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.