It's all about the "K"

NBS.

2006-03-13T07:57:00.000-08:00

NBS, or Neglectful Blogging Syndrome, is common amongst busy bloggers who struggle to find a work/life/play balance. While treatable, NBS can cause intense feelings of shame, guilt, embarrassment and inadequacy. While the neglectful blogger continues to read other netizens' blogs, he/she only feels worse when he/she recognizes that his/her fellow bloggers continue to update at regular intervals. The cure for NBS is both simple and difficult. The neglectful blogger needs to bite the proverbial bullet and post a blog entry. While the first NBS treatment can be painful and may result in a post of lesser quality. This is the critical first step in treating the cyclical syndrome. *** Hello. My name is Suzanne and I have NBS. But to be fair I've been a busy gal. In the past 5 months I've started a new job, bought a new house, started the adoption process and we've been fixing up our current house for sale this summer. I've been knitting a lot though and will start posting FOs (Strawberry Hat, Lace Leaf Shawl, Clapotis II, Angel's Rest Socks etc.) after I take photos.

Christmas Curls

2005-12-21T08:25:00.000-08:00

Back from the blogging void...also known as "real life." 'Tis the season, eh? Theoretically, the last week of work before the holiday break is supposed to be languorous and quiet. WhatEVER! We've been so busy at work. I guess it's a good thing and a bad thing. Busy means lots of revenue. But busy also means...I haven't gotten anywhere near I need to be on my Christmas knitting. I'm sad to say that I think my dad's Irish Hiking scarf will not be made in time. I'm going to be pushing it just to finish my mom's Feather and Fan scarf in time. 30 minutes a night just isn't enough time. And what's up with parties in the middle of the week? Damnit...don't you people appreciate the fact that I have knitting to do? C'mon...how many Christmas cookies do you think I need? (Ok...I need A LOT of Christmas cookies. I'll give you that.) That said, I have one old Christmas FO to share. The Christmas HiP. In Aurora Bulky. (click on the thumbnail for the whole deal.) The yarn was on super sale and they only had 3 balls of red and 2 of green. But the colors were so Christmas-y I had to get them. I quickly realized that the pretty staggered stripes of the pattern wouldn't use up all of the yarn...and I needed to use all of the yarn in order to make the scarf as looooooong as I wanted it. Hence, the funky attempt at a transition between colors. Well, it's definitely long. I actually haven't taken the time to measure...but considering the approximate length of each step gap I figure I have at least 84" of scarf there. That's a lot of scarf! And the Aurora Bulky is very warm. Thankfully it's not too heavy (considering how much yarn is there) and it's nice and soft. It actually looks quite fun and seasonal when worn. My biggest complaint is the curling. Pre-blocking, this thing was a twisty tube. Post-blocking...well...it seemed ok. But after one day of wearing...it curled right back up. Gah! Granted, I steam blocked it instead of wet blocking. (Where the hell am I going to lay out a scarf this long to wet block???) Alison warns you about the curling...but I have to say, I'm a bit dismayed that she wasn't lying. So when I get a break, I'll wet block this sucker until the curl is beaten into submission. In the meantime, I'll just walk around with the Tube O' Christmas around my neck.

It's beginning to feel a lot like...

2005-12-02T08:25:00.001-08:00

Knitting time! When the view out your front window is this: how can you NOT want to knit??? It snows so rarely in the Seattle area - it's always a treat. But I must admit, the city reacts disproportionately panicky to the weather. The DEFECTIVE YETI says it better than I could. I'm a bit late on my holiday knitting...but here's my mother's scarf on the needles: It's a simple Feather and Fan pattern in Blue Sky Alpaca and Silk. It's such a ridiculously easy thing to knit up. But she's not a knitter (and she's my mom), so she'll be impressed. Ummm...and please ignore the horrible attempt at staging a picture. I so wish I could take beautiful photos. And you think this one is bad? Wait until you see the pic of the Christmas HiP scarf I just finished. But I'll protect your eyes from that until the next post.

Geometric Shapes are Fun!

2005-11-29T07:25:00.000-08:00

I don't know what it is about Jess Hutch's creations...but they make me smile every time I see them. Here's my Squarey from her PATTERN BOOKLET Yarn: Lamb's Pride Worsted Needles: US8 Finished Dimensions: he's stuffed with a 12"x12" pillow form Jess uses "safety eyes" for her dolls but I was far too lazy to go and find some so I embroidered on the eyes. I actually like the effect...it kind of looks like he has eyelashes. But other than that...this little guy is to her pattern. I highly recommend making Squarey. Besides being a ridiculously easy and quick knit, he's really rather charming and great to snuggle with or prop up your arm whilst knitting. My one tip to you if you make Squarey: Don't forget to remove the tag from the pillow form BEFORE you seam up the doll. Not that I did that of course. Never mind that crunching noise you hear when you squeeze him.

More Knitty SP delights.

2005-11-28T07:52:00.000-08:00

All the way from the UK...see all those stamps!? You can only imagine my delight when I realized I had just received a Barbie Sea Rescue set! Finally, my plastic sea animals are safe from the terrors of the bathtub thanks to Barbie and her porpotionally small speed boat. Alas, my dear SP decided to go the more traditional route with a dizzying array of goodies. Each was individually wrapped in colorful tissue and was accompanied by a little note. Really, the attention to detail was just lovely. Here's the breakdown: - A skein of local wool for dying! I've never done any dying...and I'm so excited to try. - Two skeins of Debbie Bliss Aran Tweed. According to my SP it will felt beautifully. Little winter bag...here I come. - A cute trinket bag of gadgets for my desk. - More LUSH goodies. Can you tell why I love my SP? - The cutest little sheep ornament. - A pencil made from a twig from my SP's home area. It's actually a bored out twig with pencil lead. How cool is that? - TWO bars or Green and Black chocolate. I've been DYING to try some since I've heard so many great things about it. My hubby declared it "really good" and I didn't declare it anything as I was too busy stuffing it in my mouth before he could get anymore of it. - And finally a little bottle of a restorative. I wasn't quite sure what it was. The note said it was to help relax during stressful times. I read the bottle and it said to put a few drops in some water and drink or to drop a few drops directly on the tongue. Oooooo-kay. And then I look at the ingredients. The primary ingredient was BRANDY! WAHOOO! I just love this little bottle. It's going to travel in my purse all day. And when people see me dropping this stuff and they ask "what's that" I can tell them "it's my medicine." Sure, they may wonder why I act all tipsy after I take my medicine... Thank you dear SP. So many delights in one box! I can't believe I still have another package coming. I know it's better to give than to receive (and I've had a ton of fun giving.) But I must say...the receiving part is pretty darn fun too. Hmmm...I think I feel a bit of stress coming on. I'm off to take my medicine!

Seams R Us

2005-11-17T07:32:00.000-08:00

At long last...a few lessons learned on seaming (and blocking.) Most of you probably know all of these tips. But I, for one, sure learned a couple of good ones! Sizing: For sweaters, knit the back first to the desired LENGTH. Mark every 10 or 20 rows with a little split ring marker to make counting rows easier. Then, knit the front piece(s)to the same row count as the back. This will keep you from having to stop and measure all of the time. And you're be assured of having an even stitch count to seam together. Seaming sides: Place decreases at least 1 stitch in from the edge. Place increases at least 2 stitches in from the edge. This ensures you have a clean line of stitches to follow when you seam. Blocking Boards: Make your own blocking board from a stiff surface (thick cardboard) covered with some quilt batting and then gingham fabric. The gingham forms a natural grid for you to use as blocking guides. Blocking sweaters: Block the back of the sweater first. Then, lay the front piece(s) of the sweater over the back and pin down. This prevents you having to measure twice. Just keep a fan running to keep the drying time down. Blocking sweaters: For a sweater than hangs straight at the bottom, don't pin the outer inch or two of the bottom corners. Allow these corners to "pull in" a bit. This will prevent the bottoms from flaring when it's all pieced together and worn. Weaving in bulky ends: If you're using a bulky yarn, split the yarn in two and weave in those ends separately (in opposite directions.) This is a very secure way to weave in ends without adding bulk. Seaming order: 1) Shoulder seams (If it's a raglan sleeve, do the bar to bar first) 2) Neck edging and front bands 3) Attach sleeves (for set in sleeves, baste first) 4) Sleeve underarms (from armpit out to wrist) Tomorrow...a new friend to introduce. Here's a hint...it's from THIS FABULOUS BOOKLET.

Winter IK

2005-11-10T08:08:00.000-08:00

The WINTER INTERWEAVE KNITS PREVIEW is up. Overall, I'm looking forward to it. There are a few sweaters and a scarf that look like fun. My breakdown... The HIGH: Bi-color cables. Of course, it's by Annie Modesitt, so you can't go wrong. But is anyone else just LOVING how this looks? I want to see more! Damn the small preview pics! Damn them! and The LOW: Mowat Mukluks. Mukluks. Ok, I get that Kate Hudson and Pam Anderson love their Ugg boots. And oh...look, knitted BOOTies are so cute. But Mukluks? And in a hot pink no less. Talk about "Ugh". To be fair, I think the furry wrap around section is what really puts it over the "fugly" edge. But really, I could never see these things again and be happy. Thank goodness for small preview pics! Thank goodness!

Cheep!

2005-11-07T20:27:00.000-08:00

Lucinda Guy is a genius. I haven't named this little gal yet...but she's a sweetie. Yarn: Rowan Cotton Glace Needles: US 3 Pattern: Birdie from Lucinda Guy's Handknits for Kids Yeah, the crocheted eyes are a bit buggy. But I like to think of her as just alert. The real problematic part of this pattern is the sheer number of pieces you have to knit up. Wanna see? See those innocent looking spikey things in the upper right? Ahhh...the torture! The suffering! The agony! For such little pieces they sure are a pain in the bloody arse. Cast on...cast off...join yarn...cast off...and on and on and on. I love ya Lucinda, but I'm begging you to think of a better way to create a cute tail. If this little thing ever gets a sister (which I think it must...after all, if one is cute a whole flock would be reeeeeeeeeallly cute) I'm giving it a half-moon tail. Fluted edges should be left for pies (mmmm...pie). And yes, I steam blocked all the pieces. It was one of the tips I picked up in my seaming class. But Many Pieces + Many Corners = a blocking PITA. Was it worth it? Oh yeah. And for my husband (not that he reads this) it's a BIRD not a fish! :p

Could y'all please not be so prolific

2005-11-07T09:01:00.000-08:00

ACK! Away from the internet for a week and I can't catch up with all of the blogs. Sheesh people! Can't you stop posting so much? =) 202 posts I need to catch up and counting...

No travel my @$$

2005-11-03T21:10:00.000-08:00

So one of the questions I asked when I was interviewing for my new job was "how much travel is required?" I asked this question because I had just spent the last two years of my life trekking between Seattle and Detroit at least every other month. (There was that one month when I got to make the trip 3 times...) And besides the fact that scenic downtown Detroit isn't exactly a hotspot I was just TIRED of being cramped into little metal tubes streaking through the air while inhaling the recycled germs of the wheezing old guy 18 rows back and trying not to stare at the bald pate of the man in the seat in front of me. Shiny...shiny...hairy...eww. And no offense to any Michigan residents reading this but...after the 12th time, the WORLD'S LARGEST TIRE kind of loses it's novelty, ya know? The answer my company gave me was, "Travel? I don't think you'll need to travel at all. Maybe on the rare occassion, but in general I'd say NO TRAVEL WILL BE REQUIRED." I've just settled in at home from my 3 day trip to Milwaukee, WI. That means I left on the 6th day on the job. That's right...it took just SIX FREAKING DAYS for them to ship me to MILWAUKEE. (My mom's from Wisconsin, I have enough cheeseheads already. When do I get to go to New York or Paris, eh?) And now...now I'm getting ready to head down to Portland tomorrow morning. To make the meetings on time I need to leave at 5am. All this adds up to two out of state business trips within my first two weeks on the job. Sadly, this means I'm too tired and too full of bratwurst to post my seaming lessons. Not much knitting has happened either but I did finish something before I left. It's cute and fun and bright and has been begging to have it's moment on the web. So here's a little sneak peek: I'll be back and less witchy this weekend. Are there any air travel jokes that haven't been done yet? It's probably passe to complain about flying.

Eek! A mouse!

2005-10-24T19:33:00.000-07:00

From humble beginnings... No, it's not some freaky knit bikini makings... (*side note: does anyone actually WEAR a knit bikini? I mean...is anything less appealing than the idea of a small wet triangle of wool plastered to your boobs?*) I call her Hester. Look at that face! From Handknits for Kids by LUCINDA GUY. The sweaters and hats for kids are adorable. Lucinda uses a lot of color work, but nothing too complicated...and the results are stunning. Plus, there are four stuffed animal patterns: dog, bird, mouse and cat. I actually bought the book for these four little guys who are too adorable for words. I've CO for a bird...so you'll meet her soon. Here's a profile shot: And finally - I have to show you the back seam: I'm so pleased with how it turned out. I have to say, that finishing class I took was well worth it! I'll post a few tips I picked up from the finishing class tomorrow. There's nothing mind blowing although I did learn I was picking up my stitches all wrong. Go figure.

Variety!

2005-10-20T18:46:00.000-07:00

The coolest thing to me right now is THE SAMPLER. Artists submit samples of their product to the The Sampler, The Sampler divvies them up and then ships out little sample packs to the subscribers. The artists get web banners on The Sampler site and they get their product out to a wider audience. It's a win-win. Look at the cool stuff I got for October! I'm especially enamored with the little 1" buttons. I want MORE and MORE of these...especially the ones from MILKY POP. I just wish I had more cool satchels and belts to attach these things to. It's a bit tricky to get a subscription...it's a limited run each month. In fact, it took me 2 months to get in...but I'm so happy I did. I can't wait for November. And yes, I have been knitting. My bowling shoulder seems to be recovering. I made some progress on Kersti Clap: See that green square? That's my first dropped stitch. Yeah...it's not going so quickly. But isn't the fabric purrrrr-tee? And in other news...today was my first day at my new job. All I can say is that it rocks. Besides being dog friendly...they have a fully stocked fridge FULL of sodas that include Diet Dr. Pepper (for free) and they pay for a parking spot in downtown Seattle. I have to say that it's kind of scary how great it is. Everyone is really nice and seemingly genuine with how welcoming they are. They gave me a bagel breakfast welcome at the office...and took me out to lunch...and then took me out to coffee. It's almost too nice. It brings to mind the Stepford Wives. Or the witch in the gingerbread house. Hey, just because you're paranoid that doesn't mean they're not watching you. Oh - I'm taking a SEAMING class on Saturday. YIPPEE! I'm horrible at seaming...so I hope this helps. I'll be at the 1pm class at HILLTOP YARNS EAST on Saturday. If you're there, you can look at my seams and point and laugh. I won't mind at all.

54

2005-10-13T11:07:00.000-07:00

So I haven't made much progress on this: because of this: (Company name has been masked to protect the guilty.) At this point, you may be thinking, "Whaaaaaa...? Suzanne es loco! How can a trophy hinder a Clapotis? After all...nothing can stop The CLAP! NOTHING!" Or...you may not be thinking anything of the sort. But I had to go with it, ya know? Anyhoo... My group at work went to The Garage on Monday. There was much laughter and hurling of balls and knocking of pins. They had 8 lbs. balls for us weenies who never bowl. But it turns out the perfect equation for knitting ceasation is swinging around the 8lbs of whatever-bowling-balls-are-made-of and old volleyball shoulder injuries. The next day I didn't think anything of it, I wasn't sore or anything. But alas, on Wednesday my body decided to tell me that it did not like bowling and knitting...not one bit. The stabbing pains that ripped through my shoulder as I finished the 4th increase section of the Kersti Clap pretty much hurt like a bee-yatch. *BIG SIGH* So, I've managed to bowl my way out of any knitting for who knows how long. All of that for a score of 54 and the "Gutter Gal" award. Yes, that's fifty-four after a full set of 10 frames of bowling. Hey, I'm a crafter...not a bowler. (You mean those nice ruts (ie gutters) alongside the lane aren't there to gently cradle the ball on its journey down the lane and past those nasty ole pins?) And I was having so much fun on my Kersti Clap too. I'm not a happy Clapper. Not one bit.

It's raining Koigu, hallelujah! (to the tune "It's raining men")

2005-10-13T10:59:00.001-07:00

From the Ram's Wool sale. Arrived safe and sound in a nifty zippered plastic bag (the kind you store blankets in.) Glorious! Just Glorious! If it wouldn't tangle, I'd throw it on the bed and roll in it.

October Lemon

2005-10-11T08:14:00.000-07:00

Somehow as a kid I turned "eleven" into "lemon" and since today is my dad's b-day...October Lemon is forever emblazoned in my mind. And with that sentence...commence the random rambling! I just bought THIS. I can't wait to work this one up. Sure, it may be Ene stays at her measley six rows forever...but this pattern looks so much simpler (and I'm going to work it up in sport or DK weight yarn). The bear (no pics, sorry) has an arm stub and amputated ears right now. I didn't realize that you pick up the armhole stitches and knit the arms on. Ugh. Maybe it's just me, but knitting in the round whilst smooshing bits of the bear in to get the needles angled is a hassle. I'm knitting really tightly too because it's so awkward so my hands and shoulder start to hurt. I'm also realizing that I don't like the way this pattern is written at all. (If you are planning on making this bear...the ears on the pattern I have are wrong and the errata is on the website.) For the ears I'm supposed to fold them in half lengthwise (ok...I get that part) and then "attach to the head." Ummm...thanks for the really descriptive directions guys! Any suggestions on how to go about that? Maybe for those toy makers out there, there's a standard ear attaching method. Who knows? There could be an entire book about attaching ears out there (and there probably is) but for us novices it sure would be nice to have a few more details. So I'm going to have to wing it and I anticipate much ripping and swearing. So in my anti-arm funk...I cast on for a new Clapotis. I mean, can one have too many Clapotis? (What the heck is the plural of Clapotis??? Clapotee? Clapotises? Clapotouse?) I'm using Koigu Kersti for this one and it's loverly. I'll flash some pics tonight. Blog Rec Normally, this BLOG makes me laugh. it's a local nerdy guy. But today, his story about horseradish brought me to tears. You should take a read. I'm not a mom yet...but I imaging it pretty much captures the emotional center of parenthood. Movie Rec SERENITY It actually reminded me of the thrill of seeing Star Wars for the first time. It's got humor, action, tragedy, adventure, romance all tied together by some great dialogue and snappy characters. Sure, it's not as snazzy as some of the big budget movies out there...and this isn't necessarily Oscar time...but if you want a good flick for a couple hours escape - this should rock your world.

Scary Bear!

2005-10-10T06:55:00.000-07:00

Good progress has been made on Baby Bobbi Bear but alas he is armless and earless still. Is it just me or isn't he kind of a scary looking guy right now? He's got a Franken-bear look going on and the poor dog isn't sure what to make of him. Hopefully I'll finish his body construction tonight...but I must admit I'm worried about seaming on the arms. I'm not sure if I'll be able to make them look nice and neat since I won't be able to really see the backside of the fabric. If it gets really ugly I think I'll pull out the embroidery thread case and make a Halloween Bobbi by adding tons of Frankenstein's Monster stitches so the crappy seams look intentional. After all, 'tis the season! Is it just me or has it been too long since my stash was enhanced? Yeah, that's how I feel about it too! Hubby and I ventured down to Portland on Friday for business. But all work and no play makes Suz a yarn-less girl. So I made it to LINT for the first time. It's a neat little store (which you can see from their fancy schmancy 360 tour thing on their website.) I must say, I think I showed extraordinary restraint to walk out with only this: I was sad to see their Koigu supply is as low as all the Seattle stores...but of course I managed to find a couple of skeins. Their book selection was to die for. I flipped through the Lucinda Guy book Handknits For Kids which I have been wanting to look through for ages. Such cute patterns...especially for some stuffed animals. I didn't pick it up...but I did get A Treasury of Knitting Patterns. I'm in this total knitting pattern phase. I think I have illusions about creating my own wraps and such. Who am I fooling? Only myself. But hey - if nothing else I'll have a ton of swatch coasters. I finally got some size 6 Addi Turbos to help my Lace Leaf Shawl along and since I've never used Crystal Palace DPNs I got a couple sets. The tips are so nice and pointy. They'll be perfect for poking my husband's hand when he reaches over to try and steal my soda while I knit.

Big changes...no knitting

2005-10-05T10:12:00.000-07:00

Well, the past week and a half have been crazy. I just closed the deal on a new job and I can't tell you how excited I am. Some of you know, I have been miserable at my current job and have been looking for an escape route for awhile now. Well, the perfect opportunity came up and I jumped at it. So what does this new job offer? Higher salary, better benefits, better opportunities for advancement, paid parking, paid cell and Blackberry, tons of paid vacation and...it's PET FRIENDLY. I could bring Audrey to work with me...which is just too cool for school. I'm so happy I could spit. (Hmm...that sounds grosser than I meant it to sound.) And hey, more money means more yarn. And everyone knows that I need MORE yarn! *snort* That said, the one thing about my current job is all of my fellow peons are just the greatest people. I'm going to miss so many people intensely. Thankfully, I've made good enough friends that we'll hang out socially either way. But for the co-workers reading this - I love you guys. Don't feel abandoned. I'd take you all with me if I could. *** In knitting news, I'm uninspired by my current projects on the needles. The Lace Leaf shawl has stalled, Ene is a frustrating knit because of my needles, Babby Bobbi Bear hasn't graduated beyond the tube stage yet, socks are in the boring stages and Klaralund seems to be lost in the stash somewhere. So what's a girl to do? Swatch for Katy I have a TON (20 balls!!!) of Jaeger Shetland Aran and I figure with all of the cables, Katy would be a great project to eat up some of that yarn. I think the cables show nicely and I'm pleased with the softness of the swatch. I need to sign up for a finishing class before I get too into it though. My seaming skills are severly lacking. Hey, where do you Seattle area knitters meet up. I think it's time from me to come out of my e-Knit world and meet up with real people. :)

I attack your moonbase with my...sock!

2005-10-03T07:03:00.000-07:00

What a perfectly lovely weekend...in a really nerdy way. Since Autumn has arrived in force, the weather was perfect for a cozy weekend inside. While the wind blew, the clouds hovered and the rain drizzled, hubby and I and friend "geeked out" (as the kids say). We played Risk 2210 AD. Each game lasts 3.5-4 hours (!) and since our friend and my hubby weigh EVERY decision with the strategic intensity of the Joint Chiefs of Staff...the game has a way of dragging oooonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn. But what's that in the background? AH HA! It's my SECRET WEAPON. Thankfully my Angel's Rest sock volunteered to keep my hands busy while I sat and watched the two guys make intense expressions with their faces. I love playing games...but really - those guys take it SO seriously. For those of you that know anything about Risk, I'm the tan pieces...and you can see on the board - for all of the guys' efforts - I'm still kicking their butts. *** In other knitting news...I finished row FOUR of Ene's Scarf. I can't believe this thing is taking so darned long. But I did rip out my messed up first attempt and cast on the THREE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY FIVE stitches...AGAIN! I also bought some Addi Natura's to make the knitting easier. The points are much better than the Clover's so the K2TOGs are much easier. But the joint between the metal and the needle on the Addi's is a death trap for the lace weight Shadow I'm using. So I don't think I've gained anything. I have to dig out a ton of stitches from the damn groove...so progress is slow and I'm already thinking about different scarves/wraps I could be knitting with less aggravation. To ease my lace drudgery, I grabbed some Blue Sky Organic Cotton and cast on for Baby Bobbi Bear. I've got it on a 16" circular, but I'm thinking I need to transfer it to DPNs because I'm stretching the stitches too much. The fabric seems really loose (no - I didn't check guage before I CO) and I think the stuffing will show...so I may frog and start again. For some reason, the concept of frogging a bear makes me laugh. Visions of Kermit and Fozzie Bear come to mind...

Of fill do woeful

2005-09-29T11:55:00.000-07:00

Subject lines from today's spam email: A bring as underneath a brickbat Of reply no couchette Have run on compliment For stand the subdue withal With fall he teacup loch it talk be harrassment But shut it comparable his stand go strikebreaker Or take no british I love my spam! This account managed to get on some random list that has the most inventive spam. Note, none of these messages were caught by the Comcast spam filters. So way to go Spammers. Thank you for NOT barraging me with offers for cheap Viagra and hair replacement treatments. I rather enjoy "RE: Go hurt so mighty" and "With break no quarters ruction." So thank you Ethel Heath, Jerrold Willard, Wiley Clifford, Maude Brewer and Florence Mcclure. You always keep me wondering what's next. (I took a screenshot, but I realized when I loaded it that it's too small to read. But nonetheless: PROOF) * Please note, this post has been laced with heavy sarcasm. If you have any allergies or sensativities to sarcasm, please do not ingest this post or allow this post to come into direct contact with your eyes.

I should have paid more attention to Sesame Street

2005-09-28T07:12:00.000-07:00

Remember the Count from Sesame Street? "One...One little kitty! Two...TWO little kitties! THREE! THREE LITTLE KITTIES!" I always thought his cute little felt fangs were so funny. I cast on for Ene last night. I was afraid of Birch and it's 299 stitches to cast on. But Ene and her 375 (that's right...THREE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIVE) cast on stitches just about killed me. I REALLY need to get pointier circulars than my Clovers. But I did it. And I counted correctly. And I was happy. It was late but I figured I could finish one row. It wasn't until I had only 32 stitches left to knit that I realized I had messed up somewhere. Thanks to the magic of stitch markers I counted back and I realized that I had counted the first section of the row as a repeat. So instead of a lead-in section and 11 repeats before the center stitch I have a lead-in section and 10 repeats before the center stitch. Grumble grumble grumble. So I finished up the row and just added the missing repeat on the second side of the row. It will mess up the pattern but I'm trying ot figure out if it REALLY matters on this pattern or not. I mean...it's just the first row, I still have the right number of stitches and I REALLY don't want to frog and cast on again. (Needless to say there's no way in hell I'm going to tink back 375 stitches.) So it took me 2.5 hours to get this done...and it's not even right. Anyone have some Sesame Street DVDs they want to lend me?

God Save the Queen

2005-09-21T15:25:00.000-07:00

I love the British!!! Specifically, I love my Secret Pal from the Knitty SP round. My first "offical" package arrived last night and it's so wonderful! Straight from the UK! The breakdown: - Neat foot gloves that make each of my toes feel so loved - Soap and bath bomb from LUSH. SP, I don't know how you knew I LOVED Lush products...but you're good. And they're hard to get in the states...I only ever get the stuff when I go to Canada. What a treat. I love the citrus-y scents you picked too! - A bar of dark chocolate (my fave) that I've hidden from my husband - 2 balls of Debbie Bliss Cathay (so luscious) - A bag of coordinating beads so that I can try my hand at beaded knitting. This is so darn thoughtful as I've been dying to learn how to do beaded knitting. - A sweet card and.... - My Favorite Thing is the envelope was hand-decorated by my SP's youngest child. I hope you can see it in the picture...it's so darn charming. It makes me smile just to think about it. And here's a pic to show you my stripy feet. Don't those toes look happy? So thank you dear SP...whoever you are. And thank the young artist in the family for me too, please. They say it's better to give than receive...but this kind of receiving is pretty darn fun!

Ever have one of THOSE days?

2005-09-21T09:39:00.000-07:00

The way NOT to start out your day is to spill your 100% full decaf non-fat vanilla latte in your office all over your newly-knitted and first-time worn Flower Basket Shawl. I have a happier post...but I want to wait until I'm not so grumpy.

Flower Basket Shawl

2005-09-19T20:30:00.000-07:00

From this: To this: To this: To warm fuzzy loveliness: I love the miracle of blocking. It's like magic to me. If you can see in the pics, the unblocked, pre-soaked shawl was about 40" across. A bath and a stretch and voila! 60 inches of good Flower Basket love, baby! (And really, a bath and a stretch does anyone good!) A close up... Of course, the colors in these pics are way off. Darn flash. In real life it's a really warm cinnamon-y brown shot through with magenta and gold. The best shot of the colors is in the above pic of the hanks. *sigh* I really need to take more blog pictures in natural light. I ADORED this pattern. This shawl is all for me, but I definitely think my mom might be getting one for Christmas. (I was going to do Ene's Scarf from Scarf Style for her but...nahhhhh.) The repeat is simple and goes quickly, the result is stunning and looks complicated and the edging and binding off technique is so clever. Details: Pattern: Flower Basket Shawl from Fiber Trends Yarn: Mountain Goat from Mountain Colors. 55% Mohair, 45% Wool. I used about 400 yards - less than 2 skeins. Needles: US7 circular Knitting Time: ~14 hours Lesson's Learned 1) I do NOT need to knit a shawl in a weekend. 2) Typing after 10 hours of straight knitting is not a good idea. 3) I wish I had some Addi Natura needles instead of my Clover Bamboo circulars. My yarn continuously snagged at the cable/needle joint. Grrrrr. 4) I need to control the desire to knit everything out of Mountain Goat. 5) I will not brag about being a quick purler ever again.

I'm going for 9!

2005-09-18T16:39:00.000-07:00

My shoulder is screaming, my right thumb is cramping and my eyesight is blurring...but I'm going for one more repeat on my FBS. My goal is to have this sucker done and blocking before I go to bed around 9 tonight. So I have about 4 hours to knit a full lower basket repeat and the edging. I was cruising all morning but now the rows are starting to run together and I'm referring to the chart more and more. And the repeats are just getting longer and longer. So here FBS is resting on my knitting chair. I can hardly believe I've spent 6 hours with my ass in that chair. And I wonder why I can't lose weight! This is with 8 repeats of the lower basket chart done. Well, ok - so it looks like a pillow-sized blob. But it's a pretty pillow-sized blob! Actually, I think I have enough yarn left to probably do 10 repeats. So if you see a crazy Asian woman in sweats running shoe-less down the middle of the street at 10pm screaming "Pass the slipped stitch over!!!" well, you'll know I went for 10 repeats.

2 down, 5 to go?

2005-09-16T06:30:00.000-07:00

I am having so much fun knitting the Flower Basket Shawl. It's an easy pattern to follow and because I'm using a heavier guage it's knitting up quickly. I've got the first 2 repeats of the lower shawl done...and the pattern calls for 7 total. I think I could finish over the weekend. But I'm really wanting a slightly larger shawl than the pattern offers up...so I'm wondering if I can squeak out another repeat before I switch to the edging. Baa Bonny Belle had a ton of yarn left over after she knit to pattern...I wonder if that's scientific enough proof for me to think I can add a repeat. Let's see... SWTC Bamboo= 250 yds per ball, Gauge: 5 sts per 1" US 6 Mountain Goat= 240 yds per ball, Gauge: 5 sts per 1" US 6-8 (I'm using US7 needles...and I knit tightly.) Therefore, if Sherill had roughly 7/8 of a ball leftover that should instantly mean I should have about the same amount of left over yarn if I knit to pattern. Ergo...I can add a repeat! Ok...so obviously I wasn't a math major. Anyone out there with FBS experience have a recommendation? My concern is that if I run out of yarn I won't be able to come close to matching it. Even at the store there was a huge amount of difference between skeins in the SAME dyelot!!! I'm alternating between my skeins to blend it better. But obviously if I run out of yarn I won't be able to mix in an extra skein. So do I go to 8 or not??? Well, before I go...I took a pic! This is after the first section and 1 repeat. If you squint just right you can see the baskets shaping up. But baskets schmaskets! Aren't the colors knitting up beautifully? It's exactly what I was hoping for! (And we all know how rarely that happens.) Finally, if you haven't knit with Mountain Goat yet...get off your duff and go buy some. It's amazing stuff. I can't wait to make another project with it!

For realsie this time

2005-09-15T08:12:00.000-07:00

I've had a horrible-awful-terrible-no-good week at work. Really...the badness level of my bad week is so bad that it is biggety-bad-bad-bad. If my bad week was a WWF (or WWE...whatever) wrestler it would be Andre The Giant bad. So whats an overworked, tired, grumpy gal to do? Well, DUH! A trip to an LYS! I was going to get some Rowan Cotton Glace or Koigu (damnit...when will a local store get more Koigu???) but then I saw this: *insert the-clouds-part-and-a-beam-of-sunshine-shoots-through music here* It's Mountain Goat (55% Mohair, 45% Wool) from Mountain Colors (makers of the famous Bear Foot sock yarn) and I LURVE it so much. There's no goat hair in it which I find oddly dissapointing. ***Ok, so I just found out that Mohair is from goats! You learn something new everyday. So now the Mountain Goat yarn name makes much more sense. But does that mean BearFoot has Grizzly hair??? Thanks for straightening me out Jessica!*** But no matter because this yarn is very soft, has a beautiful ply and the perfect Mohair halo. And c'mon...look at those colors! So, what's it for you may ask... Well - I'm FINALLY going to make a REAL Flower Basket Shawl! (As opposed to the "eeeee-diot" moment I had with my Lace Leaf Shawl.) I was going to use bamboo yarn for my FBS after I saw Baa Bonney Belle's blue-ribbon-winning FBS. But when I saw this Mountain Goat I just KNEW this was meant to be my FBS. I cast on and finished the first section last night. No pics yet but I love knitting with this yarn. It feels great, knits up quickly and the colors have the perfect amount of varigation to add life without distracting from the lovely lace. Honestly, 24 rows of the FBS and a lot of my icky week went away. Well...another batch of chocolate cupcakes also helped. RANDOM Did anyone else notice how many dang hyphens I used in this post? Man...usually I'm all about the ellipsis...but I guess today is just a hyphen kind of day. I can't wait until I have an exclaimation point kind of day. Now THAT should be quite the post. :)

Chocolate first, knitting second

2005-09-12T07:32:00.000-07:00

I just realized that I didn't take pics of the new sock I cast on over the weekend. I was too busy taking (bad) photos of my cupcakes! It feels like it's been eons since I've baked...it's been so darned hot - who wants to turn on the ovens? But sure enough, as soon as we had a few days in a row of cool overcast weather...the baking bug kicked in. I'm vying to be Miss Popular Monday at the office with these babies: Mini Cupcakes! (I even remembered to put a quarter in the pic for size reference!) Actually, my whole Sunday evening was dedicated to cupcakes. I actually did regular sized cupcakes first. I've been totally inspired by Not Martha. These are the same recipe she's been playing with. I don't know about you but when I see this I see wasted cupcake! So the trusty scraper had to be pulled into duty to make sure not a drop was wasted. 25 minutes in the oven (even through the recipe said 18-20...I wonder if I need to recalibrate) and voila! I made the buttercream frosting from scratch...with a REAL vanilla bean. Oooooohhhhh. Ahhhhhhhhh. Violet coloring for the biggies and yellow for the minis. I don't know why. Maybe it's because I'm a Husky at heart. Obviously, I'm not the best on the decorating front. This was my best attempt and it's just so-so. But really...who cares?! These are for eatin' not lookin'! And let me tell you, I love this recipe! The cake has perfect texture and has a nice bite from the bittersweet chocolate. But the frosting keeps it from being too sharp. And when the frosting is fresh out of the mixer it is SO light and airy...you can hardly tell you're consuming a coronary's worth of butter and sugar. *** We also went to the Mariners game to watch them lose. It was still neat seeing our phenom 19-year-old pitcher. And hey, as long as I get a jumbo pretzel I'm a happy camper. All in all, it was a very satisfying weekend.

Random thought...

2005-09-08T12:39:00.000-07:00

Does anyone else find it weird when a woman is talking on her cell whilst in the bathroom stall? I mean, if there's a book on cell phone etiquette, I would have to imaging holding a conversation while on the pot would definitely fall in the "don't" category. Besides, I'm telling you, conversational sounds and murmurs can take on a whole new meaning when uttered from a toilet. "uh huh" "uh uh" "oh! I see!" "wow" "just in time" "uh huh" "ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmm" Put it into the right context and well...let's just say I got the giggles at a really weird moment.

Booties and Bad Photos

2005-09-08T07:59:00.000-07:00

I've decided that it's my camera that sucks and not my photography skills. Hey - a girl's gotta have her illusions! I finished a set of booties for one of the gals at work. Knitting them up was a cinch - they went together so fast. But the seaming...oh dear heaven...the seaming. They're not perfect now, but I couldn't battle with these tiny shoes anymore. So if anyone wants to give me a crash course in seaming, just let me know...because I need help! I have to admit, they're SO cute. It's hard to tell size from the pic, but the whole shoe, from toe to heel, is 3 inches long. So tiny! Because I have a 9-5 (ok, it's more like a 6-5 job to me) I usually have to take my blog photos at night. And without natural lighting I've discovered it's basically impossible to get a decent photo. I think it's my camera, a Canon Powershot G3. I really want a new one because this sucker is so damn uncooperative. All I want are photos that look like they came from Ansel Adams or Annie Leibovitz. Is that so much to ask??? Here are my other two attempts to get a pic of these darned booties. Too dark Too blurry But they're done and wrapped up and ready to be delivered. Oh...the pattern is from 50 Baby Bootees to Knit by Zoe Mellor and the yarn is Rowan Kid Classic.

Thank you, Secret Pal!

2005-09-08T07:57:00.000-07:00

Could these playing cards BE any cuter? But my SP has revealed so much. I know she's from the UK, she likes to write in pink pen and in pink font on the knitty message board and she likes cats. I WILL guess your identity Pal-o-mine. Oh yes I will!

Moss stitch, seed stitch - call it what you want.

2005-08-31T09:06:00.000-07:00

What's in a name? Moss or seed - I hate it!!! Now you may ask, "Why on earth would you hate such a lovely little textured stitch?" Well you know what they say about pictures and thousands of words. Oy! Oh...it gets worse... How the heck do you seam seed stitch? Obviously, I haven't figured out the trick. Isn't this just horrible? It's laughably horrible. I didn't rip it out because it's so awful I thought it deserved preservation. I'll put this on my Shelf of Shame as a constant reminder that I should never get too ambitious with my seaming. So I've abandoned the Debbie Bliss Moss Stitch booties in favor of these: See, isn't this much better? Oh sure, I accidentally seamed it inside out so the toe is uneven. But I can fix that easily. I love this pattern. It knits up fast (Rowan Kid Classic) and they're so darn cute. I've got to make two pairs...one with the lighter base and one with the darker base. I figure about 1.5 - 2 hours per pair. They're that fast! I mean really - which one would you prefer? Be honest! Yeah, that's what I thought.

It's quiet...too quiet...

2005-08-30T04:47:00.000-07:00

I have a great baby bootie disaster to share and some new stash additions...but frickin' frackin' Photoshop is not cooperating. So no pics of awful knitting today. Plus, I'm on a business trip in scenic (*snort*) Detroit so my internet access is spotty. Of course, I brought a knitting project with me. A fresh ball of yarn, size 10 wood needles, my travel knit kit and a simple openwork wrap pattern...easy, right? All of this was packed in my suitcase (not my purse) but I carried on both bags. Sadly, I forgot I had a pair of small, round tip scissors in my travel kit. So of course I was stopped at the security check point. I swear, the screener started shouting, "Bag check! BAG CHECK!" like his annual bonus relied on him isolating my scissors for removal. So he pawed through my bag, squeezed my yarn mercilessly - HEY, that's silk damnit - and confiscated my scissors. *sigh* My poor yarn. So hopefully I don't have to snip anything this week because I don't have nail clippers and my teeth aren't sharp enough...yet. If I keep on gnashing them, I might have some good yarn chompers soon. I'm going to go talk sweetly to Photoshop for awhile now to see if it'll let me resize my pics. "C'mon baby...just this once. You're the best little photo manipulation program ever. Yes you are! Yes you are. Gooooooood Photoshop. Goooood."

Fun with Google

2005-08-25T08:43:00.000-07:00

I have nothing to say and I am avoiding doing my work. Hence... I want to knit these!!! Anyone have a pattern? Why dogs run away from home: Boys who knit are cool! Now THIS is hardcore! (click on him...c'mon, you know you want to!)

Nancy's failed audition to be the Captain Morgan mascot.

Bunnies! Well...almost.

2005-08-23T07:02:00.000-07:00

So when I found the ingenious pattern that lets you create an adorable stuffed bunny out of a single 6 inch square I knew I had to try it sooner or later. For a first pass, it's not too bad...but I've definitely found areas that I can nip and tuck and sew better. My first creation doesn't quite fully evoke a rabbit to me...but practice makes perfect. In my ongoing quest to ruin your eyesight and display my fabulously lacking photography skills I present...the bunny/freaky-deaky mouse hybrid: Don't like the dark picture with the creature barely distinguishable from the background? Ok - how about one that's overly bright and horribly out of focus? Who says there are no choices in life? The nose and front legs are pointy because of the way I sewed the thing together. Did I mention how I am SO not a sewer? Well, here's the proof. It's why seaming sweaters or even blanket squares terrifies me. The ears are a bit wonky and the nose is pointy...so it has a bit of a mouse feel to me. It doesn't help that I didn't do the tail yet. I'm sure once I put a pom pom on the fanny it will look much more like a bunny. In the meantime I think of it as something that one might find in the Care Bear land sewers: furry...tail-less...and not quite cute enough to make the grade. Here's the deets: Pattern: Ingenious Swatch Bunny Yarn: (Who the heck cares on this thing?) Leftover Cascade 220 in a heathered pink Needles: Size US8. I wish I had used 7s...it would have made a denser fabric. Time: 2 hours from start to finish. Most of that was spent figuring out the seaming. Of course - no tail yet...

Ch-ch-ch-changes...

2005-08-22T10:39:00.000-07:00

Dangit. Now I have Davie Bowie's song stuck in my head. In the interest of saving the eyesight of those who are kind enough to read this blog and make me feel loved I'm playing with my template. ("I'm playing with my template" could sound dirrrrty...if your mind was so inclined. But since I'm a good girl my mind would never venture in that direction.) So I've darkened and enlarged the main font, changed the color of the visited links and made a few other changes you probably won't notice. Better? Worse? Is the brown font readable (as opposed to the gray I had before - ugh! What was I thinking???) Gee, with all this blog playing you'd think I was avoiding work or something! Nahhhh. (Hmmmm...maybe I can widen the layout a bit, or make new graphics! No! Must draft project plan...must nag software developers...) And HELLO dear Secret Pal! Thanks for dropping me a comment. I'm so excited to hear from you. Be aware! If you don't want me posting pics of the treats you send you'd better let me know. Because, as you can tell...I like to overshare.

Why didn't anyone tell me?

2005-08-21T10:46:00.000-07:00

Holy Cow. This blog is hard to read. I guess I never realized it before but the font is small and some of the colors make it hard to read. Man...I think I've got to work on this a bit. I was on my friend's computer (which is set to a higher resolution) and I had to press my nose against the monitor to read this damn thing. My sincere apologies to you, my dear friends. And please don't sue me if you get eye strain.

Sunday WIP

2005-08-21T10:31:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I think that all my good habits I use at work, therefore all that's left for hobbies are my bad habits. For example...starting things and not finishing before I start something new. But progress is being made... Nearing the end of ball 1. It looks like I'll get about 10 inches of scarf out of it. This thing is just getting heavier and heavier. I'm starting to think about frogging and doing the pattern in sock yarn instead. But the color is so pretty and the yarn is sooooo soft... ...and did I mention how I feel about frogging? THIS pretty much sums it up. My constant battle against Second Sock Syndrome continues. I've cast on for the mate to my Angel's Rest sock. So this doesn't really count as a new project, right? And I've been making these: The upper left and bottom right are pastels with dark brown. I love combining brown with pastels. But the pic doesn't really show it off. Oh...for the lady that asked, I'm using Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran. Really soft and quick to knit. All of that to avoid this: But I've gotten into another repeat...and it's growing. It's hard to tell how large it is in the pic...but I figure I've got about 38" along the top edge unblocked so far. Slog...slog...slog. And in another stunning example of my crap photography skills - here's how the Psychedelic Squares Afghan is shaping up. Look Ma! It's blurry and poorly lighted. You know, it takes effort to take such awful photos. I figure I'll want about 8 squares across and 10 long...so you can tell I've got some squares to go yet.

Here and There and everywhere

2005-08-17T20:24:00.000-07:00

Well, in the interest of dodging the endless repeats of the Lace Leaf shawl (the Rowan Tweed isn't the easiest thing to knit lace with) I've started a lovely Here and There scarf from Scarf Style. I'm even using the yarn the designer used...which is a rarity for me. It's Reynold's Odyssey. 100% merino and quite lovely. I don't see a lot about this yarn in the online knitting community and I wonder why not. First impressions...easy and fun project. 6 rows of fast mindless knitting with one row of cabling. You can't help but memorize it afer the first repeat. But this thing is HEAVY. You CO 74 stitches and after the first two repeats you can really feel how much yarn you have on the needle. I've got about 5 inches on the needles (I've done more since the pics) and for some reason I feel like I'm knitting with a wet diaper hanging on the needles. Don't ask...I don't get it either. That's not the best descriptor for such a lovely project...but it's late and I'm caffeine deprived.

Rebecca 30 - more stuff I won't wear

2005-08-17T10:38:00.000-07:00

I'm horribly unhip. But thankfully there are lots of patterns that make me happy I'm unhip. And if nothing else, the model poses provide me endless entertainment. I thought I'd share some of my faves from the preview of Rebecca 30 The girl in red reminds me of the girl at the party that gets drunk and laughs like an insane hyena all the time. And oh look! There's a picture of her showing off how nice and neat her plastic surgery scars are. "Really dah-lings...he barely had to cut at all." I don't even want to know why the girl on the right is practicing her Playgirl poses. Not that I know what a Playgirl pose would look like. Ummm...is it just me or does this group look like the Knitting Dominatrix with her harem of Skein Harlots. I'm just saying... I mean, she is PETTING the blonde! Ahh the ongoing trend of putting women in formal knit wear on a windy wet beach. Lord knows, when I go to the beach I grab my ankle length fun fur coat. The title for this page is honestly "We're the Pirate Queens" That sound you just heard was Errol Flynn rolling in his grave. It looks like there may be a few really cute tops in this issue and some weird bobbly jewelry. And just because I mock, doesn't mean I don't love. I'll pick it up at the store one way or the other.

No more chocolate after 8pm

2005-08-17T06:51:00.000-07:00

Either I'm really stressed at work or I am WAY to obsessed with knitting. Actually, the two aren't mutually exclusive. I've been dreaming about knitting and yarn and yarn shopping a fair amount. But when the last image you remember from a dream is Benicio Del Toro wearing a Flower Basket Shawl over his head like a babushka while simultaneously sitting in the backseat and driving a car during a rainy nighttime car chase...well...let's just say it's disorienting when you wake up. Random bits from the Mall. -There is now an all cupcake store at Bellevue Square, New York Cupcakes. I think this is a brillant idea on a number of levels. One, they're cupcakes...cute and sweet! Two, what a racket...$3.50 for a regular size cupcake. I would say "only in Bellevue" (you Seattle-ites know what I mean) but well, Starbucks has made millions selling the $3 cup of coffee around the world. But unless you want a buttercream gut-bomb I highly recommending getting the minis instead of the regular sized cakes. -Finding a suit off the rack for a man who wears a 52 X-Long is tough. You can either get ugly drab grey or Dick Tracy gangster bright blue pinstripes. I'm thinking of cutting DH off at the knees. And in knitting news... I think I'm avoiding the Lace Leaf Shawl. It's like the ex-boyfriend you said you'd stay friends with but that you really just want to go away. (Not that I've EVER done that. Ha!) So I started a new project. I couldn't help myself. And get this - it's not even using my newer yarns! So the "Here and There" cabled scarf from Scarf Style is on the needles. I'll post pics tonight.

I'm not an addict...I'm an enthusiast!

2005-08-16T07:33:00.000-07:00

I didn't get any new yarn for over a week. That's a good start for me! But alas, a trade and some online orders rolled in. Damn you Knitpicks! Why do you keep coming out with new yarns? You know I can't resist reasonably priced fibers. Below are 6 skeins of Shadow Merino Lace weight yarn and 3 skeins of it's multi-colored companion Gossamer Merino Lace. The Gossamer is the Carribean colorway and I adore it. I think the Gossamer colorways are way more appealing than the Shimmer line. But that's just me. Now the Shadow is in Redwood Forest and Oregon Coast. I cannot describe how much I adore the Oregon Coast. It looks like a simple oatmeal in the pic. But when you see this yarn it has this wonderful flecks of lavender, brown, sage...it's all meshes into the perfect heathered yarn. This is intended for my mom's Christmas gift. But I'm definitely getting more for myself. As to the Shadow/Gossamer vs. Alpaca Cloud/Shimmer battle... I think merino Shadow/Gossamer wins hands down. The fiber is more tightly plied and is less prone to splitting than the Alpaca lace yarns. They're both very soft but toss in the rich hues and more usable colorways and I think Merino takes the day. I have a dirty little secret. Ok, it's not that dirty...but it is a secret. Ok...it's not THAT secret, but it's not something I tell people very often. I monitor stores for their Koigu shipments. Alas, Knithappens.net got their shipment in so I just HAD to pounce. 10 skeins of Koigu that will likely become shawls and scarves instead of socks and 2 skeins of Lorna's Laces sock yarn in Knit Happens own colors. I love the pink and green and think they'll make some excellent wavy striped socks. And now for the grand finale. That's 23...that's right...TWENTY-THREE skeins of hand-dyed sock weight merino. I got all of this from Pihu (on Knittyboard.com) for some piddly Lantern Moon needles and Manos. My hubby's eyes almost popped out of his head when he saw me open this box. I had to immediately soothe him with the fact it was a trade. It's such a windfall though that I'm a bit stymied on what to do with it all. Keep in mind, each skein is 440 yards. So in this picture I have 10,120 YARDS of yarn. That's 5.75 MILES of sock weight yarn. Ack! I have a feeling a good portion of this will become RAKs or trade fodder. But for now it's all mine. MINE MINE MINE! Isn't it sooooooo purty??? Thank you Pihu/Julie for a great trade! I'm literally awash in yarn. I want to throw it all in a big pile and roll around in it. (Too much information probably, eh?) Have I reached SABLE (Stash Acquisition Beyond Life Expectancy) status yet? I think this may have pushed me over the edge.

Sometimes it's not all about me.

2005-08-15T08:04:00.000-07:00

So I could write about my newest stash enhancements (23 skeins of hand-dyed sock yarn and a new Knitpicks order) or I could show off the latest mitered squares. But not today, my friends. Not today. This post is all about Sherrill and congratulating her on her BLUE RIBBON Flower Basket Shawl. Oh. Excuse me. It's not just a BLUE RIBBON winner - it's also the BEST IN CLASS winner. And for those of us who have watched it progress her ribbons are more of a "well duh" than anything else. How could that lovely lace NOT win??? If you haven't seen it yet, you really must go take a look and drop her a comment. She's the sweetest lady and a damn fine knitter. The FBS was knit up in SWTC Bamboo and it's simply beautemous. CONGRATS SHERRILL!

This Autumn's hottest doggie fashion.

2005-08-12T15:27:00.000-07:00

Audrey loved modeling my new Psychadelic Squares. Can you tell? ********************* Hmnmm...this looks good? Really? Ok...you can take a picture. Umm...I said A picture. This is not entertaining anymore. Oh God. I hope no one I know sees these. I'm so humiliated. Does Mom even realize these aren't HATS??? Ok. That's it. I'm so done with this.

Going Psychadelic!

2005-08-11T07:49:00.000-07:00

To avoid this: (This is an old pic. I'm further along now...one row into my 7th repeat now. Or is it the 8th? Oh dear. I've totally lost track.) I've been turning these: Into These: My favorite is the bright pink and green one. Beloved husband likes the purple and gold one (to the right of my fave - the purple isn't really showing well). One thing I realized after I had done 5 of these little suckers - they're too small for the number of stripes the pattern calls for. So I've removed the last color change at the "nub". See how the one on the left looks like the top dark blue bit is cramped? Don't you think the right hand one looks a bit more polished and roomy? Yeah, me too. I'm having so much fun knitting these up. I can't seem to stop. And that's probably a good thing since I figure I'll need at least 80 to make a decent sized throw. So - anyone have any color combination suggestions that I haven't made yet?

The Grill has spoken.

2005-08-09T07:21:00.000-07:00

As many of you may understand, my husband is a student of the School of Weber. We have a gas grill that plugs directly into our gas line at the house (yes, he outfitted the house with a special grill gas nozzle.) Needless to say, my DH sits at the window like a forlorn cat during the winter desperately looking for the first sign of grilling season. But at the School of Weber, I think my husband is the kid that gets sent to the principal's office all the time. Last night he decided that even though we had no food we'd traditionally grill he wanted to grill anyway. *sigh* Of course. So here are some lessons learned from my husband's evening of Experimental Grilling 101. (I'm giving him an incomplete that he'll have a month to make up.) OK to grill: - zucchini - Garden burgers - Stale french bread with olive oil. That was a winner hon and the reason I didn't fail you. NOT OK to grill: - Frozen taquitos from Costco. Did you have to do the WHOLE bag? - Soy chicken nuggets. Ummm...they're NUGGETS! THAT'S why they keep falling through the grates. - 3-year-old frozen halibut you dug up from the back of the freezer. - Pound cake. You could have at least cleaned the gunky fish residue off the grill first. And "the dog likes it" is NOT the level of culinary acceptability we strive for. So my dear husband, this is definitely a "See me after class" situation. And by the way, putting Tabasco in EVERYTHING isn't getting you any extra credit.

2005-08-09T07:01:00.000-07:00

Well, I need to work out my Lace Leaf/FBS frustration. Nothing like some fast and easy knits as therepy. Angel's Rest Sock...it's been over a month on the FIRST sock. I finally turned the heel. I substituted a short row heel in the pattern and I was dismayed to realize that my heel had some "holiness" (and not in the blessed-by-the-Dali-Lama kind of way). *sigh* I guess my Fixation sock heels weren't holey because of the elastic in the yarn. Oh well, I think I can go back and tighten up when I'm done. Besides, the Lorna's Laces is knitting up in these great colorful stripes - so I can't complain. Too much. And introducing a new project! Mitered Squares are fun! I mean, what's not to love? They're easy, quick, fun, colorful and the overall project is modular...so I can knit squares when I feel like it and not feel the pressure of an UFO. My inspiration was the Psychedelic Afghan I saw on Ann and Kay's Blog. I mean, c'mon - with all those colors - who can resist? They're like chips! Phew. Well, after a few days of what I consider knitting "junk food" I think I'm gearing up to work on my LACE LEAF shawl again. "Attention all crew, lower parascope, pressurize the cabin and prepare to dive."

Rebecca - because we all wear heavy sweaters to the beach.

2005-08-09T06:57:00.000-07:00

The new Rebecca special is out! As usual, some of the photos lead me to a place I'm probably not supposed to go. Ummm...what's the woman on the right doing? You know, I'm SO ghetto...it looks like she's throwing gang signs in the cable sweater. Yeah, gangsta in the knitting hizz-ouse. Hooo boy. Thin sweater in a light color. Models! Photographers! Dim those headlights, sister! I mean really - if there's a single woman out there that would wear THAT sweater in THAT color with no bra - raise your hand. I want to meet you! Plus, apparently turquoise and red are the new colors of the Rebecca Army. Left! Left! Left ...Right...Left! Ahhh...nothing like the smell of wet wool on the beach in the morning.

Baskets my @$$!!!

2005-08-06T18:16:00.000-07:00

ARGH! You know...I've realized something. The Lace Leaf Shawl pattern I was told was the same thing as the FBS is not!!! Lace Leaf (what I'm knitting) Flower Basket (what I thought I was knitting) My "baskets" are really leaves! Oy. I have no one to blame but myself (which makes it worse). I mean...look at those photos! Of COURSE that isn't a flower basket you doof (no...not you, me!) Those shapes on your shawl aren't even oriented in the right direction to be considered baskets. They'd be upside down (if they were baskets) and all the flowers would fall out. In the words of the great Napolean Dynamite, "Idiot!" And now that Sherrill's finished her GORGEOUS FBS (that speedster) I'm so envious I could spit. Damnit. So I need to change my sidebar to read "Lace Leaf Shawl" instead of "FBS." And I still need to dig up that FBS pattern because I lurve it so darn much.

Obsession - It's not just a Calvin Klein perfume

2005-08-04T08:58:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe but my obsessive crafting had an outlet before knitting. Paper! Scrapbooks, cards, stamps, quilling, origami, tissue paper flowers, blah blah blah. If it's paper, I've done it. My yarn stash is growing exponentially, but it's still slim compared to my paper crafting hoard. So as evidence of my sick craft habits...my craft room. 1: Old loveseat that's never used because the cushions always slip off. 2: 8.5x11 paper. Perfect for making cards and sitting in the storage rack collecting dust. 3: Computer station (Oh...did I mention I do graphic design and photo restoration too?) 4: A few stamps on the wall. Maybe...1/16 of my collection. 5: Paper punches. If I put them in a bag and swung it around, I could kill an elephant with them. 6: White drawers full of stamps. Full. 7: Look Ma! A treadmill. It's not a clothes hanger yet...but let's just say it's not currently in heavy use. 8: Clapotis! 1: Craft desk. That's about as much open work space that I ever have on that desk. 2: 12x12 paper storage. Well, most of it at least. 3: Close up on the stamps (if you can see the damn number) 4: Close up of some ink pads (if you can see the double damn number.) Maybe...1/8 of the inks I've collected. You know, if I ever have kids they're going to have a blast staining their clothes with these. 5: Plastic drawers full of...more freakin' stamps. 6: Beloved Wacom tablet that never gets used because I'm knitting. 7: More plastic drawers full of, say it with me now, "STAMPS!" (and some inks.) 8: On the desk - a pile of inspiration that isn't inspiring anything as long as it's in that darn stack. 9: My boring white walls that I detest but that I haven't painted because I keep changing my mind on how I want to paint them. And plus...look at all the crap I'd have to move around if I did paint. 1: The yarn stash has started to invade PaperLand. A battle is bound to ensue. 2: You know, it's really appalling how many stamps I have. Those drawers are packed full. 3: Little charms and knick knacks. Great for getting sucked up in the vacuum. 4: Book shelves of craft magazines and books. You should see my collection of fiction! 5: Ummm...did I mention I do beading stuff too? Well, here's that shelf. *sigh* 6: You know, after an earthquake, I'm going to be a very unhappy camper. Sheesh. Seeing it all laid out like that is really embarassing. How the HELL did I manage to collect all of that stuff? But between teaching classes, obsessive sale haunting and working at a stamp store for awhile I've managed to create my own little craft universe. So when you hear me say, "Come on over for a craft day - I have everything we'll need" you know I'm not joking. And obviously, there are no lingering thoughts about me being a neat freak.

I'm the girl with the massive headgear, bottle glasses and acne.

2005-08-03T07:30:00.000-07:00

Ok...so someone SOMEONE PLEASE tell me...what is the deal with Cotton Ease? **(By the way - when Googling "Cotton Ease" don't accidentally type "Bottom Ease." You won't get the results you were expecting. Trust me.)** Ok...it's a Cotton/Poly worsted weight blend. Well...so is Rowan Calmer. So WHY the frezny over this Lion Brand yarn. I mean...it's LION BRAND! Lion Brand - the Duke of bargin bin acrylics. (Obviously, Red Heart is the KING...so Lion Brand is relegated to a lower tier royalty position.) Now, I'm the first to admit I'm a fiber snob. Synthetics are for reinforcing socks to me. But I've been branching out and have been picking up some of the nice new blends that are coming out. BUT IT'S LION BRAND! I just don't get it. Of course, I've never actually seen the yarn first hand (apparently the CE Frenzy has hit the Seattle area because I can't find any) so I'm willing to listen if someone can convince me this is THE yarn to knit with. But now it seems like everyone on the internet has it and since I have none I'm starting to feel like I'm in 3rd grade and the only one without the coolest new toy. You know, in the world of knitting...those with Cotton Ease are the cheerleaders and I'm the one that doesn't realize I have toilet paper stuck to the bottom of my posture-correcting shoes. Cotton Ease - you are my Tamogatchi-Cabbage Patch Kid-Talking Elmo-Furby grown up popularity hell. AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

You ask, I answer!

2005-08-03T07:09:00.000-07:00

Well, since some of you lovelies out there actually ask me questions I figured I'd have the decency to answer. I don't get emails with every comment, so the blog itself will have to be my forum. My Flower Basket Shawl is in Rowan Yorkshire Tweed 4-ply in Enchant. I just adore that color name. It makes it so easy to say, "Why, yes dah-ling...I'm wearing my Enchanting Flower Basket Shawl." The Pinwheel Blanket is a fun and fast knit. The pattern is free no less! Pinwheel Blanket pattern And some very nice person started a gallery page for all of our blankets. Pinwheel Blanket Gallery And I'm extremely envious of the clever knitters that figured out a little seed stitch border around the edge really polishes the blanket off. My yarn was too nubbly (I love that word! Nubbly nubbly nubbly!) to show off a seed stitch. But I'm still envious. And finally, if you rub a little ointment on it and leave it alone for a couple of days, it should clear up. Just stop picking at it. Ok, that last one was a faker...just checking to see if you fell asleep during this post.

So you want some knitting content eh?

2005-08-01T08:41:00.000-07:00

Ok...no more bats and slippers. I have a FO! The Pinwheel Blankie is done. Up close and personal. The cotton is SO soft and I really like how the colors knit together. The colors are a bit brighter in real life...damn this camera. But the gentle mottled effect reminds me of a Monet painting. It's about 44" from side to side. Not sure who it's destined for yet. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * And I went shopping over the weekend. I couldn't help it! LittleKnits had a sale!!! Fulay Sue is the sweetest woman. Despite the horrendous heat, a downed internet connection and crazy random patrons, she managed to be funny and helpful. I came with a list and left with a few extra things...of course. 8 skeins of Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock (I can't help myself. I need help, I know.) 4 skeins of Schaefer Laurel (100% Mercerized Pima Cotton). This was the unplanned buy. I was shocked at how silky soft and smooth this fiber is. And the colors are...are...amazing. My pics don't show them off properly. Damn this camera!!! Considering I saved like 30% off retail on all of this stuff, I'm managing to control my shopper's guilt. Finally - I stopped at Barnes and Noble and found an AWESOME surprise for my soon-to-be Secret Pal. I can't show you...but it's really really neat. And it's pink. That's all I'm gonna say.

Charlie and the Slipper Factory

2005-08-01T08:29:00.000-07:00

Since it has been ages since we've gone to the theater to see a movie and since it's BLOODY HOT out, Michael and I decided to go see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory on Sunday. Here's the timeline of the events as they occurred. 11:30am - Her: Let's go see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Him: Ok...what time is it showing? Her: 12:30 or 4:00. Him: Well, let's do the noon showing...do you want to shower first? (Yes, it was 11am and I hadn't showered yet. I know...I'm a disgrace.) Her: Yep - I can be ready by noon and that gives us plenty of time to make it. 11:55am - Her: I'm ready! Him: Uhh huh (reading paper) 11:58am - Her: I put the dog out and I'm ready to go! Him: Oh. Ok. What time is it? Her: Almost noon. Him: Oh! We'd better get going. I'm ready...I just need to change my pants. Her: *sigh* 12:04pm - Him: I'm ready...I just need to put my shoes on. Her: Ok. I'm ready too, I just need to finish this email. Him: *sigh* 12:07pm - Her: Let's go. Him: Ok. I need to put on my sandals. 12:08pm - Him: *yawn* I'm really tired. I haven't had any coffee yet. Her: Well, you can get an Americano at the Starbuck's next to the theater. Him: Don't they have espresso at the theater. Her: Maybe...but would you want to drink it? 12:09pm - Him: HA! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAAA! Crap. Her: What?! Him: Oh. Uhhhhhmmmmm...nothing. Her: Ummmm...WHAT?! What's so funny? Him: Well, we were in such a rush to get out of the house I put on my slippers instead of my sandals. Her: WHAT?! Him: Well, they're right next to each other. Her: *sigh* Well, let's go back. We can still make it. Him: Do you think anyone would notice? Her: Well...at least they're the moccasin style with soles. I guess I don't care if you don't. Him: I don't care either. Her: God, how far we've fallen. The movie was better than I thought it would be...but the shadow of the Gene Wilder version still hangs overhead. Michael successfully watched a movie in public in his slippers. You know, it's not as bad as the days I wear two different colored shoes to work.

BATS in the Belfrey!

2005-07-30T08:24:00.000-07:00

*open scene*

The SETTING:

A lovely YOUNG WOMAN sits in a comfortable chair as she knits. The room is cozy with a fireplace, overstuffed chairs and the TV running quietly in the background.

The ACTION:

As the YOUNG WOMAN counts her stitches a shadow passes by overhead. Startled, the YOUNG WOMAN glances up (and loses her count) only to see the ceiling and nothing else. Shaking it off as a moth or a flicker from the TV, the YOUNG WOMAN resumes her count. She swears MILDLY as she realizes she has to count 98 stitches again. Suddenly, the shadow passes again! This time with a slight "swoosh" noise. Forgetting her count again the YOUNG WOMAN looks up and around convinced that the world's largest moth has invaded her home. With HORROR the YOUNG WOMAN see a black shape swirling around her family room. It's not a moth! It's a bird! But wait...what...what IS thaaaa......? The YOUNG WOMAN screams with HORROR as she realizes that the winged intruder is actually a BAT! That's right! A rodent with wings is in her HOME!!! Horrified and at a loss for what to do the woman continues to scream and her MANLY HUSBAND enters. The MANLY HUSBAND has a split second to realize what is going on before the BAT zeroes in on him. Grabbing the nearest weapon at hand, a pink and white striped dishtowel, the MANLY HUSBAND begins an epic battle with the fiendish creature in his home. The PROTECTIVE DOG barks on encouragingly...but without venturing too near...as the MANLY HUSBAND flicks desperately at the BAT in the house. After a few failed swings of the towel and with a CRACK and a thump the MANLY HUSBAND unleashes a well aimed towel snap and the BAT falls to the kitchen floor. (That's right...a winged rodent...on the floor...in the KITCHEN!!!) The YOUNG WOMAN holds back PROTECTIVE DOG as MANLY HUSBAND scoops up the fallen combatant in the pink and white kitchen towel. MANLY HUSBAND tosses towel and BAT out the back door. BAT does not move. MANLY HUSBAND insists the BAT is just stunned while YOUNG WOMAN looks at him skeptically. What to do? What To Do? YOUNG WOMAN takes action and gets a broom. Opening the back door ever so slightly, YOUNG WOMAN pokes at the BAT with the broom. No movement. MANLY HUSBAND decides YOUNG WOMAN is not prodding the BAT in a manner that would awaken the BAT from it's slumber and takes over the broom. Poking with the bristle side (of course! YOUNG WOMAN should have known BAT prodding always needs to come from the bristle side) MANLY HUSBAND elicits no response from the BAT.

The CONCLUSION

Finally, it's apparent that MANLY HUSBAND is just tickling a dead flying rodent with the broom. So he scoops the BAT up and deposits it in a FLOWER POT. MANLY HUSBAND is proud of his repository choice as it will allow the BAT to fly off if it awakens from its current state of DEATH. Relief spreads through the formerly sleepy little house as YOUNG WOMAN, MANLY HUSBAND and PROTECTIVE DOG determine that the BAT must have come down the chimney. But wait, could that be the chimney that the bird's nest is in? The same nest that has the high pitched baby birds chirping in off and on all the time? But...how could there be birds and BATs in the same chimney??? Oh dear GOD! Those aren't BIRDS....!!!! *end scene*

Regis, I'd like to use my lifeline.

2005-07-27T08:24:00.000-07:00

After my initial burst of knitting, progress on FBS has been slow. Darn work always gets in the way. So here we are last night...two rows short of another repeat being complete. This is the first time I've used a lifeline. I'm stuggling to memorize the pattern and my beloved hubby keeps on trying to talk to me while I'm counting. And for whatever reason I just cannot seem to keep my count correct on the second half of the repeat. Grrrr. Well, I'm so glad that little thread of Paton's Cotton is running along there because... That pink circle is a missed YO. Go figure. The green cicle is another missed YO. The bright side is...I'm very GOOD at MISSING YOs. I mean...at least I'm good at something! You may also note the lack of lifelines below the existing one. That just goes to show I'm slow on the pick up. It wasn't until I was knitting back a row for the 6th time that I thought, "gee, maybe I should use a lifeline." One thing to note about lifelines...they do you no good if you don't put it in after you've knit passed a major mistake. And where's that green circle? BELOW the lifeline! ARGH! But I cannot bear the thought of ripping back to the first mistake because I'll never be able to pick the stitches correctly. So I'll endure to mental anguish everytime I see that centerline oops and I'll rip back to the lifeline to fix the other missed YO. And from now on, a lifeline is going in after each section repeat. Period. And after all of this, I'm still only on my 5th repeat! That means I have 12...TWELVE...more to go. You know, if I wanted to perform a repetative task for hours on end I should be working on an assembly line. Instead, I decide to make it my hobby. Go figure.

Looks can be deceiving

2005-07-26T07:38:00.000-07:00

The following pictures may lead you to think, "Oh look, Suzanne can sew!" Well, let me assure you that I haven't developed a new talent (or God forbid a new craft.) Hmmm...what could this be? Well...it's either the wackiest psychedelic burrito ever or... It's my new needle case! Yes, dear friends, I made this with my very own hands. Ok...I used a sewing machine. And my mother. But still...I helped! Mom is, sadly, more anal retentive than I am. So this measley little case (It's actually pretty damn wide) took almost 3 hours to make! But once we figured out how to sew the lining so we'd have pretty seams and got those stripes to line up it went pretty quickly. So here are my lessons learned from my sewing adventures (I'm sure all you expert sewers are laughing at the simple case being an "adventure" to me): 1) Don't line a needle case with upholstery fabric. After all, how thick does this thing need to be? 2) Don't buy half a yard of striped fabric and then realize it's not "tall" enough so that you have to cut it in half and sew it together top to bottom because stripes are oh-so-fun to line up. 3) Do think through how your pocket and lining need to be sewn BEFORE you sew in the lining. That way you won't have to rip out the lining seams when you realize you should have done the pocket first. 4) Don't gather two anal-retentive women (who happen to be related and love each other dearly in that you-drive-me-crazy kind of way) to make a simple needle case. It's the perfect set up for phrases like: ---"oh...just let me do it" and ---"we don't need 40 pins for that seam!" and the ever popular ---"It doesn't need to be PERFECT" leading to "I can't believe you said that! It needs to be nice." After all of that I can't believe that I'm actually looking forward to making my next one. But my DPNs are getting out of control and I think a second case is on my project list. I just need to recover from this first one. (Psst...if you guessed it was a burrito - you were SO wrong. And really...you probably need a visit to the optometrist.)

Sherril and Jen made me do it!

2005-07-24T11:01:00.000-07:00

Between helping me find the pattern, pointing out the perfect yarn and talking about a mini-KAL...well...I just had to do it. I finished the setup rows and completed one repeat of the main section. I figure I have about 17 repeats I need to do total...and I can see how I'm going to be working this one for awhile. The deets: Yarn: Rowan Tween 4-ply Needles: US 6 Pattern: Lace Leaf Shawl from FiberTrends (aka Flower Basket Shawl in IK) Wish me luck all...I've already had to rip back a row or two when I missed some YOs.

Knitty Knitters Rule

2005-07-24T10:40:00.000-07:00

What a way to spend a morning! MidnightSkyFibers, nederlass, stariel (and her very patient boyfriend), baa bonney belle and carrym all met at Starbucks (it's Seattle...where else do people meet?) and headed out for a wonderful yarn trip. (Oh fine...you want real names? That's Jen, MJ, Ariel, Sherril and Carry respectively.) Unfortunately, my total lack of self-control was laid bare in public this time. But I blame the girls - they are just WAY to enabling. Enablers! Ennnnnnnaaaaablers! So at Weaving Works I did this damage (it could have been worse). Of course...Koigu. The green is destined for a new Cascading Leaves pair (with purple reinforced heels - stariel and carrym were insistent). The Fixation is going to be my Broadripple socks. The blue stuff...eh...who knows. But isn't it sooooooo purty? And then we trekked to Hilltop. I prayed to every deity I know that I wouldn't get lost as I led the way. Thankfully my feeble brain managed to get us there in relatively short order. :) Rowan Tweed 4-ply was 40% off and when midnightskyfibers pointed out it would work perfectly for a Flower Basket Shawl, well obviously the stars were aligning and I was forced...FORCED I say...to buy 10 balls in a nice heathered violet. And now that my sock yarn Clap is deader than Gary Busey's career I needed 3 more skeins of Kersti to make a new Clapotis. *sigh* In the interest of full disclosure I also picked up a couple of patterns and a needle felting pad and needles. Just what I need...another craft. But the day wasn't really about what I got...it was who I met. What a diverse and fabulous group of ladies. I love how something simple like knitting can be just the right common thread that can bring people together. I sincerely hope these little gatherings will become a regular event (not that my wallet can handle that.) So thank you dear ladies. You are the best!

Karma really does work. Who knew?!

2005-07-21T08:46:00.000-07:00

When I saw someone asking on the knittyboard about DB Cashmerino Aran it started a whole chain of events leading to this: Cute blue bubble packaging, neat bag (with pockets!) that's perfect for sock projects, nifty notebook, two skeins of Wildfoote yarn in an awesome heathered violet, cool knitting needles in Japanese packaging and DARK CHOCOLATE. Dear GOD! I almost peed in my pants. I love every little bit of the package...I keep trying to pick a favorite part...but I change my mind every 5 minutes. Oh, that's a pretty little card from CBear (on Knitty) thanking ME for my "generosity." Ummm...hello kettle? It's the pot calling!!! So much for me being altruistic! (Damn, I'm going to have to figure out a different good deed for the year now.) I sent some of my stash off hoping knowing it would (finally) get used and make someone happy. Little did I know it meant I would be getting a wealth of treasures back. Look! Even Audrey got a treat. How thoughtful was that??? So BIG THANKS to you Chris. You went WAY overboard. I can't tell you how giddy I am. It's not just that you sent me treats, it's that you were so clearly thoughtful about what you sent. Amazing. I have my current Lorna's Laces sock in the bag and I was carrying it around the house all evening...much to my hubby's amusement. Oh - he says thanks for the chocolate. Apparently since we live in a community property state one of those bars was his.

That's funny, I always thought of myself as a beaded cotton/rayon blend...

2005-07-20T09:31:00.000-07:00

You are very easygoing and sweet. People like to
keep you close because you are so softhearted.
You love to be comfortable and warm from your
head to your toes.

What kind of yarn are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

FO - Anklets

2005-07-20T08:28:00.000-07:00

From the FREE pattern at The Blue Blog (Alison is freaking amazing): Ankle Socks You know how some woman have these cute slender ankles with the bones delicately defined and smooth sweeping curves? Yah, well - this ain't no romance novel dearies. So consider yourself warned...funky chunkly and oddly wrinkled ankles ahead. I've cropped the best I can to minimize viewer trauma. Yarn: Cascade Fixation Needles: US 5 DPNs And from the side I love how the yarn knit up these little "targets" at the heels and toes. This was my first time doing short row heels/toes and I'm in LURVE! Fun to knit? Check! No gusset stitches to pick up? DOUBLE CHECK! Short row heels are the way to go! My only question...is there a way to lengthen the heel a bit? You can see from above that the heel part (not counting the 4 rows of ribbing I did) is short indeed! I'd like the heel itself to come up a bit higher on my foot. Any suggestions on how to add rows without making it weird to join back with the instep? And just to show how how lazy I truly am: Can you see it? I got distracted and I turned the left sock inside out before I kitchener stiched it closed. So have this un-lovely ridge of stitches running along the left toe. But would I take the time to pull it out and start again? Hell no! Nobody's going to see the toe but me and I'm on to other projects now. Say it with me now.... BIRCH Birch birch birch bir....

Clap-edy

2005-07-19T06:54:00.000-07:00

It's a clapotis! It's a comedy! It's a tragedy! It's a CLAPEDY! Erg. Argh. (If you've seen Buffy on TV - insert the closing credit monster grunt here) Well, RIP you tiger-stripey disappointment! Two hours to knit up (hey, it was sock yarn!) and two minutes to frog. Have I mentioned how much I hate frogging? Ahh well, somethings are just not meant to be. That said...I actually liked the feel of the fabric and...with a yarn that striped a bit differently I can see where a sock-weight Clapotis could be awesome. I would just add 4 repeats to the main section to make it wide enough. But I'm grumpy enough now that I'm putting aside a Clapootis II for awhile. Hey - is anyone else doing the Knitty Secret Pal 5?

Mollywobbles and Won-Won never had a bracelet like this!

2005-07-19T06:45:00.000-07:00

If you can't tell from the photo, it's a rubber bracelet (a la the "Be Strong" yellow bands for Lance Armstrong.) But can you see what's imprinted? That's right! July 16, 2005...which just happens to be the release date for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Yes, I went to a midnight release party at Barnes and Noble. Yes, I had a ton of fun. Yes, it was a bit goofy. And YES! This IS the coolest souvenir EVER! The little squiggle to the left of the date is a little owl imprint. How cool is that?! Don't make fun of me for being a fan-girl or I'll curse your yarn into a thousand knots. (Why didn't anyone ever tell me I had those moles on my hand?! *grumble grumble* Well, if I ever tell you I know something like the back of my hand - you'll know it means I know jack crap about it!)

From ecstasy...

2005-07-16T19:49:00.000-07:00

A last minute email from an LYS and some frantic planning and VOILA! I'm still verklempt over it. I arrived at 10:45 (for the 11am sale) and was surprised to find it was just me and 3 other shopper so far! Whaaaaa??? Well, no dilly-dallying. I went straight to the sock yarn and snatched up some Koigu and Lorna's Laces. I picked up 14 balls of Rowan Cotton Rope in Parma for a top I've been wanting to make...and forgot to buy the book with the pattern. Ahh well. That's 3 balls of Kid Merino in a glorious red colorway (I was getting too much purple). Of course, they had the luxurious HandMaiden hand-dyed silk on the front display...so that lovely pink/green skein became mine. (Darn your clever product placement Hilltop!) And then I ventured out front and picked up a ton of patterns for $1/apiece. That's a single lonely ball of Rowan Linen Print you see to the far right. I have no idea what I can do with it (60 yards??? bah!) but it was ONLY $2. I couldn't help myself. Finally...I bought my first skeins of Koigu Kersti. Wow. I think I may have a new top 5 yarn! So... I walked out $220 lighter...but I think it was worth it. Because they're too gorgeous to ignore... Lorna's Shepherd Sock in Aslan and Gold Hill Hand Maiden hand-dyed 100% silk. It even comes with an uber-simple...but really sweet shawl pattern. And Koigu Kersti in this DIVINE violet/green colorway. The greens are a bit lighter in real life. Forgive me...my photography skills are on par with a 4 year olds. By the time I left, the store had gotten pretty darn packed and you couldn't turn sideways without smacking someone with your purse. So if you saw a slightly sweaty Asian woman twisting around with a basket full of yarn and were smacked by her annoying large purse...my bad! Did any of you other Seattle knitters go to the Hilltop sale? Show me your goods if you did! And now onto the other post of the day...

...to despair

2005-07-16T19:41:00.000-07:00

ARGH!!!!!!!!!!!! After the fun at the Harry Potter release night and the fabulous sale at Hilltop...I look down at my WIP and see this: Well so much for trying sock yarn for my second Clapotis. Sock Memories in Flower Power. I still love the colorway...but this looks like Tony the Tiger on crack! I could accept the thicker stripes of color at the CO point...no biggie. But what is UP with this blotchy striping and color pooling??? The red is totally overwhelming and it looks so horribly unbalanced. *sigh* I really hate frogging. So I'm wondering if this is salvagable. I mean...once I start dropping stitches will the blotchiness be eased a bit? Is the way the colors are knitting up more bothersome to me than others? Pipe up and let me know your answer to this: To frog or not to frog?

The long wait is almost over...

2005-07-15T09:28:00.000-07:00

I'll be HERE at midnight. Where will you be? Actually...I'll probably be there significantly early. It's all set up. Our books are reserved...one friend is going at 6 to pick up bracelets...and we're ready to some line-sitting to pick up Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Is it disconcerting that a 29-year-old woman is going to wait in line for a children's book? Nahhhhh. I'll be the one scarfing down lattes and knitting a garish new Clapotis. If you're there...look for me and say "hi!"

Geek Leak - War Games

2005-07-14T07:49:00.000-07:00

Inspired by Sockbug. I LOVED the movie War Games. It was filmed right here in beautiful Washington State! And who doesn't remember that staccato voice asking "Do you want to play a game?" You've GOT to love a movie that manages to save the world through a game of tic-tac-toe with a big Speak 'N Spell.

Unstoppable growth

2005-07-14T07:35:00.000-07:00

No, I'm not talking about the wart on my dog's butt. It's about the stash. Today's entry on Geeky Knitter got me to thinking about my own yarn shopping habits. I'm not quite at SABLE status yet...but I'm well on my way. I'm not a super-fast knitter and I only get to knit after work or on weekends. So how much yarn do I really NEED? I figure I shop for yarn (online or LYS) once a week. I don't even want to think about my average expense per trip. Thank GOD for Knitpicks. But I'm worried that I might end up like the Sockbug who is calculating her stash and at last count was over 50 MILES of yarn. When she had 18 MILES of sock yarn - she figured that would be 73 pairs of socks. Did I mention she's counting her yarn IN MILES??? Actually, now that I think about it...I feel much better. I still count my yarn in skeins and yards. And if the country is hit by a sudden Ice Age then I will be happy in the knowledge that I can knit enough warm clothes for my whole neighborhood. Yarn: It's not about the stash, it's about SURVIVAL!

All rise for Princess Audrey

2005-07-12T20:24:00.000-07:00

If only I had a tiara...(not that she'd keep it on anyway.) Here's my sweet girl. I adopted her 6 years (my how time flies) ago. She a Rottweiler/Labrador mix. So basically she's a Labrador (friendly, energetic, sweet, did I mention energetic?) with Rottweiler coloring, Here she is modeling my quickie fur scarf (Fun Fur and Baby Cashmerino). I know a lot of y'all are cat people...but my little sweetheart is numero Uno to me. And she doesn't let me forget it!

It's not as bad as it looks

2005-07-12T06:35:00.000-07:00

Ok...so I'm going to start with my new WIP because if I start with my new Stash adds, well... I'll look like a yarn addict or something silly like that! Using my Lopez cotton I'm working on the Pinwheel Blanket. I'm working it up on US 10.5 needles, so it's going pretty quickly (yippee!!!). The yarn is very soft and I think the colors are knitting up nicely - no pooling. It's on 29" circulars right now...I have a feeling I'll have to switch to 36" eventually. Doesn't this look like a freaky jellyfish? Oh and that ball of yarn is hilarious. It was at least 10" wide! Mongo-ball! Ok, I ordered from KNIT PIXIE and I was really happy with their service. So here for your viewing pleasure is my latest sock yarn. (Is it possible to have too much sock yarn? Nahh...I didn't think so either.) So for everyone that was waiting and waiting for the Knit and Tonic colorway to come back...sorry - I got the last skein of this round! Neener neener neener. This is from Knitterly Things...it's their Vesper sock yarn. I love it! Last, but certainly not least, I've discovered my all-time FAVORITE color of Lorna's Laces - VERA! OMG. I adore this colorway. It makes me think of flowers, silk and chocolate all at the same time. How cool is that? Shepherd Sport...I wish I had bought more. I still have an KnitPicks and EBay order of yarn outstanding. So hopefully my stash will grow even more later this week. Really, I need to go on a yarn diet...I know. But I still need 5 skeins of coordinated Koigu for Charlotte's Web. NEED damnit...NEED! Where's Yarnaholics Anonymous when you need it?

At least I have an FO to balance it all out.

2005-07-11T06:35:00.000-07:00

Pictures of my stash enhancements from the 4th of July. I justified it by finishing my second Cascading Leaves sock. Lopez Island has a number of spinners and a couple of farms that produce some nice wool. I only picked up some hand-dyed yarn from one of the spinners...but I'm kicking myself for not picking up more. I felt so bad about not getting more over the weekend I stopped at the LYS and got a few things to make it a real stash enhancement. Koigu! Bummed that they only had one of the turquoise/black colorway. Oh well, improvisation is the mother of stash enhancement. The solid ball is darker than it appears in the photo so I think it'll work together. And if not - there are always ankle socks to knit. And I am SO sold on the ball winder. See how neat and tidy my little balls are? I MUST have a ball winder. Of course, the store was sold out. I called a few other stores and even if they had one in stock it was $10 more expensive! Call me cheap, (c'mon, you know you want to say it - *cheap!*), but I'd rather wait for the first store to get more in stock than shell out ten extra bucks. I mean - that's a whole new skein! Underwater life or hand-dyed cotton/rayon from Lopez Island? 400 yards of this very soft yarn. I'm thinking of making a PINWHEEL BLANKET from it. I hope I have enough yardage...

The DRAMA of Independance Day

2005-07-06T13:17:00.000-07:00

Oh my. What a 4th of July. Let's see what the tally is: - We had a tragic PLANE CRASH - A good friend was in a motorcycle accident with a deer. Thankfully he and his girlfriend are going to be ok. - And the whole village was evacuated due to a BOMB SCARE - I didn't end up knitting nearly as much as I had hoped. On the other hand, - The weather was gorgeous! - We had a great time with good friends. - The island didn't get set ABLAZE with fireworks this year! I'll tell you, the 4th of July on Lopez Island is never predictable. Well, ok...it's somewhat predictable. As usual: - I ate too much (damn that wonderful bakery) - I got a sunburn (Apparently I did need sunscreen after all) - Mike got a sunburn (YES! You do need sunscreen too!) - We had a lot of fun I hope y'all had a wonderful 4th of July celebration. And, of course, I have stash enhancements to make you drool including a brand spankin' new SWIFT! *ooooohhhhhhhhhhhh* *ahhhhhhhhhhhhh* Pics to come.

Hmmm...I hope 5 projects is enough

2005-07-01T08:04:00.000-07:00

All packed up and ready to go to Lopez Island for the long 4th of July weekend. This will be the first time I've had more than 3 days off in 2 years. It's our tradition to go to Lopez for the 4th. We just bought 10 acres up there. Yippee!!! But on the 4th we camp in the backyard of my good friend who has a cabin up there. We've done it since college and the group keeps on growing. This year there will be 18 people camping together. The real clincher is the SINGLE bathroom we're going to be sharing. Throw in the 8 month old baby and the 3 dogs that will be up and it's bound to be a wonderfully chaotic weekend. If you haven't been to Lopez for the 4th of July, I can't recommend it highly enough. Bet you didn't know they have the largest privately funded fireworks show in the nation. Thank you to Paul Allen (you know...Microsoft guy), who owns a chunk of the island, and Tom Skerrit we get a world class show on our teeny island. It's amazing...you're sitting out next to the water and the fireworks look/feel/sound like they're bursting mere feet from you. Phenomenal. And since they've managed to set (small) fires the last two years - there's always that show too. So I've got 6 new skeins of sock yarn, 400 yds of lace weight yarn (Elizabeth I scarf) and my in-progress Klaralund. That ought to keep my fingers busy. Have a wonderful 4th of July everyone. I hope you get to spend your time with loving friends and family, good food and lots and lots of knitting time!

And Klaralund is born...

2005-06-30T07:10:00.000-07:00

Noro Silk Garden in Colorway 34. I just adore this combo of greens/pinks/chocolate. The pattern calls for size 8 needles and I had a heck of a time trying to get my gauge to match the 16 st per 4". So I've got Klaralund on size 10s (!) and the gauge is still running 18 stitches/4". Oh well. I'm enjoying watching the stripes develop so much I'm not too worried about the fit...yet.

Dropped stitches everywhere!

2005-06-29T10:07:00.000-07:00

K1C2 Tartlette in this faboo green color. I just like intentionally dropping stitches (it makes me feel better when I do it by accident). So here's a plain drop stitch scarf to show off the lovely ribbon yarn. Finished product is 70" long! Easy and quick project...but now I realized I don't know if I'll ever wear it. Left side: Very drop-y and drapey. Right side: A bit closer.

Presenting...Cascading Leaves: Part Un

2005-06-29T10:01:00.000-07:00

Here in all it's Christmas-y glory is my lonely Cascading Leaves socks. I have to say - this pattern is just wonderful. My KnitPicks Sock Garden feels great to wear too. Yup - my foot! A bit closer. You still can't really see the wonderful twisty detail of the pattern. Ah well...next pair. Thanks to the Townsend Socks KnitALong for this great pattern!

Christmas leaves ... in June!

2005-06-26T11:28:00.000-07:00

Cascading Leaves in coming along nicely. The KnitPicks Sock Garden knits up just beautifully. I can't wait to order more. The only weirdness is that the colorway I have is really Christmas-y. So the sock is knitting up in berry red and varigated green stripes. I don't feel like this colorway really allows the beautiful pattern to shine. Next time I knit this pattern I think I'll try to find a nice green-on-green colorway. Thanks to an afternoon of watching the Return of the King with Michael, I made great progress from the cuff seen earlier. I'm in the home stretch (aka the boring part) and about 2 inches from starting the toe decreases.

I'm undeserving of such luxury

2005-06-24T07:15:00.000-07:00

100% Silk from Hip Knits. 400gms Savannah, 200gms Giggle, 100gms Flutter 'nuff said.

KnitPicks, you're my hero

2005-06-24T06:56:00.000-07:00

So I totally hear Cameron in Ferris Bueller's Day Off when I read the title to this post. C'mon, you remember the scene at the pool after Ferris rescues Cameron! "Ferris Bueller, you're my hero." Damn! Now that nasally line is going to be in my head all day. Quick, some sing a bad 80's song to help my brain switch gears! After my disastrous Koigu sock and in my eagerness to try my KnitPicks yarn I've started Cascading Leaves using KnitPicks Sock Garden in Holly Berry. I must say, I'm impressed! The yarn is so soft and knits up smoothly. I'm really pleased with the eveness and definition of the stitches. And I think the colors are striping nicely so far. I am SO sold on KnitPicks - I think I need to put another order in today. :) Here's a closeup of the cuff progress. You can see the stitches better, but the color is wonky because of my lighting. Hey - I'm a knitter, not a photographer.

Pick it! Pick it real good...

2005-06-22T17:55:00.000-07:00

My first KnitPicks order arrived! Wahooo! Here you see: 1 skein Shimmer (Happy Dance) 1 skein Elegance (Ash) 2 skeins Sick Garden (Holly Berry) 2 skeins Andean Treasure (Embers) 2 skeins Simple Stripes (Vineyard) And ALL of this for just $30! Overall, I'm really happy with my order. The yarns all feel as soft as I would want them to be. The only disappointment so far is the colors are darker in person than from what I saw online. But that makes sense. Between dye lot variations and the bright light of a scanner, the yarns are bound to look brighter online. And who knows...knowing my, my monitor isn't calibrated correctly. But when all is said and done - WHO CARES?! I have NEW yarn that feels so soft. The Andean Treasure is destined to be a drawstring bag from Last Minute Knit Gifts. I might try to do a mini one of those in the Elegance too. Any pattern suggestions for 440 yards of varigated lace weight yarn? So I'm going to abandon my beloved Koigu frustrations and try a sock pattern in my new Sock Garden tonight. Wish me luck!

An open letter to my beloved Koigu

2005-06-22T08:07:00.000-07:00

Dear Beautiful Ball of Koigu, You should have TOLD me that you didn't want to be knit into a sock! I loved you all wrapped up in a near-perfect center-pull ball and would have happily left you in that state if you had just let me know that you were happiest that way. Had you told me that the ball was what you were destined to be, I wouldn't have cast you on. Had you told me that you liked your insides all tucked away, I wouldn't have tried a new pseudo-cable sock pattern on you. Had you told me that all wrapped up was your happy place, I wouldn't have had to frog you. Seven times. SEVEN! I didn't want to cast you on only to realize I was off a stitch. I didn't want to frog you and start again only to find out that I missed a YO. I didn't want to KWT (knit while tired) and mess up again. And again. And again. And again. Alas, we've gone done a tangled and frustrating path together, my dear Formerly-pretty center-pull ball. I still love your varigated stripes and soft, strokable plies. And I know you didn't mean to turn into the frog of the week. So let's make a pact to communicate better with each other next time. You tell me what you want to be knit into, and I won't try to make you be a nasty old sock. I wasn't that hot on that pattern anyway. Let's be friends again, ok?

2005-06-21T06:43:00.000-07:00

We don't need no stinkin' ball winder!

Call me a dork (let's say it together now... "Dork!") but I'm so proud of this little ball of yarn. It started out as a simple Koigu skein and it grew into this lovely even center pull ball. No nostepinne, no crank winder...just my two hands (and my swift a.k.a Husband) wrapped this little morsel into something that's almost too pretty to use. I said "almost!" Poor little fella already has had some of his guts pulled out to start a new pair of socks. And can I just say this colorway is so gorgeous. It's prettier in the ball and knit up that it is in the skein.

2005-06-18T18:54:00.000-07:00

Squealing like a little girl

Who knew love came in so many colors. 6 skeins of Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock and 2 skeins of KOIGU! $80 poorer but 4 pairs of socks-to-be richer.

2005-06-18T14:36:00.000-07:00

Adventures in felting.

My first foray into felting an object. I was really pleased with the result. The fabric is nice and tight with almost no stitch definition left. And c'mon, that frilly ribbon band is so fun. DH had serious doubts about the felting process but he was so impressed with the end result that he calls this his Purple Man Bag! It's so great that he appreciates the things I make. But somehow I think I'm going to be using this bag more than he will.

2005-06-17T15:09:00.000-07:00

Work? Who needs to work? Thank goodness for slow Fridays. I figured out how to get my header image up! Wahooooooooooooo. Next...adding photos and building up my FO gallery. Hmmm...after all this hard work on my knitting blog - I think I deserve a treat. Some new Koigu sounds nice.

2005-06-16T18:30:00.000-07:00

Yay! My knitting blog has officially been created. I figured everyone else has one and I just had to jump on the bandwagon. Now, if I could just figure out how to make this look more interesting.... Hmm....