Monday, January 29, 2007
The "Dynamic" Duo
So most of you who have animals know, the first night's a bitch. Hell, if you've seen Lady and the Tramp (which goes back into the DISNEY VAULT in TWO DAYS...order your copy today!), you know the first night's a bitch. There's whining, there's discomfort, and it's the first chance to determine whether you're going to be the dog's bitch or not. Whose will is stronger? I slept pretty little last night. No, I'm not complaining. I'm stating it as a fact. I slept for the blessed hours between 11 & 1:45, then from 4-5. That's about 4 hours total.
Now, Abbey was not awake for all of this. There was a trip outside, there was the 2 AM playtime to work out the adrenaline that develops from going from your nice warm fleece blanket to the -2 windchill outside. But most of it was her sleeping and my own strained attempts to listen to anything resembling whining. Justin was probably up from 2:30-3, when the real
howlingwhining was going on. But then she quieted down, Justin went to sleep, and I went back to listening.So please tell me, why is it that they're both asleep on the couch at 8 PM and I'M the one trying in vain to keep the pup awake...just til 9.
"Did you know, Abbey, that Bichons were the royal dog of Madagascar?"
"You're makin' that UUUUUUP!"
Editorial Comment: One of my pet peeves is when a blogger I've been reading gets married, or has a child, or adopts a dog, and suddenly that's all there is to life. I'm sure none of you would like to know the length of the dog's stools or how many times she ate today. Many cute pics are one thing, and I appreciate your enabling of my posting of them. :-D But I'm hoping that this place won't become all dog, all the time. Knitting content will resume shortly. That is all. Time to measure the dog's stool.
Stop the knitting!!!
I wanted to introduce the latest member of our abode.
This is object of grace and beauty is Abbey.
When we set out today, we were all set on a boy. Calvin was a boy, boys are less expensive. We spent the drive up to New Castle (yeah, she's a New Castle chick...one tough broad) swapping boy names back and forth and settled on Abner for Abner Doubleday, founder of baseball. Hey, I got to name the first dog, so it was only fair. But then we got there. And the only boy had his tail clipped. And since he and the girl were on sale because they are almost 4 months old, didn't get sold at Christmas, and since girls are just less aggressive, we went with the girl. And kept the name. Also named for Abbeys (like Westminster), Abigail Bartlet on the West Wing, and Abbey road.
I promise you more cutesy, only-mama-would-want-to-see-her-dog-THIS-much pictures in the coming days.
Saturday, January 27, 2007
Like a Meth addict in a Sudafed lab
I worked today at Knit One for the first time. If I helped you, thank you SOOOOO much for the patience. Say hi in the comments and say "I was the one who..." so I can start putting faces to names. I won't say much about work here. Plus, while I'm not tired, my brain is kinda...well...gone.
I came home and knit 40 rows on something (I'll show ya Monday) just to take the edge off
But now I can say I worked at a yarn shop(pe) for a day. Can mark that off the "to do before I'm 50" list. Next up...children. No, not really.
Friday, January 26, 2007
Wherein The Hubster makes a bad pun.
On teaching Justin to Purl...
SS: You're doing really well, Justin. Good job.
Justin: Thanks, Chief. [What? You have sillier pet names I bet.]
I guess I had a good teacher....showin' me the yarns.
Oy. No no ladies. Back off. He's mine.
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Wow! Is that what day it is?
Sorry about the lack of posting. That's all you get as far as a mea culpa. Deal. :-)
I'm also feeling very scattered today, so this post may read like something out of James Joyce.
Things have picked up around here. Joined the church choir, the Waterfront Knitting Group. Actively seeking a new job. Also been busy running around the house doing organizational things.
There's been some crafty activity as well. Lots, in fact.
Part of the organizational binge over the past few weeks has been to clean out my craft room, get things put away, yarn reorganized. Man that was tough. So much inspiration for so many things I can't start yet. Anyway, I have had circular needles stored in a small CD case for about a year now. The problem is that they keep popping out. Not to mention that when you pull one needle out, 5 come trailing along behind. Sometimes I move so fast that I don't put back the ones I don't need. This leaves me with a drawer full of sock yarn and plastic cables tangled into one of those complicated mind puzzler things. So a new needle case was needed.
I used fabric from the fabric stash and a hanger left behind when we moved into the house. I will confess that I had to buy iron on transfer stuff, but in my defense, I didn't think I needed it when I started. I thought I had some. What I ACTUALLY HAD was not iron on transfer material but FABRIC that you can run through your inkjet printer. Rah. A small but important distinction.
The pattern is one of two sewing patterns in the book that changed the world first Stitch 'N Bitch book. Lots of horizontal lines of sewing. Why waste it using a plain old sewing stitch?
I've determined that I hate sewing. No wait. I hate sewing with a MACHINE. Many people say that computers don't like them? My sewing machine LOATHES me. The bobbin thread snapped a dozen times. The side of the machine FELL OFF. The part that covers up the whole mechanism that goes up and down and does the actual sewing...yeah. FELL OFF. And it won't go back on. I had to tie it on with leftover yarn from...
The first completed Highland Sock! (How'd you like THAT segue?) I love it! It's snug all over but not tight. Not a finished project, as I need to start and finish the second one, but a solid halfway mark.
There's also been magnum opus knitting.
Here's one for all you long time readers (Hi Stacie!). Who here remembers the Antichrist hat? Anyone?
The Antichrist hat began in January of 2005 (check the archives) when I decided I didn't have enough color in my knitting. I went to Arcadia Knitting with a brand new gift certificate and a desire to embark on a real odyssey...the Fair Isle Sampler Hat from the Winter 2004 Interweave Knits. This thing is an incredibly socking stocking cap that changes colors about every two rows. I last worked on it in May 2005 when it looked like this.
That was 18 months ago! That's what this Knit 2 Start 1 project is about...committing time and effort to finishing these dream projects that would ordinarily stay locked up in a drawer for YEARS if I didn't need to finish them to start something new.
Today the Antichrist Hat looks like this:
Some of you more experienced knitters might look at the bottom and thing, "oooh, look how its all puckered at the bottom. She should have gone back and redone that." I have only one thing to say to that. ARE YOU FUCKING NUTS??? (Sorry Dad.) But seriously. ARE YOU? It took me 5 months to get to that point!!!! I really like that I'll forever be able to look at this hat and know the exact moment that read the Knitty article on color stranded knitting, got inspired, and learned how to do things right!
And as I almost just deleted this entire post by hitting the "back" button, I think it's time for me to post.
I wish you all good days.
Friday, January 19, 2007
"Sick" knitting.
Justin and I went to The Sharp Edge last night. We love us some Belgian beer. No Stella Artois at our table. I had a Maredsous and Justin had Petrus Doubble. We love us some beer. That was it, though. One a piece.
So I woke up this morning, and while I was caught off guard by the light-headedness, sensitivity to light, and nausea, I wasn't shocked by it. I have no tolerance. A glass of wine and I'm bright red and speaking real slow. But after I had gotten up, had some breakfast that I could barely choke down, had taken a shower, and was STILL feeling more hung over than I've ever felt before, I decided to stick a thermometer in my mouth and see what was what. 101 feverish degrees. Hmm...never had THAT with a hangover before.
I had great plans for what to work on today, but I had no strength for the bathmat, and the stitches of the new Highland socks are too small to see without inducing a headache. I'm declaring a day off.
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Ugh. Help.
Ok, I've been thinking about getting a lace knitting / knitted lace book. I remember one that everyone was oohing and aahing about a few months ago...the one where the author is the model for all the projects? Sound familiar to anyone out there? Now's your chance to comment if you've been lurking for awhile. I've been searching the blogs where I THOUGHT I had read about it, but CAN'T FIND IT. Rah. Help would be nice. Thanks. I'm not saying I'll get THAT one, but it's the one I'm looking for right now.
Not for the Weak of Wrist
Many knitters and office assistants know of the dangers of carpal tunnel syndrome. Before "repetitive stress injury" became a household word, my mother had surgery to repair damage done by years of embroidery, crocheting, sewing, knitting, and the cruelest one of all...crewel work.
It has been suggested by I don't know who. I've spent an hour looking for it, isn't that enough? Anyway, it's been suggested that one possible way to stave off the impending doom is to knit several projects at the same time on many different sized needles. So in other words, it's a good idea to use a different group of wrist muscles than the ones I'm using to knit the Jaywalkers on little tiny needles. That calls for a project on some biggies, something I really don't like to do.
Luckily, I've been motivated by two things recently: Need and love.
Need: It seems that a lot of decor has gone black and white these days. Everything, that is, except bathmats. Go 'head. Peruse at will. I'll wait. I'll send some sock yarn to the one who finds a black and white bathmat. The ones you THINK are black and white / grey are actually "chocolate/rosewood brown." (Now that begs the question, why decorate your bathroom brown? Isn't that just begging for puerile humor? ...Ok, God is punishing me with the Jello Pudding commercial that just came on...ANYWAY)
I can't find a black and white bathmat that I like. And our bathroom is right out the thirties, in a good way.
Classic 30's tile floors.
And, while it doesn't really come into play with my "thesis", I absolutely lurve our fixtures.
We found a black and white shower curtain, and the accessories (when did they get those towels????), but have never found a black and white bathmat. I've done laps through the bath departments of Kohls, Macys, Penneys, Target, BB&B, Linens & Things. Nothing. I've long since given up the hope of getting one with a rubber back, so it's time to take matters into my own hands.
Love: Recently I lauded the Mason-Dixon washcloth in the Mason-Dixon Knits book. This book is right up my alley in so many ways. Many of the colors and styles of the home items in the book fit in with the 30's theme we have going with the house. I found the Tail Gate Rug close to the middle of the book and remembered the two yards or so of black fabric I had in the fabric trunk. Ooh ooh!!
I washed about a yard of the black fabric in HOT HOT water several times, so as to work out any bleeding issues I might have later on. This is a bath mat, after all. The technique is Log Cabin Knitting, something the Mason-Dixon ladies go into extensively.
The pattern calls for Peaches & Cream "double worsted." I don't know what that is, but I had two cones of Lion Brand Cotton just waiting. I had gotten them when I first learned how to knit. I was doing a volunteer program with a "stipend" that limited fun spending. These were on sale at Michaels for something ridiculous, like $5 a piece. I bought up two and figured I could knit DOZENS of washcloths throughout the program. It would be my legacy. Then I was distracted by something shiny.
The pattern calls for the double worsted to be held double. I held my regular cotton double and didn't get gauge. It was then I realized that each "double worsted" strand probably counted as...yeah, two strands of regular cotton. Remember how I'm not a detail person? I figured I'd add a third strand and see how things go. Things went well. Four strands would just be insane. I've been getting a workout as it is.
The other material is the rag strips. However wonderful Kate & Ann's book is, however inspirational, they use rag strips in A LOT of their patterns, but include nothing as to how to make them. My first attempt was to rip the strips an inch wide (their recommended width) and then tie them all together. That meant I've been facing a GIGANTIC knot about every 10 stitches. Ugly on the eyes and painful on the hands...I'm sure the needles would scream if they could. Bamboo is strong, y'all.
So I've been thinking back to my quilting days. When you finish a quilt, the last step is to add binding, a thin strip of fabric around the outside that holds everything in. One of the ways to prepare binding, is to take a yard of fabric or so, fold it into a cylinder, and sew it together. The you start cutting the cylinder diagonally into a long, single strip. Hmm...there's an idear.
Then I found this website, which I post here so that I may never lose it. :-) IT essentially says to rip a single strip down to about an inch before the fabric ends, then turn the fabric around and start a new strip. Genius! I don't have to pull out the sewing machine again!
One other important note, I decided to make the strips smaller as well. An inch was too much to handle. Now they're somewhere between a half an inch and three quarters.
There may not be any completed projects here for a few weeks. I've finished most of the waiting projects that were "small." Now we're on to the magnum opi.
Oh yeah! The Trekking XXL. I did some digging in my ball band bag and found that the yarn color is #68 that seems to be discontinued. But as I looked online, I think #108 "Muted Rainbow" is pretty darn close.
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
The "Joy" of Socks
Ok, this is the last time I let Justin name a blog post. But they're his feet I'm about to broadcast to all 12 of you, so I figured I'd throw him a bone. See that, hon? I outted you!
Last night I was finally able to sew in the ends and declare the Harlot Socks finished.
(See how shy he was at first?)
The best way, I think, to present these socks to you is to simply tell you of their long and sordid history.
The pattern is based on Whitby from Knitting on the Road. However, there were several modifications made.
First, as I commented in the previous post, I have big calves. I have never found a cast-on that looks elegant but fits over my heel and doesn't cut off circulation to my feet. The closest I've come is a CAST-OFF that calls for you to k1 M1 all the way around a row or two before you cast off, making the sock look ruffly at the top, but also helping it fit. So the first modification was to do these guys toe-up.
The best toe-up pattern I've found is from Stasia. It's intuitive, it's percentage based, meaning I can adjust the number of stitches required. That's been the biggest problem I've had with socks, the heel turning instructions are always so friggin PRECISE that it makes it dangerous to increase or decrease the number of stitches for the leg and the foot. I'm not a big fan of precision. This fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants attitude would get me into trouble later.
So I cast on for the first Harlot sock way back in the spring of 2005, if memory serves, using the Stasia pattern for the first time. I took it on the train when I went to see The Harlot at Arcadia Knitting that fall. (Scroll down to October 5th. I'm actually IN one of the pictures...and I'm working on the first sock. And I'm MENTIONED. Jeebus!) I believe that I was so inspired that I went back to my apartment, turned the first heel and finished the first Harlot Sock that weekend. It was a little baggy in the foot for me but not too bad. It would make a good "oversock" slipper sock.
At some point in the process, I decided that two cables just weren't enough for me, so I added another row on either side. It was this seat-of-my-pants attitude that would get me into trouble later on.
Six to nine months go by and I got sick of seeing the single sock and the half-finished ball of Trekking XXL in the "really need to do that" basket, and so I decide to cast-on for the second Harlot Sock. If I recall, we were going on some sort of a road trip and I figured I would have enough time to make a good dent into the second sock. I cast-on for the toe, a mere 6 stitches, and started the increases. As I sensed I was nearing completion of the toe, I thought it might be a good idea to compare with the other Harlot Sock to see how far I really had to go. I started rifling through the knitting bag...both patterns (Whitby and Stasia's), an extra set of needles, my darning needle, more stitch markers. No first Harlot Sock. "Why would I need to bring that??" I remembered having asked myself eariler that day. "The patterns are pretty clear-cut." Embittered, frustrated, and incredibly pissed at myself the sock, I threw it back into the basket as soon as we got home.
Fall 2006 approaches and I begin to realize how many porjects I have going at once. I've now filled 2 baskets full of half-done projects and feel like I'm starting more every day. Something needs to change. I've got to decide to let this sock go for finish the other one. (Besides, it was resting on two of my favorite circular needles...needles I would one day like to use for OTHER, more respecting socks.) We were scheduled for another road trip, so this time I packed the first sock, both patterns, every knitting notion I could find, and we headed off.
As you can imagine, this was where my lackadaisical attitude about details brought about my downfall at every step of the sock. How many TOTAL stitches should go around the foot? When does the second set of cables start? How long should I go before I begin the heel?
It is this last question that got me into the most trouble. This is where Stasia's pattern...well, I have a problem with it. She gives you a drawing that illustrates where on your foot the sock should be with you start turning the heel. Then you do a short row heel that takes you down to 10% of the total stitches of the sock. I know, that makes no sense.
Say you're knitting the foot of the sock, knitting in the round, knitting 60 stitches each round. 10% of that would be six stitches. The point is that that's a ton of stitches to decrease to, and it takes a lot of rows of back and forth to do it in. It was while I was in the middle of the mass of decreases that I realized something else. On the first sock, I had misunderstood how to turn the heel. On the second sock, something clicked and I understood. But that added an extra 2 inches to the foot of the sock. I looked at the first sock, but too much time had passed. I couldn't figure out how to duplicate the "wrong way" of turning the heel. I had a choice to make. I could either frog back the first sock ALL the way to the foot, likely having to pitch all of that yarn because it was so kinked, or I could just keep going.
Chug along I did, hoping the difference in length wouldn't matter that much in fit. I was sitting in bed one night, working on the ankle of the second sock, and decided to try it on. I came to a quick conclusion. There was no way these were going to fit me. I couldn't even fake it. You remember me saying that the first sock was a little loose. Somehow, the second sock was mammothly loose...twice my size. Like 5 shoe sizes too big. So loose that I handed both socks over to Justin and said, "Try these on for me. I'm curious as to how much I missed the mark." Then with a heavy sigh declared, "If you want them, they're yours." They fit perfectly. I couldn't believe it.
Because Justin has longer legs and much skinnier ankles than I, that meant that once I finished the second sock, I had to go back to the first sock, rip out the cuff, add an extra 4 inches so they wouldn't look like footies, and finally, FINALLY, finish them off.
I once spoke to a PhD in sociology who did her research on quilting. She found that women who have several quilts going at a time have several categories: the quilt they work on when everything is right with the world, the quilt they work on when they're with friends, and the quilt they hate to work on but recognize it HAS to get done.
Not every project is a peach, a thrill, a joy to work with. These socks fall into that category. The joy comes in crossing them off the list, in seeing them folded up in a drawer and thinking, "man, I'm glad I'll never have to deal with them again." Thank the Lord they're finished!!! What can I start now?
Monday, January 15, 2007
Draft Dodgers
It's been a busy couple of weeks around here, but I've got plenty to show for it!
Move A Go Go hasn't been going so well. Next year's resolution: Only ONE resolution per year, that way there's only one thing to focus on and only one ball to drop.
The finish 2, start 1 program is going AMAZINGLY well!
I think I figured out a way to avoid just doing small items all year (although I seem to have a craving for the small lately). I'll give you an example. I had started one of the dishrags from Mason Dixon Knitting, but having finished it, I felt doing just one was a cheat. This thing took me less than a single West Wing disc to finish up. (BTW: Barnes & Noble is having a BOGO sale on TV series until the end of the month!!!) So I cast-on for another one, figuring that there are few things in life that bring more discipline than finishing one thing and then having to start AND finish an identical thing before it "counting." (This from the woman who finished one sock, then waited A WHOLE YEAR to start the second one.) The way I see it, a PAIR of socks constitutes a finished project, not a SINGLE sock. You follow me?
I absolutely love these! They're the perfect size, even after washing them and the pattern has so much going on that it stays interesting to the very end.
Pattern is from the aforementioned book.
Green yarn is Lion Brand Cotton leftover from some hats I made when the quads were teeny.
Yellow yarn is Peaches & Cream Cotton that I bought the day before my wedding in case I needed something to keep my hands and mind occupied before the ceremony. Didn't need it, I guess.
As I was taking pictures, Justin lifted up his head from the computer and commented,
"Wow! You have...what's its calleds. YADs?"
"You mean FO's?"
"Yeah, whatever they're called. Way to go!"
"What would YAD mean, anyway?"
"I dunno. YAD! Yarn...yarn and..."
"Dreams?"
"Yeah! Yarn and Dreams!"
"It's a dream come true to finish ANYTHING around here. When are we gonna put the Christmas decorations away?"
Apparently, we're also planning on the storm of the year here in the 'Burgh. I scared the people behind me in line at the incredibly crowed JoAnn's today by saying that everyone was stocking up on stuff to do if we're all snowed in tomorrow. They just flew in from Florida and started freaking out. I quickly had to back up and tell them that it's gonna drop below 40 for the first time in a month. And it'll snow...like an inch. What does the weather mean here in the leaky house? It means that after a brief cease-fire, the Battle of the Radiator has resumed. Preparations are well under way. (Insert A-Team Theme here)
Even though it refuses to take a proper picture (this is the best of 20), it's doing a pretty good job of keeping the draft from the draftiest door in the house at bay.
I also took today to turn the 5 or so yards of fabric I got after The Heating Bill into a curtain to fill the vast void the exists between the basement and the first floor.
Wow! So that's three projects done. Which means I get to start one. W00T!
I decided that what with so many people writing and protesting and calling for calm and having contests, etc. concerning what happened to a company that sells sock yarn, I figured I'd do my part for the cause...
...and show you just how beautiful this yarn can be.
Last night I started
Grumperina's Jaywalker pattern in Socks that Rock Medium weight. The colorway (which they still have available is "Scottish Highlands." Someone from that company had to have gone there, because these colors...that's what it looks like. Deep green, yellow gorse, purple heather, and tons and tons of bluish grey. The painting is from a tiny artist's croft in the Highlands. A pretty good depiction of our trip. I'm loving every bit of this yarn.
Thursday, January 4, 2007
Philosophical Musings
Normally when I knit, I'm watching TiVo, movies...celebrity poker. This morning, I decided to sit in the quiet and work on an unfinished draft-catcher.
As my mind drifted in and out of various subjects, I came up with several truths:
Why are New Years Resolutions a set up for failure?
They are the equivalent of behavioral modification by going cold turkey. Change something, change it right now, change it all at once. In most cases, take your current behavior, and do the opposite. Well, that's really hard to do!
Take me, for example. I write this post about a goal: the goal is to finish 2 projects before I start a new one. What's the first thing I do? Sit down with a knitting book get all inspired about 10 projects I NEED to start...NOW. This is the equivalent of going to the all you can eat chocolate buffet the day after you spend $200 on the Weight Watchers Season Pass.
Did I start any of them? No. I didn't. Ta Da!!
But I did realize something: I may be setting myself up for a disappointing year.
See, the first time I did Weight Watchers, the main goal was to lose weight. Didn't matter how. So, every night (I was living in a place with a microwave, but no oven, no hotplate) I would nuke a frozen Lean Cuisine and make up a salad. Instead of eating a huge bag of Ruffles, I would eat a whole tube of those Fat Free Pringles...let me tell you, that didn't end pretty. Instead of eating a Snickers, I would eat one of those Skinny Cow Ice Cream samwiches (those -- I'd still eat if they weren't priced as if they were coated in gold). In other words, I substituted all the bad food I used to eat with the fat free equivalent.
I'm wondering if I won't do that this year, substitute any challenging project, anything of substance, anything I'd truly enjoy, with stuff that helps me achieve my goal. In other words, why work on that in-process Alice Starmore shawl when I could pump out two washcloths in a week (I know, I'm slow) and start something with new yarn, new needles? I'm still trying to figure out a way to combat this problem. Ideas?
The other thing I'm realizing is that, despite the intial first temptations, this project is doable. My personality is to flit from project to project, working a few rows on a couple of things until my attention is fully piqued by something. By finishing 2 and starting one, I'm hoping that I'll be able to keep enough projects going to keep my short attention span sated.
Here's the current progress on the first goal of the new year:
I'm about four cable twists away from meeting up with the first sock. However, as I tried these on a second time, I realized that the first one is WAY too short, so I plan on ripping out at least a few rows and then using any leftover yarn to make them both taller.
In other resolution news: I'm 4 miles into Rachael's RunAGoGo.
Tuesday, January 2, 2007
Year of the FO
There are all sorts of resolutshathons going on in Blog Land right now. There are yarn diets so extensive that apparently yarn stores are being threatened (yeah, right.). There are rules and exceptions, and knitalongs aplenty. Yarn-a-Go-Go is celebrating her new iPod Sneaks with a knitter's run-along.
I've decided to join the fray and create my own. This year will be the Year of the FO for me. Normally I have project ADD, starting new things over and over again, yet never finishing anything. I've done a little bit of an inventory of my knitting baskets and have counted the following:
Three socks that have no mates (one dating back 18 months).
Two sweaters that are lacking essential bits (one dating back 2 1/2 years, only needing one sleeve and some finishing).
Two scarves that fall way short of their respective lengths.
One pair of promised baby pants that are nonexistant.
One shawl that is such a magnum opus, well...it may not get done this year.
One Fair Isle Hat that needs to have...SOMETHING done to it.
And THESE are just the knitting projects.
I've also got two quilts that need to be quilted, hopefully before July.
And a Scotland Scrapbook dating back to 2001.
Then there's the "great plans" stash. All of that yarn I bought in months and years past, destined for greatness but casually set aside, never to be used for (God Forbid) a DIFFERENT project, but never to be touched because, well, at SOME point I'll get around to using it for its intended purpose. That's the way a stash is built, right?
So, here's my rules:
1. Finish two projects before you start a new one.
2. New projects must be from the "great plans" stash, which is, essentially, my entire stash.
3. Frogging of unfinished projects isn't allowed unless I can't remember what pattern I was using or what needles I was using or I run out of yarn to use on the project, a likely possibility.
First up: The Yarn Harlot Socks. The sock that I was knitting when I met Steph and Franklin 18 months ago. I've had a toe knit for about a year now.
This was the status way back then. We'll see where we are tomorrow.
[Archives]
Search entries:
