The Write to Knit

Friday's Conundrum

2008-08-22T15:24:00.000-07:00

So, as I was about to drift off during my daily nap, I had a thought. Right now, it is ridiculously hot and humid where I live. I feel like I have to hack through the air with a very large knife or a machete just to get to the car. It's crazy. Well, with weather like this and good hygiene habits, one (like me) has a tendency to shower more than once a day, just to keep up with the sweating and all that. And, by the way, anyone who doesn't sweat in this kind of weather is utterly amazing and your genes need to be studied at length so that the non-sweaty gene can be isolated and spliced into my DNA, but I digress. So, I was also thinking about how people are prone to hyperbole and outright lies and say things like, "I've taken like 20 showers today, it's so hot outside," and the like when they did not, in actuality, take anywhere near 20 showers that day. So, if you are still on the train of thought with me, here was my thought before I almost drifted into napland before I decided that sharing this particular idea was more important than a second nap for me today: Could I possibly take 20 five minute long showers in one day? I'm thinking through the logistics now, like what exactly constitutes a shower...is it just standing under a running faucet or do you actually have to clean something in the process? If you do have to clean something in the process, how would I break down my body parts to allow for something different to be cleaned in each of the 20 showers of that day? I feel that constantly getting dressed and disrobing in order to shower 20 times in one day would take up a considerable amount of time so it would be best to just hang out in my pjs or a robe for the day, which is generally antithetical to the reason why people usually spend the day in their jammies or a robe. Another question that just occurred to me...since I'll essentially just be hopping into and out of the shower all day, will my fingers prune up slowly over time or will they prune up early on and just stay that way throughout the day? Also, is one to two minutes between showers sufficient time for it to constitute two distinct showers or is that just a continuation of one shower? If it is just a continuation, then how long do I have to wait between each shower for it to constitute its own distinct shower? Before I launch into this experiment into cleanliness (borderline Howard Hughesian cleanliness but I'm not wealthy enough to be eccentric...just weird), I need to tease out the answers to the above questions and get everything worked up logistically. I'll be earth friendly and take every shower with a big bucket and use the water to flush the toilets and water the plants for the next week and I only use all natural soaps so no polluting that way. But anyway...jump on the train of thought with me and help me to become that person who isn't full of crap when they say "I took twenty showers today...it was so hot out."

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The words to the song

2008-08-20T08:10:00.000-07:00

*This post will be a departure from the norm although it will involve me pontificating, which is normal. Consider yourself forewarned.*

A cable outage due to a tropical storm leaves a person with time to sit and listen to music (or watch DVDs or read a book or whatever...this post is about music.). While my love for music fluctuates (doesn't it seem like "fluctuate" should have an -x in it?) between being merely enamored and being totally and completely blinded by the beauty, the love is always there. I was going through a stack of CDs, yes CDs...those wonderfully tangible little discs of light that carry both the notes and the space in between...those fantastically sensitive circles of multicolored sunshine that are going the way of the dodo, the betamax, and the outhouse...Anyway. I was going through a stack of CDs the other day and I've been listening to a lot of music that I haven't listened to in a long time. Now, it's all I'm listening to...in my car, at my house, wherever I am I find that I end up asking if I can put on a CD, listen to a song, hear a note or two. While I could go off on a completely separate tangent about rhythm, beats, melody, and all of those other things that make a song move forward, I'm not feeling technical today (although you wouldn't know it).

I'm all about the lyrics today. I had one of those mornings this morning when I woke up with a song stuck in my head and it wasn't the beat that was rattling around...it was the words. I'm that person who will listen to a song six hundred times in a row to tear it all apart and know it in every possible way...to the point where others who spend a lot of time around me have threatened mild physical violence if I hit the back button on the CD or MP3 player (yes, I do have an iPod...I'm not a Luddite for Krishna's sake) and make everyone listen to that song one more time. It's the words to the song that end up meaning the most. It's the only poetry most people hear today and there are millions upon millions of reasons to get involved, really involved, with a song. The physiological and psychological connections that music makes for us are astounding and sometimes, when I'm all caught up in something else, I forget about that and put my music into the cabinet or hide out with it while I'm working, my brain being fed a song or two via the headphones cupped around the input portholes on my head. Being disconnected from music that means something to you is a tragic thing. I think I've decided that I'd rather drown in a sea of music that I love than just feel the mist of a good musical moment on my face before I return to a silence filled with noise. I've decided that I will get up and dance about whenever I need to because the music has sunk itself into me so deeply I don't have a chance. I've decided to recognize the fact that when I dance to music I love I really feel like I'm communicating with my God. I've decided that even though I can attach a song to a person, I'm not going to do that to either the song or the person and I'm going to allow each to live their lives independently of one another so that each may be cherished and enjoyed for much longer. I've decided that there are songs I will listen to every day, come hell or high water (I've seen and/or been through both so it shouldn't be an especially daunting task), because they feed my soul, speak to my heart, and expand my intellect...three things that you should do for yourself every day anyway. I've decided that you can tell a lot about a person by the music they listen to and it's important to pay attention to that. I've decided that music is not the only way to judge character but it is a good indication of taste ;-)

So, with that in mind, any recommendations? If any of you are wondering, at the moment, I'm listening to DJ Krush, Ella Fitzgerald, RJD2, John Mayer, The Yardbirds, The Coasters, and lotsa roots reggae.

Regularly scheduled content to follow...thanks for checking in. I hope you are having a beautiful day.

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Book Reviews...

2008-07-01T09:18:00.000-07:00

So, summer is prime reading time for many people. There are vacations to the beach (where knitting can get a bit sticky and sandy. The idea of working with wool whilst sweat beads roll down my sides gives me the bad shivers...ugh.) or lake house (much better for knitting but reading is nice too). There are great holidays, like the Fourth of July, when you get to kick around the house for a while or sit outside in the sunshine and read. Suffice to say that summer presents many wonderful reading opportunities and, if you are not a school age child or a student of some kind who is forced to read during summer break, you may be hankering for a suggestion or two. Despite the fact that I work for a publishing company that has published many fine books for summer reading, I don't feel like shilling for my company (although most of my authors are fantastic and wonderful people who deserve some more PR) so I'm presenting you with two books that were not published by my company that would make delightful summer reading.

Just so you know, you can click on the little box under the sub-headings and it will direct you to the book via Amazon. For some reason, the images themselves aren't showing up in my browser (Firefox) but I wanted to let y'all know they existed.

Number one:

The Book of Air and Shadows by Micheal Gruber has all sorts of elements of a good suspense novel....a forlorn and luckless main character, a couple of suckers, a dame with a past, and a tough talking lady cop. The book itself is organized like an Anglophile book (think Salman Rushdie, Vikram Chandra, V.S. Naipaul...hell, even Gabriel Garcia Marquez) in that there are actually three stories being told simultaneously and, of course, in the end, they all intertwine to become one story. The basic breakdown of the book is this: The main character is an IP lawyer who gets handed a sixteenth (I believe) century letter, from a very nervous client, that potentially points to the whereabouts of an unknown Shakespeare play and has information about Shakespeare himself, one of the most elusive figures in literary history. Shortly after the main character has taken the property into his custody, his client, a Shakespeare scholar and English professor, disappears and turns up dead. The main character, ever one to appreciate a mystery and a challenge, goes on a mission to find out what the sixteenth century document says, its provenance and the hidden Shakespeare play the document alludes to. After the main character gets a hold of the sixteenth century document, the other stories are introduced. The reader slowly finds out where the document was found, the hands the document passed through, and the truth behind the whole thing. The Book of Air and Shadows is sprinkled with interesting historical tidbits about Shakespeare, cryptography, and book binding. It involves rare book dealers, literary scholars, and the Russian mafia. There is a great chase scene at the end involving boats and children. Overall, I'd give the book three to three-and-a-half stars out of five. The writing style, tone, and pace were very good and the author's voice adapts and changes for each story being told without the whole book falling apart and getting convoluted. Personally, because I read for a freakin' living and have to notice things like this, I think the author left himself too many choices for ways to end the book. When it came time to end the book, I was a bit overwhelmed by all the possibilities and was, thus, not fully satisfied with it. That being said, it's one of the more entertaining books I've read lately and I do recommend checking it out. It's not your typical, formulaic beach-type reading so be prepared to get into it a bit deeper than you would, say, a Janet Evanovich or James Patterson novel (both of whom, by the way, are fine novelists from what I understand).

Number Two:

The Lost Van Gogh was written by husband and wife team, A.J. Zerries. While there was some interesting history here about Nazi art theft and black market art dealing, I could only, in good conscience, give this book a maximum of two-and-a-half out of five stars. The main character, an NYPD cop named Clay, get assigned to all the art cases in his department because of his knowledge of art and its history. A Van Gogh painting that was assumed to be lost forever shows up in a relatively unmarked envelope at the Met via UPS and it is Clay's job to track down the owner and untangle the mystery of where it came from. After the initial chapters when the reader is introduced to the story and the main character, the book starts to dissolve into two different books. Unfortunately, The Lost Van Gogh is a great example of why co-authorship is a difficult thing to do. You must work TOGETHER to write co-author a book...not just assume that your co-author's work is going to brilliantly assimilate into what you've written. There were many, many times in this book that it felt like I was reading two completely different books. The personality and temperament of the main character vacillates frequently and the plot becomes a convoluted mess in parts of it. In the end, the co-authors manage to start working together again for a long, drawn out, and needlessly dramatic ending. I can't even say that I was fully entertained while reading this book but, clearly, this is all just my humble opinion. If you've been thinking about picking up this book, I'd say move along and grab something else.

At the moment, I'm reading...

The Thief of Time by John Boyne. I have only read the first three chapters at this point and so far, it's not bad. More appropriate for beach reading than anything else I've read this summer, it may prove to be an interesting book. I like the concept (the memoir of a man who is 256 years old and has lived through A LOT) and Boyne's writing style is lucid and relatively concise. I'm trying to shut off the proofreader in my head and ignore the dialogue formatting, etc., and just enjoy the damn book. I'll let you know how that and the book work out. So, do y'all have any good suggestions for summer reading? Recommendations you wish to share? I hope everyone is having a great summer thus far. Brace yourselves for most blog posts because they seem to be coming from everywhere.

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For some unknown reason...

2008-06-28T10:28:00.000-07:00

My comments were not relayed to my email inbox and I had no idea any of y'all commented. Thank you thank you thank you for taking the time to do so. I would've mentioned it earlier, had I known...stupid Blogger. Of course, now that I say that, Blogger will prevent me from posting ever again, which wouldn't be all that different from now actually....but I digress. So, in lieu of yet another actual post, I'm going to do this meme thing that Valerie tagged me with. I think everyone else out in the known blog universe has already done this meme so I'm not going to tag anyone at the end, as per my usual meme behavior. If you haven't been tagged and want to play along, consider yourself "it" and let me know. Here goes:

The rules of the game get posted at the beginning. Each player answers the questions about themselves. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5-6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.

1. What was I doing 10 years ago?

Ten years ago I was 18 and finishing my second year in university (I got an early start. Hurrah!) and trying to stop being a complete idiot. I have only partially achieved my goals for both the former and the latter. I still want to go back and get my Ph.D. and I'm still an idiot most of the time.

2. What are 5 things on my to-do list for today (not in any particular order)?

Write at least three pieces of content for books, read a little of my "for pleasure" book, go check on my mama's cats and change their litterboxes (putting that one off until much later), finish the last 1/2" of stockinette on the Linen Kilt (ravelry link) so I can start the decreasing and ribbing, and try not to play Guitar Hero all day (it is a game inspired by Satan...trust me).

3. Snacks I enjoy.

Popcorn with lotsa butter, kettle chips in regular or barbecue flavor, cheese, and apple based desserts

4. Things I would do if I were a billionaire.

Pay off the bills for everyone in my family, set up a trust fund for my nieces and nephew, buy some property, start a charitable foundation for education, and take a world cruise

5. Places I have lived.

Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, all over Florida, Manhattan, Germany, and New Orleans

6. Jobs I've had.

hostess at an Italian restaurant, pizza by the slice slinger, "sales associate" at Banana Republic and Williams-Sonoma, personal assistant, and, currently, I'm a freelance editor/writer and yoga instructor

7. Peeps I want to know more about:

See aforementioned opinion about this. I wanna know more about everyone so c'mon people, now, smile on your brother and get to know one another right now (I know those aren't the exact lyrics but that's what I've got for the moment).

So, yet another blog post sans photos but I'm working on it. Travis was away with the camera but now he has returned so I can start taking photos and stuff again and posting them. Hurrah! I hope all of you are doing fantastic. Thanks for staying tuned in. :)

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Just so you know I didn't drop off the Earth

2008-06-05T09:58:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd post to my blog! Novel idea, right? Anyway. I finally finished my yoga certification training and am now, officially, a yoga instructor. Rockin'! I teach one class a week here and I'm loving it. The studio space is beautiful (there will be photos of the studio on their website soon along with some fun photos of the staff (including me!! Wow!) doing some partner yoga stuff.). After I finished the yoga training, I had to do a ton of work to catch up on and make deadlines for so I was burning the candle at both ends in order to get all my crap done. By the end of most days, I was too tired and cranky to make proper blog posts. Hence the ginormous amount of time between posts. Lame, I know, but it is what it is. So, now that I'm done making excuses for leaving my reader (readers? Maybe. I'm optimistic.), I'll show you some knitting.

I am finally jumping on the Monkey bandwagon (ever so late...I'm a rebel like that) and I am making these beautiful Monkeys:

They are being made with Stitchjones sock yarn in the Arashiyama (sp? Sharon, help!) and I love how they are working up. I'm actually a little bit further along on my second sock than the photo shows (that's my backyard, basically, in the photo as well. I figured those of you who don't have palm trees and rivers to look at might appreciate the view.). Here is another photo of my beautiful Monkeys (or Monkey, as the case may be in this photo):

All I can say about the yarn is that it is heavenly....soft, smooth, squishy, warm but not hot...delish.
I'm also working on these socks:

They are my own design and they are called The Chakra Socks. I'm knitting them up in some rainbow variegated Plymouth Sockotta (it looks less Easter eggish in real life) on size 0 needles (they are going really really slowly because of that). These are my "working" socks that I only work on while I am sitting at my desk, reading blogs and such. I'm catching up on my blog reading (only 2600 or so to go!). I've been reading some of y'all's blog posts from before Christmas. It's kinda weird but I like to be comprehensive, evidently. I've also been trying to comment more on your blogs to let you know that I love the dedication you have for posting regularly and inspiring me to knit new and different things.
Back to the knitting front, I'm about a quarter of the way through the Linen Kilt (ravelry link) from Knit Two Together. Here's a photo:

Notice that my foot, which hasn't made an appearance on the blog for awhile, snuck into this photo. I'm using Louet Euroflax Sportweight Linen in black. I'm loving it so far...lots of stockinette for when I'm watching television or hanging out with Travis. Good stuff. More details when it is finished.
Speaking of finished...
I finished and presented the Print O' the Waves Stole to my mama. I have photos but I haven't uploaded them to flickr yet so I'll have to try and be a good little blogger and get you photos of that. It turned out beautifully, considering it was my first lace project. Because of it, I'm all about some lace now. Go figure. Don't be surprised if I start doing a lot more lace. Which reminds me...I finished the Whisper Lace Socks (ravelry link) too. I'm waiting for the single sock I sent off to the Knitter Project to come back and complete the pair so I can send them off to their intended recipient. By the way, these are definitely NOT a size medium. I even got gauge and they came out quite small...more like a ladies size small...hence the reason why they are leaving the house and heading to a dear friend of mine who has tiny feet.
Well, dear bloglings and blogettes, I've run out of blogging steam at the moment so this is it for the moment. I hope y'all are having a wonderful day and enjoying the world.

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Dash in...dash out

2008-04-15T11:57:00.000-07:00

So here's a quickie for you since I am in the middle of a hundred things right now. I have another 50 hour yoga intensive session this weekend (from Friday through Monday) and that means almost zero knitting or anything other than yoga, eating, and sleeping. I can't wait to be a certified yoga instructor!! Yippee!!

Knitting:

The MAN socks are progressing again. I frogged back to the leg so I could add an extra inch to it so it would be the same length as its mate. Then I cruised through the heel flap and started picking up my gusset stitches only to realize I had not turned the heel. Ribbit! Ribbit! I frogged back, turned the heel and am back to the gusset decreases.
I started another Knit Picks project that, while not being something I would ever knit or use for myself, is turning out rather lovely. It's a bit of fair isle, which is always fun (IMO, anyway) and, compared to my other projects, it's a quick knit. I'll try and get a sneaky photo so y'all can glimpse it before its finished. They sent me their Swish 100% Superwash Wool to use for the project and I must say that it is really great yarn. Very springy and soft. Travis deemed it hat-worthy so that is saying something. More details on the yarn after it's been blocked. More details on the project after it's been published in the catalog.
The Print O' the Waves Stole is coming along. I have three corners (three repeats), one short side (10 repeats) and one long side (30 repeats) left before I'm finished with the knitting and ready to block. Huzzah!
The Whisper Lace socks (see left-hand sidebar) are nearly finished. I have a half a pattern repeat to do on the foot and then I can start the rounded toe. I'm almost sad to be finished with it but I have plans for the pair as I'm sending them to someone as a surprise gift with accompanying fun stuff. More details on that when I start that part of the project. I will say that it involves papercrafting though. For some awesome papercrafting action, check out Mary Ann's blog. It's rad and she's talented.

Check out this blog too. Travis sent me the link a while ago and I only recently looked at it and it's pretty darned cool. I hope y'all enjoy it. Well, bloglings and blogettes, I have to get back to work. I hope y'all are having a beautiful day. It's in the 70's here and really breezy so we have the doors and windows open to let the breeze air out the house. Travis just escorted Poogar back into the house after he let him romp about in the yard for a while. Poog now has a black smudge on his face. It's cute. I'll be back soon with some photos, hopefully (for the photos, not the be back soon part). Om Shanti!

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I am not just bad at math...

2008-04-07T20:23:00.000-07:00

I am stunningly bad at math...Consider this...in my last blog post, I calculated the number of edge repeats on my mama's shawl to be 120 total. However, the pattern according to and copyrighted by Eunny Jang says this, "...work Chart B 30 times over long sides and 10 times over short sides. Work one whole repeat of the edging at each corner." The stole is rectangular, which means it has two long sides (30+30=60), two short sides (10+10=20) and four corners (1+1+1+1=4). So, let's finish the math together, shall we? Okay, 60+20+4=84, no? So, in my original "I can do math in my head" estimate of 120, I was off by...let's see...(I'm going to calculator. com to figure this out)...36 rounds off!! 36 16 row repeats off! This is just the universe's way of helping me to retain my humility. I need to strengthen my math skills...or, when I've had some wine, I should defer to mechanized or computerized assistance when doing math because my brain can clearly not be relied upon.

Wherein I question my knitting abilities for a moment. Based on two and a half examples:
So, for a few minutes there, I totally doubted whether or not I should be allowed to handle two pointy sticks (in any of their incarnations) and yarn. These are the reasons why...two of them involve the same project. I haven't even gotten as far as analyzing what that means but I suspect it means I actually effed up more than the two and a half examples that are to follow.
1) Whilst knitting the second MAN sock (in fingering weight wool handpainted by the effervescent Stitchjones and named "Tom Sawyer"), I got to knitting the foot when I realized that the pattern I wrote myself (y'know, written in the kind of notation only you can understand, with all the weird little abbreviations that only you understand) confused me (ME! I wrote the darned thing!) and I had made a second sock that would be one full inch shorter on the leg than the other sock. Heu misera sum! hahahaha. So I frogged it back to where I started the heel flap and eased all the stitches back onto the needle to knit for another inch on the leg. Then....
2)After working another inch on the leg, I again started knitting the heel flap (40 rows...It's a gargantuan sock. If I knit it up in worsted weight yarn and changed it to a short row heel and a rounded toe, it could be a Christmas stocking pattern...hmmm.). We were watching Sweeney Todd at my mama's house and I made it halfway through the heel flap before picking it up again last night. At this point in the evening, I had already been knitting on the aforementioned project (the lace shawl/stole) and wanted some "easy" knitting. I picked up the MAN sock and finished the heel flap. Then I started picking up gusset stitches. Now, any savvy knitter may by now have noticed my error. I, however, knit away at those gusset stitches for several rows before noticing that I had forgotten to turn the heel, thus making the sock into a really horrible tube sock with a strange patch on the back where the heel flap was supposed to be. Needless to say, I tinked one DPN's worth of stitches out and shoved the whole lot back into my handbag (aka my handbag that is big enough to hold a WIP. Small handbags are used with major discretion these days).
0.5) So this was only partially my fault. I blame it on the slippery needles. The other day, I put down the shawl/stole for my mama with the intent to leave it alone for the rest of the night. For some reason unbeknownst to me, I yanked heartily on one of the circular needles I have been using (one US3 needle and one US4 needle...I couldn't find my other US4 circ so I improvised). I yanked a bunch of stitches, a whole ROW'S worth of stitches, off the needle and couldn't confront the problem for two whole days. Then I dusted myself off, picked the mess up, and made myself a note after deciphering where I had dropped down to on the chart. The note says this: "Don't forget that sts were dropped & p/u'd again, 3 to 5 rows prior to where they were (on the needles, pre-dropping) & therefore (but I used the symbol (three dots making a triangle) for therefore instead of the word) the side (long) will have more (but I crossed it out after I thought about it for a minute...see the math exegesis above for further coverage of that evidently insurmountable task) uh, less, than 30 repeats." Minus the italicized text, that is exactly the note I wrote to myself. hahahahaha

Well, dear bloglings and blogettes, I will return armed with photos and hopefully improved math skills in my next post. Think happy thoughts and find your true path. I hope you have a beautiful day.

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Brace yourselves...

2008-03-30T08:34:00.001-07:00

'Cause I'm posting!! Yes, finally. I am posting. Not a cheesy one either...a real post...with photos. Life has gone from relatively quiet to super busy in the span of a few short months and I don't even know where to start. Sheesh. First, we moved on Christmas Eve (we're masochists, what can I say?). And we didn't even just move right down the street or something easy like that. No, we moved several hundred miles south of our previous location, into this house:

This is technically the backyard as the house sits on a river and we have 150' of riverfront view. So freakin' cool...and very relaxing. I now have a craft cubby/work area that looks out at the river. What a way to wake up, I tell ya. We now live closer to my mama so you will be reading a lot about the stuff we do (Sunday dinners, movies, yoga, etc.). It's great fun.
In addition to my regular job, if one could even begin to call it regular, I have been in the process of becoming a certified yoga instructor. HURRAH!! I love it ever so much and now I can rattle on and on about asanas, chakras, doshas, and the like. I'm becoming certified by these amazing people. They are simply amazing and great teachers. The opportunity came up at just the right time for me to do it so I'm all yoga, editing, and knitting these days.
Travis started out working at a tattoo studio down here and, in the interest of keeping my blood pressure low, I won't get into why he no longer graces their studio. On the up side of him being free from the shackles of mismanagement, he has put together a private studio at home and we can now actually spend time together again. Working at the other studio meant about an hour and a half round trip commute and nine hour days but that is a thing of the past. Yahoo!! I'll link his private studio's website on my next post. And no, it won't be three months from now. I do solemnly swear to stop being a crappy, non-posting blogger.
The cats are still ridiculously cute:
Exhibit A:

Exhibit B:

And, yes, that is Tako Yarns "Isabella Linton" resting on Penelope. Here is a wee photo of the finished sock, Poogar, and, of course, my foot sneaking into the photo. My feet have a mind of their own, I believe.

I sent Elizabeth (sorry about the lack of link action there) one completed sock and I'm about halfway through the other. It is the Whisper Lace Socks (ravelry link) and I'll fill you in on the details when they are finished. I will say that they are turning out quite a bit smaller than I anticipated so they are going to a friend of mine who has very tiny feet. These socks are one of the two lace projects I have going on right now. Last year at this time, I couldn't knit lace if you held a gun to my head. Thinking about that statement makes me realize that I couldn't knit lace now if you had a gun to my head. I'd be too busy crying and peeing myself to knit lace. So, let me rephrase that....Last year at this time, I couldn't knit lace while being massaged with scented oils. Now, though, look out because I think I'm all about some lace. I have big plans, I tell ya.
Speaking of big plans, I finally managed to knit a sock big enough to fit Travis. This is a mighty accomplishment because he has HUGE feet. Here is photographic proof of said sock:

It is knit in Stitchjones's sock yarn, colorway "Tom Sawyer," like the Rush song and I've been loving every minute of it, especially since this giant sock came straight outta my noggin and onto the needles. We don't need no stinkin' pattern. I suppose that I had tried so many times to knit a sock big enough to fit Travis that when I finally decided to knit a sock from my brain, my subconscious made sure to get it right this time. The subconscious is a sneaky thing. It's surprising that I didn't end up with a sweater, considering how chilly I always am. It just goes to show who my subconscious is looking out for. Anyway. Since the skein of yarn from Stitchjones is so generous, I'll be able to squeeze out a pair of giant MAN socks (size 13US) and a sample sock to send off to the lovely and talented Stitchjones herself. She sent me this sock yarn as payment for knitting up a sample sock:

If you don't love it, you could be a fascist. I'm just sayin'...it's beautiful and soft and I can't wait to knit up some bright socks that scream, like an awkward teenager who has finally bloomed into lovely adulthood, "LOOK AT ME!!" In addition to that, Stitchjones and I are cooking up some other things so new patterns and free patterns should be forthcoming. Fun!
In other knitting news, I'm undecided whether or not to change the sidebar detailing my Christmas knitting (or lack thereof) because I very well may just keep them up there and actually knit them for people for Christmas this year. Since it's nearly April, I figure I should get a move on now if I'm actually going to knit for people for Christmas this year. I am, however, nearly finished with this:

Since that photo just screams volumes about what the project is, I won't elaborate. Just kidding. It's the Print O' the Waves Stole (ravelry link) by the illustrious Eunny Jang. I'm working on the edging right now and I've done 12/120 (or 1/10th, if you like fractions, which, generally speaking, I do not) of the edging repeats. I loves it. It is/was my mama's Christmas present but she still doesn't know about it so mum's the word (sorry for the cheesy pun...it just sorta happened). Since I'm nearing the end of knitting this, my first REAL lace project, I plan on finishing it up ASAP and blocking it so be on the lookout for those photos followed by photos of my mother's reaction to said knitted shawl. The yarn, by the way, is Lorna's Laces, Helen's Lace, in Pewter and it is fantastic to knit with. More details when it's finished, of course. I will say that I had to devise a system of paper and many paper clips to do the charts on this bad boy, especially since it initially required loads of concentration.
Speaking of my mother....for Easter, my mother gifted me yarn! Yarn! She has seldom done this in the past but, on a pre-Easter trip down to Key West with some of her friends, she hunted down some yarn shops and hooked me up! I even got some of this:

Tilli Tomas, Rock Star, in "Atmosphere." I have no idea whether to knit it, pet it, or frame it. In addition to that badass yarn, she got me a great selection of other beautiful yarns (check 'em out on my flickr page if you are so inclined) and some Lantern Moon Rosewood needles. So freakin' sweet.
Well, dear bloglings and blogettes, I think I may be finished for the moment. Yoga, yarn, blog reading (I have like 2400 bloglines posts to get through so if I haven't been a good little commenter on your blog, feel free to bitch me out in the comments on my blog. I'm coming for ya so be prepared. *insert slightly evil laugh here*), and nature are calling. I hope everyone is having a most beautiful Sunday. I missed y'all and I'll be back soon.

Transmission Ended

So you know I'm not full of scheisse

2008-01-28T18:58:00.000-08:00

I wanted to make sure to let you know that I'm not full of caca (but I am fully aware of how to say "shit" or "poo" in many languages), I thought I would let y'all know that I have uploaded photos to flickr today. I have uploaded photos to Flickr today for the purpose of putting them in my next blog post. However, quite a few things have happened lately (most of them good) that have managed to railroad all of my hopes of doing a real blog post today or yesterday or the day before that. That and I have a bunch of photos that I feel will add tremendously to my blog postings about what I've been up to, making them infinitely more enjoyable to read (akin to photos or illustrations being put into a book you've read more than once but, suddenly, when you read the book again with the illustrations, it's like reading a totally different book. Does that make sense? Oh, by the way, while the previous statement may be trying to pull itself off as analogous, it can only do so when one attempts to view the analogy between my blog posting with photos and illustrations suddenly appearing on the pages of a book that has sat on your shelf collecting dust between your yearly reading of said book must be done through the lens of hyperbole. Try it. It's totally analogous then.). It's not like I'd try and resort to using really long parenthetical asides to distract you from the fact that I haven't given you a truly good blog post with photos and "insights" and the banal minutiae of my life for at least a month now. If I tried to do something like that (which I never would because that would be like when you try and take a two-year-old to Sears or Walmart or whatever and have photos of said two-year-old taken for a holiday card and the photographer is saying to the two-year-old, while waving around a plush puppet that resembles a bunny just outside of the peripheral view of the camera, "Look at the bunny! Look at the bunny!" all while trying to get the two-year-old to look toward the camera and smile so he can take the photo. (Again, it's analogous by hyperbole. Just think on it a minute. I'm giving the blog reader a rare glimpse into my train of thought ("I think I can. I think I can. I think I can...") so maybe if you tilt your head to the left and squint a little bit more, it will make sense....or not?))) , you might think that I'm just being lame and filling up space with words that had nothing to do about knitting, my life, our new house, and a variety of other things I plan to show you complete with photos on my next post. For now, I'm just trying to let you know that I am still around and have big plans for posts to come! I hope y'all are staying warm and having fun.

Transmission Ended

I haven't abandoned you...

2008-01-15T07:32:00.000-08:00

dear blog readers. We have moved and are settling in and getting situated. I will be back shortly with many photos, including photos of beautiful yarn that Sharon sent to me, and funny (I hope) stories. It took over a week for the internets to be installed at our new home so for a while there is was touch and go with the internet. Thieving connections with my new neighbors' wireless networks just wasn't cutting it so we had to get our own...hehehe. Not really, we had planned to get our own internets anyway and I quietly borrowed the neighbors' tenuous wireless networks until then. Anyway. I have to get back to work at the moment. There are things to be written, proofread, and unpacked around here. Not to mention, yarn is begging to be made into something cool. I hope y'all are doing well. More very soon...

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Good idea. Bad idea.

2007-12-20T15:54:00.000-08:00

Good idea: Preparing for the holidays and getting all your shopping or knitting or creating done by October, at the latest.
Bad idea: Waiting until the last minute to do any of the above stated things thus causing you to want to do nothing more than lie flat on your back, mouth open, under the spigot of a box of wine until you either choke or become drunk enough that it doesn't matter.

Good idea: Preparing to move by packing boxes and giving away all the stuff you don't want anymore at least two weeks in advance of the move.
Bad idea: Procrastinating and waiting until the week before you move to do any packing or eliminating of stuff thus causing you to want to do nothing more than eat some big slices of Xanax pie in order to help you pretend that the house will pack itself and purge any items it knows you no longer want or need.

Good idea: Being 100% certain that Google maps is lying to you when it shows you an aerial, satellite view of your soon to be new residence and, according to the map, says you are moving into a beautiful, three-bedroom shrub with a view of the water.
Bad idea: Trusting that Google maps is 100% incorrect when it shows you that your soon to be new residence is a lovely, three-bedroom shrub with a view of the water and celebrating the move into a larger domicile that is NOT a shrub by imbibing many vodka-based drinks.

Good idea: If you are, in fact, moving into a cozy, three-bedroom shrub, you begin to learn about topiary in order to maximize privacy during showering and sleepy time.
Bad idea: Insisting that Google maps is wrong and you are not, therefore, moving into a shrub so it is completely unnecessary to learn about topiary and it is also unnecessary to trouble yourself with things like pest control, the water table, or anything else that may befall your new shrub/home.

Good idea: Having more boxes than you need to pack up all the stuff that you have in your house.
Bad idea: Not having nearly enough boxes or packing material to pack up all the stuff you have in your house thus causing you to create unorthodox packing materials such as tablecloths, dishtowels, plastic grocery bags, tumbleweeds of carefully collected cat hair, etc.

Good idea: Packing your books into several small to medium sized boxes, no matter how many it takes, so that you can lift the boxes into the moving truck.
Bad idea: Loading as many books as you can into a 30 gallon, blue Rubbermaid tub that requires a forklift and at least a team of six strong oxen to move, let alone get it into the moving truck.

Good idea: Having a big, black permanent marker to clearly mark all your boxes so that your friends, moving buddies, moving men, what have you, plainly see what it is you have packed in those boxes, thus preventing possible disaster when well meaning friends stack a 350lb, blue Rubbermaid 30 gallon tub full of fiction books on top of your wine glasses.
Bad idea: Using whatever writing utensil is handy to scrawl the contents of the box in several inconspicuous places on the boxes in handwriting that drunk four year olds would chastise.

If any of you have any other good idea/bad idea things to add, please feel free. I'm hopefully making light of my current situation. I am 100% certain that I would be getting a lot more unorthodox packing done (as opposed to orthodox packing which, I'm sure, is done in the presence of a clergy member) if I decided not to blog but then what fun would that be for y'all?? You couldn't laugh with me or demonstrate to me that history repeats itself when we do this again next year. After all, our lease date for our new shrub starts on January 1 so, if we decide after living in the shrub for a year that it is not to our liking, we will be making another move at the exact same time. I hope your holiday preparations have been going well, my dear bloglings and blogettes. I'm going back in to the fray, armed with a box of wine and some Xanax pie smothered in a vodka-based sauce for good measure. Wish me luck!

Transmission Ended

The Gnome of Demotivation...

2007-12-12T17:28:00.000-08:00

...has struck me today with a fury and vengeance unrivaled by even the Unicorn of Doom. That is some serious business, I tell ya'. I'm supposed to be writing articles, proofreading a book, knitting up Christmas presents and packing up the house (we're moving. SURPRISE!) but instead of doing the important stuff, I've been knitting dishcloths (10+) and reading blogs. I've plum run out of my usual blogs to read with the exception of Boing Boing. It takes me about ten hours to get through 200 of their blog efforts so I'm putting them off for another day in the near future when I'm trying to avoid working. I thought maybe blogging about a whole lotta nothing would motivate me to do something else but, thus far, no dice. I could thrill you with the details of this excellent juice I'm drinking or wow you with the minutiae of the grilled cheese sandwich I had for lunch (with Thai sweet spicy chips. Oh, so delicious!) but that would be setting a precedent for action on my blog that I'm just not up to snuff for doing. I've noticed a trend on blogs lately that make all of these great suggestions for what to give your loved ones for Christmas. Not being one to hop on ye olde bandwagon, I won't be doing that in this post (or any other post for that matter) so if you were hoping for FancyPants' guide to gift giving, I'm sorry to disappoint. Oh, the ennui! Well, since I've clearly got nothing interesting to blog about other than my dangerous encounter with the mighty Gnome of Demotivation, I'm going to send you off vaguely dissatisfied and hopefully unharmed. That Gnome is a wily one, he is.

Transmission Ended

On a random note...

2007-12-08T19:12:00.000-08:00

I, for just one second, had this really great, really funny plan for a blog post but it has escaped me. Now, all I have to say is that I cleaned out the "storage room" of our house and discovered, much to my dismay, that one of our cats (I'm not going to mention names here because I don't want to point fingers just in case I'm wrong) has taken to micturating in the back region of the storage room. After wiping up copious amounts of dried cat pee and throwing out anything that couldn't be saved (including yarn! YARN!! I threw out yarn!!), I have now come to the conclusion that either the entire house or I smell like cat pee. Either way, it's not pretty or, um, good smelling. I liberally sprayed canned air freshener around the house but now I smell cat pee+air freshener. What a combo. Now I have to go soak some yarn that I'm unwilling to throw out (it was a limited colorway and the first and potentially only ball of yarn that Travis ever labored over to make it into a tidy ball. Now, I ask you, how could I dispose of that?? I have photographic evidence of Travis untangling the skein of this yarn and carefully winding into a ball. It's way too much of a Hallmark moment for me to just toss it into the trash. Seriously.) and hope that I can get the cat pee odor out of it. Oh, I just remembered what I was initially going to say! I was going to tell you how, for the most part, metal DPNs are better than bamboo DPNs if, for no other reason than metal DPNs don't absorb cat pee. Ask me how I know this (And yes, now that I've read that, I realize it was neither funny nor indicative of my status as a luminary, in any sense of the word). I think I need to go wash my hands for the umpteenth time since cleaning out the storage room and make myself an alcoholic libation of some sort. I think I need some Scotch to get over this or, at least, give me the intestinal fortitude for cleaning yarn that smells of cat pee. Oh, did I mention the cat pee?

Transmission Ended

Late night post...

2007-12-01T22:39:00.000-08:00

So I found my camera and, much to my surprise and delight, I did not leave it at my mama's house. Fortuitously, I found it in my car and now I'm able to share some photos of FO's with you. This will be a short-ish post, especially since I am a couple of mixed drinks into my evening and it's late in the evening (thus I'm asking you to forgive any spelling errors and typos that may occur as a result).

Knitting:

Here is the Grey Ghost: As I mentioned in my previous post, it was created from following a UK pattern, which caused me some difficulties that have since been resolved. The pattern called for a worsted weight yarn but I was sent a DK weight yarn (it was knit on commission) so I bravely soldiered on and did the best I could do. Read my previous post for the pitfalls of translating a UK pattern into the bastardized form of English known as American English. I went down two needles sizes all around (size US 8 to size US 6 for the body and size US 6 to size US 4 for the ribbing and banding). If I knit this sweater again (which I may) I will knit the banding in one solid piece, starting at the bottom left edge and working right on through to the end of the right edge for a seamless piece. In the above photo, the banding is worked in two pieces and seamed together at the back of the neck, resulting in a seam at the back of the neck. In retrospect, I should have grafted these to pieces together but live and learn, as they say.Overall, I was pleased with the result but there were many things I would have changed (including knitting it in one piece up to the armholes and thus eliminating a lot of seaming). I won't get into the icky details about this sweater because I feel as if I should take the high road on this....and that's all I'm saying about it.
My mother was an unknowing model for the silk Jellyfish and here is the proof: She had no idea that these photos would be posted on my blog but there she is, in all her beautiful and ageless glory. If you look closely, you can see my oma relaxing on the sofa in the background. I knit the Jellyfish in a size small (in Fiesta La Luz. see my previous post for details about how much I love this yarn) and it fit my mother who is broader of shoulder and larger of tatas than me. Since the pattern called for a worsted weight yarn and I used a DK weight yarn, I went with the recommended needle size (US 8) for a DK weight yarn and used size US 6 for the edging. Clearly, it turned out just fine and both my mother and my oma requested one for Christmas. They are about to be cast on so, needless to say, it was a fun and easy pattern to knit. I'll keep you updated on the progress of those two.
I started and have made some headway on the Print O' the Waves Stole I started for my mother for Christmas. I went with Lorna's Laces Helen's Lace in the Pewter colorway for this and I am quite pleased with the result thus far. The pattern, while not easily memorizable, is easy to fall into a rhythm with. I am six pattern repeats into the main part of the stole and I can do it without devoting all my concentration to it, at least for now. I'll take some photos of the progress tomorrow and give you an update.
I'm still chugging away on dishcloths for stocking stuffers and I still love doing them for some mindless knitting.
I'm about to start my sister's big Christmas gift and I'm looking forward to it. I'll try to give you little glimpses of it to prevent it from being too secretive and provide y'all with some eye candy.
On a side note, I'll be seaming up Heath tomorrow and sending it out on Monday (hopefully) after photos. It's turning out really lovely.

Alright y'all, I'm going to go back to imbibing blueberry pomegranate juice and decent vodka (delicious) and knitting gauge swatches. More photos will be forthcoming and I hope y'all are doing well, staying warm, and not thinking about the extra padding you will obtain as a result of all the delicious holiday yumminess. Besides, there will be plenty of time to work it off next year, right? Much love to my loyal readers and all the people who take the time to comment. I really do appreciate it.

Transmission Ended

A long post with no photos....feel free to skip around

2007-11-26T10:31:00.000-08:00

Hi y'all! I'm still around, I promise. Time has just flown by this month. Sheesh! When Travis' mama told me she was a bit peeved with me because I hadn't blogged since November 7, I figured I really really needed to blog. So here it is. It will be long but I will label the various parts so you can skip around if you like. Also, unfortunately there will be no photos because I left my camera down at my mama's house. Until I get it back, this will be a word heavy blog. Boring, I know, with all that reading and stuff but there you have it.

Knitting:

The Grey Ghost is finished and has been sent to its recipient. Finally. The pattern came from the Rowan booklet Calmer and was designed by Kim Hargreaves. Let's talk about that for a minute. Did you know that there is a vast chasm that separates UK and US patterns? Nor did I, until I started this one. In the beginning, I figured that the main difference would lie in the cm to inches (Damn the Imperial system of measurement!) but that was no big deal because I have a two sided tape measure. Easy peasy. What I wasn't counting on was the difference in how the pattern was worded. Things like "dec eor until you have X number of sts" on a UK pattern like this read "dec on next and following 4 alt rows and then on every 6th row 8 times." Wha? Huh? In retrospect, it doesn't seem all that difficult but I was positively stumped when I encountered it the first time. Thank the universe for Ravelry because there were plenty of other knitters who helped me interpret the whole weird wording business. Unfortunately, this was after I had already knit the entire back without armholes. Yup, I forgot to knit armholes in the back. And this was after I had knit the fronts (correctly) and measured them against the back, which I was absolutely certain was correctly done (but wasn't), and frogged them. Needless to say, I had to frog the back and reknit the fronts and get on with the rest of it. The longest part of knitting the whole thing was the banding around the fronts and the neck. It literally took me 48 hours of knitting to do this. It was ridiculous and tedious. In the end though, it turned out beautifully. I loathed giving it away but it was a commission knit so I had to. I do plan to knit this cardigan for myself because it's so darn lovely. Blurry photos of it will be on the blog soon along with some details about the changes I would have made to the pattern.
The silk Jellyfish is also finished. Hurrah! I used Fiesta La Luz for the whole thing and it turned out beautifully. The pattern calls for a different yarn to be used for the border but I didn't want the feel of anything but pure silk against my skin so I stuck with the La Luz and went down two needles sizes (an eight to a six) for the border. I actually took some photos of my mama being an unknowing model in it but see above for the reason for no photo. I knit the smallest size and I had my mama (a size medium - she has rather broad shoulders and big tatas) and my oma (Dutch for grandmother. And she wears a size large top) try it on and it fit both of them perfectly. My oma requested one for Christmas so it's time to go stash diving and find the perfect yarn for it. The pattern was quite easy. So easy, in fact, that I was able to memorize the lace pattern for the sleeves and that's saying something because I feel like my short-term memory is about as good as our cats'. I also just picked up as many stitches as I felt like for the border and started out with 193, as opposed to the pattern's suggestions, which was 132. If you are going to make this little shrug, which you should because it's awesome, where it says "m1" in the border directions, do a yarn over for a lacy effect.
I also finally finished the entrelac pillow I made for Travis when we first started dating over a year ago. I had finished the entrelac/knitting part of it long ago but I finally got around to making the actual pillow (out of black polar fleece) and seaming the sides (in the car on the way back from my mama's house for Thanksgiving) and I sewed the buttons on last night when we got home. It is now a bright addition to our sofa thanks to the deep blue and purple chenille with the contrasting black chenille that I used for the entrelac (both were Lion Brand Sensations). Photos of that will also be forthcoming.
Over the Thanksgiving holiday, I wanted to do some mindless knitting that was also Christmas knitting so I started cranking out dishcloths like it was my job. I have finished seven thus far and given away two. I'm going to end up using all of my kitchen cotton, which is awesome. Go stashbusting!!
I am thisclose to finishing the Heath cardigan. I finished the left front banding in the car yesterday and started stitching it in place. All that is left is the right front banding and seaming and she's ready to rock and roll. Good stuff.
I started my mama's shawl for Christmas. I decided against the tulip shawl because it just wasn't working out and I started another one. I don't have much to say about it yet because I'm about to frog my second attempt and have another go at it. I'm using Lorna's Laces Helen's Lace in the Pewter colorway and wow is that some delicious yarn.
The Titillating TaTa Tube was frogged and boy did that feel great. I also took the opportunity to frog four other swatches that were destined to become something that I thought was going to work at the time, much like the TaTa Tube. Now I have more yarn in my stash and fewer knitting disasters on the horizon. It feels so good to frog things that you know aren't going to work (like a bulky weight yarn on size six needles that you, for some reason, think is going to make a great hat when, in reality, it would make a great bulletproof helmet.).
So that's knitting news as of late. Sheesh! That was a lot of stuff, right??

And because I don't want this post to be completely bereft of photos, I'll show you a long promised photo of me in my not too horrible bridesmaid dress:

I'm the one who is only actually half-dressed in the gown. The lady on the left was another bridesmaid and is apparently faster at dressing than I am. So there you have it....a photo of me. By the way, the photo was not taken at an angle. We had been drinking so much by that time that the world actually looked like that. hehehe

Books:

I finally finished The Nautical Chart and really enjoyed it. It has mystery and intrigue and a quiet love story all tied together. His writing style is very fluid and engaging, rich with description. That being said, I wasn't in love with the ending. It sort of seemed like an easy way out - a cop out, if you will - and I could've seen it ending in a much more satisfying manner if the author would've chosen one of the many avenues he left open for himself to end it differently. I'll probably try a couple of his other books and see how they go.
I read Coraline in an evening. It was a very fun, creepy little book. It was written by Neil Gaiman, of Sandman fame, and it was very nicely done. It would be suitable for an edgy bedtime story for children, a creepy read for young adults, or a dash of whimsy and that feeling of something is a little off for adults. It literally took me about four hours to read this book and I was knitting dishcloths all the while. I recommend it if you are looking for a quick, engaging read with a character you can easily get attached to.
I also read Don't Get Too Comfortable: The Indignities of Coach Class, The Torments of Low Thread Count, The Never- Ending Quest for Artisanal Olive Oil, and Other First World Problems and thoroughly enjoyed it. No section of society escapes from David Rakoff's rapier sharp wit in this book of essays. For those of us who knit or create things with our hands, I would like to direct you to the essay entitled, "Martha My Dear: These are Hands, Use Them" as I feel it directly speaks to those who feel the need to make things, to create, and discusses what happens when we do that. Each essay is a quick read with plenty of laugh-out-loud bits and it would be perfect for reading while deeply entrenched in a more serious book in order to give your noggin a break from all that heavy thinking.
I recently started A Great and Terrible Beauty (Readers Circle) and, although it's written for young adults, I would thus far recommend it to anyone with an interest in slightly Gothic historical fiction novels. I'll keep you updated on that as I go along.
And going in a completely different direction, I have been reading Life After Death: The Burden of Proof before bed. It is easy to read, straight forward, enlightening, and interesting. I always like to read a non-fiction book along with a fiction book or two to give myself options. I'm about 80 pages into this one and I am really enjoying the conversational tone of the book, which completely lacks highfalutin pedantry. I had been averse to reading any of Chopra's books for the longest time because of the whole bandwagon thing but I'm glad I gave this one a shot because I really find it soothing somehow.

Other books:

I recently picked up the sewing machine again and started sewing. Just small things like pillows and such but I needed another hobby (HA!) so I started small and I'm progressing. There are two books that I have found to be great resources for the beginning sewer. One is Step-by-Step Sewing Course: Essential Techniques for Making Over 150 Creative Home Projects and it is stuffed full of useful information and plenty of easy projects for the beginner. Another one I have come to find very useful is Sewing 101: A Beginner's Guide to Sewing. It has a hidden spiral binding so it stays flat on your work surface and it addresses everything under the sun for the beginning sewer. It ranks high on my go-to list of books to answer my sewing questions.
Because of my revamped interest in sewing, I decided to pick up this book Amy Butler's In Stitches: More Than 25 Simple and Stylish Sewing Projects, especially because I had read great things about Amy Butler's patterns, etc. This book did not disappoint. There are great patterns and ideas for cool home accessories, bags, and fun things like a kimono style robe and wide-legged loungie pants. I have high hopes of sewing up a few things as Christmas presents.
Before I forget, if you have any interest in sewing or crafting of any sort, go to Joann.com and sign up for their email list. You will receive tons of coupons and promo codes for shipping, up to 50% off of items and all sorts of other good stuff. I used a 50% off coupon to get my copy of the Amy Butler book from them and I paid about $12 for it and got free shipping.

The Rest:

On Halloween night, I severely sprained my ankle and I've been hobbling about ever since. It's finally getting better and I can almost walk normally. For a while there, I was doing this crazy zombie walk and it appeared to outsiders that I was on the hunt for brains. Such was not the case. Besides, I'm a vegetarian and brains are definitely meat although some would argue that particular brains are made of air and thus vegetarian safe.
The contest winners are (yes, I finally got around to choosing them with the help of a random number generator) Sharon and TwitchyKnitter. Sharon won the grand prize of the book plus two skeins of yarn for a project and, oddly enough, I had just won her contest but it was completely random. I think it was just good karma or something. TwitchyKnitter won the consolation prize of sock yarn. I am planning another contest soon so stay tuned for more details.
I will be adding another section to this blog very soon and I have an announcement to make that will have to wait until the next post (which will be very soon. I won't make you wait so long. I do solemnly swear to this.) because it seems that this one is too long already, especially with no photos. I'll also let you know when the next t-shirt will be available so you can get your orders in before Christmas.

Well, my dear bloglings and blogettes, thanks for your patience and thanks for stopping by. Don't let your Christmas knitting or shopping stress you out too much. It's supposed to be fun, right? On a belated Thanksgiving note, I'd like to let you all know that I'm very thankful for each and every one of you who takes the time to check out my blog. I know some of you just lurk and that is just fine with me because I do the same thing. However, I would like to send extra thanks out to all the new commenters that have taken the time to introduce themselves and give me a nudge of encouragement. I hope everyone is doing well and I will be back soon. Hopefully with photos.

Transmission Ended

By the light...of the silvery moon

2007-11-07T21:53:00.000-08:00

So I haven't chosen a winner of my contest yet because I've been stuck in workland and knittingland and I sprained my ankle pretty badly on Halloween (and have therefore been stuck at home, limping around the house. Good thing I'm pretty much a homebody anyway.). So, in lieu of announcing a contest winner or winners at this time (soon, very soon. I promise.), I've decided to present to you my very first How-To Guide. I can't make any promises about more How-To Guides in the future but I thought y'all would like this one. The title of this How-To Guide is: How To Simulate Knitting in the Dark in the Cab of a Moving 1966 Chevy C-10 Pickup Truck

There are two methods of simulation here so I will outline them separately.
Method 1:

For this you will need:
1 Refrigerator Box (or other large box, big enough for you to sit inside)
1 Four-legged Stool with a back but no arm rests and at least one uneven leg so that it wobbles
1 Knife
1 Room with an Overhead Light Source
1 (or more) Family Member or Friend
1 Pair of Knitting Needles
1 Bit of Flat Knitting, Stockinette Stitch preferred, that needs decreasing or increasing
1 Large Caffeinated Beverage of Choice
The night

To Get Started:
1. Take the knife and randomly perforate the refrigerator box on all four sides.
2. Sit on wobbly stool with knitting in hand and pattern at the ready, preferably rested on your knees.
3. Have friend or family member place perforated refrigerator box over you and wobbly stool, encasing you and the stool in the box.
4. Instruct friend or family member to turn off the lights in the room.
5. Start to knit away on your project.
6. Instruct friend or family member to enter the room and turn the lights on and off for roughly 20 seconds at random intervals for the next five to eight hours on no specific schedule.
7. Carefully scrutinize your knitting when the lights shine through the holes in the refrigerator box and attempt to fix all mistakes, dropped stitches, etc., and/or count stitches during this time. Also, attempt to memorize upcoming details in pattern.
8. Once per hour, take a bathroom break to stretch your legs and feverishly knit by the bright light of the bathroom.
9. After a period of no less than five hours but no more than 13 hours, ask friend or family member to remove refrigerator box.
10. See how you did on your knitting.
11. By the light of day (or the magic of electric light), rip back knitting to where you were before you started this exercise. Or not. You may do much better than you anticipated.

Method 2:
For this method you will need:
1 Windowless Room, preferably with two doors but one door will also work
1 Rocking Chair with no armrests
1 (or more) Family Member or Friend
1 Flashlight
1 Pair of Knitting Needles
1 Bit of Flat Knitting, Stockinette Stitch preferred, that needs decreasing or increasing
1 Large Caffeinated Beverage of Choice
The night (for added and ensured darkness)

To Get Started:
1. Place rocking chair in the center of the windowless room.
2. Turn off the lights in the windowless room.
3. Get seated in rocking chair and settle in to knit, preferably placing pattern on knees.
4. Start rockin' away in the rocking chair.
5. Keep knitting.
6. Instruct family member or friend to run through the room and around you, aiming the lit flashlight directly at your forehead, for approximately 20 seconds every 20 to 30 minutes on no particular schedule for no less than five hours but no more than 13 hours.
7. When friend or family member enters the room aiming the flashlight, frantically hold up knitting and/or pattern to scrutinize for mistakes in knitting or memorize the next bit of pattern.
8. Once every hour or so, turn on the overhead light for 10 minutes and knit as many stitches as you can before you take a potty break.
9. Return to rocking chair, start rocking, and instruct friend or family member to turn off the light and repeat steps 6 through 8 for no less than five and no more than 13 hours.
10. By the light of day (or the magic of electric light), rip back knitting to where you were before you started this exercise. Or not. You may do much better than you anticipated.

So, my dear bloglings and blogettes, that is how you too can simulate knitting in the dark while sitting in the cab of a moving 1966 Chevy C-10 Pickup. If you decide to try this experiment at home, please do let me know how it went. I managed to knit two sleeves (at once, even!) and most of the back of a cardigan this way. Thus ends today's FancyPants How-To Guide. More on the contest, book reviews (I finally finished The Nautical Chart!) both knitting and non-knitting, more movie recommendations, and some FO photos when I return. Until then, I'm having some wine and hobbling back to the sofa. I hope y'all are doing fantastic.

Transmission Ended

Hallo!!

2007-08-30T19:51:00.000-07:00

From the depths of my editing life, I emerge victorious. Earlier this month, my boss informed me that we would have many projects coming up and that was not an understatement. I just finished critiquing my fifth of six books for the month and I have done heavy proofreading on four of them. All of this and I managed to write the content for our new website! And by our new website, I mean my and Travis' new website where we are selling something super cool that y'all have to buy because it is awesome and you'd be supporting a good cause and a start-up business. When the website is up and all cool with the new text, I'll get y'all the link so you can go nuts.

Knitting:

I'm trucking along still on the Test Knitting Project #2 and I'm thisclose to being finished. Yippee! After that I have to get on doing some of the commissions I've committed to doing.
I am test knitting another pattern that is pretty groovy and I decided to use Elann's Lara in Magenta or Crimson. It looks like this:
I think I am going to restart the ring pillow because now I'm not so in love with it. I'm thinking a lace panel instead of bobbles. I don't want the rings to get caught on the honkin' big bobbles. That would be awkward.
I cast on a pair of socks a few days ago in this: I'm calling them Porkchop's Party Socks because they are for my friend, Porkchop and the colors are all about a party. I decided to use the Moorish Lattice Pattern from Sensational Knitted Socks because I've been wanting to try it forever. It doesn't show up so fantastic with hyper-variegated yarn but I still like it. Also, it's a really really stretchy stitch.
I made a list of all the knitting I have to do before Christmas and that sidebar reflects only a fraction of the knitting I have to do. I'm an idiot.

Tales From the Tattoo Shop

It's been a while since I posted anything in this section but it is coming back. I swear. I have a story to tell you about a crazy person who came in yesterday (and every day for like seven days prior to yesterday) but it makes my blood pressure shoot through the roof so I'm giving it another day to rest. She was crazy and didn't make any sense and say things like, "Tha's what I'm axing you to do."

Partaking in Culture

We have Dexter in the queue of netflix on the recommendation of some friends. We watched three minutes of it and got hooked. I'll let you know how it goes.
The Return with Sarah Michelle Gellar is horrible. I know this is a big surprise considering the all star cast but it really was bad. It didn't make a damn bit of sense until the last few minutes and it wasn't in that cool Sixth Sense kind of way but in that lame WTF is going on kind of way. I'm a sucker for a bad horror movie and this didn't even qualify as bad.
Reno 911 the Movie was hilarious. We watched it the other night with some friends. I laughed profusely. It's like watching a two hour episode of the show and I really like the show so it certainly stands to reason that I would like the film. It definitely could not be considered high-brow academic humor in any way but that's okay because some base ridiculousness is good sometimes.

Well, dear bloglings and blogettes, if I don't hear from tarabeth by Monday, I'm sending the sock yarn to the runner up. I hope y'all are doing well. I need to go take some photos of the stuff I'm knitting up and show that to y'all. Enjoy the cooler evenings.

Transmission Ended

Hi, my name is FancyPants and I'm a knitting addict

2007-08-29T18:43:00.000-07:00

I think it's safe to say that I'm a knitting addict. I have three projects on the needles now but I should actually be doing like five projects because they all need to get done. I need many arms, like Vishnu. I just got the newest issue of Interweave Knits. I don't know what took me so long. I've only paged through it or else I'd give you the rundown. I found at least three sweaters I really want to make. I know, you are surprised by this. I also just bought Victorian Lace Today and Ann Budd's Favorite Socks because y'know, I need more sock knitting patterns because I only have a million now. Dios meo, mis amigos, dios meo.

Not much to report at the moment other than tarabeth still needs to leave me her email address so I can send her sock yarn. I worked on Porkchop's party sock (not yet in the sidebar) a little bit while I was reading the other day. I like it. It's right colorful. I am nearly done with Test Knitting Project #2. Hurrah!! And I've done nothing more on my sister's ring pillow. I'm going home to knit now. Wish me luck.

I hope y'all are doing well. I will be way more exciting, and with photos, next post. :)

Transmission Ended

And I'm finally back

2007-08-26T09:18:00.001-07:00

I'm so sorry it took me so long to get back to you. I feel like there was much gnashing of teeth and showing of swords in a threatening manner every time y'all checked my blog, only to see that I still hadn't done a damn thing with it. So I humbly apologize to y'all and appreciate your patience. I didn't get one (1) angry email even.

So, after much deliberation over the wonderful suggestions y'all provided for my bulky cashmere, I hemmed and hawed over two suggestions that really spoke to me. I finally decided that tarabeth (leave me your email address in a comment so I can get in touch with you to send you your yarn!) is the winner of the Wildfoote sock yarn for her suggestion. In memorial to my kitten, I will make a cashmere kitten out of it that is many colors, just like she was, and is super soft, just like she was. Thank you to everyone for your participation and excellent suggestions. I am filing all of them away for future use, especially the Scribble Lace Scarf and the eyemask! Thanks again for participating. Contests are fun so I believe I will have more in the future.

Also, I have to say thank you thank you thank you thank you for all your kind words and thoughts about the kitty. It was so sweet and thoughtful of y'all and it provided immeasurable comfort to me.

Moving on....
Knitting:

I finished the Gentleman's Fancy Socks from Nancy Bush's Knitting Vintage Socks. Yahoo! I've got a new pair of socks and here they are: I'm quite pleased with them and, of course, I had to cast on another pair (different pattern), shortly thereafter because I can't seem to not have a pair of socks on my needles lately.
So, sock knitting. I finished my first pair a while ago (the red ones) and I love with them with a passion that can only be reserved for your first pair of finished socks. Then I made some baby socks (look through the photos to see my white, furry model) and then I finished the Gentleman's Fancy Sock. I'm hooked. I have to have at least one pair of socks on the needles at all times now. I think I would actually like to have two pair on the needles at all times, one complicated and one mindless, and I have great plans for some socks that I want to create. I'll even give you the patterns so you can try 'em out yourself when I've finished. Yahoo!! Free stuff!!
And I will have more free patterns to give to you throughout the rest of the year. I'm going to mix up some free ones with some ones for sale so everybody gets something. I get to call myself an honest-to-goodness knitwear designer and you will get some free patterns and the opportunity to buy (for cheap) some cool patterns to whip up fashionable, fun sweaters, cardigans, socks, and other things I have gestating in the brain pool at the moment. Hurrah!
I thought I'd take a photo and share with you my notes from making the Gentleman's Fancy Sock. How professional, you might say, while looking at my penned notes on a paper towel. Hahaha. Yeah, so whatever patterns I plan on making to give and to sell will NOT be printed on paper towel. But if you do the same thing, you are not alone. Details on the sock: I used Plymouth Sockotta and it took me just over one ball to do it. I'd say about 550 yards for the pair. I used size 2.5mm needles and broke one just before I was about to finish the sock (there was cursing involved). I put an extra pattern repeat in the leg and I used one less pattern repeat in the foot to make 'em fit my feet instead of the MAN feet the pattern is written for (skinny, thin, tiny MAN feet). They were great fun to make and I recommend making a pair for you or someone you know.
I'm making progress on the test knitting project #2 and I really like them. The color choices, as I've probably said before, aren't quite me but I do like the pattern. It, again, uses a bunch of things I've never done before so I'm learning a lot and the outcome has been really positive.
Speaking of test knitting, I got another job knitting samples for a yarn shop up in NY, located close to the publishing company I work for. My publishing boss actually hooked me up with the gig and my first knit is a Rowan cardigan. Yahoo!! She pays me in yarn, which I love, for the knits for the store. She and a friend are writing a knitting book and I'll be test knitting patterns for the book too. Then I get paid in actual money (I'm honestly not sure what I prefer but the electric company doesn't accept payment in yarn although I think I'd probably knit by candlelight as opposed to handing over yarn....). I'll be able to share the store projects with you so that's pretty groovy.
I started the ring pillow for my sister's wedding. I'm using OnLine Goby in Cream on size 6 (US) needles. I went with a bobble stitch pattern from one of Nicki Epstein's books (my laziness is preventing me from getting up to check the exact title but you'll read about it soon enough I'm sure) and doing some other fancy-schmancy stuff with it. I'm pleased with it so far. I've actually gotten more finished since that photo so I'll update you with new photos on the next post.
I feel like I've cast on about a million projects lately (okay, so I'm exaggerating) and I want to show them to you. It's actually only been within the last day or so and I haven't had a chance to take photos and go through the process of uploading them. Soon, my dear bloglings and blogettes, soon.

Partaking in Culture:

If you want to laugh until you are gasping for air, go see Superbad. It is HILARIOUS! It, like most genius films, shows one day in the life of the protagonists, two 18-year-old boys about to go to college. It is funny and has moments of sheer genius. Definitely worth the ticket price and we may even go see it again.
I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry was also funny although it can't hold a candle to Superbad, Adam Sandler notwithstanding. Enjoy it on DVD. It was rather predictable but still made me laugh quite a few times.
We have a bunch of netflix movies and movies from the video store that we have to watch over the next few days so I'll give you the haps on those when I view them. I have notoriously weird taste in films so the netflix movies should prove interesting. One of them is even a horror movie (there is much rejoicing!).

Well, my darling bloglings and blogettes, thank you again for your patience and for coming to read up on what's going on with me. I will be hosting another contest as soon as I find a reason to do so (which is, like, every other day with me...I swear.) but thanks again for your ardent participation in the last one. I'm thinking of adding a new section to the blog so stay tuned to see if I actually do it. It should be at least mildly humourous. I hope y'all are doing well and enjoying life. I know that many of the kiddos are back in school so stay-at-home mamas and papas have been able to reclaim their days and university students are once again able to find reasons to skip class. Oh, the days.

Transmission Ended

I'll announce the winner shortly

2007-08-21T15:44:00.000-07:00

I promise!! I've been super super busy with proofing and knitting but I chose a winner and I will announce very soon. Thanks for hanging in there. OOOH! And I have photos to show you. Much fun will ensue.

Transmission Ended

PS:

2007-08-16T12:51:00.000-07:00

I just learned how to Norwegian Purl and I love it! Find a tutorial and learn how to do it. It makes ribbing go soooo much faster after you learn to do it.

Also, read this about a sock this woman's husband knit. It is his first sock but, more importantly, look at the sock in action.

Moving on...

2007-08-16T10:49:00.000-07:00

First of all, I'd like to say thank you to everyone who left kind, thoughtful comments related to the death of our kittie. Y'all's response was really wonderful and made me feel much better. Thank you again. Going along in that vein, I would also like to say thank you to my new commenters, Yarnhog, Kim, Shannon, and the others (my brain is stalling out on names right now). I'm a lover of comments and it's always nice to see new people stopping by and saying hello. I have a tendency to lurk on a lot of blogs but I try to comment and give my love to the many wonderful bloggers that take the time to frequently update their blogs so I have something to read while I'm knitting along. When I started this blog, I was convinced that no one would read it, blah blah blah, but, lo and behold!, I have made friends as result of doing this. I have met really cool people and learned a lot of interesting things, about knitting, life, and humanity. I'll be updating my regular reads on the sidebar to reflect the blogs I actually read every day very soon.

Speaking of cool things, Valerie, over at her blog, nominated me for a Creative Blogger Award some time ago and I kept forgetting to mention it. Thanks for that, Valerie! I still need to swipe the button and post it on my sidebar.

The Summer Stash Swap is officially over and I can't wait for next year's swap! I had roughly fifteen amazing participants who displayed true generosity, creativity, and kindness through their swaps. I will definitely be doing this again next year so stay tuned for that. It was my pleasure to host the swap and become "swap mistress," as I was so thoughtfully labeled by one swapper. :)

Knitting:

If you'll glance over at the sidebar, I've decided to be courageous and start progress bars for my Christmas knitting. I'm hoping it will keep me motivated and remind me what I need to get done as opposed to terrifying me into revolt, wherein I refuse to knit Christmas gifts.
The Gentleman's Fancy Socks from Knitting Vintage Socks: New Twists on Classic Patterns, by Nancy Bush, are coming along quite well. I've had some time to work on them here and there lately and I have turned the heel and stitched my way through the gussets. I'm now working on the foot so, before long, I will have a pair of socks! Hurrah! I'll have photos of it soon...another artful photo of my pale-ass legs in handknit socks. Be sure not to miss that. :)
The second test knitting project is coming along splendidly. They received my first project and gave me some constructive criticism for it, which it needed. However, I feel much more confident about this project, even though it too involves a number of new things for me. I can't show you the actual project so, instead, I'll show you the swatch. Here it is: *A note on stranded colorwork - I've found that the fabric created by stranded colorwork is much more even, in density and appearance, if you catch the floating yarn every two stitches or so, instead of letting them float over five stitches. There is also less likelihood that things will get caught on the floats when you put on the garment.*
I was asked why I decided to frog the TaTa Tube and all I can say is that in theory, it was a good project. In reality, it didn't turn out so well. I may tweak the design, which I still kind of like, and change the yarn (which was wrong wrong wrong the first time around) to see what I come up with. The crochet edging I chose for it was also not the best decision I've made in a while.
I've been talking mad, crazy designs and patterns with Christine and, between the two of us, y'all are going to be up to your eyeballs in knitting patterns. I've got some great designs (better than the TaTa Tube, I swear!) kicking around in my noodle for everything from socks to sweaters and a few home furnishing things so we can all look forward to those in the months ahead.
I have only received two ideas (two good ideas, from Sharon and Allie, but still only two) for what to do with the bulky cashmere pictured below. I like them both but I would still like to solicit more ideas. If you have an idea for what I can do with it, leave me a comment. If I love it, I'll send you a skein of Wildfoote sock yarn in the Rock and Roll colorway. If I can't choose between two or more, I'll use the random number generator to pick a winner.

Partaking in Culture:

As of late, we have seen Ratatouille (hilarious!! I nearly snorted while I was laughing, it was that damn funny), Hot Rod (stupid funny but still funny. Go have a laugh and see it), and The Simpsons movie. I am a hardcore Simpsons fan so I had eagerly anticipated the movie for a long long time. I was not disappointed. If you even remotely like the Simpsons, go see the movie. It is genius and hilarious.
I'm reading The Nautical Chart right now (see sidebar) and it's fantastic. It's very layered and the story-telling is magnificent and vivid. I'm glad the author has written quite a few books so I will be able to work my way through them. It drives me bonkers when I find an author I really like only to find that they've only written one book and I can't read anything else by them. For the longest time, Vikram Chandra was like that. He recently put out Sacred Games: A Novel, which was seven long years in the making. I haven't read it yet so I have nothing to report about it. I'll let you know when I do, though, because I have very high hopes for it. If it's anything like his first book, Red Earth and Pouring Rain: A Novel, I know it will be an amazing read.
We listened to Terry Pratchet's The Colour of Magic (Discworld Novels) on the way back from TN this time. It's not generally the genre that I read but it was SO MUCH FUN to listen to. It's really a fun, witty, imaginative book. Give it a listen while you are knitting and the time will just fly by. It seems to start off a bit slow but I think that is due, in part, to the fact that it is linguistically correct, which is something seldom heard today, unfortunately (don't get me started on language or linguistics. We'll be here all day). After you get accustomed to the rhythms of the speech and the language, it is thoroughly enjoyable. We aren't quite finished with it (half of one disc to go) so I'll hold off on giving it any sort of review until then.

For the moment, that's about all I can think of that I need to tell you, my dear bloglings and blogettes. There are a couple of really big things coming up that I'm looking forward to sharing with you but, until they are in our hot little hands, I'm going to hold off and just tease you about it until then (hehehe). I'll be back soon. I hope you are having a beautiful day and not wilting in the heat. Drink a lot of water lest you get dehydrated.

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Candy 1989 - 2007

2007-08-14T14:01:00.000-07:00

It is with great sadness that I report that Candy, the beautiful kitten discussed below, has passed away. She developed diabetes but soldiered on for quite a while seemingly without any problems. I spoke with my mama today and she told me that, after keeping vigil with Candy all weekend, she passed away without incident on Saturday night. Candy was interred with her favorite toy in a sunny spot, between two palm trees, behind the house. I am sad.

Transmission Ended

It's gonna be a bright and sunshiny day

2007-08-08T18:55:00.000-07:00

I can see clearly now that some of my previous projects (like the TaTa Tube and the Shortie Jacket) are destined to become yarn again. If you look to the sidebar, you'll notice that I've eradicated them from the progress bars. I don't have enough yarn to do sleeves on the jacket (that I don't really like anyway) and the TaTa Tube was a serious error in knitting judgment. I'm not quite sure what I was thinking with that one but I at least had the foresight not to unleash it on the world. *Wipes brow in relief* I was talking with Christine via ye olde email today and struck upon the idea of turning the Shortie Jacket yarn into a Tough Baby jacket so I suppose I'll add that to the project list and start it up eventually. Now that I have affirmatively decided to frog these projects, I feel much better. Do they count toward the 2007 UFO project, though?
*Please note that I will finish that damned Tulip Shawl because I want to and it needs to be finished because it will be beautiful. Real tulips will turn green with envy when confronted with the finished product.

More Knitting:

So I bought this:
a long time ago and I only bought one skein. It is approximately 54 yards of bulky weight cashmere and I have had it sitting on the coffee table for at least a month. I only recently wound it up into that delicious little yarn cake. It used to look like this: It's beautiful. It's soft. And there is only 54 yards of it. If anyone can give me a suggestion for it that will actually work, I'll send you something cool and yarn related. Call it a contest. Leave me a comment on something cool to do with it and, if I like it, I'll send you something groovy in return.
The Gentleman's Fancy Sock #2 (that I have remanded to my sock drawer's custody) is about a third done. I've been stealing rows throughout the day, in between editing like a machine. I may just have a pair of socks to wear this weekend when we are up in TN.
I haven't heard anything negative, yet, about the test knitting project #1 that they should have gotten today. In fact, they asked me to knit up something else for them so test knitting project #2 went up in the progress section. It involves stranded colorwork so that should be fun...and interesting. On a positive note, my finger has almost returned to normal.

Other stuff:

Since I am now updating my blog more frequently (or trying to anyway), I have to dig around a little bit more for interesting things to regale you with. Anyway, with that being said, I would like to say something more about the oldest cat at my mama's house. Remember her? I definitely didn't do her justice and I felt badly about that because she's really cool. I got her and her sister (who abruptly disappeared) when they were both wee little fluff balls. Her name is Candy but I've always called her Kitty. She's always been my cat and she's really the first cat that I can remember having. She tolerated the rottweiler we had and lived through living with me when I went to university and started collecting cats. She's never complained or sulked or even been mildly disgruntled. She has also never poo'd in a litter box, but opted to do so just beside it instead (much to the dismay of my mother). She now lives at my mother's house, with her five younger cat brothers and she rules with an iron paw. She has developed feline diabetes so she drinks a lot of water and pees a lot but she maintains a good quality of life so we don't see any reason to do anything drastic. She sleeps on my bed and snuggles with me when I go home and my mama claims she comes to life when I am around. She carries around a cat toy filled with catnip that I knitted some time ago and she regularly delivers it to my mama's bedside as a gift of her mighty hunting. She begs for food and will win any staring contest you want to put her in. I love her little furry paws and the way fur comes out of her ears. I love the she tolerates kisses all over her head and will even snuggle up with you afterwards, despite being a cat and hating that sort of thing out of obligation. I could talk about her a lot more but I won't because I'm starting to get a lump in my throat and get all misty-eyed. Anway. Thanks for putting up with me elegy to my cat. I feel better now. Be prepared for more because I'm feeling sentimental lately.

I'll be back with more knitting once I get some more knitting done. I feel like y'all deserve some patterns and stuff like that so I'll see what I can do about that too. I've got some things in mind for that so it should be a pretty fruitful next couple of months on the knitting front. I have a lot of inspiration (and a lot of yarn. An LYS down by my mama's was going out of business and I fortuitously happened upon it before they closed down. I got so much great yarn. I'm up to my eyeballs in Malabrigo and cashmere blends.). Stay cool in this hell-hot weather and I'll be back soon. As usual, thanks for reading.

Transmission Ended

Some stuff I've been promising you

2007-08-06T11:01:00.000-07:00

Hi all!

Knitting:

I've got the test knitting project #1 out in the post and done!! Yahoo!! I am relieved as all get out. Here is a progress photo of the project:

I'm not allowed to show you the finished product, of which I also have photos, until it's in the catalog. I'm not 100% pleased with it but I don't think I ever would be because I'm a hardcore perfectionist about my knitting. But anyway.

Here is a photo of the yarn and the pattern I've been commissioned to do. The yarn is Plymouth Baby Alpaca DK and the pattern is Rowan's Ghost.

I'll keep you updated on the progress of it when I get it underway. I'm itching to get it started. However, I also need to get started on my Christmas knitting...That's for another post.

Instead, I'll show you the MAN socks which are now the me socks, again. The first one didn't fit Travis but it did fit me so I decided to finish up the pair so I'd have another pair of socks. I'll be giving the MAN socks another go, though. Here is a photo of the first sock in action and the start of the second sock, which has actually come along a bit further since I took this photo. It languished for the entire duration of the test knitting project, for obvious reasons (see previous posts).

Partaking in Culture:

I finished Rant, by Chuck Palahniuk, a while ago and, as usual for his books, I really enjoyed it. His books are like a guilty pleasure...easy to read, quick, and fun. His books have this weird non-fiction feel to them. In Invisible Monsters, he gave exhaustive tips for removing stains and cleaning. In Rant, the reader gets a history of the spread of contagious diseases throughout history. Rant is written in an interview style sans interviewer. The reader is getting an oral history of the main character. Like all his characters, the main character of this book is multi-layered and the reader gets the distinct feeling like he is hiding something from them. Chuck Palahniuk has become somewhat known for his big reveals at the end of his novels and Rant is no exception. I do not recommend this book, or any of his other books, for the squeamish or the prudish. I do recommend it if you want some brain candy that you will demolish in a weekend...
I recently finished The Museum Guard by Howard Norman. It was a lovely book, rather folk story in its telling. It was set in the late 1930's and explored the day to day life of an average guy who became a museum guard because of his uncle, an alcoholic womanizer who is also a museum guard. The protagonist, Defoe, becomes enraptured with both a woman and a painting. The woman and the painting merge into one as the woman attempts to become the woman in the painting. Here, Norman details the pathos of a woman who has clearly made a break from her own reality in favor of what she feels is the more romantic and meaningful world of the woman in the painting. This book is at times frustrating and overall very engaging. It reads like the story of a painting, which is reinforced in many ways by the other characters who get the opportunity to provide the commentary for the story throughout the book. It was a refreshing read because it was well-written, lyrical, and interesting. The historical setting of the book was factually true yet unintrusive. There was something vaguely mysterious about this book and I do recommend it, especially if you like the feeling of peering into another life.
If you are looking for a nearly exhaustive yet well-categorized compendium of knitting stitches, check out Mary Thomas's Book of Knitting Patterns. It was first published in 1943 and has since, obviously, been reprinted. She starts out with some of the most basic knitting stitch patterns and progresses to the most complex. There are patterns scattered throughout (mainly samplers and such) but the real meat of the thing is in the stitch patterns. There is some great knitting history and a ton (300+) illustrations of knitting stitches, including profile views of stitches. There is also a discussion of design and incorporating various patterns into garments and how they will best work together. This is not a book I would have appreciated as a beginning knitter but I know as I advance more, I will find it to be an indispensable resource. If you design garments or home furnishing and do not have this book, I urge you to get a copy.
Since I have been sitting on my duff knitting my fingers to the bone, I have been watching too much daytime television. You know what's on in the middle of the day? Murder, She Wrote. That's right, I've been watching Murder, She Wrote....on the Hallmark Channel and the Biography Channel, respectively. Most of the acting is horrible but I felt like I was eight and staying up late to watch it with my mama.
Deadwood Season Three is out on DVD now and we are nearing the end of the discs from Netflix. I shudder to think that it will be over soon because now I'm totally engrossed. I'll have to turn my television compulsion to something else. Any suggestions?

Well, bloglings and blogettes, I am going to go take a shower and get back to knitting and editing (something new this time!) and watch another episode of Murder, She Wrote. Travis is running around getting parts for the truck (1966 Chevy 10 - "Lucille" - she's up and running and we are happy to have her back. There is nothing like driving around with the windows down, sitting next to my baby on that big bench seat.) to work on that today so I'll be doing my usual....avoiding the heat and knitting for fun. I hope y'all are having a wonderful day. I'll be back soon with more knitting, more reading (I'm in the middle of a fantastic book!), and more happiness. Ciao!

Transmission Ended

Ni hao..

2007-08-04T15:37:00.001-07:00

That's "hello" in Mandarin according to flickr. Anyway. What follows is going to be a very unsatisfactory blog post because I need to finish my glass of wine in order to decompress enough to write a better one filled with all the stuff I've been promising you. Here's why (and it also explains my absence for the past, what?, week):
I finished the test knitting project #1 today (three days late but they don't seem to mind yet...I'm rushing it to the post Monday morning). I literally have a hole in my index finger from sliding stitches off a metal circular needle. I thought I was joking about knitting until my fingers bled but, alas, I was not. Blood and holey fingers notwithstanding, it was a fun knit. LOTS of intarsia. Y'all will get to see it once it's in the catalog. I'll be posting photos of it here. Knitting on a deadline is not fun but it was totally gratifying to finish the thing and, because I'm a glorious kind of fool, I will gladly do it again and implement better time/knitting management skills. I have to start now on a cardigan I was commissioned to do (Hurrah!) and it's on far less of a deadline so I'm looking forward to it. Also, I can show you lotsa photos. Now that I don't have knitting in my hands for the first time in days (we're talkin' like twelve to fourteen hours of knitting a day for the last several days. *wipes sweat from brow*), I have itchy fingers and want to pick up the sock that has been languishing on the needles and cast on about fifty other things. Alright, I'm tearing myself away from this particular boring blog post until I can give you a proper one or ten. In my absence (until later today, after I do some other work), I will leave you with a photo of Mommy Kitty, a cat that lives outside at Travis' sister's house who hung out with me while I was outside reading a book (which I will also tell you about later). Anyway. Mommy Kitty is cute. Here's proof:

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Another happy photo...

2007-07-24T11:22:00.000-07:00

As usual for things at the moment, I am pressed for time and darn near pulling out my hair on this test knitting project but I will invoke the zen principles and take a breath and be happy with my universe (I am one with the universe. I am one with the universe.). At any rate, I will blog more about progress and knitting and happy things soon. I promise. Until then, I will show you a photo of some new additions to my knitting library.

This photo reminds me that I really need to do some shorty book reviews. I have finished one book and nearly completed another book (both fiction) and read through the above books and I have things to say about them. Also, I got my invite to Ravelry and I'm using every ounce of self-restraint I have to stop from spending all my time on there and cataloging everything. But I have too much crap to do right now so no Ravelry for me at the moment. I promise I will not let it distract from my super-interesting (HA) blogging. Thanks for hangin' in there, my friends.

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I am now...

2007-07-21T14:06:00.001-07:00

halfway done, exactly, with the proofreading project and I am in exactly the same place with my test knitting project as I was before I frogged it due to gauge issues. I present to you a picture of yarn from Emily B.'s etsy shop that I am in love with:

The one on the left, Handful of Orchids, and the one in the middle, name unremembered, are destined to become luxuriously beautiful socks for me and someone else who wants pretty pink socks. I have to go back to proofreading and knitting. More later. :)

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I have stuff to tell you...

2007-07-20T18:42:00.001-07:00

....I'm just uber-lazy right now and I'm trying to make up for lost time on my test knitting thing so I'm not blogging at the moment. You are currently missing out on photos of beautiful yarn, other yarn I need help deciding what to do with, a sweater that I want to make but the pattern is in French, photos of cats, and a brief discussion of a book and a movie I finished and watched recently, respectively. I will blog tomorrow after I finish waist shaping and proofreading a manuscript (I'm halfway through, almost, the proofreading). Please bear with me and wish me fingers that knit like the wind. By the way, I've read some of the worst similes and metaphors lately that I almost want to suspend my own poetic license for a while. I hope y'all are well. Thanks for you patience.

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Cursed by my own hubris

2007-07-17T17:34:00.000-07:00

So being the good little test knitter that I'm trying to be, I decided to check my gauge on the test knitting project. I did a gauge swatch before I started (see? good little test knitter) and I was spot on. There was much rejoicing. I'm now five inches (FIVE INCHES) into the garment and thought, well missy, you are rocketing through this so why don't you just check yer gauge (evidently I address myself like a grizzled 1860s prospector (double points to anyone who can name that pop culture reference))? I've read all the stuff about gauge changing in big projects so I thought I'd check. Well, I checked and I'm off....way off. Ugh. So now I'm ripping out five inches of my project. Riiiiippppp! I will be going up a needle size and reknitting for the rest of the knit. That's what I get for thinking so highly of my knitting. HA! Did I mention this will be my third go at this because I want it to be as close to perfect as possible? Well, it is and I'm still trying. More progress (or lack thereof) later as now I must go rip. By the way, i-cord cast-on curls up like crazy but I've been assured that blocking will remedy this. Back to ripping and then knitting.

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Knitting, yarn, art, and happiness pie

2007-07-17T14:34:00.000-07:00

Hi y'all. I have many things to report but I'll probably forget half of them so stay tuned for further blogging in the future. The Summer Stash Swap is well underway and swappers are sending packages to one another daily. I love it!! Everyone participating is so conscientious and thoughtful. I'm definitely doing this again next year. I'm still beside myself with joy with the yarn I got up in Pittsburgh and, to top it all off, I received the yarn I ordered from the Three Peas Shoppette on Etsy when I got back into town. I haven't had a minute to photograph it yet but I will regale y'all with photos of this beautiful yarn as soon as possible. It's lovingly hand-dyed by the fabulous Emily B. and I feel like I got it for a steal. How could you go wrong?

Knitting:

The MAN socks are officially now the me socks. I finished one (fantastic, by the way) and it fit me perfectly which meant that there was no way it was going to fit over Travis' foot. I'll be finishing the matching sock so I have a pair and starting a pair of socks for Travis once again. This time, they will be toe-up socks. Photos of my single sock and progress on the second sock are forthcoming.
My first Knit Picks test knitting item is going along quite well. They sent me yarn and a pattern and I commenced to knitting. There is a lot (A LOT) of intarsia involved so I'm sharpening my intarsia skills. I'm using their "Wool of the Andes," which is 100% Peruvian wool. It's very even and quite springy with a wonderful bounce to it. It lends to beautiful stitch definition and, on US size 8 needles, it knits up into a nice, drapey fabric, not too dense or stiff. I'll take a progress shot of that so y'all can check it out.
I whipped out three dishcloths (using the Woven stitch) while on vacation. I used a baby cotton that I had in my stash and I am just as pleased with the results from using it as I was using the Peaches and Cream brand available at Sprawl-mart. On a side note, I did grab two balls of Peaches and Cream cotton from Sprawl-mart when I was on vacation. They had a vibrant red variegated one that I couldn't pass up because it would go perfectly in my mama's kitchen. I think I'm hooked on dishcloths and that particular stitch pattern rocks. I make them as follows: CO an even number of stitches (I use 44). Knit in seed stitch (aka moss stitch, depending where you are) for four rows. Row five: Knit first four stitches in seed stitch pattern then start the woven stitch (knit second stitch on the needle without removing it, then knit the first stitch on the needle and slide both stitches off the needle. repeat to last four stitches.). Knit in woven stitch to the last four stitches. Knit last four stitches in seed stitch pattern. On the purl side of the cloth, for the woven stitch, purl the second stitch on the needle without sliding it off the needle, then purl the first stitch on the needle and slide both off the needle. Repeat to last four stitches. Knit to within four rows of the desired length. Knit last four rows in seed stitch border. BO in seed stitch pattern. The seed stitch border helps to stabilize the whole thing so it doesn't roll all around.
On a random, non-knitting side note, we saw this owl: at the Carnegie museum in Pittsburgh. It reminded us of our cat, Penelope. I though I would share it with you.
Knit Picks customer service rocks. If you have any problem at all with your order, call them and they will make it right. They are awesome. (and I'm not just saying that because I "work" for them.)

Partaking in culture:

I promised some good photos from the Carnegie museum and here are a few of my favorite things from there. Most of my photos are more like reference photos so I'm just sharing the highlights here. This particular photo appealed to my macabre sense of humor. It just struck me as a really odd way to display a bird. Quite funny though. hehehe
They had an Egyptian exhibit there and I saw this: It's a drop spindle! How freakin' cool is that? I had no idea the drop spindle hailed from that far back in time. I was pleasantly surprised.
This is a beautiful Chinese vase that had inspiring colors. I loved the combinations and the contrast in the colors. If you look closely at the photo (or click it to see it bigger), you can see Travis in the background equally as captivated by a piece of art. We had such a wonderful museum visit...both of us are big art buffs and, by the time we left, we had heads full of art and beauty.
Who doesn't love a big Buddha?

So, for the moment, that's all I've got. I have some fantastic photos of the outdoor cats in TN that hung out with me while I finished my book. I'll get them off my camera on to you so you can bask in their ridiculous cuteness. I'll also be taking lotsa photos of yarn and other delicious things so I'll see you soon, bloglings and blogettes. I hope you are having a wonderful day.

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Wherein I briefly discuss travel and talk extensively about yarn

2007-07-09T21:28:00.000-07:00

Hello all! I just got back from a wonderful trip up to Pittsburgh with Travis and his mama to go to their family reunion. We hung out with the family, went to the reunion (where I worked on the MAN sock), and Hurrah! went yarn shopping. We had to wake up early a lot, which 'bout near killed us but we survived...albeit with much grumpiness and protests. We are not early morning folk. We are late night evening folk. I was outside in the sun for an entire day and actually got a bit of a sunburn (the first time in at least a year). And we saw this:
pulling into our hotel room, which was close to a McDonalds. Funny funny.

Knitting:

Since we left from Florida, I have nearly completed one MAN sock. I did quite a lot of knitting at the reunion, which was really nice (both the reunion and the knitting). However, working with tiny needles all day long made my hand go numb for about an hour later that night and my arm ached the next day. I think I built some new knitting muscles in my arm. The sock is coming along well but I think, just like my other attempts at doing so, that this MAN sock is going to fit me better than Travis. Ah, well. I just get a new pair of socks and get to take another whack at it with the MAN socks.
Before we left Florida, I got struck by the small project bug and decided to knit up the chenille washcloth from Weekend Knitting. I wound up some Colinnette (sp?) cotton chenille in colorway Jewel into a delicious yarn cake: and proceeded to knit up the largest washcloth in the world with it. It is a giant flower (and no, I didn't check my gauge because I figured, hey, it's a washcloth for me so I don't really care) and it's more of a towel than a washcloth. Funny pictures of Travis modeling it for me will be forthcoming.
Travis, his mama, and I went to a fabulous yarn shop in Pittsburgh, Dyed in the Wool, where Kelley and Carol turned out to be the yarn devils of Dyed in the Wool. They work there and they helped me load up on beautiful yarn by waving it around in my face while I shopped and by being extra helpful. Travis accompanied me and encouraged me to go a little crazy since I've been so good on my yarn diet plus he bought me the yarn as an anniversary present. *Happy Sigh* He's so sweet. And I made out like a bandit. They were having a sale on Debbie Bliss (among others) and Elsbeth Lavold. I got three skeins of silver and black Debbie Bliss Pure Silk, one skein of Helen's Lace by Lorna's Laces in pewter, two skeins each of Elsbeth Lavold Silky Cashmere in camel, ruby, and cream, one skein each of two different colorways of SWTC Tofutsies, one skein each of Kollage ??? sock yarn in cream and butterscotch, one skein of Lorna's Laces Shepard Sock in pewter, and three balls of Lacey Lambs in dark grey and grey heather. All I can say is mmmmmm......yarn. I'm sooooo excited *squeals with joy* I haven't gotten this much yarn or new yarn at all really since September 2006. Since then, I have really gotten more into designing and branching out in my knitting abilities and willingness to try more difficult projects, like lace shawls and designing socks, sweaters, and accessories so it was a great opportunity to get my hands on some fresh yarn. I didn't have any laceweight yarn and I can't wait to give it a try and attempt to produce one of those amazing wing-like shawls that I drool over regularly. A little close-up photo of some of the yarny goodness. I'm in knitting heaven. And there is a bit of yarn p0rn for y'all.

Partaking in Culture:

We've only really been partaking of the culture of a different city these past few days. We've been partaking of the culture of good family and being in good company. It was truly wonderful. We had lots of wonderful discussion with grandparents and interesting family members. We had many good meals amongst great company and had the chance to represent the third generation of family present. We went to the Carnegie Art Museum in Pittsburgh and saw amazing art (more on that later. I took photos!). It was a wonderful trip and a beautiful cultural experience.

Well, dear bloglings and blogettes, I am going to leave you now, because it is late and I want to knit just a bit. I hope y'all had a wonderful 4th of July and have had a beautiful weekend. I'll be back soon with some great photos from the art museum and a bit more on Pittsburgh as well as some sock progress photos. Thanks for checking in. :)

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Wherein I show photos of knitting and discuss other things...

2007-07-03T16:33:00.000-07:00

Hallo! The Summer Stash Swap is now officially underway. I'm so excited. I have finally decided what I'm putting in the box and I'm building up other things as I go along. More on that before, during, and after the swap has ended. Feel free to check out the swap blog and get updates there.
Since the 4th of July is tomorrow, things have been pretty slow around here. The tattoo shop was busy busy busy on Sunday (when I was at home) and dead on Monday (when I was there). I stayed home again today because I was super grouchy (thanks to lack of sleep) and when I get sleepy and grouchy, I'm like a baby so I cry too. It's not pretty. At any rate, I've been hanging out today, knitting and dreaming up more projects. Here's what I've got

Knitting:

Here is the unfelted cosmetic's case: One side and the other side. It took three brutal rounds in the washing machine on hot with a couple of towels (that are now REALLY clean) before it started to look felted. I'm not big on felting so I don't know how I feel about it yet. I'm hoping it will look better after it has some flowers needle felted on it and has a zipper. Think happy thoughts for my homely little bag. I've decided I'm not big on felting.
The "Gentlemen's Fancy Socks" from Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush are coming along quite well. I like them much better than my previous attempts at MAN socks. Here is a close-up: If they don't fit Travis (because he has big feet and big feet = big socks), then my papa is getting some hand-knit socks for Christmas and I'll give Travis' socks another go. I just ordered some yarn from Knit Picks and I'm eager to try that out so maybe that yarn will get made into MAN socks.
The baby socks are finished! I cast on 32 stitches, divided them onto three needles, started a 2x2 rib and never looked back. The cat, Poogar, refused to be seen in the socks again. For your viewing pleasure, I've provided a close-up: I think I'm going to try and do some toe-up socks because I'm about sick of having 20 or 30 yards of sock yarn floating around the house. Anyway. I really like how they turned out and I'm hoping our friends' baby has long skinny feet, like the cat.
Speaking of tiny amounts of leftover yarn, I have roughly three yards of Alchemy Bamboo leftover from making the Chevron Scarf from LMKG. I used one skein each of Alchemy's Silk and Bamboo in colorway Sonoma Sunset. It was heaven to work with and it came out beautifully. I'll probably end up giving it away, as is my wont. Poogar was helping me in this photo: and here is a close-up: The colors are not so "WOW, that is bright" as they are on the photo. Bad indoor lighting can be directly thanked for that. I had to use a flash for the photo. For those of you considering the chevron stitch but thinking that it will be time consuming or difficult, just do it. This scarf only took me a couple of days, intermittently, and it measures a little over five feet long and about eight inches wide. I used size 8 US needles, instead of the size 6s the pattern calls for because I wanted something a little more open and breezy. I will knit this scarf again, without a doubt. I'm thinking of using some Fiesta La Luz, in silverado, I have in my stash along with some soon to be purchased La Luz in obsidian for the next one. Knitting with silk is amazing. I highly recommend it.

Partaking in Culture:

May I reiterate how great Big Love is? This season is fantastic and I love it. If you haven't watched it and have no real strong opinions about polygamists, then rent the first season and watch it.
I watched Down By Law, with Tom Waits, today. It had its droll moments but overall it was dry and rather unimaginative. Unless you really really like Tom Waits, I do not recommend it. It came highly recommended via Netflix, especially for people with my rental history (read: strange films) but I should know better by now than to pay attention to all that, what with The Testament of Dr. Mabuse debacle.
I'm nearing the end of Rant, by Chuck Palahniuk (of Fight Club fame) and it's a good one. His books are such a fast read I almost feel like they, along with Bret Easton Ellis' books, are a guilty pleasure. Both writers are fast, visceral, and sensory so it's easy to make the connection, I suppose. Reading this book has derailed my progress on The Mysteries of New Orleans but I'm pretending like I haven't noticed that so please have the good sense to not point it out, thank you very much. :)

I hope y'all are having a beautiful day. I'm off to go empty the litter box (yum) and make the kittens happy by feeding them treats. I may even knit up a cat toy or two in an effort to distract them while Travis and I are out of town. I will be taking photographs like a woman possessed while we are out of town so y'all can have fun with me. Thanks for tuning in, dear bloglings and blogettes.

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Wherein I shout from the rooftops with joy

2007-06-30T11:11:00.000-07:00

That I am now a test knitter for Knit Picks!!! Hurrah! I found out yesterday and I am eagerly awaiting the yarn for my first project. I'm so excited I could burst. I will now be getting paid to knit and play with yarn. It's so freakin' cool. I just had to share that with y'all because its right exciting for me. I hope y'all are having a beautiful day and a wonderful weekend. I'll probably be posting more later on so stay tuned my friends.

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*Edited to answer questions in the comments:
I landed the gig by sheer luck, it seems. I belong to a knitwear designers message board and a Knit Picks representative asked for test knitters. You can imagine how enthusiastically and quickly I responded.
I will be able to share photos of the finished objects I have test knitted after Knit Picks has published/disseminated them. I'm really looking forward to doing the work for them and trying my hand at things I wouldn't normally choose to knit (as is often the case with test knitting). I feel it will be a really good learning experience and add to my ability to design garments and hone my knitting skills.
Thank you for all the encouraging comments so far. Y'all are the best blog readers ever!!

Hahahahaha!

2007-06-28T11:22:00.000-07:00

So I finished one of the baby socks last night and needed a model for it for the photo:

I am evil. Hahahahahaha.

And Sharon, over at her blog, Chickenlips Knitting, tagged me as a Rockin' Girl Blogger, and I thought that was uber-cool/nice of her. Taking a page from her clever and interesting book, I'm tagging Emily B., at her blog The Red Hat Blues, and Valerie, at her blog My Little Piece of the Net. Ladies, pass on the love.

I hope y'all are having a wonderful day.

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The Summer Stash Swap Has a Blog!

2007-06-27T13:12:00.000-07:00

It's official. The Summer Stash Swap has its own blog so all SSS talk can go on over there. In news of my world:
I have officially kicked my Coke (aCola) habit. I used to drink one can of Coke per day and I switched to herbal and black tea. Less sugar and it still has caffeine. My liver is thanking me. I also read that you can gain like seven pounds a year or something absurd like that from drinking Coke or other sodas every day so, in an effort not to take up more surface area, I've stopped drinking Coke, with the notable exception of at the cinema and on road trips. I will be writing an ode to shoes in an upcoming blog post so watch out for that one.

Knitting:

I'm about halfway through my little felted cosmetic case that I'm making for my sister. It's simple and boring and whatev. I'm about to knit the gusset into it and then start with the other color of yarn. Then I'll stitch up the sides, felt, and sew in a zipper. I plan on doing some needle felting on it, some flowers or something so it will be noticiably cuter after that. I'm winging it on the pattern because I wanted to see how it would turn out. The yarn will felt and I knit it up wider than it is longer, because of the nature of felted knits felting up more width-wise than length-wise, but, because it's a cosmetics' case, I'm not uber-concerned with dimensions. Photos will be forthcoming...as usual
I'm finishing up a baby sock with the same yarn (Schachenmayer Micro-color) and needles (US 3) of the Previously Jill socks. Since Sensational Knitted Socks didn't have a baby sock size, I decided to do my own thing. I cast on 32 stitches and haven't looked back. They are being done in a 2x2 rib and I made the leg long enough to fold over. Baby socks are ridiculously cute. I'm be kitchenering the toe tonight and casting on for the matching sock at the same time.
I thinking tonight may be the night to weave in ends. I need to weave in the ends of the Chevron scarf, the baby sock, and the cosmetic case. I like to weave in ends as I go, when I can, so I don't have to face a mountainous number of ends at the end of a project. I only have two ends to weave in on the scarf and the sock and one, thus far, on the cosmetic case.
I cast on some MAN socks for Travis, using a pattern from Vintage Socks, by Nancy Bush. Travis and I both agreed that the "Gentlemen's Fancy Sock" was a nice looking man sock so, armed with bamboo size 2s (US) and enough Sockotta to knit four pair of socks, I started them. Unfortunately, there are no directions for multiple sizes and I had to tweak the pattern so they would fit Travis. I'm still crossing my fingers in the hopes that they fit. If they don't, my papa is getting a new pair of socks and I'm going to try again for Travis. I'll keep you updated. I've already learned something from these socks though. I don't like bamboo DPNs for socks. Metal needles work so much better for me for socks.

Partaking in Culture:

We went to see a number of films: Shrek the Third (hilarious and cute), Pirates of the Caribbean Three (silly but cool special effects), 1408 (scary and delicious and GREAT), and my mama and I saw Mr. Brooks (the ending was a cop-out. Does anyone know if this is a remake? It has a remake kind of quality to it. Also, it was hard to believe Dane Cook as a serious character.)
Big Love is back in full swing and all I have to say is "Hurrah!" I love that show and now, with Sopranos over and the Riches and Lost taking a break for the season, its nice to have another show to tune into. I need to start DVR-ing The Closer, because I like that one too.

Well, bloglings and blogettes, I will return, armed to the teeth with photos for your viewing pleasure. Penelope has been doing her obnoxious meowing again, starting around 5a.m., which means I am grumpy lately from lack of sleep. My newest solution to her meowing is to go out to wherever she is meowing in the house and whack her with a small pillow. It works for about 10 minutes. Then she starts up again. This morning I had to chase her around the family room with the pillow. She's wise to my tricks. I hope you are having a wonderful day.

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Agonizing over prizes...

2007-06-19T16:16:00.000-07:00

This post is for all the Summer Stash Swap participants and those thinking of joining in. I'm agonizing over the prizes for y'all. I have so many good ideas and I just can't decide on three of them. I've looked at yarn (all soft, beautiful, non-acrylic, non-novelty type yarns, of course), notions and needles, and storage options. I can't decide on sock yarn or not. I can't decide between undyed, or bare, yarn for those who like to dye their own or not. I don't want to be all lame and offer gift certificates because that just doesn't seem very creative to me and that's what the Stash Swap is all about...creativity. I'll quit being ambivalent soon, I promise. I just needed to get that out on the table, so to speak.

The sky just opened up over us and the rain, she is pouring. I love a good thunderstorm. I spent the earlier years of my life in a very rainy area and it reminds me of being a kid when the sky turns grey and the rain starts coming down. Ah....lovely.

Knitting:

I finished the Chevron Stitch scarf from LMKG I randomly decided to do. I made it out a skein of Alchemy silk and Alchemy bamboo. It is darn near the softest thing ever. After I weave in the ends, I will photograph it and post the photos. I don't know why I randomly decided to knit the scarf. I saw the yarn in my stash and it called out to me and a week later it became a scarf. It's nowhere near as long as the one in LMKG but whatever. It wraps around my neck once and has enough to hang down in the front. I think I'll wrap it around my face because it is so soft. The whole time I was knitting it, I made people feel the bamboo yarn. It's delicious. Enough of that for the moment though.
I grabbed like 16 ounces (or one pound, whichever you prefer) of some ooooold Bernat acrylic I had stashed at my mama's house. I have three balls in this kind of blue-green, jade kind of color and one in a rose color. My first thought was a mitered blanket heavy on the blue-green and light on the rose, to donate to the local women's shelter. I have since, of course, changed my mind. I grabbed some size ten (6.5 mm) needles and my new copy of Runway Knits and I'm going to make the Vintage Shawl and donate that instead, probably to an elderly care facility. It'll be soft, beautiful and washable so that's a good thing. Which brings me to my next point...
Runway Knits by Berta Karapetyan totally rocks. It's amazing and beautiful and beautifully photographed. Berta gives you a bit about her heritage (Russian) and life before knitting (finance degree) before showing off her skills as a knitwear designer. Karabella yarns are used throughout the book (her son owns and operates Karabella) but she is gracious enough to include a substitution guide in the back for those of us who have thinner wallets. The designs are the amazing part. I mean, seriously. There are probably four things out of the 30 projects in the book that I don't currently want to knit but that is primarily because I don't have a great love for knit dresses (they always seem so bulky). There is one shrug/cardigan pattern in the book that's a little weird but there are at least four more cardigan and shrug patterns that make up for it like the Ruffled Cardigan, for instance. There are three scarf patterns (two with matching hats) and I have to hold myself back from immediately casting on the Cascading Petal Scarf. The construction of the pieces is elegant, beautiful, and innovative. The directions are straight-forward and schematics and charts are included where necessary. I had previously checked out Fitted Knits, which I had heard really good things about, before picking up Runway Knits and I'm so glad I chose the latter. Check it out for yourself and you'll most likely be pleasantly surprised.

Alright, dear bloglings and blogettes, I'm off to knit for potentially the rest of the day. I've got itchy fingers after not knitting for a couple of days. If you haven't signed up for the Summer Stash Swap yet, you still have until the end of June to do so. Have a wonderful day!!

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A Brief Update and some photos

2007-06-13T09:07:00.000-07:00

Hello my friends! I've been absent from blogging because I've been spending time down at my mama's house in South Florida. Travis met me down here so now everything is perfect and the weather is beautiful and we are having a real, relaxing vacation, despite the fact that Travis is actually down here to do a guest spot at a tattoo shop here. He'll find out his "work" hours today and we'll be able to factor that into our plan/not plans (we're not big on making plans) for the rest of our time here. Anyway. Here are some photos of the cats at my mama's house. She has six and I'll get around to photographing them all and posting the photos for you because they are all cute as can be.
This is Candy, aka Kitty, aka Fluff-buns, aka Old Cat.

This is Marco, aka Baby Huey. He's 31 pounds (or about 15 kilos). He's huge and snuggly.

Knitting:

I finally got around to washing, photographing, and half-delivering the scarf I made for one of my mama's clients. I made the scarf about a year ago and it sat in a knitting bag (the one with the cat pee) for almost a year. I dug it out, washed it, and photographed it. It has, thus far, made it to my mama's house and it is now in her charge to give to her client. Her client lives primarily in Minnesota so she'll have need for a scarf again soon. hehehe Details on the scarf: It's a 1 x 1 rib in worsted weight yarn with two inches of boucle yarn edging at either end. It's about five inches wide and 48" long. I'm sorry I don't have more details on it but I made it so long ago I don't remember much....
I finished, blocked, and photographed the Previously Jill Socks. Details: 2 balls of Schachenmeyer Micro-color yarn (100% Microfiber (Acrylic)). Size 3 needles. About a week's worth of time, on and off. I used a four-stitch pattern (the purled ladder) from Charlene Schurch's Sensational Knitted Socks. I love them. When I only had one finished, I was wearing it around the house, alternating feet. I'd like to call attention to my very pale legs. I've also included a close-up of the socks for your viewing pleasure.
I got the new issue of Cast On and Interweave Knits. I'm eagerly awaiting the arrival of Runway Knits and Knitting Fashions of the 1940's. I'll give you the skinny on the books when they arrive.

Well, dear bloglings and blogettes, that is all for the moment. Oh geez, I nearly forgot. I will be going prize shopping for the Summer Stash Swap this week so I'll be posting pictures of the the prize goodness. Stay tuned for more details and, if you haven't already, sign up for the Swap. I hope you are having a beautiful day.

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The Summer Stash Swap

2007-06-01T13:38:00.000-07:00

Here are the eagerly anticipated details, rules, regulations, etc., of the first Summer Stash Swap.

This swap is supposed to be fun, creative, and economical. Swap partners will be secret until you receive your stuff, at which point, you can include a little personal note or something to your swap partner. Here's the specifics:

If you want to join the swap, leave a comment below and be sure to include your email address. After you leave a comment, I will email you a questionnaire to get an idea of what you like, what you have, and what you have to swap so I can appropriately pair up swap partners.
This swap is primarily for yarn and fiber but it will include fabric, needles, notions, patterns, books, and magazines related to the fiber arts as well. Questions about what you have and what you like are on the questionnaire and the details will be shared with your secret swap partner.
Ideally, everything you swap will come from you stash, including needles, notions, patterns, magazines, and books. If you don't have a pattern to swap, create your own and send that along. Make a set of stitch markers or give some cool tops to needles you have in your stash. Be creative. Be ingenious. Show off. If you don't have a stash or you don't have needles and notions to spare, using yarn you hand dye, spin, were gifted, or purchased is okay. Really, it's fine. If you don't have a stash, then you can't very well swap from your stash now can you. If, for some reason, you have become a cucumber and your family has had to sell your stash to keep up with your insatiable thirst as a result of morphing into a cucumber, stay in the shade, stay hydrated, and bum yarn for the stash from your non-cucumber friends with the promise to pickle yourself at a later date for their eating enjoyment.
The last date to leave a comment and have your information in to me is June 30th and the last date to have your goodie box sent out to your swap partner is July 31st. If, for whatever reason (money, laziness, busyness, lack of stash), you will not be able to participate after you have already signed up for the stash, please notify me as soon as you know so someone can take your place. Nobody wants to wait patiently for a super cool box of goodies to arrive and hang their head in disappointment for days after, eating nothing but cucumbers.
It's entirely up to you what you decide to swap and how much you decided to swap. You may build your goodie box around a specific pattern and include enough yarn to make the scarf pattern you put in the box, along with some tea and groovy needles. You may put in enough yarn or fiber to make a whole sweater and put only mitten patterns in the box. It's up to you and there is no pressure either way. This swap is a way to unload stash and get new stash while spending a minimum of cash.
You do not need to have a blog or a flickr page or any of that to participate. You do need to have an email address, so we can communicate, and, ideally, you should be able to send me pictures of your received goodie box. Why? you ask. Well, because then I can determine who gets the prizes.
Prizes will be given to the most generous swapper, the most creative swapper, and the most WTF swapper (WTF can include but is not exclusive to funky yarn/fiber/fabric, strange or cool needles and notions, funny and/or interesting patterns and the like). They are all positive designations here. Prizes are being given here so that participants are all the most encouraged to be generous, creative, and a little bit crazy. I will keep you updated on what the actual prizes are when I get them as they will largely be determined by the participants.
Have fun!! This is not a contest or a pressure situation. It's a way to get rid of some stuff that has been sitting in your stash for too long and to get some new stash. Swaps are fun and this one should be too.

If you have any questions about the swap, please do not hesitate to ask. I will be more than happy to supply you with answers. Come join the swap and have fun!

The first of two posts

2007-06-01T13:10:00.000-07:00

I decided to do two posts to address two separate things: 1) General life and 2) The Summer Stash Swap.
First things first, I would like to say "Thank You!" to the new commenters on my blog (Chris, Elan, MommaCat, Sharon, and anyone else I may have missed). I appreciate you taking the time to comment and check into my blog. I love new comments, I admit it.

Knitting:

I frogged the MAN socks, to start them anew at another time, and again, it felt good to clear out some psychic space. I'm a frogging machine lately. Hmm...that gives me an idea. Could anyone build me a frogging machine?
I started swatching/making a cosmetic case for my sister. I'm forever trying to make her stuff. She says she loves the stuff I make her and uses it so I gladly try and crank out stuff for her. I say swatching/making because, while in the process of swatching, I decided to just make the swatch in the intended shape of the to-be cosmetic case, in case it felts up perfectly. Then I'll have a mostly finished product instead of a felted swatch. It is made from Lana Grossa wool in royal purple and lilac. I'll keep you posted (no pun intended) on the progress, with photos too.
I have successfully squashed SSS (Second Sock Syndrome). I frogged the first sock I ever made (see post below) and started anew, using a totally different pattern. I had the first sock all finished up, ready to kitchener stitch the toe (see? I've learned.), when I realized that it would only fit someone with short, fat little feet. Needless to say, I ripped back to before the toe decreasing and kept knitting until it happened to fit my foot. I was so proud of my handiwork that I kept modelling the single sock on alternating feet. It turns out that it's not really for fat feet (I have skinny feet. See my profile picture.) and, like I said, it just so happened to fit me so I'm keeping them for me, for once. I'm nearly finished with the leg of the second sock and plan on turning the heel today. Hurrah! Does anyone else feel like a freakin' genius when they turn a sock heel? I'll have photos of said socks when I finish both of them.

Partaking in Culture:

I'm still plugging away at The Mysteries of New Orleans, wholeheartedly enjoying it. I generally only read it before bedtime so I don't make a lot of progress on it but I'm further along in it now than I was before so that is good.
We're nearly up to the fifth season of The Sopranos, thanks to Netflix (I swear they should start paying me). If anyone knows whether Steven Van Zandt (formerly of The E Street Band) wears a hairpiece, please let me know. His hair is crazy sculpted.

That about rounds it out for this blog post. Enthralling, I know but I've been editing a lot lately and thus have little time to do much else, other than knit, apparently. I'll be posting details, rules, etc., of the Summer Stash Swap so check out that and participate! Bloglings and blogettes, have a wonderful day.

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Spring cleaning!

2007-05-21T15:22:00.000-07:00

We've been Spring cleaning here at the casa. T-rizzle cleaned out the garage to make way for the Judge (a beautiful 1969 GTO), which is in need of an engine rebuild. We're hoping to have it done by the end of the Summer so we can take it drag racing again. Fun!! I've been attending to the indoor cleaning, clearing out some space for our impending visitors in the guest room (which meant finding space for my shoes (god I love me some shoes) and clothing, picking my way through the small storage closet (hence the cat pee scented yarn), and doing things like cleaning the ceiling fans and scrubbing the tub. The house is really shaping up. In addition, I've been clearing out some psychic space with my knitting too. In accordance with the 2007 UFO Project, I've decided to frog some projects that saw no end in sight and that has been really gratifying as well. I never realized how those unfinished projects have a way of taking up so much head space.

Knitting:

As I mentioned before, I frogged my sister's pedicure socks and spit-spliced all the yarn together to make some neat little balls of yarn that are ready to be made into a felted cosmetic case or two.
I also frogged the first sock I ever made: for a number of reasons. One is that I decided to use a three-needle bind-off for the toe (NOT a good idea). See here: It gave it a weird little elf toe thing and also discouraged me from making the other one (that's my story and I'm stickin' with it.). I undid the weird little elf toe and frogged the whole thing. I immediately cast on again, using a four-stitch pattern (the purled ladder) from Sensational Knitted Socks. I've got about two and a half inches done thus far on the sock and I'm already happier with it. Now I can give them to my sister, like I originally planned, or, if they'll fit me, I'll keep 'em for myself. I haven't decided yet. I really like the yarn though. It's got microfiber in it and it's really soft, not to mention vibrant.
I got around to taking photos of the dishclothes I made this past week: and I even took a close-up of one of them for your viewing pleasure: I love how they look and I'll probably weave in the ends tonight and hand-wash them so I can send them out tomorrow or Wednesday to my papa and my oldest sister. That'll knock two family members off the list. I'll have to dig out some more cotton so I can do some more. Simple things like dishclothes can be so much fun.
I took a photo of the nearly finished Titillating TaTa Tube and a close-up of the flowery crocheted edging. If you look closely at the bottom of the second photo, you can see my feet making an appearance. If you are a frequent reader of my blog, you know I have a thing for photographing and posting photographs of my feet. They just kinda snuck into this one though.

Tales from the Tattoo Shop:

This past weekend was good at the tattoo shop. The jackass contigent was pretty low and T-rizzle made an appointment to finish up a fairly sizeable piece this coming week. He's booked with appointments for next week and looking at securing a guest spot down in Ft.Myers around the second week of June, so that should be cool. We'll be able to hang out with my mama and get him some more exposure.
The tattoo shop purchased 15 sets of new flash, some of which is actually pretty cool so it'll be a nice change for them to be able to do some cool flash pieces on some people. Y'all should come by and check it out. Allie, get in touch if you are still interested in getting a great tattoo in September. We'd love to have you come on in and share in our brand of crazy. Of course, Travis will draw up something custom for you but you should give him some idea of what you would like to have so he'll have the opportunity to work up a really cool piece for you. If not, we can always recommend a good artist somewhere closer to you.

Partaking in Culture:

We've made it up to season three of The Sopranos and season three is, thus far, a real downer. Needless to say, we're looking forward to season four.
I tried to watch The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (this old German film) last night and about an hour into it, I still didn't know what was going on so I took it out and put it into the mailbox with the other netflix. I tried, right?
Did I mention I've been watching The Riches, that new show on FX, with Eddie Izzard and Minnie Driver? Travis isn't so big on it and thinks it's basically a low-budget rip-off of Big Love (which comes on again on June 11. I'm soooo excited!!) but I'm all about it. A new episode comes on tonight and I'm looking forward to some good television time tonight.
Lost only has one more episode this season. *insert big sad face here* They signed on for episodes through 2010 so we are having the sinking feeling that it's going to be pretty slow going from here on out. I hope the writers prove us wrong. I'm completely hooked to too many shows. Whatever, right?
The 400th episode of the Simpsons aired on Sunday and it was hilarious, as usual. I'm looking forward to as many more episodes as they can generate. The movie comes out on July 27th and you can bet I'll be there with bells on.

I'm still thinking of organizing a swap so let me know if y'all'd be interested in doing a Swap from Your Stash. Basic details: All yarn you send to your secret swapping pal MUST come from your stash. You can include a pattern, a knitting (or non-knitting) book, or knitting magazine, as long as it comes from your stash or is written by you. Needles and notions should, optimally, come from your stash as well. Anything else you wish to include in your package to your secret swapping partner is up for grabs. All participants will be asked to answer some questions that I'm coming up with and paired accordingly so everyone can get some new schwag while clearing out some space from their stash. It's meant to be easy on the wallet and creative as well. I'll be sure to include some wingmen to fill in for those who don't receive anything or for those who have to drop out of the swap for some reason. Also, at the end, there will be prizes for most generous swapper, most creative swapper, and most WTF swap received. I'll be posting the swap news on a couple of knitting forums to generate some interest.

Well, fair bloglings and blogettes, I hope y'all had a wonderful weekend and are looking forward to a good week. I'm sure I'll be back on soon as my blogging has been much more frequent as of late. As always, thanks for reading and leave me a comment or two.

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Frogging and blogging

2007-05-19T17:01:00.000-07:00

Just a quick update:
I frogged my sister's pedicure socks, finally, so I can make her a felted cosmetic case with the yarn instead. The socks were stripey and, since I was knitting them in the round, I decided to cut the yarn at the end of each stripe. This resulted in a lot of spit splicing and hope that the yarn won't come apart when I'm knitting the cosmetic case. I will say that it does feel good to finally have them frogged though. And now I can knit her something she'll probably actually use. I should swatch and felt tonight or tomorrow to see what I'm getting myself into as far as felting the wool is concerned. I'll update y'all with some photos on that later.

I finished (all except for weaving in the ends, of course) two dishclothes (that smell of cat pee), made of rainbow variegated Sugar and Cream cotton from Sprawl-mart. I have a wee bit left of that particular ball and I think I may have another ball but I have to go spelunking in the closet to find out if that is true or not. I'm hoping I do so I can crank out another three or four in the rainbow colored-ness. If I don't, I'm switching to some other cotton yarn I have that should be fairly lint free after I give them a good washing. I'm contemplating making a dishcloth for everyone in my family, immediate and extended. I'm crazy, I think, but I know they'd all appreciate it, even if they never told me so (I'm thinking about my cousins here...we rarely, uh, make that never, speak but, in the spirit of my deceased grandmother, who used to knit dishclothes for us all, I feel like it'd be nice to make some for them.)

Anyway. That's it for now. I know I promised photos but I had to pop in for a quick update because I was feeling bloggish (sp? on my made-up word...hahaha). I hope y'all are doing well this weekend.

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I feel like it's been forever

2007-05-16T16:11:00.000-07:00

...since I last blogged and I apologize profusely for the delay. Let's see...what to talk about. Well, we went up to Indiana for my oldest sister's wedding reception over the weekend. Most of my family turned out for it so it was nice to see everyone. My nieces and nephew are doing so well in their new environment and they are getting so big. I told them they have to stop aging because it makes me feel old. My youngest niece, Britt, is hilarious. She's six and she likes to use "stinkin'" like every other word, i.e. "What's stinkin' wrong with this thing?" when she's frustrated with something. My sister lives on a small farm and they have chickens, pheasants, cats, a dog, and rabbits. They had pigs but the pigs were slaughtered for the sake of the reception, which was an informal hog roast (the hog was roasted elsewhere and delivered by a catering company, which was nice). The pheasants are under the domain of my sister's new husband. The cats and the dog, Sadie, belong to the household (and one of them, Snow, is freakin' awesome.). The rabbits belong to my oldest niece and she named four of them after various alcoholic beverages (notably, Scotch and Bacardi) and she's thirteen. I shudder to think of her future partying years. hehehe. The chickens also belong to the entire household and some of them lay green eggs. Yes, green. My sister sent us home with some, which was awesome of her. Overall, the party was loads of fun and reminded me a lot of growing up, when we used to go visit my aunt and uncle on their farm and would sit around outside in lawn chairs, eating good food. My sister and her husband plan on getting a goat soon, which should be cool. I'm trying to convince them to get some sheepies so I can pilfer the fleece and learn to spin.

Knitting:

Emily B. - I haven't forgotten about your mitts. I promise. I will have them done soon, along with a couple of extra goodies since I have been taking my sweet ass time on them and you won't be able to wear them now until next winter. I will atone for my lengthy response time.
I'm nearly finished with the boob tube and have since renamed it the TaTa Tube. I've put on edging of crochet flowers along the top and bottom (I'm finishing the bottom flowers now) so all I have to do is finish that, weave in the ends, block it (because I block everything) and thread a ribbon through the eyelets. The crochet flowers are eating up some yarn, lemme tell ya.
I think I'm going to from the crochet flower scarf so I can use the yarn on something else. If I don't frog the whole thing (all three flowers of it), then I'm going to use them as embellishment on something else because I'm just not feeling it anymore.
The Shortie jacket still needs sleeves and it taunts me quietly from the bottom of my knitting bag. It and the Tulip shawl have joined forces in taunting me but I think I'm going to hop back on the Tulip shawl and make some progress on that (i.e. restart it once again and get it right this time. My mama deserves to have it done.)
The MAN socks were coming along swimmingly but I think they are going to be really baggy so they are about to get frogged too. I just realized that I have a lot of things to frog. Maybe I'll do that tonight and clear out some psychic space by doing so.
I just started knitting up some dishclothes using the woven dishcloth pattern from Stumbling over Chaos' blog. I dug out the cotton yarn for dishclothes that I had languishing in yet another knitting bag and started knitting away....and smelling cat pee. Yup, cat pee. One of my lovelies had decided to relieve himself or herself on my knitting bag so I will be, ironically, washing the washclothes before I send them out to my family. I can only imagine the looks on their faces if I sent it to them as it....hahahaha.
I promised myself I wouldn't start anything new until I finished something so I'm going to finish a dishcloth, Emily B.'s right mitt, and the TaTa Tube, along with doing some frogging, before I start anything else new.

Tales from the Tattoo Shop:

It's been a bit slow here these days but things appear to be looking up in that direction. If you should find yourself in the Pensacola area, shoot me an email and I'll tell you where we are so you can get a beautifully done tattoo.
For the love of everything that is holy people, I'm only going to say it one more time: If you don't come out of it or it doesn't come out of you, do not get it's name tattoo'd on you. This includes, but is not limited to, current boyfriends or girlfriends, names that you think are nice/pretty/whimsical, someone you are dating or married to for the moment. Tattoos last longer than relationships and getting your boyfriend or girlfriend's name on your neck will not guarantee the permanence of your relationship. Trust me on that one. (And no, I am not speaking from personal experience. I do not have anyone's name tattoo'd on me but I've seen it done too many times to count and I've seen some of those same people come back in months later because they need to get the name covered up with something else.)

Partaking in Culture:

We started watching "The Sopranos" from the beginning recently. I love the show but T-rizzle had not really ever watched it so I'm tuning in with him every evening, thanks to netflix.
I've had a chance to read quite a bit and that has been fantastic. I picked up The Mysteries of New Orleans, by Baron Von Reizenstein, again and restarted it. It's much better this time and I have faith in my ability to finish it.
I read Bret Easton Ellis' Lunar Park last week and loved it. I got so wrapped up in reading it that it is a wonder that I did anything else. His books are so graphic and shockingly vibrant that I always enjoy them. In Lunar Park, he said that it would be his last book and I hope that was purely fiction because it sucks to think I'd be deprived of his future work.
I finished The Russian Debutante's Handbook, by Gary Shtyengart, and loved every minute of it. It was fresh and fun and funny and well-written. I might do an actual review of it in another post to fill you in on some details so stay tuned.
I don't know if I mentioned it before but I got Beautiful Knitting, by Luce Smith, a while ago through a book club I belong to and I put it in the closet and forgot about it for some time. Then I dug it up and started flipping through it and I'm so glad I did. It has some great finishing techniques where the pros and cons are explained quite clearly. The patterns I'm not crazy about but overall it is a hugely useful book. If you are looking for a good knitting book on finishing techniques, check it out and you won't be disappointed.

Well, bloglings and blogettes, I'm done for the day. I'll have photos and fun stuff for you to check out next time. I hope everyone is enjoying the warm weather and all the things that Spring has to offer. Have a wonderful day!

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Blue skies, smiling at me...

2007-05-03T10:26:00.000-07:00

So I've been sick, which sucks..sore throat, headache, fatigue. Yuck. A direct result of my illness has been no knitting, no tattoo shop goodness, and very little else. I know, super exciting. After the underwhelming result of my "Democracy?" post (There. I said it. Underwhelming.), I minorly revolted against blogging but I got over it and now I'm back. Still vaguely ill but back. In the meantime, I was tagged by Valerie, on her blog, to participate in a meme (which, according to Wikipedia rhymes with "theme" or "gem," depending on your location, in this case it's the rest of the world and the US, respectively.). I'm supposed to reveal seven unknown things about myself, which is difficult, in a way, because some people know a lot about me and some people know nothing about me but I'll give you a list anyway.

1. I read at least one "young adult" novel every year and I generally enjoy them.
2. It drives me crazy when people say "anyways" and "irregardless."
3. I think things like nachos and popcorn are perfectly acceptable to eat as dinner.
4. I'm terrified of armadillos.
5. I like The Partridge Family and other kitschy bands from the '70s.
6. I sucked my thumb until I was 11.
7. I've never read "The DaVinci Code" and, since I've seen the movie and didn't care for it, I probably never will.

So there you have it, bloglings and blogettes. I'm supposed to tag seven other people with it now but I don't know who to tag so I'm cheesing out on this part of it. I'm off to make an attempt at productivity now. *Sigh* I hope everyone is doing fantastic and enjoying the warm weather.

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Democracy?

2007-04-24T14:29:00.000-07:00

I'm working on a project at the moment which has led me to the question: What is democracy as we know it today? I realized that my conception of democracy today may not mirror the general consensus of what democracy is today. I specifically want to know about democracy in America and your thoughts on American democracy. What is America's idea of democracy? I do not want a cut-and-paste dictionary definition of democracy. I am interested in what you think democracy is and how it compares, if at all, with the ideal of democracy, which also means that I am asking you to refrain from responding to other comments or using other's comments as a basis for your response. Please leave a comment about your thoughts below. Thank you very much for participating in this discussion. I will be using your comments to gain a generalized consensus of what Americans think about democracy. All comments will be thoroughly considered and, if used somewhere in my project, will be credited to the author (you), after I have received your permission to do so. Thanks again for your participation.

Edited to add: It has, unfortunately, come to my attention that people think I'm attempting to engage people in a debate about democracy. This is NOT meant to engage people in a debate about democracy or what democracy is today. This is more like a poll in order to gain a general consensus about democracy. I will not be judging responses. I merely want to gain a better-rounded view of what people think about democracy. Thanks again for your participation.

It's blog, bl-oog! It's big. It's heavy. It's wood!

2007-04-24T10:54:00.000-07:00

I fell into a funk last week and now I'm out of the funk and into the fire. Yippee! If anyone can accurately explain why people fall into the funk, please leave the explanation in the comments section so I can, hopefully, prevent it from happening again.

Knitting:

I made further progress on the Boob Tube (again, tentatively titled) and, if I work on it tonight or tomorrow, I should have it nearly finished. It definitely needs a bit of a crochet border so it stops rolling in on itself. However, after reading yet another book on finishing techniques, I found out a way to prevent that from happening.
As soon as Amazon has it's server bug worked out, I'll post some good resources for books on finishing techniques.
I started cutting up some of Travis' old t-shirts to knit up a t-shirt rug for the bedside. It was not nearly as labour intensive as I anticipated so, for now, my plan for covering our space, and potentially others', is in action.
I wound up a ball of aloo the other day to make shower scrubbie sheets (like, add soap, water, and exfoliate thyself) and started one last night for a test run. If you don't know about aloo, check it out. It's a plant based fiber made from the nettle plant (which has a myriad of health benefits) that feels like, well, a stringy plant fiber. It shows nothing as far as stitch definition goes so groovy stitch patterns are strictly out of the question but that makes for a nice, easy garter stitch project. In retrospect, had I started earlier, I could have joined the Get Stitchy April Showers-along and used that for my project. However, in doing so, I probably would've freaked out and never done it as some sort of strange passive rebellion.

Tales From the Tattoo Shop

Travis has now been working for eight days straight. I took Sunday off and cleaned the house like a woman possessed. Seriously. Yesterday when we came in, people were waiting for him. Tattoo vultures! He scheduled most of them for appointments later this week. We watched red vs. blue online for most of the day yesterday and laughed a lot.
A woman came in on Saturday night with glossy, black eyes the size of quarters demanding a tattoo (three letters on her strangely bruised neck) immediately. She was flying high on something and I kept my distance while she huffed around the tattoo shop for about a minute and a half, complaining about the price ($80) and the wait (20-30 min.) before she stormed out with her posse. Scary.

Otherwise, things have been going really well. We're planning a trip up to Indiana to go to my oldest sister's wedding reception in May (on Mother's day weekend. I won't even get into the guilt trip I'm going to get for that.). My other sister (still older than I) is getting married in September and I'm actually going to be in that wedding. I get to wear a not so horrible bridesmaid dress and I thank her for that. It seems like this year is the year for people we know to get married. There must be something in the water where they all are...
Well, dear bloglings and blogettes, I am going to leave you now. I'll be back with some good resources and probably a few photos so stay tuned for more info.

Transmission Ended

All knitting...All the Time...

2007-04-17T12:31:00.000-07:00

So today's post will be mostly about knitting although as I type that, I just remembered a tale from the tattoo shop that I have to share and a brief word on books as well. So here we go!

Knitting:

I vowed I would weave in all the ends on the Shortie Jacket and....I Did!! It didn't even take forever, which was nice. Now I just have to do the sleeves, the collar, and install a zipper. I'm thinking of starting the sleeves tonight. I'm still crossing my fingers that I have enough yarn to finish them. *cringe* If I don't have enough yarn to do the sleeves and the collar, I'm going to have to come up with something else for the collar. Hmmm...Any suggestions?
I changed my Project Spectrum 2.0 project from socks for me to the Boob Tube (tentatively titled so). It's a lingerie-ish type thing that I'm about a third of the way through. Here are some visual aids. Please note the beautiful nearly invisible decreases (I'm so proud of them....yes, that is how nerdy I am) and the vibrant color. Unfortunately, it's a bit, um, boring. I'm planning on doing a nifty crochet edge on top and bottom of it so that will spruce it up a bit but still... It looks a little wonky in the photo (and in real life) so I think a nice, stable crochet edge will definitely help. I keep combing the web and Travis' library for pin-up girl clothing inspiration as well as looking at photos of knitted lace and figuring out a way to fuse the two into something beautiful. I don't want to keep churning out boring sh- stuff.
I really want to do something luscious in silk or soysilk, like a lacy nightie. I'll have to go to the drawing board for that one. Part of my hang-up is that I have a hard time drawing and when what is on paper doesn't match what I see in my head, I get frustrated and feel silly about my drawing ability. It's annoying. I see fluid, drapey lines in my head and I turn out with straight, rigid, stick-figure inspired lines on paper. Aargh! I might go chart out something beautiful later because I'm better on charts. Go figure. It must be because charts are already square and I can draw square, architectural type stuff.
I'm making slow but sure progress on the MAN socks. I'm afraid they are going to be too wide and baggy at the top and Travis has already informed me that he hates baggy socks (who doesn't, really?) so they may be destined to being ripped out and redone with ribbing all the way down to the heel (which will be a short row heel) and then straight stockinette stitch at the foot so they'll fit and not bag, sag, and other things that rhyme with bag and sag, like lag, drag, and flag. On a side note, I was about to start this little bikini with this other yarn that I'd already swatched for and found that I'm using the DPNs I need for the MAN socks. The bikini can wait...unless I frog the MAN socks. Aargh again!
Last but not least on the knitting front: My yarn from Emily B. Isn't it beautiful?! It's not quite as bright as in the photo. It's more subtle but just as beautiful. Mmmm....new yarn. *drool*

Tales from the Tattoo Shop:

Phil, the other artist here, did a tattoo on Thursday (I believe) of last week that was a portrait of Colonel Sanders with crossed chicken legs. Hahahaha....Yes. I'm serious.
On a side note, rant: Tattoo artists (or tattooers, or tattooists, or, if they totally suck and are not looking to improve, scratchers) do not tattoo with a "tattoo gun." It's a "tattoo machine" not a gun. It doesn't shoot ink bullets. I can't begin to explain why, exactly, this bothers me (and Travis and Phil, et al.) but it does. End of rant.

Partaking in Culture:

I read a bit more in The Russian Debutante's Handbook and laughed out loud on numerous occasions. I love that, laughing out loud while reading a book. I think it's a good sign.
We are at the last disc of Season Two of Quantum Leap. I noticed that at the beginning of Season Two, they started having a female narrator at the beginning to tell viewer's what's going on with Sam leaping around in time. Now we just have something else to fast-foward through. Fast-forwarding and cheesy theme music aside, it rocks.
I am aghast at the news of the shootings at Virginia Tech.

Well, dear bloglings and blogettes, that's it for today. I hope everyone is enjoying the impending warm weather. I'm off to attempt to find inspiration for exciting, less snooze inducing knits. Have a beautiful day! Oh, and on a final note, here is a picture of a sleepy Penelope. We took her to the vet to get her fixed and, after they anethetized her and shaved her tummy, they found out she was already fixed. They opened her up to make sure and, yep, she was already fixed. Poor thing.

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They call me mellow yellow - Quite rightly!

2007-04-13T14:41:00.000-07:00

And that would describe me at the moment. I'm totally mellow, chill, relaxed, somewhere floating in the zone. It's been dead at the tattoo shop lately. Every single one of Travis' appointments cancelled this week for one reason or another. Weird. On to other news...

Knitting:

I got my special dyed yarn in the mail last week from Emily B. and I LOVE IT!! It's so luscious and tasty looking. I will have photos of it later tonight and will post them for all to behold very soon. I've been negligent about it and I feel wretched for that. I can't even begin to describe the subtle changes in tone and hue of the yarn so I'm hoping a photo will do it justice.
The MAN socks are going quite well (and simultaneously giving me a helluva crick in the neck but anyway). I'm knitting them at the same time (like I said before) and I've got a little over 2" done on the pair. I started with a 3x3 ribbing on the top for 1" and switched to stockinette stitch after that. So far, so good, with no stitches connecting the two layers. They are for Travis and he wears a size 12 shoe so they seem ENORMOUS but, then again, he has big feet so it makes sense he would need big socks. He's a big guy too so if he had small feet he might fall over a lot.
I've done nothing to the Shortie jacket since I finished the body. I keep telling myself I'm going to weave in the ends and start the sleeves and I keep neglecting to do that. Today, I vow I will weave in all those damned ends.
A lovely chica for whom I'm working up some custom lingerie/nightwear finally came in to the shop yesterday to be measured. I'm so glad she came in! It's hard to custom make something for someone when you don't know their measurements....

Tales from the Tattoo Shop:

As I said above, every one of Travis' appointments cancelled this week so it's been slow. Time is idling by...literally. People are busy little bees right now. I'm blaming it on tax season. Taxes suck!!

Partaking in Culture:

I just finished reading "The Single Mother's Companion" for a book project I'm working on at the moment. It was potentially the most depressing bit of tripe I've forced myself to read in a long time. I was raised by a single mother. I know the drill. However, it was very biased in the sense that all the essays seemed to be written by exceptions rather than the generalized population. There were a lot of essays by lesbians, African-American women, and women living on the fringe of society, like senators. I'm sorry but the entire population of single mothers is not comprised solely of African-American women, lesbians, and senators. Because of this book, I could go into a whole, disparaging exhortation of baby names but I'll save that for a later date, I suppose, as I'm too mellow now to exhort much.
I'm in the middle of reading Arthur Conan Doyle's "A Study in Scarlet" on JollyRoger.com while I knit the MAN socks. I'm such a sucker for whodunit novels and the like.
We've commenced to watching episodes of Quantum Leap again in the evenings. We're halfway through the third season. *Insert Quantum Leap theme music here* The travails of Sam Beckett are endlessly amusing to us. Intersperse those with some CSI (the Vegas version, not any of the cheap, Walmart brand cousins), the Simpsons, and the new episodes of Lost and we are an entertained couple.

So, because I lack photos and a gregarious tongue at the moment, that's all I have to blather about. I will return shortly with photo-rrific goodness of yarn and knitting. Have a wonderful day, my dear bloglings and blogettes.

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I want this rabbit

2007-04-07T16:39:00.000-07:00

Look how freakin' huge it is!! I totally want this rabbit!!

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And we're back!

2007-04-05T11:46:00.000-07:00

So, as promised, I come to you bearing photos and other goodies...little nuggets of delicious knitting-ness. On a random side note, the word "nuggets" just reminded me of these amazing corn nuggets you can get at this bar on Ft.Myers beach. They are crunchy and delicious and covered in powered sugar. Mmmmm....corn nuggets. Anyway.

Knitting:

My papa was kind enough to con my niece into taking photos of him in his scarf. I absolutely love how stern he looks in this photo. He's not really as stern...more like a live Buddha figure, very peaceful, very chill, and knows what's up with life. I learn more about him and respect him more with each passing year. When I pointed out he is wearing shorts with his scarf, he told me it was because he wanted to demonstrate the fact that the scarf was an all-weather scarf. God, I love my papa.
I finished the body of the Shortie Jacket! Now I just have to do collar and sleeves, install a zipper, weave in ends, and block. I block EVERYTHING. Cross your knitting needles and toes for me that I have enough yarn to finish it. If I don't, I'll be on the hunt for another ball of Ornaghi Filati: Red Dune color: 002 Lot: 70954.
I recast-on the MAN socks. I am, yet again, attempting to do the double-knitting, two socks at once, thingie. Hence the REcast-on. The first and second attempts did not work out. I have high hopes for this pair. Here is a close-up of the cast-on, should you feel like attempting it yourself... It looks a little wonky in the photo but that will iron itself out when I start knitting away at them later on today. And because it's hilarious, I have included a photo of one of the balls of yarn I am using for the socks. It's an unholy mess but not tangled, yet... And the close-up gives a nice representation of the colors of the yarn, which I love.
That brings me to my Project Spectrum 2.0 April/May project. I've decided to make myself a pair of socks (Yes, something for me!). I have more Plymouth Sockotta in shades of pink (fuschia, bubblegum, and straight-up pink), orange, and a bit of yellow. I might even do a lacy, patterned pair, if I can screw up the courage to do it. I want to make 'em nice and long because I love love love long socks.
The outcome of the project for my last knit-along, on Get Stitchy, was going along swimmingly. I was right excited because I had "finished" the mitts I made for my cyber chica, who goes by Emily B. I was getting ready to block them and make them smell nice (aka not like my sweaty hands, cat, etc.) when I realized that one of these things is EXACTLY like the other.... which is just no good if you are trying to make a pair of anatomically correct mitts. Unless the esteemed Emily B. has two left hands, I have to make a right mitt, well two right mitts, actually, in order for them to be a pair. I've done this same thing (made two left mitts) on two other occasions while making mitts. Needless to say, I laughed my tookas off when I realized it because such a mistake is such a me thing to do. I am just one step closer to being a certifiable lunatic. I will be casting on for the right-handed mitts here later on today despite the fact that she will now have to wait a whole year to use them (when it gets cold again). *Insert big, sad, apologetic face here* Commence laughter.
I think I'm done with knit-alongs. I get all stressed out and I don't enjoy what I'm knitting because of the whole deadline thing. I don't mind a deadline if it's for something work related, like the lingerie line I'm working on, but if it's for fun, then I want to poke my eyes out with my knitting needles, especially when I read about everyone's progress on the forums. It makes me feel like such a slacker and I don't like that feeling. So no more knit-alongs for me.
For my April 2007 UFO project, I will be frogging my sister's pedicure socks and making her something else with the yarn, probably something felted, like a cosmetics bag. The socks are just waaaaaay too stiff and crunchy looking. I learned a lot while making them so I'm chalking them up to a learning experience and leaving it at that. I just realized that I am going to have to get some zippers as quite a few of my projects require zippers. Hmmm....

Tales from the tattoo shop:

So this couple comes in last night and She is asking for a cursive name on her neck or something. Travis quotes her a reasonable price ($80) for it and She commences to ask if it would be cheaper if she put it somewhere else or uses a different style of lettering. Travis explains to her the shop minimum ($40) and that it gets you 1" squared worth of tattoo, something simple, like a kanji. She thinks about this for a millisecond and then starts sighing and asking more questions about the name tattoo. Travis stops her and asks her if She is looking for the cheapest tattoo She can get. She acts all put off. In the meantime, her boyfriend starts laughing at her when Travis asks her that. She shoots her boyfriend a mean-ass look and he immediately straight-faces it. It was classic comedy at its finest, completely unscripted.

Partaking in culture:

I am still loving The Russian Debutante's Handbook. I read a chapter or two every evening before I go have sleepy-time. Good, funny, interesting stuff.
I am nearly finished with The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes on www.JollyRoger.com. If you haven't checked out their site, I recommend you do so immediately after reading my blog. They have a ton of classic books available for free online and they are great to read while you knit, etc. No page flipping, no trying to figure out how to make a book stay open, just a bit of scrolling every now and again. Did I mention it's free?
We watched "Fast Food Nation" and "The Curse of the Yellow Flower" (I think that's the name of that film) on DVD the other night. I had read Fast Food Nation and they did a good job of humanizing a non-fiction book in the film. The final scenes are disturbing and may put you off of beef for a while. "The Curse of the Yellow Flower" was visually stimulating but rather boring. The plot was hackneyed and the action was condensed into about three minutes towards the end of the film. It's a suitable film to have on in the background while you are doing other things.

Well, my dear bloglings and blogettes, there you have it. A full and complete update on my knitting life and darn near everything else. Pee-nah-lope is going into heat, which sucks because she meows really loud, and we really really have to have her fixed (because, at present, she's broken). I think it's even annoying the Poogar. They got into some crazy fight the other night, right around sleepy-time, of course. I think it might be lunch-time. I'll see y'all soon, my friends.

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