Sonnet 130

I've gone square!

2009-01-28T20:11:00.002-05:00

I've still been sewing, despite having shown little for it. In fact, back in October, I decided perhaps I'd even be a quilter. So, I joined up the local block of the month club and gave it a shot. I figured for $20 I'd get my fabrics, patterns, and 13 hours of instruction (1 a month to teach the block + 1 at the end to teach finishing), and if I didn't care for it, I'd only be out $20. Well, I do care for it... It's yet another dangerous addiction.

And now, without further ado, I present: November, December, and January. The theme, by the way, is stars and batiks.

2009-01-26T20:24:00.001-05:00

A random lady at Hobby Lobby offered to give me a pre-cleaned fleece.

You know I said yes...

1-2-3-4...Four Pretty Presents

2008-12-24T20:27:00.003-05:00

Four pretty presents... All knitted, felted, blocked, and wrapped by 11:00 this morning. I beat my own record by 12 hours. Now if I could only count Sasha's as done instead of excused...

Want to take a peak?
Details are on my Ravelry page.

Merry Christmas everyone!

How to Use Stash in a Flash

2008-12-04T20:42:00.004-05:00

It seems that knitting six strands at a time works well for me. Here's my papaw's slippers all done and on schedule. Actually, I'm a smidge ahead... they are felting as I write. Turns out my Saturday is a bit busier than I thought.

These are knitted with six strands of Brown Sheep Nature Spun Sport held together to achieve gauge. I had seven balls in the mallard colorway stashed and thought it'd work well. I figured that it should be plenty of yardage, but used 6+ balls for the inner sole and upper. Since I still needed to finish the outer sole, I picked up a ball of hunter green Cascade 220 and held this double with one strand of Nature Spun to make the colors blend better. It looks pretty good in person. My leftovers are also shown above, and the book is about 8.5" by 11" for scale.

I also attempted to get a ball of smooth, worsted weight navy wool for my dad's hat (has to be navy to go with his work uniform). Candice didn't have any (seriously... no smooth navy worsted weight of any kind), so I had a good excuse to visit Andra's (my favorite, but a bit out of my way). It's balled up and ready to go... destined to become the Caramel Cable Hat by Iris Wilde.

24 Days

2008-12-01T19:03:00.003-05:00

Yes, 24 days remain until Christmas. I got to thinking about last Christmas the other day and realized that I had finished my dad's socks on Christmas Eve after everyone had gone to bed. I cannot do that this year, but it seems as though I need all that time.

I have a Swallowtail shawl nearly finished for my mamaw. It's been done since July and now only needs to be blocked. I can check that one off the list. Its a beauty, made of Malabrigo Lace in burgundy, but I don't think the others would be happy if it were the only one. I have a second gift about a third finished, I'd comment more, but since its for Sasha, I can't. She has though given me permission to finish it for after Christmas. So, another one not to stress over.

Then, there are three more to be made. The most stressful is the shawl I've started on for mom. You can see it partially finished in the photo above. It was a wonderful afternoon to work on it. My room was nice and neat, and, since you likely can't tell, I was able to open my blinds and watch the most beautiful snow all afternoon. I finished one more pattern repeat. This would be awesome progress, except that the progress calculator says I'm now a whole six percent done. Ugh! I have a new pair of slippers to make my papaw. He told everyone about his slippers last year and probably has nearly worn them out. I'm using the felted clogs pattern from Fiber Trends again this year, so it isn't too stressful, but it is a very high priority. I couldn't possibly disappoint him by not having a pair under the tree. Lastly is my dad's gift. I'd been debating whether his father of the bride suit was a sufficient gift, but this afternoon decided that he definitely needs a handknit as well. So later this week, I'm off to the yarn store for a ball of navy 220 to make a hat.

As you can tell, even without final exams and family get togethers, I'm going to be busy busy. Here's my game plan, so lets see how well I can stick to it.

Mamaw's shawl needs blocked. My Matthew will help me with that, and I'm thinking we'll do it this coming Sunday. The slippers need felted and time to dry (I gave them to him wet last year!), so I need to finish them soon. I aim to finish the first slipper tomorrow and the second on Thursday. I'll felt them probably Saturday morning. Dad's hat will be my destress project during exams, so that's next week. A few rows a day will add up to pretty quick progress on it. I aim to finish it by the 14th. It'll be my car knitting when I go dress shopping (dress shopping!) with mom and mamaw on the 13th. This leaves me intermittent time during the next two weeks and about eight days uninterrupted to work on mom's shawl. I can remove a few repeats to expedite the process if I have to. It's silk and won't need a hard blocking, so, if I can pin and spray by the 23rd, I'm golden.

Wish me luck!

"That's Why Its Called a Drop Spindle"

2008-11-05T22:18:00.001-05:00

I have been trying my darnedest to learn to spin for nearly two years now. The idea is simple... spread out some fiber so that the bits are going in generally the same direction and then twist them up so that they stay together. People have done this for centuries if not millennia on everything from just their leg to a fancy spinning machine (not to be confused with pretty antique wheels, but they've used them too). I passed Organic Chemistry (and on the first try) and surely spinning ought not be any more difficult.

Well, my friends, it isn't. In fact, I've come to the conclusion that it's not only simple, but its also very enjoyable. Turns out that all this time, I've been trying to be too in control. My drafting was sloppy and made thick, nasty messes when I got it to spin because I wanted to grip the fiber instead of letting it slide through my hands. The few yards I've managed in the last months is far over spun from trying to work right at the hook on my CD spindle. But now, now I understand. PetuniaLu showed me. You actually spin about 6-8 inches above the hook, if not more. This allows the spindle to maintain a nice, even spin and room for this spin to work its way into the newly drafted fiber. It was rough starting out because this was against my scientific nature... I should have complete control. But after a few drops and the encouraging words of both PetuniaLu and Whorling Tides, who reminded me it is a drop spindle after all, I had new found hope that I could make yarn. And make yarn I have.

Above is the second part of an 8 oz bag of Ready Spin that I purchased when I first decided to learn. (Anyone else notice that anything pink that I photograph has a shine?) Below is the product of a week and a half of my new hobby on the very best bobbin money can buy-the paper towel roll. My dad spoils me... he's already given me three :D It is about 3.5-4 oz of a decently (I think) evenly spun fingering weight. But now I have a dilemma. I wanted to ply the purple and pink together, and then hopefully do some sort of scarf, but I can already tell that I have about 1/3 more purple. So, come out of lurking and tell me... Should I ply it together anyway and ply the leftover purple to itself or should I ply them each with themselves and do a smaller, mosaic stitch neck warmer?

SAFF Haul 2008

2008-10-29T22:51:00.004-04:00

YARN

From upper left: Aziza from Just Our Yarn: a nice fingering weight tencel that is a bit darker in person and should make a lovely thank you wedding gift for my mom as it is very near one of our colors (it looks much bluer here, its really more teal), Random Camel/Wool blend: a lace-fingering weight yarn that was 600 yards to the $5 ball (I've never used camel, so I couldn't resist), 1 ball each of Grape and Berry Yarnsmiths Knight: a DK cashmere/merino blend that I think may become a Noro Striped Scarf (it's stripier in person), and Palana: a handpaint sock yarn in a colorway that ranges from light blue to dark and into purple. The last three are all from Carriage House Woolens.

Other Happy

Also from upper left: There were lots of alpaca this year. I'd say 2-3 times what they had last year. Most were super cute little ones like these. I have a new spindle too. I broke the CD spindle I got at my class ages ago and have another I never use because it is different. This beauty is from Whorling Tides and came with some fiber to start. Her customer service is excellent as she let me swap out what was in the starter kit for this wool/bamboo braid (I think she said the color was Cinnamon, though it is more pink) at no extra cost. Her booth mate, Petunia Lu had some tempting naturally dyed fibers, but I was already worried about having more fiber than I could use, so I'll be heading to her ETSY shop for a navy wool braid that caught my eye once I get through all my current fiber. She was super helpful and showed me what I had been doing wrong, so now I officially spin! Next is "turquoise green" (I say green, the color here is pretty accurate) alpaca/silk fiber that came from The Yarn Barn. I'm worried that it and the bamboo blend may be slick, so I'm working with 100%wool at the moment. And also, the leaves were pretty!

Wow! That's a Darn Cute Sock!

2008-10-23T22:24:00.005-04:00

AKA: What I was saying at 3:30 this afternoon.

Yeah, I know it has been awhile, but give me a break. I have ONLY been taking a full graduate level course load (and making As may I add... well, an A- in my one class so far, but the plus/minus system IS stupid and my midterm grades in the full semester classes are solid As), designing socks, working on stealth Christmas stuff, AND planning a wedding with my AMAZING Matthew David (mom says that wedding planning is sufficient premarital counseling... believe it or not, we haven't argued!) I'm not apologizing for my absence though. It is part of life, and I blog as I feel led and sometimes it makes it to the real blog and sometimes to the more regularly updated one in my head.

The lovely peek above is my sock pattern for Miss Babs. The yarn is nice, but I've had my doubts about the pattern for awhile. It just looks so funny all crumpled up. But... I am finally to the point where these are ready for the increases that make them knee socks, so I put them on this afternoon and was shocked by their cuteness. They really do not look like they came from my head... surely I'm not that good of a designer, but they did! I'll show them off when the design is finished, but for now, you just get teasers.

For those that I haven't told yet, the big day is August 8, 2009. I have a super fun countdown at the bottom of my blog that says we are a mere 289 days away. There is still so much to do, but we do have some of the biggies covered. Now, to find a photographer that doesn't want 2 months wages for 5 hours of work...

More later... sometime.... but for now, see how pretty campus is right now!!!

It's Shiny!

2008-07-18T10:15:00.000-04:00

So, this is now week old news, but I've been enjoying it too much to slow down and tell y'all. Last Friday, at lunch, Matthew David hit one knee and popped the question. And this beauty has been on my hand ever since.

How'd he do it, you ask? He took me to Barnes and Noble, where we first met, and handed me a slip of paper. On that slip was written a clue that was first in a series for a scavenger hunt. It led me to the table in the back, the exact location of our first meeting. That clue took me to DVDs to the first movie we saw together, 'Becoming Jane.' The DVD case had a clue leading me to the travel section to a book on our first big trip together, a day trip to Charlotte. On page 22 (the date of the trip)-23 (the date of our anniversary, 8-23) was a clue that took me over to CDs to find one with our song on it, "Everything" by Lifehouse. That clue led me to the parking lot outside of Cheddars where we had had our first hug, and that's where he did it.

I don't have any details of the wedding yet other than we're looking at August 09. We've spent the week vacationing in Louisville enjoying the change of status to engaged. I'll tell all about that later.

I Dyed!

2008-07-10T22:31:00.006-04:00

Good name for a return post, eh? So the first picture I have for you is some Tussah silk I dyed for my mom's Christmas gift with some help from Tara. She and I achived a perfect amethyst with only slight tonalities. And she has a super cute dog and some yellow-orange banana silk that y'all really ought to beg her to sell you. It looks just like the sunset.

And this beauty is a collaboration between me and Miss Babs that has been underway since the late Magknits was still in existance. Kerrie had approved my idea for another submission, and Miss Babs agreed to make my yarn in the color of my inspiration. A netmag closing and a picture of a girl's hair (seriously) later, and I now have a deal worked out for Miss Babs to publish and distribute the pattern and the perfect pink sock yarn. It's really much more complex than the picture shows. I just got the yarn, so the pattern may be awhile, but you should grab up some Sinderella sock yarn while you can. I have a feeling it won't take long to sell out!

I Must Be Domestic

2008-06-04T08:34:00.002-04:00

I just received a compliment from one of our secretaries for my suggestion to sew a little spot on the neckline of one of her dresses so it wouldn't gap and she wouldn't have to worry about pinning it. She said she was going to give it to Goodwill because it didn't fit right. I think this is common sense; she thought it was "such a novel idea."

I was complimented likewise in college by my RA. I had gotten bleach spots on one of my hand knits from working on it after washing my face with a wash containing benzoyl peroxide. It wasn't wool, so I fixed it by just soaking the whole thing in some diluted bleach water to get a pink top. It wasn't the purple I had meant for it to be, but it was wearable. She said she would have never thought of it and would have thrown it out.

Both of these ladies completed their compliment by saying it was good to see girls that could still be domestic. I guess, maybe, but I just come from a family that when the Osh Kosh overalls got too short for the youngest on the hand-me-down list, they were cut off to be shorts or made into a skirt with the aid of one of my papaw's bandanas for the oldest that still could fit them in the waist . Our favorite toys were sewing cards, especially those that became dresses for our paper dolls, and paper bags that were fashioned into robot and princess costumes for our latest theatrical production.

I understand that "these kids today" (why yes, sometimes I do sound like a grandma) play with high tech gadgety things and would be bored stiff in two minutes with the toys that entertained me for hours and taught me how to do basic hand-sewing repairs and the like, but I cannot understand how people who supposedly grew up with the same circumstances as me have this attitude of "everything is disposable so why should I know how to fix it?" Any thoughts?

So THAT'S What's Wrong with Our Society......

2008-05-20T14:37:00.004-04:00

1) Call Sam's Club.

2) Get automated answering thing.

3) "For information on the Nintendo Wii, please press 1."

4) SERIOUSLY!!!!

Seven Things About Me

2008-05-13T10:25:00.002-04:00

Yeah, I know.... bad blogger. This has been in the blog fodder queue for awhile, so let's get to it.

1) I actually own more pearls than I can count. I have an everyday necklace, and then at least six others plus at least three bracelets, five pair of earrings, a broach, a ring, and who knows what else. I cannot keep track. Interestingly, these are all real except for one necklace.

2) I don't really have a favorite color. I have favorite shades..... not red, but crimson, not orange, but dark spice, not green, but mallard and kelly to name a few. Purple is my default favorite color because I have the most favorite shades of it.

3) I have never been a big fan of "normal" stuffed animals. I just can't bring myself to get into bears and rabbits. Instead I have a gator named Bayou, a monkey named Moose, an elephant named Peanut, and a camel (a gift from MD) that simply got the name Camel because that one was a total surprise.

4) When I was young I had horrible breathing problems. I had two surgeries on my sinuses to correct a misshapen bone that directed mucous to my lungs and then suffered asthma bad enough that I could not attend summer camp like normal children. Instead I attended one called Camp Wezbegon, where a doctor was in attendance 24/7 and the counselors were trained to handle asthma attacks and severe allergic reactions.

5) I still haven't heard from Vanderbilt despite having spoken a few times with the program director who claims indecision. I'm used to it though. I asked a boy named Todd to go to the eighth grade dance with me. I never got an answer from him, and even when I ask now, he says he still hasn't decided.

6) I'm sorry to disappoint you Kate, but I do not normally have the southern drawl you imagine. As a consequence of my breathing problems, my speech did not properly develop and I had to take classes for this. Most of my homework was done with my mom who speaks Texan and my classes were with a northern lady. Most people can't detect any accent unless I say something with a long I sound. The word ice will tell on me every time. I don't think the lack of accent is due to how I heard the words while I was learning, but rather because I was made fun of horribly by my peers when I said something incorrectly. I do slip into a strong drawl when I'm feeling very comfortable with my surroundings.

7) I was accepted to the biomedical science program here at ETSU with a pretty good stipend and tuition paid. It wasn't my first choice, but after having taken some of the classes and getting to know the professors and making friends with those in my small class (six others), I decided that this was a pretty good fit for me. I'll be starting full time in the fall and have six credit hours going in with me.

So now I get to tag people..... It's been long enough since this was a popular meme that I think Kate, Kristina, Matthew David, and Sasha ought to do it, even if they already have.

Playing Catch Up

2008-03-06T11:26:00.002-05:00

Wow! I did not mean to be gone that long....... I know I say that almost every post, but seriously.

First, an update on my life. My papaw and aunt were both diagnosed with cancer, kidney and breast respectively. Both have come through their surgeries with little complication and have been given good prognoses (prognosi, prognosises?). My best friend eloped and moved to Seattle. I'm going through withdrawals. I've had a few "Eureka!" moments at work, and now I have my supervisor's confidence in writing my first "first-author" paper. I'm supposed to be drafting the introduction, but every time I think I understand something enough to explain it, I get confused. Matthew David and I celebrated six months together and are now happily working on seven. And I STILL don't know anything about graduate school. But I have successfully completed one of the core classes for the program here, and, word on the street has it that Mitch, the director of this program, was rather impressed with my application. I have my moments when I totally freak out about not knowing my future, but most of the time I'm at peace with it. I've prayed almost every day for a year and a half now that God would only open the door He wants me to go through, and after a recent update of my CV have decided that He probably has pretty good stuff in mind. So now we wait and see.....

On the crafting front, I've completed my Beret Gaufre and have only a sleeve and finishing left to complete Marta. I also decided that I am close enough to getting a place of my own that knitting a few items for it isn't such a bad idea. So I made a dishcloth while sitting at the hospital. It's a nice lilac color to match my dream kitchen, but will shortly be on it's way to Seattle. The latest update from the greatest Sasha Rintha is that she rather enjoys being a housewife. As soon as I complete another to match her dream kitchen, both will be in the mail. Then I can be assured that so long as she washes dishes, she must be thinking of me. As far as sewing goes, I spent 2.5 hours making a little drawstring bag for Sasha's birthday gift (sock yarn, the bag is for carrying socks-in-progress in..... and how in the world did that take 2.5 hours?). I also took in her pajama pants and have nearly completed the plaid skirt. I only have the hem to go. Can someone tell me if it is best to hem it based on measurement or by folding it along the same line in the plaid? I'm thinking that since the plaids are mostly straight and matched that the latter is better because, if I use the measuring tape and the stripes are a little off, they'll appear crooked.

Kate gave me the "You Make My Day" award. I'm not so great with keeping up with these sorts of things, but I award it to everyone in my side bar, even those who already have it. Seriously, I check those at least three times a day (I know there are subscription thingies, but that takes out the element of surprise) and get excited any time I see an update. Thank you Kate for thinking of my blog the same way!

And speaking of keeping up with those sorts of things, I was tagged for the "Seven Things" meme in JUNE. This post is already a bit long, but I'll try to get some FO pictures and post on that shortly. I finally have seven things that won't bore you to tears :)

A Work In Progress

2008-02-04T22:04:00.000-05:00

Every year on Groundhog's Day, I read about other holidays celebrated on that day. For some reason I find it hard to believe that a groundhog seeing, or not seeing, its shadow is worth celebrating. Especially when it can't help but see its shadow with all of the lights and cameras around. I like to read about Candlemas. Groundhog's Day originated from a verse that says, "If Candlemas Day is bright and clear, there'll be two winters this year." This year, however, the celebration of Imbolc caught my attention. The best I can gather, Imbolc is Celtic in origin, marks the halfway point between the winter solstice and spring equinox, and is a celebration in honor of the first signs of spring, specifically the first lactation of the ewes. It is a celebration of new beginnings.

I've thought about this a lot since the first of the year, and as much as I would like to believe in a chance to start fresh, a real new beginning, it isn't possible.... at least not with people. I would like to one day wake up and not suffer from the hurt of past relationships, to not be easily irritated by people that I work with, and to not take out all of my anger, pain, and sadness on those I love, but as much as I want it, it's not happening. I resign myself to being a work in progress. That's all. I just needed to announce that.

Now, would you like to see some of my works in progress? I'll show you what I can, and hope that those that know me in real life see that I too become more complete each day. First up, my current sewing project. I began this about three weeks ago, but haven't had much time to work on it- a basic A-line skirt made from a spare yard of plaid-print corduroy that was in my mom's stash.

The pattern is from the Built by Wendy book I mentioned a few posts ago. This view is the right side of the back seam. This is the one I'm most proud of..... I matched plaids! I've also installed my first zipper (any tips for the next?), sewn coordinating brown piping into the first side seam, and finished each seam as I worked it. The side seam is zig-zag stitched per Kristina's recommendation, and the back is flat-felled (flat-felledish?) It will be completed with a denim waist band outlined by brown pipng and maybe buttons a la the "Back to School Skirt" from the book. I didn't have enough fabric to make it on the bias and I've altered the waist darts, but so far those are the only changes.

This is my Beret Gaufre. I'm making it to match my Bainbridge scarf. So far the only mods are working the bottom band in garter instead of reverse stockinette (to match the ties on the scarf) and to work longer before the decreases. I've decided that I need more than four inches in rise for the beret to look right on me and this is backed up by Crazy Aunt Purl's timely research on the matter. The yarn is Noro Cash Iroha, and I'm getting gauge with a US size 5.

This is my Faux Russian. At first I was enamored by him. The pattern was interesting, but beautiful and it'd been so long since I'd had an unconquerable lace project. I thought at first that this would be the one that went smoothly, but it seems everytime I get into a lace project, life happens. Every row of this one is still enjoyable, but it requires lots of attention and so is slow go. The yarn is Merino Lace in a beautiful crimson, and at least on my screen, this picture is pretty accurate. As of today, I'm 66 rows, or about 2/3s, into the first repeat.

And finally, This is Marta. She's green, but only from everyone else's envy reflecting off. I've had this pattern in my mind as purple for a long time and in my library slightly longer. Then, the stars aligned and my supervisor got me a hefty Yarntiques gift card for Christmas and Candice got in some beautiful Malabrigo. The purple, burgundy, and blue were wonderful, but the emerald called to me. It said, "I'm the one. Take me home." So I did. There are already tons of modifications for this one and more in the works, so I'll report on them later.

Last year February was my finishing month, Finish It February, and I finished something like 11 projects. I have quite a few WIPs (though not near as many as last year), so I think I'm aiming for that again this year. Stay tuned.

Happy Imbolc Day!

2008-02-02T11:47:00.000-05:00

In celebration of Imbolc, more commonly known as the Feast of St. Brigid, and most commonly known as Groundhog's day, here is my contribution to the Third Annual Blogger's (Silent) Poetry Reading.

SHE walks in beauty, like the night

Of cloudless climes and starry skies;

And all that 's best of dark and bright

Meet in her aspect and her eyes:

Thus mellow'd to that tender light

Which heaven to gaudy day denies.

One shade the more, one ray the less,

Had half impair'd the nameless grace

Which waves in every raven tress,

Or softly lightens o'er her face;

Where thoughts serenely sweet express

How pure, how dear their dwelling-place.

And on that cheek, and o'er that brow,

So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,

The smiles that win, the tints that glow,

But tell of days in goodness spent,

A mind at peace with all below,

A heart whose love is innocent!

by: Lord Byron

May we all aim to be as such.

My BESTest Is ROCKin!

2008-01-23T14:00:00.000-05:00

It's All Kate's Fault.

2008-01-19T08:38:00.000-05:00

I've been considering doing the whole "Pass it on" thing for awhile, but it was Christmas. Who has time to make handmade goodies for near strangers when there is Christmas knitting to be done? Well, then Kate got involved. Her first two slots filled up quick, but her third was still available when I did my morning blog check. I thought that would be cool. If I joined in with Kate, not only would I get something awesome, I'd get something awesome from Australia. But I hesitated. It might be difficult to get three handmade items posted in the next year. By my afternoon blog check, I was convinced I could do it, but certain that all of Kate's slots would be filled. But then, when I checked, the one, the last one, was still there. Waiting for me. Something like destined for me. So here's how it works:

I will send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join this PIF exchange. I don’t know what that gift will be yet and you may not receive it tomorrow or next week, but you will receive it within 365 days, that is my promise! The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog.

The first three people who leave a comment saying they want to play are in. I have some ideas of what I want to make, but I would like to try to individualize my goodies for each recipient. International players are welcome. I do so enjoy taking an international parcel to the post office.

Then, because studies are already overwhelming a good bit of my knitting and sewing time, I haven't much in the way of progress pictures for you. I did, however, cast on for a Beret Gaufre; I think it will be a perfect match for my Bainbridge scarf. Anyway, today's picture is of my favorite mug in it's natural surroundings, my lab. The picture is also at the request of Kate; and now I request to see your favorite. Then, tell me about it. Mine was made on a snowy, spring break day when Sasha and I went to a "Paint Your Own" pottery place in town. It is, of course, my favorite because of the memories we made creating it.

And the first player is: Kati!

Converted

2008-01-10T10:14:00.000-05:00

All of the Christmas knitting was completed on time. Pictures can now be seen in the side bar under Finished in 2007. I've added pictures of everything I've finished but haven't blogged about, and you can catch up on those by seeing projects 29 through 33. I added those and said "Wow! 33 projects!" I can't believe I finished that many. I also finished the year with absolutely no UFOs. I was so proud of myself, and it felt wonderful to be able to begin the year wondering what to start next instead of what I should try to finish.

The boy gave wonderful Christmas gifts. Much better than the ex ever did. I think you will all approve. I got satin pj's, lavender bath goodies, chocolate, Cat Bordhi's new book, and an iPod Nano. The parents got me a sewing machine and a new camera among other goodies. Hopefully that means you'll see a lot more pictures (now that I don't need to borrow a camera to take them), but you'll also see my attempts at sewing. I've been converted to one of those..... those sewing people. Don't worry too much though. Despite the facts that I'm about to present to you my first FOs of the year and both are sewn, I'm still knitting. I cast on for the Faux Russian Stole on the 2nd, but haven't had a good chance to photograph it yet.

The first FO, the first sewing project I've ever completed on my own, is Sasha's Christmas gift. These are basic pajama pants made using a Simplicity New Look pattern that said both Easy and One Hour. I'll agree to the easy (as it was easy enough), but the One Hour is definitely contestable. They're a bit big, so soon I'll have a few adventures in alterations.

The fabric is Asian Umbrella and Kanji that I bought at Hancock Fabrics. Sadly, I keep referring to Hancock as the yarn store and how I only needed 1.5 yards of yarn. As I said, I'm still a knitter. Matthew David's parents generously gifted me a Visa gift card, and it was used to buy scissors when they were half price at Hancock. I got Gingher 7" Knife Edge Dressmaker Shears and 7.5" Pinking Shears. Finishing the insides was my favorite part. Here, take a peek.

Then I decided that my cute, new iPod needed a case. I started at ETSY and then decided I could make one. I consulted my copy of The Cute Book, and came up with this idea. I hand stitched my bird on with felt and embroidery floss and used the idea of a balloon to make a closure.

Her dress and the lining are done with a fat quarter also from Hancock. I was so pleased with my devotion to properly finishing everything. Hopefully this will carry over to my knitting.

I'm still awaiting word on this year's batch of grad school applications, but, in the mean time, I'm starting classes this coming Monday. I'm excited, but nervous as it's parts three and four of a four part course and I've not yet had parts one and two. In other stuff, next up for sewing is a skirt from the book Sew U, and the Faux Russian knitting will continue. I'm about 15% done based on the spreadsheet I made, and I hope to keep enough project monogamy to not take near as long to complete it as I did Icarus.

To stick with the theme of hopes, and to get in on the theme of hopes for the New Year, here's what I've got: Do my best. That's all I can really expect of myself, so that's all I'm devoting to. I'm going to do my best to keep good communication with Matthew David so that our relationship continues to grow. I'm going to do my best to keep up with my true friends. I'm finding myself becoming that person that thinks of them all the time, but never chats or emails and I do NOT want to be that person. I'm going to do my best to do well in my classes, no slacking because I'm tired of studying. Only one of them was paid for by my job, and the cost of tuition for the other was an investment in myself. I'm going to take it seriously. I'm going to do my best to finish what I start, and finish it properly. Now you all are responsible for holding me to this.

Sorry for the crazy long post, but thanks for reading :D

2008-01-01T15:56:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year!

If you're here from MagKnits, WELCOME! I'm a bad blogger, so don't expect much from me.

If you're here because for some reason you've deemed me worthy of reading on a regular basis, go see MagKnits! I'M IN IT!!!!!!!

That "Experienced Lace" Stole

2007-12-14T14:27:00.001-05:00

So I had to enlist a bit of help from Andra getting all of my stitches back on the same row, but in it's unblocked state, the stole doesn't look like a catastrophe. Maybe Matthew David, that sweet, sweet boy of mine will help me block it tomorrow before the graduation of that fantabulous Sasha Rintha. Hit up her blog and tell her congratulations and that she needs to update :D

Hey Look! It's a new blog post!

2007-12-12T09:16:00.000-05:00

I'm alive but still a bad blogger.

Here's a super quick update and maybe soon I'll give you some pictures to make it a bit more interesting to look at.

I still need to show you the hat that I actually finished before my last post (so really, it's quite old news) and the yarn that I got through Good Yarn Karma.

I survived my trip to Philly and gave my first non student research presentation. I found out the day that I was presenting that the guy from Vanderbilt that is basically The Stuff in cancer research and that just so happens to be studying the same pathway in the same cell lines as me was supposed to be at that very same conference. That was pretty scary, but I ended up not running into him. I'm still drafting an email to express my disappointment (somehow I feel like this gives me the upper hand).

Grad school applications are nearly completed, and I'll soon be starting spring classes here at ETSU. Once my last grad school application is in, I'm going to attempt to write out a grant application. We'll see how that goes.

Christmas knitting is coming along. I'm on the finishing parts of my mom's and mamaw's and on dad's second sock. I haven't yet begun my papaw's felted slippers, but I still have almost two weeks. I have plans of making something for Sasha, but I can't post about it. I took the Buy Handmade Pledge for this year's Christmas gifts, and I'm proud to announce that about 75% of my gifts are, indeed handmade. Some of them I've made, some of them were made locally, and others are from ETSY or stores that specialize in handmade items. The others include a box of Choxie Giving Truffles (available at Target..... They cost ten bucks and for each box purchased they donate ten bucks to St. Jude's) and the materials for making things handmade......mmmmmmm, yarn :)

Now for the most interesting thing I have to tell you, and it's about Christmas knitting. My mamaw's stole is the double diamond edge thing in Victorian Lace Today. It's knit as a rectangle with a crochet cast on, and, then after binding off, you're supposed to crochet on a picot edge. Well...... I find that my crochet cast on is not very stretchy, so I did a long-tail cast on using much larger needles. Then, by the time I got to the bind off, I decided that if my crochet isn't stretchy enough to cast on with, then it's probably not stretchy enough to use as an edging, so I did a picot bind off a la the Eyelet Skirt from Knitty. This of course meant that I needed to undo the not-so-provisional cast on to make the other end match. I'd done something similar with stockinette stitch socks, so I figured I knew how to do it. I picked up each of my stitches a few rows back from the cast on and..... this is a good time to mention that this particular stole is in VLT labeled as EXPERIENCED LACE and to insert some ominous music...... and then I cut the cast on edge.....with scissors (yes, Matthew, I know that's not necessary, but it seems more dramatic).

I'm definitely imagining that all of you are on the edge of your seat just dying to know what happens next (don't burst my bubble), so I'll let you know as soon as I know for sure myself.... dum...dum...dummm.....

2007-11-14T21:05:00.000-05:00

I am a bad blogger. My apologies.

I have interesting things to tell, but no time to tell it. Allow me then to ramble in list style.

SAFF was awesome.

I bought yarn, but not too much.

The yarn I bought was within my rules.

The rules were to buy fibers I hadn't tried, barber-poled handspun, and sock yarn for myself.

I was also allowed to buy any whimseys I liked.

I bought blue and green cormo handspun that does indeed barber pole, silk lace weight in purples and blues, and periwinkle semisolid sock yarn.

The handspun is enough for a hat......was enough for a hat. I finished it today.

I also bought a sheep ornament.

I wore my Dollar and a Half.

People actually complimented my Dollar and a Half :D

Matthew David made us Ravelry pins.

We got real ones at the Ravelry meetup.

We found cool llamas and alpaca and had our picture made with Bob.

The symphony was awesome.

I wore Icarus :D

I also wore heels, a new little black dress, and pearls.

The music had an astronomy theme. The main piece was Holst's Planets.

The guy at the planetarium made a visual to accompany it.

We already have tickets to the Christmas concert :D

The concert nearest my birthday features the ballet.

Matthew David says we can go :D

I have purple and blue silk lace weight............

The knitting? It happens.

I'm out of yarn on my mamaw's gift. More is on its way from The Loopy Ewe.

I'm on my fifth pattern for dad's socks. I only have a toe complete.

I finally found wire I can knit mom's gift with.

Amazingly, I've only been working on one project at a time.

I may actually have a few gifts finished on time.

I signed the Buy Handmade pledge. The goal is to only give handmade gifts.

So far all of mine are handmade or antique.

I have cast on-itis, but I'm fighting it until after Christmas.

Work is going well.

I'm going to Philadelphia in December to present my research......

I'm going to Philly in December to present my research at an AACR (American Association for Cancer Research) meeting.

I would have a cow, but it's only a poster presentation.

I'm taking two classes in the spring.

They are parts three and four of a four part course.

I have not taken parts one and two.

I'm working on grad school apps again.

The acceptance committees cannot doubt my ambition.

That's my life.

I'll try harder not to be a bad blogger.

Ridiculous. Period.

2007-11-05T13:47:00.000-05:00

So I seriously did not intend to take an entire week to post this stuff and, unfortunately, will be taking a whole 'nuther week to do so. I really tried hard to convince Blogger that it wanted to upload 15 photos into one post. I figured it would make a good enough post to be worth the wait to load it. I know you think so as well. Anyway, Blogger and I do not see things from the same perspective. Blogger also does not realize its perspective is the wrong one. So, with out further ado, part 1 of what's probably going to be a four part series on my week two weeks ago.

This is the part where I show you two of my four recent FOs. Number three is coming in part 2 and number four is coming in a future edition of MagKnits. Yes, I got a pattern published. I was hoping it would go in November's issue, but it didn't and I can't bite my tongue about it any longer. Hopefully you guys can see it around December 1.

Have I ever mentioned my new(ish) guy, Matthew David, is pretty fantastic? FO#4 (the one I can't show you yet) is actually his birthday gift. I was terrified he wouldn't like it, but was very pleasantly surprised when he did. He even helped me get pictures of it for the pattern. Then he mentioned he wanted to learn to knit because it was something that I enjoy and that he'd like to make a sock for his fancy smancy iPod Touch. Now, he knits, purls, and seems to understand my descriptions of how shaping is done. He still hasn't made a sock for the iPod, but because I'm smitten, I did.

Details: Berocco Touch (no I didn't intend the pun; leftover from his birthday gift) knit on size 6 dpns. 28 stitches in the round worked in K2P2 for about 8 rounds and then stocking until length. Each side was joined with a modified three needle bind off (I knit the stitches from the front and back needles together but did not pass them over) except for 2 stitches where the headphones plug in. These were bound off on one side and left live on the other. Then, I knit in stocking across the live stitches and joined them to the sides of the sock by picking up a stitch from the side and knitting it together with the last stitch of the row. When the pocket was long enough, I finished it up with about four rows of K2P2. The result is a completely seamless iPod sock with headphone pocket.

To attest to Matthew David's greatness, he actually uses it.

Next up is my Bainbridge Scarf. This only took about two days of knitting, but because I hate to pick up stitches I took two months to finish. It's made with Noro Cash Iroha in a beautiful wine color. Pattern was adjusted to suit different gauge.

It only took one ball, but I bought two because I wasn't sure. I see a matching beanie in my future. This is my second project with Noro, and if you've not used it yet (ahem, cough, Kristina, cough), I recommend treating yourself to a one-ball project. There's something about the rawness (veg matter) and luxury that's such contrast that it makes for a wonderful tactile experience.

Here's the scarf tied. I'd have never imagined such cool construction for a scarf.

Coming up:

Part 2: The SAFF Experience

Part 3: The SAFF Haul

Part 4: The Symphony (Icarus's first outing)

Maybe Part 5: Matthew David carves a pumpkin

2007-10-27T22:24:00.000-04:00

I have 3 FOs for you (plus a fourth I've yet to report on because I can't...yet) and one I want to show you that my mamaw finished (my graduation present....yay!). Then I need to tell you all about SAFF and show you my haul. All of this requires pictures. I'm either waiting on the boy to email them to me or I need sunlight to get good ones. They're coming. Soon. I promise. Then, also soon, I will have symphony and Icarus pictures for you.

At the moment though, I'm appeasing my best cough-not-moving-to-Seattle-cough friend by updating. My update is big news.... News that may make you more jealous than anything in the above paragraph. I only have one WIP. I don't think I've done such a thing since I finished my first garter stitch scarf. Scarves two and three were done concomitantly.

Pictures and details soon.... seriously..... I promise........ God willin' and the crick don't rise.

"SHOW and tell, sweetie."

2007-10-08T21:21:00.000-04:00

Well, alright.... If ya'll insist. I'll give just a little peak, but you'll have to wait until the symphony on the 28th to see him in all his glory.

It's somewhat cathartic.

2007-10-04T11:44:00.000-04:00

Thursday
October 4, 2007
11:43 AM EST

Icarus's last stitch bound off....

Icarus Update

2007-09-27T10:51:00.000-04:00

Thursday
September 27, 2007
10:50 AM EST

Chart Four complete.

Tomorrow! Tomorrow!

2007-09-25T14:31:00.000-04:00

I love ya, tomorrow! You're always a day away! Or..... umm..... twenty two.....

Thanks ya'll for those prayers. I can tell you now that they were for Bells. Since she shared that news with me, I've not felt much like blogging because I didn't know what to say. I still don't, other than "If there's anything you need......"

I've gotten a decent bit of knitting done. The first highlight is my Pomatomus socks. These were done with Cherry Tree Hill Super Sock in a potluck colorway. Your screen may be different, but the color is pretty accurate on mine.My only mod to this one was the heel. I did my usual short-row down to 14 stitches and kept the back of it in the twisted-rib pattern for continuity and reinforcement. I've already worn them twice and may have decided that they're my new favorites. Here's a closer-up of the heel.
Bells asked a while ago for an update picture on Icarus. This one's now officially old, but it doesn't look much different. My charts are in the background, and I've added several rows since then.
I may have also entered into a mini competition with Dr. Kristina. She started her Icarus about a week ago and thinks she can finish before I do.... not faster than I do, just before. In case the embarrassment of having to report zero progress to Bells wasn't enough, this may certainly be....

I guess I should report how much is left. It's only fair to Kristina and those keeping up with the saga. I have four rows of chart four left and then four more before the bind off. Oh yeah! I have to add two more to the count because I'm beading it! With pearls! Since I like doing your math for you, that's 10 more rows. I hope to be in uncharted territory tomorrow (truly tomorrow.... and, no, I couldn't help the horrible pun.....)

In other knitting news, the boy got a scarf for his birthday. I was quite pleased with myself for having finished it on time, and I was quite pleased with him for reacting so pleasantly to it. The geeky part was that I integrated Fibonacci's sequence using two colors. It's totally reversible, knit on the bias, and bidirectional. Once it's cool enough that I can have him wear it outside for a pic in good conscience I'll be sure to show ya'll. I plan on making the pattern available as well.

Until next time..... whenever that may be.....

2007-09-03T19:44:00.000-04:00

Eeeek! I'll update everything tomorrow, but in the mean time, BIG prayers for that somebody I mentioned last post. Just tell God I sent you, and He'll know what's up. Thanks ya'll.

2007-08-31T12:54:00.000-04:00

I know big news, but I can't tell it. It's awesome and wonderful, and incredible, and a million other adjectives that carry a positive connotation. Go ahead, send good vibes to someone very important care of me. I'll make sure that someone gets them.

For those of you visiting from Bells' blog, my big project is my Icarus. I need to finish it so I can wear it to the symphony on October 28th. When I began the accountability thing with Bells, I lacked 25 rows and the bind off. In four days I completed 6 rows, so only 19 left..... Ya'll can subtract, I know, but I like saying I only have 19 left. The goal is to complete one row a day which leaves me some room to be a slacker..........

Or run into horrible dilemmas. I'm out of yarn. I apparently should always buy twice as much yarn as the pattern recommends. My LYS is also out of it, so Matthew David and I are going a bit out of our way to get some on Monday from a store that's an hour away- the closest I could find it! Luckily, we'd already planned a trip east. I'll likely have some new goodies to show you then, and I'll be returning to my regularly scheduled progress on Monday evening.

I Suppose It's About Time......

2007-08-26T19:25:00.000-04:00

About time for an update. Ooops. I definitely didn't mean to take that long. First up is some Sockapalooza stuff. I sent out my pal's stuff the first Tuesday of this month. My pal was Moraie. In her package she got socks (Reptilian Lace in Claudia's Handpaint), coffee, herbs, tea, a notebook, some handspun, and a tin of candy that'll hold lots of notions once the candy is gone.

Then, I received my package the second Thursday of the month. Boy was I spoiled. Extra of my sock yarn (Fearless Fibers Superwash Merino in Marrakesh), some Tofutsies, lotion in one of my favorite scents, and two sets of handmade stitch markers. Oh, and socks! Of course! These are Pembrokeshire Pathways with some slight altering to make them mirror image. I think they are absolutely perfect. Thanks so much to Andrea for being such an awesome upstream pal!
Want another picture? Ooooh........ I love them!
The rest of life still exists. I want to separate the rest of my updating into my life and my knits, but often this isn't possible, and it certainly isn't now.

I sort of have a job. How does one sort of have a job? I have a contract in progress with the lab I've been working in the past eight months, but the grant money that's supposed to pay for it has been used by someone without the authority to use it, so I have to wait for it to be replaced by said person before I sign my contract. My gracious, that was a long sentence.

I sort of have a new fellow. How does one sort of have a new fellow? It's only been official for three days, but he's been being awesome for about a month. Anyone want to calculate the correlation coefficient for this and my blog absence?

This new fellow is actually willing to take me to do stuff..... stuff that needs handknits. We're going to SAFF on October 27th and I want to wear the Dollar and a Half. Then on the 28th, we're planning on seeing the symphony. Perfect little black dress, pearls, and Icarus? I'm so excited about the prospect of having somewhere to wear Icarus that I've already set up an accountability thing with Bells to ensure he gets done. Only 25 more rows to go.

Then, there's other deadline knitting. I'm making something slightly geeky for my new geek's birthday on the 21st, so top secret until then (other than he already knows I'm making him something), and I'm knitting lots for Christmas..... socks for dad and mamaw (which means I have to get my Pomatomi finished so I can have those needles), felted clogs for my papaw, a necklace knit from wire for mom, and something super secret (as in I don't even know yet) and super awesome for the world's greatest Sasha Rintha. In case that's not enough, I also have to finish a scarf ya'll haven't heard a thing about so I can have the needles I need to finish the Dollar and a Half. Um...... I'm counting nine projects that I need to get busy on. Encouraging emails are always welcome :)

What Good is Ravelry?

2007-07-30T19:57:00.000-04:00

Ravelry is a great motivator. I thought it would give me even more reason to procrastinate on getting the pattern out for my Perfect Simple Sweater, but then a complete stranger marked it as a favorite! The sweater has been an FO since February, but the pattern has only been done about ten minutes- generous (28-56") sizing takes time to write. Check it out in the side bar under Free Patterns and enjoy! As always, any questions or comments are welcome; just address them to regp03 at earthlink dot net.

Finished Projects!

2007-07-24T20:25:00.000-04:00

These have actually been done for awhile. I think two weeks for one and three for the other; I've just been slow in blogging about them. I think God wants me to tonight. We had a big storm last night and it really screwed up my internet, so I should be without until Friday or Monday. I have the wireless thing turned off like the tech guy told me to, but now I have some weird, mysterious signal... a wireless connection I've never had before and it's unsecured. I know I'm probably getting oodles of viruses and my identity is being stolen as I type this, but I'm still going to pretend it's some sort of sign.

Anyway, on to the finished projects! The first is my mom's Zeebee. It was finished except for the garter-stitch grafting before we left for Vegas.
The second is my new favorite scarf. I'm so anxious to wear it that I may end up being the freak that wears eight-foot-long, wool scarves in the middle of summer. Yes, eight foot. It's three balls of Noro Silk Garden in 232.... All of my favorite colors!

I got the Dollar and a Half back out in hopes that looking at it would inspire me to pick up stitches and knit the button band. It's so close to finished! But instead it just reminded me how much I liked the Noro and inspired me to get some Cash Iroha for a Bainbridge scarf. I think I may be a failure on the whole "Knit from Your Stash" thing. I also think that frustration over getting a job that lets me do what I want and pays me to do it should not lead to the purchase of twelve-dollar-a-ball yarn. I guess my psyche doesn't understand poor.

I finished the first Pomatomus sock, and, for the first time in my life, I'm experiencing second sock syndrome. I love the yarn AND the pattern, but I'm just not feeling the second sock. Perhaps I'm broken. I'll get pictures of the sock later when I'm not so concerned about losing my signal before I post this stuff to Ravelry (I know, aren't you jealous!). I'll leave you with more Noro goodness.

2007-07-24T12:16:00.000-04:00

I think I should update this. I'll try to get around to it tonight. I have two FOs since last time and some progress on others including a new one. Stay tuned....

Vegas, Baby!

2007-07-02T19:34:00.000-04:00

A.K.A.- Yeah, I'm still alive. So just what happened? Chronological order makes sense.
First, I was well amused by a girl that flew out on our first plane. The tiny, terrifying plane. She was headed to Boston. Please amuse me and say that with your best hoity-toity O sound. When we met her she was on the phone with her dad in a state of panic because the plane boarded in five minutes and she couldn't find her gate. Now the amusing part, our airport only has one gate per carrier. Some carriers share.
Then I sat next to a gal that I didn't much care for on the big plane. Once we landed we had to wait an hour for the courtesy shuttle to our hotel, so we entertained ourselves. One of the hotels was picking up guests in a bright pink Escalade. My mom thought it was cool, so she asked the driver if we could take pictures of us getting in. He agreed, and here's my picture.
Perhaps this picture gives you some idea of what he thought of us crazy Tenneseeans. The casinos had huge slot machines that gave out souvenier tokens. How huge, you ask? This huge.There is a Denny's on the strip. Good old-fashioned values family restaurant meets sin city. Nice.This is kind of a good picture of me and my mom at the wildlife habitat at the Flamingo. Two seconds after this, I stood up and promptly fell down. The first scraped knees I've had since I was eight. What was I doing? Making sure that my bad foot was safe and paying no attention to where my other foot was. Smooth, I know.I get jealous of Kristina's flower pictures, but now I have one of my own. Note to Kristina: I guess now I can unban you from posting flower pictures. Do you have any bluebird lacecap hydrangeas? They're my new favorite. This is an inside garden at the Bellagio.And now for Fremont Street. The highlight of old Las Vegas. Here's the side of one of the old casinos. The picture isn't framed quite right, but I couldn't pass up a picture with The "It" Girl.Here's my dad with his new favorite ladies. And some art this guy was doing with spray paint. Yes, that's spray paint. I'm impressed.

And a shot of the big light show. If you don't know about it, this is canopied over all five blocks of the old strip and is the size of some 42,000 big screen TVs. This show was about aliens overtaking the city to play poker. Oh, and some knit content. I finished the leg of my first Pomatomus sock, got my invite to Ravelry (EEEEE!!!!!!), and bought some 1330 yards of 100% alpaca while I was away. What fun!

Now That's What I Call Service

2007-06-14T13:30:00.000-04:00

I like being able to say good things about people/ things/ places. I try really hard not to focus on any negative experiences; they get enough press. Keeping that in mind, June has been a fantastic month. I started it all out at a local bluegrass festival. No picture for this one, but I bought some triple berry jam from this indy business called Tennessee Selections. It's fantastic, and, at my request, they brought me blueberry butter on the second day of the festival. I've not had it on a biscuit yet, but kudos to any one that can set up at an event like that and remember personal requests of their customers.

Keeping that in mind, LOOK IT what else I got!
This girl named Mindy Herrin was making barrettes and earrings to sell from copper wire. I asked her on day one if she could make me a shawl pin, and this is what I got on day two. This is definitely motivation to finish my Icarus and a total steal at $15. She said she loves free advertisement, so it you want one, email her here.

Then (tonight's order is chronological), remember how I ran out of yarn on the sockapalooza socks and emailed Claudia about it? Remember how I only needed like 10 yards? Well, look what she sent!
I calculated it to be about 105 yards; that's almost a whole new ball! It was plenty to finish my pal's socks and to assure me that the price of the yarn is totally justified by her excellent customer service.

Want to see the finished socks?
Maybe you can see that the toe of one doesn't quite match? I thought about ripping back so I could stripe it in, but thought it would be a good way to immortalize her good service and would let my pal see that Claudia had a special hand in her socks... It wasn't just a skein of yarn she painted, it was yarn that was mailed specifically to finish HER sock. It also marks something else... It's the first sock toe I ever grafted without referring to directions! Want to see it closer?
And here is is with the rose bushes. The garden seems an appropriate place for some Reptilian Lace.
Then (this may be the never-ending post) I got more yarn. I did't break Knit From Your Stash for this; I just traded stash. I had some heavy-weight sock yarn that came from Myra but was too yellow for me when it knitted up. I couldn't think of what to do with it, but found Chelsea at Good Yarn Karma had some that was just what I was wanting and what I had was just what she was wanting. It was a fine trade indeed. Here is my brand spanking new (to me) Lorna's Lace's Shepherd Sock in Aslan all the way from California.No projects planned for it yet, but here's what's in the works. I have cast on for Zeebee number four (have I mentioned it's an addictive pattern?) and am about half done. I'll finish it soon. I have a five foot Noro mitred squares scarf that I think needs more yarn so I can make it 7.5-8 feet. I have no more progress on the Dollar and a Half or Icarus, but I've not forgotten them; I don't seem to have time for big stuff right now. Then I have some Cherry Tree Hill sock yarn and my Silky Wool all packed up and ready to go to Vegas! Less than 12 hours until I go to the airport! I' m so excited. This is my graduation gift, so I thought I'd leave you guys with some proof that I graduated. P.S. I have some stuff going on with all of those job apps, so keep sending those good vibes :)

Hmmmm....... Who Shall I Blame?

2007-06-07T21:32:00.000-04:00

Who shall I blame for the length of today's post? Shall I blame Brooklyn Tweed for creating an obsession or shall I blame Sasha for commenting on the brevity of the last post? I'll decide later. Anyway, my project (tri)monogamy has not been so good. I'll give progress reports momentarily, but first, THREE FINISHED OBJECTS. I made all three of these hats last Thursday. The pink and purple are mine and the blue is Sasha's. Yarn details for each may be found by clicking the appropriate link under "Finished in 2007." These are Zeebee 1, 2, and 3 and the pattern is found here. Beware this pattern is addicting and contagious. I already have plans for Zeebees 4 and 5 and have at least influenced Sasha's return to the dark side. (She's shopping for 100% alpaca in a complex shade of green, blue, or red. My best friend has good taste in fibres, ya'll; she's even wool tolerant for me!)

So I've mentioned Zeebees four and five and how Brooklyn Tweed is such a bad influence, but I've not mentioned how bad. I am not meant to knit from my stash. I have no will power. It's true. I stick to water and taking the stairs at work when my pants get snug and then when they loosen up I reward myself with a McD's milkshake. Same deal with yarn. I'm finally getting enough space that I can make room for new and exciting yarns and what do I do? Reward myself with...... new and exciting yarns. To make projects I was only mildly interested in until BT made them. So what did I get? Two balls of Noro Silk Garden in blues, teals, and purples for a scarf.... now I want another ball to make a matching Zeebee, a ball of Elizabeth Lavold Silky Wool in a mossy green for a Shedir, and a ball of Louisa Harding Flotsam to make my mom a Zeebee. Every now and then she decides that even though she's too warm natured to get much use of them, she wants a hand knit. It can not be from a yarn with any wool, mohair, alpaca, random animal that creates fibre..... She says they all make her itch (they didn't until she found out that I was using them). The Flotsam got her approval. I've never seen it elsewhere, so for those that are interested, it's 40% cotton, 35% poly amide, 10% acrylic, 10% viscose, and 5% acetate.

Now, finally, some progress reporting. I like alphabetical order, so we'll stick with it. That means the Dollar and a Half is up first. I have the shoulder and side seams finished and have knit the button band the first time. Normally, there is only the first time, but apparently not this time. I picked up the correct number of stitches for the size I knitting (remember, it's not actually the size I'm making due to gauge differences). I knit the requisite number of rows, bound off, and tried the thing on. My band was too short for the sweater. I tugged on it thinking it would even out once I blocked it, and all of the stitches along the back of the neck ripped. So I frogged the button band and haven't touched it since. I'll get back to it. Sometime when I feel like picking up the 350 stitches I've calculated I actually need. Icarus has had a few rows added, but it still looks like a cream colored blob because I hate using my circulars for such fine yarn- I need the grippiness of bamboo, but the join of my Addis. I know, I should get some Addi Naturas; no one around here carries them. And finally, my Sockapalooza Reptilian Lace socks. I either can't count, can't divide, or can't hold a steady gauge. I got two sets of toe decreases done and..... ran out of yarn. What is a girl to do? Well, it's Claudia's handpaint, so I begged Claudia for a few extra yards. And she happily obliged. I got an email from her yesterday saying that she sent it, so my last picture for today is my last progress picture for this project. I hated having to admit to such stupidity (it happens every single time I knit socks top down), but I love being able to promote any one with EXCELLENT customer service. I have more people to promote, but I think this post is already border lining obnoxiously long.

So coming soon..... an update on what exactly is in the stash, maybe some sketches of some of my newest design ideas, details on my new motivation to work on Icarus, and maybe even seven interesting things about me. Janknitz has tagged me for that meme (she says she reads me and loves me!) and I think I may eventually think of seven things about me that are not painstakingly obvious. Until then, thanks for all of the comments about school and the job search. I still don't know what's going on, so if you could keep lifting up those thoughts for me, I'd totally appreciate it.

2007-05-31T21:09:00.000-04:00

Brooklyn Tweed could probably convince me that variegated fun fur could make a lovely sweater. I think the mania has set in. More details when Blogger feels like uploading pictures.

The State of Things

2007-05-25T22:30:00.000-04:00

I know I’ve been gone for awhile. But this leaves me with a lot to talk about. First, I’ll talk about things that the readers who actually know me care about. I will not be attending graduate school this fall. I had three good possible plans. The first was a program at UTK that I will not mention in this post because I don’t particularly care to be bad advertisement. I received THREE form-letter style rejection letters from them- one from the program, one from the department, and one from the school. I’m okay with this because their main focus was on physics and computer science. I made an A in physics, but I am not a physicist. My former professor BB pointed out to me that the receipt of three rejection letters showed great disorganization and lack of communication. The second of my plans was to go to the local state school and pick up my M.S. until I could get into a top choice Ph.D. program. This particular school has informed me that they lack the funding to back up the acceptance of masters candidates. The program is likely to fold over the next two years. I’m okay with this as well. I really had my heart set on going elsewhere. That brings me to my top-choice possibility. The Interdisciplinary Graduate Studies Program in the Biomedical Sciences at Vanderbilt. I loved the city, I loved the school, and I loved the people I met in association with the program. I was told by the head of the program in October when I began my application that they only considered applicants with research experience and that I should wait until March or April to apply. I did as I was told and had four months of lab experience when my application was finally submitted. A month later I received a personal email from the same lady to tell me that all of their positions were full, they would not be able to offer me a slot, and that I should continue my research and reapply for Fall 2008. I cried; it was my heart’s greatest desire to be there this fall. Then I got over it. I’ve prayed since November that God would only open the door I’m supposed to take, and direct pursuit of my Ph.D. is not it. I'm not giving up, just submitting to the fact that God's timing is better than mine. The email from my top choice was encouraging (as far as rejection letters go), and, after all, my application was submitted three months after the official deadline. Now I’m left with figuring out what it is I’m supposed to do.

So I've submitted my resume or CV, as appropriate, to 17 entry-level laboratory technician jobs. I have high standards, so these submissions were to top-rate laboratories: St. Jude’s, Vanderbilt, Duke, Cincinnati Children’s, Joseph Stoke’s, and Colgate-Palmolive. This was on Monday and Tuesday night and Wednesday morning. I have since had a request for additional information from Cincinnati Children’s and emails from laboratories at Vandy and Duke telling me that my information has been passed up the chain of command. My hopes are restored. If you’re reading this and pray, please keep me in them while I undergo this scary time of transition. I could really use the encouragement while I get things figured out.

Onto some knitting news. I have exactly three projects on the needles. I can’t pick an order for reporting on them, and I’m a geek, so let’s go alphabetically. First up then is the Dollar and a Half.

The last piece is now finished blocking and I have the first side seam sewn. The seams are a pain. I now know that if I ever knit anything with multicolored stripes, I’ll do it in one piece. I’m a bit of a perfectionist, and even in plain Stockinette keep careful track of how many rows I have in each section. The only row difference is at the arm hole and shoulder shaping bind offs, yet somehow I cannot match up the lace and reverse Stockinette stripes on the front and back. This means finishing will be slow go, but all I lack is the other side and shoulder seam, the button band, and the sleeve seams. We’ll ignore the fact that the button band is like 500 stitches. The cable, by the way, is from the stitch dictionary in Cables Untangled and is not as open as it appears. My blocking board reflects more light than the yarn and so all the bits filled in with fuzz are allowing the blue to show through.

Next up is Icarus. I’m finally ready to start the last lace chart. I began it last June, so I’m hoping maybe I’ll get enough well-focused knitting time to finish it this June. We’ll see.
Last, my Sockapalooza 4 socks. I have an interesting down-stream pal. I’ve been keeping up with her blog and I think I may have gotten one of the most interesting people I’ve ever heard of, yet alone actually communicated with. I could say more about her, but I don’t want to give anything away. I’m half a stitch repeat past the heel turning. I’ll probably finish sometime this weekend (yay long weekend!). This assumes I have enough yarn. I know I supposedly used the ball with shorter yardage for the first sock. The original ball was supposed to weigh 50 grams. The sock I’ve completed weighs 23.8. I should have 26.2 left and that should be plenty. At about half way through the sock, I weighed what was left and had 7.1 grams. My math tells me maybe something is wrong, but we’ll see how far I can get. I also have a wonderful upstream pal. He/She’s contacted me to let me know he/she exists and doesn’t seem to mind my pickiness. In my book this makes him/her awesome.

Now, for some finishing thoughts. Janknitz asked about my yarn meter from Bass Pro. It’s really a line meter designed for measuring fishing line. A yarn meter is about $50.00; a line meter is $10.00. The choice was simple. It’s only downfalls are that it doesn’t work for yarn any heavier than worsted (I rarely use yarn heaver than worsted) and it measures in feet instead of yards (I can divide by three). Other than that it works very well. The other thing is that I’m ordering yarn. I’m being well behaved and not giving in to the yarn for my Notre Dame de Grace until I've gotten through some more of the stash. Instead, I’m going to brave some Crystal Palace Panda Cotton and make my mom some socks. She’s very picky about what fibers she’ll wear, and doesn’t often wear or use what I make, but she wants some socks, so we’ll give that a try. I’m just hoping the elastic in it doesn’t bother my hands too much. She wants her socks in a new color called Picnic that is very hard to find right now. Only two places online say they’ll be getting it. One is on my list of places that I will not be ordering from again, the other is The Loopy Ewe. (It's okay to shop, they're giving a free gift with purchase if you give them the code found on Alison's blog.) Sheri has been very helpful and I’ve never even made a purchase from them. I can’t wait to see if their customer service is as good as I’ve imagined it to be. Until next time…

And the Winner Is.....

2007-05-16T20:01:00.000-04:00

About thirty six hours into my contest I thought about giving a few hints to help my guessers along. My mods made it kind of a tricky task. But then, I got a correct guess and decided that it would be unfair of me to give others an advantage. At forty hours (or so) I decided that the Fixation would go to the one person that had guessed correctly, Kate. I figured if anyone else guessed correctly by the 48 hour mark, I'd give a condolence prize, one of the incredible cute elephant tape measures they carry at a local toy store. Kate was the only one, even now to have guessed correctly, and now I'm saying contest over. The correct answer is the Reptilian Lace socks from Knitty. Huge congrats and a pat on the back to Kate. My mods made it quite the challenge. Here's the complete list: one fewer pattern repeat on the leg, one extra pattern repeat on the foot, omission of the beads, omission of one decrease/yarn over pair on each side, a Lucy Neatby garter-stitch, short-row heel instead of a flap and gusset heel, and a few rounds of stockinette replacing the few pattern rows leading into the heel. I think that's it.... Oh yeah, different yarn.

I had wanted to show you my completed cabled front for the Dollar and a Half, but I didn't get around to blocking it yesterday when I finished or today when I got home. Hopefully, I'll feel like blocking it tomorrow and I will be able to, finally, reveal my choice of cable.... I already have an idea for making a button-up neck warmer with my left-over yarn; I'll post a pattern for it if it all works out, so I hope you all like my idea. Maybe I'll make a doodle and scan it in tomorrow so you can create along with me. I know, I'm rambling. I have foot problems because of an extra bone (an accessory nevicular). I've broken it twice and am now treating my fourth sprain. This one hurts worse than the first three and I've given in to taking some pain medicine. I have excuses for my rambling. More to come....

I Got Distracted.

2007-05-14T20:05:00.000-04:00

Since I last saw you, I've become a college graduate. I now, officially, have a B.S. in Cell and Molecular Biology with a minor in Chemistry. My school decided to hold graduation in the rain. I'll share pictures after the rest of my family has finished passing around the memory card. I graduated without any honors, walking across the stage as just a name that was called so quickly that the girl behind me stepped on my heels as I shook the president's hand. I may be a bit bitter about this. I figure that I paid enough tuition that I should have had a full ten seconds of fame. I also think that I met the GPA and ACT score requirements for the honors program and was cheated when they did not invite me to join. I would perhaps feel differently had I just barely met them, but I exceeded the GPA requirement by more than three-quarters of a point and the ACT requirement by two points... I also finished all of my course work a semester early and would, therefore, have had plenty of time to take six hours of honors seminar. I should have been a Snyder Honors Fellow. I took several psychology courses beyond what was required for my liberal arts education because they interested me. I had a 4.0 average for these courses, which included one at the graduate level in forensic psychology. This earned me acceptance to Psi Chi, the national honor society for psychology. I was not allowed to wear this medal with my cap and gown because I was not a psychology major. I warned you I may be a bit bitter.

In the midst of all the graduation happenings, I got distracted from the Dollar and a Half Cardigan by a few smaller, more portable projects. I am, however, happy to report that I have less than two cable pattern repeats left on the second front. I'll reveal my choice of cable substitution shortly. But as I said, I got distracted. I finished a Hello Yarn Top-Down bonnet to match the scarf that mysteriously appeared on the Finished Objects list some time ago. I'll post a picture of it later as well. I want to add some embroidery first.

Then, I decided to follow Amy's advice from her new book and make a GeeKY thing. Basically, a gargantuan swatch to learn all about how a yarn behaves. GeeKY, by the way, stands for Getting to Know You. This is KnitPicks Andean Silk in Sangria knit up in double seed stitch on size 8s.

I want to use the cranberry color in this yarn to make the Notre Dame de Grace sweater from the new IK. The color isn't out until the 25th of this month, so I experimented with what I've got. I plan to cheat on my stash again because a) I have decided I love Veronik Avery and may get around to knitting every pattern I have of hers (except the cabled tube top), b) I don't have an appropriate yarn in my stash, and c) every graduate student needs an awesome bum-around-study-look-cute-at-nameless-coffeeshop sweater. Perhaps if I make it the acceptance committee will see that I have the right wardrobe and decide they should make a decision all ready. I've already planned a few alterations. Even though it should have a good bit of ease, I still will add some waist shaping (so it's not so much like a slouchy sweatshirt) and I will be lengthening it four or five inches. The massive GeeKY thing helped me determine how much extra yarn I'll need.... It's only two more balls!

Then, I decided to get going on my Sockapalooza Four socks. My pal has very small feet and I decided that one ball of Claudia Handpaint SHOULD be enough to accommodate her petit feet and request for a shorter leg. It was PLENTY. I divided the ball in half using the "yarn meter" I got at Bass Pro Shop and worked the first sock with the smaller ball (The first one wound normally has about two feet more than the second). I had TONS left over.... And by tons I mean 25 INCHES. Nonetheless, I had ENOUGH. This year we're using the Knit Pligg to show updates of our progress, and because I want to be popular over there, I'm having my very first blog contest. We'll call it Guess the Pattern, and here's how it's going to work. I've made a few modifications to this pattern, including number of pattern repeats, total stitches around, and a Lucy Neatby garter stitch heel. Otherwise, it's still the same old pattern. If you know it, drop me a line at regp03 at earthlink dot net and tell me what it is and where I found it. Assuming more than one person guesses successfully, I'll randomly pick a name, and the winner will receive three balls of red Cascade Fixation. I bought this a while back before I knew all about sock making and wound the first ball into a center pull. Then I began knitting and, surprise, this elastic-allergic gal happens to be allergic to elastic in yarn too. I'm not entirely stupid; I'm not allergic to it in machine-made socks and shirts, but jeans, hats, etc bother me. I think it's more my skin can't breathe than it is that I'm allergic. Anyway, I can't use it, but it desperately wants to become a fantastic pair of socks, so start guessing!

PS. I did clean the stump where I put the sock. The rest was slugs and such that I didn't really want to touch.

AND....

2007-05-02T21:18:00.000-04:00

I could write about enough stuff tonight that every other word could be AND. I'm not feeling too talkative though, so that run-on sentence will have to wait. I've finished and blocked the back of the Dollar and a Half. I forgot to take a picture, but if you need help visualizing, it's just like the front half I finished except it has both halves. I also had a birthday. It was quite decent. Here's the loot, except for some stuff that isn't here. The Victorian Lace Today is actually a Christmas gift from Melissann, but it sat in the bag until I cleaned my bookshelf this afternoon, so it counts. No Sheep for You was one of my goodies from Sasha, and Cables Untangled, Vogue 25 Years, and Persuasion are gifts from my parents. They also got me a rolling duffel bag for our upcoming trip to Vegas and a B&N Membership card.... Now I can buy more books. The two small yarn balls up front are for my Sockapalooza pal. She has very petit feet compared with my size 9-10s, so I'm going to try to get a pair of socks from just one ball (I've already split it in two using the "yarn meter" I got at the Bass Pro Shop). It's Claudia Handpaint in a color that they call "Eat Your Veggies" (CUTE!) but it reminds me of Oscar the Grouch.... It's shades of green with some silvery grey. The rest is loot I bought myself. Some Cherry Tree Hill in Blues/Greens for vacation knitting (I think it may become a set of Pomatomi. I also got Elizabeth Zimmerman's Knitter's Almanac ( yes, I love the February Baby Sweater, I blame Brooklyn Tweed, and, yes, I read it like a novel.) and a needle case for my fourteen inch straights. Oh, and I got to meet Kristina. And see the Knitting Nature trunk show. It was a very exciting day. Maybe I'll post more about it when some pics come available and I'm not so near to sleep. Good night all.....

Stash!!!

2007-04-25T20:05:00.000-04:00

The Dollar and a Half is progressing. It's slowed a lot because, well, the back has twice as many stitches as the fronts. Anyway, I'm up to the small of the waist, about 12-14 inches from the cast on, I think. My gauge is tiny until I block.... For some idea, it grows fifty percent after being pinned out. I found a KAL for the Dollar and a Half and most of the people working on it there were complaining about its difficulty. The cable is hard, the lace panel is hard, it's impossible to increase and decrease in pattern, the seventh row of the lace doesn't make sense, it doesn't fit me right..... I thought about joining so that I could post some help for those needing it. Even with my modifications, I'm finding it to be an EASY sweater (for me, I do NOT recommend it for a beginner). Then I read and found out that most of the people signed up have at least a few sweaters under their belt. I think about patterns. I know some people do not have this skill. Some people cannot hem pants. I have learned this much from college. I blame my Mom. She took the time to make me and my dolls clothes and then later to teach me how. I still, for the life of me, cannot work the technical stuff on the sewing machine, but I can make something and I know how to put stuff together. I see that I've rambled a lot.

Tomorrow is my birthday. I will be 22. There is nothing cool about being 22. Candice at the LYS gives 20% off for a birthday discount. You can check the CHEATS list. I did NOT buy yarn. I went in yesterday to make use of my discount and emerged with a hand-quited needle case and Elizabeth Zimmerman's Knitter's Almanac. I'll take pictures of all my good birthday loot later. I was proud of myself. A ball of emerald green Noro for a hat was very tempting. I decided to inventory my stash as a reminder that I'm fairly blessed by fiber supply. Here are some quick stats. 1) I have a lot less yarn than I thought. Oddly, most of it is for lace. For those keeping score, I have yet to finish my first piece of real lace. 2) I have equal amounts of cotton and wool. 3) I have three balls of synthetic/synthetic blend. This does not include my three balls of Fixation. 1.7% does not count. 4) I only have two projects on the needles: the Dollar and a Half and Icarus. 5) I have added one row a month to Icarus since reaching chart 3. At this rate I'll finish in about three more years.

For your viewing pleasure, my stash. Cotton on the left, wool on the right, wool, synthetics, and Icarus in the basket.

Some Progress

2007-04-21T22:08:00.000-04:00

I've had a cruddy week... The whole darn thing was Mondays. Except of course for Tuesday, which had two hours brightened by the presence of the ever-delightful Sasha (I love you, Sasha). Somehow I still managed to progress some on the Dollar and a Half Cardigan. First though, let me address one of Bells' comments. It does appear that I'm blocking this one as I go, but, for a sweater like this, I normally would wait until everything's sewn together and the button band is on. One look at the two sleeves allowing comparison between preblocked state and post-blocked state is reason enough for me to block each piece as its finished. I can write later about how I decide when to do the blocking.
Now, just for kicks, check out a side view of the preblocking sleeve. Yeah, it looks like it'd be a blast to line up seams for that.....
Now for your viwing pleasure, I leave you for today with the second sleeve (No second sleeve syndrome for me!).....
And the now very curvy, non-cabled front. I'm up to the waist shaping for the back, so it gets to be curvy too!

A Buck and Some Quarters

2007-04-18T20:36:00.000-04:00

So I've decided that my Dollar and a Half Cardigan is getting enough modifications that I should call it something else. A Buck and Some Quarters is the best I can come up with, so I'll probably still call it the Dollar and a Half. So what am I modifying about it?

1) The yarn- wool instead of linen,
2) The gauge- 6 stitches/inch instead of 5.25,
3) The ribbing- mainly because I didn't pay attention and started the selvedge stitch on the first row instead of the first patterned row,
4) Waist shaping- Yeah, I'm a curvy gal,
5) Short-row shoulder shaping- Yeah, I'm shapely there too... and I like short rows,
6) The cable- I want something fancier. I'll be at B&N on Friday looking at the Celtic books for inspiration,

and finally..... 7) I'm doing the armhole shaping at the armhole and the neck shaping at the neck. I thought at first that I must have made a huge modification and really screwed things up, but, after rereading the pattern six or seven times, decided the problem was not me. I contacted IK about it yesterday and they replied today to tell me that they would have the errata posted soon. Until then, if you guys want to make it, follow their directions for when and how, but follow your own instinct on the where.

Speaking of said cardigan... I have two sleeves, a front (the one without the cable- right if you're looking at it and left if you're wearing it), and the ribbing of the back... all finished! I'll block and photograph maybe tomorrow.

About Knitting in Circles

2007-04-13T22:14:00.000-04:00

One can knit in circles in about as many different ways as one can knit, and anything that eventually ends up like a circle can be knit that way to begin with. One can knit circles with four or five double-pointed needles, two circular needles, one circular needle, or, if one is crazy, desperate, or both, even two single-pointed needles. Since I would imagine that its not difficult to come up with what sorts of things can be knit in circles, let’s think about how the different methods accomplish it and what I see to be the pros and cons of each. (ETA: An afterthought: You may want to grab some refreshments. I ramble for a while.)

Just to get it out of the way, let’s begin with circular knitting on two single points. If one wishes, he or she may cast on to one single point, slip all stitches purl wise to the other, then knit a row, slip all stitches back to the first needle, knit across again, and continue in like manner until the piece is finished. In a similar way, one could cast on as though to do the double-knitting technique and then simply not let the stitches cross. The only positives I can think of for this are that straight needles are readily available and fairly cheap and it will, technically, work if one is in a crunch. The negatives, however, are more numerous. Either technique requires that each and every stitch be worked twice in order for one round to be completed- maybe its just me, but this seems unnecessarily time consuming. This method also seems like it would leave a tremendous ladder if it were used for more than five or six stitches and it’d be easy to mess up whether you were slipping or knitting that stitch. I’ve never come across a pattern written for this method nor known any one that uses it or wants to use it, but if anyone wishes to know how to adapt patterns to it, he or she may email me and I’ll, um…. I don’t intend to be mean, but I’ll probably laugh at them (a fourth negative: most people will probably laugh at them), and then I’ll try to help.

Now on to the more common methods. Let’s start this section with four or five double-points. This has for a long time been the most common way to knit in the round. For this method, one casts on stitches to three or four needles (or onto one and then slips them to other needles), joins the stitches, and uses the remaining needle to knit. Any circular pattern can be adapted to this method by dividing the total number of stitches by the number of needles holding the stitches and then casting that many onto each needle. In the case of socks, the heel is normally worked on needles two and three if five needles are used or the stitches are rearranged so that the heel stitches are on needle two if four needles are used. My favorite pro for this method is the sense of tradition and connection to the past that it holds. Other pros include common availability of double-pointed needles and the ability to divide a pattern repeat (or two) onto each needle. For me the cons of using double points are that having eight or ten points sticking out every which direction terrifies me…. I’m always afraid that I’m going to poke an eye out, ladders can form at each join leaving you with as many as four ladders to be tightened up or left to be unsightly, the needles are easy to drop and equally easy to lose to the couch monster, and it doesn’t travel well in my purse. Others may say that it is also worrisome that stitches can fall off the end of the needle you are not working with or that its easy to get the toe and heel of a sock out of line with each other, but I’ve never had either happen, so I’ll worry about them when the time comes.

Well suited to being second, we have knitting circles on two circulars. I’ve only done this method once, so if I really screw it up let me know. To knit in circles with two circs, cast on half of your stitches to each circular, put the stitches of the needle with the working yarn attached on the cable and then work the stitches on the other needle beginning with the side that currently does not have the two groups of stitches attached using the two needles attached to that cable. Then work the other side. I’m sure this makes perfect sense, but as I said, I’ve only done it once. Basically to make any pattern work with this method treat it as though you have two large double points… think about it, you do. I’m not overly familiar with the pros and cons of this method because it just didn’t click for me. Here’ s what I come up with: On the pro side, one can easily find help and pattern support for using this method to do two socks at once; on the other hand, one must have two sets of needles in the right size…. Unless he or she has a nifty convertible set. In that case he or she may use the size necessary to get gauge as the working needle and a size smaller for the other needle. It still requires two cables and proved not good for carrying unprotected in my purse.

And, in my opinion so don’t take it as anything more than that, the best is last. Magic Loop is easily my favorite. You have one long needle. I use a forty inch and have had success with a 24. Basically, use the longest you have handy in whatever needle size necessary to get gauge. Cast on all of your stitches and join for working in the round. To do this:
a) Slip all of your stitches to the cable.
b) Grab the cable between your middle two stitches.
c) Pull the cable so that you have a loop and two sets of stitches, one on each side of the loop.
d) Slip the group of stitches not attached to the working yarn back to the the stitches are knit FROM. Leave the others on the cable.
e) Now knit the first stitch; this joins your stitches for working in the round.
*Now work all of the stitches on the FROM needle. When these are all worked and on the TO needle, slip the next set of stitches to the FROM needle and those on the TO needle onto the cable. Now everything is set up and you can just repeat from the aterisk. Is it all clear as mud? (For me, I knit FROM my left needle on TO my right needle, but I know some people do it the other way.)
When reading this method into patterns, pretend you have two needles. The one before the loop and the one after. I use one group as the bottom of the foot and the other as the insole so I can keep up with which part has the pattern stitch and which does not. I happen to be very partial to Magic Loop, but can come up with three big negatives. The first negative is that long circulars can be hard to find and, second, they can get expensive. I only have five after two years of collecting, but usually that’s all I need. The third negative is that very few patterns exist for the Magic Loop technique, but it’s not hard to rethink the patterns once you get the idea. My big pros for Magic Loop are that it travels nicely in my purse and, once I have found one needle in my horribly unorganized excuse for needle storage, I don’t have to search for any more needles.

Coming next post…. Some pictures ( I reclaimed Dad’s camera) and a progress report and some musings on what my next carry-along project should be and maybe some other things….

2007-04-13T08:55:00.000-04:00

I was planning to post about my newest finished object later today, but its still drying, so I've come up with something else.

It dawned on me this morning that many people may not know Magic Loop or how to use my pattern for their method. I've used double points, two circs, and Magic Loop, so I'll post about what I find to be the pros and cons of each and how to take any sock pattern and "read" it so that you can use your preferred method. I've never done two socks on two circs, but if someone wants to send me the details and their opinions on that method before five or six pm EST, I'll include it too.

Speechless

2007-04-11T19:04:00.000-04:00

Wow! I can hardly believe how many visitors I've had today due to my free pattern. I hope you all like it. Watching my SiteMeter increase has definitely served as the motivation I needed to finish up my free sweater pattern. Thanks!

I need to fix a few problems right off. First, from the last post's comments, I don't know anything about the Red Sox other than Alison says that yesterday was their opening day and my cousin has already requested I make him a pair of my socks in his school colors for baseball season. I wish I could say I did have a special pattern just for them because they apparently support a very worthy cause, but at the same time, all baseball annoys me. TBS plays their games all spring instead of Sex and the City, and I really must support my gals.

The other problem I need to address is a screwed up PDF. I've received a few emails saying that the link is not working, but, when I tried it on a few different computers today, I had no problems myself. I'm not at all a computer expert and would guess that the problem may be in the browser or version of Adobe Reader used. I added a link to the .doc (Microsoft Word) version, so if the PDF doesn't work, try it. As before, if you run into any problems, drop me a line and I'll try to fix it.

I've also heard from a few Sockapalooza newbies that want to get in on the action. If you're one of them and just too shy to speak up, you can get the details from Alison over at The Blue Blog, but be quick. Sign ups will only be open for another day or so.

Now for some knitting. Progress has slowed down on my Dollar and a Half Cardigan due to silly things such as work, major field achievement tests, graduation details, etc. But just to prove my sweaters don't just magically appear and that I do block things, here is a picture of the first sleeve all pinned out and the second one in progress. Sorry about the bad picture, but its a rainy day here in Tennessee and my dad has stolen HIS camera back from me, so I'm back to the one built into the laptop for a few days.

I have another finished project to report on, but I want to get an appropriately good picture of it since its the first scarf I've ever knit myself. The crochet edging on it slowed the progress on the Dollar and a Half Cardigan as well. All this and more coming the next time I feel like rambling :)

Do You Want Your Very Own Moving On Socks?

2007-04-10T18:58:00.000-04:00

Now you can have them! In honor of opening day for Sockapalooza sign ups, I've posted my first free pattern to the right-hand side bar. Adobe reader is required. Sorry about that. I know it takes longer to load, but it prints much nicer. If you want a .doc copy, email me at regp03 at earthlink dot net, and I'll send one your way. Happy knitting!

Happy Easter!

2007-04-08T18:54:00.000-04:00

As promised, here is my Ruffled Surplice, as modeled by me.I've always thought patterns should come with straight-on, basic photos so that we can tell what flaws the design has before we do all of the work only to be unpleasantly surprised by something they hid with the camera angle, a large purse, that weird, twisted sitting position, etc. This sweater needs none of that, as you can see. It fits a real person. My compliments to Ms. Mari Lynn Patrick for what is easily my favorite sweater pattern yet.

As for Easter, I hope yours was awesome. I traveled a total of 16 hours visiting family.... 14 yesterday and two today. Tons of good food and good times were had and I finished the first sleeve on the Dollar and a Half Cardigan. Modifications so far include using wool instead of linen and a much smaller gauge.... I'm knitting the 41 inch to achieve the 36 inch size. That makes rewriting the pattern easy. I also have plans for adding waist shaping and changing the cable. Since there is only one, I think it should be a fairly intricate one. It looks like its going to be a perfect sweater for showcasing that one cable. I'd have a picture of the one sleeve blocking, but I figured out why I'm so bad about posting progress pictures. The camera has no memory of them. I took three, and it doesn't show any. I also took three each of my finished Ruffled Surplice and Moving On Socks; all six of them are on the camera...

New Finished Objects!

2007-04-05T16:01:00.000-04:00

Its official... I stink at posting progress photos. Oh well. Announcing finished projects 13 and 14 for the year. 13 is the Ruffled Surplice from Interweave Knits Spring 2007. Total project cost... $3. Our local Catholic church sells yarn by the cone with the largest cones costing a mere three dollars. To get gauge I had to hold my yarn double stranded, but I still have plenty to make one of the shawls from my still fairly new copy of Victorian Lace Today. I'll post a model picture of the Ruffled Surplice sometime Sunday.... Its my Easter sweater :)

My other finished project, number 14, is my Moving On socks. These are just basic stockinette stitch knee highs with short-row toes and heels. These are made with the Lorna's Laces I wrote about earlier.

Even though these are really basic, I plan to post the pattern sometime in the next week. It would be so cool to have a sock newbie use my pattern for Sockapalooooza 4!
Cheater? Who me? Maybe.... I think I may also stink at knitting from my stash. But who could help herself? Brown Sheep Nature Spun Sport for less than two bucks a ball including tax..... It started as just one ball for the edging of my spring scarf design project (remember; yarn for my own designs don't count.), but there was enough in a single dye lot left in my two favorites for full size sweaters. The brown is for the Dollar and a Half Cardigan from IK Spring '07. I normally don't knit with the same color as the picture, but this one was too perfect in dark brown. The green may become a design. I have e few ideas....
In the mean time, stay tuned. I'll hopefully have a pattern freebie of some sort up next week. My first pattern write-up is finished except for the schematic and a quick look over by my volunteer editor.

2007-04-05T08:49:00.000-04:00

I'm posting later today with pictures and everything. I swear.... Top of my To Do list.... I have FINISHED OBJECTS!

Double the C, Double the S....

2007-03-19T20:05:00.000-04:00

Give in and take a class, and you will have SUCCESS! You, my friend, are looking at four of the most fabulous yards of thick-and-thin handspun ever made. I might be a bit full of myself, but it is pretty good for a first attempt.I have some more roving to be practicing with. So far, all I've used is Corriedale, but I've begun a new stash containing some purple pure wool ReadySpin and some (currently) undyed Merino. I'm also already up to two spindles. Here's the one from my class. And speaking of stash...... A girl can only do so much. I gave in, but I gave in with control. I got three skeins and a new set of ebony needles on the GRAD SCHOOL INTERVIEW I went on last week. The white is Louet Gems sock yarn in "Pure White" for a sock design I have in mind. I swear I didn't have ANYTHING else that would do. The purple is for another design idea. Look at the close up and tell me if you really think I had the will power to pass it up.... It is Pehuen cotton from Araucania and smells like wine. Neither of these yarns are available locally and, in case you didn't catch it, both are for my own designs. And speaking of designs.... (see how nicely this post flows from one topic to the next) Here's a little quencher for those who are either patiently waiting for me to finish posting about all that I finished in February (I forgot Doc Fitz's hair accessories... add them to the count) or who are waiting for the posting of my first free pattern. So far it's half written and spans from a 28 to a 56 inch bust.

The Tale of Some Yarn

2007-03-15T21:36:00.000-04:00

Sorry, no pictures today; I'll put up a bunch this weekend. Today, I will share the on-going saga of the yarn pictured in the last post.

If you recall, it is Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in "One of a Kind." Before that it was Lorna's Laces in "Mineshaft." The story of how it got where it is now is perhaps one of the most eye-opening stories I have to share from my entire college experience.

I seldom splurge on myself. Normally I only work with discounted yarns unless its a gift, only buy discounted clothing, and don't spend money on going out activities unless it is some special occassion. I was dying to work with some Lorna's Laces, but was certainly not the type to spend that money on myself. I decided that I would buy some to make a fresh pair of socks for my guy.... for our upcoming fourth anniversary. I'd already made him one pair that often got eight or nine wearings between washings because he was afraid of felting them.... he needed another pair. Save this information for later because I'm feeling very stream of consciousness.

In high school I was never the girl that the guys were interested in. No one commented that I was pretty (except of course for Sasha; I LOVE YOU, SASHA!) and no one asked me on dates. So when we started going out in November of my senior year, I suddenly found myself willing to twist and change so that he'd still like me. Four years later, I was no longer really myself. I had changed to who he wanted to be around and was being largely taken advantage of and to some extent treated poorly. Now, to November, 2006.

I went out of town for the day with my beloved Sasha; it was the first time that we had been out for a whole day in a long while and the first time in a long while that I was happy. I had for the few weeks before this been very unhappy because of my relationship and had given him an ultimatum. Some things had to change. That night, less than one week before the big four-year mark, I broke up with him. That night he told me I wasn't important enough for him to do what I had asked. (I know, you probably want more details, but giving them to you doesn't make me feel better and I don't believe in putting others down.... It doesn't lift me up.)

The next morning I awoke wondering what shall I do with the half-knit sock on my needles. I didn't want to finish them. I decided to see if anyone wanted to trade and sent an email out to the dear KnitList. I received an offer and arranged the trade. This led to my receipt of the "One of a Kind" yarn. It also led to the life lessons I now offer to you.

1) The "Mineshaft" yarn was knitting up in completely predictable stripes, no matter what pattern I was using, and it would not change. The lesson from this is that some things do not change.... some people will not change no matter what we try. If we are unhappy with the way these things are, it is us that needs to change. In my case it meant leaving a lot behind.

2) I am not just quirky about things.... I am borderline OCD. It bothered me that the yarn I was sending off in an exchange had already been half knit and was full of kinks. I ironed it... seriously... I ironed nearly 120 yards of yarn. This was a much needed reminder to me that other people are worth it... kind of a knitter's twist on the golden rule.

3) Sometimes we need a reminder that we are each "One of a Kind." This yarn was dyed from what was left over at the end of the day. Everything it had been exposed to had made some impression on the finished product. We need to be careful of what we expose ourselves to so that the finished product will be beautiful.

4) I actually have a strong dislike of variegated yarns becuase they mask the textured stitches I love to work so much. I decided to work these socks in plain stockinette for that purpose. I found myself really loving how the colors meshed as I knitted along. This made me think about how we don't need to twist and change stitches for a project to be beautiful, why should we have to twist and change ourselves?

5) And finally, as the first sock grew and I added stitches to accomodate my shapely calves, I saw that the pooling began to change, but I still liked it. This reminded me that I should change with growth, and that change could be a lovely site to behold.

I didn't mean for any of this to be preachy, but perhaps it can serve as a motivation for others to look for lessons in the things that they knit, crochet, sew or whatever. I named these my moving-on socks two days ago because they have helped me do just that.

Now That Its Warm Outside....

2007-03-13T21:00:00.000-04:00

I have one warm sock, my first finished object of March. The first of two, of course, socks made from some Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock I received as part of a break up exchange.... These are my moving on socks, if I may be so bold as to call them that. I began this one in February when I ran out of projects that could easily fit in my purse. The colorway is "One of a Kind," meaning these were the left over colors from a day of dying the regulars. These are my first pair using LL and my first knee highs; they only lack three inches of actually being at my knee. I'll post more details when I finish its mate.
I do have lots more to blog about, but I'm not so good at knowing what shall come next..... what juicy details are you. my dear reader, wanting to hear?

Big Post...

2007-03-05T20:27:00.000-05:00

Don't say I didn't warn you. February is over, so I figure it's time for me to update you on how the finishing went. First up is a picture you've seen. It's Sophie from MagKnits. I began this in January, so it wasn't too far abandoned. It lacked the cream around the top, the handles, and felting.

Next up is Sasha's birthday gift. I know that my whole two readers have patiently been waiting to see what was in the box.... It is the lace-edged cardigan with collar from Interweave's Wrap Style. Begun in January and completed in time for the big birthday! It lacked the lace border, edges, and buttons, all finished in February!

Third up is one that didn't quite make it.... not because I ran out of time, but because I decided the yarn deserved to be something better than an ill fitting sweater. This is the Fairy Net Blouse from IK Summer 2006. I began it in June and lacked knitting the front and sleeves and sewing them on when I picked it up at the beginning of the month. All of the knitting is actually done, and will soon be undone.

Next is a cheat! I started this as a gift in the middle of the month, but being in the spirit of finishing, it was completed before the 28th. The detail doesn't show well in the picture, but in case anyone is interested, its the Sunflower Tam from Knitting Nature. I think I need to make myself one next :)

Last up for pictures today are my argyle slippers. I forgot what book these came from, but they were begun last July and lacked one top, the sides and sewing when I picked them back up. The sewing isn't yet complete, but they are allowed to stay due to extenuating circumstances. I spent all month searching for the appropriate purple thread to sew them together and everyone was out of stock. They will be done soon. I've shown a front and back of the top so that all may see that my colorwork is pretty on both sides.

I'm not yet finished reporting my finished projects!!!! I also finished Lucinda's Christmas gift; I photographed it, but the camera doesn't seem to remember. (Christmas knitting is done for last year; if I were intelligent I would start for this year...now). You pick what you want to hear about next: the finished project I didn't report on, my fabulous belated Christmas gift from Melissann, what I'm doing later this week (big stuff), or what I'm knitting on now. If you're reading, comment.... I'm dying to know if I have anyone I don't yet know of :)

I Can Finish Gifts on Time...

2007-02-10T21:05:00.000-05:00

For very special people anyway. For instance, Sasha's birtday gift. I'll hopefully have a picture of it being modeled tomorrow, but until then, every one else has to keep guessing what it is.

I also finished Lucinda's Christmas gift. Its just a flower shaped bath cloth and doesn't really warrent a picture. Tonight was loads of fun and I'll be continuing it with the perusing of the new Interweave Knits. So I bid you good night and leave you with pictures of me and Sash now (yes, getting up before the sun is taking its toll on me).....

and in fifty years.

Finish It! February

2007-02-01T21:41:00.000-05:00

I'm starting to get tired of dedicating my Fridays to abandoned projects and so announce February to be finishing month. With the exception of Icarus (which I love knitting on, I just can't get my house quiet enough to be able to concentrate to undo a few rows until its so late at night that I'm too tired to concentrate), if I don't finish these projects in February, I will abandon them forever.... Don't worry, its quite doable..... if I keep my focus. The other rule is I don't get to start anything new until I have it down to just Icarus, a very special shawl that deserves every privilege I have given him.

To begin the month, I get to proudly announce the completion of projects six, seven, AND eight for the year. Six and seven were gifts (hair accessories per Interweave.com) for Doc Fitz, as a thank you for all her help in preparing my grad school applications. They were packaged neatly with the mandatory Slatkin and Co Dark Chocolate Truffle bar (my third favorite chocolate. First goes to Endangered Species Extreme Dark 88% and second goes to Ferrero Rocher, but everything gets pushed back one when I can afford Velvet Sin...). Back to the knitting.... I should have pictures soon. Project eight was Sophie from MagKnits (yes, the new one is up. They are so good about always having it up on the first).

As always the color isn't so good. Perhaps, once summer gets here and I'm done with the day's swishing before sundown, I'll be able to get good pictures. I used Cascade 220 in hunter green for most of it and some handspun from a local artesian for the cream stripe. Sadly I will not be able to carry it- My stuff is too heavy even with a reinforced bottom and strap.

Destashing for a Cause

2007-01-26T22:31:00.000-05:00

Boredom often strikes at work. Something about having to wait an hour for "Anti-mouse/ Anti-Biotin" to do what it must encourages the reading of strange or new blogs. I stumbled upon mcduf.blogspot.com after having seen several other blogs referring to a contest where entry requires a yarn donation to Interim House and the winner receives a new knitting bag. The ulterior motive of my good deed, you see, is three fold: 1)I get to pass on some of the things in my stash that were completely random "I gotta have THAT" purchases, thereby decreasing the size of my stash (by approximately 3,000 yards), 2) I get the pleasure of knowing that my yarn is moving to a home where it can be treasured, and 3) I could win an awesome bag from Stacie that comes with the promise of yummy edibles.

Without further ado, but with the worst color accuracy I've ever seen, here is the collection that will soon be boxed and on its way to Philadelphia, PA.

Clockwise from left: Four balls Paprika Red Heart Soft Yarn. I had to have it because of the spicy orange color. I'm including with it a sweater pattern. One ball blue cotton laceweight. I still have like 3,000 yards of this and will be using it for a lace stole of some sort. I'm including a copy of Eunny's Print O' the Wave with it. Four balls tan acrylic boucle and some odds and ends- all wool blends. This gets a pattern included for a teddy bear and some clothes. One ball purple Lion Brand Homespun and two balls fushia Icelandic Jewels. These will have patterns included for a simple eyelet lace scarf. One small ball of Myra's handpaint sock yarn. I'll send a pattern for baby socks with this. And lastly one ball Mosaic Twist. It gets a pattern for a basic roll brim hat. I'll also be sending the tips and cables I have for the Boye interchangable needle set. I haven't used them since I realized I can use my forty inch Addis for everything (yes, I'm a Magic Looper).

Now Anti-Valentine's?

2007-01-23T19:03:00.000-05:00

I had the most excellent lunch while I listened to a Polish doctor talk about auditory stuff. (Stuff, by the way, is a highly scientific term.) If you were to have asked me prior to today to draw you a picture of a Polish doctor, it would have looked just like him. Then since I was in the middle of a western blot- the fun part where we don't touch it for sixteen hours- I decided to go shopping. I went to Candice's yarn store.... But I have excellent self control. I did NOT enhance the stash. I bought buttons. These are for Sasha's 22nd birthday gift, and this can serve as the best progress picture I can give for now.

Then I went to Target. And I found... adult Valentine's (like the little kid ones, but Grey's Anatomy, The Office, Desperate Housewives, etc) and cards for Anti-Valentine's. I don't know if my hatred for the holiday is catching on or if the card company has a bunch of disgruntled singles this year. Either way I will still not be participating in the continual commercialization of "the most romantic day of the year." Any man that wants to be romantic towards me has my permission to do so any day without the calendar and mass media reminding him to...... and, assuming it is the thought that counts and any thoughtful man will think of me and not the stereotypical woman, he can do so without handing me dead flowers and a box of candies that I mainly do not like (I only eat the Milkman that comes in the center of the huge Whitman's boxes). So.... yeah.... new topic.

I like cold weather! For the first time all year it was cold enough for me to wear my favorite handknit socks. These are Gull Wings socks from Socks! Socks! Socks! and were almost a knitter's worst nightmare. The yarn is from Myra's handpainted sock of the month club. It is sport weight washable merino and amazing. I had knit one pair in May 2005's color and had plenty left and so decided to make these longer. Do you hear the foreshadowing music? Yes, knitting these in March 2006 I ran out of April 2005's color- six rows and a toe to go! Now you say, "They look fine; all turned out well." Yes. Let me advertise some for Myra and attest to her amazing customer service. I posted to the KnitList hoping someone may have still had some and had no luck. So, I called Myra and she asked me to send her a few inches so she could see the colorway. One week later, no extra charge, I had enough of the yarn's exact match to finish my pair and then some. Moral of the story- If you have fifteen bucks to spend on some pretty fantastic hard-wearing handpaint, go shop at FancyImageYarns. It was also cold enough for me to wear my blue mittens made with yarn kindly provided by the bestest Sasha Rintha I've ever met (if you meet one better, let me know), but I got crud on them pumping gas this morning, so no picture until they've been washed.

Happy Valentine's Day?!?

2007-01-14T22:26:00.000-05:00

Or so it would seem with the completion of projects four and five for the year. The first is a long scarf for my mamaw. She's been asking for one since the completion of the first one I made her four years ago. It's wine colored, but I couldn't find a background that was high contrast enough to show both color and stitch pattern. I opted to show stitch pattern.

The second project to show for today's work is a pair of very pink mittens. I actually had the knitting done on them a week before last Valentine's, but didn't feel like sewing the cuffs in place. Two weeks in.... two abandoned projects complete.

In Memory

2007-01-10T21:17:00.000-05:00

Sometimes I find that I am most easily comforted by comforting another. A few years ago I began donating chemo caps to local treatment centers and HeadHuggers.org under the name Three Ladies. I don't know if anyone actually knows all there is to this, but since Saturday, I've felt I ought to tell the story.
First, came Genia's diagnosis. Then came Karen's, and lastly Deanna's. Three of the most influential women in my life, my mamaw, my friend Heath's mom, and my favorite teacher, were diagnosed with breast cancer within two years. Each of these women have contributed to me- they've been a big part of making me who I am. None by nagging, but all by example.
My mamaw has taught me the importance of people. I can remember being little and going on trips with her and my papaw to Florida. We'd stop at many McDonalds along the way, and she always knew someone. Not only did she know them, but she'd remember them, asking about work and children, always by name and always as though she cared for them more than any other. It should have been no surprise to me when she, being forced into early retirement because of her treatments, decided she should use all of that extra time to deliver meals on wheels and volunteer at the local opportunity house.
Deanna taught me about integrity. She has always honored her word, even in trivial matters, and has always been fair. I should know.... we'll leave it at that.
Karen taught me all I know about joy. The dictionary doesn't differentiate joy and happiness, but she did. The difference is that JOY IS UNCONDITIONAL. Even at the sickest I saw her, she was smiling because she knew God's plans for her were good. Karen passed away this past Friday. May my search for comfort bring comfort to another.

Don't worry, Karen. I won't forget.

Where I Knit

2007-01-07T17:36:00.000-05:00

Julie, the samarai knitter has asked her readers to post pictures of where they knit. The camera attached to my computer isn't the greatest and I'm still messing with the settings. The colors are purple and yellow, perfect complements on the color wheel!

I also took one of the view from where I knit. Music stand to the left and saxony spinning wheel to the right.

First Finished Projects of 2007!

2007-01-06T22:23:00.000-05:00

The idea for a day of abandoned projects worked quite well. I finished Meg's way overdue Christmas gift and Melissann's only slightly overdue Christmas gift (we decided to swap when school started back in January, so technically its on time). I'm going to see if committing to the Knit from Your Stash project works as well. I've already, if you expect me to be a purist, broken the rules of it, but only to get one ball for Melissann's scarf.....

Megan's Canteen Bag is from IK Fall 05 and was begun in December of 05. I hadn't touched it since until yesterday. I forget what the yarn is, but it smells like chai. For some reason it was logical to let my monkey model it. I modeled Melissann's scarf.

Melissann's scarf is a basic cast on, knit, run out of yarn, bind off sort of deal. I began it Thursday and finished it yesterday; the project was a new start, but an old abandonment. I really don't like garter stitch scarves, but some yarns just aspire to be a very basic scarf. This one was done with some hand-painted sock yarn from Luanne at knit group and a Walmart brand light blue baby yarn. I sewed on beaded fringe as a special final touch.

Good Cookies and Lucille Turns 60,000

2007-01-04T23:20:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I went with my fantabulous mamaw to deliver Meals on Wheels. I made each of her deliveries a plate of cookies and took them along with their meals just before the holidays. Miss Mills, mamaw's first stop, told me that they were the best cookies she's ever had and gave me her plate for a refill. How can I say no to someone so cute? Now I have to think of what kind to spoil her with.

Lucille turned 60,000 today. I think she must be a bit down in the dumps because all of her parts are out of warranty now. I think I'll treat her to a trip to the spa tomorrow.... nothing like a nice bath and looking pretty to make a gal feel good about herself... :)

I need someone to keep me straight tomorrow. I've deemed Fridays "abandoned project day" in knitland. I have three that I haven't completed because I just don't want to work on them anymore and they take up the needles I need to finish up some I really want to be working on. Tomorrow's goal is to finish Little Knittel's Christmas 2005 gift. It really shouldn't take more than about two hours including felting and sewing. I think admitting that counts as my pathetic moment of the day. Thank you God for giving me friends that are either very patient or very forgetful!

2007-01-02T23:17:00.000-05:00

I know of two people reading my blog.... I have an audience!!!! I bet I can annoy them both with one post.

Quote of the day comes from Jeff (he said this; I swear on all that is good and lovely), "The world would be a very sad place without yarn."

Speaking of which, can anyone guess what this is? It's Sasha's birthday surprise! Yes, Sasha, you will make it to 22, and, no, Sasha, I'm not going to let it suck. :)

Um... So Happy New Year's!

2007-01-01T02:53:00.000-05:00

I hope your eve was as odd as mine. It all began with the preacher telling me it was a pagan holiday. I don't know much else of what was said in this morning's sermon, but more Hebrews, marriage something, a nonBaptist music leader (we sang every verse!), and FIREWORKS SCARE DEMONS... well, if I had known that was all it took.... Then came hamburgers and sweet tea (the preacher mentioned that too. I needed some). If you put Jamaican Red tea in the same canister as the Lipton, you get quite the complex tea. That's all pretty normal. The Walmart trip with Dawn was pretty normal too, except it took me twenty minutes to convince her it was okay to buy a different brand of pantyhose.
Then came the abnormalities. Dawn convinced me to go with her to a church singles shindig... a dance. I still find it difficult to admit I'm a single. I don't dance. And I generally don't like shindigs. For some reason though, I dream of finding a guy that likes to dance and wants to throw shindigs. I'm broken.
We arrive and I'm pretty quickly certain that the highlight of my night is to be the turtle cheesecake. Patrick calls and I start thinking that I'm either meant to be with him or I'm meant to be a lesbian. It'd been a month and a half and it seemed I had only caught the attention of other females; I thought it was only logical to tell God I needed a sign that I was wrong. I told Him to send me a man to dance with...... I'm impatient. I decided to help Him along a little and when I saw one making eyes toward me had Dawn introduce us. GOD HAS A SENSE OF HUMOR! He was a thirty-five-year-old divorcee and "recovering" alcoholic. To be quite honest, I should have dared him to let me light a match near him. OKAY, LAUGH IT UP, GOD. I know, You're in control.
So I sit. And I think "I obviously suck at this." It starts getting late, like ten 'til, when this guy I hadn't seen all night asks me to dance with him. He was quite sweet and we ended up dancing and talking for the next hour or so.

The Knit To Do Dream List

2006-12-28T23:47:00.000-05:00

Entirely for my own record....
On the needles:
1. The Perfect Sweater
2. Argyle Slippers
3. Blue Fairy Sweater
4. Icarus Shawl
5. Flower Washcloth
6. My So Called Scarf
The DREAM List 2007
1. Long Scarf for Mamaw
2. Lace Gloves with Vintage Buttons
3. Norwegian Mittens
4. Lorna's One of a Kind Socks
5. Ballet Slippers from Winter Knitty
6. Shoulder Cozy from Wrap Style
7. Enchante from Wrap Style
8. Easily a Billion More....

It Seems I Give In

2006-12-27T23:27:00.000-05:00

At first I wondered why on earth someone would keep a blog. It seems selfish to me to think that people care enough to read about your every moment. Then I got addicted to a few blogs that have free knitting patterns. Soon I will finish my first sweater of my own pattern and design and will try to make a pattern available. Not that I expect many people will care, but such things will be available as I can get to them. In the mean time, I'm going to ramble and use this to keep track of all that I have going on.

Today.... A baby pic and some shots of the sweater I made him. Baby G arrived on 12/15.

The sweater is from the Pea Pod baby set published by Interweave with seed stitch border modification. It is knit from two balls of Lt. Sage Hempathy.