Wednesday, November 30, 2005

I <3 Eunny!

Yesterday, Eunny and I met at a coffee shop to go yarning. It was the first time I have met someone from blogging and the first time I was meeting up with a fellow knitter. I was SO nervous. But it turns out that Eunny is as great in person as she is in her blog and we had an absolute blast. We talked for ages, we ate Indian, we went to yarn shops and spent money!

We went to Knit and Stitch Equals Bliss, which has no website to link to and apparently was formerly known as The Needlework Loft. Here is a picture from their store.

I was happy to note that they carry Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Bulky!! (and worsted.) And they had a lovely claret red I wanted to buy but I have so much stash for stuff that I haven't made yet, I made myself wait.

Then we went to International Yarns. The ladies there were very friendly and informative. They have a lot of knowledge regarding Fair Isle, which Eunny is learning more about. They even suggested several really great books for Fair Isle (that weren't written by Alice Starmore!!). I also realized that the cool book of bags I have is "Folk Bags" and is part of the "Folk" series. I am going to let Eunny borrow it for a while next time we get together, as it has lots of crazy hard (for me) stuff to do and I know she'll make great use of it.

International Yarn had the nicest staff in a yarn store I have ever experienced. They were friendly, helpful, and knowledgeable. And while they don't carry Lamb's Pride Bulky, they do carry lots of Dale and some really nice natural shetland wool for Fair Isle knitting. They have lots of really nice yarn. I plan on going back. They also have sweaters and scarves and stuff that they have made from the books they sell. Which is great. You can see X scarf, from Y book, made with Z yarn. You can touch it, and feel it, and really know if you want to make it. That was pretty kickass as well.

So here's my loot from International Yarn. I got two 32" size one Addis, and a set of size 0 dpns. This is so I can make the jaywalker, and various other, socks. I had 2's and 3's in both circs and dpns, but didn't have the 0's and 1's, so that was my splurge for yesterday. I so can't wait to start the Jaywalkers now!! But I will. I am going to finish my Christmas gift hats, and my scarf. (Not in that order per se) Then I will finish my starter socks. And THEN I will start the Jaywalker socks with my fancy new tiny tiny needles!

A day spent with a knitting friend is a fabulous and wonderful thing. I love meeting people that you just click with. I can't wait to do it again!

Tuesday, November 29, 2005

Ready, Steady, GO!

Today I am all bouncey and excited, but I am not telling you why. My camera is being charged as I type. Come back tomorrow.

In other news, I have decided to join the Jaywalkers Sock knitalong. The pattern did say it was easy enough for a beginner so I think that will be the plan, as soon as I finish that first pair of socks I already started. I have a bad habit of starting projects and then getting about an inch in and moving on to something else. I am trying to improve this behavior by using the rule, "if I start it, I have to finish it."

I have also been struggling with the hat I am working on right now. Yes, the Noro Silk Garden one. I am using a pattern of pretty much my own design. I took some basic formatting and gauge ideas from hats I have done previously but this one is my own cobbled together cable pattern. Well, my own in that I own the book I took the cable patterns from. Regardless, It's not going as smoothly as I would like. The differing gauge of the silk garden is starting to piss me off a bit. Usually when I am in the middle of a cable. I am trying to use the Cabling without a cable needle method, and sometimes I can, and sometimes I sigh and use the damn needle.
Hopefully tomorrow I will have enough on it done to give a progess report picture without people wondering why I am posting the same picture from the other day.

Side Notes:

Congrats to Cari at Dogs Steal Yarn (see sidebar for link) as she just announced on her blog today she is expecting.

Does anyone have a good recipe for Hot & Sour soup they could mail me? I love the stuff. Even though I have to pick out all the mushrooms because I hate them. I am hoping that by making it myself I can just leave them out.

And what about Indian recipes? Anyone? Nan bread and some of that minty sauce.. YUM! Shmoo took me to a lovely Indian place for my birthday in White Oak. Bombay I think it was called. The service was good, the food was great, and their prices didn't make my have a stroke right there in front of everyone. (I am cheap!) Lamb Vindaloo for the win people. I need recipes to try and make this stuff at home!!!

Monday, November 28, 2005

Sock Yarn Porn

So the sock yarn I ordered from KnitPicks came in today!!! Woo sock yarn. Now that I am in the midst of other projects and know that I will make myself finish the learning pair I started with that Moda Dea Sassy Stripes... it figures my order (why did I order if I wasn't ready for it? I don't know. I just NEEDED it. NEED I said! NEED.) would show up. It's ok. I can wait, I can put them away and covet them and let those lovely, beautiful skeins be my reward for finishing my Christmas projects and my scarf to keep me warm, and my learning pair of socks. Yeah. I can wait. Suuurrreee I can.

Above we have a selections of solids from knitpicks and 3 different types of their self striping. It should be interesting. Perhaps I'll make some arm warmers or something with one of them. Anyway, I digress. Back to the picture. The bluish black at the top left is really a nice normal gray. And the top right isn't really red, it's pumpkin. The self striping part of the picture came out ok colorwise, and so did the green. The solids will end up being for shmoo, as I picked earth tones, which he really likes. The stripeys will be for me and they will be what I use to make several pairs of those Geisha socks from Spun Mag, (see link in sidebar if you are really interested) so I can continue to wear my flip flops! As I have mentioned my flip flop love here before, I won't continue, but yes, I must have some Geisha socks.

Sunday, November 27, 2005

It's my party...

and I'll whine if I want to. So today I am 31. Whee. Now that you can clearly see why it's my party, let's move on to the whining.

So I went to All About Yarn yesterday. It was OK. I have yet to be in a yarn shop that makes me feel comfortable. I don't know if it was because I was in a cranky mood, or what. They had a good selection of all these yarns I'd seen in patterns and on blogs. I finally got to see/touch Kidsilk Haze. I don't think I like it. I think it makes me want to cry. It's so fragile. My touch would be its death.

Perhaps I am still initimidated by the whole "yarn shop" thing. I have thus far been a solitary knitter. There really weren't any local shops near me in Georgia. Yes they had 3 in Atlanta, one of which I hear was great, but I am not driving 2 hours in traffic just for yarn. I'm sorry, I'm just not. All About Yarn had potential in that it's only 21 miles away. And they do carry Noro.

Another Disappointment. Noro Silk Garden. As seen here, I did go ahead and buy two skeins. I am sure they will become lovely hats for my family members this Christmas. I do love the way the yarn looks. I love the color transitions. I know I will love how these hats look when they are done. I don't think it feels particularly soft however. And it's a bit inconsistent in weight. I don't know if all the hype has led me to feel let down, or if I just expected.. MORE somehow. But it's not my favorite.

Speaking of favorites, my favorite yarn is Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Bulky. The store didn't carry it. When I finally got up enough nerve to ask about it, I was told they don't carry it and she suggested 3 other things they carried to sub for it. Well. There are no signs on all this yarn. There's just different types of yarn everywhere. And she just kinda waved her hand around. It was not helpful. I have no idea what's what. I do know she said Lopi and I had already felt the Lopi and it was scratchy. I don't want expensive, scratchy yarn. I wanted nice soft Lamb's Pride Bulky dammit!

The staff at the store was mixed. There were 4 of them there. One older lady was really nice, but then when the store got busy she was busy helping a customer with something she was evidently doing in some class. That left me with the other people in the store. One lady was older than I was, but not by a whole lot I don't think. She was very short and hateful with the two other girls that worked there. Perhaps she too was having a really shit day. Then there were the two younger girls on staff, one of which I did not interact with and one of which checked me out. The checkout girl made it seem like taking my money was a burden. If ringing up two magazines and two skeins of yarn are that hard on you honey, perhaps this job is not for you. She didn't seem to like the fact that it was the my first time in the store and I wanted to be put on the mailling list and sign up for their points thing. I did. I know I am seemingly harsh about the store now, but I WAS in a bad mood, and I am hoping future experiences don't suck. I realize that my mood could have and most likely did affect my view of things. I mean, if Eunny likes it, it can't be that bad, can it?

Alas, I will have to trek way into Historic Ellicott City, which I would rather avoid like the plague, in order to get my Lamb's Pride on a local basis. I bet I just end up ordering it on Ebay. It's not insane to order a 5lb cone of yarn is it? IS IT?

Saturday, November 26, 2005

Wade in the water.

Every morning, (and evening) Bri goes into the kitchen and plays with the water in his bowl. It's very loud and splashy sounding. Then he comes out looking just as innocent as can be. Except for the wet feet. But this morning, I happened to have the camera on the table from taking the hat pics, and so I was able to catch him at it. Busted.


As for the hat, here is a pic of it on the Pier 1 glass head, which I bought just for blocking hats.


And then here is the view of it laying flat on the table where you can see the band on the bottom with a bit more detail.

I am pleased over all with they way it turned out. My gauge has changed a bit since I knit it orignally however, and I can tell. Shmoo is pleased with it, since it now covers his ears, and that's really all that counts. I have a lighter green of the same yarn I was going to make myself a hat like this in, but it's so far down the list of things to make, it will mostly likely be June before I get to it.

Today, I am going to the local yarn store that Eunny likes (All About Yarn)and plan on buying some Noro Silk Garden to make gifts (ok, hats...) for my Aunt and Grandmother. I know that they are small projects, but I am hoping that fancy yarn will make up for the lack of time they took to make. My Aunt is up this coming week for some training classes, so I will get to see her and send these back with her. I should probably whip up some shaving soap for my brother and send it back with her also but I don't know that I will have the time. Decisions, decisions...

Regardless, today, I leave you with this. A picture of Bri in a dining room chair, with Daisy below him getting ready to play with him. You can see the size difference between the two rather well in this one. I have no idea why Bri was afraid of Daisy at all. Unless it was all the shrill little dog barking.

Friday, November 25, 2005

A shopping we will go.

Yes, we went shopping today, on the worst, busiest shopping day of the year. It was ugly. Up at 4:30 and off to Laurel to the Best Buy there. We got 19" flat screens, which gave us so much more room on the desk. I love them. Warcraft is really brilliant on them. And! While we were in line waiting, I did manage to finish off the changes I had to make to shmoo's green SnBN cabled hat. For some reason my gauge was tighter than ...(think of something really tight here, all the analogies I can come up with are from IRC and few would understand them) and the hat turned was originally several inches too small. I was going to do the ribbing on it futher down but I did something funny when I picked up the stitches and so it looked wonky, so I just made some stripes of reverse stockette. I'll take a new pic after I get it reblocked. Our water is out right now, so look for that tomorrow.

Anyway, yesterday, I cooked for 6 hours. Our oven is small so I could pretty much only cook one thing at a time. I did manage to stagger the casseroles nicely however. The turkey tasted great, it just didn't turn out as pretty as I would have liked. And the corn muffins didn't brown on top like they should have. It's possible that it was the cornmeal as it was the first time I have used that brand, I have no idea. Anyway, pics.


I made my mother's brocoli casserole, my grandmother's sweet potato soufle, and my grandfather's cornbread. Despite not being with my family this year, I was with them and they were with me. Also, shmoo loved the food. :)

Thursday, November 24, 2005

Gobble Gobble!

It's turkey day! And it's my first one with shmoo. He has to work today but I'll have a nice dinner waiting for him when he gets home. On the menu for today is turkey (of course), brocoli cheese casserole, sweet potato soufle, stuffing, cranberry sauce, cornbread muffins (with corn added, and maybe some banana peppers too, since I have no fresh jalapenos to add), and key lime pie for desert. We will be eating leftovers for eons!

Also, the soup turned out really well. It ended up being more of a creamy spinach chirozo soup, with potatos, onions, leeks, and artichoke added, but it was still very yum. Very filling too. I froze most of it because of the coming onslaught of Thanksgiving leftovers, but I did send some to work with shmoo as well.

Also, for those of you who make biscuits from scratch. Try coconut oil instead of crisco or lard. It's way way lighter and you still get a lovely biscuit.

I haven't finished my scarf, or adding to shmoo's green knit hat, perhaps today.....

Wednesday, November 23, 2005

Froggy.


My sock is not progressing so well. Mostly because I had to frog it twice yesterday. I misread the instructions for the heel wrong. Twice. So after feeling really stupid, I think I have it now and have started on it yet again. I just haven't made it that far.


And my poor shrug. Still sitting on the speaker where I left it. Quietly accusing me of abandonment every time I walk by. I am immune to your guilt little shrug! Immune!

Today however, will most likely be a day of crochet. I want a scarf, and I want it now, that means crochet. I want a scarf for shmoo too, despite him not needing one as much because he has a high collar on his jacket. Winter is here (at least to me) and something MUST be done about it.

I am also considering trying to make an artichoke soup. Soup is good when it's cold. And creamy soups even better. From the recipes I found online, (none were found in my cookbooks! I was so disappointed!) it's basically going to be a potato soup with artichoke and leek added in. Probably onions and celery as well. I can still CALL it artichoke soup can't I? Suuuuurrree I can!

Monday, November 21, 2005

No, I didn't...

Nope, not me. I absolutely did not start a pair of socks. Not with the shrug sitting sadly in the corner amongst the boxes needing to be unpacked. Nope. I surely didn't. I also didn't order a bunch of sock yarn from KnitPicks. Ok. I did. Last night while we were watching Season 1 of Scrubs.

And here is the yarn I promised pics of yesterday but didn't get around to uploading.


And now for various pictures from moving.

The truck waiting to be unloaded.

A pic of all my crap before we started to unload it.

A picture of one of the huge Ikea bookshelves we have. We have two now and it's looking like we may need a third.

Bri on top of the bookshelf, last night. He's so dark and you can't really get his expression on camera, but he was feeling smug.

Daisy relaxing in what at the time was one of the few clear spots on the floor.

And finally, I leave you with a picture of the lovely hat that shmoo's mom knit for me. The yarn is just beautiful and it's very warm. I like it very much. Perhaps knitters appreciate knitted gifts more than non-knitters. I am not sure. I will have to think about this some.

Sunday, November 20, 2005

Still Unpacking....

I am still unpacking and as I do I wonder why in the world I kept some of this stuff. I could surely live without it. Sadly, I am a packrat. I horde things in case I might need them later.

We took the Budget truck back yesterday, and went shopping. I got the fixing for our Thanksgiving dinner, and various random other stuff. We were hungry while we were shopping, and everyone knows how that goes. We won't need to shop for 3 weeks.

I have decided that Ikea is a fabulous place. We bought some of their meatballs the other day, and so yesterday I made Swedish Meatballs with Fettucini. It was pretty good. Next time I want to make the sauce entirely from scratch though because I doctored the mix on this one a bit as it was. I imagine a completely homemade sauce would be really awesome. There was enough left over to send it to work with shmoo and have some left for my lunch today. Whee.

I had some yarn come in I ordered off Ebay as well. It's hand painted cotton. I think the vendor was Mystical Creations Yarn, but I am too lazy to go look right now. When I find my camera I will throw up some pics of what it looks like. It's a smaller cotton than I was expecting. Perhaps because the weight of the last cotton I got from them was so much thicker. No idea.

The dog and cat have not killed each other yet. There is hope that they won't. It increases with each passing day.

Sadly, I have no knitting to report. I have decided I need to make new scarfs for both shmoo and myself. It's cold here. I need wool.

Friday, November 18, 2005

That's a big ass truck.

Yes, we mananged to pack all my crap into a 15 foot budget truck. We even managed to load it all up in just two hours. Of course there were three of us and the truck was right out the front door. Unloading will not be as smooth of course. Two people, a truck unloading area and an elevator. I don't look forward today much at all. It must be done however.

The trip was fairly uneventful. Except the part where I got sick on myself, the truck and the car in the lane next to us. Shmoo handled everything really well, other than the laughing hysterically, and reminded me once again why I love him. I also knocked over my tea at the Cracker Barrel and when the glass hit the table it shattered and freaked out all the staff of the resteraunt. Then, someone who is not me, left our bags on the curb at the Holiday Inn, and realized it 20 miles down I-81, so we had to turn around and go back. He was so mad at himself, it was cute. I had called back to see if they could find our bags for us, and they couldn't but we went back anyway, and there they were, on the curb, right where we said they were. Hooray for providence, honest people, and bags that match the color of the bushes.

That's it from the new digs, we have to go to Ikea and get another huge bookshelf and get it put together before we bring all the stuff in from the truck, or there won't be room to put it together.

Oh! And College Park SnB is still alive and I was allowed to join! Yay! Their meeting was the day we started moving however so I missed it. I look forward to the next one.

Monday, November 14, 2005

30 seconds and counting....

Ok so, excuse the Pet Shop Boys reference but I have listening to them while I pack. I have loved them since elementary school. Yes, this ages me. I accept it. I <3 PSB.

This is my room at this very moment.

Yes, it's a mess. Utter chaos. Yes, that's an ocean mural on the wall. I painted it, I never completed it however. Lucky for you, the unfinished part isn't in the pic!

This is my soap cabinet, or what's left of the stuff in it.

The soap cabinet is one of those unattractive gray things you find at Home Depot. It won't match anything in our apartment. It will be an eyesore. It will take up too much room in the kitchen, assuming it fits there in the first place. But it holds all of my soaping junk. (Or most of it. Shhhh, don't tell shmoo!)

Behold! There is one shelf completely empty in it! (See honey, I AM packing.)

And then there is the scrapbooking stuff.

Ok so there are board games as well... But all that stuff in the chair, that's scraping stuff! And I must do something with it... tonight! (or tomorrow.) Also, please note the wickeryness of the furniture. I have lots of wicker. Wicker couch, love seat, coffee table, end tables, matching chair, 2 non matching wicker chairs. Wicker and glass, everywhere you turn. Wicker dining room set. Wicker hampers for dirty clothes. Wicker and cloth baskets to store stuff in. I am inundated by wicker. Copius amounts of wicker. Please note: Shmoo hates wicker. Move along people, nothing to see here. Nope, not at all.

And THIS! This is the furby that won't stop talking because I picked it up. I put it in a dark box and it talked all afternoon. I took it out to take out its battery but it appears I have already packed the screwdriver I need to do this. It's a conundrum. And of course, now that it's out of the box, it's nice and quiet. Pehaps I will just leave it here.

And now, we come to my princess. My light. My baby. Yes, I KNOW she's just a dog. But you try telling HER that.

Seen here in her natural habitat. The Daisy looks sweet and sleepy, but be warned, she is guarding a chew bone and will threaten to stike viciously at any other predators who might come into her area. (Including me, her mother, who gave her the damn bone 10 minutes ago. She has never seen me eat one of these nasty things (because I haven't!). She knows that I don't want them. She even brings them to me to help her hide them for later. WHY she insists on trying to make me think she MIGHT bite me, I'll never know.)

And for your viewing pleasure, a special guest tonight. He will most likely feature in future episodes, as I relate the saga of Daisy and Bri, and their adjustment to living together. Ladies and Gentlemen! I present! Briareos!

Seen here, in footage filmed on the dangerous bedroom plains, deep in the apartment! Note the way he plays with his Daddy's shmoo con badge. Note the blackness of his pelt. Indeed, he is an exotic wild animal.

Ok, he's not. He's a sweet, shy, teddy bear of a cat. He associates me with drugs. I fed him tons of catnip when I was up to make sure he liked me. I think he was pissed cause I didn't bring him cheetos to go with.

Bri is twice the size of Daisy, but he's a lot shyer than she is too. We are worried about how they will adapt to each other. And while my brain thinks it will be fine, there is a part of me (my left pinky?) that is worried still. However, Daisy did really well with my Aunt's cat last night, when we were up to visit and this has indeed given the worried left pinky hope. As long as Bri doesn't freak out and run (he will) then things will be fine (they won't be).

Alright, that's it. I am tired and a bit punchy at this point and my packing break is over. Please excuse any grammar and typo/spelling errors as I haven't bothered to spell check this saga of an entry. Also, needless to say, there is no knitting to report on. Cardboard boxes however, I could give a full report. But who wants to know about boxes?

Saturday, November 12, 2005

AFK...

Packing. Moving. Unpacking. See you all towards the end of next week. Maybe. Probably Monday week most now that I think about it. Anal Retentiveness and OCD tendencies indicate that I have to have everything unpacked and in place ASAP.

If anyone has an awesome sweet potato pie recipe or a sweet potato soufle recipe they want to send me in the mean time, that would be fabulous.

Friday, November 11, 2005

This Moment.

Sometimes, despite the planning of things, there is a moment, a brief flickering instant where you feel just like you knew you would.

Scared.

Alone.

Exhilirated.

Excited.

Anxious.

Hopeful.

Of these, hopeful is the most important. Hopeful keeps the insanity of the other five from taking over. Hopeful gives you peace. Hopeful lets you believe that it will all be ok.

Today, when I said my goodbyes, and left my job for the last time, I felt all of these things. Moving so far away from my friends and family is turning out to be a big thing. And despite all my planning ahead, and taking care of things in advance, and wondering about contingencies, I am suddenly very nervous about this move.

But mostly, I am hopeful.

Last train to Clarksville.

Today. Is my last day at work. If you could call it that. I won't really be working much. I'll be helping the girl who is replacing me get settled. I like her and I think she will do great, so I don't mind. I plan on sitting in a chair beside her and knitting like a fiend.Perhaps I'll get a couple more inches on the shrug. I would like to be back on the ribbing on the drive to Maryland, but I doubt it. Only 12 inches or so into the feather and fan. 12 more to go. And then of course I'll just fuss about the ribbing taking forever.

I can't decide if I am a process knitter or a production knitter. I feel the need to do something with my hands while I sit around, and I enjoy knitting. I don't feel a rush to complete things overly much either. That's process. I sure as hell love having FOs. I like to have them for gives, for using myself, whatever. I like knowing I have completed things. That's production.
Perhaps, like most everyone else, I am somewhere in between. And in this case, I don't mind being just another sheep. Baaa.

Thursday, November 10, 2005

Yarn Therapy?

After a less than satisfactory trip to the Doc's, I wanted to spend money. And lo! there is a Hobby Lobby about a block from the office building. I went. They were still having a half off sale for knitting implements. I got yet another pair of the Lion plastic dpns. I can't help myself! I really love them! These were size 5. I now have 5s, 6s, 8s, and 10s in these things. I didn't get 7s because I have dpns in that size already. But it was a temptation, believe me.

I also cheated and got MORE YARN. But just the one little skein, and it doesn't count... I mean... I'm gonna make more washcloths with it... yeah... I didn't get it just because I was feeling pissy and it was really soft or anything..nope. Not me. Ok yes. That's exactly why I got it. But I will make washcloths with it. Probably the reverse-bloom one at that. I am powerless at the thought of (cotton) chenille washcloths, I cannot resist. Have any of you ever made/used a cotton chenille washcloth? DIVINE! And ok so this stuff is acrylic.... It'll be fine...(maybe).

I also bought a package of Bit-O-Honeys. Nothing like a massive amount of sugar to kick you in the ass and cheer you up. Altogether I spent less than 8 bucks. Not only was it good therapy shopping, it was cheap!

Wednesday, November 09, 2005

All knotted up.

I would love to make the above motif into something all cabley and hawt. However this motif doesn't really lend itself to cabling. After having seen Eunny's freaking awesome instructions on how to map out a cable idea, I just don't see this one working that well. Perhaps it's more of a Gansey motif. I dunno. But I sure as hell wanted it to be sexy cables. Yes, yes I did.

Short day today at work due to a Doc's appt. Yay. Or Boo. Depends on my view at the moment. I got most of my bathroom packed, so the moving business is coming along steadily, if slowly.

A week from today I will be loading a truck and moving to the great white north. I'm not too worried about it really. My biggest concern is how the princess Daisy will adapt. The rest will be fine. I applied to a College Park MD SnB yahoo group yesterday but haven't been accepted yet, and the news on the front page was over a year old. It might be defunct. If anyone is in that area and is interested in starting up a SnB or just casual get togethers to knit now and then, I think it's something I would like to try. I have been a solitary crafter so far, in all things, but that doesn't mean I can't share.. right?

Monday, November 07, 2005

Whip it. Whip it good.

I want to make whipped soap. I will have to wait until after the move of course. Well, I don't HAVE to, but it only makes sense. I shouldn't be messing and gomming with soap in the kitchen, I should be packing. Therefore, there will be no more soap, candle, bath/body product making, until after the move. Furthermore, I declare I cannot make these things until all the boxes are unpacked as well. You are my witnesses and you must hold me to this oath. But, I want to make whipped soap. I want to make it smell of sugar cookies, and vanilla. I want to add ginger and cinnamon leaf EOs and evoke the scent of gingerbread men throughout the house (apt!). I want to burn Apple Jack candles I have not yet made. Fall is quickly melting into winter and Christmas is now so close. For the first time in a long time I am actually looking forward to the holidays as something other than mass chaos. I still don't have the urge to put up a tree and trim it out, but maybe some garlands, ribbons, and perhaps a wreath. And candles. Definitely candles.

Tempting.

And I don't mean Jen Adorno's cute little ribbed sweater either. (Which I plan on making one day... one day... after I learn to adjust the sizing to fit me.) It is officially my last week at work. Yay. But I don't want to go in at all. I would much rather just stay home this week and pack. Today is my last late day. I say this but I bet it's not. I ended up having late days 4 out of 5 last week. Admittedly, one was a trade for not being late tomorrow, but still! Tired of working til dark-thirty. So much to do before the move. So many little things I am constantly forgetting. My room is a wreck. The kitchen table is covered in the dishes I am taking. The problem with integrating households when you live with someone is having to separate them later and know what is your stuff and what isn't. Shmoo better decide to keep me! After merging possessions with him, I refuse to separate them! They will just all be mine! MUHAHAHAHAA!

Sunday, November 06, 2005

Neenja Style Turkey

Yesterday I went to visit my mother, step-father, and brother with full intent on returning home last night. This did not happen. My family suprised me with an early Thanksgiving dinner! Turkey, Dressing, Cranberry Sauce, Rolls, Pumpkin Pie! MMMMMM. And then of course a nap on the couch. I ended up spending the night, which was fine, because Daisy always enjoys hanging out there and playing with their dogs. She comes home tired and I get peace and quiet for a few hours. Winners all around.

So, I took my visiting time as knitting time as well and did a bit more on the Shrug. I am really starting to like the feather and fan. It's using much less yarn than the ribbing. It's an easy pattern to keep track of even if I wander off in the middle of a row. I am still not sure how the overall FO will turn out still but I have hope that it will be something I want to wear. (As opposed to something I desperately need to frog....)


Click here if you feel the need to see this in OMGWTFBBQLOL! huge size detail.

Friday, November 04, 2005

Error Corrections.

One of the things I really like about knitting, as opposed to crochet, is that if I find a mistake 3 rows back, I can wait til I can drop back down and fix it. As a general safegaurd I take safety pins and place them in the stitches below the ones I am correcting so I don't drop the stitches down too far, and then I just pull them out. Poof! Then I get an appropriate sized crochet hook and fix it. I can't do cables so well yet, but I have some ideas on them next time it happens. And I just did a correction in my feather and fan that isn't perfect, but it was on the actual pattern row, so I am still pretty impressed with myself. I like that I don't have to frog all the way back to a mistake a lot. In crochet, I generally say, "screw it, it's handmade, that's just proof" and go on.

I picked up stitches for the first time while doing the flaps on the Jayne hat. And while I don't know how a good, experienced knitter does them, I know how I did them and it made sense to me. I used my crochet hook and picked them up. Zoom zoom! When I had more stitches than I was comfy with I slipped them off the back onto my knitting needle and then picked up more and slid off as needed. When I got to the end, I just put them over to the knitting needle, poof! Done. I am sure that this method is wrong for some reason, but it worked for me. I plan on using it again when I need to pick up stitches for something else.

I only got two more pattern repeats done on my feather and fanning so I didn't bother to take a picture. Alas, you are left alone with only my thoughts today.

Thursday, November 03, 2005

The Jayne! Boss! The Jayne!


For those of you old enough to remember Fantasy Island.... I think I wanted to marry Mr. Rourke when I was about 5. Now I just think he's kinda creepy. But I digress.

Jayne is complete. I am in love with Lamb's Pride Bulky.

Earflaps are sexy.

Midway through the first flap and I believe Jayne will be completed tonight. Then it's back to the craftster shrug between packing boxes.

I joined the Klaralund kal and asked about pattern adjustments. The answers I got were very helpful. I think that after I move I am going to buy that pattern book and some Noro Silk Garden (OMG at the amount I will need!) and go for it.

Am I the only one that has way too many ideas to actually knit. I know it doesn't help that I am a slow knitter but there are so many cool things out there to make and so many things that I have ideas about. For instance, I was looking at the loop-de-loop website and saw the scarf/wrap where she wove the crossover together. That's pretty neat. I want to do that now. I might try it later on this winter. I think I need to master making a sock first and get a few more sweaters to battle the snow that I will not be used to having around.

While talking on the phone to shmoo the other night, I realized that there is a good chance for snow WHILE we are moving me. This is inconceivable to me. Snow is something that happens at Christmas or in January, possibly February. But it only happens once. ONCE! And then it goes away for two years. It will not be like this in the great white north. I better get on those Geisha socks so I can wear my flip-flops ASAP! Frostbite on your toesies sucks.

Wednesday, November 02, 2005

8 days left.

8 working days left. WHEEEE! These are the longest days in existance. Especially since the past two days have been my late days and the time change has made it very dark when I leave. At least I only have two more late days left before I am out of there.


I worked on Jayne some last night. A little over halfway done with the top color. But then I had to quit to set up my new friend. My new friend being the CPAP machine I have to sleep with every night now. I took the mask off midway thru the night so I could roll over on my stomach. At least, I think that's why it came off. Who knows! I was asleep.

Hopefully I will finish up Jayne tonight, or at least be ready to move on to the ear flaps.

EDIT: I want to make klaralund but 1. I don't have the book (yet) and 2. My chest is bigger than what the largest measurement is. For anyone that has made it... how hard would it be to adjust it?

Tuesday, November 01, 2005

Again?

Back to the Specialist again today. Okay, really, back to his lab upstairs. But it means I have to get up earlier and can't really hit snooze as much as I would like to. Hooray for CPAP machines... or something.

I didn't get much knitting done last night. Ok, not a bit. But I did manage to squeeze some in at work while waiting on a software burn that needs to be mailed out first thing this morning. Lord, I hate burning our software. It's tedious to set it up, and even more tedious to make sure you did it right. And then you have to burn it, and then you have to check the burn to make sure it didn't crap itself or leave out any files for some reason. It's fabulous, believe you me.

Regardless, here is Jayne, with about a row since color change, and on sz 10 DPNs. I was told the intended victim for this hat has a really really big head so I am making the larger size. But the boy better have a mongoloid sized head if this hat's gonna fit. That's why I bumped down to the sz 10s. Not that it's a huge difference off from sz 10.5s but it IS smaller.