something special. As it is, I'm happy with the silver lined glass beads. They shine! Little round or flat pearls also would have done well here. However, I have yet to find a pearl that has a hole bigger than laceweight to string through.

Blocking and looking pretty.

I can't wait to make this shawl again! There are so many great things about it. The pattern is really simple; anyone could do it. The knitted on edge. Exchanging beads for nupps. (The nupped versions are equally as nice, too- with a little instruction, a beginner knitter could whip those out quickly.) The yardage required is only about 450 yards, meaning you can exchange a variety of yarns without breaking the bank. Silk, merino, bamboo- something to let those smaller skeins of fancy yarn shine! I think it would be really easy to add in repeats to make it bigger, or maybe use a laceweight yarn and bigger needles for a really open lace effect.

This yarn is a dream to knit with. I loved how it slides nicely along my addi lace needle cord- there are some yarns so sticky, nothing makes them slide nicely. It has two plies, which stay together pretty well. There were a few points that the plies came apart, but that was really more to do with me not picking up both plies when knitting through the back loop. The beads were rather tough on the plies, but that had to do more with the tiny crochet hook than the yarn itself. It behaves like alpaca should- it drapes, it sheds and it is so soft to cuddle up. I am definitely investing more in this sock yarn! As a bonus, I had purchased two skeins to make a different shawl- so I can either knit this one again in the same color, or make a matching pair of socks! (Mmm, alpaca socks!)

Feeling Green

2008-03-11T00:21:00.000-07:00

Green seems to be working for me this month:

Behold the swallowtail shawl! (IK fall 06?). I am seriously loving this pattern. It is just small enough to be portable, soft enough that I don't want to stop knitting with this yarn (Alpaca Sox), and on big enough needles that I am making certain progress (size 6). This is what I accomplished in a week filled with overtime and about one evening of knitting straight.

Don't you just love the color? There's only one rival I've found to it thus far this month:

I don't know who brought them in, but they have been brightening my work days ever since they bloomed. Hooray spring!

All lace and no play

2008-02-22T22:16:00.000-08:00

So, there seems to be a theme going in the lace this year...

Maple Leaf Shawl, Victorian Lace Today. Alpaca Sox yarn on size 6 needles. Despite my best efforts, I can't get all the leaves to close up nice and tight. On hold for a day I have more patience.

Mystic Waters Shawl, knitpicks laceweight, from a current kal and soon-to-be-released pattern. I've spent a lot of time on this very pretty but very frustrating shawl. Too much time- the stitches were always off and I'm tired of wrestling with the pattern. So, I've left it on a lifeline in hopes of one day finding the strength to frog and try again.

Hemlock Ring Blanket, Lion Wool. I put this down for a few months, and when I got back I was so far off it wasn't even funny. I will eventually try this one again- the size 8 needle goes super quick and the pattern really is gorgeous. The yarn is destined for a sweater, I think.

But, all is not lost! Behold the flourishes of Project Spectrum:

A Handsome Triangle Shawl, Victorian Lace Today. Claudia Handpainted silk laceweight, size 3 needle. I skipped the last repeat, as I felt it was long enough on the needles. Truth be told, I should have trudged on- it ended up a bit too short when blocked out. This pattern is probably one of the easiest in the book- although it doesn't look it from the pattern. I think it would look lovely in a variety of yarns. Maybe a dk?

Secret of the Stole I- Guinevere. Originally from a kal, pattern available now. US 2 needle, knitpicks alpaca laceweight. Lessons learned include never using size 2 needles on lace! This thing took forever as a result. It was almost painful to get to the decreases, but once I saw the light at the end of the tunnel, I powered through. The pattern is another asymetrical one- two points at one end, one point at the other. I think I'm getting to be okay with the non-matching shawls. The crossed swords are my favorite part, I like how they create little diamonds in the center.

So, lace in the red family = win. Lace in anything else= lose. I'm starting Dem Fischer Sin Fru in a handspun green alpaca yarn. So far, it's going well- let's hope the pattern is broken!

Eye Candy Friday

2007-12-07T00:02:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I'm not an official participant, but I've been baking up some eye candy this week:

M&M cookies- distraction cookies to keep the hubby out of the "real" ones.

Chocolate chip, extreme close-up

Peanut Butter cookies and Thumbrint cookies

It's Christmas time, which means that it's Cookie Time for me. When I was little, every year around this time I remember coming home and being surprised by a big tray of Christmas cookies made by my grandma. My favorites were the sugar cookies, cut out in Santa faces and frosted with her special handmade frosting. It is delicious. It tastes like confectioner's sugar, but hardens like a royal icing. I've never been able to recreate it, despite numerous attempts. Usually, the frosting is on a white cake we call Sugar Cake, for obvious reasons. The last few years, I've taken over some of the baking responsibilites, and now my little cousins look forward to my cookies for Santa. (Hey, if there's one way to get in with the little kids, passing out cookies is it!). However, I really suck at rolling out cookie dough and decorating cookies like you'll see in the fancy bakeries, so I make due with Wilton's pre-made icing and a kick-ass collection of sprinkles. Hooray for Williams-Sonoma!

Also, we hand out cookies to the various groups I work with at work. We get a few of us together, each bringing in a TON of our own specialty cookies, and make big trays of delicious sugary goodness. So, on top of the normal cookie load (a couple dozen- one to two batches- of about five or six varieties), I'll make about five dozen chocolate chip cookies and probably buy a couple extra boxes of the good store-bought ones for good measure. Everything baked is frozen until needed. Really, a week and a half won't ruin anything. The trays we made last year were HUGE, and a really big success. It's nice to give back to people who work hard all year and don't always get the thanks for it. However, this year participation seems a little low- I hope it picks up again, because the trays are going to be a little sparse.

In other news, I finished a project from a book my sis got me for my birthday! They're cable mittens. I didn't follow the pattern, just used the cable suggested and winged it from there. They turned out great, and I can't wait to wear them:

Elegant-and-Easy Cable Mittens for the Whole Family

Book: 101 Designer One-Skein Projects

Yarn: Patons SWS, 2 balls with half of each used up

Needle: US 4, two at a time top-down

I also made a hat to match, but it turned out too small. Like, it didn't even cover my ears. Ooops. Apparently, I need a new formula for guessing where to start my decreases, since my usual one (this looks long enough, better start my decreases!) isn't working. Sigh.

We're ready!

2007-10-30T18:34:00.001-07:00

Test

2007-10-24T21:34:00.001-07:00

Mobile blogging is now a go! Oh, the wonders of technology!

update

2007-08-29T04:29:00.000-07:00

It's late and I should be asleep! However, there is breaking news on the FO front:

Leftover Austermann Step Socks
Yarn: Austermann Step and Kroy socks (black)
US 2 needle, toe-up, 2 circs, 2 at a time
Fair Isle pattern from a book. Just a simple diamond pattern surrounded by black stitches. Easy-peasy. The stranding on these socks is much better than my last pair; it is looser and more even throughout (shown socks are not blocked). I really like these socks, and because of the Austermann yarn they are a lot softer than I would have thought they'd be.

MS 3

I have knit up to the start of the wing. I haven't decided fully what I'm going to do yet. Part of me wants to knit the wing, but another part of me hates that the shawl is uneven. I think I'll end up knitting the wing since the pattern is already written out and the shawls I've seen look really great on the models. (Not so much the floor). At the bottom of the pic you can see toes for scale- it's about 30 inches long unstretched so far.

Reknit STR socks (colorway Fire on the Mountain)

These socks started out life as jaywalkers. Unfortunately, I knit them so tightly I couldn't wear them! (I actually thought I put a hole in one, but frogging revealed no such broken thread). So, after a year of sitting uselessly in my sock drawer, I frogged them back to the toe and have started over. I didn't bother washing the yarn, and left the toes intact- you can see they are fuzzier and appear to be knit more tightly. That would be because I threw them in the washer and dryer after knitting them. Despite the superwash label, the dryer won and the socks shrunk up quite a bit. Lesson learned- STR and dryers are no match!

Again, with the FO's

2007-08-11T22:19:00.000-07:00

So here I am again, with some FOs that seemingly come out of thin air. Behold!

Yarn: STR, cobblestone county colorway
US 2 circs, toe-up, 2 at a time
Love this yarn! It's tightly spun, but still squishy and soft. My own pattern.

Yarn: Austermann Step, purple stripe colorway
US 2 circs, toe-up, 2 at a time. My own pattern.
The striping sequence is off, if you look closely. I knit from the inside and the outside of the skein, no rewinding. With such long repeats and close colors, it wasn't a big deal to me.

This is another great yarn. If you've got sensitive skin, definitely check this yarn out! The Jojoba and the aloe make them the softest socks ever. Also, for the laundry-impaired: I recently accidentally left one sock (not of this pair- a different one of this yarn) in the hot/cold wash of the washer. Anyone familiar with felting should be cringing right about now. The yarn not only held its shape, it also held its feel! You seriously can't tell the difference. Actually, I think the abused sock feels a little bit softer, if you can believe it! The only quirk I found with the yarn as a negative was that it is sticky- knitting from the inside of the ball netted me several places where I had to pull the yarn apart from itself. However, there were no knots- a definite plus!

Yarn: Kroy sock yarn (black) and a red yarn (bernat?) I can't remember.
US 2 and US 3 circs, toe-up, 2 at a time.
My first colorwork socks! I designed them using a motif from a Fair-Isle pattern book, then adapted them as I knit them to fit my feet. I love the color (Project Spectrum June/July- Woo!)and looking at them on my feet. They are naturally very, very warm. Several things I learned from these socks:

Despite all attempts to knit loosely, I do not. To compensate, I used larger needles on the leg portions. Eventually, I had to add in stitches because of my calf size, but using the larger needle on the same number of stitches worked very well for about two inches!
Despite all attempts to strand loosely, I still do not. This causes problems like your socks literally hugging your feet a little tighter than wanted. The motif I chose had two lines with really long floats- up to about six or seven stitches, too many for fair-isle. On these, I would twist the yarn as loosely as I could, but the socks still ended up tight.
Next pair, make sure that several more stitches are added in to compensate for tight knitting/stranding issues. Up to five or six, even.

I've also got some WIP's to show off. Take a gander, will you?

MS3 in progress. My camera is incapable of getting an accurate close-up shot, as the beads and the forest green color obscure the macro capabilities. I'm at clue #3 (I think?). The stole pattern turned out to be asymetrical; I plan on knitting two halves that look the same and grafting them together. Not that the stole as written isn't really neat looking, just that I really, really like things to be even and a wing-shaped stole just wasn't jiving with me. This is my first KAL for the shawl (I joined after reading the Yarn Harlot's blog post), and I definitely will be a part of it next year. The charts are well designed, easy to read and not difficult at all! Knitting the shawl has opened me up to the world of lace, finally. I'm enjoying the yarn (really old stashed Skacel Laceweight Merino) and the product. Blocking should be just fantastic!

I pulled out Cozy from the stash and started work on it again, after a year time-out. My newfound love of lace (and tolerance for purling on smaller needles) has let me knit happily on it. Also, the shawl is knitting up beautifully on my choice of yarns- Crystal Palace laceweight and handdyed Knitpicks laceweight. It is soft and, well, very very cozy!

Finally, I'm using up the rest of the Austermann Step and the black Kroy yarn for a 2nd pair of fair-isle socks! Another motif from the same Fair Isle book. This is a really fun technique that I borrowed from the Fake Isle hat on Magknits.com- pair a self-striping (or variegated) yarn with a bold hue. The contrast between the two makes the colors not only pop, but look ten times harder than it should be! Notice the striping is still opposite- I didn't bother rewinding the skein. I like the funny sequence. The pattern reminds me of a court jester's outfit.

Lastly, this is a birthday present I made for Casey's mom. She likes pirates. The whole thing took about two minutes- only the letters I painted, the rest is part of the Michael's fall craft-extravaganza-sales pitch section and was pre-painted! It was really, really hard not to have it say "YARRN" instead :)

FO-a-rama!

2007-07-19T18:50:00.000-07:00

Wow! It has definitely been a while! I am finally back on day shift- thank god- so I've got a lot to show for my time away from the keyboard.

First up, the ugliest socks in the world:

Yes, they really are uglier in person. Lion Brand Magic Stripes yarn on size 2's. The legs are in the Jaywalker pattern and are WAY too big for my ankles. (I didn't try changing my needle size or the number of stitches in the pattern). They will be frogged or something, I'm not really sure. They definitely will NOT be worn, that's for sure.

Here, look at these instead:

Collinette Jitterbug socks! I love this yarn- it's as close to the STR that one can find in my town. Very tightly spun, bright colors, what's not to love? You can't really see it, but there is a cable on the side that runs all the way up. But I like this view, which is what I will see when wearing them this fall.

More prettiness:

Leftover Fleece Artist and STR yarns= new socks! I love working with the Fleece Artist yarns and if it weren't for the price and the fact I have to order them from far, far away, I would gladly trade most of my stash for more of it. The color, the hand, LOVE IT. These stockinette portion is a bit tighter than usual, as I refuse to knit on anything other than US 2's. I do not care.

Whoa nellie! We've hit the SOS 2007 socks finally!

These are my new favorite thing to look at. Just look at them! The pattern is from the Fair-Isle pattern book I purchased several months ago. My only thing I kind of dislike about the pattern is that there is a chevron that is incomplete- you see how there is an arrow on the bottom of the star, but not on the top? I feel like it should be squared up. But I'm also not willing to put in the work to fix the pattern to my needs (see a pattern here?), so they are slightly bugging me but the pretty, fancy colorwork makes it all go away.

Take another look at the heels. Surprise!

Another SOS 07 entrant, simple stockinette socks on STR from the stash:

These started out their life as the pink socks with the spiraling YO holes from the last Interweave. We won't talk about how that didn't work out, but just know that these are better. And lace socks look worse than lace shawls in progress, if you can believe it.

Hey, did someone say cardigan?

I forget the name of this pattern. It's from the Fall/Winter 2006 Knit Scene magazine. You'll find it as a bright macaroni-and-cheese orange color with flowers all over the neck and buttonband. That was not happening on my *ahem* generous chest, so I just went ahead and forgot it. I also added in a ribbed neckline, since I felt the v-neck was too wide as written. This was my first raglan sleeve experience, and I cannot wait to get back on the raglan shaping train! Raglan shirts are among the most flattering for my wide shoulders, so this is definitely my best option for sweaters in the future. Finally, I only did the twisted rib pattern on the sleeves. It was driving me nuts on row 2 of the hem, and I kept getting really, really confused. Also, I left out the button band, which is debateable as to if it will work out in the end. I may add in a zipper or something to keep it attached with for posterity. Yarn is Naturwolle Chunky, black-ish color. My row gauge is so off, that I have five extra skeins left over- enough for another one of these!

And, last but defintely not least... my FIRST SWEATER EVER!

Central Park Hoodie by the same Fall/Winter issue of Knitscene. There, it is green and made with a yarn I'll never find and is probably too expensive for me. Enter Cascade 220 and boom! Instant sweater! I really enjoyed kniting this the way that I made it. I didn't like the reverse stockinette around the cables (too much fiddling, high likelihood of mistakes carting it around on breaks at work), so I subbed in fisherman's rib (purl every side) instead. I think it looks just fine. The white things are snaps, which I managed to screw up putting them on. When hammering them together, I managed to flatten the posts and now only one of them snaps together. Luckily, its right above my chest, so it looks like I'm intentionally wearing that way.

I really fu-bared up the hood, however. I didn't do any of the decreasing as followed, and as a result it is quite different. To make up for it, I just seamed the ribbed parts together and called it good. This sweater also called into question my complete lack of seaming ability. Must work on that for next time! On the whole, I loved knitting this so much, it's propelled me into other garment patterns (see above) and hopes for the future.

Whew! Done, finally! That should hold me for a bit. Lesson one: blog frequently and the FO's won't take over the flickr update.

A fun quick meme

2007-06-28T19:12:00.000-07:00

I found this while reading Shut Up and Knit's blog. Simply hit up Wikipedia for your birthday, minus the year, and enter three events, two births and a holiday. Let's fire 'er up:

Events:

The Gregorian calendar is invented and this specific day no longer existed in 1542 in Italy, Poland, Portugal and Spain. Damn! Ironically, at the top of the page, there is a note that it is the 284th day in the Gregorian Calendar. Apparently, something changed?
In 1950, the FCC issued it's first color television license to CBS.
NASA launched the first successful Apollo 7 program in 1968. It would be the first successful manned Apollo program.

Births:

1884, Eleanor Roosevelt, former First Lady.
1989, Michelle Wie, golfing star.

Holiday:

No holidays listed! But National Coming Out Day (US) usually falls on my birthday, and occassionally Columbus Day (US) does as well.

Work is stagnant on the socks, in favor of nearly finishing a sweater instead. If I could just finish the black hole knititng on the collar, I'd be done, done, done! The socks are in time-out for pissing me off while starting the first blocks for the entrelac starter squares. I may forgo Eunny's instructions in the IK and use the instructions for the Lady Ene entrelac instead. We'll see. I also purchased lots of stash-enhancing STR at the Black Sheep this weekend, so I have a lot of pretties to choose from for my next sock project!

It's summer!

2007-06-21T07:39:00.000-07:00

...which means the impending arrival of Summer of Socks 2007! I've got some great ones lined up:

leftovers from my green dye-o-rama pair, my cabled Trek-along-with-me pair, my Austermann step pair, my red Megga Boots stretch leftovers (my 2nd pair!), my recent unblogged about Opal pair. Actually, come to think of it, I have a skein of Kroy left over from my very first pair of socks as well. I've already finished one make-up pair of socks (no photo, unfortunately) that makes me want to complete more, post-haste.
Regia self-striping in several shades of blue. It's so pretty!
New Colinette Jitterbug, in the brightest, best blue color. I want to make a 2-color sock with plain black, like the mosaic knitting socks in Socks, Socks, Socks!
Some Austermann Step in a self-striping (really wide bands!) red and pink colorway. Hello, Project Spectrum!
Blue Trekking natura. This is very thin yarn and will likely not make it during the Summer of Socks due to my hatred of Very Thin Yarn. Let's hope not.
A diminishing stash of Kroy, Knitpicks and "etc" sock yarn that has a lot of hope and potential. Also, a lot of fugly. KP "dancing" yarn, I'm looking squarely at you!
A skein of Socks that Rock that are definitely not rocking currently. The toes are in time-out for failing to capture my fancy whilst knitting the new lace sock pattern in the Summer IK. I know lace looks ugly until blocked, but this was hideous!
FINALLY, my WIP- what I hope will be the new Entrelac socks by Eunny Jang in the Spring IK mag. They are in stash Kroy, in the Project Spectrum appropriate red and black. And they are on my less-than-favorite size 1 Susan Bates circs. I do believe I'm purchasing some size 1 lace Addis for this project to continue and for the added benefit of all humanity...namely my own!

Of course, this stash has a lot to compete with- Black Sheep Fiber Fest is this weekend! Spinning goodness awaits. Luckily, I have no patience and will not be coming home with entire fleeces or anything requiring more than a quick pre-draft. But I'm looking for things mentioning the word "silk", "alpaca" and "merino", so it's not going to be cheap. Good thing I already have a wheel! And a paycheck tomorrow! Also competing for the knitting attention is my Sweater That Will Not Finish Already- a cardigan from the Fall 06 Knitscene. It's cute, it's going to fit well (hopefully the arms will work out), but the side pieces are knit with the back together, and the stockinette is killing me. Thank got it's on large needles.

No pictures today, but I've got a big weekend ahead, so there's lots to be done and prepared for. Hooray for a festival based on lovely sheepies, alpacies, goaties and bunnies!

Grey Days

2007-02-25T18:21:00.000-08:00

Well, it finally came. Wintertime in Oregon! As it happens, the rainy weather has brought on a spate of projects all perfectly themed with this month's project spectrum challenges!

Project Greydom, er Spectrum

Up there we've got two FOs, three WIPs, and a snapshot of my Sunday weather in town. The hat is the Fake Isle from Magknits, in a stash grey tweed yarn and Noro Big Kureyon, knit on US 8 needles. I liked the hat, once I figured out what all was going on. This was my first real charted project, so I had a lot of ripping to do when I made a mistake. I also switched the color scheme, so the color was in the fair isle stranding and not the main color of the hat. I'm not sure if I am okay or not with it. I think I am so far. Also, halfway through, I realized I was stranding too tightly, so I had to take out about a third of the second chart and re-knit it looser to fit my gigantor head. But, I like it, sorta. The decreasing looks like a nipple to me, rather than the nicely shaped skullcap that is pictured on the website. This is an increasing problem for me, as I have realized my sock skills don't translate to hat skills. This is more apparent when you see the little mini-hat at the bottom of the picture above. Yes, that is a hat- not a sock. Argh.

Speaking of socks, I just turned the heel on the Opal handpainted socks. I'm looking forward to knitting the legs and getting them off the needles and off my back. I'm not sure if I should keep them stockinette or jazz up some lace. I kind of want another try at Jaywalkers, but I am worried I'll make the same mistake again and make them too small. I didn't do anything for Laceuary this year, though I wanted to. Hmm.

The other FO in there is Calorimetry, from Knitty. It is in a stashed alpaca yarn on size seven needles. I am not sure how I feel about it, either. I think I like it though. It is soft and made my ears warm when I wore it under a hat last night (no button to sew on yet). Quite functional. And I really like the grey color. Since I have about two or three more balls of this stuff, I think I'm going to make a hat out of it for a friend. She'll love the softness. Since it would be a kitty hat, the shaded stripes would make it look very tabby. However, I think she might have wanted a pink one... maybe I'll make another hat for me instead!

The final WIP is the Central Park Hoodie from the Knitscene fall 06 issue. It is turning out pretty well so far, as it should, since it only took me THREE times to cast on the ribbed stitches at the bottom. First time I counted wrong. Second time, I used the wrong needles. Last time's a charm. 2x2 ribbing is my least favorite kind of ribbing, especially on straights instead of circs (small hands equal big problems with larger straights!). I'm almost done with the back of the piece, and finished my first skein of yarn. As it turns out, all the handling of the yarn has only made the yarn softer! It should be really comfy when I'm done with it. The cable pattern is really easy, and it looks great so far. I tried to get a good pic of the cables, but they all came out blurry.

I find it kind of odd all my FO's this month are grey, rather than blue. Blue is my favorite color, so I have a LOT of blue yarn to use up. Perhaps next month? Also, I'm proud that the majority of this month's projects are using stash yarn- the only new yarn was some of the Cascade 220 (purchased earlier this year on sale- so kind of a stash yarn) and the Noro! I am SO loving having two months to get projects done! I'm off to watch whatever is on tv and keep knitting. It's what rainy afternoons were made for, after all.

And the winner is...

2007-02-13T04:12:00.000-08:00

Hooray! A skein of KP worsted is enough for a pair of decent sized socks! And just in time.

Handpainted sock goodness is best!

I adore these socks. First, they took a week from cast-on to cast-off. Can't beat that. Second, the color just amuses me to no end. Look at the blue- it's like the sky in winter. Look at the pink- it's like the tulips bursting out of the ground. And they are both bright and lively together and alone. Squeee! Third, I love them because they are soft, squishy and are on my feet and not on my needles. Socks are best!

Now, I'm back in the doom and gloom Opal socks. Sigh. Back to teeny needles (okay, size 2's) and lots of stitches in stockinette. But I'm almost near enough (like an inch) from parting for the heels, so at least I can feel like the worst is over soon. Then it's the long, long process of the legs. Knitting the legs of a sock is akin to running on the treadmill- I know it's good for me, it's somewhat pleasurable doing it, but it feels so much better when it's done.

One Project Spectrum FO down. Anyone else have one yet?

Socks are a'comin!

2007-02-09T08:20:00.000-08:00

The socks as they stand at 8 am in the dark...

Here's the latest on the socks! So far, I'm really, really enjoying them. I love the bright happy colors. It's just what I needed in my knitting! I had a little mess up when I turned the heel, I didn't decrease down enough stitches in one sock, so I had to frog back and re-knit about two inches on my lunch break. But on size 5 needles, who cares? That's like fifteen minutes of work! Now the real challenge begins... how tall will the sock be? The yarn's running out quickly, the balls are less than half their original size, and the cuffs are 2x1 ribbing all the way up (so I don't have to worry about a top, I can just cast off!).... it should be an exciting finish!

2007-02-06T16:22:00.000-08:00

Well, well. It's been a while. What's new?

First, I'm working on my third cold in three weeks. That makes this officially two more colds than I had last year and the third week in which I am not happy with the result. The colds seem to be progressing in their nastiness, too, which is a disturbing trend. First cold, it was a blip on the radar-sneezing, that's about it. I thought I had newly developed some sort of allergy. Next up, was the typical sneezing followed by a runny nose and general tiredness. Also pretty typical, but I've had worse. Now, I'm in full blown nasal hell- all plugged up at night, runny all day (why in that order? Why? Is it that I'm upright?) sneezing, and of course, tiredness. I should not be sleeping 10 hours a day like it's a friggin nap, but there you go. Wintertime sucks.

I've got a lot of FO's to show. Okay, I've got one, but it is a triumphant one. It's my first stranded colorwork!! It's from my swap partner Lori, from the KMKS swap. The pattern is the Knit Mittens! Fleur de Lis, the yarn is Lamb's Pride on US 3's. You heard me right. I didn't think it was possible, either. Behold! Warm (stranded) Hands!

This completes not one, but two KALs!

My promises towards the Stranded and Warm Hands KAL's are complete! Hooray. And I couldn't love these mittens more. Actually, if I had placed the thumbs a little more on one side than the center seams, I could, but that's neither here nor there. I didn't follow the thumb directions on these because frankly, I didn't trust them. There was no way my little thumbie was going to get in the hole (or there was to be a hole) the way the pattern was written. No, I winged it myself by increasing for a few rows and then putting them on a holder while I finished up the mitten. Not pretty, but at least I can see where there's supposed to be a friggin hole. Also, the binding off bothers me. I don't think the sides were even to start with, so the decreases tend to show up more on one side of the hand than the other. Since the fabric goes from double-thick to regular-thick, it makes it more noticeable. Next time, I think I'd either keep the pattern going, or just strand along the back to keep the thickness of the fabric. But it's not like I'm going to go and reknit the damn things. They're bound off, they're done!

And look what else these mittens have started! I'm in trouble now:

I can't wait to color in the charts! FUN!

Next up, it's Project Spectrum! This month's selection are blue, grey and white. Such pretty colors, especially together! Blue is my absolute favorite color, so I'm excited to start off with it. However, the first project I picked out was actually grey:

Opal socks on US 2's, handpainted color unknown

I've had this yarn for approximately forever, but have wanted to knit it up for about just as long. Unfortunately, it was tied into a horracious knot due to it's languishing in the stash, further decreasing it's knitability. For an hour, I worked over the yarn and finally got it wound into two balls and it's been smooth sailing ever since. I've played with some stitch patterns, but the dark colors tend to eat up any patterning, so it will be just plain stockinette. But it looks like a winner so far.

However, the dark and gloomy sock above has been kind of a drag to knit. It's so dark and gloomy, it's a pretty stark contrast to my happy mittens. Also, the yarn is tiny and defeating when you're aiming for progress and FO's on the long winter nights. So, I dug in the stash again and finally put in motion another goal I've had- use up some of that hand dyed kool aid yarn. The blue and pink one was my second favorite (first one went to the dye-swap), but I couldn't decide what to do with it. So, socks it is. I love this colorway! It reminds me of the slurpees at the 7-11, how there's always a red flavor and a blue flavor, wherever you go. Yummy!

Stitches close up. Love that color!

Socks in progress. Color a bit oversaturated in pic.

As you can see, things are going well here. Last picture is the sky before I started posting today. The temperatures have been warmer, so the skies have cleared a bit, allowing for some fresh air to hit the valley. I love clear, dry, warm winter days- they're so invigorating! Yesterday's spurned me to clean my house, and today's is wishing I'd spin a bit and knit a bit before work. That and buy some day-quil.

Christmas, Christmas!

2007-01-02T00:42:00.000-08:00

A few hightlights of an otherwise great night:

"Briscoe County Jr" is playing on the TV

A few changes this year, but overall, it was great. Instead of roast turkey, we had ribs. (Fresh, non-frozen turkeys are not available after the holiday, apparently, even on the 1st of January). The ribs were really good, but they weren't as plentiful as turkey is; next time we'll make a Costco run for the big ones you can buy there. The green beans were good (can't really hurt them when they're from a can!) and there was yummy bread. It felt like there was something missing; maybe salad? Dustin brought yummy mashed potatoes as well. I'm still kinda full from the cheesecake Casey picked out.

Onto the knitting! I've been working diligently on a pair of socks since the Christmas holiday a week ago, hoping to finish them out in time for the New Year. Looks like I'll have a new FO for January instead. And the colorway couldn't be more perfect, either:

This is the same skein of yarn! Weird!

The real reason I want to finish up these socks? I'm planning a million projects, and I want to use some of that new Collinette yarn I just purchased! I want a pair of Valentine's Day socks to wear at work. We'll see about that. I'm also working on finding a good sweater pattern, a flower fair-isle wrap project (possibly for wedding), making another hat for Casey and finding some good lacework patterns to use up some of the stash laceweight I've got sitting around. Among the options I'd love to use: Knitpicks merino lace, alpaca lace and Shimmer; Blue Moon Fiber Arts silk and that dark green Skacel ball that's still sitting nicely coiled after over a year. Current KALs I could use to my advantage in these projects: Stranded, Lace-uary, Warm Hands and the Twisted Sisters KALs.

Oh, also I'm spinning up the current fiber stash at a very pleasing rate. The wheel is squeaky, though, I think it needs some grease (or WD-40!) I really enjoy sitting at it. I'm getting better at drafting as I go and I'm breaking the fiber less when I do. However, I'm still figuring out how the tensioning needs to be changed as the bobbin gets fuller. The wheel seems to work harder the more I go, which is normal, I guess. Only one way to find out how it all works- keep doing it!

Finally, there's the New Year Resolutions. Let's see what I can irrationally promise myself at 1 AM, shall we?

Knitting Resolutions

Continue shopping the stash for project yarn. Start consulting the lace/alpaca bin at some point.
Make projects that enhance or broaden my skills this year- colorwork, garments, lace. And knit even more socks! (that one is easy!)
Try to combine yarns in new patterns and new ways. Use stitchionaries as appropriate. Maybe design something from them? Doesn't have to be big.

General Resolutions

Start running again in feeble attemt at losing weight, but heroic attempt at becoming fit. Also try to tone arms before wedding if the flat-stomach thing doesn't work out.
Eat less crap, eat more veggies when possible. Obtain one new vegetable to eat semi-regularly for the year. Green Beans? Cauliflower? Broccoli? Kale?
Pay bills before they are due, not two days after.
Save more, spend less. More money= better furniture!
Try to keep the apartment cleaner on a regular basis. Also, clean out leftover moving clutter.
Include self in photos when I'm taking them. May involve actually asking others to use camera to do this, but reward is actually having photos of me doing things with others!

Gasp

2006-12-28T14:01:00.000-08:00

Has it really been so long since I posted? Egads. Well, settle in, since this will be a loooong update, then.

First things first. I purchased myself an early Christmas present- an Ashford wheel! Thanks to Craigslist I got a fantastic deal on it. It also came with two extra bobbins and a bobbin holder. Woo hoo! Once I finally got everything re-attached and in working order, I was able to sit down and try my hand at it:

Hey spinning swap pal, does this look familiar?

Next, I decided to round up all the socks I've knitted in 2006 as a fun way to show how far my knitting has come. I've knit some hats and scarves as well this year, not just socks! I was astounded to find that once I added in the socks I've gift knit as well, I've knitted a pair a month for a year! Wow! For some reason, I feel like that isn't a complete listing, like I've left a pair out or something. Oh well:

More socks than you can shake a stick at!

Clearly, I've been busy this year. Also, I need new sock yarn like a hole in the head. But once I felt these two at the LYS, I just had to have them. I've beeen dreaming of the Collinette Jitterbug since I was introduced earlier this month. I think they're going to make some fantastic Valentine's Day socks. They are 100% Merino Superwash (mm, superwash). The Trekking is a Superwash/ Bamboo mix. It's almost as soft as the Austermann I bought earlier this month. (Those socks are still on the needles- have turned the heel, now just need the calf and ribbing).

The pink one smells vinegar-ey. Mmmm.

I got a wonderful gift from my finace this year- knitting books! I got three that I really, really wanted- Louisa Harding's new pattern book, the Vogue Stitchionary Volume 2 and Nicky Epstein's Knitting Beyond the Edge. I could look at some of those patterns for hours- and have been! I'm doing a little mental pre-planning for next year. I'm not sure if I what I want to use the patterns in the books for- there's quite a few, and only so many hours in a day- but I know for sure I can think of some ideas!

Finally, I was able to pull off all of my Christmas Crafting this year in the nick of time. Everyone loved their gifts, even my little cousin, whose jewelry box I was unsure about. (I'm guessing filling it with pink barettes and Hello Kitty hairbands sealed the deal). All in all, the time spent was worth it. Less people to shop for, and I got to indulge my crafty side in a new persuit.

KMKS Questionnaire

2006-11-07T22:57:00.000-08:00

Hey swap pal! Here's my questionnaire....I haven't heard from you yet by email. If you have already emailed me, try it again! I'll check my spam filter in the meantime.

Are you allergic to any fibers?
Nope! I am fiber-friendly on all animals.

What are your favorite colors?
Anything from the "cool" spectrum- blue being first. Then greens, purples, greys, etc. I also like pink and maroon reds. Green and Yellow are my favorite college team colors (Go Ducks!) I abhor halloween orange.

Are you a new mitt knitter?
I've been knitting for about a year or so now. I'm about an advanced beginner. I can do a lot of more advanced things, I'm sure. But I haven't tried yet.

How long have you been knitting mittens?
Pretty much never! Socks, hats, sweaters, yes. But no mittens! Which is in direct violation of my Warm Hands knitalong pledge!

Do you prefer solid or multicolored yarn?
Actually, either. I just love pretty yarn, period.

What fibers do you prefer in mitten yarn?
I love soft, sturdy yarns. Some of my favorite mittens are the big, oversized, bulky ones that you get at street fairs here. I think they are maybe Nepalese, or something like that. Also, I really prefer something close to superwash fiber- nothing upsets me more than wet hands!

Where do you usually knit mittens?
I envision knitting where I knit my socks- either on the couch in the breakroom at work, or my couch at home.

How do you usually carry/store small projects?
I shove it into the messenger bag I carry at work, then put it in my mailbox when I get there. I had a lovely bag made for me by another swapper, but I've literally overused it. It's a fiber bag now.

What are your favorite mitten patterns?
Fair isle or intarsia! I love happy, colorful patterns on winter knits.

What are your favorite mitten knitting techniques?
I use 2 circs for knitting socks, so I think I'll just keep on with that. No DPNs, please!

What new techniques would you like to try?
Fair isle or intarsia. I actually purchased a mitten pattern recently, but they were too big! I have tiny, child sized hands.

What are your favorite needles for knitting mittens?
I love bamboo needles. But I'm not opposed to Addis. I've been dying to try out the new Knitpicks needles.

What are some of your favorite yarns?
Too many to list! Blue Moon Socks that Rock, Louisa Harding yarns, Fleece Artist merino, Cascade 220, Patons Kroy, Debbie Bliss, anything with alpaca.... if it's soft, pretty and reasonably priced, it's in my yarn stash. However, I'm no yarn snob- there's a fair amount of Knitpicks in my stash, and a lot of the good stuff was purchased on sale. I even have used and liked acrylics *gasp*

What yarn do you totally covet?
I have never felt the Lorna's Laces. My LYS doesn't carry it, unfortunately. Why?! Also, the Debbie Bliss silk yarn, for the same reason as above. It looks gorgeous. Oh, and any of Scout or Sundara's yarns. I'm not quick enough to get the good ones when they come out.

Any pattern you would love to make if money and time were no object?
Hmm. A sweater made of some rediculously expensive yarn. Any pattern, just some yarn I'd never buy on my own.

Favorite kind of needles (brand, materials, straights or circs, etc)?
Circular needles! Bamboo or addi-type metals. Aluminum ones are too harsh.

If you were a specific kind of yarn, which brand and kind of yarn would you be?
A variegated worsted-weight, with a bit of tencel thrown in, for shine. Something to make your standard cable scarf pattern shine.

Do you have a favorite candy or mail-able snack?What’s your favorite animal?
Haribo gummy bears! They're from Europe. And before you get really anxious, they sell them at my local Wal-Mart, Michaels, and Cost Plus World Market. My favorite animal is a dog, hands down. Preferably a hound- I love those ears!

Would you prefer super warm mittens or something more like fingerless mitts?
Mittens! Fingerless mitts are all over the internet, but a great mitten pattern is totally worth it.

If you were a color what color would you be?
Cerulean Blue, from the crayola crayon box. The perfect blend of cyan, royal and navy blues.

What is your most inspiring image, flower, or object in nature?
That's a hard one. I'm a Libra, so everything is considered inspiring to me at some point. I've been especially inspired by Martha Stewart's Holiday magazine lately. I've never wanted to make soap, candles or bath fizzies in my life before this week! I'm in a way crafty period this fall. Also, I love the pictures on January One's blog. Every time you refresh it, the pictures change. Finally, I'm a sucker for Van Gogh paintings. Starry Night is my favorite.

Do you have a wishlist?
Nope! Just a "someday" list in my head.

Anything else you’d like to share with the group today?
That's about it. I can't wait secret pal!

KMKS pal...

2006-11-06T17:59:00.000-08:00

Quick post...

Hey Mitten Swap Pal! I haven't posted my questionnaire yet, I'm sorry (Bad Blogger!). But I'll get on it soon, I promise. I have posted a spinning questionnaire here, and my funky scarf swap info here. Hope that tides you over for a bit!

O is for Oh, It's been a while

2006-10-20T19:15:00.000-07:00

Hello again!

Back at the craftiness. The camera battery is pretty low, seeing as all the photos it's been taking lately! I'm in a real crafty zone this month, I'm not sure if some planet is in retrograde or has entered the house of whatever, but DAMN, I've been spending as much time at Michaels as I have at the LYS!

Of course, first up is the knitting. Socktoberfest continues! We've got another pair fresh off the needles. I love these socks! They look huge (and kind of are), but I wanted a big, sorta slouchy, plain ol' striped sock. Ask and ye shall recieve.

Yarn: Patons self-striping (ha!) sock yarn
Pattern: my own, toe-up on 2 circs, stockinette with a 2x2 rib at the top
Needle: US 3 Clover bamboos

I love big sock needles. And US 3's are HUGE. Bamboos are among my most favorite to use- they are warm, durable, grippy but won't slice up your yarn. These socks flew by, I was able to churn out the pair in a week! Score!

Next up, there is an FO of a different kind. My Funky Scarf Swap Pal has come through! I got a great scarf- blue and white with little brown bows. It's long enough to wrap around my neck, but thin enough it won't strangle me or overwhelm me. I love it! As a bonus, my pal sent along what looks to be a handmade beaded necklace. I have already worn the necklace out, and it is just fantastic. Here, take a look:

I just love these two FO's. They are just my style. (I signed up for a Funky Swap, but I'm a Preppy gal!). Thank you swap pal!

Finally, onto more hard-core craftiness. The wood shape painting continues, with some new additions. I purchased two beading kits at the Ben Franklin on Tuesday. One kit had a charm bracelet, the other had two pairs of earrings. Look how cute they turned out! Each piece has a space for little stickers, then a piece of plastic sticks on top of it, making the picture pattern "pop" up. There's lots of stickers and patterns to choose from in the kit, making it truly a unique bracelet. There's also eyepins and matching beads included as well. The red beads on the red earrings are mine, everything else is stock. These are for my sister for christmas. I think she'll love them.

The wood shapes are "before and after" shots. I wasn't digging the christmas tree colors I had chosen. I have used the paints in other stuff, but the trees weren't working. So, I painted over the colored stars with a metallic gold color. SO much better! I love it!

Last, there's a new additon. I found the perfect sized unfinished wooden jewelry box for my cousin. (She's 5, keep that in mind). I envisioned a pretty princess box, pink with jewels and girly phrases and words. She's really into the Disney Princesses now. So I paint it up, and I take a good look at it- one coat of peptol-bismol pink, combined with the plastic sequin charms, it was hideous. Even with the silver words. (Trust me, it was much worse in person). Casey couldn't even comment on it when I asked him about it (it was that bad, I couldn't even get a snarky comment!). So, back to Michaels and out with a "champagne gold" paint. The box is now much more like I wanted it to be- a treasure chest waiting to store goodies, baubles and anything else. The holes on the front are actually picture frames, for pics of friends and family- the plastic holder comes out, so you can paint it. I think this will be a hit. I'll touch it up and then give it a good coat of clearcoat spray before gluing on the baubles. I think I'll leave the inside clearcoat only, since the outside is gilded enough.

Sigh. I think that's it, for today, at least. Whew! Now back to sock knitting (I've got two more pairs on the needles to finish before the end of Socktoberfest!)

N is for numerous photos!

2006-10-11T15:45:00.000-07:00

So much stuff to write about! Things are crazy around here. I should be blogging as I go, because otherwise it is just one huge posting!

First up, it's my birthday today! Hooray! Happy birthday to me! I have got some wonderful gifts so far: roses and diamond earrings from my fiance! The earrings are very pretty. I'd post a picture, but they're in my ears, and well, it's hard to photograph your ear. Dinner tonight at a new restaurant, which I hear is tasty. The house is all spic and span in case the relatives want to see it. (Plus, how good is it to have a super clean house for your birthday! I almost don't want to mess it up...almost)

Next up, it's spinning! I ordered some handdyed roving from the Handpainted yarn folks a while back. This is a blue and white colorway, which is exactly what the sky is outside today. There's some soft blues, bright blues and bright whites in it. This roving is a bit more rough than the plain roving I get from my LYS. It feels soft when you hold it, but almost rough when you actually get inside it and start breaking it down. I'm guessing it's more of a straight-out wool, rather than the softer blend I'm getting at the LYS. But, it sure does make pretty singles! I can't wait to ply it up. It think I want to make something small but useful out of it, like mittens. The yarn isn't nearly tough enough to stand up for something like socks, since there's no superwash in it.

Blue is my favorite color. Can you tell?

Look at all those pretty colors!

I've got more FO's and WIPs to show! I finished the scarf for my Funky Scarf Swap secret pal. It's in some leftover Louisa Harding Impression. I cannot say enough about this yarn. It looks good in everything I can imagine it in. I still have two balls left! Louisa just put out a new book that shows this yarn in all sorts of sweaters and cardigans. OMG. Just looking at the pictures gives you all sorts of ideas, plans and wishes. I equated the book to the "gateway drug" of knitting at the LYS, which earned me a laugh.

Drop stitch scarf shining in the sunlight

I've finished a pair of socks, just in time for Socktoberfest and my special day! This is another sock yarn I can't say enough good things about. It's soft but very tough. I was worried about how strong the strands seemed to be when I first started using it, but it softens up in no time. It seems there's another blogger out there who beat me to the socks and pattern- take a look! How funny, there's two of us in the same month with the same colorway and general pattern idea! (Hers are hand dyed, apparently. Amazing!) Sock knitters unite!

Happy birthday to me socks!

I've also started another pair of socks (good idea, huh!). This yarn is Paton's Kroy, in what is advertised as a self-striping. Yeah, not so sure about the self striping, but it sure makes a pretty colorway to knit up. These are on US 3's, which are making the socks super speedy. This is all the knitting from just last night! By the time I'm done today, I may have another pair off the needles! So far, I can't complain about the yarn other than the striping. It knits up softer than it feels on the skein. The yardage is good (192/ball) and they will be washer-friendly (75% superwash, 25% nylon). All that and a US 3 makes me a happy kniter.

Self striping is a misnomer, I think

Knitting isn't the only craft I've been working on lately! I've made a lot of wood-painting progress too. The birdhouse barn is nearly complete:

Birdy birdhouse!

I also added a new piece of woodwork to the Christmas stash. can you tell what it is?

Pegs + shapes = fun!

I'm making her a little peg set that has her name on it, in different "princessey" metallic colors. The shapes are easy to paint, but needed a little TLC beforehand. I thought at first I'd just use some paint markers, since they were on sale cheap and the letters were so small. Not a good idea. The letters weren't sanded down nearly as much as the other wood shapes, so after a couple coats from paint pens, I realized that they were in desperate need of a sandpapering and acrylic paint after all. So, another trip to Michaels, and I'm very happy with the result. They'll get a nice shiny shellac of clear coat spray when they are all done. I've still got the sticks and base to paint, (as well as finishing up the other shapes) but I've got two more months, so I should be A-OK.

The only bad part of today was finding out that my schedule is radically changing! Apparently, the schedule is way, way unbalanced, so I'm going to have to go to Graveyard shift next week until the rest of the year is up. Suck! But that may mean more 3AM blogging (with poor inside photos), so we'll see how that goes. Netflix is your friend on graveyard, that's for sure! I watched more TV on DVD this spring when I worked nights than I think one person probably should. Oh well.

I think that's it, for now. I'm going to get to work on those socks, and see if I can turn the heels before we leave for dinner. Wish me luck!

Crafty Day!

2006-09-27T20:36:00.000-07:00

Boy, what a crafty, crafty day I have had! Lots of new things to show, which I am just so excited to present. Beware, it's about 8:45 pm here, so the lighting is awful, even with every light on in the house. You've been warned.

First up, it's the knitting. The Fiery Bolero has been frogged and re-knit. I'm not as far along as before, but I am getting there. And it was totally worth it. The hems are just gorgeous! The cable cast-on is my new favorite cast on! Just look at the seemingly seamless seam! (Say that five times fast!)

Look at those stitches! So perfect.

Current size and state of the bolero.

Next, it's handspun! I'm practicing for the Twisted Sisters Knit and Dye Along. My yarn is getting so much better! Believe it or not, it is thinner. Sort of. I haven't got the whole idea down yet. How do people spin laceweight? There has to be like five fibers on the draft, total, I swear. I forgot to measure how much this is, but it isn't a lot. Probably less than 50 yards. It's bulky, the most I can compare it to is Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk. Only like above that. I took it and dunked it in a pot full of koolaid. Red is a bitch to photograph, so beware the super-bright skein! In real life, it's about the color of a strawberry jolly rancher:

Oh handspun, how I love you!

Finally, there's a new type of FO. I purchased these plain wood forms at Michael's for $2 a piece. Then I painted them up like the models in the store (yeah, okay, so not that creative- just crafty!). They aren't done yet (there's glitter involved on the santas, and there's no paint on the tree ornaments or stars). But look how cute they are turning out!

It's that time of year again! Ho Ho Ho!

There was a Snowman model, but they didn't have any in stock. I guess there's a lot of crafters out there who like this type of thing, too! In addition to the trees and men, I also bought a little birdhouse to paint. I've never painted one before, but always kinda wanted to when I saw them in the store. I think I had better be careful, this wood painting can get addictive! Here's the current state of the birdhouse:

Ignore the poorly painted fence, it will be fixed.

And this is what the birdhouse is destined to be when it's all cleaned up and done:

Everyone knows birds prefer barns for birdhouses.

The wood figures are already painted, so don't think I'm that good with acrylic. After it's all done, I'll shoot it with a clear coat of weatherproofing spray to make it Oregon rainproof. All the wood figures are destined to become Christmas presents, including the birdhouse. I can't wait to gift them, but December is so far away. Maybe I'll paint some of the Halloween ones to tide me over in the meantime...

M is for Missing

2006-09-26T12:29:00.000-07:00

It's been a while posting here! Not to worry, I've been busy, busy, busy these last couple of weeks. Fall is here in town which means the nights are getting colder and it's almost pleasant to knit with wool again. Hooray!

First up, it's an FO! The Trekking socks have made their debut:

I really love looking at this toe!

Look how cozy these look! So ready for fall.

Pattern: Rib and Cable socks from Interweave
Yarn: Trekking XXL, 1 skein (lots left over)
Needle: Size 1 Susan Bates, toe-up on 2 circs
Special skills/mods: short-row heel, cables without cable needle

There's a lot I could say about these socks. I love this pattern....but I am not knitting it on such tiny needles EVER again. These socks took forever to knit. And all the tiny cables every four or five rows put me over the edge. After a while, I was looking for reasons not to have to cable any longer. I had to bribe myself to keep cabling. It worked...sort of. As a result, I started knitting all sorts of other projects to instead of finishing this one. So, the moral of the story is, be careful what you wish for. I wanted these socks since I saw them, but to get a happy result meant a lot of unhappy hours in the making.

Next up, it's a WIP! Here's the current state of the drop-stitch scarf for my Funky Scarf pal:

Lovin' that purple color! So shiny!

And there's a bonus WIP! A clothing WIP! This is my first ever attempt at a knitted clothing item. Up until now, it's been all socks, scarves hats and the like. This is my attempt at the Debbie Bliss Fiery Bolero:

Love that minty, forest green color!

I've already discovered one mistake, but it was a newbie one. I had to learn the cable cast-on increase for this piece. Instead of using a M1 or bar raise, you do cable increases at the beginning of the row. Well, I did, but over the space of 8 or 10 stitches, instead of one stitch. Oops. So there's all these holes in the piece where it should be just plain stockinette. I think I'm going to rip it, since there's no use in having a bolero I'm going to hate, and I hate looking at the holes. Oh well. I really like the yarn- Sirdar Snuggly DK weight. It's an acrylic, but feels like an alpaca/wool blend. And it doesn't rip up my fingers like some acrylics do.

Following the bolero disaster, there's some spinning on the horizon. Look what I found at the LYS the other day:

My little black rain cloud

It's Alpaca With A Twist! And this stuff is sooooooft. I believe it's made of what a cloud is. Yep, this is my little black rain cloud of fiber. I wish I could roll around in piles of it, and sleep on it at night, I love it so. However, this stuff has two very big caveats: it is very short, which leads to lots of breaks in the drafting, and it sheds everywhere. Thus, to spin with this means I'm covered from head to toe in short, black fibers that won't go away. But I don't care. I love it with all my heart.

Finally, there's a bevy of KALs out there for the joining. A few I've added (or may be adding) to the side bar as of late:

Pirate socks!

Dye and Spin along

Knit Socks!

Cables and more cables

Hooray mittens!

FO!

2006-09-12T19:40:00.000-07:00

Do you see what I see? They are searingly bright, I hope you do! That's right, it's an FO! Take a closer look:

Nice socks!

Yeah, my feet rock!

Pattern: Jaywalker by Grumperina
Yarn: Blue Moon Socks that Rock "Fire on the Mountain"
Changes: Knit toe-up on 2 circs, first of all. Pattern linked above will guide you to a bevy of options for knitting this sock. Knit with Addi US 2's instead of recommended US 1's. This made only four total chevrons around the leg, with quite a few less stitches. That's okay, I wanted a larger stitch to show off the fancy, fancy colors. Also, I knit the top ribbing around the leg until I felt it was sufficient, so it's longer than the pattern states. But I don't care. I finally finished a Jaywalker!

Finally, pretty evening sky:

Progress on several fronts

2006-09-05T21:50:00.000-07:00

It seems progress is being made all over! Labor Day weekend, indeed!

First up, we've got some socks that indeed are rocking. I'm officially part of the I Heart Jaywalker fan club and the I Heart STR fan club as well. Never was there a more perfect pair than this yarn and this pattern. Just look!

Socks that Rock in "Fire on the Mountain"

But seeing the sock colorway seems awfully familiar... maybe a little enchanted?

Psychedelic grotto at the Enchanted Forest

Hmm. Maybe the fire is in the mind of the artist? It's pretty darn colorful. I think they should re-name it "Eugene" because of the tye-dye colorways. Eh, oh well. These socks aren't without problems, however. My short-row heel was a little holey, so I gussied it up with a few quick chain-stitches to close it up. Then I continued on with the same number of stitches as the foot instep had. Bad choice. While my feet and ankles are narrow, the area around them- the whole circumfrence of my ankle/instep/heel portion of my foot is not. What does that mean? Jaywalkers that don't go on quite well. Okay, it's a two-handed struggle. Now that I'm farther in, it's increasingly apparent that I may have to frog all the way back and add in stitches. I am reticent to do this for two reasons. One, the socks fit great once they are on. Two, who wants to frog back when they are so close to being done? Ugh. Choices.

Spinning Roving Swap FAQ

1)How long have you been spinning?
I've been spinning since only this summer. I don't do it as often as I'd like to- knitting tends to take up most of my crafting time.

2) Are you a beginner, novice or experienced spinner?
I am a beginner spinner! My handspun is slow-going, uneven and never perfectly spun. But practice makes perfect, or so I'm told. We'll see.

3) Do you spin on a drop spindle or wheel, or both?
I currently covet a wheel, but my finances have left me with an Ashford top-whorl. However, it's quite nice and I'm happy with it, for the time being.

4) What types and weights of drop spindles (or what type of spinning wheel(s) ) do you currently own?
Again, Ashford top-whorl spindle. It's pretty substantial, so I'm guessing it's a heavier weight.

5) What type of fibers have you spun with before?
Hee. Here's the thing. It's the $12/ball stuff from the LYS. There isn't really a well-posted sign for what it is. I think it's a merino blend. It's really soft. I love, love, love it. I'm still working on the ball I bought, so it's the only thing I've ever used. And it's still undyed! I may buy another ball this week and dye it just so there's something else to see when I spin.

6) What fibers do you prefer to spin with?
Wool, I guess. I've never used anything else. But I hear silk is alternately "hard" or "easy" depending on the spinner. It sounds really neat to try. I'd love to try different breeds of sheep, especially the Blue Faced Leceister (sp?) that everyone goes on and on about.

7) What fibers do you dislike?
I don't really dislike any fibers so far. Anything scratchy, I guess. Or unprocessed- I don't have any way of cleaning unprocessed wool.

8) Do you prefer natural colored fibers, or handpainted/dyed fiber?
I love handpainted or handdyed fiber! It's so pretty and unique. I love color!

9) Would you prefer all one type of roving or smaller amounts of different types to sample?
I think I'd prefer all one type. That way I can make a project out of it. A bunch of little things might get lost or frustrate me- just when I figured it out, it's all gone!

10) What are you favorite colors?
Blue first! Anything blue. Then the "cool color" spectrum- greens, purples, etc. Red, pink and white from the warm color spectrum.

11) What colors do you dislike?
Neon, halloween orange. Especially when placed next to that one neon yellow-green color. The season is coming up, and it's killing me seeing all that orange and green.

12) What would you like to do with your handspun yarn, or what do you plan to do with it?

I'd love to be able to spin for some type of accessory- socks, mittens, scarves. Maybe something I could wear for the graveyard shifts coming up this year at work? To remind me at four AM that I can spin something really, really cool and really, really warm just when I need it. And then brag about it to anyone nearby.

13) What spinning projects are you currently working on?
Again, just learning the ropes here. I'm attempting to see how thin and how even I can make a yarn. Maybe somewhere around a fingering weight. I'd love to be able to spin laceweight.

14) Do you have a wishlist?
I'm sure it's too long for this blog! I'd love a spindle that offers a different capability than my current one- a lighter one, a different hook, etc. And more fiber!

15) What are your other favorite hobbies?
Just spinning and knitting. The two cost enough already. I tried beading, but it didn't work out. Do you need some beads? I don't, and they are just sitting there.

16) Do you have any allergies (pet, smoke, food, fiber,etc...)?
I detest cigarette smoke, but it's not an allergy thing. No specific (or known!) allergies here. Hooray for easy shopping!

17) What is your preferred shipping method (USPS, UPS, FedEx)?
Any way it gets to me is fine. My mailbox is big enough for a parcel box, and the UPS man and FedEx man have found their way to my house just fine.

A better day

2006-08-30T15:53:00.000-07:00

Well, after yesterdays rant, the skies have decided today shall be a better day:

Let the sun shine down on me!

I indulged my senses and went wedding invitation shopping. Yes, I know those two phrases in one sentence are enough to make most people fall down. The world of wedding invites can be summed up in two words: vast and expensive. Anything in the wedding world can be described with these two words, actually. You've always got a choice, and that choice comes with a price and a descriptor of quality. Of nothing else have I found that for so little or so much you pay, the quality is so deeply divided. And the choices are endless. You can pay $25 for the print-your-own invitations at the Michaels, pick one of three designs (that at least one person you know has already used), buys some stickers to class it up and hope they work out in the printer ok. Or, you can pay enough for your wedding dress on the most gorgeous wedding invitations the world has ever seen. Paper that's as good to touch as it is to see. Fancy engraving (or topography- raised letters), colored inks, graphic designs that would make Andy Warhol take note. The stuff Princess Diana, if she were alive today, would probably have her own line of. You probably can guess what my first pick would be.

I'm a libra, through and through. I love beautiful things. So it follows that I want the best of what I can afford in every category. I want that wedding in the wedding design books, with all the little details on the tables. Place cards, candles, flowers, precious little gift keepsakes, flowing ribbon and large balloons. Showy, colorful invitations that make the invitee wonder what else is to come. A flowing ballgown and the best shoes. A gorgeous location and great pictures. The best party.

Now, what all of the above doesn't come with is a price I can afford. The pretty invitations I saw today? $500. (Okay, they were Kate Spade- I was aiming high). The locale I like? $2000 to book the day, then adding food. A flowing ballgown? $1000 or more. Place cards, candles, precious little keepsakes? What's left on the credit card? Clearly the DIY wedding is going to take precedent over the fairytale designer book wedding. Unless I win the powerball lottery. Got any good numbers?

So, I will keep dreaming, keep planning and keep working overtime. I'll make the little sacrifices (candles and flowing ribbons) to keep the important ones (location, dress and food). I'll buy every Martha Stewart Weddings and every Elegant Bride in hopes the two will meet in the middle. And, if I must, I'll print my own invitations. But I'm printing it on the cheapest blank cardstock Kate Spade makes.

Upping the Ante

2006-08-29T15:35:00.000-07:00

Well, it seems that the universe has somehow aligned itself today to cause me problems. Or, in its infinite wisdom, it wanted to see how much it could do in one day to force me to put it On Notice.

The day started out well. I slept in, read the paper, got up and around to run some errands. I went to the mall, and actually found more jeans that fit (shocking!), plus a few other items deemed necessary. It put a hit on my bank account, but hey, good clothes are worth it- plus they were on sale, so it wasn't the full price anyway.

Pants drying and ready to be hemmed

Then I head on over to the GI Joes in town (it's a sporting good store- kind of like a regional Copeland sports, only more outdoors-ey). More clothes! Actually, a nice UO fleece and a few shirts to match (again, on sale!), a cover for our beloved weber-q bbq and more of the special can't-find-it-anywhere-else propane canisters it uses. Score! So far, the day is excellent.

I head on over to the Target to pick up my medications. HOLY MOTHER OF GOD. Now, I have one perscription that costs an insane amount of money each month. I have budgeted towards that. It's a needed pill, and there isn't a generic for it yet. You do what you have to. But I get another perscription from my last check-up. It's a cream, it's not a life-or-death thing, but I think it can really help. You know how it is- why live with something if you don't have to, right? So the pharmacist rings it up and I nearly lose it. This special cream, which is just a glorified over-the-counter drug, costs ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY DOLLARS! For a stupid cream. At this point, I'd rather buy a bottle of Jergens and ask if he could just squirt whatever special drug is in the cream into the Jergens instead. Good God. And I've already spent some good money on clothes, which are also needed (seriously- I'm down to one pair of pants- all the others have holes in places you can't hide). The pharmacist, being a good customer service rep, helpfully points out my insurace is covering $20. For the entire cost of this drug, up-front, I could just buy the entire line of over the counter product instead. As it turns out, my insurance company likes to be part of a "network" of other pharmacies, in places I don't want to visit. This wasn't explained in the whole insurance sign-up process. My insurance wants me to buy pills in places that don't carry what I need up front. (I've checked before). The Target pharmacist has gone out of her way to make sure and always carry what I buy, so I can keep going there. Why the Target wouldn't be part of this nice, select directory of pharmacists is beyond me. They are a part of everything else. Now I have to use the crappy, icky pharmacies next time to see if the prices are better. And probably never use my beloved Target again. My doctor warned me about the first perscription being expensive, but now I'm feeling a little put out on how much I'm spending if it turns out I may have not needed to. And if it turns out that it's my crappy perscription coverage that ups the cost instead, my union reps are going to hear it.

It seems the sky has picked up on my foul mood. Taken moments ago from my balcony:

Ominous, indeed

Sigh. So, let's update the big board for who's On Notice:
1. My insurance company
2. Stupid non-generic prescription pill pricing
3. Mall parking lots (every single time I pull out!)
4. Mall Walkers (school starting seems to be making progress on this front)
5. My Knitting (dropping down due to progress made)

Wait, I didn't tell you about the knitting, did I? Well, I finally broke into the STR. And let me tell you, it was well worth the wait. And the large knots I picked out due to my hand-winding the skein. Note to self: save for a ballwinder and skein holder.

"Fire on the Mountain" on US 2's

I love this sock! It's so Eugene with all the colors. I wish I had a tye-dye shirt to wear with it. I may pick one up at the Saturday Market so I can. I'm doing it on US 2's, which is above the suggested US 1's. It's a larger gauge, substantially, on the sock. But I love, love, love it and I don't care if it's more open or hole-y than usual.

I've also started my Funky Scarf for my Funky Scarf Swap partner. Look who broke out the Louisa Harding! And the Louisa is behaving wonderfully. It's a standard drop-stitch scarf, pattern from the Knit Scarves! series. (You know, the ones shaped like the objects they have patterns for). I have three balls of Louisa left, so I may make a scarf or two extra for me and a friend. The yardage on it is amazing (154 yards/ball). And the mohair and nylon make it against-the-skin soft.

Louisa wants to be your friend

Crazy swapping fool

2006-08-25T21:25:00.000-07:00

Yeah, that's me, all right. I've gotten myself into two more swaps! I can't help it, I'm addicted to the goods that mysteriously pop up in the mail! Plus, I've had two stellar swap pals, so I'm sure there's more to be had. You should go sign up! You've got until the 31st, and they are in desperate need of newbie spinners. Can you believe it? Seriously! With all these awesome new spinners coming out and blogging these kick-ass yarns every day, they are still short of newbie spinners! As required by all swaps, here be the button:

I'm not sure how well it will post. I had to resize it quite a bit. There's a contest for new ones, so maybe I'll post one of those on the sidebar. (Note to any button makers reading this: I like the button plenty, but I don't know how to resize it in html).

Hmm, what else. I started new socks! I finally started digging into the Socks that Rock. I'm starting a Jaywalker with the most colorful one first. I'm hoping it will be done by the time the Yarn Harlot comes to town. I almost wish I had a tye-dye shirt to go with it. Almost.

I never ripped Cozy, but I haven't knitted on it either. I guess I'm hoping another pattern will pop out at me. That, or it will knit itself. Neither one seems to have the upper hand, so far!

My plan is still forming for my Funky Scarf partner (see sidebar for button). She likes lots of the same colors I do, but is a good deal funkier than myself. The whole "funky pattern" is throwing me- where are funky scarf patterns? What is funky? I don't think I'm funky, so it makes it somewhat harder. I'm sure she'll love what I send, but I want to send something awesome, you know? Link me something good!

That's about it, I think. Apparently, putting clothing manufacturers on notice worked! I scored a pair of jeans last weekend that didn't suck. All hail DKNY Soho jeans! And all hail sales ladies that are 5'1!

On Notice!

2006-08-16T16:13:00.000-07:00

Because my computer has decided to eat every fifteenth webpage I visit (or some every time I go there), I've been reduced to writing all of my posts in my Gmail account, because it autosaves what I write, rather than some webblogging software that shall remain nameless.

Everyone has been talking about Steven Colbert's "On Notice" board lately, and I'm jumping on this bandwagon. While engaging in some healthy retail therapy, I've noticed quite a few things that need to be added to this board. Shall we?

1. The current "long" and "skinny" trend in clothes. I appreciate a longer tank top, and I'm used to hemming any of my jeans, but do I really need to hem a full six inches off of every piece of clothing? No, I don't. This also doubles for those retail outlets who purchased any weird, fancy-shaped denim for their fall lines and replaced any co-existing, fantastically fitting lines of jeans. In what world would a size 12 jean not include ease for a woman's hips, butt and thighs? Seriously folks. I mean, every single pair of jeans? Where are these tall, obsenely thin (despite any current sizing of garment) women with no ass and a torso approximately 12 inches taller than me? Is Barbie real? And I'm tired of every damn store trying to market their line of clothing to teenagers. That's why there's an Abercrombie, Urban Outfitters, American Eagle, PacSun, Hot Topic and Hollister in the mall. So you can focus on what happens to females in between 20 and when a woman dies. Gap and Old Navy, you're on notice!

2. The vehicular trends of the mall-shoppers. You do not need to bring the largest land-yacht you own to the mall. This includes your Excursion, Yukon, Humvee, XXL bed pickup, monster truck or bus. There is nothing in the mall so large as to require any of these vehicles to take it home. Nothing. Anything that could come that large probably has a free in-town delivery service anyway. Also, when driving around the parking lot, it is customary (and required) that you stop at all posted signs, painted lines and when another person is backing their vehicle out. Every single time I've been backing my car (slowly and carefully, so as not to hit your massive SUV), some idiot has the balls to speed on by, without stopping to let me out. Hey idiot, I'm going to ram my compact sedan into the side of your car in approximately one minute, so knock it off. You can wait 30 seconds to let me out. Then you can have my awesome spot. That's how it works. Citizens of Eugene, you're on notice.

3. Everyone knows you can't fight the crowd during holiday season at the mall. However, it's my observation that this trend gets a little earlier every year, and leaks its way into how people walk in public. Groups of people don't move out of the way when faced with oncoming citizens. Thus, I have to nearly get clotheslined by seven giggling, gossiping fifteen-year olds when I want to walk in a different direction, simply because they can't stand to walk in a non-linear fashion. I can't tell you how frustrating this is. It's even filtering down to families. If you can't politely move over so I can walk by (I do it for you!), then, frankly, I'm rudely breaking up your precious family unit. Girl's got to get her shop on. Patrons of malls in Eugene, you're on notice!

4. My knitting. I'm so tired of looking at Cozy, I can't stand it. It's not making progress adequately, and I am thinking of frogging it. Okay, envisioning myself frogging it after I hit "publish". My Trekking socks are taking forever, and the other pairs I've started aren't working out well either. There's a plethora of great patterns out there for fall, yet I can't finish a shawl or a sock to save my life. WIPs, you're on notice!

5. My computer. It isn't bad enough that the DVD/CD player is broken, you overheat like I'm overclocking you, half of the USB ports don't work correctly, you refuse to let Itunes and my Ipod work together, the mouse only works half of the time, you created a way for the printer to make other programs not work AND there is no way of really fixing any of the above problems, now you have to start eating my webpages? Toshiba laptops, you're on notice!

6. My car. It isn't enough for the engine light to go on twice in 6 months (for problems that did not affect my driving noticeably), now I have to research a reason why it feels like I'm driving a washing machine down the freeway, yet it has yet to set off the engine light. &%#$ Nissan Sentras are on notice!

That should clear things up for now. Stand by for any and all other notices that may occur.

And,Funky Scarf secret pal, I did not forget about you. The first paragraph of this post is just for you. I had it all written out, ready to hit "post" and the god-damn computer ate it. I had to re-type EVERYTHING. So I'm sorry this is late, I was preoccupied by my hatred and refraining from throwing my laptop out the window. (You'd be suprised at how often the idea comes up).

Let’s get the allergy part out of the way. Are you allergic to any fibers?
I'm not allergic to any fibers. Hooray! But I kind of detest cigarette smoking.

Do you prefer any fibers over others?
I have a definite preference for alpaca and merino wool. I love soft, silky yarns. If it is something you'd want to sleep next to, then it's for me. I don't care if it is Knitpicks or cashmere, buget-wise. So don't break the bank!

Would you prefer funky yarn or a funky pattern?
Funky pattern! Funky yarns kind of freak me out. I love good, simple, finely dyed yarns. No random objects inserted, please!

What are your favorite colors?
I love blue, in nearly every shade. Light blue, dark blue, royal blue, sky blue... after that, it's anything in the "cool" color spectrum that goes well with blue: green, purple, black, white and red/pink. Brown has become a recent favorite of mine too. Also, it's football season coming up- that means lots of yellow, green and white in my Saturday afternoon wardrobe.

What is your favorite piece of art?
"starry night" by Van Gogh. It's got all of my favorite shades of my favorite colors!

What colors would you never have up close to your pretty face?
Yellow, white and orange. They wash me out terribly. ( I do realize that yellow was listed up above in favorite colors- I need it to be paired with another color to work). Also, very light "mint" green. I'm a "winter", if you ever did that '80s scarf color thing.

Would you prefer an actual scarf or a cowl?
Scarf! I'm not really sure what a cowl is. Is it like a smoke ring? Plus, I look terrible in hats, so anything on my head wouldn't work.

When you wear a scarf do you prefer a wider/shorter scarf or a thin/long scarf?
A ligthweight, standard length scarf. Yeah, it's hard to describe. I'm really short (5'0), curvy and have a very short neck. So, yarns that make a lighter, thinner fabric would be great. I don't like really short scarves, so one long enough to wrap around my neck once would be great! And, I'm just throwing it out here, I love the clapotis pattern. I've got two- one bulky and one really thin. But I could always use a third in a medium weight wool....

What is the climate like where you live?
It rains. And rains. And rains some more. From October to May, we see more rain in Oregon most people really care to. Thus, it makes sense that our college team's mascot is a Duck! In December and January, it can get down into the 20's some nights and frost over. However, that's as cold as it would get.

Would you prefer a functional scarf (to keep you warm) or one just to funk-up your wardrobe?
Functional! I love great scarves and will wear them with everything I can during the winter months. If it's a lightweight scarf, I'll wear it at work. Our HVAC system is a little wonky, and blows cold air during the winter.

What else would you like your partner to know about you?
I love stripes, cables and lace. No, that's not really "funky", but neither am I. I'm preppy! And I know I'm going to love anything that's created just for me. I can't wait! Also, I work- a lot. So if you hear from me, it will be on my days off, which are the first few days of the week. So don't get worried I don't respond on a Saturday- I will by Tuesday!

L is for Late

2006-08-09T20:05:00.000-07:00

...as in, I'm so late posting, it's really quite embarassing. I promise, I've been doing things that are knit-related (and, then some things that are not).

First up, we have handspun! Yes, that's right, completely slubby, non-uniform, poorly done handspun by me, myself and I. It looks awful, but I don't care, I love it. It's probably only a couple of yards total:

At the fair this year, they are having a day of spinning. I'm thinking of hauling my spindle and my lowly mass of fiber and seeing if being amongst spinners will enhance my poor spinning any. I'm guessing yes. Or, at least, I'll see how the real people do it.

Next, we have more paraphrenalia related to making said handspun better. I went into the LYS today, and proclaimed "I need a better spinning book." The lady looked perplexed; "Better?" she said. "Yes, I already have one book, and I need one that explains what to do better." I replied. Ask and ye shall recieve:

The issue of Spin Off deals with spindles, and I believe that's a nicely vintage copy of High Whorling. The spindle and fiber are for effect. Classy, I know.

Okay, right I said knitting. Here are the two things taking up most of my mind this last week or so:

What you have there are a pair of Trekking XXL socks in the Rib and Cable pattern from IK '05 and a fresh pair of toe-up Jaywalkers in Knitpicks Dancing sock yarn. It's a stretchy type of yarn, kind of like a really thin cascade fixation. Or not. Either way, I'm hoping they work out. I'm knitting them on Addi 2's, and the guage is a little loose. My intended recipients foot is also a little loose, so I'm hoping the two will work out somehow. That and the pattern will tuck the stretchy parts in some. *Fingers crossed*

Here are some close-ups of the Trekking sock. I'm getting there, row by row, cable by cable. They are taking FOREVER and I never want to cable again... or at least on tiny, tiny needles. However, the cabling without a cable needle has really made them go quicker and made them more portable. So hooray no cables!

Here is the join from the short-row heel to the sock. Damn those holes! I'll fill it in (duplicate stich, maybe?) when I'm done. Someday I'll have short rows without holes. But good news is, I'm getting better! Notice how the entire heel side isn't holes? Yeah, take that short rows!

K is for Knocked Over

2006-07-27T20:45:00.000-07:00

...I'm simply reeling from the faaaaabulous prizes my KSKS partner Sharon has sent me! Let's dive in:

This is what I had waiting for me when I got home. Super Sock Suprises! I was so excited that I could barely contain myself. I ran right inside, put the box down, quickly put my shopping things away and cleared out space around the box, so I could take pictures of what was inside. That's right, my excitement about knitting has spurred me to clean spontaneously. Yeah, I think that's a miracle of some sort. Moving on:

This is what I found inside. All this. The champagne flute is for celebration, because this yarn needs a fine wine to pair with. It's that good. Look at the goodies! Candle, soap, gummies, sheepie note cards (love, love love it!), two sock patterns, a needle case, a knitting notebook, saltwater taffy, the most gorgeous bag I've ever seen (so impressed am I!) with clover bamboo needles (my fave!) and a very sweet note card. Now let's see the good stuff up front:

Mmm, yarn. This is Fleece Artist 100% Merino sock yarn. This yarn is what God himself would wear on his feet. I don't know who this fleece artist is, but he had better be heeding himself to Oregon very, very soon. Look at the colors! Blues, purples, gold and green... Funny story, I had considered a very similar colorway of Socks that Rock earlier this year at the Black Sheep fest, but opted for the Project Spectrum blue instead. Colorway dreams do come true!

Speaking of colorway dreams, look at this bag. It's perfect. It's stiff enough to stand up on its own, big enough to shove whatever project of the moment is into it, but still small enough that I can tote it around in planes, trains and automobiles. Or, what I will definitely use it for, work knitting! No more yarn breaking in the zipper of my work bag! *happy dance*

Sharon, I'm so impressed and cannot thank you enough! THANK YOU!!

This is what is my saturday's sky, for Sandy. Isn't it pretty? Finally, there's proof of knitting:

These are the Trekking XXL socks in progress. They're for the Trek Along With Me challenge. I love these socks. It's the Rib and Cable pattern from Interweave Fall '05. I've always wanted to make it in socks (I've used the pattern for a couple scarves), and I'm just too delighted that it's worked out so far. I'm doing them toe-up, with a short-row heel. It's going swell, and I'm just darn proud of myself for it. Here's a close up of the cable:

The cable is pretty short, which means lots and lots of cabling. However, I've learned how to cable without a cable needle, which has sped me up considerably. I suggest that you learn this skill forthwith, as I think it's something every knitter should know. Go to it!

And, finally, I'm taking a bow and raising my glass of champagne here, as I passed my test Wednesday and am officially promoted to dispatch! I kicked some serious ass on my test- who's too smart now, wise guy? This also means I can sign up for the good overtime, now that I'm a dispatcher. No more 16-hour days if I can help it!

I'm Mad as Hell...

2006-07-14T17:35:00.000-07:00

...and I'm not going to take it anymore!

This is the most famous part of the movie Network, which I have seen only in pop culture references on VH1. However, it proves to be a great line for me this week, as well as several other knitbloggers.

So, I'm learning a new skill at work. We use this program that rates you, on a scale of 1 (utterly incompetent) to 7 (you are God himself). The number 4 is used as the minimum acceptable level. There are 18 different skills to rate me on a daily basis. (The old tv show The Prisoner comes to mind here- I am not a number!) When I have 4 days of all 4's, I can pass my test and do my new skill alone. (And get a pay raise, woot!). You can imagine how nerve-racking that last week is- will I get a 4? Does that last mistake count? It was an accident. Shoot.... now I have to start over!

This frustration is compounded by the "coach" who guides you through and rates you daily. My last coach decided it would be a good idea to mark me down for following known policy, because he didn't think the particular job "called for it". Take a minute to soak that in. Go on, I'll wait. Getting marked down in the catergory "decison making" for following policy correctly. Say it with me: WTF?

So, naturally, this led to some "complications". Okay, so I had a world-class freak out. I mean, I don't think I have ever been this upset in my life. Seriously. To sit there and be told that you are not following your coach's orders (that go against the rules set for this very reason) and that you need to just "get over it" when you protest the issue. This is simply Not Okay in my universe. I will be damned if I am going to be punished for following policy. In my career, I could be fired, sued or kill someone by not following policy (or heck, all three). Frankly, it was my integrity that was hurt the most. The idea that either I could sit there and take it (and be marked down every day for it), or I could stand up and say NO MORE! (Now the Simpsons line, "stand up for yourself, poindexter!" comes to mind). So I did just that. I stood up for myself, my job and my integrity. I did it with as much class (and lack of tears) that I could muster. It was hard; fighting for something that you know is right and then having to prove it to someone who's above you and has been doing it a lot longer. In the end, I won a couple of battles and what I consider what was going to be a war. Take it from me- there is no one who is more capable of standing up for themselves than you are. Even if it doesn't go your way, stand up for yourself. At least you'll be able to sleep at night.

So what else has been going on in the knitblogging world? There's some scary stuff out there. It seems everyone's been hitting the Dr's office lately. Scout's hubby just went through knee surgery. Lee Ann is going through brain surgery this week. Scary! The Keyboard Biologist's hubby is recovering from open-eye surgery ickiness. At least Mr. Etherknitter is doing well! My KSKS partner's mom is also in the hospital with chemo; I'd link you, but then I'd be giving her up. Think good thoughts for her- in the meantime, I'm sending good yarn her way! The Yarn Harlot has graciously accepted any bad universal mojo on Lee Ann's behalf. Go pay her a visit, because it would seem the Universe has taken her up on her offer. Also scary are the spider stories that are cropping up. A nest of spiders erupting inside your house? NOT OKAY!

Hopefully, we can all get through the month of July. Lord only knows what's in store for August!

And, yes, there has been knitting this week. However, the Trekking sock heel isn't working out and will need to be reknit. No, there aren't pictures. Cozy is getting pretty stagnant, so I hope to work on her some as well. Also, I finished my KSKS partner's package, now I just need to mail it out. Hooray for a weekend to finish projects!

J is for jonesing...

2006-07-03T20:11:00.000-07:00

Well, what a day I had! We went and saw the new Superman movie. It was good. I like my superheroes clean cut, polite and a little hunky, so it was definitely my kind of movie. What wasn't my kind of movie was the ten thousand children who saw it with us. Now, Superman does appeal to all children, I must admit. However, your average four year old isn't going to enjoy all the talking and the "grown up" things that go on. Superman doesn't have any explosions, cartoon characters or hilarious bodily noises- all things kids go to movies for. Instead, there's talking, prolonged silences and long, overly sequenced CG animation of him in space- things adults want to see in a movie. Therefore, every child has to squeal, yell loudly at their parent "what's that?" "who's he?" "why is he doing that" every ten minutes. A couple behind us had two chairs between them with two infant carriers. Tell me, why do people take less-than-one -year-olds to movies? Babies don't care. And it's way too loud for them in there, anyway. Arr.

I needed something to take the edge off of my anger. As it happened, Casey was looking for a new book, so I went and spent a little money at the bookstore. The new Simply Knitting! was out, and I got a new stitchionary. I almost splurged on the Mason Dixon book, but all I really want is the log cabin pattern and I found that online.

However, when I got home, there was an unexpected surprise in the mailbox for me:

What's this? It looks suspiciously secret-pal-ey. Let's take a closer look.

What a cute sticker! I love the Uncle Sam!

oOOH! Prizes! It appears to be...a dishcloth pattern, yarn and something that smells fruity and tasty...

Hooray! Haribo Bears! The smell has seeped into the Peaches and Cream yarn and made it smell just delightful! I can't wait to try the pattern out. Thanks Knit Sock Kit Swap pal!

Trek along with me!

2006-06-29T14:26:00.000-07:00

So, I decided to take the socks on a little trek this weekend. Little did I know it would turn out to be quite the production!

The whole trip was filled with events the entire way. The first one started before we had even left the apartments- there were two little deer in the yard! In the middle of the day! What are the chances? So Casey was nice enough to stop and let me shutterbug the moment:

Then it was off to the highway. However, we didn't get too far. There was an accident on the highway. An engine passed us, followed by the State Police, an ambulance and then a Water Tender from the local rural district. We stopped and waited, like patient drivers should. Then there was a rumble from above. A freaking HELICOPTER landed right beside the car on the highway. No kidding. Here's proof:

And after all that production, they ended up not using the helicopter after all. But, it's always better to be safe than sorry, especially when your vehicle ended up like this:

People, you MUST drive safely on rural roadways! Just because your car can go fast, doesn't mean it should. This man was pulled to safety by some passersby, just as his vehicle erupted into flames. The local media didn't get a description of his injuries, but you can bet they weren't good.

Finally, we made it to Florence. If you aren't familiar with the Oregon Coast, there's a few things you should know. First, a lot of Oregon's beaches look like this:

If you like pristine white sand beaches, go to Hawaii. If you want to tan on the beach, go to California. If you want any other "party" type of beach, head out to South Florida Keys. The Oregon Coast is cold, always windy (seriously) and has two food options: seafood and more seafood. We go to the coast in the summer to cool down. It's been 96 in town and foggy at the coast. The Oregon Coast is a quagmire, and I wouldn't want it any other way. Why? Because any time you go there, this is what you can see:

Bright whitecaps and rocky jetties! The rocks support a tidepool community of starfish, sea urchins, crabs, mussels, clams, octopus, rockfish, otters and many other types of life.

Oregon is home to lots of species, such as dungeness crabs, delicious wild chinook salmon and other types of wildlife/game/ fish/ trees. Right now there's a large problem in the state with our local fisheries. The federal government is limiting the catch of salmon because of the low runs (due to warmer waters, other man-made and nature-made ecological factors). Essentially, this could wipe out the year's industry for salmon. There's some federal money on the way to offset it, but it's not nearly enough. This type of problem has existed in part in the last 20 years or so with the Timber industry as well. Oregon has always prided itself on two factors: the impressive natural resources it houses and independent thinking. (State motto: "She flies with her own wings"- I love it). However, the twain do not work together on the former and the latter. Thus, really difficult problems just result in really difficult people to work with. And nothing gets solved. That is the part about Oregon that drives me nuts.

Below is the only picture that turned out of the socks. The wind kept gumming up the camera lens and the light outside was way too bright to make a good picture possible. I think my body is providing the shade necessary here. See the lichen and mini mussels around the socks? You can barely make them out, but they are there. The pattern is the Rib and Cable socks from Interweave Fall '05.

Later we went to the "Old Town" part of Florence. This little strip holds all the touristy attractions- t-shirts, things made of seashells, glass art (a major tourist attraction each year), saltwater taffy and the like. It's also where the fireworks are put on every 4th of July and where the ships come to dock at night.

Ever wonder what lives in the slew where the ships travel? I love looking at the waterfront tidepools. You never know what you're going to find, especially when the tide is in!

In which I confess...

2006-06-28T14:48:00.000-07:00

Did you just hear that? Just now? What was that?

Oh, I see. You found the Blue Moon Fiber Arts booth at the fair, did you? Well, let me see the damage.

Good lord! Three skeins of socks that rock lightweight? Two skeins of bamboo yarn? How much did that run you? I didn't even know they made other types of yarn....wait, you're in trouble here. You do realize that rent is coming up, right? And your car is in need of repair. And there are children starving in Africa. Angelina Jolie's gonna have your ass. And..what's this?

That appears to be 1,250 yards of 100% silk laceweight yarn, shining valiantly in the shade, no less. Are you aware there is a name for people like this? Yarn Hoarder, that's what you are! With proper medication and time in counseling, your addiction can be cured. What? You say you don't need a cure, and you have plans to use it all. Uh huh. That's what they all say. Then, three months later, do you know what happens to it? It goes in the stash! That naughty place where yarn binges go when you realize you can't knit it all. Two years from now, this yarn will be sitting, unused and unloved, not even wound in a ball. Use it all my ass.

My dear, I hope you have said your prayers twice tonight. Because you certainly have sinned.

Sunny Days

2006-06-22T14:02:00.000-07:00

So, what did I do on the last day of my weekend? Here's a hint:

That's the view from my back porch. Isn't it wonderful? So very project spectrum. Summer is finally here in Eugene, hooray! It was actually bordering on HOT, with a cool breeze in between. So, I gathered up my supplies and headed outside:

Note the Birkenstock. They are required footwear here in town. The big tangled mess of yarn is my ball of Trekking XXL. Yeah, that's right, I actually worked on the Trekking socks! I'm using the cable pattern from the Interweave Knits fall issue, and it's kind of tedious. I'm not a cable-ey person, I have to be in the right mood. However, Miles and miles of lace on cozy and some substantial progress on some backup stockinette socks have left me rather scattered and looking for a pattern. I knit a couple cables before I read in my book and finally gave up, sleeping on a blanket in the sun. YAY SUMMER!

Here's a progress shot. It sucks, I know. But it was just too darn bright out to get a better one. Next time I will, I promise.

Kit it..Kit it Good!

2006-06-15T15:36:00.000-07:00

I'm such a poor blogger! My progress has been stunted as of late, and so the all-important pictures of the WIPs have been lagging. Well, I'm whipping myself back into shape starting now!

If you're reading this, you've most likely found my blog through the Knit Sock Kit Swap KAL comments page. Maybe you're even my secret pal! If you don't meet the first two qualifications....well, hello there! Welcome!

The KAL has questions to help your pal get started, as they are wont to do. So, let's get started, shall we?

What are your favorite colors?
Blue! Then cool-spectrum colors like green, purple, white and the like. A very New-England style beachy spectrum. I also love funky colors mixed in with pink and black. But I detest Orange in nearly all its forms. Unless it's on a pumpkin.

Are you a new sock knitter? How long have you been knitting socks?
I've been knitting socks since the beginning of the year. I've knit a few pairs, and know my way around a gusset and a heel. That being said, it doesn't mean that a sock won't totally stump me. Guauge seems to be my arch nemesis at this time.

Do you prefer solid or multicolored yarn?
Actually, either, depending on the color. I adore self-striping yarn, but not so much the "false fair-isle" type of patterning. I love big, bold colors and graphics.

What fibers do you prefer in sock yarn?
Mmm, wool! Alpaca is my absolute favorite. I love anything soft, squishy and warm feeling.

Where do you usually knit socks?
At work, at home, in the car (when I'm a passenger) and at other people's houses. My friends have given up the odd looks and actually expect me to have some sort of yarn tote with me when we hang out.

How do you usually carry/store small projects?
I have two options: a pink seatbelt purse tote that I carry when I go to other people's houses. It has all my notions strewn about in it, can carry patterns and books and extra yarn and needles. The other is to stuff a skein and circs into my work bag (a messenger bag) and then store it in my inbox for quick access during breaks.

What are your favorite sock knitting patterns?
The fact that stockinette in the round is just knit stitches over and over and over. Seriously, I love the look and feel of stockinette.

What are your favorite sock knitting techniques? Do you prefer circulars or dpns for sock knitting?
2 socks, toe-up, on 2 circs. I avoid DPNs because when I repeat a sock, it's never the same. Thus, they have to be done at the same time to look right! My favorite type of needles are Clover bamboo, but I also love metal circs like Addis and Susan Bates. I really dislike plastic.

What new techniques would you like to try?
I am really yearning to learn fair-isle. I have lust for the Norwegian stocking from the Folk Socks book. I look at everyone's online and just drool.

What are some of your favorite yarns?
I love Debbie Bliss! Alpaca Silk, hands down. But that's not a sock yarn. I've had love for everything between Knitpicks and Trekking XXL. If its soft and it's pretty, it goes home with me. I just can't help myself!

What yarn do you totally covet?
Currently, I'm dying to touch the new Debbie Bliss silk yarn. I have wanted to make the bolero in her new book forever. I've never had the opportunity to fondle Lorna's Laces, Socks that Rock, Malabrigo, or anything that's super fancy. It just doesn't grow at my LYS tree!

Any pattern you would love to make if money and time were no object?
Actually, I'd just buy yarn, books and patterns like there was no tomorrow. Regardless of knitting them. Because you never know when they'll discontinue a type of yarn or when the urge to knit a really complicated and over-the-top lace shawl will hit. I love having a library and stash to shop in.

If you were a specific kind of yarn, which brand and kind of yarn would you be?
I'd be simple and honest, super soft with a bit of pizazz thrown in. Maybe a basic alpaca with some silk or bamboo to shine. And in a rich, deep, vibrant color. Probably worsted weight.

Do you have a favorite candy or mail-able snack?
Haribo gummy bears! You can get them at Wal-Mart, World Market and such. They are the best gummy bears IN THE WORLD!

What’s your favorite animal?
Dogs. Hands down. Especially those of hound decent, like Beagles and Bassett Hounds. I love those ears!

Do you have pets? What are their species/names/ages?
No, but I lust after everyone elses. Watch your pets, people!

If you were a color what color would you be?
Blue! Like the sky on a hot summer day. A shining, vibrant blue.

Describe your favorite shirt (yours or someone else’s)..
It's one I made. It's called a "craig shirt". Lots of my friends have variants of them. It has a picture of my friend Craig when he got yeast in his eye while making his own beer. It states below, "who shot that guy?" I've stopped conversations and an entire meeting while wearing it. People read it aloud, cock their head to the side and look puzzled. It's hilarious.

Tell me the best quote you’ve ever heard or read.
"There he is!"- Pagoda in The Royal Tenenbaums
Also, just about anything from Jon Stewart on politics. I can't get enough of that guy.

Do you have a wishlist?
Are you kidding? I can't even make a birthday list for my family each year. It's too much decision-making for me to handle.

Anything else you’d like to share with the group today?
I think I've shared enough already! But do share if you would like to hear more!

I is for Impressed

2006-06-03T19:55:00.000-07:00

My dye-o-rama pal is better than your pal! Nyah Nyah! Here's proof:

My package came on an overcast day in the middle of my work week. What a pick-me-up!

Look at the goodies inside! Do you see the cute card? It's handmade! (I hope you are part of the PS card swap, girl!) There's haribo bears (coming with me to work tonight!) and some sour haribo gummies, which will of course be consumed lightning-quick! Another handmade item, a bookmark with a cute lil puppy on it! I've been reading books at work this week, and I needed a bookmark desperately! Finally, puppy stickers, which made me squeal and giggle!

What a pretty dyed hand-dyed yarn! She called it "Kelly's Greens" just for me. *smile* It's made from wilton's pastes and makes me absolutely jealous of my dyeing skills!

THEN, she included stash yarn! I've been reading other people's blogs about this super fantastic "denim" type yarn, and I can't wait to find an awesome pattern for it. It's so soft!

I'm thinking Green just might be my new favorite color of Blue! A thousand thanks to Roberta, of St. Ann, MO! You rock!

H is for Hellbound

2006-06-01T01:13:00.000-07:00

...which is where these #$@%! socks are going if they don't shape up. Sinners! Why do I hate the sock so much?

There's your problem

I have yet to discover what causes this problem in this yarn. It mystifies me. The yarn is Trekking XXL. I'm on size 1 circs (toe up, 2 at a time). I measure the wee sock my on my toes for fit regularly, count my stitches, obey guidelines of pattern and such, and... THEY ARE STILL TOO FRIGGIN BIG!

The fabric created from the yarn just grows exponentially. I was doing the jaywalker pattern- known for it's tight, stiff sock fabric. Nope, not here. Here, the pattern refuses to work and THEN has the audacity to laugh when I rip back, and try again with simple stockinette. I don't understand. There's paired increases and decreases. I'm not creating stitches. Yet, the yarn, she grows.

Add to that everyone's "ooh, I'm special with my prettily dyed yarn and jaywalker that works" photos as of late. You know who you are! For shame!

I tried the sock on 2's for a while, with the toe on 1's. Oh no, that was a poor decision. This yarn was meant for 1's. This is my third try making ANY type of socks with this yarn. Now that is just stubborn. Finally, I give up. There's nothing left to do, but this:

Acupuncture for very bad yarn karma

So, the yarn will choke on its fabric-increasing candor. I didn't want it to come to this. I love my circs, I do. But this yarn has been very, very bad and must be punished accordingly. There may be cables involved before this is through, just to add another needle in there. And then a blessing by a priest of some sort. Maybe I'll pay a creepy old lady to wander in, mumbling "This house is clean" for added effect.

Progress continues on the cozy wrap. I'd show you, but it just is a few more rows past last time. And that's not interesting. Really, I tried to make it so, but it isn't. Of course, if I could go a pattern repeat or two without fubar-ing the whole thing up, then I'd probably be somewhere close to done by now. Or at least like, four more rows ahead.

G is for green and great spaces

2006-05-24T19:48:00.000-07:00

There's been doin's aspyerin' (Simpsons quote, if you didn't already know) here, and I'm going to tell you all about it.

The first thing today is new dyeing! I love it, and I think it's going to go to my dye o rama partner, sadly. However, it also meets the Project Spectrum requirements this month, so it's a double dip!

Isn't it just wonderful! Such a bright green. It's wilton's icing and lime jello. Who knew?

Scout has kindly tagged everyone with her Knitting Spaces meme. And, being the sheep that I am, I'll happily oblige.

This is the prime knitting position. See how the couch cushions point inward? It's because I sit in the dead center of the couch; I don't know why. It's not that comfortable. But it's where I sit. On the couch is the fake down blanket Casey and I argue over constantly, a sweater and the corner of my clapotis shawl, that I wear constantly at night. What do I see?

This is my coffee table. At no time is it not covered in or littered with yarn, patterns, magazines, books, stitch markers, video games and my needle case. It keeps things at the ready for me. It's my que. I've got a pretty strong case of ADD (no hyperactivity), so I am always jumping from thing to thing, as it strikes my fancy or I become bored. I don't work in a linear fashion, I never have. My life is in piles scattered around the house. The piles directly correspond to where I was last using _____ . Therefore, when I lose something, I picture the last time I was using it (and for what reason), and it usually is found thereabouts. You can imagine how tough moving is on me- I lose ALL my piles AND I have to establish new places for them! It's enough to make me lose my mind. However, my beloved starbucks waterbottle ensures that I won't be thirsty when I do.

This is what I see when I knit. A large tv with DVD player and video game consoles next to a big ass chest packed FULL of yarn. That is yarn que #1, it holds sock yarn, worsted weight yarns, basic knitting types of yarns and the yarn I don't like. On top of it currently are two skeins I dyed a while ago. I don't like the pink that much, but the blue inside is just fantastic. Oh, the DVD case? That's season 2 of CSI. Must obtain more CSI!!

Here's the other large thing I see when I knit. The bookcase is currently overstocked with numerous items. The magazines on the bottom are knitting and wedding issues. The crates hold DVDs, games and more knitting things. When I rummage through the chest, it's usually followed by rummaging the bookshelf for patterns and old IK issues. The books are mostly knitting now; I purged the stack when we moved in. The picture on the top is my diploma from the UO. Go fighting ducks!

This is the overall picture of the living room corner. I had to take it in the kitchen to get everything in, which is why it's so dark. As you can see, it's a good little corner, and I like it a lot.

The Amazing Lace! Part 1

2006-05-19T19:45:00.000-07:00

And they're off!

This blog's team has started their persuit of glory, but not without some rough patches! The team is a triad, comprising of key knitter Kelly and her butter-yellow, hand-dyed Knitpicks Laceweight doubled up with some luxurious "straw into gold" colorway of Crystal Palace Kid Merino mohair.

Lovingly dyed to become a perfect pair

The knitter was anxious to begin, having painstakingly dyed one to enhance the other. She was full of good suggestions on where to the yarn should begin: Ene's scarf from Scarf Style; the Daisy Shawl, an internet pattern picked up; various shawl patterns from Interweave Knits, Simply Knitting!, Folk Shawls, Vogue shawl series and others. Still, the yarn resisted. Twisted and tangled, not the right gauge or not long enough to finish, even plain refusing to stay on the needles! Again and again, the knitter cast on, hoping for the "right one" and that this time, the pattern would stick. She even sought out solace from her LYS, searching in the elusive "Scarves and Shawls" pattern book for the "right one". Yet the yarn resisted. Dark times lay ahead. What did the yarn want to be?

Past indisgretions

The yarn is soft, but sturdy. The Knitpicks yarn is a thicker laceweight blend from merino wool. The mohair is lighter than air, and handily competes for overall warmth with the wool. Neither label offered help in the gauge department. It was absent on the Knitpicks and the mohair simply stated, "different needles will get different gauges". Panicked, the knitter's growing needle supply was exhausted, looking for the right fit. Not unlike Cinderella's glass slipper, this was a hard one to find. The needle needed to be pointy for lace, but sturdy to handle the thicker yarn. It must be comfortable, or the knitter will not reach for it unless provoked. The knitter has a fondness for bamboo needles- but would such lace support a larger needle? Surely the delicate detailing the yarn cried out for would not be achieved with a bulky, blunted bamboo stick.

What was a knitter to do? Dark times, indeed.

The answer came in an online pattern abandoned many moons ago. Cozy, on Knitty's website. Many yarns and attempts were made in the past with this pattern. Each time, the pattern was violently thrown across the room, after much pleading and rapid changes in needles and yarns, in an attempt to please the lace knitting goddess. The pattern was even secretly referred to as "cursed" and "poorly written". No more!

Lace detail

The yarn took to the pattern as a bird to flight. A few stumbles along the way, and then, in a shining moment of victory- away it went. The YOs are fluid, the stitches clear. The pattern even looks...dare we say it...better than what's pictured online! The knitting is soft, and warm to the touch. The needles (clover bamboo, sz 5) are easily gripping the yarn, without tangles. Even the dreaded K2tog tbl stitch is going fluidly. The yardage looks good and the gauge will look even better when she's blocked out.

Progress in two days- and a pretty accurate color

At long last, Team Cozy is born.

Lace, Lies and KALs

2006-05-19T19:22:00.000-07:00

Well, its been an interesting few days. I was all excited to wake up and start photographing my new Amazing Lace partner today. And this is the first thing I saw out my window:

Rain, Rain go away

Well, shoot. My pretty lace-in-progress photoshoot plans have gone awry. Luckily, the Trekking XXL is happy to be in what it determines as "nature's shower" and is just too excited to play:

One can almost call this progress

Since the first challenge is up for the Amazing Lace, I'll put pictures in a separate post. I'll leave you with some pictures I took last week before work. I was trying to capture this little ladybug on my lavender. She had NO spots! At all. Like a dalmatian puppy when it's first born- just one color! However, she turned out to be The Hardest Ladybug To Capture On Film. Observe:

I don't know what it was about that special lady, but she was admant that no clear picture would be taken of her. She must be some sort of celebrity in her little bug world. There was even a big honeybee bodyguard that kept flying into the pictures, keeping me from really getting close in. Casey thought the whole thing was odd and gave up asking why I kept running in and out of the house with the camera. Better not to ask at that point.

Oh, Lordy

2006-05-16T15:38:00.000-07:00

So, there's a few rules of speech that a dispatcher must follow, always:

1. Speak slowly
2. Speak clearly
3. Speak articulated

Clearly, two of them were followed and one was not. Guess which one? Example:

"Patient has schlurrred schpeech"
"Medic sex for chest pain...."

Luckily, these were not on the same call.

I was sure could hear the laughing of the medic unit all the way across town. Even over the sirens. I just pray it was so late they were tired and never noticed. Yeah, right.

F is for FO

2006-05-13T15:28:00.000-07:00

Okay, a day late and a dollar short, but here she is!

Blowing in the wind

Birkenstock for scale

Look at those colors!

Pattern: Clapotis from Knitty
Yarn: Louisa Harding Impression, 3 balls

I love this FO! It's certainly had it's ups and downs making it. The yarn is ribbon, with a nylon thread and a mohair all plied together. Frustrating, as it catches on everything you can imagine. But the colors! Purples, blues, pinks, yellows...and it shitnes in the light. When you hold the ball of it, you can't give it up. It's that soft. However, it does give up a bit of that softness when knitted up; more sensitive people may have a hard time wearing this next to their skin. It's warm! I wore it last night while watching tv and I was quite snuggled up.

I've had this yarn sitting in my stash since January. It was purchased with the help of a gift certificate from a good friend for Christmas. I still have four balls of it left; I don't know what I'll do with it. There's a pattern in the Louisa Harding book for gloves; a hat might be interesting, too. Since it's a ribbon yarn, I don't think it would hurt making something like a small purse or bag- it's not going to stretch much.

Progress is going well on the yellow laceweight. I've decided on the Box Lace Shawl from Cheryl Oberle's Folk Shawls. It's going to be a might smaller than the one in the book (I only have about 880 yards, unless I find more stash), but that's okay. The pattern is really cute so far:

Little needles and little YO's

And look how well the dyed laceweight turned out! The color is uneven, so it's variegated and oh-so-pretty. It's my favorite dyed yarn so far:

A little late for PS yellow

The shawl is kind of a handful on its own, it won't make for good breaktime knitting at work. So I'm going to get started on some more socks. Socks are excellent breaktime knitting. And then I found a KAL that sealed it:

And I just so have some Trekking XXL to use. Colorway...I'll get back to you when I find the label. I did take a picture of it though:

Finally, wish Casey a speedy recovery from what has been a nasty case of the stomach flu or food poisoning. Four pounds lost in 24 hours- whew! You know he's sick when he doesn't feel like playing his favorite video game!

E is for excitement

2006-05-11T19:25:00.000-07:00

It's the weekend! Hooray!

This weekend holds a lot of potential in it. Why? Well, let me tell you. First, it means next week I'm back to regular hours! Hooray! No going into work until 5 pm means regular sleep (for me!) and I can get dinner anywhere I want before work. It's suprising, but a lot of restaurants aren't open before 11 am. That means I either have to finnagle dinner in 40 minutes or less (at 5 pm rush hour on weekdays), or just deal with whatever I managed to bring in that day. Worst case scenario dig up change for the vending machine or hit the Jack In The Box. Yeah, not so good. Also on the work front, I get to aactually start to dispatch next week! My fellow coworker and I will take turns on the radio, and be pretty much told what to do and say each time by our academy teacher. We will also probably be a pain to deal with for our "real" dispatch partner :) At our center, fire dispatch is a two-person deal (since we have so many agencies we dispatch for- nearly the entire county's rural fire departments! That's a HUGE number to work with). Each partner takes a turn as calls come in. When big calls like house fires hit, then one person mans the fire (lots and lots of firefighters talking) and the other takes the other traffic (and also makes calls to places like the red cross, district chiefs, utilites, etc for the person working radio on the fire). So, I'm looking forward to getting out of the classroom and into the fire, as it were. Hopefully it won't be all non-emergent transports and patient evaluations. Something besides barkdust fires- at least take a patient in code-3!

Good thing number two: home-made dinner! I'm getting free dinner out of my grandma tomorrow. My aunt and my 'rents are popping in too. I can't wait to see everyone and have a good time. Yay dinner! Mmmm! I don't know what's for dinner, but I really don't care- anything is good coming from grandma's house! I'm guessing since there will be a few of us, fried chicken, or maybe shrimp. (ohh, I hope it's shrimp again! With onion rings!) My grandma always makes something special that she knows I like aside every time we have a big family dinner (I was a very picky eater as a chid, but now I just graze on what I like and ignore the rest). Thus, refrigerated, peeled, (real, not baby) carrot sticks will most likely be placed in a special little bowl by my plate when we sit down. The same for her dinner rolls. I always get the plate twice, no matter what. However, my grandma's dinner rolls are legendary, so asking for the plate twice isn't exactly an out-of-the-blue thing. Mmmm. Now, I never ask for any of this treatment, my grandma just is the type that goes that extra mile no matter what. So, I expect it now, out of habit. Grandma's are the best. My grandma is the best of the best.

What else is good this weekend? I got a new knitting book, one of the mini Vogue series. It's on shawls. Some of the patterns are hideous (as are the yarns!), but the patterns are kind of cool. There's a great shawl that's essentially a cabled clapotis- a cable, surrounded by drop stitches. I think it's even knit on a diagonal. What is it with that pattern? It's mesmerizing. I think it's the dropped stitches. There's a kind of zen in intentional dropped stitches. Another pattern is a leafy kind of lace design, and another simple stockinette triangle. I think one of these will work out well for my lemon yellow laceweight. I need to get the pattern picked soon; The Amazing Lace is gearing up for the first challenge next week. *so excited*

Oh, speaking of clapoti, I finished mine! Pictures tomorrow, maybe. I want to get it in the sunlight, to show how sparkly the yarn is. And on my porch railings, so it can spread out fully. It turned out a lot narrower than I expected it to, but I think it still works well. It's more scarfy than wrappy and that's ok! My other clapotis can be enough wrap for us all.

I think that's all for now. Time to swatch for the laceweight!

PS: And of course, the final clapotis knitting is dedicated to the "Knit Some Bone!" cause on the sidebar, to the left. Jump on the bandwagon!

D is for distraction

2006-05-05T19:48:00.000-07:00

It's my weekend! Hooray! However, with it being a weekend, that means that everyone but me should be enjoying their time off. Isn't it funny how work creeps into your life at every waking moment. Maybe it's just me.

I had not one, but TWO days with hiring committee things to do! Day 1 was a meeting which led to the picture taking for Day 2. D'oh! And it can't be simple take pics, upload and print out. That would require 1) the camera cord to be with the camera 2) a computer to run the program 3) a printer to recognize the computer program after I give up and use the SD card in the printer port and 4) for the computer and printer that don't work to be in the comm center and not in someone's office (who needs to use their office today). I am just using my camera from now on. It doesn't require any CD set-up (I can't remember if it came with one!), it always works and I actually understand the bajillion modes (okay, so I just discovered there are different flash modes...at least the F-Stop/light-type type menu makes sense). Stupid Windows XP not working when I know it should work! It's probably the fact that the computers are city ones and therefore have everything stripped down. But my janky-ass home XP edition with my non-working laptop shouldn't have an edge over an actual PC tower (that works).

As promised, here are some greeny pictures of the landscape outside. It's so pretty right now! Clear blue sky, warm but not hot temperatures, a light breeze that doesn't chill you to the bone. I think all of Oregon should be nominated for PS May, as it's green all over!

Perhaps I will dye some tonight. I've got one more day by myself before scary dispatch academy, and I could use the extra head start. I wish my dye o rama pal would contact me! I don't want my first secret pal deal to turn out to be a bust :( My personal dyeing secret pal hasn't contacted me either, so I'm 2 for 2. Well, if no one's gonna answer, then I guess all that yarn's for me then!

C is for cattle

2006-05-03T15:29:00.000-07:00

Cattle referring to how I'm being herded into KAL after KAL after KAL here. Somebody stop the madness!

Hey! Wait a minute. I enjoy knitting, so what's the problem? So, I scrounged up another blog with another button and another theme. Don't believe me? Want to join? Think I'm crazy?

My new laceweight even matches the little button! How fun is that?

Also found last night web-blog-hopping (and sadly, I've forgotten which one already) was the perfect candidate for the next election cycle:

Those Bears better watch out! I wonder if it's a bi-partisan effort? I think it would be the funniest thing ever if the president still put out the Daily Show, making fun of his own government. A girl can dream.

Finally, it's a fund-a-long! Claudia is doing a MS bike ride and taking names for it. She's got an Alice Starmore book as funding fodder. Support a cure for a disease robbing knitters of their passion! Donate today!

There's so much green outside this month, it's going to be a great PS picture time, I can tell. However, I've got to shower for work, so I can't take pictures of any of it! But, it's my Friday, so, pictures this weekend. Yay for May!

Solid like a bone?

2006-05-03T03:53:00.000-07:00

Hello world!

It's 0351 hrs and I'm not at work for the first time this week! YAY! Fourteen hours a day is just too much for anyone, much less multiple times each week! Next week I have new dispatch training AND then there are 16 hour holdovers EVERY DAY. Multiple people will be held over. There will be cussing, growling and a general displeasure of everything related to the public. Arr.

After perusing January One, I found a fun new KAL that anyone can do:

What is it you ask? Well, it seems there is a fellow associated knitblogger down! A Mr. Knitblogger, to be exact. He is especially slow going at trying to re-grow some bone structure. As you may already know, bone structure is important to pretty much everything. So, not one to not join a crowd (ooh, double negative!), I'm joining this one too. What do you do? Simply knit away, thinking good, calcium-driven, hard-structred bone thoughts so Mr. Etherknitter can get back to whatever it is he does. Knit on, my friends! Knit on!

And hey, I got my secret dye-o-rama pal yesterday! She's pretty cool. And waaaay across the country! I feel so secretive, I can't say whom it is. *sad* There's been a lot of issues with the tech support for the dye-o-rama team, but I can safely say I have escaped pretty much all of it. Hooray! And major props to a team that's gone above and beyond what is considered the "call of duty" for this KAL.

And for my dye-o-rama pal- my favorite color is blue, but I also love red, purple, green and white. I'm a Libra, so I love pretty much anything classifed as "pretty". Self-striping or not, it doesn't matter to me. I'm also a Project Spectrum gal (the page for it seems to be broken now, sorry!). My favorite college team is the Fighting Ducks, but not necessarily the "neon" yellow color Nike invented for us. And I pretty much detest orange in its purest halloween colored form. I love dogs, but that's probably not yarn related. No allergies, but I really detest cigarette smoke. And, I'm a total dyeing n00b, so don't feel like you have to produce the Taj Mahal of yarns; I just like a good, soft, pretty colorway to knit with. And, most of all, THANK YOU! I can't wait to find out who you are!

Hmm. Anything else? I'm almost finished with the straight repeats for the clapotis in Louisa Harding. It's in my mailbox at work, so no pictures. Use your imagination, I guess :) I like it, it's what I wanted, but I'm ready to be done with it. Bring on the decreases! I still have like four balls of the stuff, who knows what that is going to be. I have this idea that I could use it for the fiery bolero from IK, but I don't know if I want to wear the stuff right next to my skin. And gauge, etc. Oh, and I felt up the dried and dyed yellow laceweight. Some spots are very bright next to others. But the colors are splotchy over all the strings in the area, so it will work out well, I think, overall. And the mohair will cover it as well. However the yarn has this definite feeling to it, like it's a bulky laceweight? Somehow thicker than what it should feel like. It feels....sturdy. You can almost feel the twist to it. I guess you get what you paid for. We'll see how it knits up.

What did you do today?

2006-04-29T23:27:00.000-07:00

I made myself up some PS April yarn! I needed something thicker to use with the mohair yarn I purchased a couple of weeks ago. Enter my KP laceweight. I needed to practice with another dye method (hot pour) and another dye type (Jello).

Yarn and storyline here.

I really like it! It turned out just how I wanted- a pale yellow, but stronger in some places than others. I think I would have been disappointed if I wanted a stronger yellow (or a more true color throughout), but then I would have probably increased the time cooking and the amount of dye used as well. These were the smallest boxes of Jello that you can buy, so there isn't a lot to work with in it. A couple of giant-sized boxes ought to make a good solution. I didn't realize just how much there is of the KP laceweight- 880 yards! It was a LOT in one pot. But, it worked out well in the end, so hooray! Now if I can just get it dried and balled...

Addendum

2006-04-29T03:28:00.000-07:00

I forgot to add...there's been spontaneous knitting action. I swear, this scarf needs to just KNIT ITSELF, and I think it somehow did this week:

clapotisey goodness on the coffee table

Here it is after the ninth repeat for the straight section. It just is working out lovely. I'm not even hating the mohair after our little tying-up-the-end-of-the-ball incident tonight. That's how much I love this yarn. I forgave the mohair in it. However, I won't forgive:

oooh, shiny!

..that black dot in the corner. It's the black thread that keeps everything plied together nicely. It gets into my stich markers like nobody's business. See, mohair will just rip away, no harm no foul. But this is like super-strong nylon thread. That acts very different than fluffy wool. The black mark is where it got caught somehow and then would not let my stitches drop down. And then I tried to break it. With fingers. For like two minutes, making it substantially worse than when it started. Oy!

B is for Becoming

2006-04-29T02:45:00.000-07:00

Well, back to work, and wouldn't you know it, half the week has passed already. That's one thing I can say for my work: it certainly passes the time. And lord knows, we've got plenty of time on those long 14-16 hour workdays.

So, the contract arbitration came down, finally...we're getting 10% all told. Sweeeeeet. That is a major, insane amount of bonus considering how we've been fu-barred over the years, as I hear it from the elders at work. So, what's my new pay scale going to be like? $124 each payday before taxes. Uh huh, yeah, I think that's nice too. That's wedding and yarn fodder. Then add in time-and-a-half to double time each month, and man, it's good to be tha comm spec!

We got to play with the fire things today at inservice. It was so much fun! We put all these fires out (fully supervised by observant, well-trained, very funny firefighters), we used fire extinguishers, a real hoseline, walked around in a house full of fake-smoke (okay, think about when you fumble for the bathroom at night without lights- then add in SMOKE. It's damn near impossible in daylight!). After that, we put more fire out, walked up the 6-floor training tower (I carried an air tank bottle! Yay for exercise!) and then sledgehammered the shit out of a FREAKING HEAVY piece of space-age metal that wouldn't move if the war of the worlds UFO's were shooting lasers at it. I finally got it to the end :) I like proving that I'm useful in situations people wouldn't think of me as being good at. Plus, I got to wear a neat helmet (that was hard to put on, I put it on wrong twice!), and big gloves (one gal mentioned how nice they'd be for ovens) and the turnout coats. I felt like a little midget in it, but it was fun.

There was a lengthy talk about a special-forces firefighting team (by a cute team leader, to boot), but it was interesting. I started making associations about what he was talking about, trying to put in all I'm learning for dispatch into perspective. Then, like a minute later, he'd start talking about that very same thing. Now I'm not psychic, and I'm sure that there's a lot of seasoned dispatchers that could be making those associations, but I was pleased I did.

Tim also praised me for learning lots of things out of the manual. (The second time this week that someone's told me how much they admire my tenacity for filling out and reading manuals!) I think it took him by suprise when I was asking about the engines and trucks and moveups for certain types of calls. (They were talking about an aircraft crash for example, and I was thinking, oh shit, that's like half of town that gets called out, not to mention the tones and the tacs...) So often our computer system makes those recommendations for us and we don't think about them. Plus, you know, I'm supposed to be on the "oh shit, what's that thing called again? Oh yeah, an engine!" mode. It'll come on the radio when I'm like, "Engine one for.....uh...a fire! *breath* at blah blah.....(long pause, then) where's it at... Map page 23a, 2104" *click of air really quick* Computer systems aren't perfect, and there's a lot that can go wrong in ours (System that doesn't go down my ass!) But if there is material that's been covered in the manual, I don't want to be getting that test question wrong! I like being smart, I like being right, and I like being good at what I do. Plus, hey, FIRE TRUCKS! They didn't let us drive the truck or ride in it (And the big new fancy ladder truck was there today!) but I'm sure I can get an engine ride-along in sometime. Plus, you know, you kind of have to be a firefighter engineer to do that. Give it time. I'll be manning the back of that sucker, screaming down pearl street like its my fucking job. Oh wait, it kind of is.

A is for..

2006-04-22T17:43:00.000-07:00

A is for...arrival!

My darling little sis arrived happy and healthy at the airport yesterday, in town for a friend's wedding. Yay! I saw her earlier last month, but since I won't see her again for ages, it was great seeing her again. We had a lovely dinner at the 'rents (steak, fries, salad and pound cake w/strawberries and ice cream for dessert), and giggled all night. I came home super late! Oh well, it was worth it.

Also up are the completed gumball socks! Fresh off the needles, in all their unblocked glory. Casey felt up the sock and proclaimed it "gruffy". He's never felt superwash wool before, and everything I have him feel is pretty much soft as a cloud in comparison, so you can't blame him. Here's the goodness:

Yarn: Knitpicks parade, "Gumball", 2 balls

Needles: Clover bamboo circs, siz 3

Pattern: my own, toe-up with the hourglass heel from the Twisted Sisters Sock Workbook

Also fresh on the needles is the Opal Handpainted I purchased a while ago. This was supposed to be for Project Spectrum's black/white/neutral month, but instead it's for now. The socks are the same as before, toe-up, 2 at a time. They're on 2's so they will take a good while to complete. And since I'm back at work tomorrow, they'll be a weekend/break project. Hopefully by the end of the month they'll be done.

Toe up indeed!

I can't decide whether I want to have them be in some sort of pattern after I finish the toe increases. It may make a lovely jaywalker pattern, or one of the sockbug patterns I downloaded. I've got the Socks! book too, and this yarn would probably make a lovely cable. Too many decisions!

My sign up is complete for the dye-o-rama, and I purchased some more dyeing supplies: Kool aid? Check. Vinegar? Check. 6 skeins of dye-your-own yarns, plus MORE Parade sock yarn and patterns? Double Check! Want to see where all the dye-o-ramer's are? You can view the frappr page of us here. According to Scout's blog there are 274 participants. WOW! I can't wait to see what people post when they start dyeing. And I am so excited to get my pal! Hello pal, whomever you are! Can't wait to start dyeing for you!

Turning the corner

2006-04-20T21:12:00.000-07:00

Hello!

The Gumball Socks are nearly done! Can you feel the love? Here, have a little on me. Would you just look at those short rows! They are truely impressive (for me). Each sock they're getting better and better! You can hardly see the foot in my twisted decreases now. *beams proudly*

I love, love, love these colors. It defies explaining. I think its a combination of our warm spring weather, candy, and the fact that each one is my favorite shade of that color. I'm even going to save the little leftover balls to note how thick each stripe sequence averages so I can make my own similar dye-your-own colorway. Which reminds me...

starts as of right now! I'm signed up, baby! Oh yeah. Now ya'll realize this is just plain stash and hobby enhancement to the nth degree, right? Sure, I'm doing this to "make friends" (as I tell Casey). Yeah, and it'll really help me learn more about yarn and such. Nope. Just mystery yarn stash enhancement. Oooh, mysterious! I purchased some sugar-free Jello a few days ago to test out the yarn dyeing thing again, on the Knitpicks merino lace. (I wondered if regular Jello contained sugar, and if so, if it should be next to the yarn. I decided sugar-free and chemicals can decide for me). If the Jello goes well (or doesn't), then we'll see where the dye o rama dye comes from next. My dye-o-rama pal might want all natural, you never know. I kind of like having different dyes and trying different kinds to see which is better or easier. Next up are food coloring (maybe Wilton's icing tints) and then the *gasp* Jaquard dyes. Real Chemicals. I want to make the swap socks self-striping, which is kind of an ordeal, but several sites are making it easy for us newb's to dye yarn up

Hmm, that's all I've got. Lil sister comes home tomorrow, picking her up at Bag Claim 1 at the airport. There's only one baggage claim there, why did they feel it needed to be numbered? How would you confuse it with the non-existent Bag Claim 2, 3 or x? Mysteries of the universe indeed.

There was an accident

2006-04-19T19:07:00.000-07:00

I had a little accident today. It involved a LYS, a debit card and the sale rack, among other things. Ooops. From left you see some Crystal Palace kid merino in color 4687, or butter yellow if you're looking at it. I don't know if I am going to like this, but at $4.49 a ball, I don't really care. The red is Bernat sox! colorway #115659, or fire engine red. On top of the red is a ball of Handpainted Originals by Brown Sheep, colorway "forest floor". That was $5.49 and balled up for me (as was the merino). I have two or three skeins of it already (purchased in March), so this one goes into that back stash. Probably a scarf. The black, grey and green are all Patons Kroy sock yarns, which I love the feel of. Mmm, sock yarn.

Here's a better picture of the laceweight merino mohairy goodness:

That little dish dealie with the silver ring? Here it is close up:

Oh, those are glass beads (on sale by bulk- as much as you can fit in the petri dish!) and then beading wire. I am in need of stitch markers with all this stash enhancement! Mainly because I'm also knitting another clapotis in my Louisa Harding, and my stitch markers are A) all used up and B) kind of scratchy, so they get tangled up in the knitting. Not good! Especially with ribbon yarns and a mohair that's twined in. It makes for some interesting knitting, that's for sure.

I also discovered the most charming thing in the tree beside my deck today:

It's a little bitty birdie nest! (I think). The whole thing isn't much bigger than my fist. I wonder what lives in it? I hope there's little baby birds that will pop up in it. Moreover, I hope it's not just a squirrel nest, an abandoned nest, or something else that has an animal I wouldn't want to be living within five feet of. I'll be keeping an eye on it.

Easter redux

2006-04-18T20:54:00.000-07:00

Looky here folks! It's an Easter miracle!

It seems for once I have matched the current project du jour to the holiday du month! As you can see, my newly started, toe-up socks (2 at a time!) match my leftover easter candies perfectly. Hmm, maybe it's a sign I should eat more candy while knitting. There's colorways to be had here people! The cast-on I used was from the new issue of knitty and is truely magic. I can see all my socks being done this way from now on. Danger, DANGER Will Robson!! Pattern reworking ahead! We'll see how that goes once I reach the heels. I think I can still use my hourglass heel, but who knows.

The yarn is Knitpicks Parade, Gumballs colorway, a superwash wool on size 3 circulars. (Quick! The yarn is on sale! Go forth, I will wait). I was a bit worried the 3's would be too large, they feel like tree trunks after the size 2's I knit Casey's mom's socks out of, but it feels just right when you look at the fabric and the way the yarn wraps around the needles. Superwash is kind of stiff too, so a denser fabric would be REALLY thick and probably not that fun to wear. I seriously plan on using more of this stuff. I have the daffodil colorway already (bottom right corner on the above link), and I think another order may be in store. It's freaking cheap, so who cares? Socks for all!

Man I like vacation! Just look at the socks flow forth from me! I've got my previously vacation-knitted three pairs washed and blocking in my bathroom right now. THREE! Casey wanted to use my bathroom, but was freaked out when all towels had wet socks on them. I told him the bathroom was currently "sockupied". Giggle. As much as I like vacation, I'll be glad to get back to work and STOP eating candies, lying about the house, and, you know, work for a living. I gained a few pounds, eep! Bad Knitter! But this vacation thing was used for it's intent- avoiding all work, being lazy, knitting, eating and doing whatever I want! So I can't really feel bad for living up to what I told everyone I'd be doing. Mission Accomplished!

2006-04-16T15:59:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter everyone!!

I've got a lot of photos to show. So lets get started, shall we? First off, I finished the socks. And they're going to be given away today, rather than taken for my own selfish feet. Aww. The Easter spirit lives! Want to see the sock? Sure you do. Here it is on my foot:

Note that my foot is most likely smaller than the recipients', so it looks a little loose on me. No problem.

Here's the heel. I figured out how to avoid the nasty sock heel hole problem. I wasn't wrapping my stitches correctly. D'oh! Thank you internets for solving my problem. Whoopee!

A very project spectrum cupcake. Yay for yellow colors! Yum.

This little guy was next to my easter basket this morning. What is he? He's an i-dog! That means he interacts with my i-pod (and other outside noises, or stereos), and behaves accordingly. Right now he's off, but he's fun when he's on. He likes Bon Jovi, but hates Metallica. Very odd thing this little guy. But I'll love him all the same.

This was my easter basket. Puppy!! He's very soft. I love plushie easter baskets. And he's filled with my favorite candies (the brown bags on the end are Haribo Bears, a gummy bear from Germany). Those Germans know their gummies! Delicious!

This was Casey's easter basket. Note the colorful eggs (filled with different candies) and fun random candies sprinkled about. I do love shopping in colorful candy aisles! There was also a Benny Hill DVD and an itunes card that were immediately siezed upon giving :)

When it's April in Oregon, that means one thing: the weather can't make up its mind every ten minutes. Here we have a little hail storm. It started to look like it snowed out! Previously this morning it was sunny and party cloudy with blue sky. (Hence the light for pictures). Very odd thing this weather!

2006-04-15T00:24:00.000-07:00

Holy non-blogging Batman! It's been a while. So what have I been up to? Absolutely nothing! Well, that's not exactly true. Here's the last two weeks in a nutshell:

I finished dyeing up my yarn. Here it is, all pretty and balled up. I like the pink one best, but the yellow looks really neat as well, especially knit up. Like a lemon- lime soda.

Then I started knitting more socks. They're addictive! Try it sometime, you'll love it. So far, this makes pair #4 for vacation. WOW! This sock is nearly done, and has a mate that is mostly done too! I loved knitting it so much, I nearly stole it in a fit of sock envy. But I think it will end up going to its intentioned owner after all.

Want to see more stockinette? Sure you do! It's Knitpicks merino sock yarn. Yummm.

Now everyone knows sock yarn can be addicting. And according to the Yarn Harlot's new book, it's not considered "stash". So, this can't really be included in "stash enhancement" for the most part. Yeah, the dye-your-own lace wool is totally stash, dyeing and hobby enhancement. Someone stop me!

Then I found a new KAL of sorts. I marked my interest, hopefully I'll get in with the application process. It's a dyeing secret pal project. Starting with.... sock yarn! Which means I'll need to buy.... dyeable sock yarn! I'm SO excited!

Now I'll leave you with some images from my house, all in a nice April project spectrum colorway. I had a hard time coming up with orange and yellow, since I don't really like those colors (and they don't look all that good on me). But I did find a few things!

(from top: sci-fi books of casey's, my IKEA shower curtain, IKEA pillowcase, blankie with animal, french poster, Peanuts figurine, french poster, Calvin and Hobbs box set, picture frame, IKEA tool set, my own dyed yarn, Yarn Harlot book, dyed yarn again)

Flash Your Stash!

2006-04-01T18:51:00.000-08:00

Here are the two holders of the beloved stash:

This is the original stash holder. It holds yarns that I love but have not (or may ever) use. The fancy alpacas, Louisa Harding Impression yarn, lace yarns, etc. This is where the good stuff lives. It is next to the table where my laptop is. Close to my heart :)
This is the big basket where everything else is kept. It's almost full! I gleaned this from my sister for free when she moved. Score! It's huge and it holds a heck of a lot of stuff. In fact, it holds most of what is pictured below:

Here is the stash, as I know it. Size 6 UGG slipper for scale. Eeep! And that's not all of it; there were some balls and UFOs that didn't make it in, due to lack of interest of un-knotting it all. From the bottom clockwise, there are sock yarns, lace yarns, worsted yarns, merino yarns and then the whole right side down is alpaca yarns. Alpaca is my love :) Since the bf doesn't read my blogs, I'm safe in keeping up my fiber acquisitions. Hooray!

An impressive side effect of the flashing of the stash: re-organizing the stash! Everything was put away in bags by type: alpaca, ribbon and lace, colored worsted, sock yarns, and a bag of yarns I'll never use because I don't like them. I feel very accomplished. Which is good, because this vacation is killing me! I haven't had this much free time in a year, and I don't know what to do with it! It's almost stressful. I don't want to waste my free time, but at the same time, isn't that what I'm supposed to be doing? Wasting time I'd be spending not sleeping, stressing, working harder than normal people? Maybe it's the fact I'm getting enough sleep and drinking more water, but darn it, I need something to do here!

Ooh, fancy

2006-03-31T16:10:00.000-08:00

Check this out! My first yarn deying experiment is a slideshow. Thank you flickr toybox!

Where y'all goin?

2006-03-23T23:13:00.000-08:00

Hm... There be things a-packin! I'm going to Sacramento for a week or so. That means two seven hour car trips! Lucky I've got a stash that can hold up. Observe:

Yarn for trip. Including (in the bag) three different sock yarns, lace yarn, Fiesta yarn, needle kit and gratuitous pattern and bookage.

Here's the technology part of the ride. Note the DS with all games, PSP and Katamari game. Yay for rolling around and picking up kitties! It's the only cleaning I've done all week! I'm also taking the laptop and camera. Blogging on the road, anyone?

Finally, a meme. No one tagged me with it, I thought it was fun. Let's see how far I can get?

Meme is here

1. A blog which you think people have not discovered.
Making Things. Seriously intriguing things coming out of here, people! Just discovered today.

2. A blog whose author lives close to you physically. Just get as close as you can, it’s all relative.
Here's a site of a map of where the Knit Olympics folks live. Perhaps I can find a few on my trip!

3. An unusual or weird animal picture.

That's Cranberry, Casey's grandma's goat. He thinks he's people. He'll come up to the door and knock, expecting to be let in. He's also super friendly, as you can tell.

4. An entry that made you laugh and got you strange looks from family or co-workers.
This one comes to mind. No one commented, but I got plenty of strange looks while I was taking pictures.

5. An idea you wish you’d thought of.
The Knitting Olympics or one of the fantastic patterns floating around, like Clapotis, Odessa or Jaywalkers.

6. Something you’d like to knit.
A sweater, no doubt. This one has been in my links since my old laptop!

7. A picture of something you consider beautiful

Okay, I don't think it's like outstandingly brilliant God Knew What He Was Doing beautiful, but I really like this picture I took recently. It looks almost enchanted to me. Too bad it doesn't lead anywhere good!

8. A blog whose author you’d like to one day meet in person
Yarn Harlot, no doubt. She's amazingly funny from her site and her books, I bet she's ten times that in person. There's a new book tour...

9. A blog of someone you have already met in person

Now that one's a toughie! Looks like I need to get out more. We'll, I'm hoping to get out and see the Black Sheep Gathering this year, and I know there's some folks from Knitting that post from here.

Brought to you by Red and Blue

2006-03-17T22:03:00.000-08:00

Well, well, it certainly has been a busy week here! And it seems I've joined Project Spectrum without really even knowing it. Observe:
Finished socks! Knitpicks brand merino. So soft! +500 for an FO!
Another view, of the toes. So pointy and cute! The socks fit well, but need a blocking to be sure. They're a bit short, but I've got another skein and most of the rest of the 2nd to use up!
That would be a clapotis, of incendita alpaca. Mmm, alpaca. +100 points for stashbusting an original stash-enhancer.
A new scarf! And lace, to boot. Fibertrends scarf pattern, Knitpicks lace yarn, picked up at the same time the merino sock yarn was. Let's hope this turns out into a scarf and not into a giant knot, which is what it looks like now. +100 points again for stashbusting.
Such tiny stitches!
New sock yarn! -100 points for stash enhancement. But +50 for buying with an expressed pattern in mind. Lanna Grossa knows I need some elastic in my yarn. This yarn is destined to be knitty's broadripple socks. The pattern even includes a 2-circ rewrite! Oh, knitty, you didn't have to...
Hey! That's not a Guinness! But the school on the glass's colors are green and yellow, so it's sort of St. Patrick-ey.