Heather Joins The Round

Moving Day!

2008-02-21T13:23:00.003-07:00

Hello, all! I've moved my blog to Wordpress, come on over and see what you think. Here's the link to the Wordpress version of Heather Joins The Round.

In Which Silvio Suffers From Some Fairly Severe Self-esteem Issues

2008-01-13T17:59:00.000-07:00

Heartbroken

2007-12-13T19:26:00.000-07:00

I'm so sad I couldn't make it to see Debbie Stoller tonight! I am going to whine for a minute or two, ok?

My girlfriend, who knits but couldn't go, offered to watch the kid (my man's on a business trip). She lives up up up the hill from me. I dropped my boy off at 6:25, then skidded most of the way down the hill on my way out to the main road. The ABS engaged and everything. I didn't fishtail, but the sensation of not being able to stop while braking firmly freaked me right out.

I then turned right around to pick the kid up and take him with me, as the road's only getting worse, but I was too freaked out to leave right away. It took me half an hour or so of very pleasant conversation for me to calm down enough to get back in the car. My girlfriend advised me to put the Subaru in gear 1 and go like two miles an hour. I still skidded on the steepest part, but I was able to make the turn to get back to my house safely.

Just had a purely medicinal dose of alcohol, but I am still pretty freaked out.

Three people passed me on the way down the hill. They must all have better tires than I do, as one of them was another Outback.

I'm very sad about missing you grrls at the library.

One bonus: I am no longer envious of the houses with the "real view".

Coldies!

2007-12-11T13:56:00.000-07:00

It's freezing in my house. The heat's out, and I've got a guy coming to look it over, but in the mean time I'm bundled up like an interior snowman. And I look like one, too. I'm wearing a hat, a huge, unmatching scarf, a furnace of a handknit Aran, wool socks, slippers, long underwear, jeans, you name it and I'm wearing it. I've also got the fireplace going, and it' s gone up a degree in two hours, so that's good. I've got about another hour to wait for the guy, and if he doesn't fix it, I'm off to a friend's for the night.

Maybe I should do some baking? Extra heat from the oven couldn't hurt...

Edit: 5:10 pm: the heat's back on! Apparently we had a bad igniter, which is a small part designed to catch on fire. Can you tell I'm not the engineer in the family ;-).

All's well that ends well and everything, but I didn't realize how stressed out about this I was until it was over. Wheew.

Don't tell my husband, but I've turned the heat up to 68F in celebration.

Meet The Twins:

2007-12-10T12:35:00.001-07:00

Here's my husband's latest FOs: two tables. Aren't they the greatest? I'm so pleased with how they turned out. The finish is black as pitch, but that's actually fine as they're destined for (separate) homes away from here, where their shiny almost-blackness will match perfectly with the decor.

Shh, don't tell, but they are Christmas presents!

Ta-Da!

2007-12-06T10:10:00.000-07:00

Big lotta snow

2007-12-03T12:40:00.000-07:00

The view from my back window Saturday afternoon.

Crazy, no? I'm pretty sure we got a foot of snow; it started up again after I took this picture.

In other news, my hand's better and I can knit again! Yippee! I celebrated by taking out the long-neglected Cambridge Jacket I've been making for my husband for, what, a year and a half.

First step: untangle the yarn. Good thing I had a DVD from the library to keep me company, because it was not very enjoyable. I didn't look at my watch, but I figure it must have taken me at least half an hour. Somehow I thought it would be fine to stuff all four pieces and their associated yarn balls into one bag.

Second step: admire all past progress, as well as the yarn:

Third step: restart the sleeves with a knitted hem. I had maybe ten rows of one sleeve started, and I love hems, and I don't have confidence in my crochet ability, so I decided to rip out the little bit of sleeve one and make a mod. It might be a mistake, though. It is bulkier. It looks so tidy, though, doesn't it?

No Knitting, but some cooking...

2007-10-29T16:03:00.000-07:00

I really haven't knit anything since finishing the wee baby sweater--I've got a touch of carpel tunnel or something that's bugging me so I'm resting the old wrists.

I did cook some good chicken last night, though. My husband was pretty effusive with the praise, so I thought I'd "publish" the recipe here.

Chicken Breasts With White Wine Caper Sauce

Makes: enough chicken for two adults and one preschooler

Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts
1 T olive oil
small amount of flour
salt and pepper
dry white wine, a wine good enough that you'd want to drink the rest with dinner. I used a cheap but respectable chardonnay.
1 or 2 T heavy cream
1-2 T capers

Flatten the chicken breasts by putting them in a large Ziploc bag or similar, then whack them with a the bottom of a heavy skillet until they're both the same thickness, around 1/4". Put maybe 1/8 c or less of flour on a plate, and salt and pepper the flour generously. Dry off the chicken, if it's wet, with a paper towel, then dredge the chicken very lightly through the seasoned flour.

Pour the olive oil into a heavy but NOT non-stick pan. Heat on medium high. (I have a gas range which runs pretty hot, so adjust for your own). When the olive oil shimmers, but before it smokes, put the chicken in the pan. Let it cook undisturbed and uncovered until it's got a nice deep golden brown crust. Turn it over, pour 1/4-1/2 c wine in the pan, enough so the wine completely covers the bottom of the pan maybe 1/8" deep, cover, reduce heat to medium, and cook until done, which is 170F. Because you're adding the liquid, you can overcook this a little and it's still fine, which I discovered when I realized my meat thermometer was set to Celsius instead of Fahrenheit. When you check the chicken, if all the wine is evaporated you can add a little more to the pan; don't let your pan dry out. You will want enough wine to end up with enough sauce to pour over the chicken breasts, maybe 1/4 cup.

Remove the chicken from the pan. Add the cream and capers (drained), and stir to release any tasty brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Taste for seasoning, mine needed pepper but not salt. Cook the sauce until it's come together and thickened nicely, maybe a minute.

If you've got picky picky toddlers around, pass the sauce separately. Otherwise, artfully pour the sauce over the chicken.

Here in Californy

2007-10-19T16:17:00.000-07:00

No pictures yet, because I forgot the camera, but I finished the Baby Sweater just in time for the Baby's arrival.

Whee, my friend had her baby and everyone's doing great.! I can't wait to see him, I'm bringing her boys up to the hospital after dinner so they can meet their new brother.

Happy day!

The Book Meme

2007-10-16T15:53:00.000-07:00

Am too fried to think up my own content, so I stole this from Mim:

1. Hardcover or paperback, and why?

Paperback, unless I can't stand waiting, because of price.

2. If I were to own a book shop, I would call it…

"I'll Take Romance!" I used to sell books with a wonderful woman named Lynne. We worked for a chain, but had a fantasy that we'd move all the people we liked to work with to a resort town and open our own shop specializing in genre fiction, just fun stuff people read for pleasure. There would be no crabby people because people on vacation are in a good mood already, and we'd only make them happier by selling them fun books. We named our fantasy shop "I'll Take Romance".

3. My favorite quote from a book (mention the title) is…

"The means are the end--it's the great lesson of the Twentieth Century". From one of Rosemary Edghill's Twelve Treasures books, the ones with the elves and the library students.

4. The author (alive or deceased) I would love to have lunch with would be…

I know it's cliche, but I have to say Jane Austen, Mother of the Novel.

5. If I was going to a deserted island and could only bring one book, except for the SAS survival guide, it would be…

A big doorstop by a dead guy, maybe the Yale Shakespeare. No fat Russian books, I'll already feel crappy enough being stuck by myself.

6. I would love someone to invent a bookish gadget that…

There should be a thing like a remote control you can aim at people to freeze selective sections of the space-time continuum so you can finish a sentence/paragraph/book before someone asks you if any socks are clean.

7. The smell of an old book reminds me of…

My happiest moments in junior high.

8. If I could be the lead character in a book (mention the title), it would be…

And it has to be the protagonist? Hmmm, then I pick Venetia from Heyer's Venetia. Or maybe The Grand Sophy, but something from Heyer. You'd get the witty lines, the great clothes, and of course the hero!

9. The most overestimated book of all times is…

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Seriously, once you've read the title, you've read the best part of the book.

10. I hate it when a book…

has an epilogue that ruins the ending.

Baby K socks

2007-10-02T08:58:00.001-07:00

Awww! I can never get over how cute the baby socks are!

This one's for baby K, who is the little brother of one of my son's friends. Last week at gymnastics his socks were falling off. Well, we can't have that! I'll try this one on him today and see if it fits or is slightly large, amend as necessary, then finish the second sock for next Tuesday's gymnastics.

Edit: I shoved this one on baby K's foot today and it fits, so I'm go for the other sock!

The yarn's Socks That Rock left over from my first completed pair of socks, peds with a picot edge from The Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns. I was knitting them when I met poor David the first time. Rest in peace and mercy, my friend.

Think you'd pass it?

2007-10-01T08:48:00.000-07:00

I'm having a blog contest! Whee!

Some of you may know that I, in my early to mid-30s, went back to college to study to teach high school social science. Well, I had a kid instead of a teaching career, but now and again I run across fun materials and approaches I sort of put on the back burner for my future teaching career. Here's one for you--questions from the revised US citizenship test which will be used beginning next October.

If you'd like to play my little contest, cut and paste the test into your blog. You can answer the questions publicly on your blog or privately. After you write down your answers, leave a comment on my blog and I'll send you the link to the answers provided by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and you can score yourself. You can keep your score private or reveal it on your blog. My goal is purely to encourage you to self-evaluate, so I'm not scoring, just encouraging you to look at the test and think about citizenship. Everyone posting the questions on her or his blog by October 15th will be entered into a random drawing to receive a yummy yarn prize from my stash.

Anyone want to play? Here you go:

Civics (History and Government) Items for the Redesigned Naturalization Test

American Government

A: Principles of American Democracy

1) What is the supreme law of the land?
2) What does the Constitution do?
3) The idea of self-government is in the first three words of the Constitution. What are those words?
4) What is an amendment?
5) What do we call the first ten amendments to the Constitution?
6) What is one right or freedom from the First Amendment?
7) How many amendments does the Constitution have?
8) What did the Declaration of Independence do?
9) What are two rights in the Declaration of Independence?
10) What is freedom of religion?
11) What is the economic system in the United States?
12) What is the "rule of law"?

B: System of Government

13) Name one branch or part of the government.
14) What stops one branch of government from becoming too powerful?
15) Who is in charge of the executive branch?
16) Who makes federal laws?
17) What are the two parts of the U.S. Congress?
18) How many U.S. Senators are there?
19) We elect a U.S. Senator for how many years?
20) Who is one of your state's U.S. Senators?
21) The House of Representatives has how many voting members?
22) We elect a U.S. Representative for how many years?
23) Name your U.S. Representative.
24) Who does a U.S. Senator represent?
25) Why do some states have more Representatives than other states?
26) We elect a President for how many years?
27) In what month do we vote for President?
28) What is the name of the President of the United States now?
29) What is the name of the Vice President of the United States now?
30) If the President can no longer serve, who becomes President?
31) If both the President and Vice President can no longer serve, who becomes President?
32) Who is the Commander in Chief of the military?
33) Who signs bills to become laws?
34) Who vetoes bills?
35) What does the President's Cabinet do?
36) What are two Cabinet-level positions?
37) What does the judicial branch do?
38) What is the highest court in the United States?
39) How many justices are on the Supreme Court?
40) Who is the Chief Justice of the United States?
41) Under our Constitution, some powers belong to the federal government. What is one power of the federal government?
42) Under our Constitution, some powers belong to the states. What is one power of the states?
43) Who is the Governor of your state?
44) What is the capital of your state?
45) What are the two major political parties in the United States?
46) What is the political party of the President now?
47) What is the name of the Speaker of the House of Representatives now?

C: Rights and Responsibilities

48) There are four amendments to the Constitution about who can vote. Describe one of them.
49) What is one responsibility that is only for United States citizens?
50) What are two rights only for United States citizens?
51) What are two rights of everyone living in the United States?
52) What do we show loyalty to when we say the Pledge of Allegiance?
53) What is one promise you make when you become a United States citizen?
54) How old do citizens have to be to vote for President?
55) What are two ways that Americans can participate in their democracy?
56) When is the last day you can send in federal income tax forms?
57) When must all men register for the Selective Service?

American History

A: Colonial Period and Independence

58) What is one reason colonists came to America?
59) Who lived in America before the Europeans arrived?
60) What group of people was taken to America and sold as slaves?
61) Why did the colonists fight the British?
62) Who wrote the Declaration of Independence?
63) When was the Declaration of Independence adopted?
64) There were 13 original states. Name three.
65) What happened at the Constitutional Convention?
66) When was the Constitution written?
67) The Federalist Papers supported the passage of the U.S. Constitution. Name one of the writers.
68) What is one thing Benjamin Franklin is famous for?
69) Who is the "Father of Our Country"?
70) Who was the first President?

B: 1800s

71) What territory did the United States buy from France in 1803?
72) Name one war fought by the United States in the 1800s.
73) Name the U.S. war between the North and the South.
74) Name one problem that led to the Civil War.
75) What was one important thing that Abraham Lincoln did?
76) What did the Emancipation Proclamation do?
77) What did Susan B. Anthony do?

C: Recent American History and Other Important Historical Information

78) Name one war fought by the United States in the 1900s.
79) Who was President during World War I?
80) Who was President during the Great Depression and World War II?
81) Who did the United States fight in World War II?
82) Before he was President, Eisenhower was a general. What war was he in?
83) During the Cold War, what was the main concern of the United States?
84) What movement tried to end racial discrimination?
85) What did Martin Luther King, Jr. do?
86) What major event happened on September 11, 2001 in the United States?
87) Name one American Indian tribe in the United States.

Integrated Civics

A. Geography

88) Name one of the two longest rivers in the United States.
89) What ocean is on the West Coast of the United States?
90) What ocean is on the East Coast of the United States?
91) Name one U.S. territory.
92) Name one state that borders Canada.
93) Name one state that borders Mexico.
94) What is the capital of the United States?
95) Where is the Statue of Liberty?

B. Symbols

96) Why does the flag have 13 stripes?
97) Why does the flag have 50 stars?
98) What is the name of the national anthem?

C. Holidays

99) When do we celebrate Independence Day?
100) Name two national U.S. holidays.

All ofver but the blockin'

2007-09-25T09:22:00.000-07:00

Lookit! I am very pleased with it, and with myself. I did a bunch of extra pattern repeats since I used a smaller needle size; I think it will block out to be about the pattern size and be very wearable as a scarf this winter.

I've woven ends, but afterwards while perusing Victorian Lace Today for my next project, I realized I messed up the decrease on the edging. I was meditating on re-doing the edging, but I don't think I will. It doesn't look bad, it just doesn't look as written. Plus, the shawl's purpose was to serve as a learning experience, which it has done!
See the mug holding the shawl up? Cabled Sheep mugs are not only decorative, but functional. Also, you can drink from them!

Almost Done!

2007-09-24T07:37:00.000-07:00

Here's my Forest Canopy, almost done!

I'm in!

2007-09-21T07:30:00.000-07:00

Just got my Ravelry invite! Whee!

EDIT:

Mim asked what my user name was. I'm HeatherJTR. I've found a bunch of you already and have added you as friends. Is the etiquette that I should have asked first? I figured it was OK since you ARE my friends, but who knows with these things?

I can see that I need to get my act together and flickr my pictures.

I'm having so much fun with this! I need to knock off for a while and get back to my glamorous life cleaning toilets and folding laundry, but this thing's a welcome break.

What?

2007-09-17T07:28:00.000-07:00

Got this via email from Amazon.com. You should know that, while my man and I did enjoy some Anne McCaffrey books in high school, we did not rate A Gift of Dragons very highly.

We've noticed that customers who have purchased or rated A Gift of Dragons by Anne McCaffrey have also purchased The Tales of Chekhov, Volume 10: The Horse-Stealers and Other StoriesThe Tales of Chekhov, Volume 10: The Horse-Stealers and Other StoriesThe Tales of ... 10: The Horse-Stealers and Other Stories by Anton Chekhov. For this reason, you might like to know that The Tales of Chekhov, Volume 10: The Horse-Stealers and Other StoriesThe Tales of Chekhov, Volume 10: The Horse-Stealers and Other StoriesThe Tales of ... 10: The Horse-Stealers and Other Stories is now available. You can order yours for just $57.99 by following the link below.

The Tales of Chekhov, Volume 10: The Horse-Stealers and Other StoriesThe Tales of Chekhov, Volume 10: The Horse-Stealers and Other StoriesThe Tales of ... 10: The Horse-Stealers and Other Stories
Anton Chekhov

Price:

$57.99

Babies!

2007-09-06T10:43:00.001-07:00

My dear friend B's expecting in October, and I'm knitting her new baby this wee raglan cardie out of Baby Zarina. What is it about small things that makes them so adorable? I suppose it's hardwired.

Babies are my third Happy Thing. It's such a profound comfort to me that, in the face of all the crappy things in the world, we have the courage and faith to propagate ourselves.

I remember standing in front of the glass window looking at the newborn babies in the hospital nursery the day my mother died, then turning around to look out the window at the mountains. What a miracle it is to have patchy sunshine on the mountains and newborn babies in the world.

Although it's a good thing that the babies aren't behind a wall of glass in the nursery anymore, but are usually to be found in the rooms with their mommies!

And done!

2007-09-01T21:29:00.000-07:00

I am not the speediest knitter with cotton yarn, but I'm happy to say I did get the box out of the door within six hours, including time to eat dinner, blog about it, and watch a bunch of West Wing on DVD.

I have to admit I was a wee bit glad I didn't have to crank the thing out any faster. Busting a move with kitchen cotton would be really hard on the fingers!

I received the box just after four on a Saturday, and the last mail pickup is at one on Saturdays. Although I went and mailed it anyway, via the 24-7 automated thingy, I'm sure it will sit around the post office until Tuesday.

But it will not sit around my house, at least! I LOVE the automated mail kiosk! LOVE IT!

Dish Rag Tag!

2007-09-01T15:45:00.001-07:00

Tagged!

Am off to go cast on, although I obviously have the entire weekend to finish my dishrag. I feel I have to bust a move anyway, to stay in the spirit of the game.

When I'm done, I'm going to mail it via the 24 hour kiosk, just for fun.

In the mean time, here's Silvio enjoying the washcloth Emma in OK knit for me. Thanks, Emma, for the groovy feather and fan dishrag, and for the kit to handfelt an ornament. I love them! My son and I will really enjoy making the ornament together--it's perfect, as I actually collect Christmas ornaments.

Happy Thing #2: Celebrations!

2007-08-23T15:20:00.000-07:00

Don't you love a good party?

I'm so lucky to knit with such wonderful people, people who've shared their talents, passions, and friendship with me over the past two years. I deeply appreciate you, SLC SnBs!

Although we're all missing David, and talked about him quite a bit, we also had reason to celebrate this Tuesday. We had three Birthdays, Susan, Eileen, and me. And we grrls and I do like to celebrate! There was cake, cookies, pie, and brownies--thanks Val, Gwen, Susan's husband, and Jessamyn.

There were gifts, too, and some of them were for me. I've carefully composed a picture of them atop the piano. Pretty, no? Although the piano is kind of a dark background, the tiers were very useful for getting all this bounty into the frame. I tried to balance the composition so you could see everything. Shall we take it from the top?

Gwen gave me two skeins of Kaffe Fassett designed Regia sock yarn, the stripey version. Isn't it fun to try out the new stuff? I love it! I am thinking some plain socks to really show the color off, but I'm open to suggestions.

Mim gave me two skeins of Reynolds Whiskey which will look great with my black winter coat, and two patterns to consider. One of them is for mitts, wouldn't that be fabulous? The other pattern is for a child's hat, but I will save that for another yarn as I'm knitting the Whiskey for me!

Eileen, whose husband kicked her out of his hospital room so she could come to our party, gave me some beautiful chocolate which I have resisted opening so I could photograph. We call that willpower, ladies! It was great to see you at SnB, Eileen!

Laurie gave me some soap and a hand-crocheted facecloth of the type Mim's sister sells on her Esty shop. The soap is "Sachet", and it smells heavenly. Laurie's got such a gift for mixing scents. I just love her soap.

Cheryl gave me an assortment of tea and the pretty blue Trekking yarn, which I love and will make socks with in the near future. Thanks, Cheryl! I love it and will really enjoy knitting it up! I am thinking something with some texture, maybe garter rib or even another pair of Conwys?

Margene gave me some beautifully soft pink and green hand-dyed sock yarn from Seacoast Handpaint and a very clever IKEA bag which zips at the top and bottom and has a handle on the side. She made a fantastic card as well--I draped it over the bag so you can see it. She stamps a little Margene seal on the back and everything, very cool. I love bags, and I love pinks and greens. I notice that the yarn slid further down inside the bag before I took the picture and you can't really see it well, but trust me, it's gorgeous.

Anne (does she have a blog? I don't think so, but please let me know if I'm wrong) gave me a skein of stripey blue Supersocke 100 cotton-wool-nylon blend sock yarn in the cleverest hand-sewn gift bag. I couldn't get a good picture, but the bag's constructed like a pyramid and has ribbon ties, very clever. I've heard the bag is good match for Anne's new curtains. The yarn will make great summer socks!

Susan spun and dyed me some incredible Blue-Faced Leister; I'm sure you saw it on her blog today. Did it blow you away? It's even more amazing in person. I am not sure what I'm going to knit for myself with it, except that it will be mine and belong to no other, and that I will enjoy every stitch. It's beautifully spun and the color's amazing. She also gave me the very cool straw bag AND a Wool Cabin gift certificate. Thanks, Susan!

Isn't that amazing? I don't know what to say to such generosity, except THANK YOU! I really appreciate the gifts and will think of you all when I'm knitting.

I also feel as if I received two other gifts on Tuesday: Anne and Gwen both brought in things they'd knit from the yarn I gave them on their birthdays. Anne made a gorgeous lace scarf with the green Opal yarn I gave her, using a viney pattern. It's just beautiful and the pattern suits the yarn so well. Anne has a great eye.

On her birthday, I gave Gwen some bright pink and green cotton elastic yarn. Maybe it had some bamboo? I can't remember the exact fiber content, I just thought it looked like a fun colorway for baby things, and Gwen had told me her first grandchild was going to be a girl. Anyway, she made the cutest wee lacey baby socks. Gwen, you should reactivate your blog and post a picture. They're adorable! Also, thanks for showing me the baby pictures. Your granddaughter is quite a cute baby!

100 Happy Things

2007-08-22T12:49:00.001-07:00

When I'm troubled, I always find it comforting to look for the positive and try to focus on the good things in the world. I'm fully aware (sometimes hyper-aware) that this world holds full measure of tragedy, cruelty, hopelessness, and despair, but there are also millions of wonderful things for us here on earth. Here begins my series of one hundred of them.

1) Learning new things.

I find learning new things enjoyable. I believe this brands me as a bit of a nerd, but I'm fine with that.

One of the great joys of knitting is learning new techniques and skills.

Right now I'm engaged in learning to knit lace. Here is my latest project, the Forest Canopy Shoulder Shawl. Isn't it beautiful already? For yarn I'm using the hand-dyed Blood Orange sock yarn Teri gave me for my birthday last year. Every once in a while, I'd take the skein out and admire it, then put it back. I didn't feel confident enough in my skills to do the yarn justice until just last week. I've learned a lot this year, and when the time came to practice some more lace, I knew this was the right yarn to use.

What kinds of things do you enjoy learning about?

Doily Dishcloth

2007-08-20T07:04:00.000-07:00

Made a washrag using the same pattern Susan did. I'm such a copycat! I wanted to see if I could knit it, and if so, could I knit it quickly enough for Dish Rag Tag, and would it come out big enough to meet the Rag Tag requirements of 9" diameter.

It was really fun to knit, and quite large, about 11". I did have to tink back several rows a couple of times until I got used to paying closer attention, and the kitchener join was more annoying than necessary as I had to count several times to pick up the proper number of stitches. To dumb it down a little, I'm using a provisional cast-on for the next one.

In the natural yarn, doesn't it look like a little like a doily? But it made a nice gift, along with some Napa Valley Olive Oil, for my good friend T, who knows how to appreciate a handmade dishrag.

I find I can't close this entry without mentioning poor David. I will be attending his service this morning.

David

2007-08-18T20:36:00.001-07:00

Goodbye, friend and fellow knitter. You were a talented, funny, smart, kind man, and your tragic death is a great loss to our community.

I'm glad I made you try the sweater on. I wish you could have worn it.

Finished!

2007-08-15T07:21:00.001-07:00

Here's the Minimalist Spring Things--you may recall I ripped the ENTIRE thing out in a fit of craziness and restarted it. Sorry about the crummy picture. It was harder than I thought to photograph.

The stockingette portion is error free now, and what I did of the lace part ended up OK, except I knit the third chart first instead of the second. How could anyone do this without noticing? Quite the bonehead I am sometimes. It was getting down to the wire for my gifting deadline, so I crossed my fingers, worked the edging, and bound off, hoping for the best.

Blocking ROCKS. Next time I'll use those wires I forgot I had. The shawl stretched way out and the points became pointy instead of curly and, best of all, the shawlette isn't impossibly shrimpy as one would expect of a shawl with half the required border. In the end, I'm fine with it. I won't be embarrassed to give it to my husband's Granny when she turns 90 later this week.

I learned an incredible amount from knitting this. I learned to read the chart, I sort of learned how to read my knitting and see most mistakes, I fixed one really weird thing that happened, and I learned that I am at times crazy enough to rip out weeks of work (next time, Heather, put the knitting down and WALK AWAY). I learned that I can, with compromises and sufficient motivation, finish an object in time for a deadline.

Now all I have to do is keep my big, somewhat insecure mouth shut and not point any mistakes out to anyone in at the birthday party. I don't want to ruin the gift for Granny.

The best part is still the dye job, though.

For the Big Girls

2007-08-09T08:19:00.000-07:00

Everyone see this morning's Knitting Daily? I had NO idea Interweave though they were publishing enough plus-sized patterns already!

They are asking for feedback about our real chest measurements. Go measure yourself and fill out the survey!

An ode to my dishwasher:

2007-08-07T12:11:00.000-07:00

No self-written poetry will be inflicted on you; I love you all too much for that. Instead, I'm going for more of a photo essay, with before, during, and after pictures.

Shot number one: hands down the best pies I've ever made. Use the dough from this cookbook. Yep, that is an obscene amount of butter and shortening, about twice that of my usual recipe. It is so worth it!

And here's the dirty pie plate. All that stuff is stuck on and you'd think it would need to be soaked for three days or chiseled out with a hammer or something.

Et voila! After one cycle through the miracle appliance that is my Bosch dishwasher, it's clean as a whistle. I didn't even rinse it off first.

How do I love thee, O Bosch Dishwasher? Certainly more that I ever thought I'd love a kitchen appliance.

Did I mention I didn't even have to rinse it off?

I love that thing! LOVE IT!

Cindy's Socks!

2007-07-30T22:29:00.000-07:00

Remember I went to Kansas in April? And visited my friend Cindy? Well, she's visiting me this week, and lookit! She brought her socks, too!

Baby sock: Teri's pattern and I'm pretty sure it's some Regia yarn we picked up at Cindy's LYS in Wichita, Heritage Hutch (no website, or I'd link for you). Cute as a button, no?

Cindy's sock: koigu Cindy drove three hours to buy at the legendary Yarn Barn of Kansas. Groovy pooling, no?

And, I'm just sayin', she's a natural, because I showed her how to knit the first baby sock in April, including how to kitchener the toe closed, and SHE GOT IT RIGHT AWAY! That is actually the third baby sock from this yarn.

So cute I needed two pictures. Love that baby sock!

Knitting Content? Why, yes!

2007-07-25T12:04:00.001-07:00

Oh, look, it IS a knitting blog after all!

Here's a wee scarf I made for my niece, modeled by my sister's wisteria in her new backyard of her beautiful new house. (Nice house, big sister!) Purple, of course, and I left the rest of the ball of yarn with my niece, along with some of those adorable kitty-head needles. My niece is just turning six and I did succeed in teaching her to knit a couple of stitches, which satisfied her for the time being. Next time I see her, maybe she'll want to learn more.

My sister lives in St. Helena, in the north end of the Napa Valley. It's beautiful and touristy, but when I go, the closest I ever get to wineries is my brother-in-law's office (he's a wine merchant, so there is a lot of wine!). We had a wonderfully low-key family-oriented stay. Highlights include my eldest nephew's birthday dinner at Go Fish, playing at the local park, taking the kids to swimming lessons, several hotly-contested games of Monopoly, a sisters-only lunch at the Rutherford Grill, and relaxing at the end of the day with a Juice Squeeze Martini.

Want one? My sister's got the recipe, but I think it goes something like this: One recipe for Pomegranate Martinis, include ritzy local Charbay vodka and a fresh lime from off the tree outside, two young sons who drank all the pomegranate juice, and one bottle of black cherry juice squeeze.

They were quite good, actually.

My weekend

2007-07-24T08:16:00.000-07:00

Here I am at 12:30 am Friday night, book in hand. You can see my Borders armband, number 98. It was a long wait, and not in the fun party atmosphere I expected, but I had my book in hand and was headed home by 12:10--the Borders was organized, if not cheerful about it.

For this one, I went slowly to avoid skipping ahead. Whenever I got too tense, I'd put the book down and read something else for a few minutes--this led to my darling husband finishing it before me, which is fine as he's a champ about not discussing it before everyone in the household's finished the book. Toward the end, I had to put my hand over the next paragraph to ensure my treacherous eyes didn't start skipping down. I really wanted to earn the ending this time!

Am not going to review the book, am just going to thank Jo Rowling! Thanks, Jo!

Dummy Spring Things Update Redux

2007-07-04T17:44:00.000-07:00

Thank you, grrlfriends, for noticing how pretty my kool-aid dyed yarn was at SnB on Tuesday. Thank you all for not laughing at me when I told you that I'd ripped the ENTIRE thing out six rows before the end in a fit of craziness. I don't regret it, but I do shake my head at my own nuts-o behavior.

I am about back to the lace part, and since I'm driving to California tomorrow I don't think I'll bring it along as I won't be able to make a rule that no one may talk to me during the first four repeats of the new line. Instead, I'm packing the THREE PAIRS OF SOCKS I'm still working on. Wish me luck or something.

I am looking forward to checking out my old LYS, Adela's Yarn in Castro Valley, and the new shop which opened up in Dublin. Adela's is funky, but I heard they've expanded and remodeled, so I want to see it, and to say "hi" to the women who work there--they won't remember me , but they were extremely nice to me and the kid when I shopped there before moving to Utah. Not everyone can help the neophytes while not patronizing them; I'll always have a soft spot for Adela's.

As far as the Stag Bag goes, I'm thinking of Margene's point that the halo will help keep the strands from showing through to the right side, and that if I want it to look exactly like the picture I should use exactly the same yarn, and Erin's point that the alpaca is so soft and pretty... although Susan's point that the pattern doesn't always call for the most appropraite yarn is a good one...

I have a lot of time to think of it as I still haven't even cataloged all UFOS, let alone finished/frogged any of them. Today I'm thinking I'll use the alpaca blend, though.

Infatuation

2007-07-02T11:35:00.000-07:00

Did you see this bag Erin's working on?

I must have one.

I am still a little off my knitting groove, and have decided to catalog and finish or rip out all current projects (except a perpetual UFO of a sweater which is kind of a monument to my late Mom and late aunt, AND a UFO hat I inherited from my late aunt--I'm not ready for that yet).

The Stag Bag will be my reward for doing all that.

Can anyone recommend a superwash wool I can get gage with? The recommended yarn is Berocco Ultra Alpaca at 144 yards per 50 g. I love alpaca, but I don't know if I'd want a bag out of it, even 50/50. Won't that be soft and too stretchy? Or should I just go with the suggested yarn? Gage is 26st and 28rows to 4". Hurry, because I'll be buying the yarn in like August or December, whenever I finish all the objects.

Proof of Life

2007-06-15T11:06:00.001-07:00

Some times I just need to chuck the complicated stuff and knit, you know?

Here's Nancy Drew Socks in Trekking, and check the hole-free gusset.

I think I may have my groove back!

Baby Adirondak

2007-06-04T07:38:00.000-07:00

I have not been knitting this week! I really can't explain the problem, except to say I've been really busy and I haven't been feeling very well. I realize now that I would have felt better if I picked my knitting up. I need some needle therapy!

Here's a shot of my husband's lastest, a baby Adirondack chair for the kid. Isn't that the cutest thing on the planet? He made it using the same Norm Abram pattern, but at 2/3 scale. The kid was absolutely delighted.

New Knitting!

2007-05-21T09:28:00.000-07:00

Not much knitted on the Sock Class Sock (must find a better name...), but I did get the heel turned and finished the gusset, so it's all mindless knitting until the toe.

But what is that knitting on the right? Well, grrlfriends, that is my sister L's FIRST KNITTING EVER! Doesn't she rock? We're going to buy yarn today so she can make something more exciting than a garter stitch square.

Sharing the craft is sharing the joy!

All the knitting I did last night:

2007-05-17T12:37:00.000-07:00

Lame, eh? But I was really tired last night.

In case you're wondering, it's the Sock Class Homework. It's two colors because the pink yarn I grabbed off the top of the pile wasn't giving me enough stitch definition. I figured it might be useful to actually be able to see what I was doing in the class. I dug a little deeper down to the baggie I have of Cotton Fleece remnants left over from my Baby Garment Period.

The Baby Garment Period ended about the time I moved to Utah, so many of you grrls probably aren't familiar with it. It was a fairly long-lasting phase of my knitting, and I used a lot of Cotton Fleece, so much that I got sick of the yarn and forgot how much I like it. It's very pleasant yarn.

Dummy Spring Things Update

2007-05-15T15:11:00.000-07:00

Am about 2/3 done with the first chart, chart B, of my Spring Things For Dummies. And guess what? I can now read my knitting while doing lace! Go, me!

I had feared I would never develop the ability; last year I tried several different lace patterns without success. But I think I've got the hang of it now!

Not to say that I haven't made mistakes. But I can find them now, and see which way things are supposed to be going. SMILE!

Lego!

2007-05-15T08:06:00.000-07:00

OH MY WORD what is that my sweet four-year-old has made of Legos?

Oh, it's a cordless drill. Cool!

Mmmmm

2007-05-13T09:25:00.000-07:00

Crepes for breakfast? Must be Mother's Day.

I have to admit ambivalence about Mother's Day as a holiday. My own Mom died when I was in high school, and I didn't have kids until my mid-30s. I still feel a sensitivity, a discomfort, about the holiday, and a great deal of sympathy for those women who are left out of the fun.

I'm very comfortable with sleeping in until 9:30 and having crepes for breakfast, though. That man of mine, he can cook!

In other news, I've just about finished the leg of my Sock Class Socks. Notice anything? Why, yes, that is the Super Nova yarn. In the end, I couldn't put it down. I admit the kind of sock might have been more attractive in a solid color. This yarn also caught on the kitty-chewed section of my needles, snagging it in an unattractive way. A less splitty yarn would have stood up better to my newly-damaged needles, and I knew it at the time. In the end, I just couldn't put the yarn down.

My basic "design idea": a sock with a fold-over lace cuff and a picot edge.

What I'm doing so far: Lativan Twist Cast-On, two inches of Lace Rib from Barbara Walker #1, purl a turning row, turn the sock inside out by pushing everything down towards the middle, wrap and turn, start knitting the other way while reversing the ribbing, decrease 10 st, and knit 3" of ribbing. I'm now ready for the heel flap, or whatever groovy new heel I learn in the class.

What I've learned so far:

1) Latvian Twist Cast-On ROCKS. I have a hard time learning new techniques from books--can't follow the diagrams very well--and I would NEVER have understood the directions without the demonstration. Check out how it makes a twisty rope. Very cool!

2) Check out how the purled turning row scallops because of the lace pattern. A lovely surprise.

3) Folded lace cuffs are kind of bulky. My ankles are also kind of bulky, you do the math. The socks are still pretty, though.

Supernova!

2007-05-11T08:16:00.000-07:00

Went to the Wool Cabin last night for the first night of Susan's Sock Design class. I learned like five new ways to cast on, which pretty much doubles my repertoire.

Also bought some yarn-Wool Cabin's just started carrying this Spunky Eclectic yarn. Isn't the colorway astounding? It's Super Nova in colorway "I heart fall". It looks like spring tulips to me. I fell hard for this yarn, let me tell you.

I worked on my swatch last night, long enough to feel quite stupid. I didn't like the very simple lace pattern with the ribbing I added to make it stretchy for socks, and I was quite annoyed it looked nothing like the picture in the book. This morning's revelation: there's an error in the book I copied the chart from. I fooled around with it enough to realize that I want something even simpler for what I have in mind, so I'm switching back to baby cables or baby shells and solid color yarn. And I'm thinking I'll make a scarf or something of this SE yarn, something I can wear close to my face.

Let's Play "I Never"

2007-05-10T08:56:00.000-07:00

Stolen from Lauren, who's got a great blog. Love her blog!

Anyway, bold for stuff you've done, italics for stuff you plan to do one day, and normal for stuff you're not planning on doing.

Afghan/Blanket (baby)
I-cord
Garter stitch
Knitting with metal wire
Shawl
Stockinette stitch
Socks: top-down
Socks: toe-up
Knitting with camel yarn
Mittens: Cuff-up
Mittens: Tip-down
Hat
Knitting with silk
Moebius band knitting
Participating in a KAL
Sweater
Drop stitch patterns
Knitting with recycled/secondhand yarn
Slip stitch patterns
Knitting with banana fiber yarn
Domino knitting (modular knitting)
Twisted stitch patterns (unless I’m misunderstanding the term)
Knitting with bamboo yarn
Two end knitting
Charity knitting
Knitting with soy yarn
Cardigan
Toy/doll clothing
Knitting with circular needles
Knitting with your own handspun yarn
Slippers
Graffiti knitting (knitting items on, or to be left on the street)
Continental knitting
Designing knitted garments
Cable stitch patterns (incl. Aran)
Lace patterns
Publishing a knitting book
Scarf
Teaching a child to knit
American/English knitting (as opposed to continental)
Knitting to make money
Button holes
Knitting with alpaca
Fair Isle knitting
Norwegian knitting
Dying with plant colors
Knitting items for a wedding
Household items (dishcloths, washcloths, tea cozies…)
Knitting socks (or other small tubular items) on two circulars
Olympic knitting
Knitting with someone else’s handspun yarn
Knitting with DPNs
Holiday related knitting
Teaching a male how to knit
Bobbles
Knitting for a living
Knitting with cotton
Knitting smocking
Dying yarn
Steeks
Knitting art
Fulling/felting
Knitting with wool
Textured knitting (although maybe I don’t know what this means)
Kitchener BO
Purses/bags
Knitting with beads
Swatching
Long Tail CO
Entrelac
Knitting and purling backwards
Machine knitting
Knitting with self-patterning/self-striping/variegating yarn
Stuffed toys
Baby items
Knitting with cashmere
Darning
Jewelry
Knitting with synthetic yarn
Writing a pattern
Gloves
Intarsia
Knitting with linen
Knitting for preemies
Tubular CO
Freeform knitting
Short rows
Cuffs/fingerless mitts/arm warmers
Pillows
Knitting a pattern from an online knitting magazine
Rug
Knitting on a loom
Thrummed knitting
Knitting a gift
Knitting for pets
Shrug/bolero/poncho
Knitting with dog/cat hair (wish there was a font for HELL NO)
Hair accessories
Knitting in public

Sweaters for the babies

2007-05-06T09:18:00.000-07:00

Apparently the baby cow and the baby horse were cold this morning--can't blame them. It's been quite chilly here in Salt Lake City. We even got some snow flakes yesterday.

The kid, who's four, has his own knitting needles and yarn, the plastic blue and red kid's needles with kitty heads and some Paton's Classic Wool. He asks to knit, and even did a couple of stitches on the baby horse's blanket, but he loses interest very quickly. Which is fine, although if he actually did pick it up, I think knitting would be great for his fine motor development. Mostly, knitting is something we play with together. I love that his imagination turns a tiny garter stitch rectangle into a blanket for the baby cow.

Knitting continues on the Dummy Spring Things. I'm
at 219 stitches and about 39 inches across. I'm not sure
if I'll need to increase the number of pattern repeats to get a proper wingspan. I'm still having fun, though!

Sock Class!

2007-05-03T07:46:00.000-07:00

Bonnie, thanks for asking about the sock class. It's at the Wool Cabin. Here are the details from the flyer:

Create Your Own Sock Class
Taught by Susan Lawrence
May 10 and May 17
6:30 pm to 8:30 pm
$40 class fee

I hope you can make it!

The Wool cabin's phone number is 801 466 1811

Going to live with it

2007-05-02T07:14:00.000-07:00

I've decided to live with the mistake. I think I'm going to need the extra yarn to fix any mistakes I make with the lace border. I will make mistakes, and they will have to be ripped out, and that yarn will have to be discarded. I'm fine with it, but a little irritated at myself for not paying more attention.

I'm up to about 200 st. I'm very excited to start the lace, probably tomorrow night, but by the weekend at least. Am going to put in a lifeline, get out the stitch markers, and see what happens.

In other news, I've registered for Susan's sock design class at the Wool Cabin. You pick a stitch pattern from a book, and learn how to do it as a sock. This is just what I've been trying to teach myself, so I think the class will be a blast. So far, I'm the only one signed up. Come take it with me!

Progress? Not so much...

2007-04-30T06:56:00.000-07:00

Knitting right along, but I discovered that I spaced out and knit like eight rows of stockingette instead of garter on the border. It's on the left where the working yarn runs over in this picture, and I've also got a close-up of my silliness. ARRGH.

I'm in a quandary because I don't think I can fix this without ripping back, and the yarn is so soft it looks crappy when ripped out and reworked. Rats! I could try to drop the second stitch in and redo it, but no way I could do the first stitch. I know I can't do it, and I'm not sure anyone could. I may have to live with this mistake... But I may not be able to. I'm going to very gently rip some back and see how the yarn holds up.

Missed My Own Blogiversary

2007-04-28T21:11:00.000-07:00

OOOPS! My Blogiversary was yesterday. Happy BV to me, a day late and a dollar short.

By Popular Demand

2007-04-28T20:46:00.000-07:00

I've started Granny M's shawl! Wish me luck, because it seems like the last three or four ambitious projects I've started have not worked out. But I'm feeling good about this one. I've wanted to knit a shawl, triangular or Faroe, for quite a while now, but I couldn't see myself wearing one. Granny M is my husband's grandmother, and my son's great granny. She's turning 90 this August, and I think a shawl would be a great present. I'm doing the Watered Down Version of Spring Things by Susan, mainly because I'm really feeling like knitting, what, 62 rows of stockingette, and the border is my favorite part of that pattern. I'm planning on using beads instead of nups; Granny is a bead kind of a lady.

The yarn's some formerly undyed Merino I picked up at Stitches West last year, I think from the Yarn Barn of Kansas. It was one of those huge skeins with a tiny tiny tag which just said Merino and the yardage in ballpoint pen. It's quite soft, and although it's sock weight, I don't think it would make very good socks. I don't even remember the yardage, but I'm sure I have enough for the shawl; it's broken into two skeins. We dyed them at the same time, so they should match.

Friday, Teri invited me to dye yarn with her and Karen, so I dug it up and bought twelve packets of Kool-Aid. Teri's a great teacher! And it was very fun to meet Karen and her baby, and my kid loves her boys; we all had a great time. Karen and Teri helped me name my first creation: Cherry Martini. Very Teri, no? Although I think Karen suggested the name actually. The color's pretty true, I think, but the picture makes it look kind of blotchy. We'll see how the small patches which stayed white look; I don't rule out overdying the whole thing. I'm satisfied with the color, though. Granny likes bright colors.

Three Wishes (Not The Yarn Shop)

2007-04-25T12:14:00.001-07:00

I know, this is supposed to be a knitting blog. It's been forever since I posted any actual knitting content, but I ever since reading Jacquie's blog this morning I can't resist the temptation to do her Three Wishes meme.

Here are my three wishes:

1) World Peace without tyranny.

2) Morons may no longer hold elected office anywhere. I am also thinking that all world leaders might need a comprehensive review of 20th Century History before taking office. Maybe taught by Howard Zinn? I realize this is undemocratic, and I feel a little twinge, but not much of one. It's just a wish, right?

3) For #3 I am leaning towards a) Universally available clean water, or b) Mutual Respect. Would mutual respect bring clean water to all? Also am considering a provision by which mean people's mouths would spontaneously be superglued shut...But I'm pretty sure that's covered by Mutual Respect.

Am now considering all kinds of Monkey's Paw-type scenarios in which my innocent wishes breed tragedy...I realize they're dictatorial wishes. Is that bad karma? It's certainly arrogant of me.

Back to the Knitting:

1) Brought the "Wheew" socks to Kansas and Arkansas on vacation, but I didn't finish them. I'm too attached to them to want them finished. What is it about knitting socks? They're so soothing!

2) Learned a VERY COOL thing last night at SnB. Most (better) knitters already know this, but I didn't. You form the long edge, that is the top edge, of triangular shawls by casting on just a few stitches at the center and increasing at regular intervals. This magically forms a long straight line! I've always assumed that if you cast on a few stitches you'd be working on the point, not the long straight part. MAGIC! Thanks, Susan!

I LOVE YOU ALL!

2007-04-09T19:16:00.000-07:00

I read a couple of articles in the New York Times today which criticized bloggers in general for their lack of civility. This one pretty much blames blogging for a decline in civility in the media and public discourse, and this one recommends a codified code of conduct. It all seems to stem from the kind of bad manners and unkindness which sometimes broke out in discussions held on Usenet groups in the early 1990s and still breaks out in some Yahoo groups of today. Some people are mean, and feel entitled to express their mean opinions.

You are all lovely, though! I am writing to say that I feel very fortunate to be part of such a supportive, generous, kind group of bloggers. I so appreciate your good manners, good humor, and kind support!

Jacquie Interviews Me!

2007-03-29T17:45:00.000-07:00

Jacquie kindly offered to interview bloggers. How fun!

1. Have you always lived in Salt Lake City? If no, where did you come from originally and what brought you to SLC. If yes, then tell us what you like about SLC, or where else you would rather be.

I was raised in Oregon (Portland area) and Anchorage, Alaska. My husband, son, and I moved from Northern California almost two years ago. We were anxious to escape the sky-high cost of living and piercing California sunshine. Well, actually, we moved because an opportunity opened up for my man working for the same company in a different, and more interesting (to him!) technology area. I suppose if I could live anywhere, I would like to go back to Seattle, where we lived while my husband was in grad school, or Anchorage, where I went to high school. I’ve moved around a lot, though, and I don’t mind moving. I actually like it. A couple of years ago, it looked like we’d have the opportunity to move to Cambridge for a couple of years, and I was disappointed when that didn’t work out.

We love Salt Lake City! I love the mountains, the four season climate, and the knitters!

2. You are lucky to have a handy husband. Did you know that about him

before you married him or is it a more recent development? What else has he made?

He’s pretty handy, isn’t he? Although he’s always been mechanically inclined, he just started making furniture last summer, with a picnic table and five Adirondack chairs. He’s also made a router table, some sawhorses, and a fairly swank workbench. The table is his first piece of interior furniture.

Before that, he did quite a bit of DIY around our house in California. He replaced the nasty carpet in our old house with Pergo, replaced the toilets and a bathroom sink, and remodeled our entire kitchen. Every summer he tinkers with the sprinkler system. I think it’s his engineer brain, always wanting to understand the way things work. I love his brain; it’s one of the first things I fell for when we met. I look forward to a lot of custom-made furniture!

3. Miriam was asked this question and I thought it was a good one - What do

you make for dinner when you can’t think of anything to make for dinner?

Black bean soup, cornbread, and salad. Also, homemade pizza.

4. If you were offered the chance to boldly go where no man (or woman) has

gone before would you take it and why?

What, in space with the crew of the Starship Enterprise? In a heartbeat! Let it be the Next Generation crew, though, not the Shatner-led bunch.

5. Do you have a "kids say the darndest things" type story about your son,

or from your own childhood that you can share with us?

Well, I thought it was pretty cute when my son said we should get chickens in the backyard, and that the chickens should get their own TV so they can watch “the chicken movie” (Chicken Run).

Want to play? I'll interview you if you request in a comment!

My Man's Handy!

2007-03-25T08:20:00.000-07:00

I'm so proud of my crafty man!

Here's a nightstand he made for our son. The pattern's from _The New Yankee Workshop_ by Norm Abram. It's made of clear pine (which is knot-free pine) and finished with three coats of Hydrocote Resisthane Plus water-based polyurethane, a great product.

Woodworking requires a LOT of tools and basic skills to make even simple pieces of furniture. The DH and I are really happy with the way this piece turned out, but it's an imperfect piece of furniture. However, some of the errors my husband made on this piece can also be seen in the sample shown in the book, made when Norm was already good enough to have his own TV show and books published. The people who say Norm's success is all in the tools are severely underestimating his craftsmanship, because the stuff he makes now is perfect.

I really like the tapered legs and perfectly centered drawer. Also, the kid has a piece of furniture in his room made for him especially by Dad.

The fishy drawer handle is cool, isn't it? It's from Silver Star Hardware on 3300 S, right near the former location of Soul Spun Yarn. They have hundreds of drawer pulls, more than I've ever seen anywhere else. It's a hardware store for chicks, grrlfriends. You should go!

I love the earth and everything but...

2007-03-23T17:18:00.000-07:00

Have you read this New York Times article (requires registration) about the Manhattan family who are giving up, among other things,toilet paper, in a year-long ecological experiment? Of course there's a blog, No Impact Man.

There's no way I'd be willing to give up toilet paper. NO WAY!

Wheew!

2007-03-20T15:01:00.000-07:00

So I had to get a mammogram today. I get a little freaked out by routine medical procedures, but the extreme professional, compassionate courtesy extended to me by the outpatient radiology clinic at our local hospital was so reassuring that I was able to get through it. The procedure itself is a little undignified and uncomfortable, but the worst part was hanging out in Schroedinger's Cat Box, waiting for the radiologist to look over the films.

And let me tell you, ladies, there is noting like the feeling of being told that you don't have cancer.

Something for the new baby

2007-03-14T07:00:00.000-07:00

My cousin T had her baby last week! Another girl, Baby H.

I was just starting some socks when I got the news, so I repurposed the Sleeping Dragon Yarn from blogless Karen. Cute, no? The hat looks impossibly teeney until you stretch it, but the baby was under 6 lbs, so she should at least be able to wear it for ten or fifteen minutes. This yarn is so fun to knit! I love Karen's color combinations.

I also sent the Wee Elvish Baby Socks of last spring. I was going to either do some kind of toe embellishment or rework the toe, but really when you make newborn sized items, it's imperative to get them in the mail. I decided to stop obsessing and just send the things already. Yes, the toe is idiosyncratic, but the socks look cute and the yarn is adorable.

My feet are ON FIRE!

2007-03-05T10:46:00.000-07:00

These are some warm socks, grrlfriends. Worsted weight socks are WARM!

FYI, my pants aren't actually highwater; I pulled them up for the photo shoot.

Am not really sure the heels match, but they're close enough. Check this out, I redid the heel three times, maybe four, it's kind of a blur really, trying to get them to match, and all this after I had actually written down what I did for the first one. I ended up following my own directions.
In other news, got my Kaffe Fassett lecture tickets! Thanks, Jacquie, for the heads up.

I showed a girlfriend how to knit

2007-03-02T07:46:00.000-07:00

and got a Noro hat out of it!

This hat is my friend's work, originally made for her sister who--can you believe this?--said she wouldn't wear it! I love it, and offered to trade it for yarn. I dig it and have worn it several times already.

I really like teaching friends (or strangers) the basics of knitting. Maybe it's because for so long, I had no one to ask for knitting help?

Do you watch _Needle Arts Studio_ on PBS? I love watching the host, Shay Pendray. I don't always like the projects, and usually don't watch the needlepoint/embroidery segments, but I always fast forward to the show's closing when she says, in a cheery voice of firm conviction: "We enjoyed sharing these projects with you, and hope you will share the needle arts with a friend."
Yep, I will!

One down...

2007-03-01T13:47:00.000-07:00

One's done!

I usually put the last stitches on a holder and kitchener both socks at the same time, but this time, I went ahead and did it as soon as I was done, and wove ends as well. I found it much more satisfying that way.

Also, I remembered to write down what I was doing, so the second sock should be the same as the first. Am on the second or third pattern repeat on sock #2 now. Fun socks!

Pretty pretty!

2007-02-27T08:58:00.000-07:00

Here are the purple socks, freshly blocked and everything. Pretty, no? I'm pleased with these.

I have to admit I did wear them without blocking--just couldn't wait. Anyone else do that?

WIP

2007-02-26T09:45:00.000-07:00

A shot of the socks in progress. I'm about to rip back to the heel flap; I forgot to center the pattern, and it's driving me nuts. On the side visible in this photograph, there are two purl stitches; on the opposite side, none. I think I can fudge it without ripping the heel flap out as well. Maybe I'll rip the heel flap out as well...it's not a lot of knitting. The error is quite visible in this worsted weight yarn.

Also, I realized that at about the point my middle finger is I began make the cable shorter, so that problem will be fixed as well.

More snow day, and The Project

2007-02-23T15:05:00.000-07:00

The Project: some Yarn Over Cable socks in Cascade 220 Superwash, from Sensational Knitted Socks. Wow, it's fun to knit socks with worsted weight yarn! I can see that I will not love it forever: it's almost too fast and easy. Also, unlike socks made of normal yarn, you could very easily have too many heavy socks unsuitable for wear outside the house. Very useful for me, though--I love wearing heavy socks around the house and to bed when it's cold out.

Charlene, she makes you work a little, doesn't she? Great book, though. I love the flexibility and organization. And next month, there'll be another one coming out.

Here's a shot of, what, 4 inches of snow stacked up on the scrub oaks in my side yard. Love that!

And this is the picnic table I sat on less than 24 hours ago. Freaky, no?

It snowed on and off all day, until the sun came out an hour ago. I've got to go shovel or my poor DH won't be able to get the Civic up the driveway and into the garage.

Snow Day

2007-02-23T08:06:00.000-07:00

Here's a wee peek out my front window this morning. Ick. Can you believe the kid and I spent an hour playing in the back yard yesterday? The garden steps he climbed at 4:30 pm yesterday were covered with like 5" of snow this morning. Crazy, eh?

I love the sugar-frosted trees. The snow stacks up on the trunks and spindly branches of our aspens and scrub oaks.

I'm feeling wimpy and don't want to venture out into it, but in half an hour or so I've got to stuff the kid into the Subaru and get him to gymnastics. Not looking forward to that drive, but at least it's a short one.

Same Sock, Different Cat

2007-02-22T09:05:00.000-07:00

Is this lame? Another picture of the same sock, but with the other cat?

Yes, it is lame. I should have stood on the other foot and at least photographed the other sock. I was, after all, wearing both socks at the time.

I didn't knit at all last night. Does this happen to anyone else? Rush to finish something and now I don't know what to start.

Maybe this is a sign that I should just go finish something already on the needles.

More socks, and the kitty

2007-02-21T08:11:00.000-07:00

Purple Opal socks=DONE! I kitchenered the toes last night, again without looking at the directions. I'm very happy with them!

Stats: Yarn: way less than one skein of Opal sock yarn.
Time to knit: Almost two months. I cast on Christmas Day, as this yarn was a gift from my husband. My son picked out the color, and the fine women at the Wool Cabin were kind enough to direct my husband to the sock yarn.
Needles: Crystal Palace size 1, also a Christmas gift.
Pattern: Yarrow Rib Socks from Nancy Bush's Knitting Vintage Socks, another fantastic gift from my fantastic husband. I modified the pattern by doing a wedge toe.

See why we call these the Christmas socks?

These socks were so fun to knit! After I got the hang of the German Heel, and Susan straightened me out on how to measure the sock for the toe decrease, they gave me no trouble. I lugged these around everywhere, and they provided me with as much security as my kid's lamb. I felt better just having them with me. Although I considered giving them away several times, I can't let them go. Sock love!

Socks!

2007-02-21T07:55:00.000-07:00

Here are the Fantastic Socks of Unsuitable Yarn. I like them so much that I think I will get some proper, sturdy superwash and knit myself a long-lasting pair. Great pattern, Susan!

To Blog, or Not To Blog?

2007-02-19T14:37:00.000-07:00

After a period of procrastination, I have decided to get off my butt and start blogging again. Blogging makes you a better knitter! And I want to be a better knitter, so am getting off my butt.

Am going to go snap some pictures of stuff I'm working on and get to it, but here's a brief summary:

1) The no-longer thrummed mittens: am still thinking about these. I gave away the orange roving last week, as I'm sure I will not thrum the mittens. I wish the roving a productive life in the hands of another knitter. Am now considering some options. Do I still want to double the yarn, using Opal and Brooks Farm, or do I want to stop that? And I am also considering doing some 2 color Norwegian mittens in style of Eileen. But they would still be orange, as I'm still in love with the orange mitten idea. But I'm also in love with the matching sideways garter stitch scarf idea, so... the mittens are in a holding pattern. Am also considering making some fingerless gloves and matching over-mittens. While I review my options, the mittens are marinating in the pile.

2) Purple Opal Christmas Socks: it's all over but the kitchener! And they're awesome. I finished them the night before last, and immediately started on:

3) Susan's seriatum socks, which are almost done. I used that Patons SWS Soy Wool stuff, color 70530 (pink pink burgundy brown pink pink pink) and I'm not a big fan of this yarn, at least in this application. It's pretty but extra splitty and single plied. It would be great for felting; I bought it to make some Valentine's potholders or similar, but ran out of time. There the yarn was in plain sight when I looked around for something else to do after the purple socks were finished, so I went for it. Impulse project. The pattern is awesome and deserves better than the yarn I'm using for it, but the colors are pretty and the yarn is kind of shiny in a pleasant way. I followed Susan's kitchener instructions, and for the first time I was able to kitchener without looking at the directions and chanting, and I'm actually looking forward to kitchenering the second sock. These will be my "lounging socks", and I'm fully prepared for them to, ah, not have much longevity because of my crap yarn choice. I will be satisfied with the two or three evening's entertainment they've already provided me with. Really I will. Really.

Reverse UFOing

2007-01-27T18:58:00.000-07:00

Instead of finishing UFOs, like Katherine, I'm adding to the list of projects. Here are some mittens, which I was going to thrum, but now realize they'd be too warm, so they'll be plain. A side effect of this change of plan: I now own orange roving I have no use for...but it was only six bucks, so whatever. I'm going to make some simple mittens and do a sideways-knit garter stitch scarf with the rest. Or maybe a popcorn scarf? Probably too trendy...we'll see when the mitts are knit.

The variegated stuff is Brooks Farm, sorry I can't remember the type, except that there is some silk in it. It must be "Harmony". The color was discontinued. It's really pretty, I think, but might not be for everyone... The plain pumpkin color is Gems sportweight. The Brooks Farm stuff is kind of slippery and doesn't feel sturdy enough on its own, especially for mittens, but an unexpected bonus is that by knitting them together, it sort of mutes the variegated stuff. I love the way it looks.

Just as well I'm not doing the thrums, though. That orange is just not quite right...

In other news, just cast on for a Noro Silk Garden beanie. Which, needless to say, doesn't match the mittens. I think I'm going to try and finish this tonight and wear it tomorrow. Pretty, pretty Noro!

And I'm still working on the purple socks. Am about halfway down the leg. These have turned into very satisfying knitting, easy and relaxing.

I am also dreaming about knitting a lot. Anyone else do that?

Ta-Da!

2007-01-25T16:47:00.000-07:00

Woo-hoo! I have photo-posting capability again!

And here's Silvie on the book. Isn't he the king of the world? There is another picture of him actually sitting on top of the thing, but he's facing the camera and his eyes have a demonic, green glow.

A Couple Of Things...

2007-01-24T08:58:00.000-07:00

First, thank you all for your lovely, supportive comments!

Michaele asked how I liked Big Girl Knits. Weeeel, I love the idea, and the part at the beginning that describes finding styles that flatter your particular figure is quite inspiring, but the problem is that many of the sweater patterns are a little funky for my personal taste. I don't actually want to knit anything in that book. Except the handbag. And maybe the shawl, but I don't know about the beads... And the socks are cute. And I do like the wrap sweater, but with a shirt under it so the girls don't catch cold. But I LOVE that the book exists!

No progress on getting the photos from the camera to the internet, which brands me as a lame-a$$.

I've been knitting the purple Opal socks, finished the first one last night at Stitch n Bitch, and cast on for the second one. This is my relaxing, idiot project. (Well, it became an easy project after I fixed a little problem with the toe) My 'real' project is for the Spring Swap, and even if the camera was working, I'd have nothing to show you. I'm still figuring it out, swatching and ripping out. I'm spending most of my knitting time on this, and look forward to having a final design soon, but right now all I've got to show for it is a pretty ball of pink yarn and a head full of ideas.

No picture yet,

2007-01-14T22:10:00.000-07:00

But you can imagine it. I'll download it as soon as my dear husband and household tech support manager clarifies what exactly I have to do to install Picasa, or whatever new picture software we're going for. We had a wee hard drive failure last week, and I'm not 100% back yet. Still using webmail, no photo software, no bookmarks...It's annoying, but not catastrophic b/c my darling man has recovered all the data.

Anyway, imagine the scene: I've got a great shot of Silver (who's currently draped across my shoulder and chest like a furry purring stole) sitting up next to my new knitting book. He's bigger, a handsome kitty adolescent. I had a whole blog post planned around the shot. Silvie looks like he's King of Cables, and the new Melissa Leapman book about cables looks fantastic.

I bought the book with a B&N giftcard my dear mother in law gave me for Christmas. Why? Because the sweaters looked cute AND they come in BIG GIRL SIZES! GO, MELISSA! I don't know if I can convey my feelings about this without sounding negative about my shape, so bear with me here. I don't actually hate myself or my dress size. Of course I'd be healthier and live longer if I lost 80 pounds or so, but I don't hate myself.

I do hate that it's hard to find plus-sized knitting patterns. I'm a size 2X-3X, not the biggest woman in North America by any stretch of the imagination, but plenty large. You'd think more knitwear designers would recognize that by doing a little more math, they'd be able to sell more patterns!

Of course I could size up the patterns myself, but it's just kind of insulting to give your money to someone who implicitily doesn't want it. So Melissa Leapman, THANK YOU! I bought your book because the patterns come in my size! THANK YOU, MELISSA!

Heidi Liked Them!

2007-01-04T15:31:00.000-07:00

And check it out--they fit her perfectly.

These are Susan's Moc Croc Socks in koigu ppppmmmm or whatever the initials are. I did them on a size 3 needle, which looked best to my eye. I really liked them, but when my sister tried them on I realized I should have made them longer.

Heidi likes them, though. I think she was pleased to get some handknit socks in her Christmas stocking. She expected them to be scratchy, and was pleased at their softness. And she loved the color!

The pic makes them look like they're uneven legnths, but they really match. Really, they do!

Blame it on the despair

2007-01-03T08:40:00.000-07:00

The despair of missing Stitch n Bitch, that is. In yesterday's post, I forgot to link to Jacquie's list of her Costco Top Ten.

Curses! Foiled Again!

2007-01-02T18:47:00.001-07:00

Rats! I was all set to go knitting tonight, and my son breaks out with a rash of atypical tiredness. He's pretty clearly getting sick, so I'll be staying in tonight. Sorry to miss you, grrls!

Good thing I made it to Costco today! Here is my top 10 favorite items from Costco. Note the happy absence of diapers and wipes!

1) The big red case of boxes of chocolate milk. With these on hand, I'm the hippest playdate hostess, according to the preschool set.
2) Tillamook cheddar, presliced. Yes, I'm a lazy Mommy!
3) Sharp Tillamook cheddar in the brick. Taste of the Northwest!
4) The big jug of real mayple syrup, the kind directly from trees. Yumm. It's expensive, but I've argured with my DH that a jug lasts around six months, and what's $17 over six months. This led to him labeling the jug 'o syrup with the date purchased, charming behavior. He's right; it's gone in about 5 months, not 6.
5) Two pack of Orowheat 100% whole wheat bread. This and the cheese, and I can always make a lunch the kid will eat.
6) Huge box of Dare cracker boxes. Again, I'm the preschool hostess with the mostest!
7) Case of small containers of applesauce.
8) Case of nasty canned peaches and nasty canned oranges. 7 & 8 I never eat, but dramatically increase the fruit intake of male family members.
9) Big box of organic salad weeds.
10) Case of organic free range chicken broth. I make a lot of soup!
11) Case of Muir Glenn canned diced tomatoes. Again, I make a lot of soup.
12) Bag of dried cherries. Great in salad dressings and directly from the bag. OK, they do have a slight oily taste, but otherwise, yumm.

Six Weird Things About Me

2006-12-20T16:02:00.000-07:00

Got tagged for the Weird Things Meme. Here you go, in no particular order:

1) I have extremely furry eyebrows. They're like an inch wide, unwaxed.
2) Because I have sensitive skin and usually get a rash, I occasionally let my eyebrows grow in all the way. This is an extreme fashion faux pas, but there you go.
3) I used to read a book a day.
4) I bit my nails from the time I was a baby until I was 7 months pregnant, when they were growing so fast they outpaced my disgusting habit. I've had decent nails for four years now, a birthday present from my son.
5) I am an extremely nervous passenger in the car.
6) My toes split apart like ancient Egyptian statuary. Very handy for wearing flip-flops!

I tag no one. Take it if you want it!

Peds Go To Tucson

2006-12-14T09:11:00.000-07:00

Peds 2.0! Here's the second pair, made with the rest of the Cascade Fixation. Cute, no? I gave them to my sister in Tucson when I visited this weekend.

My sis has slightly smaller feet than I, and I had slightly less yarn than the first pair, so I made them slightly smaller, casting on 60 st and making them shorter. She said they were very comfortable.

Also, they're featuring properly kitchnered toes!

Here They Are!

2006-11-28T09:02:00.000-07:00

And both fingerless gloves are finished! Well, finished except I haven't blocked them. I stayed up until 1 am the night before last knitting the fingers on the second glove and weaving all the millions of ends in.

Had to darn up a lot of bad joins between the fingers. I didn't really figure out where I should have been picking up until the last finger.

I have to admit they're kind of sloppy in that respect, but what the heck; they're designed for getting sawdusty in the workshop. And I was able to darn well enough that they're still comfortable--no bulky spots between the fingers. So I count this as a successful project.

Ooops!

2006-11-26T10:55:00.000-07:00

Some of my knitting mistakes are caused by my lack of skill, and are part of the learning process. For example, a couple of areas between the fingers are loose and will need to be darned. I tried to keep everything tight and pretty, but in one place I picked up to cover the join in a funky way and didn't see it in time. I can learn not to do that.

Some of my knitting mistakes are just plain bonehead errors. Yep, I knit the tail of lefty to the middle finger of righty. How do you learn not to be stupid?

Everything's Either a Cat Toy or a Cat Bed

2006-11-25T10:09:00.000-07:00

Another of the kitten. He seems to split his time between being naughty, being sweet, and being asleep. Here he is combining the three, purring, drowsy, and about to rack out on top of my son's current favorite stuffed animal.

Ta-Da!

2006-11-25T09:52:00.000-07:00

The "ta-da" I'm referring to is getting the picture up, not the gloves. The gloves have stagnated a little, but I'm very excited that I can post pictures again! The problem was with the wireless router, and my darling man fixed it! Yea!

I haven't actually worked on his gloves much this week. I slipped all the stitches to another piece of waste yarn, and knit the second one up to a couple of rows of increases for the thumb gusset. I figured the fingers will be the hard part, so I'll do them at the same time. I messed up an increase row on the second glove on Monday night, put them down, went to bed, and decided to knit a sock on Tuesday. Messed that up at Stitch n Bitch, came home, fixed the heel, and finished that Thursday night. I knit nothing last night, spent the evening wrapping presents instead. We've got a couple of birthdays in the family, and I wrapped some Christmas stuff while I was at it.

So this is a boring, outdated post, but IT HAS A PICTURE!

I Have Kitchenered!

2006-11-22T22:07:00.000-07:00

I DID IT!

I have taken my formerly s*$%%@ finishing work to the next level! Moc Crocs are KITCHENERED!

Sorry, still no photo, but this time it's because I can't wait even the five minutes it would take to snap a photo and, God and Google willing, upload the thing. I knew you'd want to know right away! I have kitchenered!

"Surprise!"

2006-11-20T14:30:00.000-07:00

"Surprise", there's no picture!

I have been trying to upload a picture of Fingerless Glove #1 for 24 hours now, and I quit. I need to find a better way to handle the pictures, but I don't really want to learn anything new that's not related to knitting... Isn't that lame? It's uberlame, I know it. I have to overcome this!

The fingerless gloves were originally supposed to be a surprise Christmas gift for my husband, but he surprised me by asking me to make him a pair. It's actually better this way, although I'm down a gift, because he can try them on.

They are my first gloves, and they're going well. I'm using this worsted weight 50/50 wool/alpaca I got at Stitches West from Webs last year. I had the ball band out, but I can't reach it as Silver's in the way.

Speaking of Silver, our new kitty's doing really well. He's very friendly, playful, and lovey, an ideal kitty for a family with kids and lots of child guests. He's actually perched on my shoulder right now, purring in my ear and giving me a backache. Sweetie! Lance is dealing with the interloper by pretending he doesn't exist, and eating as much kitten chow as he can sneak.

Silver

2006-11-17T13:29:00.000-07:00

Here's Silver, the new baby at our place. He's ORANGE, the best possible color for cats! We imported him from California, if you can believe it. A friend's involved in kitten rescue. How could we say "no" to that face? Plus, he's orange!

Moc Crocs Rock!

2006-11-16T19:33:00.000-07:00

I'm very pleased with these Moc Croc Socks! After my Peds were so successful and fun, I decided I would just quit fussing about what to do with this pretty koigu and cast on already. They've been really fun to knit, and I will miss them when I've finished.

I'm trying to decide if I'll kitchener the toe. , which is why you see Lefty's eight remaining stitches on a holder. Righty needs to have her toe decreases finished as well.

The kitten is coming tonight! I'm so excited. I hope he isn't the yarn-eating type.

Lookit!

2006-11-10T21:26:00.000-07:00

Thank you, Cindy, for the fabulous birthday present!

That's cashmere, grrlfriends. Can you believe it? It's amazing hand-dyed cashmere from a small farm in the Gunnison Valley, pretty blues and greens. I absolutely gasped when I opened the box.

This is my first cashmere, and it's so incredibly soft, beautiful, amazing, and just my favorite colors! It will be a lovely scarf when I can work up the nerve to knit it.

She also gave me the beautiful needles you see, size 18. They have nice, sharp points, are beautifully polished, and have adorable hand painted ends. Easily the prettiest needles I own.

Cindy also wrote a beautiful note thanking me for teaching her to knit, which might be the best part of the present. Miss you, Cindy! Keep knitting!

Scientific Sock Data

2006-11-09T12:00:00.000-07:00

Since it looked as if I had an unexpectedly large amount of yarn left over, I asked my man to weigh the completed Fixation peds and the leftover balls of yarn on the mass balance at his lab. I knew he'd do it; practically the first thing he did after we got married was weigh his wedding band down to the thousandth of a gram. I know, he's adorable!

He "weighed" them on a Mettler Mass Balance, accurate to the 10,000th of a gram, and not dependant on STP for accuracy. I asked him specifically about STP, because Susan mentioned that yarn was weighed at the temperature and pressure wherever the mill is, and we're at very high altitude here in Salt Lake City. Good news, fellow nerds: apparently if you use a mass balance, STP is irrelevant. So I know, down to the 10,000th of a gram (or 100 micrograms, if you prefer) how much yarn I have.

You say you can't wait? Well, I have 24.9697 grams of ball A, and 25.8403 grams of ball B, for a total of 50.8100 grams remaining. The peds themselves weigh 26.5907 g and 25.0154 g, total of 51.6061. So that's almost enough to make another pair of the same size, and certainly enough to make a pair of child's socks, or a pair of peds for someone with short, skinny feet.

By the way, this means I started out with more than 50g per ball. But I don't fault Cascade Yarns for their generosity. Maybe they didn't have a Mettler Mass Balance.

My Cat Is Also Handsome

2006-11-06T12:13:00.000-07:00

Here's our boy, looking like a little bun in his new cat bed. He's getting old; we got Lance a week before we got married, 13 years ago.

We're expecting a new kitty, though, an orange baby. My son's already named him Silver. It's a confluence of Cat Dreams: I want another orange cat, my son wants a cat named Silver, and my husband wants a kitty so small he can hold it in his two cupped hands. So we're all eagerly awaiting the new arrival!

In knitting news, my man took the finished Fixation Peds to the lab today to weigh them on the mass balance, along with the two balls of remaining yarn. It will be interesting to see how much yarn they took, and how much remains, and whether or not the totals add up to 100g. Well, interesting to me, anyway...

One Down!

2006-11-05T21:54:00.000-07:00

One's done! And it fits me, so that's settled. I'm keeping them.

I was teaching a friend to knit this weekend, and a comment she made caused me to think about the charm of making everyday, useful objects.

I don't have any idea how these Fixation socks will wear, or if I'll like them long-term, or if they'll fit as well beyond the first wash, but I can say that I like them today. Today, I'm satisfied with my work. And I like that.

Sudden Change of Direction

2006-11-04T15:51:00.000-07:00

Last night around ten, I was feeling tired and unwilling to think the Arrowhead project through, so I started a soap sock using the Fixation I blogged about earlier this week. It became clear pretty quickly that Fixation really wants to be socks, not soap socks. I must bow to the will of the yarn, O Sisters of the Skein! I ripped out the false start, ran to the computer, printed out the perfect pattern, and completed the gusset before finally going to bed, tired but happy.

So here we are: I'm making Teri's "Not Pedestrian" peds, and so far, they are fabulous! This is a very clearly written pattern, very fun and easy.

The socks may look huge, but so far, they seem to fit me. And if they're big and very stretchy, I know someone they'd fit perfectly. If they fit me, fantastic, because I love them. They are flawless and perfect, (so far, anyway) and I adore them!

Of course it's completely tempting fate to cast on for a project you only own half the yarn to complete, but the Knitting Gods indeed smile on me today--I found another skein.

Yes, hubris sets you up to be cosmically smacked down, but for now, I'm deliriously happy with this quick little project.

I'm such a ficle knitter...

Getting My Swatch On

2006-11-03T12:25:00.000-07:00

I've been working on my Arrowhead Lace project. The pink worsted-weight yarn in the middle was to figure out the lace pattern. Would you believe I had to resort to doing only one pattern repeat at a time to get it straight? I added another after the first five or six inches, then decided I had it figured out enough to move on.

Next, I decided to try out my plan for the pattern in the brown yarn, some Silky Wool eventually destined to be a Branching Out scarf. You may remember that two skeins of Silky Wool in that blue-green color will eventually become my Arrowhead Swap Scarf.

My idea is, since the pattern's very linear, to try and do a bias knit scarf with a lace pattern running on the bias along the scarf. I added a vertical eyelet row along the edge. When the row of lace travels to the end of the scarf, it sort of blends into the eyelet row. I like it.

I've learned some things:

#1: When the pattern says "repeat of X plus 1", this means "plus one per row" not "plus one per repeat". Can you believe this was confusing me? Because "plus one per repeat" is the exact same as "plus one per row", so it couldn't be that. Duh. This insight is sort of irrelevant to the project, as there will be only one repeat per row, but was vital to the pink swatch. And, you know, to actually learning to knit lace.

#2: I really need to use a row counter or tally marks or something. I don't seem to be smart enough to either remember I'm on row 2, or figure it out from reading my knitting correctly. There are some pretty glaring lace errors on the brown swatch. And Little Arrowhead's a four row repeat, and two of those rows are resting rows. So my brain's not as big as I thought it was. But fortunately, I have several row counters!

#3: For me, increasing and decreasing for the bias on the wrong side row (rows 1 and 3 of Little Arrowhead) was much, much easier than doing it on the right side row along with the lace. I never forgot a decrease.

I still need to figure out how wide I should make this to a) use all the yarn, b) not run out of yarn, while c) producing a nice wide scarf with a good rythm.

This is fun!

Problem Solved!

2006-10-29T16:19:00.000-07:00

And how did I solve this (imaginary) problem? By buying more yarn, of course!

I now have a skein of Cascade Fixation in color # 9939, which I'm going to knit more soap socks with. I generally hate cotton yarn, and am hoping the springy elasticized Fixation will be fun to knit with. We'll see if I enjoy this, or if I bid adieu to my tentative plan of knitting more soap socks. Or maybe I'll retool the pattern for DK weight yarn and use Cotton Fleece. I love Cotton Fleece. Bonus: I heard a rumor that it's been redone sometime in the last year to make it less splitty!

I also have two skeins of Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool in an amazing aqua -green color I'm going to use for the Swap. Pretty! Color #09, for those of you interested. I think it's too green for Margene, but chances are she'll pick someone else's bag, right? I am getting very excited to move beyond the swatch phase of this project!

Yes, there should be pictures. But I'm too disorganized to find the camera...

Ever Get Distracted?

2006-10-29T09:15:00.001-07:00

I'm sort of in knitting limbo over here. I still haven't matched my stash yarn with socks I want to knit, my man's sweater is in boring-sleeve limbo, I finished the project I was having fun with, am bored with the baby hat Iwant to make to go with it, already finished the soap sock and...

So I'm swatching for the Arrowhead/Little Arrowhead Lace Swap. I mastered the pattern last night, and am now thinking about how I want to integrate it into a project, and trying out different things. I am going to have to plan carefully to make a usable object...

Need the backstory on the Arrowhead project? Well, the Utah Grrls are doing a little swap for our anniversary in January. All members who want to participate knit a small project using Arrowhead or Little Arrowhead lace, $10-$15 in materials, then bag them in brown paper. We'll trade, blind, in January. We were inspired by the staff project in Interweave last summer. I love swapping and am excited about this!

Although I like to switch projects around until I find something I'm excited about, I really need to get back to the sweater so poor DH can wear it. It's getting ever colder here in Utah. Last week, it snowed. Personally, I find snow before Halloween a little excessive...But it's gone now.

Just So You Know I Do, Sometimes, Actually KNIT:

2006-10-17T07:48:00.000-07:00

Finished the reversible cable scarf. I'm very happy with it. Check it out: I used 3 skeins of Classic Elite Lush in color 4420, which is fairly accurately rendered, on my computer at least. The yarn is in fact fairly lush, half angora bunny, half wool. The pattern is an adaptation of the Reversible Cable Scarf in Pam Allen's Scarf Style. I couldn't find the book, just the notes I had from the scarf I made last year, and I wanted seed stitch to set the cable off, so I sort of rewrote the pattern from my crummy notes. It's still entirely reversible, but since there are three sections of 2X2 ribbing on each side, it's a little asymmetrical as you see.

I'm not sure what to do with it now, but it does need some kind of blocking-type help. Wet and reshape, or lightly steam it? I don't want to mash down the fluffy bunny fibers. Also, is it in need of fringe?

It will make a nice gift for my cousin; should look good with her dark, pretty hair.

Been Down To The Basement...Finally

2006-10-14T20:54:00.000-07:00

I finally had the courage to open each of the four boxes of knitting books, leftover yarn, and UFOs I inherited from my aunt when we lost her to cancer a year and a half ago.

My Aunt Nancy, my mother's favorite sister, was the person I turned to when my Mom died when I was 14. I loved her very much.

She was also a knitter. I was so moved when my uncle offered me her knitting supplies. It was hard to pack them up, and the boxes of books and bits of yarn were somehow too daunting to open until this week. Suddenly, this evening, it was possible. I found some great memories. Check out the pamphlet on top: It was one of the oldest things in the box, and I'm positive she kept it because she knit that sampler afghan. I haven't seen the afghan in years; it pretty much got redecorated out of Aunt Nancy's family room. I thought there there were three colors of brown, brown, and gold, but according to the penciled notes by each square, there may have only been two: gold-brown and brown-gold. Every square in the book is labeled, in pencil, one or the other. I think she made the thing of sport weight yarn, DK at the heaviest. Some how this is hilarious and adorable to me, a "lasting record of your knitting skill" in brown-gold and gold-brown.

The other book has to be one of the last she bought. It was mail-ordered from her favorite shop, Woodland Woolworks in Carlton, Oregon. You can perhaps see the invoice sticking out; it's dated January 2004, about ten months before she got sick. We never talked about this book--we mostly talked about my knitting, not hers--but she loved to knit Arans. While I'm amused by the "Knitting Primer", this one just makes me sad. I don't think she ever had time to use it. In a better world, there would be at least one pattern neatly marked with tally marks, sweater size circled.

Of course we'll never have enough time to knit all the things we plan to, and of course I'm no exception. I hope that when my son, or my niece, or my future daughter-in-law comes to pack up my knitting supplies, there's someone in the family who will use my needles.

Qiviut

2006-10-13T14:03:00.000-07:00

Sorry for being unclear! Qiviut's the undercoat of the musk ox. Musk oxen aren't shorn to get at it; instead, they herd the musk ox into a pen just a little bigger that the animal, then someone combs the musk ox with, I swear to you, a cake cutter of the same type used for Afro hairstyles. I have personally seen this done at the Musk Ox Farm in Palmer, Alaska.

The animals are prehistoric-looking. From pictures, they look enormous, but really they're skinny and short, with a big plate of horn on their long, funky heads. In the wild, the horn flips up like Mary Tyler Moore's 60's hairdo. I was told that the fine folks at the Musk Ox Farm tried removing the entire horn plate to reduce injuries, but the silly things kept bashing into each other anyway and concussions ensued. Now, they just cut the tips off so no one gets gored, and the rams are free to bash away. We saw one attack a fence post several--very amusing.

I have a soft spot for musk ox; the Farm was one of my first dates with my husband, way back when we were courtin'. And we've been married 13 years this week.

The wool's incredibly soft and warm. Well, it comes off an animal adapted to live around the Arctic Circle, so it would need to be. It's amazing stuff.

Things I'll Never Be Able To Make

2006-10-13T12:17:00.000-07:00

Well, one thing, really. Check this out:

That, my friends, is an entire sweater made from qiviut, blended with some silk and some other kind of wool. It belongs to my very fortunate friend Gary, who bought it in Lake Louise, Canada earlier this fall. I've never seen it in person, so I don't know exactly what the fiber mix is, or whether it's hand or machine knit. Gar says it's "ridiculously warm", so warm he had to take it off pretty quickly, and it's softer than his silk suit. Which I don't doubt for a minute.

Maybe, someday, I'll buy a $60 skein of qiviut and make a hat or neck warmer or something, but I know I can never knit something like this. Still, it makes me happy just to know that such a thing does exist, and that a friend owns one. I hope it was handknit, and that the knitter enjoyed every second of working with it.

My Bioette

2006-10-09T07:56:00.000-07:00

I haven't made much knitting progress this week. Friday, at a friend's house, I wove in like a million ends on the Mason-Dixon baby kimono. I still have to sew it together and add ties, then I'll post a picture of the FO. If that day ever comes, you'll have to tell me if you think it's too cropped. You may remember that I did have to rip back about an inch when I ran out of yarn. Well, newborns don't like stuff to cover their tender belly buttons, right?

I'm also working on a new scarf; it's a modification of the reversible cable one from Scarf Style.

In the mean time, here's a mini-bio I wrote for another purpose:

The story of my life in nine sentences:

I was born in Portland, Oregon, and moved to Anchorage, Alaska in junior high. We grew up camping and hiking and just staring up admiring all the mountains. In my early twenties, while living in Arizona, I found myself homesick and so accepted a summer job selling postcards in Denali National Park. I met my husband in a laundry trailer there. He was adorable, sitting up on a dryer in his brand new Gore-Tex jacket and early-90’s long hair, explaining to his friends how soap works. We married two years later, in 1993, and moved to Seattle, where my Mr. went to grad school in chemical engineering and I sold books. We loved it there, but his new job took us to the Bay Area in 1998. I left the glamorous world of retail management, finished my long-delayed undergrad degree, and had our son. My man accepted a transfer to Utah last summer, and we happily escaped California for a place where life is less frenzied and I can look up at the mountains every day.

Must Make Socks NOW!

2006-09-25T11:18:00.000-07:00

I've been having the "sock feeling" for a week or so now. It's sock-wearin' weather here, and I've only got three pairs of handmade socks, so obviously I need more more more.

What do you all think of the Snicket Socks from MagKnits? I have some very pretty green Opal sock yarn which I think should work. The pattern offers small, medium, large and x-l, with medium being a US 7. I am thinking since my feet are on the fat side and measure a 7.5, I'll make the large, but I'm also considering making the XL width and the large legnth. Would this work, do you think?

Am also planning the fabulous Lombard Street, but they'll be a gift for a family member with narrow feet. I adore the pattern.

Back in Clap(otis)

2006-09-16T08:44:00.000-07:00

Lordy, it's cold here! The poor kitty doesn't know what to do--he's gone in and out like forty times this morning, checking to see if the weather's changed. He's hating it, but I'm LOVING IT! Guess what I wore to dinner last night? Long pants, a jacket, and: my Clapotis! I made it last fall, very fun knit. The yarn's just Cascade Quatro, and it took about two and a half skeins. I actually bought the yarn to felt something, but the test swatch I felted was Very Very Ugly. I decided I liked the yarn best when it was unknit. Next best thing: dropped stitches!

I was kind of shy about knitting it--I figured I was the last person on the planet to knit one. I was wrong: as it turns out, I know at least three people personally who've made theirs since. I decided to can my self-absorbed shyness about being "late to the party", as Laurie put it, and just enjoy the scarf. And it was fun to make.

It's HUGE, by the way. Almost 16" wide and 70" long. And wonderfully warm!

So I'm a Freakish Touron

2006-09-13T22:11:00.000-07:00

Here's my trekking sock, posed on the running board of a Red Bus. Isn't it awesome? The sock, I mean, although the busses are pretty cool. I also had the dubious honor of being "unique"--the tour bus driver had never seen anyone photograph her feet in handmade socks for her blog before. "That's a new one", he said. And believe me, I've worked a summer job or two in a national park, and I know he didn't mean that as a compliment. He was, however, very complimentary about my knitting, so all is forgiven.

And now I'm a freakish touron--obviously the answer is that MORE KNITTERS NEED TO VISIT GLACIER NATIONAL PARK! Book next year's trip soon, grrlfriends!

It's the Utahraptor!

2006-08-28T17:39:00.000-07:00

And I'm not kidding about the name! Isn't that the coolest?
Did I mention I love Utah?

This pic was taken at the College of Eastern Utah Prehistoric Museum, in Price, UT. The museum was fun for the kid (he's 3 1/2, and so must love dinos) and for the adults. Since having the kid, I can no longer follow my previous museum-going practice of reading every scrap of text on every exhibit, but with three adults along for the trip, I did get to read most of them. My favorite factiod? The museum was started in the 60s by a bunch of local guys who were taking a night class from a professor they really liked at the local college. They wanted to keep at least some of the stuff dug up at the nearby Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry in town, and so they did. It's a fairly impressive collection, especially for such a small community. Groovy, no? All I produced by taking night classes is a college degree. Well, two if you count the AA :-)

My second-favorite factoid: Dinosaur tracks are usually found on the ceilings of tunnels in coal mines. It's true--I've seen the pictures!

La Cage Aux Needlepoint Canvas

2006-08-22T16:07:00.000-07:00

Here's a shot of the needlepoint canvas "cage". You can sort of see that the sides are distorted where I folded it inwards and let the bag dry with the top edge under the fridge pack 'o Diet Cherry Coke. Am pretty sure the thing to do is disassemble the Cage, cover it with fabric, reassemble, then sew the whole thing into the bag. Somehow.

Bag It!

2006-08-22T15:49:00.000-07:00

Here's one of the several other things I've been working on: It's a small felted bag. Am I the only one whacky enough to do a seed stitch bottom on a felted bag? Besides Debbie Bliss, I mean.

The yarn? Two skeins of Knit Picks Wool O' The Andes in some kind of chocolate brown color. Usually I double strand stuff for felting, but this time I kept it single because I'm planning on lining the beauty. Since it's obviously time for my luck to change, I had exactly the right amount of yarn for the bag I wanted! Fortune favoring the foolish, eh?

It felted up to a very cool texture, kind of bumpy in the manner of a boiled wool jacket I used to have. Also, I made a sort of a wee cage thing out of needlepoint canvas to stretch the thing out on. I folded the sides in and stuck the top under one of those fridge packs of soda--it dried quite evenly. I'm going to use the same wee cage, covered in georgous fabric, to line the thing, and I've got some handles from JoAnne fabrics all set to be sewn on. Cross your fingers!