Fini

Thursday, March 16, 2006

The gloves are done. I saw Kurt eating breakfast this morning with them on so I'm pretty sure they're appreciated. I'll take a pic tonight while the suns still up. So cool that the sun is still up when we get home now! And Daylight Savings Time is on it's way again - April 2nd. I think I'll celebrate.

On the downside, I just got back from the doc's office and he thinks I may very well have hypoglycemia. I get to eat a sugary 3000 calorie diet for the next three days and go in on Monday morning, starving, for a 5 hour glucose test. The scarf (or a new sock) will go with me. There I will have my finger pricked (not my knitting finger!) every half hour, from what I understand, and will probably feel like shit. No, I WILL feel like shit because that happens when I don't eat... a symptom of hypoglycemia. Lovely. But, you know, on the bright side, if it IS that, at least I'll know why I feel crappy all the time.

Winter is back

Monday, March 13, 2006

After a few nice days and a heavy snow on Saturday morning, Mother Nature threw winter back at us. It's alright, I guess. It is March, after all, so I don't expect her to just up and let us slide into spring. For all I care we can have a nice long winter so maybe I can actually use my scarf when it's done. I miss my scarf. But the fingerless gloves are almost done, SGS (Second Glove Syndrom) has been averted and the second glove is nearing the finger mark.

In bento news, my box came on Saturday and I actually squealed with delight. I'm not a squealer by nature but when Kurt comes in with great news like that and I'm hunched over the floor, halfway through vacuuming the whole house, it feels good to take a break and jump around like an idiot. Today was my first lunch and, for the most part, it was good. With that said, I'll never again make sushi - even if it is just California Rolls - the night before and expect it to taste good at lunch the next day. The orange and almonds and peanuts were great, however, and made up for it. (And the granola bar stashed in my desk rounded out my morning.)

Pictures of completed gloves forthcoming... as soon as they're completed. I'm shootin' for Wednesday.

Bento!

Thursday, March 09, 2006

So yesterday I bought myself a bento box. Oh heck, I bought Kurt one too. So random. I followed a link on Heidi's blog for this vegan lunch box site and was just enthralled. What a cool idea! What a great way to make sure you're getting lots of healthy food instead of just throwing some mac and cheese in a tupperware and dragging it to work. And all the little containers fit inside a little lunchbox with it's own bag. Then again... it still has all those little containers and a huge problem for us, when I used to make lunches once a week for Kurt, was that he would inevitably lose a lid or container or whatever all the time.

So I googled bento boxes to see what else I could come up with and here is where my stupidity comes in. Or just ignorance. I've always wanted a bento box. Ever since I first saw one (probably in Revolutionary Girl Utena, the first anime I really liked). But I didn't know what they were called and, yes this is dumb, I didn't realize you could just go out and buy them. It's such a perfect idea and way more convenient than the western version. The little partitions are already there instead of being removable (though the ones I bought are both stackable) and it's just a couple big pieces to wash instead of five million little ones.

Ii think we're both way more excited about this than we need to be. We're already planning all kinds of lunches we can fit in our little boxes. And I might knit Kurt a little felted bag with an ice pack pocket to put his in so it stays cold at school. Like I said, way more excited than we need to be.

In actual current knitting news, I finished the first glove last night and will definitely cast on for the second one tonight so I don't put it off like S³ (Second Sock Syndrome). Here's a picture from the other night before I bore you to death.



In that picture, I was in the process of ripping out all of the decreases and about 6 more even rows of the flap. It was much too long for Kurt's fingers and I had just a teensy bit of yarn left (seen rolled up by the glove).

The amount of yarn really perplexed me for awhile on this one. The pattern calls for knitting weight (KW) yarn. Um, duh Katie, Classic Elite Renaissance (CER) is worsted weight. No wonder my gauge is off. KW is somewhere between worsted and sportweight and I'm guessing it's really closer to sportweight. So anyway, these gloves are thick, thick and sooo warm due to the worsted but, like I mentioned before: slightly big. Wool of the Andes, which I'll be using for my gloves is a lighter worsted so we'll see how that goes. I foresee much ripping and math and tediocrity*. But I still can't wait to start.

*I'm not the only one who makes up words, am I?

Tedious, Tedium, Tediocrity

Tuesday, March 07, 2006

No pictures yet but I'm 90% done with Kurt's first fingerless glove. It's a bit big on his hand but he says he likes it that way and I figure he'll grow into it. On the other hand, it fits me just about perfectly and I'm getting some good ideas of where I'll mod the pattern when I make mine. Hehehe.

The cuff and fingers fit both he and I perfectly, it's just the main hand part that's big. I don't quite understand it because every time I've made or tried to make gloves, this happens. In a weird parallel, he was using my fingerless gloves (the ones I made when my grandpa was first in the hospital) to shovel this weekend and got dog poop on them somehow. I washed them, scrunched them up a little before drying and now they're not so baggy. Maybe the answer is in the blocking?

Oh, and the Tedious Title? That's for the fingerless gloves. I really don't enjoy knitting them so much but the end result is sooo worth it.

In lieu of pictures, I have a meme that I took from Marisa's blog. I also used the same online retailer for the book links.

1) Name five of your favourite books.

Infinite Jest, David Foster Wallace
The Dark Tower 4: Wizard and Glass, Stephen King
The Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath
The Chronicles of Narnia, C.S. Lewis (yes, I'm counting them as one.)
Lord of the Flies, William Golding

2) What was the last book you bought?

The Penultimate Peril, Lemony Snicket (for Kurt)

3) What was the last book you read/finished?

Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand (I really liked it, not because I completely agree with her but because it really make me think and question my beliefs.

4) List five books that have been particularly meaningful to you (in no particular order).

Our Band Could Be Your Life, Michael Azerrad
Wizard and Glass, Stephen King
Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand
Bag of Bones, Stephen King
1984, George Orwell (more intriguing than meaningful maybe.)

5) Name three books you’ve been dying to read but just haven’t gotten around to it?
I don't know because I don't have my list with me. No, seriously though the ones I'm dying to read change all the time. I'm very influenced by recommendations, either by others or through references in what I'm reading. That's one reason I'm such a fan of Stephen King - he is constantly making references to other authors or novels in his books and I end up seeking them out. I never would have read Maugham or Vonnegut if it weren't for King. Okay, I would have read Vonnegut but Maugham? No. And you know what? I liked it (Maugham, that is, not Vonnegut).

Alright, the list is here. I forgot how easy it is to find online. So, the next three I'm just dying to read are...

The Fountainhead, Ayn Rand
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, Carson McCullers because a friend of mine told me it's great.
A Handful of Dust, Evelyn Waugh (also mentioned in King's books)

It's the Weekend. Alright!

Friday, March 03, 2006

My lunch hour today was so productive. I mailed something for work and walked over to my LYS, which is now Ben Franklin Crafts since the "real" LYS closed. I picked up three hanks of Classic Elite Renaissance (which is ironic, of course, because the old LYS was called Yarn Renaissance) for Kurt's fingerless gloves. I was also tempted by a 50% lama, 50% wool yarn but I resisted... and bought three hanks instead of one of the Renaissance instead. I was so proud and feeling accomplished, I now had the pattern from a friend and the yarn and I set off for home happily to find something to eat. I figured I could start the gloves tonight during our Friday Night Movie.

Uh yeah, I don't have any size 3 DPN's. I have one size 3 circular needle but it's the slipperiest damn needle in the world. I have 2's and I have 4's. My friend who provided the pattern said she used 2's for her daughter who is Kurt's age so I'll probably try that... which means no starting socks on the sly (unless I use my US 0's, hmm, I could do that). And I'll order some 3's for when I make my gloves. But I still think Kurt's hands are probably bigger than a girl's his age - or at least that they will be by next year when he'll be getting the most wear out of them. We'll see. Maybe he'll get another pair made with lama and wool. ;)

Meanwhile, I don't think I ever showed the picture I took of my scarf. It's about double this length now and I just finished off the first ball of yarn. The picture was taken Valentine's week, before the craziness of the Olympics, as seen by the Star Wars Valentines strewn about the kitchen table. To a most powerful friend!



Have a great weekend, knitters! Jenna, I hope to see you Sunday!

Needs and wants...

Thursday, March 02, 2006

Have you ever wanted to make something just to make it? Ever since I've seen the Hermione Hat and Mittens and Ron's Animal Cracker Hat I've been wanting to make them. But... I don't really need bobbled mittens and Kurt isn't too keen on the Animal Cracker hat - believe me, I've tried to make him keen on it. The realization hit me today though that I don't need a reason to make them, I just can. God knows we could always use an extra hat or a scarf or a veritable PILE of mittens around here. Mittens just like to hide every once in awhile, I think, to take a break maybe from being worn and battered up all the time.

The funny part is probably familiar to knitter's everywhere: when in the world would I have time to knit things I don't really need when there are so many things I do "need" to knit! Let's see what I need at the moment:

Cabled Scarf, fingerless gloves, and hat set for me (in progress)
Fingerless gloves for Kurt
Socks for me (many, many socks for me. teehee)
Socks for Kurt
Mon Petit Chou
Lacy Socks for me
Tubey
Solid colored raglan top-down sweater

Uh, the list does go on. Maybe this summer when I'm in need of something not socks (hah) that's portable I'll pick up some Harry Potter fun.

So....

Wednesday, March 01, 2006

No knitting to speak of. Nope, Lolita has me mesmermized. I've seen the Kubrick film in the past but it was awhile ago so bits of the story are fuzzy or lost to me. For instance, I can't remember if the movie explains that the main reason he fell so in love with Lolita right off was because of how much she reminded him of his first love, little Annabel. I may have to watch the movie again but for now, the book is just captivating. But it's a fairly short book so you'll see more knitting by next week, I promise. Then again I'm going through The Modern Library's 100 Best Novels lists so I may hit on another that I can't put down!

It's so funny though, how so much of my life has become about knitting whether I'm knitting or not. For instance, I think I found that link through In the Pink, a knitting blog. I come across interesting tidbits or articles or whatever in knitting blogs or at knitting group or in knitting magazines and I find myself noticing the connection as I pass them on to others. It's not like this has never happened before with other hobbies, like music or art, but it's just surprising to me, I guess. A little over a year and a half ago I stumbled across some knitting blogs and just didn't "get it". I liked the pretty pictures and was inspired by what they'd done but thought it was sort of boring to read about knitting. Of course, this was before I actually started knitting... Now I'm hooked, to both it seems. But I think it's because I now realize it's not all about knitting - knitting is just the one thing we all have in common. For some blogs I read, that's the only thing we have in common but in others, there are several.

Anyway, just some thoughts.

I just can't stop talking about it...

Tuesday, February 28, 2006

Last post about the sweater. I updated the specs in the previous post with the basics.

Would I knit it again? Yes, definitely! I can see a solid color one in my future but I think it will take a lot longer: mentally AND physically.

What didn't I like about it?

1) Well, the underarms are/were really funky. I realize I forgot to grab a stitch somehow but there was quite the hole there by the time I was done (and the stitch didn't actually drop, it was just there... it was weird). I wasn't sure what the "proper" way to fix it was so I just turned it inside out and sewed it together. It puckers a little but, let's face it, not too many people look at my armpits. Still, I'd like to know why it happened, if it's a normal problem for top-down raglans, and what the real way to fix it is.

2) Knitting the neckline! Third time's a charm, I guess.

3) This is a silly little thing but I wish the pattern would have said bluntly: after you connect in the round, make sure to change colors on the side of the sweater instead of the "ends" where you were changing them before... because then they end up right in the middle of your front and are very noticable. Seemed obvious after the second stripe there but sometimes I'm a little thick and need these things pointed out.

But really, I loved it. I loved knitting it, I loved the challenge, I loved the Olympics and Knitting Olympics, it was a fun two weeks.




Next up: My scarf, which I'm not enjoying. Kurt needs new fingerless mitts too and all I want to do is knit myself another pair of socks. Boo. (You can see what's coming too? Yeah, knitting monogamy be damned...)

Where's my podium?

Sunday, February 26, 2006

Thank you for the comments about my camera phone pictures. I'm still a little shocked at the quality too! Definitely makes the purchase seem a more worthwhile. Plus, last night, I realized that my resolution has been on Medium this whole time... wow, so I turned it up to high and took a couple pictures at the show last night. More on that later.

Also in the comments, Jessica asked about the Tubular Bind-Off. I did indeed find a great tutorial online. I have one for the Tubular Cast-On as well, but I think it's bookmarked at work. I'll try to remember to post it on Monday. *edit* Here it is!

And now for what you've all been waiting for... I finished the sweater! The knitting was done Friday night, the weaving in of ends yesterday at Kurt's archery class, and also the *gasp* tacking of the V-neck point. (Marisa, I was scared doing this for a couple of inches so I can't imagine going around a whole hat!) Then I washed and blocked it in time for me to rush out the door to Fargo yesterday for the Winter Carnival.



Is that worth a gold medal or what?

*edit*Specs
Pattern: Essential Stripe Sweater from Knit and Tonic in the smallest size
Yarn: Wool of the Andes from Knitpicks in Pumpkin, Hollyberry, Iron Ore, and Mist. Almost two complete balls of Iron Ore and 1+ balls of the others.
Needles: US 7, 29 inch circulars and US 7 DPN's

I'll have to add the specs later (added) or I'll be late for knitting group. Oh, and I'll show you the high-res pics and other surprises about my camera phone tomorrow. For today, I'm going to bask in my Olympic glory. :)

P.S. The completed sweater picture was actually taken with the digital camera, not my phone. It was easier to set up for the timer.

Wow

Friday, February 24, 2006

Who needs a digital camera when your phone takes pictures like this?



I finally went out and bought the USB Card Reader for my phones memory card (which is roughly the size of a fingernail). Why didn't I think of getting one of these before? Only $20 and I could have been transferring pics from the digital camera I borrow from work to my computer at home instead of spending my breaks doing it at work and then transferring to home. And now I can just take pictures with my phone.

Here are the ones I took of my Knitpicks order when it finally arrived. You know, the ones I tried to email to myself for $.25 and forgot to attach. Doh. That's Essential sock yarn, and Wool of the Andes for my sweater and winter set.



And lastly, here's one Kurt took of me last night ripping out the cuff of my first sleeve. After careful calculations I knit it up, tried it on several times, and then at the last minute (before binding off thankfully) realized it was STILL too short.



As of this morning one sleeve was done and the other is about six and a half inches from completion. Then reknitting the neckband. I think I'm going to make it! But I'd better get knitting.

The Last Stretch

Tuesday, February 21, 2006

This weekend is kind of a blur. I got my tax refund on Friday so there was a bit of shopping had on Saturday and a tiny bit yesterday. No yarn, sadly, it was for useful things I've "needed" during the year, put them on a list, and bought them with my tax refund. Stuff like: a new frying pan, bras (not even fun fancy ones), and a square cake pan. Oh, and an annual eye exam for Kurt with new glasses to come. Oh, and a down blanket... mmm, so warm. Okay so maybe some of it was fun.

Then I went out with some friends and had a gazillion things to do yesterday. So the weekend full of knitting turned out to be just a few hours of knitting. But I did get a lot done. I re-knit the neckline: still looks like crap. Did I mention that I knit it the first time and it looked like crap? Well, it still does. I'm going to rip it out again if I finish the sleeves in time.

Speaking of sleeves, and therefore arms, I have gorilla arms. Not hairy gorilla arms but giant long gorilla arms. I'm going for the long sleeve version (I'd love to do mid-sleeves but they just sort of bug me) and I have 7 and a half inches left. Can you believe that??



Plus, I have to make up the stripe sequence on the arms soon because they'll, obviously with my gorilla arms, be much longer than the sweater is.

But one great thing: the tubular bind-off. I LOVE the tubular bind-off. I hate to admit it, but I forgot about it until I was halfway through binding off the bottom of the body. But it was sooooo worth tinking back and doing it right. Just look at this baby:



Looks just like those sweaters I've heard you can buy at the store. ;)

I hope everyone's Olympic projects are going great. I actually watched quite a bit of Olympics while knitting this weekend and it was fun. The Freestyle ski jumping especially! Hopefully they have some more of that while I knit 7 and a half more inches of sleeves in the next few days!

Action Progress Shot

Thursday, February 16, 2006

Nothing like Olympic knitting to get you posting every day...

Here I am on my lunch break, modeling my sweater.



It's definitely a fitted sweater but so cozy comfy I didn't really want to take it off. As I was putting the stitches back on my circ's I started thinking that maybe I should keep the body stitches on the scrap yarn and pick up and knit the neckline. That way I would have a better idea of how much longer I should knit the body (since the neckline seems to really pull the sweater up and together). But I'm also beginning to worry about running out of certain colors... namely the color I was going to do the neckline in. If I decide at the last minute to make a the mid-sleeve version, is that cheating?

Maybe I should also mention that the only pullover sweater neckline I've ever done looked like shit. I'm kind of scared about that and kind of maybe just want to get it out of the way.

I love how some people are really doing the math on this and I'd like to set some real concrete (and realistic) goals for myself too but... the truth is I'm a bit scared to. So instead I'll just announce that I'd like to have the body and neckline done by Saturday sometime and the sleeves started by knitting group on Sunday. Especially since I'm going to be gone next weekend. It hurts to say that "outloud" but yes, I will probably not be getting ANY knitting done the last 2-3 days of the Olympics.

Okay, now I'm scared. Yipes.

Olympic slow-down

Wednesday, February 15, 2006

There's something getting in the way of my Olympic knitting. It's not like I didn't see this coming. I mean, it's the main reason I really consider this sweater a challenge for Olympic purposes (the actual knitting is pretty mindless). That something getting in the way is Life. Tuesdays and Thursdays are busy at the Red house. Kurt has martial arts classes, I walk/jog on the treadmill, minor grocery shopping sometimes happens, supper needs to be cooked and eaten, violin practiced etc. etc. Last night was no exception. Below I detail the changes Life has made in my knitting:



You might have to click it to see my great Paint-style handwriting. Yeah, I got about 7 rows done last night.

But tonight, there are big plans! To knit!

------------------

On another related note: Stephanie, aka the Yarn Harlot, has freaked me out with that countdown ticker on the side of her blog. Did you know the Olympics are already 30% over with? And I barely have half a sweater body! And I'd actually rather not mention: no sleeves, no neck band, and no ends weaved in. (more on ends later)

------------------

And last, but not least. I'm so proud of my little brain sometimes. I remembered the spit joining technique in time for the body of the sweater. Not in time for the first half but just looking at these pretty little joins (that don't have any ends to weave in) makes it all okay. (Yes, I realize this is gross but man is it ever helpful.)



Again with the clicky-clicky if you want to see my Paint-talent. Particularly the little sad face by the join-that-couldn't. No one will notice though - it's right under my armpit.

And with that lovely vision, I bid you adieu!

Flash your tools meme

Tuesday, February 14, 2006

Now that everyone has probably forgotten about it, I finally got around to the Flash Your Tools meme. I took the picture this weekend (and didn't even think to snap a pic of the beginnings of the sweater) and popped the numbers on today. The box that fits all this junk, I mean, useful stuff is right on top of the number 5. A plain old cardboard checkbox. I can't believe all this stuff fits in there...



1) Rubberbands - remember when I made my own needles and then bent them and tried straightening them out by rubberbanding them together? Yeah, it didn't work. But I do use one rubberband to hold the box shut when I throw it in a bag to go knit somewhere other than on my couch.

2) Bells - I took these off my cats collars when I re-collared them in January. I thought I'd let them get used to the collar first, then the tag, them maybe put a bell on. However, they took their collars off within three days of me putting them on... repeatedly. So they're collarless again.

3) Balls and scraps of yarn - I can't seem to let things go. The balls come in handy when I need a bit of scrap yarn to hold stitches (like when I tried my sweater on last night - I used the dark blue). The scraps have specific purposes. The white one on the right if mercerized cotton so it works great for the crocheted provisional cast-on I use on my socks. The grey/ whiteish one I use to hold my stitches when I'm working a short row heel.

4) Pompom templates - Self explanatory, I think. Handmade cardboard templates.

5) Elastic/ grocery list/ scribbled notes about knee-highs. You know, I scribble on whatever is closest at the time, it works.

6) Scissors - I love these. I love them so much I don't even fold them back up unless I'm putting them in my pocket.

7) Stitch holders - Yeah.

8) Crochet hooks - Provisional cast-on, picking up stitches, etc. etc. I inherited most of my crochet hooks (I have a ton more) from my Grandma when she had to quit due to her eyesight.

9) Seam ripper - I have no idea why this is in my knitting box. I should put it away.

10) Tape measure - Uh-huh.

11) Stitch markers/ Row counter/ Darning needle - Also all inherited from my Grandma. The row counter is the coolest because it has a little tape measure inside that pulls out to measure rows.

12) Pen and pencil - I use these when I'm not typing on a computer.

And that's it. My tools.

Quickie post...

Monday, February 13, 2006

My big plans for Olympian knitting have been a bit scaled. Or rather, my big plans for documenting my Olympian knitting. Here I am, Day 4, having just taken the first pictures of my progress.



I cast on around quarter of six on Friday evening, while watching Akira Kurosawa's Dreams with my son. Beautiful, beautiful short films. I hadn't realized some would be so heavy and dark though... thank goodness the implications (nuclear explosions, radiation sickness, pollution, etc.) were almost completely lost on my son. I think our favorite was the one where a man steps into Van Gogh's paintings in order to talk to the master, played by Martin Scorcese.

Then, promptly at 7:00 pm we turned the movie off to watch the Olympics opening ceremonies. But... we got bored. So we switched between those and The Parent Trap, newer version. I like the old one better.

My goal for the sweater was to get the raglan increases completed and have it connected in the round in time for knitting group on Sunday. But with bread baking Sunday morning and house cleaning and laundry I barely managed to scrape by with connecting it in the round right before bed last night. But I did it!



At times, I've wondered if I chose a project that wasn't quite challenging enough. It seems to be flying by, and the stripes seem to make it go faster than if I had just done it solid. But it wasn't all smooth sailing. I have to admit I have been challenged, if only because of my slow little brain. I changed the first red color from the Cranberry to Hollyberry and now, even though I really like how it looks, I almost regret it. The colors are a little funky but everyone assures me it's beautiful. I had a couple short frog sessions and at least two tink back an entire row sessions. But last I left it, it was smooth sailing. Boring stockinette, reading-while-I-knit, sailing. Let's hope there's more of that tonight.

I hope everyone's Olympics are going well! I know Jessica hit a few snags. Might have just been sitting-next-to-the-Yarn-Harlot nervousness though. Just kidding, Jessica! It's more likely a bit of Debbie Bliss's fault. You should hop over to her blog and cheer her on!

Thursday, February 09, 2006

No I haven't taken a picture of my scarf yet. I've done three repeats of the final (did I say final?) cable pattern but I'm still not satisfied with the cast on edge. I keep hoping it will look better blocked but I know that's a heartbreaking way to think because... what if it doesn't?

In order to distract you, I have a link to the first news piece about the Knitting Olympics. It makes me grin to think I'm part of something this huge. It's fun, isn't it?

Training.... Commence!

Tuesday, February 07, 2006

My knitpicks order arrived on Saturday. Out of curiousity I decided to check my math, thinking that it arrived on the 14 day mark. Um, no, it arrived on the 17 day mark. So I guess I wasn't antsy for nothin'!

But it DID arrive. And in time for the Olympics! Whew. So I swatched this weekend for my Essential Stripe with my lovely misty colored Wool of the Andes. I was shocked to find that my stitch gauge was perfect but my rows are just a teensy bit shorter. Row gauge is 23 rows over 4 inches and I had 24. But I'm not too worried. I might just end up with an extra row or two of one color in there every once in awhile to even it out.

As for the beautiful yarn that I've just been drooling over here's a pic:



Oh, that's right. I took pictures with my shiny new camera phone but when I emailed them to myself I realized I forgot to attach them. Whoops. Guess I might need to consult my owner's manual after all.

Pictures on hold until I either figure out this phone (I really want to know how they look as a regular picture and not on a teeny tiny screen) or I get some with the digital.

After swatching, I jumped in and got started on my scarf. And then I frogged and jumped in again. And then I frogged and jumped in again. Or maybe I was just jumping in the pond during all my spare moments yesterday because as of last night when I went to bed the pretty Hollyberry yarn was absent from my needles once again. I started with a variation of the Irish Hiking Scarf but I didn't like my changes so I tried something else. Then finally I decided just to give in and knit the Irish Hiking Scarf as is: sort of boring three cables. But I couldn't decide on a Cast On. I think I'll check out the Knitalong and see what others have done and give it another go tonight.

Just had to share...

Thursday, February 02, 2006

So I finally attempted (for the second time) to put some elastic in my knee-highs last night. I wore them today to test it out and they actually stay up! I'm very excited and my feet are very happy.

Dreaming

Tuesday, January 31, 2006

Listening to: Modest Mouse - Live at the Showbox 12.22.02 (so fun because I was at that show)

I used to knit and knit
Sweaters, scarves, and socks
Now I sit and sit
And wait for a big brown box

Can you guess what I was thinking about as I tried to fall asleep last night? I know it hasn't been that long since I ordered my yarn (nine business days) but I'm very antsy since last time I ordered I had such a quick shipment. I'm getting excited about my scarf, even though I haven't chosen a pattern yet and I don't even have to tell you that I'm excited to start swatching for my sweater.

The more I think about the scarf, the more the idea of the plait and cables appeals to me but I'll have to take a better picture of the sample and decide. Seeing a picture of something just makes or breaks it sometimes, you know?

In the meantime, I've been knitting dishcloths. No pictures because, let's face it, they're seed stitch dishcloths. Light blue, pretty small - about 6" squares, boring dishcloths. Maybe the monotony of dishcloths finally got to me because I went out and bought a shiny new cell phone today. This thing is amazing. The pictures are really pretty (at least in small camera view) at 1.3 megapixels and I'm planning to purchase the memory card which will allow me to transfer MP3's to my phone and pictures to my computer for free. I'm usually not a material person so it's a weird experience to fall in love with a little tiny piece of technology that cost more than my car payment... but here I am, taking that plunge.

With all this talk about dishcloths and plunging you'd think I was in the kitchen clearing a clog out of the sink! I'll post again when I have something fun to talk about.

Friday, Friday, Hooray!

Friday, January 27, 2006

The mailman still hasn't left me any giant boxes of yarn. But I have high hopes for this weekend.

Not too much to say today. No knitting was done last night. I've started exercising and it has been just whooping me in the ass. I get done, pick my son up from his martial arts class, go home and lay on the couch for a bit, maybe read part of a book, then just crash. Before 10:00 pm and, dare I say it, some nights before 9:30 pm.

But I thought I'd share my Knitting Olympics picture. I really like it but I don't know how to make the text still visible when I shrink it down to button size. I'm afraid it might be something really easy so if you know the trick, please let me know.



Have a great weekend!

Cables

Thursday, January 26, 2006

I had high hopes for the cables pictures I took last night but, as you can see, they did not turn out very well. This is, believe it or not, the best of the bunch. From the bottom up I did 1) C6F in the middle every 8 rows and C6B every four rows on the sides, 2) C6F in the middle every 8 rows and C6B every alternating 8 rows on the sides, 3) A 9-stitch plait in the middle with C6B every 8 rows on the sides. I know you can't see that last one at all so you might have to imagine it. My next thought is to try the C6F in the middle and flat cables on the sides. Not sure how else to explain that. They would have the two twists and then a flat area for maybe 12 rows or something.



If you happen to know of any beautiful, super-cool cable scarf patterns (other than the Irish Hiking Scarf) please let me know. And cross your fingers that the mailman brings me something special today.

Filling in some spaces...

Wednesday, January 25, 2006

Okay, so it IS Cranberry in the sweater amd Hollyberry just for the winter set. Since I'm such a visual person I had to change the Hollyberry picture to Cranberry in my previous post so if you're curious about how the real colors I chose look together you can scroll down to see. But then scroll back up again because I'm not done yet.

I've taken a picture of my current cable swatch ideas but can't upload it until tomorrow morning. The reason I say "current" is because I ripped out the first set to start the second set with a fresh idea. Still not loving any combination of cables in particular yet. In the back of my mind I see myself giving up the search and just knitting the Hermione Hat and mittens. But I'm just not sure I'm a cable and bobble type of gal. I like cables but those bobbles just kind of throw me off.

And the book I was trying to mention yesterday was The Ultimate Sourcebook of Knitting and Crochet Stitches. Another Reader's Digest one. Do they make great knitting books, or what?

Last but certainly not least, you may notice a new button on the sidebar for the Knitting Olympics. I tried making my own and failed miserably (but it was so cool, it had an eagle holding yarn and everything!) so I grabbed one of Jessica's beautiful buttons. Feel free to use one of hers, just save it to your own server.

P.S. I just realized when I have to republish 5 million times, which I always do because I'm a perfectionist, Bloglines makes it look like there are multiple new posts. Sorry about that. It's just me being anal.

Knit Talk

Tuesday, January 24, 2006

Not having a current project to work on sure doesn't put a damper on my knitterly thoughts. In lieu of a project, I picked up the Reader's Digest Knitter's Handbook by Montse Stanley from my library. My knitting theory thus far has been to pick a project and learn the stitches required to make it. Come to think of it, that's my theory on just about anything. But looking through this book has inspired me.

For example, for my first Ribby Cardi, I used the Tubular Cast-on because someone mentioned that it was nice and stretchy and "looked good". But I never really thought about it too much. Sure it looked nice and stretched on the Ribby Cardi but did I understand why? Nuh-uh. But Montse Stanley is teaching me why. *nods solemnly*

So, follow my train of thought here, having that awesome knitterly resource at my fingertips made me wonder what else could be sitting there getting dusty in the library. Couple that with the fact that I'm waiting (oh so patiently) for my Knitpicks order* to arrive and you can find me at the library checking out this great book of knitting patterns. No, not that kind of patterns... I don't have the book on hand for the name but bear with me. In it, I found dozens of different cable designs I could use for my cabled hat, mitten, and scarf set. So I spent the whole weekend swatching for my scarf and it was so fun. Good thing I'm a process knitter... I'll try to get a picture of the finalists to show you before I start (the scarf will be my pre-Olympics project).

*Whew. So, Knitpicks. For my Essential Stripe Olympics Sweater we have Wool of the Andes in:



Actually, since I don't have my knitting folder in front of me, I'm unsure if the sweater has Hollyberry in it. It may have Cranberry and the Hollyberry is for my winter stuff set. I'll verify later.

Anyway, this was my first big yarn order ever. Along with the sweater and winter set stuff I had to throw in some sock yarn, didn't I? Bless my tax refund, shopping is fun.

(Sorry this post is such a mish-mash of half-finished thoughts. I've been super busy working on a big grant and work and my mind is a bit mushy. Hopefully it'll clear sometime late next week after the grant is in the mail.)

Meme

Friday, January 20, 2006

I thought about tackling the meme Marisa and Ellie did yesterday but I can't think of any habits that are interesting enough without being outright crazy. I'd rather the internet didn't know how crazy I can be. Though I will admit that I sort of agree with Ellie's mirror thing - not that I think Bloody Mary is going to come out, but I just don't like them, especially in dark rooms.

Instead I'll do the meme I saw on In the Pink. More straightforward, which is what my poor brain needs today.

4 jobs you have had:
Assistant librarian
Record store clerk (aka record store bitch)
Lab Technician (QA on McDonald's french fries)
Tours Editor (volunteer position but it's still a job, right?)

4 movies you could watch over and over:
Lost in Translation
Le Mepris
Drugstore Cowboy
End of Evangelion

4 TV shows you love to watch:
The Office (British Version)
Becker reruns
Will and Grace if it happens to be on
I really don't watch TV that often...

4 places you have been on vacation:
Huntington Beach, CA
Bellingham, WA
New York, NY
Every tourist trap in South Dakota

4 websites you visit daily:
Bloglines
Livejournal
Google
Tiny Mix Tapes

4 of your favorite foods:
Fettucine with Ham and Cream (homemade noodles, one of my specialties)
Chicken Cordon Bleu
Tortilla Soup (clear broth version, not the creamy kind)
Popcorn

4 places you would rather be right now:
Knitting on the couch
Sleeping in my cozy bed
My dad's farm
Chicago. I love Chicago.

4 bloggers you are tagging:
I'd rather not but if anyone wants to do it, feel free. I love reading the responses.

Olympic knitting

Tuesday, January 17, 2006

I love the Olympics. Much like Friday the 13th I'm not really sure why. I've heard the arguments against, including the opinion that Olympic athletes are all rich snobs. I don't quite understand why that, if it's true, should exclude them from being appreciated for training so hard to be so good at their area of expertise but, I digress. Many of you probably read Harlot's moving piece about the Olympics and Citius, Altius, Fortius (Faster, Higher, Stronger). I think my love for the Olympics moved me a bit too much on this one because I signed up for the challenge.

Okay, okay, I'll be truthful: what really moved me to sign up (even though I don't see my name on the list yet) was the Essential Stripe Sweater, long-sleeved and v-necked. I've been eyeing this sweater for awhile and finally bought the pattern a few weeks ago. True to fashion, I've read the pattern at least three times already. I've bought some new needles. I've ordered color cards from Knitpicks and made some really close color matches to the picture. (Yes, I know I'm admitting to being one of those people who makes sweaters the same color as the model's but I can't help it on this one: I love those colors and I think they'll look good on me. So same colors it is.) I'll probably be ordering the yarn this week sometime in hopes that I can become an Olympic knitter. My challenge is really the whole top-down on circ's for the first time WITH gazillions of stripes. Man, oh man, 16 days.

Also, I'm wearing the socks today. It makes me grin just typing that. I LOVE these socks. They're so fun and so cute and so cozy. I may have to add elastic but, for now, I'm just basking in the fun, cute, coziness.

Unfortunately, this means I have to survive a two-hour each way drive tomorrow for work without a good knitting project. I may just have to offer to drive.

Friday the 13th

Friday, January 13, 2006

So I've been dropping Happy Friday the 13th's all over blogland today. I love Friday the 13th. Have ever since I was a kid. But it's not like I do anything for it or celebrate, or get reckless, or superstitious. I just like it. So Happy Friday the 13th!

Today will be a fun post then. Screw the frustrations of the day. Presented here is my favorite gift I received this holiday season. It's from my friend Courtney who also gave us a jar of Nutella because we'd never had it before. It's so yummy! The gift though, is a clock... made out of a Rolling Stones record. How cool is that?! It's a new addition to my kitchen. I can't wait to own a home where it will probably go in my office/craft/music room.

Have a great weekend, knitters! I'll be finishing up the socks and hopefully starting something new!

Knitting Content Here

Thursday, January 12, 2006

This week has been so busy with so many different projects (not knitting related) I hardly know how to blog about knitting.

This weekend though I knit up a neck warmer thing for Kurt. A friend of mine told me the name for such things but I seem to have forgotten it already. There was a problem though. While it knit up nice and tight and squishy and perfect it didn't wash very well. Remember my grey Ribby Cardi? Yeah. This was done in Wool-ease as well and, when washed, grew to gigantic proportions. So I dried it, hoping it would shrink up but... it didn't. It's still much too big. I HATE HATE HATE Wool-ease now!!! With the fire of a thousand suns I hate it! The first sweater I knitted using it is great. I wear it aaaaall the time and, if anything, it's shrunk a little in the wash. The only possible difference I can think of is that I was still knitting in the combined fashion when I knitted that particular sweater.

So that little neck warmer experiment sucked.

I think I can just take out the seam and seam it much farther in, then tack down the extra seam flaps on the inside but it still makes me too angry every time I look at it.

And, since I went "out" Monday to a Pampered Chef party with a friend and had one too many glasses of wine, and have had appointments and grocery shopping and everything else, the socks have hardly been knitted on all week. Just a little ribbing while waiting in the dentist's office yesterday. I hate the dentist. I took a picture of the socks anyway.*

I also took a couple other pictures but am trying to learn the joy of saving pictures and posting more often with them instead of getting stuck at home with the digital camera at work all the time and only posting once a week. So those will come in due time. ;)

I hope your knitting is going better than mine!

*If anyone is wondering why there have been no standing "here are my knee highs on" pictures it's because I took a couple and was completely embarrassed by how skinny my legs look. I look like a stick person! I have toothpicks for legs! And I just hate the way they look.

Premature posting....

Thursday, January 05, 2006

Okay. Well. The math seems to have overtaken me after all. Since when does the top of socks need to have zero ease? Um, for knee highs to stay up, I'd think (now, after they're done I would think) the k2p2 at the top should have negative ease. Hmm. Well. But then there might be the problem of getting that negative ease over the calf muscle (hah, like it's all muscle).

They are wearable, don't get me wrong. And they look spectacular. Not to mention I love the idea of telling people when they ask about them that they're "custom made" just for my skinny little legs. Teehee.

But... it would be nice if "custom made" meant I wouldn't have to pull them up all the time like I do store bought knee highs.

Am I crazy here? Should I rip out and do more decreases before the top? And maybe lose the elastic that doesn't seem to do a damn thing?

help.

True Stories

Wednesday, January 04, 2006

Listening to: Silkworm - Blueblood

Well, I finished the stripey socks. The math did not overpower me, the frogging didn't kill me, and by God they actually fit. I can hardly believe it. I ended up using elastic in the k2p2s at the top but I can't feel that it did any good. I've only had them on about 10 minutes and I can already feel them slip-slip-slipping down. So that sucks. But just wait till you see them. They're gorgeous.

I'm also blogging from home. Wow, it feels odd.

Also, I found out today that when I paid bills last week I accidentally sent my car payment to my landlord and (hopefully) my rent check to the bank for my car payment. I laughed so hard when I got the message from my landlord and then again on the phone with the bank lady (who was so nice and actually laughed with me a little bit) and then throughout the day every time I stopped to think about it. Damn those holiday-time bill paying sessions. Too much to do and not enough time and look what happens. Hah. The good(?) news is that the bank won't care. They'll cash the check no matter who it's made out to. Isn't that strange? I still find it strange. Mostly in a haha strange way but sort of in a creepy haha way too. I just keep picturing this big machine at the bank ripping open envelopes and eating checks whether they belong to it or not. Hilarious, yet wrong. I mean, it's made out to my landlords... What do you think: funny or creepy or both?

One last true story also has little to do with knitting so if you're here just for the knitting you might want to skip it. It has to do with music. Specifically my CDs and how I have this tradition of listening to them all, from A-Z, alphabetized by band name, every year around this time. It's a big job that takes at least a month. And in the past couple of years has been really sluggish. Mainly because, you know,
it's hard to go through 6 Black Crowes or 8 Modest Mouse CDs in a row no matter how much you like them. But this year my son had this awesome idea. He suggested, smart little guy that he is, that I rearrange the whole shebang according to ALBUM TITLE instead of band name. EUREKA! Or should I say ZAIREEKA! This whole marathon thing is just flying by this year because it feels so random! Who knew it could be this fun again?

I hope to have pictures of the Stripey Socks tomorrow. And I suppose I have to find another project to replace them. Hmm... I'll get back to you on that one.

Finally Some Stripey Sock Goodness

Wednesday, December 28, 2005

Yesterday I took some pictures on my lunch break and here I am posting them on the tail end of my lunch break. Good use of my time I say. Last night I knit more on one of the socks and today decided I might frog a good 4-5 inches. That is not a good use of time but it's my own fault for not planning better. Anyway, on to the pictures first!

Ta-da! Look at those beautiful stripey socks. Admire that beautiful, bright, awesome yarn Marisa sent me. I love it! Maybe you can see why this yarn just begged to be made into knee-highs rather than just calf jumpers.

Take a look at this pic and see if you can spot the surprise...

Oh my gosh it's true: they match! I could hardly believe it myself until I actually saw the photographic evidence. There is a slight difference in the bright color stripes height - they look wider on the short sock - but from toe to heel they still match so I'm really excited. And it wasn't even that hard! I did have to sacrifice a few stripes from one ball of yarn but I think it was worth it.

Now, back to the frogging. Well, the socks just seemed so stretchy, and my legs are so damn skinny, I thought I might be able to get away with none (or very few) increases for the calf. But they're stretching so much to fit that it kind of looks funny. You know, like the sock is just about ready to burst at it's seams (if it had seams, that is).

So I used the handy-dandy Sock Calculator to find out what I probably should have done instead. I don't know about that calculator though... if I had as many stitches around as they called for with my gauge, this sock would be slipping off... Anyway, I then converted the increases and decreases in that pattern (top down) into decreases and increases for my pattern (toe-up) to see what (if any, please don't let there be any!) changes I would have to make. Yep, there's changes. I didn't have the heart to rippit on my lunch break so it will probably happen tonight. It's okay, I guess. I mean, I still hadn't gotten to the fabric store to buy some cotton covered elastic for the tops anyway. More math forthcoming tonight. Cross your fingers that the increases won't eat up too much yarn. I want real knee-highs here.

Movie Day II

Tuesday, December 27, 2005

Actually, I can't believe I'm posting again without pictures of the socks. How can I keep doing this?? Well, someone else had the digital camera from work this weekend, so I was camera-less. But I did get a lot done on the socks! I promise to show you soon. Meanwhile, let me distract you with this fuzzy camera phone (my sisters) pic of my grandma and her new shawl:

Now, doesn't she just look like the happiest 97-year-old you've ever seen? She was practically bursting with happiness and awe that someone would make her something so beautiful and intricate. I kept telling her the pattern was actually quite simple but she just wouldn't hear it, she's in love. So much in love, in fact, that she rushed (as fast as any 97-year-old woman can rush) to her dresser drawer where she had put the other shawl I made her. You know, the one that was "just too small" that she "really liked, but it's just too small". She rushed to the dresser to get it and practically shoved it into my hands to take home. It was hilarious and fun and just the best Christmas present I gave to anyone this year. The best response in the world.

The other gifts were well-received but man, oh man, my grandma was so cute.

Now I must work because this afternoon my office is going to a movie. Either Rumor Has It, which I don't care to see at all for numerous reasons, or The Family Stone, which I do want to see because I love Luke Wilson and think it looks pretty good. Speaking of the office... I finished watching the British version of the series The Office last night as a cap-off to a wonderful movie day. Kurt and I watched Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and The Secret of NIMH before he left for his grandma's house - and ate popcorn and candy and had a grand ol' time. Then he left. And then I cried. It's been much too long since he's spent this many days away from home all at once and I'm just not very happy about it (since the only real reason he's going is because I can't afford the outrageous cost his daycare charges for holiday days off.) BUT, The Office was just spectacular and hilarious and exactly my kind of TV. So much so that I have no desire whatsoever to watch the American version, which I've heard is quite less than par when compared to this one.

Anyway, like I said: gotta work. Hope all your holidays were splendid!

Christmas knitting and holiday cheer

Wednesday, December 21, 2005

Listening to: Magnolia Electric Co. - I Can Not Have Seen the Light

I was finally able to take pictures of my Christmas knitting today... in a short snacking session in my supervisor's office. She makes the best chip dip ever.

Not too much has been going on at the Red house (I can't believe I just said that... but I'm beginning to understand why people do, so there it is. Internet anonymonity it is.) I finished my Christmas knitting last week. I had fun little day dreams that I would end up bringing the pink socks to Christmas Eve and finish knitting them there, thus surprising the SIL with them, but alas, they're completed. Now I just have to wrap them all up and get them ready to go.

I've also stumbled upon Blogger's picture inserting thing today when trying to figure out how to make a thumbnail-type pic in here. I guess I'm so used to using photobucket for uploading pics that I hadn't realized Blogger can do it for me. So I'll be posting one picture how I normally do and another with Blogger.



SIL's cable socks (I also never thought I would use the acronym SIL, this is a day of firsts people.)
Yarn: Baby Ull in REALLY BRIGHT PINK
Needles: Katie Size 1's... since I've realized my gauge with these puppies is waaay different than my gauge with "real" wood needles. I made these.
Pattern: None, really. Wendy's generic toe-up with added cables.

These socks are so awesome. If they weren't bright pink, I'd be very, very tempted to keep them at home with me.



And the blogger pic. This is my stack of Christmas knitting. I really hope you can click it for a zoomed in version. I was amazed at my photography skills here for the clarity I got of the stitches. Never have I seen such beauty. Ahem, just kidding. But it does look much better big. And you can actually see the cables on this one.

As for current knitting, here are the WIPs of the day:

Socks.
For me! This is with the awesome self-striping yarn Marisa sent me and the awesome US 2 bamboo needles she included. Knitting socks goes so much faster with these slick needles! I really will get a picture soon. And I have a surprise about these socks when I do, an accomplishment of sorts.

Fingerless gloves with mitten flaps.
I've had this pattern since before I learned to knit. See, I'm a little over-confident sometimes and I had thought that once I learned the knit and purl stitches I could figure out how to make these gloves. Well, that didn't happen. But here I am, a little over one year later, making them! I started them when my grandpa first went into the hospital, started wearing them (sans flaps) yesterday, and now have one flap done. They're sort of a interim pair until I get some yarn and decide what I really want for a matching set of winter gear. More on this in another post.

So that's it. I'm not too thrilled about Christmas but I am glad I'm almost completely ready for it. I can't wait for it all to be over and 2006 to start. The calm of January will be my saving grace, I think. Not sure when I'll get to post again but I hope you all have happy holidays for whatever holidays you celebrate. Today I'm celebrating the Solstice. :)



*edit* Blogger is the best! I'm posting my pictures through Blogger from now on!

Narnia, Knitting and Hospitals... and Cats

Monday, December 12, 2005

The movie was fantastic! Kurt and my friend Susie thought it was the best movie they'd ever seen. I am unable to say that due to my nit-picky annoyance with inconsistancies but it really was great anyway! I don't want to spoil it for anyone though so I'll keep my grudges to myself unless someone really wants to hear them. I will say the wardrobe scenes were perfect! No weird shining, they literally stumble through just like in the book.

The pink socks are over half done. Here is an attempt to show the first finished one in our pale winter sunlight on a cloudy day. I love how the cables get wider towards the top of the sock and seem tiny by the toes. They're all the same size but the stretch just makes them look so much more complex.



I'm a little over halfway up the foot on the second one. I can't believe it's like 13 days before Christmas and I haven't even started shopping, haven't finished this gift, and haven't put up a single decoration. But I guess part of that is the trips to the hospital and just the regular busyness of the season. Yesterday we had quite the scare again with my grandpa. He had been doing so much better but yesterday they thought he may be having another small stroke. Late in the day they ruled that out but so far have no idea what happened - why he became unresponsive and his blood pressure dropped so low (it was 75/47 when we first went back yesterday morning!). An MRI was planned for this morning until he woke up last night, now it seems it's not needed? So frustrating.

Before all that happened though, I decided I should probably prove to you all that I really do have two cats. They're the sweetest little scaredy-cats I've ever met. And they're very hard to photograph, especially together! This is Fred and George; Fred is the one looking at me and trying to figure out why I'm pointing that little silver box at him.



And here's George since he's looking away in the other picture.



This one sort of shows how we tell them apart: George has a little white on his chest and a spot on his belly and has really deep orange colored eyes, while Fred's are yellowish-green. Also, George has thick almost coarse fur compared with Fred's soft and fluffy fur (you can kind of see this on his tail in the first picture).

Anyway, I won't go on and on about my cats but there they are, real and everything.

Polar bears and wardrodes that shine from within...

Friday, December 09, 2005

The title today is just a few of the gripes I already have about the Chronicles of Narnia movie. I can live with the polar bears since they only pull the witches chariot and not the sleigh but if that light is shining out of the wardrobe as soon as Lucy opens it I'm going to be very disappointed. In the book, every time they go into the wardrobe, they don't see a light until they are past all of the coats - then they begin to see a faint bit of sunlight. It just seems much more suspenseful to me like that. Anyway, we're going tonight as long as there aren't a hundred people in front of me in line when I go buy the tickets when the box office opens. I'll let you know how much I like/don't like it in my next post. I try not to be too picky because I realize things need to be changed for movie adaptations but often I just don't see the logic in *what* they decide to change.

On the knitting front, I finished the first hot pink sock last night and it looks awesome! The more I knit the brighter the pink looked but I'm pretty sure she'll love it. I'm going to try to get a good picture on my lunch break - last night the camera batteries were dead and it was really dark and crappy in the house.

Also, my last package arrived at my Secret Pal Jessica's house so she knows who I am and is thrilled with her package. Go over to her blog and check it out! I can't wait to find out who my pal is.

Secret Pal was so fun but I don't think I'll be participating in the next round. January and February are going to be quite hectic for me, I think, so I'll just watch this one from the sidelines.

And last, but certainly not least, my grandpa is doing much better though he has still not regained movement in his left side. Unfortunately, this means he will not be able to go home. Talk is that they are going to send him to Fargo (an hour south of here, two hours south of where he and my grandma live) to a long-term care facility. This sucks but I've heard it's a pretty good place so hopefully he'll improve even more while he's there. I have mixed feelings. On one hand I would rather he go home but on the other, if going home means my grandma has to take care of him like he is a child and further demean his sense of independence and decency I would rather he go to the long-term care facility.

So, that is my super long update. Have a great weekend!

*edit* What in the world was I thinking "pictures on my lunch break"?! I had to get Narnia tickets! There wasn't a crowd there but the lady in the box office told us to come an hour early in order to get seats together (there will be five of us). An HOUR! Guess I'll be bringing the sock. ;)

Worrying + Knitting = Comfort

Monday, December 05, 2005

Thank you so much for your comments. Things are looking a little better now though Grandpa's still not "in the clear," IE: sent to his own room out of the critical care unit. Throughout the weekend I spent quite a bit of time up in the waiting room with my Grandma and other family and the mood is definitely more optimistic.

I'm sure you know the little equation in my title today since you're all knitters. :) I've always been one to create when things are looking dim. So far, I've now finished one fingerless glove, minus the flap, the cuff of the second (my hospital project) and knit up to the heel of a sock for my sister in law. Hah, that's right. Everything I tried to make for her wasn't working and driving me nuts so I thought "Well, what *is* working right now?" and the answer was socks. I took a bit of time on Saturday to stop by my LYS, which I found out was CLOSING, for GOOD, THAT day, and bought some Baby Ull in bright, hot pink. I'm doing two little cables up the foot and am thinking about doing cables instead of plain ribbing on the cuff. They're awesome and it's going swell. Amazing what happens when you find the "right" project. Though I am very sad about my LYS.

So my socks are sort of on hold until hers are done. Then I will knit for myself! Really!

Oh, and I got a message today from my Secret Pal with a Yarn Market gift certificate. I'm overwhelmed by all the beautiful yarn and have no idea what I'll buy yet. Thank you, Secret Pal!!

And the new Knitty... well, it never fails. I'm underwhelmed. I do love Tubey but not sure how the square neck would look on me - usually they're not too flattering. i think it's because I have such a long skinny neck and white pastey skin. Oh well, it's always fun to look at the new patterns! And it reminded me that I was going to post pictures of my Knitty submission that wasn't chosen. I shall do that soon. For now, I'm off to try to concentrate on work...

The Good and the Bad

Friday, December 02, 2005

Well, I probably should have posted yesterday. Yesterday was a pretty good day. You see, my grandpa is in the hospital and is not doing so hot. But yesterday he was doing good. He had surgery on Wednesday for a clot that was bleeding in the back of his neck and it went well, and he was doing well yesterday. Today, not as much. Last night his breathing stopped and they put him back on the ventilator, via an emergency trach in his throat. You know, like you see on ER all the time. Ugh. This is tough. They're not too optimistic right now. If he does get out of the hospital (50/50 chance they say at this point) he'll go to a nursing home and well, the thought of my grandpa - who always needs to be busy with something, whether it be farming, fixing machinery, or the like - in a nursing home is tough indeed.

I've been wanting to post because I got a package the other day, which really helped with surgery day, helped me smile, you know? Thank you so much Marisa! I plan on posting pictures just as soon as I can - the card is so beautiful. And how did you know my favorite incense is Nag Champa? :-) I've already started a pair of socks with the yarn, though not in front of my Grandma, of course - not that she would necessarily notice at this point. It seems I knit a hell of a lot tighter with nice slick bamboo needles though so... they're a bit small and will have to be restarted.

Anyway, I just wanted to update and say "thanks". I also heard from my Secret Pal the other day and am excited about that. I'm headed to the office then the Post Office to send *my* pal's last box. I'm so excited to let her know who I am! Excited and sad and anxious and everything else. It's a difficult mix of emotions today. Hope you have a good one.

Stupid scarf

Tuesday, November 29, 2005

Current listening: White Stripes - Get Behind Me Satan

Um, so here is the curly scarf, dying a slow painful death.



It's only problem was that it was a little too wide - so wide that it sort of looked like it was going to attack and eat me starting at the chin and then heading south. You have to trust me on this one because during it's short life, the curly scarf did not have any pictures taken of itself. They would have been R rated for violence anyway due to the aforementioned attack possibility.

This was another lesson in listening to your instincts. If I had, I wouldn't have this pile of pink yarn puke right now. Once I realized it was going to be garter stitch I *almost* frogged and did it in stockinette instead because I knew it would look better. When I realized it was going to be too wide and hideous, I *almost* bound off right there and saved it while it was still cute. But for some reason, this illogical part of me just kept thinking: "if it looks bad, you can always frog it and start over." I just kept clinging to that... not really thinking about what it would be like to frog 720 stitches per row for four rows, or k in front and back loop increases, or hmm, let's see REALLY FUZZY YARN! How stupid can I be? This pretty much sums up the whole project. Oh yeah, and the fact that it was a waste of like ten bucks in nice yarn. Now broken, bedraggled, and impossible to use yarn.

So I started a different project for my sister-in-law. A Minisweater, aka Boobholder, that is also doomed to die. I think one of the problems here (heh, yeah, only one) is that I'm not currently feeling real lovey with this particular relative anyway at the moment. We seem to have a difference of opinion on something important but instead of talking to each other about it, we hear the other's side of the story from a mutual family member. This is ridiculous, I know, but I think her opinion on the subject is none of her business in the first place. But this is all rallying around my point instead of getting to it.

When I knit for someone, I find that I think about that person and our relationship. When that relationship isn't doing so hot, the knitting really suffers, which in turn drives me up the wall. Instead of being relaxing and fun, I've just wanted to throw my knitting across the room lately. Hopefully something will magically knit itself up for her and I'll have this over with.

Until then tell me, do you find that your knitting reflects your current relationships or emotional state?

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wednesday, November 23, 2005

Before I head out for the holiday I thought I would post some pictures. First off are Kurt's socks, which are not yet completed. I think I'll bring them along to my Dad's house but can't knit them at Thanksgiving tomorrow because my Grandma will be there. The grandma my sister wrangled foot measurements out of... so I'm afraid if I bring the socks she'll put two and two together. Anyway, here they are almost completed.



Then the curly scarf that I blogged about yesterday. You know, fizz stardust and all. I was a bit disappointed to find out this scarf doesn't give the instant ruffley satisfaction that Marisa's does. (Would you prefer I just name your blog instead of use your real name? I can change it.) But it's a much easier pattern so I guess I deserve to have to wait. Here is my attempt to make it look at least a little bit curly.



Next is the Mock Cable scarf from Stitch and Bitch Nation. Different needles, different yarn, just basically used the stitch pattern. It's so soft to the touch but a little scratchy on the neck.



Here it is on my neck, it definitely IS cozy. Don't mind the washed out look, that's just the flash and the bright light in my face. Help! I'm caught in the headlights! Erm, maybe that's only funny to me. Like when I started mumbling during my budgeting presentation about a funny typo...



The only other thing of note, I think is that I still haven't figured out how to fix the banner in Internet Explorer. Not sure what to do about that yet either. I'll think about it over the weekend and maybe ask someone who knows a little bit more about these things than I.

Well, have a great weekend! I'll be back next week!

House... What House?

Tuesday, November 22, 2005

Yes, I believe the house deal is falling through as we speak, or type rather. It's been a rollercoaster of sorts. At this moment in time they may be willing to lower the price a little but I am no longer really willing to purchase it - or go as high in price as they would like. I'm sort of a commitment-phobe and while I really really REALLY love the house, this was all just too much, too fast, too hectic. When I find the house I'll buy I know it will all just fall into place... and I won't be worried about making the payments as they do so.

So, yet again, I am no longer a homeowner. Damn. There's a lot more to the story, of course, but for now let's all just go "Awww." and leave it at that.

"Awww."

As for knitting, it's been few and far between. I remembered I had one more knitted Christmas present on my list: my sister-in-law. She's in her first year of college, likes pink and brown, and doesn't need a hat, a scarf or gloves. So I thought a nice bolero would be perfect. A small, fairly easy, machine washable and inexpensive project. I gathered up a few patterns I liked (there were very few I could find that I did) and headed off to the various stores that carry yarn in this here town. Without going into detail, lets just say this shopping expedition, like the majority of my shopping expeditions, doesn't have a happy ending.

Once I got home, I started crocheting (yes, I know this is a knitting blog) with some brown Wool-ease and pearl beads and soon became disillusioned with my crocheting skills, which I previously thought were pretty excellent. I did, after all, start crocheting doilies at the age of nine. Ahem. Due to this little exercise and subsequent starting and stopping of three other projects with various needles, patterns, and ideas, my wrist is freaking killing me. Therefore, little knitting this weekend. I now think I'm going to make her a scarf - a Fizz Stardust Corkscrew Scarf to be exact. Yes, I realize she doesn't need a scarf and I'm copping out here but it's just too much stress and worry and whine for me. She's getting a pretty curly scarf. In a yarn that's more "cotton candy" than "fizz stardust". And actually, to help make me sound like less of a horrible sister-in-law, she will love this scarf. It's totally "her". But first, I'll finish the scarf for the Secret Santa exchange here at work, also made with cotton candy yarn.

Speaking of secret exchanges... Secret Pal... Are you out there? Haven't heard from you in, you know, a long time.

Fridays suck

Friday, November 18, 2005

Whenever Kurt and I talk about our favorites, which we seem to do a lot, I always say that Friday is my favorite day of the week. Mainly because it's the day we spend the evening together watching movies and eating popcorn and being silly. But I'm realizing it's not entirely true. While Friday evening is my favorite evening of the week, the actual day is anything but. In fact, it may be my second worst day next to Monday. Work is soooo slow and unmotivating because there is no one here. Really. In an office of 20-something, on Fridays we usually have 4-6 people here. This afternoon there are three. There are good things about it though: my boss usually lets us leave an hour early and sometimes, like today, he buys us lunch. But getting through the day is pure hell. So I'm taking my afternoon break to whine and complain to you all. I'll stop that now.

I *am* excited. Excited because after I finished eating free pizza for lunch I took off for the movie theator and got us tickets to Harry Potter. They weren't even sold out! I thought for sure they would be but I think the midnight showing last night really helped. So this Friday night movie night will be even cooler and more fun than it usually is. I'm wondering how I can convince Kurt to bring his invisibility cloak* without actually suggesting it. I just think it would be fun. While I was at the theater getting tickets there was a guy - about my age - wearing a Griffyndor colored polo shirt and that was just fun.

And while I took the sock to Turkey Bingo last night at Kurt's school, tonight it will have to stay back at home. I know I could bring it along and knit before the show starts, during the 30 minutes of previews and commercials (commercials! at a movie! I hate it!) but I'd rather sit and talk about the movie with Kurt. It's so fun.

So, ahem, this entry is all about fun. I hope everyone reading this has a fun weekend and I'm sure I'll be back next week with some more knitting content and even *gasp* more pictures.

*The invisibility cloak is just a big square of shiny goldish blackish see-through fabric we bought at the fabric store. It cost less than $5 and has been a source of entertainment for like two years already.

And a snag...

Wednesday, November 16, 2005

Well okay. T-Bomb (can I call you Talitha?) left a comment letting me know that Internet Explorer (I'm assuming a little here) doesn't like my new design. Tis true, I opened my blog up in IE and all I see is the main posting area. The banner and sidebar are completely MIA.

Anyone know how to fix this?

I use Mozilla Firefox and with that my new design looks splendid but in IE it looks unfinished and, dare I say, ugly? Help if you can. I will do what I do best in situations like these: Google.

And a leap!

Tuesday, November 15, 2005

Holy shit, huh? I decided to sit down "for a little bit" tonight and try to figure out what I was going to do about my blog. HTML hates me now. Blogger seems to hate the tables I make even though they're just like the ones I've used in the past. So I just edited my CSS style sheet one. line. at a time. I made damn good use of the Preview button tonight. Take THAT blogger!

Anyway, right now, bleary eyed and tired, I really like the slightly altered layout and I sort of like the new color scheme. I really like my banner. More than I thought I did. Does it make your eyes water? I know it's blurry but it's from a painting I did and I really liked the way it turned out even though it's blurry.

I'm rambling now. The second sock continues! I think I'll get to the heel tomorrow.

P.S. Don't be surprised if there's a new entry from me tomorrow morning saying I hate what I did to my blog... Hah. Hope not.

Baby steps...

Some teeny tiny changes to the page today. I realized last night (while knitting...) that I didn't even get the Secret Pal banner up and, um, Secret Pal is over in a few short weeks. So the little banner is up, as well as the Knitting Blogs one. I'd like to get my links to the blogs I read back up too. I know that's how I delved into this whole blog-reading thing - skipping from blog to blog - and I'm sure new readers (I know there are a few because I've had some comments. Hi!) would appreciate that. So I'll try to make time for it. The overhaul though, on the site, is going very very slowly... mainly because I'm having to reteach myself HTML and most nights I just feel like knitting and not HTML'ing. Anyway, some changes today. Hooray for little tiny banners!

In knitting news: I've now knit the toe on Kurt's second sock three times. THREE. But no matter how many times I do it, the stripes are not going to match up so we're going with what we got. And what we got are non-matching striped socks. Oh well, he'll love them anyway.

That's all. Have a great evening!

Pictures!

Monday, November 14, 2005

It's the Wave and Shell Shawl! And it's completed!


Here it is pre-blocking. Forgive the dark picture, I had to take it Thursday evening so I could get it blocked Friday before I left town.


Blocking Friday morning on my bed. This is the first time blocking on my mattress but not the last for sure! The pins go right in, and stay in, and I can shut the cats out of the room. PERFECT. I counted the pins as I took them out (weird habit) and there were exactly 100. Strange.


Completed. Picture taken this morning before I left the house. I guess we have a storm rolling in so there was no sun at all to light it up. Had to use the flash.

Pattern: Wave and Shell Shawl
Yarn: [I'll post later]
Finished dimensions: ~63" x 22"

I'm so glad to have it done and I love the end result. It's so cozy and pretty. You can see, in at least two of those pictures, the dark rows in the middle of the shawl. Thank God I decided to switch back to a lighter ball of yarn because that dark is really really noticable in the final shawl. It would have looked horrid had I just kept going.

With that out of the way I flew on Kurt's first sock and finished it last night. He's so excited and can't wait to have a pair. I'm so excited because this means I get to start a new project. Well, not counting the pink fuzzy scarf I started on Saturday for my Secret Santa exchange at work. I didn't get pics of that yet though. It's just the Mock Cable scarf from SnBN. I substituted some baby alpaca for the yarns in the book though. Cheap, easy, and looks great. Maybe I'll get pics of these projects sometime this week. But, for now, I'm off to work.

Did I promise pictures?

Thursday, November 10, 2005

...I'm slipping the digital camera in my bag right now. I'll take pictures this weekend and post next week.

I was just sighing over the new Interweave Knits preview that was linked on Jessica's blog. Never have I loved so many projects in a knitting magazine. The Windowpane Jacket, Fair Isle pullover, Bicolor Cables jacket, Retro! Even the Cabled Bandeau is calling to me even though I *know* for a *fact* it would look horrible on me. Tube tops never flatter the flatter chests. Not that I'm like a 7-year-old or anything but I'm certainly not curvy enough to hold that puppy up.

ANYway, the point here is that I have to buy this magazine.

For this weekend though: a dentist appointment, supper with my mom, completion of the Wave and Shell Shawl (finally!), blocking of the shawl (I can't wait!) and work on the ugly *ahem* on Kurt's socks. He doesn't like it when I call them ugly so I'm no longer allowed.

Also, I put a bid in on "the" house but we'll see if they take it. I doubt it, it's pretty low. And I wouldn't close until April 3rd due to renters living in it until then. Weird situation and a long story. But I'm off to have a wonderful weekend! Hope you do too!

No pictures yet...

Sunday, November 06, 2005

and for good reason. I fell in love with a house this week. I've been casually searching for a home for over a year now. I browse the realty circular every few weeks and look at realtor.com when I'm bored but I've never had anything pop out at me and say WOW. I've looked at a few houses, maybe 6-7 and there was only one I liked quite a bit but it needed too much work and sold like hotcakes anyway. There's been this one a few blocks from me that I've driven by but I thought it was a duplex because there are two front doors. This week I set up a time to view a different house also near me but it sucked. I mean really sucked. Weird layout, horrible painting jobs in almost every room and weird renovations. So on a whim I asked the realtor to show me this other one. Walking up to the house I sighed thinking that it didn't look like anything I'd want to buy: too big, too bland, too not what I want. Well, don't judge a book by the cover they always say... as soon as I walked in my brain screamed "this is it!" It's exactly what I want in a house. It's old (107 years!), original hardwood floors and woodwork, character seeping out of every pore, big rooms, a claw foot tub. Need I say more? Okay, it also has closets galore, three bedrooms exactly where I want them, a decent basement, and the neatest windows I've ever seen in the living room and main floor bedroom.

Alright, I'll stop gushing before I throw myself into another panic attack. Suffice it to say I was busy last week. Trying to coordinate some city grants I'll be eligible for, meeting with the bank to be approved for financing (which I was,) frantically working my budget to make sure I can afford it (I can,) and all this in the midst of the business of our every day lives.

I also managed to knit up a tiny baby beanie and mittens for my cousin who's baby shower was on Saturday. I'll post pictures when I get them back - I had to take them with a friend's digital. Then yesterday Kurt and I wound up the third ball of yarn for the shawl. I couldn't do the darker colors. I just couldn't. I left the three pattern repeats with it in there but then switched to this lighter ball (which, of course, is TOO light). The three repeats will be the exact center of the shawl and since I'm a centering freak this worked for me. I worked and worked on it this weekend in an attempt to keep myself calm about the home purchase stuff (I'm so scared someone else will put an offer in before me!) and it sort of worked. In any case, I'm now two pattern repeats from completion. Hooray! No more boring shawl progress shots! Now I can finish Kurt's socks and move onto making some fingerless gloves.

Wish me luck on the house! I'll be calling my realtor first thing in the morning. :)