Duck Knits

Bugger this for a lark...

2007-07-04T13:46:00.001-07:00

Well, this blogger has HAD it. I've done a bit of fiddling, and we're up and moving! Please direct all links over to: http://duckknits.wordpress.com/

I'm still fiddling with the user interface, but all in all I think it looks a good sight better. Feel free to drop by and let me know what you think! :)

There's supposed to be an Arietta post today...

2007-07-04T12:58:00.000-07:00

But Blogger is not bloody cooperating. We'll return later (probably Friday) , hopefully with pictures. Have a Happy 4th everybody!

A Monday Meme

2007-07-02T10:13:00.000-07:00

Wow, it's my first official Meme, courtesy of CCR in MA.

The Meme rules: Enter your birthdate into Wikipedia, and list three events, two births, and one holiday that take place on your birthday. I'm rather fond of this, as I think it's more interesting than the prototypical "Tell me allllllll about you" memes. :)

So here goes:

I was born February 12th 19*coughcoughcough*

According to wikipedia, the following happened on that date:

In 1870, women gained the right to vote in the Utah territory. This is 50 freaking YEARS before the rest of the nation caught on, and we got the 19th amendment. Who'd have thought that area would be so progressive? 1870 is also the same year we got the 15th amendment, banning voting restrictions based on race.

In 1990, Super Mario Brothers 3 is released, and I become an official video game addict. I remember that game being the Biggest. Deal. EVER.

In 2004, San Francisco starts issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. It was a proud moment - though it didn't last. I wonder if a century from now, some blogger will be doing the same type of meme and talking about how progressive we were...

The Birthdays:

Duhh, Abraham Lincoln. Sadly, while this was once a holiday, it's been smushed into the all-purpose "President's Day," which is usually two weeks later. Too bad, because I'd love to have my birthday off!

Also born on my birthday - a ton of actors and people I couldn't care less about. Suffice to say that it looks like us Aquarians tend to go for chatty professions.

The Holiday:

Well... there's a couple interesting ones to choose from. Let's talk about Red Hand Day, a holiday that tries to draw attention to the plight of of children who are forced into being soldiers. We've seen a lot about this in the news lately, and it breaks my heart every time. Sadly, I'd never heard of this holiday before - so I'm glad this meme brought it to my attention.

All right, in happier topics: I've finished the other front of Arietta. However, I'm going to save those pictures and updates for Wednesday. I know, I'm such a tease. See you all then!

Y'all know what time it is...

2007-06-29T07:14:00.000-07:00

It's Friday, and it's a return to form with some very special sock yarn.

Every time Socks that Rock starts to ship out, I turn into a little kid about the mail. I race home from work wondering, "Is it here yet?" Well, last Saturday, this turned up in the mailbox...

Yeah, probably it's Socks that Rock, but until you open it you never know...

Yup, definitely Socks that Rock! And ooooooh, the pretty colours...

A lot of people have asked "What do we do with the mini-skein?" I have no idea, but it does make a great way to embarrass the hell out of your boyfriend:

I still can't believe I got him to sit still for that.

Here's the goodies that came with:

On the left is a card with different pictures of this month's yarn in the dye process. The Dyer's Notes this month were really sweet, and I like that there was no "Let me tell you, the buyer, why you're WRONG WRONG WRONG" attitude unlike the Grasshopper shipment. The pattern is brilliant - it comes with instructions for toe up AND cuff down. I'm still not convinced that I like short-row heels, but it fits in really well with the design of the pattern - which is just stunning!

Finally, just the yarn...

I don't even want to use it up, it's so pretty. But this month's socks are a definite MUST knit for me.

In other news, I got another thing I'd been lusting after: My invite to Ravelry! The set-up is amazing, and I'm constantly fascinated by just how clever it is. It's amazing to enter a project and then instantly be able to see who else is working on something and what yarn they've chosen. I still have a ton of work to do on my profile - I plan to spend a part of this weekend updating my stash photos (I'm going to at least try to admit to my total stash) and needle collection. If you're on Ravelry, look me up! My screenname there is LaCane.

If you haven't signed up yet, do it! The wait list is still fairly long, but the two designers are going to work on it full time, so they've said they expect to start plowing through the list very soon.

Coming Soon: Um... More Arietta

When Knitting Disaster Strikes

2007-06-27T07:15:00.000-07:00

No no, don't worry, it's not Arietta.

Arietta is moving along slowly but surely, as I experience a wee bit of knitting project burn-out: That's the second front piece. I'm usually all right about motivation for finishing off second pieces (except for that One Sock that keeps lingering. I really do plan to finish that someday). I think part of the problem with this is that it's the same 40 rows, constantly. Excepting the bottom pieces of course. I'm determined to finish this before I start any other projects, but I have to admit that the sock yarn stash is calling to me.

All right, the disaster. Yesterday, as I was going to put on a shoe, I caught the heel on the Icarus I had so lovingly draped over one side of my dining room table:

Yargh. I'm still in too much of a state of shock to even THINK about fixing this. Well, I guess that's not entirely true. I've at least pondered that a graft might just be possible. But then, I've never been good at getting my grafts to look nice. I have an extra ball of the alpaca I used to knit this, so I suppose ripping back to the beginning of the edging is possible... I don't know, but it doesn't bear thinking about for long periods of time. Part of me wants to throw it in a closet and deny all knowledge.

Okay, enough of the mopey stuff! Today is Miss Violet's (of Lime and Violet) birthday!

Happy Birthday Miss Violet!

It is, of course, her 21st birthday, right Miss V? ;) I hope your day is full of soft and yummy yarn-y goodness!

Coming soon: Mmm, sock yarn

Obsessed? Me?

2007-06-25T07:12:00.000-07:00

Occasionally I get hold of a project that overcomes my tendencies to work wantonly on several projects at a time. Arietta seems to be that project. Despite an overwhelming urge to join the current slew of Jaywalker knitters, I've been nothing but faithful to my sweater.

So, to recap, last time we met I had a left (not right, sorry) front that was this big:

Late Saturday afternoon I picked up the needles, and put on a Mythbusters marathon. By Sunday evening (don't worry, I didn't knit all Sunday - cleaning and eating happened too :)) I had this:

That's a full left front, nice and attached to the back. This sweater uses something I've never tried before - a three needle bind-off on two needles. I find it dreadfully clever, and if I must knit in pieces, this is how I'd like to do shoulder attachments.

Here's the bind-off up close:

The only thing I don't especially care for is that the brown peeks through a little, but I suspect it's only noticeable up close. Otherwise, the fact that the pattern lines up so nicely fills me with knitterly glee.

Here's everything I've got so far:
I'm already a wee bit into the right front, but only as much as the picture of the left front, so I shan't bore you with it. I'm hoping that I can get this thing finished in the next two weeks, job and life permitting. The fronts go VERY fast, but I suspect the sleeves will be a bit of a slog. Then there's the button band, so I'm going to have to do some buttonhole research - it seems like there are millions of ways to make a buttonhole, and everyone has their favourite.

Of course, I also have to buy buttons.... sounds like a whole new thing to get obsessed over.

Coming soon: Oh, just guess.

The Audience is now... Deaf!

2007-06-22T13:46:00.000-07:00

No knitting news today. The Grad-Student Boyfriend and I went to see Skinny Puppy last night along with Jessica and her man, and needless to say - no knitting got done. Mind you, it would've been nice to have a few sock needles for protective purposes (note to self: next time, stand further away from the mosh pit). Still, it was a great concert, even if the opening acts sucked harder than my Dyson. Only problem is, today I'm about at half hearing, and my voice is shot.

Jo, thanks for the advice on the set-in sleeves! :) One of my biggest "issues" with knitting is I hate hate HAAAATE to pin, but I'll make myself do it right. I'm one of those types that tends to try and speed through finishing once the knitted pieces are complete, and it bites me in the arse every time.

All right, stealing a page from Crazy Aunt Purl's book here. I have nothing else, so here's a cat making a silly face:

That is all. See y'all again Monday.

Nothing New to See Here

2007-06-20T07:19:00.000-07:00

But for those of you who are enjoying the progress on Arietta, you're going to love this post.

So yesterday, we were here:
Today we are here, and then some:

That's a finished back, mind you, and the beginning of a left front piece. It's sort of disheartening to realize that even though the back is a ginormous piece, I've still barely made a dent in the actual knitting. Thank goodness the fronts get small fairly fast.

My biggest worry right now?

The seaming up when I'm done. Per the pattern (and forgive my big fat fingers in the picture, you all know how stockinette curls if not held down), I carried my colours not in use up along one side. This has made for one side with a very thick edge. I'm hoping I don't end up with gigantic uncomfortable seams.

I also realized that this will be my first set-in sleeve sweater. I was thinking to myself that surely, having made two cardigans and five pullovers I must have set in sleeves at some point in there. But I haven't! The Eris sweaters are raglan top-down in the round, as is the Simple Knitted Bodice. My favourite off the shoulder sweater was raglan knit flat. The Tulip cardigan is just sort of cap sleeves. And the Noro sweater of Doom was just... bizarre. But no sleeve setting.

I wonder if I'll ever be at a point in knitting where I won't regularly run into things that make me feel like an utter novice. Now, if that sounds like a complaint, it's not. I'm the type that gets bored easily once I know something more or less inside and out. I'm just consistently amazed that a hobby that involves making loops with thread can be so incredibly complex and endlessly entertaining.

Coming soon: Well, probably even more Arietta. I'm in the "obsessive knitting" stage right now. We'll see if it lasts.

Actual Arietta Progress

2007-06-18T07:14:00.000-07:00

Well, despite having survived last week entirely on Stress and Frappucinos, I did manage to stick to my goal of working on the WIPs. I did NOT cast on for anything new (I know, I know!). I've made progress on the Grasshopper sock, but the damn thing is wildly uninteresting to look at. I mean, "Look! One inch of... more p2tog yo."

Anyway! The last time we saw Arietta, she looked like this:

Now she looks like this:

I've got a few more inches to go up the back, and then it's time to move on to the fronts. I have to admit, a cardigan on size 3 needles is slow going. Still, the result is lovely, and I think worth it.

In case anyone's interested, here's a closeup of the pattern itself:

I still haven't made up my mind if I like those purl bumps. The pattern says that it adds texture, but I think I like a slightly smoother fabric. Of course, we've yet to block, so who knows what'll happen to it then.

Someone on the Knittyboard was considering making the new Unmentionables pattern from the same yarn I'm using, Shine Sport, and was told it was too heavy a yarn. I never thought so until I got this far in the cardigan back (it's so light in the skein) - this is going to be a sweater with WEIGHT. I'd be worried if it wasn't the yarn the pattern called for.

That's it for this Monday - with any luck this week will allow me to get more done. I know "in progress" pictures are infinitely less interesting than "look! it's done!" pictures. :)

A Friday without Sock Yarn...

2007-06-15T07:13:00.001-07:00

When I was a kid, my Dad the Cop had this great cartoon-y mug that read "Kissing a Cop without a Mustache is like eating an egg without salt." Of course, that was the late 80's, and all the cops I know are clean-shaven now. Anyway, this is a Friday without sock yarn (I know! Shocking!) but I think it's still salted-egg good.

Meet Schaefer silk yarn in the colourway Bette Davis:

Back:

Lounging indolently in the bookshelf:

Now, truth be told, I was always more of a Joan Crawford fan. The woman may very well have been batshit insane, but she was still one hell of an actress. Still, the colours in this yarn are just too damn pretty to resist.

This yarn is also part of my summer projects (no really, I swear). While making the Noro scarf, I decided to switch over to continental knitting for a little while. I've got the continental knit stitch down pretty well, but I'm still having issues with the purl. I guess that's not surprising, since it took me for-bloody-ever to learn to purl English style.

Since learning a new style slows me down considerably, and I prefer to knit fast, I knew it was going to take something extraordinary to make me make an entire project without switching back to English. I believe this yarn is it. It's destined to become a sideways skinny scarf, preferably in stockinette so I have loooooooong sections of purls to get good.

Now, don't worry, I'm not joining the Anti-English Knitting style crowd (and boo! to them). Unfortunately, I picked up one of the most labor intensive ways to "throw" my yarn (not the way my best friend's sister taught me, mind you! :)). I don't drop the yarn, but I hold it between forefinger and thumb, and it involves a whole lot of arm movement. I'm told I'm a fast knitter, but I'm convinced I could be faster if I wasn't swinging my arm all over the place. I'm also hoping this will cut down on hand pain. We shall see...

Well, that was a hell of a lot of picture followed by a hell of a lot of text! If anyone's still reading down this far, I'd like to use this space to say:

Happy Birthday Sweetie!

Yes, it is the amazing Grad-Student Boyfriend's birthday. Feel free to leave well-wishes in the comments. :)

Have a great weekend everybody, and I'll see you on Monday!

Moment of Truth: Sock Yarn edition

2007-06-13T07:34:00.001-07:00

Like many knitters, I have a few unfinished projects languishing around my house. I'm hoping to spend the summer getting those finished. The Rose of England shawl hasn't been touched in months, and I would like to actually wear that during summer when a silk shawl will actually be appropriate! I also have that poor Tulip sock I haven't worked on since autumn of last year. I don't know WHY I haven't - I can finish those socks in a day.

Anyway, one of the projects that's been sitting around is my Socks that Rock grasshopper sock. I'm not actually doing it in the sock yarn that Blue Moon sent, because the yarn is just way too pretty to be broken up by a lace pattern:

There! It is a SOCK IN PROGRESS! It's my first time working a sock on two circs, and even though I could reasonably switch to dpns at this point, I am nothing if not determined to finish on two circs. At this point on the leg, it's just constant p2togs, yos. At the rate I'm going, I should have a good knee sock by... oh, let's say 2012.

Oh, that moment of truth? Here it is:

That's the sock yarn stash, excluding the yarn for the other Tulip sock. I don't know when the hell it got this big. What's even more distressing is - I don't want to knit most of these skeins. They're too pretty. I know when I make them into a sock they will never look the same. I don't do this with other yarn... just skeins of sock yarn. They're like my mini pieces of art. You don't knit art, right?

I can't be the only person who feels like this. Reassurance in the comments would be appreciated! :)

Coming soon: Hopefully, I stick to my main projects. Don't be surprised if I cast on for Lizard Ridge soon, though.

Pretty colours and a Cat That is Not Mine

2007-06-12T07:19:00.001-07:00

Sorry for the lack of Monday post. I'm trying to keep to a Monsday, Wednesday, Friday update schedule. Unfortunately, work intervened last night, and I didn't have time to take pictures!

A little teaser, first...
Regular readers have probably noticed I have a thing for blue hues, so it shouldn't surprise anyone that this is one of my favourite sections on the scarf.

Here's the whole scarf:

Please to ignore my dirty fire-place. I only have so much time to clean. ;) This was a great mindless project, even with my hatred of 1x1 rib. It even inspired me to practice continental in sections, and I'm determined that my next project will be all continental. I'm thinking a sideways skinny scarf in stockinette, so I have the chance to REALLY practice my purl.

I'm also thrilled to say when I was done with this scarf, I had approximately two inches of yarn left. There will be no teeny bits of Noro reproducing in my stash this time, thanks very much!

And finally, a Cat That is Not Mine:

This is Miss Sophie. I'm a volunteer for a local homeless cat center, and I happen to KNOW I have local readers (Hi guys! ;)). I thought every once and again I'd try and use the blog for something other than shameless self knitting promotion. We have a lot of really great cats, and so if anyone is thinking about adopting this summer, I encourage you to look into your local organizations. For those of you who, like me, love cats but think they have plenty already - look into volunteering this summer! I spend two hours a week at a socialization center. It's not a huge chunk of time, but the cats and I both get a lot out of it. And of course, summer season is kitten season - consider fostering a kitten (get them while they're cute and fluffy, and then give them to someone else! ;)).

That's your PSA for this Tuesday. Hey, maybe that could be a new feature here at the blog, PSA Tuesdays... or maybe not. ;)

See you guys tomorrow, and knit on!

Two stars and Norma

2007-06-08T07:11:00.000-07:00

Oh Hooray, it's Friday, and you know what that means around here.

That's right, sock yarn! We're still in a Lime and Violet sock yarn run. I've discovered their merino/tencel blend, and it is sooooo pretty and shiny! Those who know me well know I am unable to resist The Shiny.

Here's Pegasus:

I think Pegasus is my favourite of the lot. It's such a pearlescent looking yarn in person, and I can't wait to figure out what to make with it.

Here's Aquarius:

I'm trying to stop buying all-blue yarn, but this one was too pretty to resist. Also, I'm an Aquarius, so how could I resist?

Finally, the "odd yarn out," Norma:

Again, my camera skills aren't doing justice to this yarn. It's such a pretty springy series of greens, with a very light pink shot through. Norma was part of my plan to add some new colours to my stash, and I'm so glad I picked this skein up.

Lastly, here's the 3 skeins hanging out together:

Mmmm, sock yarn.

In Actual Knitting News (tm), the Noro scarf is still going. I'm trying to use up all the yarn (Noro leftovers seem to breed in your stash - but only in small unuseable amounts that you can't seem to throw away), so this is going to be a loooooong scarf. I'm thinking it should be done by next week. Just in time for a week that will be 80 degrees plus. I always did have a fabulous sense of timing.

I hope everyone has a great weekend, and I'll see you all again on Monday!

Torn between two crafts

2007-06-06T07:25:00.001-07:00

Knitting is totally a gateway drug. I blame this on two things: 1. If you knit long enough, you will encounter patterns that require you to learn something that is Not Knitting (crochet, sewing, embroidery, etc), and 2. Once you realize that by paying attention to a pattern, you can actually have a garment that fits like it was made especially for you instead of someone 6 inches taller and 5 pounds lighter, you get to thinking...

So I had a thought. I had a thought based on every pair of jeans I have ever owned being too damn long, and gaping in the back. I own a sewing machine. Actually, I have two in the house, as my best friend sort of docks her sewing machine here (Hi Jessica!). I have a sewing table. I have a load of supplies after my foray into sewing my costume for the Ren Faire. I have made a bodice (with copious help from Miss Jeanne's mother, who is a saint for teaching me to sew. I am NOT by nature a crafty person).

So I meandered down to the craft store, bought a pattern (and holy sticker shock! Sewing patterns are a LOT more than knitting patterns - luckily all the Vogue patterns were 50% off) and some fabric.

Several days later, I have these:

Hooray partially finished jeans. Now, in my defense, I didn't do much last weekend because I had the cold from hell. These are going to have to wait till this weekend to be finished. We shall not mention the morning of realizing I had made two left legs, please.

Closeup of the inner pocket:

And a closeup of the back pocket detail:

Obviously, my sewing is not high-caliber. I'm doing my best to not be all over the place, but I'm feeling pretty good about this project so far. It's my first time sewing for a garment and not a costume. So far, the jeans fit like a dream. A bit loose, but no gaping (I haven't put on the waistband yet though, so we'll see how that goes). The legs are exactly the right length. I probably should have paid attention when the women in the fabric store told me that jeans are one of the hardest projects to sew... but since when has that stopped me from doing anything?

I'll post pictures when they're done. Sorry for all those of you who have read this far and hate sewing. ;)

There is still knitting, don't worry:

The Noro scarf progresses. No cat model this morning, as she was busy leaving orange fur all over my nice grey carpet.

By the way, Saloni, you are an eeeeeeeeevil yarn pusher. ;)

It's a love/hate relationship...

2007-06-04T19:48:00.000-07:00

Noro is like the bad boyfriend that you could never seem to break up with. When it's good, it's so amazing that you want to knit everything with it. Then, all of a sudden, you start... finding things. Bad things, like random stickery briar-like bits. You pick them out and tell yourself it's just this one time. The yarn just made a mistake, and we all make mistakes, right? Then, in the middle of a colour scheme: a knot! A knot joining two wildly different colours and ruining the colour progression! You try to remind yourself that no one's perfect. After all, there was that little fashion disaster in the 90's that you're still trying to forget. You keep knitting.

Then, the yarn FREAKING BREAKS IN A REALLY INCONVENIENT PLACE BECAUSE IT'S UNDERSPUN AND OMG I HATE THIS YARN SO MUCH SOMETIMES. You take a deep breath. You spit splice and wait. You go absolutely mad trying to match up stripes, but it's to no avail because the colour progressions in this yarn are random, no matter if you do have all the same dye-lot. Finally, you've had enough. You look at the sweater, realize it looks better on one of your best friends, and decide that's it. You're breaking up with this yarn. You go a perfectly reasonable amount of time, and you see Noro occasionally and admire it's lovely colours. You tell yourself you're strong enough to resist and you'll never be burned by this yarn again.

Then you see something like this.

Goddamnit.

I'll break up with Noro again. Just after I finish this scarf. I can be strong.

What's that you say? Lizard Ridge?

*cries*

If it's Friday, it must be sock pr0n

2007-06-01T14:59:00.001-07:00

In a return to form, I've got more sock yarn to show off. After completely missing the last Baywood Yarns update at Nine Rubies, I managed to snag a few skeins this time!

Baywood has recently started to use Louet Gems as their base yarn, and while I had no complaints with their original sock base (it's all held up REALLY well), the Gems is so much nicer. It has more squish to it, and feels almost like Socks that Rock.

The pr0n:

Oooh, ahh. :) I'm trying to get out of my pink phase, but this is too pretty to resist.

Perfect boyfriend sock colours. Ever notice how freaking hard it is to find multi-coloured sock yarn that your boy will wear? At least, assuming he's not willing to wear crazy colours (for those of you whose boyfriends WILL wear pinks and purples and such, can you have them talk to mine? :P).

Colourway "Napa Road," need I say more? In fact, a good glass of Cabernet is sounding like a great plan right about now...

I <3 unexpected colour combos.

Are we all pr0nned out now? Good deal. Here's some actual knitting:

See, occasionally I do knit up all that yarn I buy. This is the back of Arietta, a fabulous little cardigan from the Spring Issue of Knitty. I've been looking for a reason to use Shine Sport from KnitPicks, as fabrics made with Modal fibre make me very happy indeed. I'm fascinated by the way the other colours turn the grey to a blue-y grey.

This is my first stab at Mosiac knitting, and I'm pretty fascinated by it. Appearance of colourwork with no stranding? Sign me up! The only thing that I'm a wee bit worried over is the texture, which is a little bumpy. I'm hoping some blocking flattens it out a little.

What's that I hear you good knitters saying? Make a swatch and wash it? That would be WAY too easy. Besides, I like the element of surprise.

Administrative note: This blog made a slight error in describing Jocelyn, the first model of the Angelina Cardigan. She is, in fact, utterly fabulous. :) This blog is also rabidly jealous, as she's already into Ravelry and I'm not *whine*. Also, she looks better in my sweater than I do. ;)

Coming soon: So... Lime & Violet updated again... more sock yarn on the way. I'm an addict, what can I say? And! Noro regains its hold on my soul.

What have you knit for me lately?

2007-05-31T19:11:00.001-07:00

I think I may be the worst blogger ever. I have been knitting, but I'm painfully lazy, and so I never upload photos so I never have anything to talk about!

Anyway, I've finished the Angelina Cardigan from White Lies Designs. Sometimes I forget how truly fun it is to work from a tight, well-written pattern. Joan's patterns are concise, but not obscure. How many knitting magazines patterns read something like "Then decrease using the method one Finnish knitter with no internet access made up, and we have chosen not to illustrate here"? Not so with Joan. This pattern has No. ERRATA. None. I'm so used to patterns having at least something wrong with them. Joan has spoiled me.

All right, enough of my yammering, and on to the sweater. Since a majority of people on Knitty seem to loathe the mirror self-portrait, and I still haven't trained my cats to be photographers, these first two are non-modelled shots.

The front:

The back:

So today, I had an idea. I always like to see a project on several body types. I mean, EVERYTHING looks good on the 12-year old models you see in fashion mags.

I started nice and normal, with an accomodating Nine Rubies employee:

I love that I can show up, say "Hey, I want to use one of your for my blog!" and they are TOTALLY cool with that.

But you know, you've got to find the non-standard body types too...

In case you ever wondered:

Yup, looks good on dogs.

But we're not done:

Yes, it even looks good on men! ;) Now THAT'S a pattern!

Coming soon: Yours truly tries her hand at Mosiac knitting, and my descent back into Noro-love

Thank Lime & Violet it's Friday

2007-05-11T17:41:00.000-07:00

Ah, finally the weekend. I'm so ready to settle in with some knitting and not emerge until Monday morning. And just in time I came home to find...

Sitting happily on my doorstep.

What's inside?

Note the nice thank-you card. I'm not kidding when I say I continue to be extremely impressed by dyers who do this. I know L&V ship a freaking LOT of yarn, so it's nice to get a personal touch.

Oh, you want to see the yarn?

Hee. I love the pinks they use, and the colours they contrast them with. The one on the far left reminds me of one of the skeins of Yarntini I couldn't get. Hooray for the pretty!

I think the sock yarn stash may be getting a little out of control though...

Oh well, it's a weekend, and I'm not going to worry about stash!

Coming soon: Something not sock yarn. I swear. Maybe a sock, but also something totally Not A Sock.

Pure-ly pr0nilicious

2007-05-07T16:46:00.000-07:00

I never meant for this blog to become 100% sock yarn pr0n, I swear. And yet... it happens. The ladies at the Lime & Violet boards have a bad habit of alerting us susceptible sock knitters when something especially scrumptious goes up for sale.

Like Yarntini. I love Yarntini yarn, but the stuff is awfully hard to find - and don't even TRY finding it on eBay. People seriously gouge on the price. I'm convinced non-knitters are buying it as yarn speculation, because surely another sock knitter wouldn't do that to us? Right?

Anyway, the place I bought the Yarntini from is called Pure Knits and I will definitely be buying from them again! They carry a number of luxury brands (including my love-to-hate it but love-to-love it too Tilli Thomas yarn), and the prices are good.

All of the above would be reason enough for me to return. The frosting on the cake was the way the yarn came:

Tissue papered, bag tied with a ribbon, and a Hand. Written. thank-you note from the proprietor. Now, I have a lot of favourite yarn companies, but I've never gotten a hand-written card before! Too cool. If you're looking for yarn, Pure Knits is a great place to try!

Of course, I got a shot of the yarn out of its little bag too:
Isn't it just scrumptious? The feel is very similar to Socks that Rock, and I'm actually sort of tempted to use it to make this months STR pattern in the knee-high version. We shall see...

Speaking of Socks that Rock...

Hee, so luscious. I love the way it looks all curled up with its baby bit of yarn.

Eris likes it too:

Sadly, that's it for posting today. The heat has made me endlessly lethargic (although, not too lethargic to dream of knitting loads of socks).

Coming soon: MORE sock yarn. I'm not kidding. Blame Lime & Violet, for they are vile yarn temptresses.

Yarn Pr0n and Even! More! Miscellany!

2007-04-27T11:37:00.000-07:00

You may have deduced from my button on the sidebar that I am a Lime N Violet fan. In actuality I'm a fan of Lime N Violet in much the same way that the Pope is awfully fond of Catholicism. If you're not listening to them, you should be, because they are quite possibly the funniest women alive.

Like many of us knitters, LNV have what some might call a slightly unhealthy obsession with sock yarn (we sock knitters know it's just a very strong love, that's all. What do you mean you've seen us casing the LYS for new sock yarn? We were just in the neighbourhood. I wasn't salivating over your Socks that Rock, I just... had allergies, yeah, that's it). They've even started dyeing and spinning their yarn to sell on etsy (and NO I AM NOT SHARING THE LINK! MINE MINE MINE! *ahem*). The last update... well... as Violet said on the podcast "Sharks? Meet Chum."

I managed to snag three skeins before everything was gone (a time period of about 13 minutes from update):

Ooooh, pretty pretty pretty.

Here's the skeins in slightly different light:

The colours came out very true in these pictures, so hooray. They're all named after sideshow characters, which I just love! I was tempted to buy from the later update of spinning batts named after movies, but I still can't spin... so no Last Unicorn batt for me. The skeins arrived SUPER quickly, which helped to make up for Socks that Rock shipping my sock kit to my boyfriend instead of me. I love the way they package their yarn - it comes in tissue with a sticker that says "Wool Porn" on it. :)

Speaking of Socks that Rock, I am trying SO hard not to be spoiled on this month's colour. Is it just me? Does everyone else run to peek at blogs right away? I guess I just crave surprise. I think Blue Moon must be getting a lot of spoiler complaints, because there's a rather testy message on the official blog saying that they can't prevent them. What kind of peeved me was the suggestion that if you don't want to be spoiled, don't come to the club blog at all. I mean, I joined for the community as well as the yarn, and that seemed a little excessively cranky to me. But, the yarn is fab, and I've no complaint on the kits!

In the miscellany file:

What do you do when faced with a sweater like Morrigan? If you're like me, you have a minor breakdown and start working on something that's 100% garter stitch:

Yes, that's the ever-growing Log Cabin blanket. At some point, I hope to have it Afghan sized. Turns out, this is an excellent project for Homespun - it looks great on size 6 needles, and doesn't stretch so much.

Also, some of you crazy folk like to see modelled pictures:

That's my Monsoon sock of heel-tightness. I made the leg a wee bit shorter than called for, because a) I like my sock legs short and b) I couldn't bear to do that cable any more. Good reasons, yes?

Coming soon: Spoiler pictures of Socks that Rock (my boyfriend is coming this weekend and bringing the yarn!) and possibly more log cabin-ing.

Miscellany

2007-04-25T12:22:00.000-07:00

My quest for a true craft-room continues.

I finally managed to sell off the Bowflex that some of you might have noticed lurking in the background of the Craft Room photos. This freed up much needed book space!

Once I had all my knitting books organized, it was off to Target for some Simply Shabby Chic containers. I am so madly in love with Target, and that line of stuff fits my house so well. They have a bunch of different style containers that are perfect for different needles. I even got something (not pictured) that sorts my DPNs! Brilliant! The random circulars are in the box on top, straights in the box on bottom, and the cloth container to the left is the official WIP box. Sorry, I've got a few top secret projects, so no photos of what's inside for now...

In a moment of rare organizing frenzy, I even finally got around to putting all my loose paper patterns in a binder - in sheet protectors no less. I suspect I may have been hormonal...

Here's a photo so you can see the full-on YARN CORNER!

Everything knit-related in one spot. I can't begin to tell you how happy that makes me.

Now, the more observant of my readers may be noticing that very... colourful.. poster in the background. Forgive the knitting deviation, because I love to talk about this thing.

Way back when, when Jeanne and I were fledglings at community college, I used to spend quite a lot of time in the local library. On their third floor, they had an ongoing booksale - most paperbacks were 25 cents a piece. For whatever reason, this library had a disproportionate amount of bodice-ripper covered romance novels for sale (please note - I love romance novels, I loathe only the super clinch covers; this is in no way a stab at romance novels or authors :)). Somewhere in my demented college brain, an idea began to form...

Cut to a week later, where Jeanne and I buy about 20 books from the extremely amused librarian. She didn't ask what we were going to do, we didn't tell. We spend an afternoon cutting off covers and arranging them to our liking. We confronted difficult existential questions such as: do we put all the pirates together? a line just for Indian-themed romances? do we put all the "Savage" titles together or sprinkle them throughout? A little duct-tape, and we had a poster.

Of course, a duct taped poster doesn't look very good, even for an ironic craft-project. So we had it framed. To recap: 20 books at 25 cents a piece... 5 bucks. Getting the sucker framed? 60 bucks. The looks on the faces of the people at the framing shop? PRICELESS.

So now I am the proud owner of a $65 romance novel cover poster, and I love it.

Anyway, back to the knitting. I've finally gotten around to working on the February (really March) sock kit from Socks that Rock. Tales of needle sizing woe had kept me away, and the first time I tried to knit it with the recommended size needles, I got a toe that would have fit Bigfoot. I tried again, using size 0s until the heel and leg, and got this:

Back heel shot:

It's gorgeous, but damn is it hard to get that leg over my heel. Least. Stretchy. Cable. EVER. Still, it's a reasonably fun pattern (although I have no desire to knit a sock on 0s ever EVER again), and I'm already working on the second one. It's interesting to see how the colours start to spiral once the needle size changes.

Finally, (and boy isn't this a long-winded post), a hint of the Project of Madness:

Looks innocuous, doesn't it? A simple little cabled sweater... Google "Morrigan Sweater," (it's from No Sheep For You) and then come back.

Back yet?

Have I ever mentioned how much I HATE cabling?

I'm doomed.

Coming soon: Why the hell I took on this crazy project, and hopefully more socks!

A Simple Plan (Or Tragedy and Triumph and Why Customer Service Matters)

2007-04-17T21:14:00.000-07:00

All right: The Trip back in Time that I promised. My darling boyfriend got me the Simple Knitted Bodice pattern last Christmas, as he'd seen me drooling over it many a time. Then came Stitches West, where Dreamweaver Yarns had the biggest selection of Tilli Thomas yarn I'd ever seen.

I finished my Eris sweater, and immediately cast on for the SKB. Apparently I angered the Gods of Knitting by starting another sweater so soon, because this turned out to be one of the most hellish projects I've ever worked on. It became immediately apparent that my silk yarn was Full. Of. Knots. So I wrote the company a polite e-mail letting them know that this was pretty uncool considering the price. They responded nicely, saying send us back the faulty yarn, and we'll send you some un-fucked-up yarn (not in those words exactly). So I ripped out 3 hours of knitting and mailed the yarn back.

I wanted to finish this sweater quickly, so I knit as far as I could with what I had (those Pure and Simple skeins go a LONG LONG way, by the way - excellent yardage for the price). That's when I realized I had a slight... problem:

This was where I ran out of beaded yarn. With the cuff of a sleeve, and ONE FREAKING ENTIRE SLEEVE AND NECKLINE to go. I sent off another e-mail to the company, which was sort of stupid, because I made it sound like I wanted to BUY another skein of beaded yarn (I searched everywhere for another skein of my colour before e-mailing - none was to be found). They quite rightly told me that they couldn't sell me yarn, because they're a wholesaler.

So I started calling local yarn shops. I finally found a place that sold the multi coloured yarn, but it was the Ritz line, which is like Rock Star but with a metallic thread. It was about a half hour from my house, so I figured I could tink out the bottom part of the sweater, use the Ritz there, and maybe match the arm lace. Labour intensive, but at least I'd match.

So I got in my chariot:

(Yes, that is a totally gratuitous shot of my car. It was looking awfully pretty that day). I drove to the yarn shop, picked up the Ritz (while I've loved Tilli Thomas' other yarns, I have to say, Ritz is pretty gaudy) and went home to finish my sweater. The Ritz had at least 5 knots, among other quality control issues. Of course, I only found this out after I'd unpicked the bottom of the sweater. I put the sweater down, considered setting it on fire, and vented my wrath on the Knittyboard.

The next day, I decided (based on Bina's excellent advice) to CALL the company and tell them my tale of woe. Not only did they send me a new skein of the Rock Star, they sent me a cheque to cover the crummy Ritz yarn. The lady was super nice, and was very apologetic for all the issues I'd had. I can say that this made all the difference in the odds of me ever buying this yarn again. I'll definitely be wary, and be buying extra, but it truly is lovely, and now I know if I have further problems I can get good, quick service from them.

Once I got my new skein, it was off to the races to finish. Luckily, the finished product is gorgeous, because if it hadn't turned out well (NINJAS!) I would be sobbing quietly in a padded room right now.

The actual finished photos:

Hanging, sadly, the best angle I could get.

And the crummy self-portraits:

Close up:

The Vital Statistics:

Pattern: Simple Knitted Bodice
Needles: Size 3 and 6 (I had to go up a size, because I am the Super Tight Knitter of Doom)
Yarn: Tilli Thomas Pure & Simple (100% silk) in American Beauty, Rock Star (100% silk with beads) in Multi Red/Ginger
Total Knitting Time: Due to yarn wait, two weeks. Without wait time it would have been done in about a week.
Total Knitting Irony: I had a full skein of the Pure & Simple left over, and about 2 yards of the beaded yarn left over. If you're making the medium of this sweater, get /3/ skeins of the beaded yarn.

Coming soon: The project that may actually put me in that above-mentioned padded room.

A Dream Fulfulled

2007-04-15T20:05:00.000-07:00

So this blog has been remiss, apparently, in mentioning one of my chief Partners-In-Crime, my darling mother who helps out a TON with getting things done around this house. Cheers to Mom, who is so good about putting up with her crazy daughter.

Anyway, on to the main bit (sorry Mom! ;)). Yesterday I mentioned that I was thinking of making a yarn closet. Today I decided to make it happen with the help of my best friend and other Partner-in-Crime, Jeanne. There's the old saying that a good friend will bail you out of jail at 2:00 am, but a great friend will be sitting next to you in jail laughing about what a good time you had. This is not true. A great friend is willing to do construction projects with you.

Here's the closet before doing anything to it:

It's been the sort of random storage closet. Anything I didn't know what to do with went in there. It's also one of the scariest closets in the house, as it was never painted. We affectionately referred to it as the home of Zoonga the Demon Spider. So at 8:30 this morning I was vacuuming and scrubbing the icky, icky walls.

Then it was off to pick up Jeanne. Her dad helpfully provided us with a stud finder and a square to find out if my walls are square (they're not - big surprise). As we left, I swear her Dad was laughing about what we were about to try (when you pick your friends, it helps if they have handy parents - trust me on this! ;)). We measured and fortified ourselves with lunch and coffee, and it was off to Home Depot. Jeanne found a gorgeous pine that was perfect. We picked up drywall screws, shelf braces, and figured we'd be done in a jiffy.

Somewhere, the Gods of Construction were laughing. Our drywall screws were too long, so a return trip to Home Depot was in order (at this point, we fortified with coffee once again). Then the braces were the wrong height. By now it was around 3pm, and I was feeling weepy. Jeanne and I persisted, though, and ended up with this:

A nice, clean, painted closet with level shelves. You'll note that they may appear to not be level, but that's actually because the closet itself is tilted. We ran for the yarn and filled the shelves.

Here's Jeanne, with that look of construction triumph:

And here's a general view of the yarn closet:

Sock yarn and laceweights are on top, general yarn is in the middle, and the acrylic crap and scraps from leftover projects are on the bottom.

Then we fell on the couch and stayed there for about an hour recuperating. Thanks again to Jeanne for putting up with me, and the foul mouth I develop when things go wrong. ;)

Finally, the light was a bit better today, so here's the best picture I could get of the Tulip sweater:

It's still not a great photo, but as good as it's going to get.

All right, I promise I'm going to to get to the Simple Knitted Bodice story and pictures soon. Maybe tomorrow, we'll see.

Until then, beware the urge to construct!

And now for something completely different!

2007-04-14T17:53:00.000-07:00

Occasionally, I actually do non-knitting crafty things. I know this comes as a shock to you, dear reader, and so I'll understand if you have to look away from the screen for a moment to recover.

...

Are we better yet? Okay, good to go. I've had a mind lately to turn my back room (which has always been sort of my random room) into more of a craft-centric room. I've inherited my grandmother's old Kenmore sewing machine, along with a number of sewing accessories and some truly, TRULY vile-green shelves.

We repainted the vile shelves, and decoupaged their drawers with a nifty brocade we found at Jo-Anns (when it comes to fabrics, I'm still a craft store girl - recommendations for nice fabric sources are encouraged!). The final touch was finding nice drawer pulls, which we managed today at a local hardware store.

We pulled it all together, and this is the result:

Don't mind me lurking in the background! :) Mr. Petey got something new too...

A freaking cool corner cage. I knew they made corner fish-tanks, but this is beyond nifty. Since my rooms are small, I have to try and make use of as much space as possible, and this is perfect for him. The little jerk is thrilled. I'm going to claim the cage is crafty as well, because I had to put it together TWICE (we had to take it apart to get it inside this room). The directions had no words, only vague pictures. I thank my knitting experience for getting me through the assembly, because I don't think I could have made it through otherwise!

Here's another angle of my crafty corner, and of course, nothing gets done here without a cat involved:

This is a close-up of the sewing machine. My guess is that it's a late 60's, early 70's model (based on the avocado colour, which is actually sort of nice in this room...).

Funny story about this here sewing machine. My grandmother has always kept in great condition, so I wasn't sure if it would need servicing. When I started it up, it was SUPER sluggish. Like a sewing machine sewing through molasses. I pondered for a bit... and then Mom mentioned that Grandma used to have to oil it occasionally. A light-bulb went on in my head... My gun cleaner/lube! A few spritzes and a bit of clean-up later, it runs perfectly. I feel ridiculously smart. Sewing machines and guns, who knew? I wonder if I should write the lube company...

Last picture, a close-up of the shelves we painted. These began life as deep avocado green, with lighter yellow-green drawers. I sanded them down to the base wood, primed, and painted them with a barely there vanilla colour.

The top shelf is my sad little fabric stash. Since I'm not a very accomplished sewer, I only have what's left from past projects. I'm tempted to make a few pillows, and try to improve my sewing ability. This sewing machine has BOXES of accessories that I need to learn to use!

This room also has a walk-in closet. I have a lot of yarn. I'm thinking, some shelves from Home Depot, and I might just have a yarn closet.

Ideally, I think I'd like to get most of my crafting materials into one place, so I'm not running around the house wondering where the glue is, or where I left the scissors.

If I do the shelves, I'm make sure to take lots of pictures. Until next time!

Tie One On

2007-04-09T07:25:00.000-07:00

Well, there WOULD have been posts this weekend if I could have found my damn camera. Thankfully, it has reappeared, and here we go!

I'm going to start with the most recent completed project, and then we'll have a little back in time in further posts.

Saturday saw the final touch on my first Rowan project - The Tulip Sweater from Rowan Knit & Crochet magazine #41. It heavily features a new summer yarn called Damask which is just stunning to look at, and suprisingly comfy to knit with. It's a viscose, linen, acrylic blend (sounds just awful doesn't it?) and the drape on this yarn! I can't even begin to describe how nice it is. I'm glad I got past my anti-acrylic blend prejudice and gave it a try.

Anyway, the sweater! Here it is laying flat, which does it very little justice, but does show the construction fairly well.

The sleeves are part of the front and back pieces - you just increase till you have wee little sleeves. I'm very fond of that, because I HATE that feeling of "Oh yay! I've finished the front and backs, I'm nearly done! Oh wait... Sleeves."

Here's a better picture, and this is more how it looks when worn:

Those ties in the back are WAY too long, and that's the only part of the pattern I think I'd change if I were to knit this again. They are a k1, p1 rib - and supposed to be 100cm long (approximately 39 inches, according to Google). They end up looking silly unless they're tied in the back. They look artsy in the pattern photo, but not so useful in real life! Not to mention, being an English-style knitter, k1p1 ribbing is sort of the equivalent of water torture for me.

The border - or rather, the instructions on how to put ON the border - nearly did me in as well, but thanks to the friendly help at Nine Rubies, I was able to figure out how it was supposed to be knitted on. The directions seem to assume that you've probably knitted a border onto a bound off surface before, and know what the heck you're doing! In my case, that's totally untrue. :)

The Vital Stats (for those who care):

Yarn: Rowan Damask (colour mica) - 8 balls (the pattern for my size called for nine, but I think they expect you to use a new ball for the ties - I had more than enough left over to do the ties without breaking into a new ball)
Needles: Size 3 for ruffle border, Size 5 for body
Pattern Designer: Marie Wallin
Total Knitting Time: A week and a half

Tomorrow or thereabouts (depending on my roaming camera): The story of the Simple Knitted Bodice, or why customer service REALLY matters.

An administrative note: I have NO EARTHLY IDEA how to respond via e-mail to comments (I could swear I used to be able to, but I can't figure it out now). If you ask a question in the comments, I will reply there. :) I'm not ignoring you, I'm just not so good with the internets. :)

Coming soon...

2007-04-06T14:32:00.000-07:00

I've been away for a while in a haze of work, working out, and knitting. However, I promise to you my dear readers, loads of pictures this weekend, including...

A Simple Knitted Bodice (and a tale of yarn woe and redemption)

A Tulip sweater (and the ties that would not end)

Goth Sock Yarn (undead, undead, undead)

and a challenge that may finally put me in the padded room.

Also, why I'm NEVER telling you guys about local sock yarn ever again. My LYS has been getting calls from BOSTON! Boston! For my beloved Baywood sock yarn! I knew you all would steal it away from me...

See y'all soon!

Eris vs. Eris

2007-03-04T19:30:00.000-08:00

Eris v. 2.0 was finished last night at 11:56pm after a veritable knitting marathon weekend!

I'm one of those obsessive knitters who, once the end is in sight, stops doing anything else that might require a bit of that precious free time. I woke up this morning, looked around, and cleaned like a banshee, because the house had absolutely gone to hell while I was knitting.

Anyway, on to the knitting. Here's the Eris sweater visiting with my cat Ceres (strangely, my cat who is also named Eris, has avoided this sweater entirely), pre-blocking.

And the requisite sort of ugly blocking photo:

Blocking always scares me. There's a sort of leap of faith involved, because even if you've blocked your swatch, strange things can happen blocking an entire garment. You take something you've been working on for weeks, submerse it in water (or steam it, or however else you block) and hope to hell that nothing goes wrong. Wool is a fickle thing, and you have to pray that it doesn't swell to epic proportion, or felt if it's a super sensitive wool. I've heard horror stories of silk, that once wetted, smelled to high heaven and couldn't be made to smell decent ever again.

Luckily, nothing went wrong in blocking:

Notice that purple sleeve in the right of the frame? That's the original Eris Sweater. I've included a photo of the collar of that sweater, so you can see where the cables went wrong originally.

And here are the two sweaters side by side:

The funny thing is, these sweaters are both Size E. The first sweater I swatched for the collar, but sort of guessed for the body. It was knit on size 5 (for the collar) and size 7 (for the body). I did skimp a little on the sleeves, because I was bored with them. I'm a better behaved knitter now, and I swatched the hell out of the Malabrigo Eris. It's definitely a lot bigger! But, this time it actually fits the schematics of the pattern. I finally got a chance to try it on, and it is SO comfy.

Unfortunately, it was too late to get a picture of me wearing the sweater, so I'll try and get one tomorrow when there's decent lighting. Maybe I just need to train the cats to use the camera.

Eris 2.0 Vital Stats:

Pattern: Eris Pullover from Girl From Auntie
Yarn: Malabrigo in Frost Grey
Needles: KnitPicks Options sizes 5 (collar) and six (body)
Knitting time: About 3 weeks

Sweaters and SEX

2007-02-28T19:06:00.000-08:00

Hooray for Stash-Enhancing-X-peditions! But before I get to the yarn pron (boy, this is a dirty post already, and I haven't even gotten a paragraph in), I want to show off my Eris Sweater so far. Those of you who've known me for a while know I did this sweater a while back in KnitPicks Andean Silk. It's a gorgeous sweater (deeeeeep wine red/purple), but I was a beginner and my cables were Not. So. Good (sort of the understatement of the century, really). It's hard for me to wear the sweater knowing how many mistakes there are, because I have crazy bastard OCD tendencies and am convinced that everyone is staring at my sweater going "Oh my god, she TOTALLY screwed up that p2tog tbl. What a loser!" So I took out the basic raglan sweater I was knitting out of grey Malabrigo and started on Eris the Second.

Here's the body so far. I'm working on the hem right now, which is knit on sideways:

(By the way, because I'm vain I have to say this - I'm making this oversized. I do not require my sweater to be that wide, I'm just going for comfort. That is all. :))

Here's a detail of the hem, which I find just so frigging neat in its construction:

And a close-up of the collar.

Yeah, I'm a big (dirty-minded) show-off. I know.

Now to the important part of this blog: The yarn pron! I know I shouldn't buy yarn so soon after the Stitches West insanity, but I was having A Day (tm). Mercury has gone retrograde and taken my peace of mind with it. It was either retail therapy or real therapy, and this still worked out to be cheaper.

The Haul:

6 skeins of Malabrigo in a colourway called Violetas destined to be the Three Sisters Jacket (from Cheryl Oberle - google, I'm too lazy to add links today) and...

More Baywood Sock yarn in the Luxury blend. I'm so lucky this dyer still likes me, because I really do take god-awful photos of her yarn. It's so shiny and yummy in person, and this picture totally does not do it justice. I don't have plans for these yet, but I felt better buying them. ;)

Also, I will buy ANYTHING with pretty shades of blue. I am a freaking nut for tropical blues. So "Waves"? Best. Colourway. For. Me. EVER. Thank you Baywood lady, I love you in the most platonic non-stalker-y way. Please make more. :)

Stitches West ate my Brain

2007-02-26T17:47:00.000-08:00

I thought going to see the Yarn Harlot would prepare me for any kind of yarn-y madness the world could throw at me. I was horribly, horribly wrong. Stitches West is quite possibly the most insane event I have ever been to. Not that that's a bad thing. Only, there was so much yarn and so many people that I don't think I actually REMEMBER any of it.

Here I am with my friend Jessica (modeller of the Dibs on Ribs sweater of Woe (TM)) about halfway through when we took a break to eat. Note the dazed and confused expressions on our faces.

Here's the total yarn haul. Jessica acquired: Victorian Lace Today, a Laura kit from White Lies Designs, and a bundle of alpaca lace from Lisa Souza in a lovely sage colour. Jeanne acquired a beautiful eggplant coloured yarn from Cheryl Oberle and some rainbow and blue coloured wools from I-Don't-Know-Where (she wandered off on her own for a bit - brave girl!). I also picked up Victorian Lace Today, along with an Angelina kit from White Lies Designs in a pretty blue colour, the Three Sisters Jacket pattern from Cheryl Oberle, two sets of sock yarn from Lisa Souza (in Violet's Pink Ribbon and Lime n Violet) along with a rainbow-y coloured alpaca lace, and finally some Tilli Thomas Pure n Simple and Rock Star to make the Simple Knitted Bodice. Here's a pic of our total haul:

And here's my personal stash enhancement (on top of some other stuff):

I had to take an up-close picture of the Tilli Thomas yarn, because it really is breath-takingly lovely (quick side note: the beaded yarn is actually much deeper in colour, the flash washed it out):

Now, I rarely get yarn-political on this blog, but I do have to go there for just a minute (those who want to skip this can just end here -- don't worry, I still love you :))...

Ready?

I feel like when I post a picture of yarn on this blog, that I am tacitly endorsing that yarn. However, Tilli Thomas engages in a business practicing called Keystone pricing that I find to be a disservice to the yarn community. For more information about Keystone pricing tactics, check out Consumer Friendly Yarns, or listen to Brenda Dayne's or Lime & Violet's take on the subject. So yes, I'm probably a hypocrit for purchasing this yarn... but damn, it was too pretty not to buy. ;)

Coming soon, for those of you still reading: The Eris Sweater rides again!

The Series of Tubes is Complete

2007-02-18T09:12:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I put the finishing touches on my Heelless Sleeping Socks! Of the three sock patterns I've done out of this book now, I think these have turned out to be my favourite.

I was worried they were going to be too skinny for my legs, because the cast-on is only 48 stitches on size 2 needles. I wasn't too sure about the lack of heel either. Luckily...

They fit like a dream! The pattern makes for a good soft grip on your legs, so there's no sliding around in them. They stretch to accomodate the heel quite well, putting to rest my fears about "Oh no! No Heel!" And I can say that I have slept in them, and they handle a good nap quite well. No slipping down around the ankle, no twisting and cutting off circulation. Comfy, did I mention comfy? I absolutely love having silk in my sock yarn... it makes me me feel so spoiled.

All in all, a very good sock.

Next on my list of vintage knits is the Gentleman's Fancy Sock. I suspect these will take much longer to knit as they are on size 0 *gulp* needles. Still, the delightfully bright Schaefer Anne makes the work more than worth it.

A Series of Tubes (socks, that is)

2007-02-16T13:53:00.000-08:00

The vintage sock madness continues today with one and one/fourth of the Heelless Sleeping Socks. These are my first ever tube socks, and the one I've completed sure is comfy! I've never owned tube socks before (am I right in thinking they're more of a guy accessory?), so these are definitely New! and Exciting!

The back of the book makes a point of mentioning that for this sock, there are "no heels to knit!" I confess, I rather like knitting the heel of a sock. It breaks up the monotony, and gives you that joyous feeling of being at least half-way through your sock knitting. I'm very much looking forward to finishing and wearing these this weekend, when I will present you, dear reader, with the obiligatory foot shot.

A quick sneak peek at the not-so-Valentine's scarf (I got distracted by the socks, what can I say?), and the remaining skeins of lucious pink Malabrigo. The scarf takes two skeins, and I'm thinking I can certainly get a hat and armwarmers out of the remaining three. Feel free to disabuse me of this notion.

Annnnnnnd, at long last, the promised picture of the Log Cabin Blanket. It's a little... not square due to the eleventy-million different gauges of yarn used. It's lap blanket sized at the moment, but I'm thinking eventually I'd like to get it to 6' x 6'. The darling boyfriend's brother bought me 3 skeins of Lion Brand Homespun, and I suspect they'll be perfect for this project.

Another long promised picture: My work newt! I've always had bunches of funny little animals, and this guy is from a disasterous PetCo shipment. Usually I try not to buy newts from big places, because it just encourages them to order more and for the most part they have NO idea how to take care of them. In this case, there were 7 newts, most of them missing legs and bits of their torsos. I medicated the bejesus out of them, but 4 died immediately. Over time, his two buddies went to Newt Heaven - so I decided to get him a small tank so he could hang out in the office with me.

Behold, Marlowe:

Please note, if you want your co-workers to even begin to think you're sane, do NOT bring a newt to work. ;) Nevertheless, Marlowe has become quite the attraction here.

Last, but not least, in the Turtlegirl tradition of Friday yarn pr0n...

That's one skein of Schaefer Anne in an i-have-no-idea colourway, and one skein of Baywood (that's the yarn in the teacup) in Tea Roses. This was my sad attempt at an "artsy" shot. Please feel free to pretend like you're impressed. ;)

Happy Birthday to me (several days late, I might add)

2007-02-15T13:00:00.000-08:00

First things first, since I am bored and stuck away from home, all pictures to follow are cellphone camera pictures, so please forgive the blurriness.

The 12th was my 24th birthday (also the Birthday of Miss Zanti from the Knittyboards - Feb 12th-ers are totally the best). I got a load of nifty presents, some of which I'll try and put in a post tomorrow after I've had a chance to take and upload photos at home.

My gift to myself: More Baywood sock yarn, bwahahah. This is the cuff of the Heelless Sleeping Sock, also from Knitting Vintage Socks. I finished the first one last night (pictures to come, I promise) and it is SUCH a comfy sock to wear. This is the Baywood 50/50 wool/silk blend again, in the colourway "Once Upon a Pink"

I'd also like to say thanks to Baywood Yarns for posting my socks on their blog. I am absolutely SHAMELESS when it comes to compliments, so I sure appreciate it! Please note: I am saving as much money as possible to buy out their yarn at Stitches West (where we will be "officially" celebrating), and may be inclined to growl viciously at anyone who tries to thwart me in this endeavour. ;)

One of the biggest surprises on my birthday was the two dozen gorgeous roses my mother sent me from Ah Sam's, the coolest local flower shop.

Here's the flowers they day they arrived:

And here they are today, blooming quite spectacularly and making my cube smell quite deliciously of roses.

Below and to the right are the super pretty daffodils my co-workers got me for my birthday. It's finally starting to feel lively in this here cube!

As soon as I get a chance, I'll put up pictures of what I think is the coolest birthday gift I've ever gotten: hand-made duck pjs! My friend Jeanne made them for me, and I cannot express how neat it is to have perfectly tailored PJs! I feel very spoiled and posh. :) One of my great co-workers also got me a gift certificate to the LYS, and I used it to pick up some Schaeffer Anne in a delightful orange-y colour. I'm definitely ready to be done with dreary winter hues!

Thanks again to all those who left compliments on the Vintage socks, and I hope to have some more sock pr0n up very soon!

The Return of the MOAC, and some Vintage Sock Pr0n

2007-02-11T20:45:00.000-08:00

Argh, I thought I was getting better, but the infamous MOAC knocked me out for a good week. On the bright side, I've gotten quite a bit of knitting done. The Christmas before last, my darling boyfriend got me the book "Knitting Vintage Socks," so I decided to make a wee project out of doing several of the patterns in it. I've acquired a fairly decent sock yarn stash, and I've just discovered this stunningly beautiful yarn by a local dyer. Frankly, I'm loathe to share it, because I live in absolute terror that my dear readers will deluge my LYS with phone orders for it and there will be none left for me!

Both pairs of socks are out of that darling Baywood yarn. The first, the "Bed Sock" is her 50/50 wool silk blend. Now, I love this yarn and this colour, but there is one caveat - I almost ran out of yarn. I had to do some serious fiddling with the toe of the second sock, but I think it's more or less not noticeable. This is a blissfully soft yarn, and suits the idea of the luxurious Victorian Bed Sock quite well:
The gratuitous on the feet shot:

With the stretch of this yarn, I think I could have gone down a size on the needles (both pairs were done on size 1s), and still had a great sock. I have another skein of the wool/silk blend, and I think I'll try a sock on size 0s to see how it turns out.

Pair of socks #2, the Fancy Silk Socks. These are in Baywood's standard 100% wool sock yarn. The colourway is Jewel Box, and my LYS can barely keep this in stock. I don't think the photos do it justice at all. The red is just stunning in person - absolutely luminescent.
Standard shot #2:

And just to show off the colour striping, here are the soles of the Fancy Silk Socks.

The Fancy Silk Sock pattern is quite cursed for me. I think the socks still turned out lovely, but I've never had SO many mistakes in one sock before. This is entirely my fault, although I do wish the pattern would have been a bit clearer about the instep stitch repeat not dividing evenly (the last stitch repeat is halved), because there's no dead-on picture of the sock to let you know. I followed the original toe, which is a drawn together toe. Not my favourite, but I sort of like to follow the vintage pattern as much as possible. I noticed that originally there was a purl ride dividing the cuff and the leg pattern, and I rather wished I'd put that in. I'm not sure why Nancy Bush opted to take it out.

I've got two more skeins of Baywood to use up - and I think I'm going to continue doing the vintage socks. There's a great sense of being connected to the past working these patterns. It's fascinating to think that 100 years ago, some woman was knitting these same socks. Of course, probably her socks were a wee bit more solid in colour, but still!

The Log Cabin blanket continues, and is decently lap-blanket sized. It's gone back to being my project of last resort. I'm currently working on the Flickering Flame Scarf that I learned about on Lime & Violet. My boyfriend's darling mother sent me 5 skeins of Malabrigo in a lovely dusty pink for my birthday, and so I'm working up a scarf/hat/possibly armwarmer set in time for Valentine's day. I'll try and get some pictures up in the next few days.

Stupid germs...

2007-01-22T13:25:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the delay in post - don't worry, I haven't disappeared again. I woke up Friday with the Mother of All Colds (henceforth abbreviated as MOAC). Rather than go to work and be generally germy to everyone, I stayed in and did nothing. Not even a wee bit of blogging. On the bright side, the blanket has been progressing beautifully. The only problem with this is that every time I take a picture, by the time I go to upload it, it's outdated. Yes, people, I knit TOO FAST FOR PHOTOBUCKET.

Ahem. Anyway.

So Saturday, I got out of my sick bed to go with my dear friend Jeanne to see the best Comedy/Vaudeville team ever: MooNiE and BrooN. Fellow Ren Faire devotees will know who I'm talking about. The rest of you poor Broonless people must check out their website. They do a mix of stand-up, silly songs, and fantastically impressive juggling tricks. By the time we were halfway through the show, my mascara was running because I laughed so hard I cried. Luckily, I managed to clean it off at intermission, because...

I got selected to go up on stage with them! Now, this is a wee bit of a dodgy prospect, because at the last show I went to, the volunteer got to sit VERY VERY still as they juggled flaming torches around his head. Also, have I mentioned that I get profoundly nervous on stage, and the show was sold out? Well. Turns out what they had in mind was a "whipped cream eating contest." I put that in quotes because I'm a little unclear on what the contest was (MooNiE said something about whoever had the biggest mountain was the loser). They just wanted me to shoot whipped cream in their mouths at the same time (poor bastards - they managed to pick the most poorly coordinated person in the whole audience). Anyway, by the time I was done, there was whipped cream EVERYWHERE. Poor MooNiE had it behind his ears.

Luckily, they didn't seem to mind, and I got my picture taken with BrooN:

Two things of note: BrooN is actually about 6'5", and was almost on his knees to be in frame, and somehow I have managed to have my picture taken while wearing not one single hand-knit item. I hang my head in shame.

Sunday, I returned to my proud schedule of doing nothing and feeling vaguely nauseous. Hence, no interesting blogging. I blame the MOAC.

I will do my best to bring you guys some Actual Knitting Progress tomorrow, presuming the MOAC lets me get anything done. Also, stories about a newt. And work. Soon, I promise.

"I'm only knitting to keep warm"

2007-01-18T09:19:00.000-08:00

Well... it's cold. This is not news to you, I know. But for someone who is perpetually cold, except in crazy states like Florida where it is 8 million degrees out with 3000% humidity (I may be exaggerating there... but only slightly), this weather has been torture. At home it's not so bad - I can just attach myself to the wall heater along with my cats. Work is another story entirely.

Case in point: Today I'm wearing a blouse, a zip up jacket, a coat, wool slacks, knee socks, and fleece lined shoes. I have my beloved knit blanket over my lap.

I am still cold. It doesn't help that I work in a cinderblock building - great during the summer months, but hell in the winter. So I've devised a plan. It's a very simple plan: obviously I have to knit my Log Cabin Blanket at work. The knitting is keeping me warm. No boss would argue with that, right?

Right guys?

One administrative note: When I switched to the new blogger, somehow a lovely post inviting me to join the Clemes & Clemes yahoo group got erased before I could jot down the group address. If whoever sent that could just give me a head's up, I'd love to join in.

And yes, it is a pictureless post today. I forgot to hook up my camera before leaving for work, so you, dear reader, must needs imagine the glory of the Log Cabin. Pictures tomorrow, I swear.

Coming soon: Bring your newt to work day

Tango til They're Sore

2007-01-16T10:44:00.000-08:00

Oh my lord, New Orleans.

Really, if it weren't for some big ol strings attaching me to California, this blog would be coming at you from the French Quarter. We only had 4 days in NO, but what a glorious four days they were.

I ate breakfast almost every morning at Cafe Beignet, which provides those of us missing our beloved cats with travel substitutes:

The cat in the above photo looks almost exactly like a bigger version of Eris, who I was missing quite badly towards the end of vacation.

The neat thing about the quarter (where I spent the majority of my time - the garden district is gorgeous, but just not as fun) is that almost all the buildings have these fascinating hidden courtyards in the back. This next picture was taken behind an antique shop.

The antique shops, by the way, are like going into a museum where everything is for sale. Needless to say, I couldn't afford anything in them ("Honey, get me that $24,000 chandelier for my birthday?"), but the wares were just stunning.

Like any good tourist, I did the requisite cemetery tour. We visited St. Louis #1 and saw the infamous tomb of Marie Laveau. It's really sad how people have vandalized the tomb - urban legend has it that drawing 3 "x"s on the tomb will get your wish granted. The Laveau family, naturally, sees it differently.

While the tour was interesting, and I do recommend going the first time with a guide who can explain a lot of the burial trivia, I decided to do the rest of my cemetery visiting solo. I made it to Lafayette cemetery number one (in the Garden District) on a cold, foggy day and spent several hours wandering with Tom Waits on the iPod. I have loads of pictures, but I don't know if any of the blog-readers would be interested. Let me know if you want to see them.

Speaking of Tom Waits, there is NO better city to listen to him in than New Orleans. It's funny, but music seems to have places where it is more "right" (for lack of a better word) than others. Certain albums I have are distinctly seasonal - Tori Amos' "Scarlet's Walk" works better for me when it's freezing cold outside, Hagalaz' Runedance's "Volven" is my early autumn music. I don't know if this is just a crazy "me" thing, or if it's true for other people. Let me know in comments?

As for current, non-vacation knitting, I'm back to the Log Cabin blanket that has been so neglected:

Log cabin-ing is such a strange phenomenon with me. It will absolutely obsess my every waking moment for about a week, and then I put it down and don't think about it for 2 months. Luckily, I've got a lot of left-overs from the Christmas Socks (done in Cascade Pastaza), so I have a lot to add to this blanket.

One final note:

Beware the roving Chickens of New Orleans. They will try to eat your hands.

Coming soon: Must... Log... Cabin...

Travel knitting

2007-01-15T10:14:00.001-08:00

Boy, there's a lot to tell. I'll try and catch up on travel stories and hopefully get some pictures of the prezzies I knitted people (stupid me, didn't take pictures Christmas morning). In the meantime, here's the stuff I can actually show you!

Mr. Grad Student Boy's Mom rocked the presents this year with several skeins of grey/white Malabrigo. I'd never had Malabrigo before, but now I believe Lime & Violet: Malabrigo could TOTALLY cure eczema. It is the softest wool I've ever touched, and I firmly believe there's some sort of deal with the devil going on, because wool is just NOT THIS SOFT. Luckily, my darling man had gotten me pretty much the complete set of Elizabeth Zimmermann books, so I've embarked on my first truly patternless sweater:

It's a top-up raglan pullover, very basic, but soooo soft. Have I mentioned I lust for Malabrigo? I have? Okay, moving on then. Speaking of Christmas goodies, the sweater is on Denise Interchangeables (another gift from Grad Student Boy's mom - does this woman get knitters or what?), and right next to a very yummy set of Lantern Moon needles also from the Boy. I was one spoiled knitter this Christmas. I also got some Lorna's Shepard Worsted, and some Lion Brand Homespun, but those are still in Florida as I didn't have room in my suitcase. They'll be shipped out to me soon. :)

The sharp eyed among you will notice a familiar pink lacy object in the background. Yes, it is the Rose of England shawl. Last time you guys saw it it looked like this:

I have made progress:

Admittedly, it's not a heck of a lot of progress, but it turns out it's REALLY hard to knit lace when surrounded by a Large Italian Family. For some reason, they want to socialize. Weirdos. ;)

Of course, PURELY in the interest of research and selfless devotion to any readers I might have left, I did check out the LYS in West Palm Beach, "Great Balls of Yarn." Yarn selection there was pretty good, and I picked up some Plymouth Sockotta yarn (which is not only sock yarn BUT vacation yarn, so it doubly doesn't count as adding to the stash - in fact, I believe it actually means I've subtracted from the stash).

The store was one that was organized by colour, which is a big pet peeve of mine, but the lady working there was fantastic! Very friendly, and was offering to order me yarn before I sadly explained that I was a Knitter on Vacation. Excellent service, and I do recommend the store for sock yarn devotees - they even have the new Colinette sock yarn. Needle selection was pretty much ONLY Bamboo and Denises, so if you're a metal devotee, you're going to have to get your needles elsewhere.

The obligatory travel photo:

I didn't take many pictures of Florida, because pretty much it all looks like this. Palm trees, and an obscene amount of greenery. Everything is alive in Florida. I recommend listening to Dave Barry's advice, and striding briskly to prevent mold growing on your skin. It is THAT verdant in that state. It's also quite possibly the flatest place I've ever been.

One very weird thing for this little Bay Arean is that, in Palm Beach at least, EVERYTHING is in a strip mall. It feels like the entire state is made of up strip malls (excepting Key West, and I'm pretty sure due to the amount of liquor imbibed while in Key West, I don't actually REMEMBER what it looks like there). I'd love to tell you what the Atlantic looks like while on the back of a Waverunner, but between having salt in my contacts and keeping my eyes tightly shut as Mr. Grad Student Boy suicidally sped towards waves, I don't think I actually saw any of it. It's a warm ocean though (I know this because Mr. Boy managed to flip our Waverunner TWICE).

Meanwhile, back in California it is FREEZING. I nearly killed myself on the walkway this morning because it had Iced. Over. The last time I was this cold it was the dead of winter in Salt. Lake. CITY. Seriously. I would like some warmth please.

Coming soon: Return of the Log Cabin, and some pictures of New Orleans.

Back in black (and red. and blue. and pink. and whatever else was on sale this week)

2007-01-14T16:42:00.000-08:00

I know, I'm the world's Worst Blogger. Christmas knitting and constant gym going, plus a two week jaunt across the country with Mr. Grad Student Boy meant no blogging for me. Watch this space, as I'll be updating with loads of pictures and travel rants soon.

I promise.

Just after I shop this sale.

I wonder if I can knit on a Stairmaster?

2006-11-06T19:33:00.000-08:00

Multiple outside influences have caused yours truly to realize that some serious cardio is needed.

Influence one: Come late December, I will be required to appear in a bathing suit, and I don't want to scare small children. I'll be vacationing in Key West with Mr. Grad Student Boy and his family, and I feel that Key West requires a bikini. (This is what Mr. Grad Student Boy refers to as "Duck Logic")

Influence Two (the v. important one): I have finally placed a date for my police medical! If I pass this, hopefully I'll be reporting from the police academy sometime next year. Think I can convince them that I need circular needles on my utility belt?

So this evening I gave in, and went and joined the YMCA (pause for YMCA dance). Luckily, it's really close to both my work and my home, and I'm making a commitment to myself to go each evening after work. The only sucky thing is that it cuts down on my knitting time. Of course, to put a lovely touch on my evening, I managed to forget my locker combo and had to have the lock cut. It's Monday, what can I say?

Since the ROE is still in the stockinette section, I won't bore anyone with photos (Look! 5 whole rows of STOCKINETTE! THRILL as the SAME row gets repeated over and over AGAIN!). By tomorrow I should have at least broken into the pattern rows of Chart G.

I'm off to see if I can still feel my legs.

What I knit on my (not Summer) Vacation

2006-11-03T15:36:00.000-08:00

I think I'm finally pulling out of my knitting slump. For a while there, I was beginning to wonder if the urge to knit (some of you may want to cover your ears, here) had left me entirely. I've had other phases, so I thought, maybe this was one too. The slow tinking back of the Rose of England shawl seemed like it would be the nail in my knitting coffin.

Luckily, it looks like I just needed a wee bit of a vacation to get my knitting mojo back in full force. Here's everything I've been working on while in Sunny Santa Barbara:

That's a KnitPicks tulip sock (the same kit I got my Spooky SP - what can I say?) in the autumn colorway, the beginnings of a Clapotis, and most importantly - A Rose Of England that is BACK ON TRACK. I have tinked back to the problem area, and am once again making progress.

It's hard to get decent pictures of the shawl-in-progress, just because it gets so big so quick, so the above is the best I could do.

Next, here's the progress I have made on the Clapotis to be since yesterday:

It's a very... rustic yarn, but I still think I like it. It's a little shinier in person. I decided not to do the full amount of increase rows, as I reached optimum width with about 70-something stitches (I forget the exact number, and I'm too lazy to check). It's a soft yarn, although I'm still waffling a little over how much I like it. The other problem is, I stupidly came down without any extra needles, so I'm working on Clover circs. I know many people love bamboo, but I get frustrated with how "sticky" wood is. I'll switch to metal circs once I'm home again.

Finally, the Autumn sock! I've already done these socks in the Spring colourway, so they're fairly easy knitting by now.

This sock just needs a toe grafting (of course, I left my tapestry needles at home too) and...

Well, that's the downside of these socks. Pretty, but there's a whole lot of weaving in ends when you're done. I got pretty creative with carrying colours down several rows, but you still end up with quite a bit of work. Poppins, if you're reading this and despairing, don't. :) They're totally worth it, and super warm and comfy.

Only two more days of yummy vacation-ness, and then back to the grind. I'll try not to get too quiet again, dear readers. I am, after all, a complete comment whore. ;)

Recovery with Yarn!

2006-11-02T15:33:00.000-08:00

So, to answer my good friend Jeanne's question - No, I did NOT get arrested. Halloween in Santa Barbara is an absolute blast, though, and I want to go again next year. We started out by meeting at my cousin Jeremy's frat house (which, by the way, is RIGHT ON THE FRIGGING BEACH! Ahem), and waited while everyone got dressed up. I met a few of his friends, like:

Mr. Trojan Man. Nice legs for a guy, huh? :)

We did a little drinking before leaving, and thus fortified, took the craziest goddamn bus ride to downtown Santa Barbara. Seriously. They packed these buses to standing room only, and you got to know the people around you REALLLLLY well. Not a bad thing, as I was pressed up against one of Jeremy's super buff rugby buddies. ;) Not that I noticed, being a good monogamous girlfriend and all. My poor boyfriend hates crowds, so I think that might not have been as fun for him as it was for me.

Our first stop was Sharkeez bar, which was the best we went to that night. This picture isn't great, because I was drunk as a sailor by the time I was trying to get good photographs. Note to self: do not try to match drinks with rugby-playing cousin. BAD idea.

So boyfriend and I ended up leaving fairly early (12am) as he had to teach class the next morning. We took a cab home, because I was obviously in No Shape to Drive. Actually, I wasn't even in proper shape to walk.

Next morning I woke up with the hangover from hell, and called a cab to take me back to my car (which I had left parked in the AE(pi) parking lot). I had a wee bit of a freakout about leaving it somewhere overnight, but there it was all pretty and shiny and waiting for its hungover owner.

Needless to say, I did bugger all else yesterday. Boyfriend and I went to bed around 8pm just to recover.

Today, though, I determined I was going to do things of Yarn Importance. I googled yarn shops in Santa Barbara, and came up with BBs Knits. BBs is an absolutely adorable yarn shop on State Street, and I whole-heartedly recommend it. She carries a large selection of hard to find (at least for me) yarns. She's got a huge selection of Fiesta, Artyarns, and Colinette.

The owner is super-friendly, and was more than graceful when I asked if I could take a picture for the blog. This is her wall of Fiesta, Mango Moon, and Debbie Bliss. The poor thing thinks the shop is messy! It didn't look messy to me at all, but maybe we have different standards of clean. What I especially liked about this shop was that not only does she carry lots of really interesting and beautiful yarns, but she also carries enough "regular" yarn that you could make a sweater if you felt like it. :)

What did I get? Well...

5 skeins of Mango Moon's viscose yarn (I already balled a skein, which pulled in half - hence the two balls). One set of Lantern Moon needles size 8 - I got a set of Lantern Moon for my Halloween Secret Pal Poppins, and I was so jealous I had to get a set for myself. I also picked up circulars, because I didn't know how wide my project would get... What project? Oh, well... I'm finally giving in to the Clapotis urge. 2 years late, I know, but I was looking for something that wouldn't require TOO much concentration, as the Rose of England shawl is kicking my ass.

I'll post updates on my ROE shawl soon, but I'm still tinking back to try and fix my giant f*ck-up twelve rows back.

I'll be back home on Sunday, and I'll try to post a few more pictures of SB before I go. :) It's sooooo pretty here.

It doesn't feel like Halloween in Santa Barbara

2006-10-31T07:58:00.000-08:00

Happy Halloween, dear readers!

Yours truly is on vacation in Santa Barbara, hoping to experience the sheer debauchery that is a UCSB Halloween. Needless to say, very little knitting will get done (although I might get some done, as Grad-Student Boy is at work all day).

It's far too green down here to be Halloween. There are blue (cloudy) skies, and nary a red or yellow leaf in sight. It feels like late summer, at best.

Perhaps tomorrow I will have pictures of the craziness that goes on. :) Until then, sorry for the dull and pictureless post!

Goodies from my Halloween SP

2006-10-28T20:07:00.001-07:00

It's my first Secret Pal! I've been so excited packing up my box to send to my SP, but now I get to be excited about GETTING stuff. I love being spoiled. :)

Here's an overall view of my booty! (Not that kind of booty - for shame!)
I got some Misti Alpaca Laceweight, which is a gorgeous yarn that I've worked with before. I'm thinking it might want to be a Seraphim. I got a ton of stitch markers, which is so cool because I'm always needing more (I tend to do a lot of shawls at one time, and those just eat stitch markers). Not only that, I got beautiful needles to do a shawl on (size 3, my most used size).

I got some fab looking tea as well - hazelnut and cranberry. It's getting freaking cold here, so I'm looking forward to yummy teas in the evening. I also got some Reese's cups, but as you can see, they didn't last long.

I also LOVE this ghost-bowl-thingie. I don't know the proper term, but it's so damn cute. :) I'm thinking it's a great sock-in-progress holder.

Other goodies pictured: Halloween socks! I love these, and I only ever wear silly socks. Mini candies, for that quick sugar fix. And stickers! I tend to get a little crazy with stickers, so these are totally perfect. Last but not least, little orange candles. Too cute. :)

Not only did I get all that nifty stuff, but apparently one last little package is in the mail. And my SP hasn't revealed herself! Must... stalk... knittyboard...

I just got a little... distracted

2006-10-21T15:13:00.000-07:00

So I've sucked at posting lately. I'm a bad blogger, and someone ought to spank me (preferably someone in a kilt).

See, I got some new yarn... and I got... distracted.

It's not readily apparent, but that's the Rose of England shawl reborn. I got my hands on some Handmaiden Lace Silk - colourway melon. I have done NOTHING but knit on this shawl. I've been knitting on my lunch break at work, I've been knitting as soon as I get home, I've been dreaming about knitting.

I don't have much to say, so let's just have some yarn pr0n.

And now for something completely different...

2006-10-16T14:47:00.000-07:00

Cribbed from Crazy Aunt Purl, one of those fun little "things about me" surveys. Presuming you care about me. At all. Although, if you don't, why are you reading this blog anyway? ;)

Four jobs I’ve had:
- Tutor to kids from Kindegarten to 12th grade.
- Painter.
- Big Boring Box Store Employee.
- Assistant extraordinaire.

Four movies I can watch over and over:
- The Last Unicorn
- Spy Game
- The Big Sleep
- Top Gun

Four places I have lived:
- Belmont, California (grew up there)
- Brentwood, California (ye olde highschool years)
- Salt Lake City, Utah (University!)
- San Mateo, California

Four television shows I love to watch:
- Grey's Anatomy
- Veronica Mars
- Mystery (PBS - yes, I know it's a different show each week... but still)
- Dateline

Four places I have been on vacation:
- Florida
- Hawaii
- Grand Cayman
- Sweden

Four of my favorite dishes:
- Radiation Toast (Take one large hunk of french bread, heat in microwave for 50 seconds, slather with butter. Yum. :))
- Chicken Pakora
- Avocado rolls
- Hot Turkey Sandwiches

Four websites I visit daily:
1. Crazy Aunt Purl
2. The Yarn Harlot
3. The Knittyboard
4. Go Fug Yourself

Four places I would rather be right now:
- Tahiti
- Home in bed, reading a book and drinking Tea
- Down in Southern California with my boyfriend
- Any beach

More substantial updates soon, I promise.

Vampires have stolen my immune system!

2006-10-09T20:56:00.000-07:00

I know, there's been nothing here. I've been sick as a dog. I promise, soon I will post will doily pictures and some fun stuff for October. Until then, go amuse yourself in my photobucket sections.

*flap*

*death*

Death!

2006-09-29T20:18:00.000-07:00

When I came home today, I saw... a package. I thought to myself, I have not ordered anything. And then it hit me. Death. By. Socks. I ran into the house, determined to avoid annihilation. The socks were equally determined. They tried finding me in the Halloween village.

When they didn't find me fiddling with my Halloween toys, they tried another route...

The cats. The socks were devious, and figured the cats would be following me in search of cat food (as they do at all hours)

The cats know their meal-ticket, though, and were not forthcoming with information. But then! The socks spotted... a TOE!

I tried to run, but it was too late. The socks lept upon my feet, and I DIED.

Ceres just wishes her mother would stop fiddling around with socks and feed her already.

Doom!

2006-09-27T19:22:00.000-07:00

So on Sunday I finished my Sock of Doom for ... Sock Wars! They're made from Rowan Tapestry, which is a 70% wool, 30% soybean fibre yarn. It's a beautiful yarn in the ball, but DAMN does it fuzz up when you knit with it. I guess that's what I get for knitting with a single ply yarn. It's very soft, though, and my Victim seems to enjoy them. The striping works a lot like Noro in that it doesn't seem to follow the same colour pattern, behold:

Definitely fraternal socks.

Ceres was not fond of the socks. Luckily for her, they got sent to Maryland.

Here are the socks inside their fiendish packaging (remember the post about being a Halloween junkie? ;)):

These were probably the quickest socks I've ever knit. Size five needles and sport-weight yarn just FLIES by. I'm guesstimating that each sock took me about 4-5 hours. Unfortunately, it looks like my assassin has got her socks in the mail, so I'm DOOOOOOOMED!

October is coming soon, and I'm thinking of trying to do a bit of a Halloween theme. Maybe I'll review some spooky books, some spooky movies, and maybe even some spooky music. As I mentioned before, I'm bit of a horror movie buff. If you, dear reader, like the same sort of thing, check this site out. It's run by two sisters who review horror movies and make the Best Cakes Ever.

Tomorrow: Hell if I know. It's been a long week, and it's only Wednesday.

Wherein I flash the reader

2006-09-25T19:39:00.000-07:00

So Turtlegirl has a fab blog that I regularly stalk. She features regular yarn pr0n, and I swear she must knit 24/7 to turn out the projects she features. So, per her recent invitation to flash our readers ... er, show our readers our movie collections, here's a little glimpse into mine.

Quick note, I took these photos in the evening, so I'm sorry for the nasty flash in the middle. Without the flash, the movies were unreadable. Lesser of two evils and all that.

So here's my super-posh (har har) video cabinet of Doom. I actually use the top shelf as an overflow shelf for my books (which are slowly but surely taking over my house). Please note: I am NOT watching Deal or no Deal. It was a commercial. I have standards. ;)

I'm a VERY eclectic movie-lover. The boxed Bogie and Bacall set (To Have and Have Not, Dark Passage, The Big Sleep, and Key Largo) is definitely one of my favourites. I love movies from the 30's and 40's because of the quality found in the plot, and the acting. I know it's cliche, but Bogart is the ultimate actor for me.

I take no responsibility for owning Bruce Almighty. It was a "Christmas gift" from when I worked at Blockbuster. It doesn't have a UPC, so I can't trade it in for anything. Eventually I'll probably just toss it when I get low on room (which is going to happen soon, I can tell.) I love horror flicks, the cheesier the better. Old Christopher Lee horror films are a definite favourite. I'm also a big fan of action. The best, I feel, are the 1980's super shoot-em-up, massive pyrotechnics extravaganzas.

Also, I love me some Stallone. ;)

Quick aside, if you haven't seen Equilibrium, GET IT. It's one of the best sci/fi films I've ever seen. Christian Bale is fantastic, the plot is interesting (yes, it's a mix of several novels, but it's done in a great way), and the filming is just awesome. Everyone I've shown it to (even those of my friends and family who HATE my taste in movies) has loved it.

In the bottom, we have the lonely little VHS cabinet. It has my VHS copy of the Last Unicorn, which is sadly superior to the DVD in film quality. I've been watching this movie since I was 5, and I've probably seen it a thousand times. It's my chicken soup for when I'm feeling lousy.

So... yeah. Those are my movies. :) I'd love some comments on any movies you, my darling reader, have an opinion on. Good or bad. I love a lot of REALLY bad movies.

Tomorrow: Pictures of the Sock of Doom (as it should have arrived at my target's house by then)

DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

Sorry. ;)

It's the Most Wonderful Time... of the Year!

2006-09-24T15:37:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's that wonderful time we call... Halloween Season. Ever since I can remember, Halloween has been my favourite holiday. It appeals to my inner drama-nerd, and my outer pagan. It was always the only holiday that didn't involve family arguments over which house I'd spend the evening at (ah, the joy of divorced families). Now that I have my own home, I absolutely love to decorate for Halloween. As soon as that tinge of cool fall air hits, I start envisioning orange and black everywhere.

Some of you will probably think it's a little early to be decorating for a holiday that's not until the end of next month. Probably, you should skip this post. ;)

We begin our tour in the kitchen. Target has been a blessing this year, in terms of adorable Halloween decorations. I usually keep my front yard "spooky," but inside the house I like a little bit of fun:

And this one I might actually leave up all year:

And of course, like I always say, you can't do anything in this house without cats. Ceres has noticed that the new Halloween blanket is totally lacking in Orange, and is fixing that for me.

The front room is my main focus right now. The little jars on the mantel all have darling inscriptions like: "Bat wings," "Dead flies," and so on. My favourite broom is hanging out in the lower right hand corner. I keep thinking I need to get something to hang it, maybe above the painting.

And my latest acquisition: Spooky Town. I've never been into Christmas Villages, and I never knew they made something similar for us Halloween junkies. I plan to stalk the rest of the collection quite obsessively.

For my first foray into YouTube, I've taken a video of the animations/sounds of the display. This is almost as good as my six foot four Grim Reaper that I put in the front yard every Fall.

In Sock Wars news, I'm almost done with my socks. Beware Lane Knees! BEWARE! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!

Ahem. After that, I've got a new lace shawl project. Rose of England has been unmerciful to me, so I'm trying the Mediterrean Lace Shawl from A Gathering of Lace. If that doesn't self destruct, I may actually put up pictures of it.

I know I've sucked at blogging regularly lately, so thanks to any readers who have stuck with me. :)

Coming Soon: Pictures of the Sock of Doom!

Icarus

2006-09-22T22:58:00.000-07:00

Okay, I finished Icarus several days ago. It's been so long since I worked full-time that I've really been too tired to do much, and blogging dropped way low on the priority list. I've got more to talk about, and I'll try and catch up tomorrow.

So first, here's Icarus pre-blocking. It's a pretty sad little pile of alpaca. Eris likes it though:

And... Icarus pinned out on the floor. I'm not a very good pinner, and as I've mentioned before, I tend to be a pretty lazy blocker. However, since these points pretty obviously weren't going to point without help... they got pinned (yes, that is part of Ceres in the lower left corner):

And finally, the amount of yarn left over. I can totally see how people were running out of yarn on this project. I used two balls of Misti Alpaca at 437 yards each. If I'd only had 800 yards, I don't think I would have made it. Of course, I bought an extra ball, so the yarn gods made sure I didn't actually USE it. Grumble. Maybe I'll make an alpaca doily.

Tomorrow: SOCK WARS HAS BEGUN!

More of the Spinning Wheel (by special request)

2006-09-11T11:47:00.000-07:00

Never let it be said that I don't try to please my readers. ;) By request, here are some more detailed photos of the spinning wheel.

The wheel is a Clemes and Clemes, and the owner tells me it's about 20 years old. I don't know if I've got it strung right, but since I have NO IDEA how to spin yet, I suppose it's not an issue. Note how Eris has insinuated herself into the photo:

Further proving that I can do nothing without a cat in this household, here is Eris investigating some of the goodies that came with the wheel:

For those of you who prefer their pictures detailed and without Cat, here's a better photo of the goodies I got. I have 3 extra bobbins, and a bigger... yarn-spinny thingie. That is, of course, the technical term. I also got two carders, not pictured.

And lastly, because I never want it to be said that I didn't go all the way for my readers... A side view. I don't know if anyone cares, but just in case. ;)

No real knitting progress was made yesterday, as I was busy killing myself on a five mile hike with the other two Hussies.

Tomorrow, probably: More Icarus (it never ENDS, I tell you)

Two hussies go to see the Yarn Harlot!

2006-09-09T20:44:00.000-07:00

Today may have been the single most exciting day of my knitting life. Today, we met... The Yarn Harlot. She was coming to Full Thread Ahead in Los Altos, and would be speaking in the evening. There was just the minor matter of there being 450 knitters who had RSVPed for this event. Check-in was at 2:00 pm, and we wanted to be First In Line (okay, I wanted to be first in line, Jessica had not yet experienced the Love of Harlot). We set off most bravely around 12:45, allowing for Lost Duck Time (which it turned out, we needed. Who knew Los Altos has like, two downtowns?)

Once we made check-in (we got Zone 1 for signing, yay us) we wasted some time around downtown Los Altos. Knitters were EVERYWHERE. You couldn't sneeze without hitting someone wearing a Soleil, a Flower Basket Shawl, or a Lotus Blossom Tank. I saw someone wearing a white version of the Flirty Ruffles Shawl, which was stunning. I also saw someone wearing a STUNNING Peacock Feathers Shawl, something I intend to cast on sometime soon. I forgot her blog name (I suck), but she was fantasically friendly, as was everyone at the event.

Around 4, seating opened, and because I am OCD we ran right out and got seats in the front row. After I took this photo, they added more rows of seats. By the time the Harlot started speaking, the lot was FULL. People were on the sides, watching. Note the gorgeous colours on Jessica's scarf. She has definitely come to the dark side. She also won a gift certificate for being the newest knitter in the group!

We also met a store owner who may be carrying Handmaiden Lace Silk, my absolutely FAVOURITE fibre. It's damn near impossible to get here state-side. Check out her website. She carries some fabulous yarn, and was incredibly friendly.

Another view of the seats, and Jess knitting. The lady next to her (whose name I have shamefully forgotten) was So. Cool. She has a 1900 square foot stash. I'm not kidding. She has a separate frigging HOUSE for her stash. Jessica and I tried to get her to adopt us, but I don't think she was going for it. I asked if she ever gets the urge to roll in her stash, and she assured us she did.

Around 5:30, the Yarn Harlot took the stage. I can't begin to descibe how witty this woman is. I don't know if a non-knitter would get her style of humour, but we laughed so hard our cheeks were hurting. She keeps a totally straight face as she riffs off the silliness we knitters endure, every once in a while breaking into this mischevious little grin. She must have talked to us for an hour and a half, including questions. Never once did she look tired of doing the book circuit, or get snooty with a question. I don't know if I would be that down to earth if hundreds of people constantly showed up to see and adore me.

After the talk, we lined up to get our books signed (Do I even need to tell you, dear reader, that we were first in line? Knitter with determination, I tell you....) Stephanie signed both our books, and I had her and Jessica pose for the camera with the amazing Dibs on Ribs sweater of Intense Evil. I believe the Yarn Harlot descibed it as an "evil gremlin" of a sweater.

All in all, one of the best days I've had recently. I hope the Harlot comes back on her next book tour (she descibed Book 4 as being a "travel guide to knitting." I can't wait!)

Till next time, dear readers.

And if you ask about the Icarus, I may have to kill you.

A little behind (as always)

2006-09-03T13:10:00.000-07:00

All right, I know I promised an update last Monday. I am a bad bad bad bad Blogging Duck. I blame the 12 hour drive (yes, twelve hours) to get the spinning wheel added to one of Those Weeks (tm). Now, I figure there are going to be two types of readers: Type One thinks driving 12 hours for a spinning wheel is nothing, totally normal, and would like to see the pictures already; Type Two is still repeating to themselves "Twelve Hours? For a spinning wheel? Are you MAD?"

Type two is right, of course, but here are the pictures anyway. ;)

After the twelve hour drive, I still had to get all the goodies transferred from my mother's Dodge Ram (a rather large automobile) to my Vette (a car that seats, on a good day, two midgets and half a bag of groceries). Somehow, I managed the drive home from Brentwood completely intact. I don't know if my car has forgiven me yet.

Once the wheel was inside the house, it had to be vetted by the cats. Ceres knows that this contraption means less attention for her, and she Does Not Approve.

Eris took the job of investigating the fiber. She seems pleased.

Oh yes, the fiber (I know, type one has been screaming for details. Relax, type one). Not only did the my mother's lovely, fantastic, adorable, and incredibly kind friend give me a spinning wheel, she sent me home with all the fiber she had left. There are silks, cotton, and wool. I admit, I may have nearly wept a little when she said she used to have bags of silk, but gave it away to some guy on Freecycle. Susan, if you're reading, I'm sorry for that display of emotion. Silk gets me all choked up. ;)

And not ONLY is there fiber, she sent me home with all her handspun yarn (note the 24 balls of natural black wool):

My stash is most verily enhanced. And I would just like to take this moment to reiterate that I got ALL OF THIS in a 1981 Corvette. Never underestimate a Knitter on a mission.

Unfortunately, I still haven't learned to spin yet. I've been tooling around on the internet, and on Tuesday will be going to the library in search of books on spinning. I know there are some DVDs out there, and if anyone would like to recommend a particular DVD I'd be super appreciative!

In other knitting news, I'm still slogging through Icarus. Ms. Felton, your pattern is lovely. I can't wait to wear it. But those last few rows before the edging starts are making me want to jab myself with my needles. I can only begin to try to express my admiration in you for actually deciding to DO all those rows, with no lovely picture to promise that there is a beautiful object to be gained from them.

My random plug of the day: PepperKnits and her Anastasia Sock pattern. It's free from her blog, and is next on my list of Socks to Knit. She's looking for pictures of people's completed Anastasia socks too, so why not give it a try? :)

Coming soon: Hopefully, an Icarus.

Finished Mystery Socks, an Icarus, and some Sea Silk (and a partridge in a pear tree)

2006-08-27T13:13:00.000-07:00

Although I finished these socks sometime last week, I'm just getting around to posting a picture of them. Behold! The Socks of Mystery!:

They're a cute pattern, although nothing so spectacular I would want to knit twice. Like I mentioned on the mystery sock blog, I did make a few changes - I prefer my socks very short at the ankle (long socks on my short legs make me look... stumpy), and I prefer a reinforced heel. Everything else is exactly as written. I didn't especially like the toe when I finished, and it seems awfully long, but it does show off the yarn nicely. I suspect my ribbing was not very good on these, and as you can tell from the picture they do sag a little around the ankle. If I were to do the pattern over, I think I'd do the k1tbl, p1 ribbing. I used that for the Embossed Leaf Socks from Interweave Knit's Winter 2005 issue, and those socks have a much better "grip."

Luckily for me, these socks did turn out mostly identical. I know how self-striping yarn can be the bane of the OCD Knitter's existence, and this yarn behaved (mostly) well. No fraternal twins (or first cousins) here.

I've also gone back to working on the Icarus Shawl. Poor Icarus has been sadly ignored in favour of more challenging patterns, but for reasons I'll detail below, is back at #1 in the WIP line. Here it is, with about one and a half more repeats of the plain section to go:

I'm really hoping the magic of blocking is going to work on this shawl. I know knitters everywhere have used alpaca and turned out just fine... only, it seems so SPRINGY. I despair of ever getting it to lie still and behave. I'm also debating whether or not I want to put in an extra repeat for length. I definitely have the yarn - I bought 1200 yards of the Misti Alpaca lace, and I would like to use up most of it. If any of you readers have done the Icarus, please let me know in the comments whether or not you added the repeat, and if yours turned out long enough.

The work that was SUPPOSED to be #1 has... well... fallen out of favour. It's a pretty enough pattern, the Paisley Long Shawl from Fiddlesticks. Last time you guys saw this, I was using Schaefer Andrea, but...

The Sea Silk arrived. I had originally intended the sea silk to be the Peacock Feathers Shawl (also from Fiddlesticks), but two problems happened.

1. I ordered this colour: Ocean

The picture below shows what colour I got, and yes, the colour is showing true in this photo. I should have just sent it back, but I had already balled one of the skeins, in a moment of true knitter idiocy.

2. I hate to say this, but I don't really like the yarn. It's much denser and heavier than I expected, so it REALLY didn't suit the Peacock Feathers shawl. There's an odd feel to it, and since the colour isn't really exciting me either.... I suspect it will be a while before I finish the Paisley Shawl.

I love the other Handmaiden yarn I've gotten (I used her Lace Silk to make my Shetland Tea Shawl), but I doubt I will be ordering Sea Silk again.

In happier news though, soon this may be "Duck Knits and SPINS!" I'll tell y'all more on Monday, until then!

Adventures in Hiking (part 2)

2006-08-26T15:43:00.000-07:00

A few corrections before I start this post:
1. Those trees in the previous pictures are Madrones, and not Manzanitas.
2. We actually went hiking Tuesday. Funny story about that, in that I could have sworn we had made plans for Wednesday. Imagine my surprise when Jeanne calls, ready to hike, and it's... Tuesday. So I guess my blog entry reflected my mental confusion re: hiking dates. :)

So, on to the cute flora and fauna. All photos but the last one are once again courtesy of Jeanne, photographer extraordinaire.

This is just one of the many rabbits we saw along the trail, but this one sat still forever. We got a ton of pictures of this little guy, and I'm beginning to think maybe he's just a vain little bugger. All the rabbits there have the cutest little cotton tails, and you just want to take them home with you, they're so cute. Incidentally, it was weird for me to see rabbits in the wild. I'm such a city dweller that it's hard to picture these little guys actually surviving outside a plush home.

There were some neat flowers too. I have no idea what these actually are, but they're awfully pretty. I want a yarn based around those colours.

Normally, I am NOT a fan of anything in the insect kingdom. I go a little wiggy everytime I feed my newts and salamanders crickets, and I can't ABIDE anything crawling on me. That said, I have to admit this little guy was actually pretty cute:

I have video of it walking on Jeanne's hand, but I suspect it's too bandwidth intensive to post. It might make great blackmail someday, though. :)

The next is one of my favourite photos. I feel it totally rivals this one from Cute Overload. Again, not normally a fan of bugs here at Chez Duckling, but that one was pretty darned adorable.

Of course, all hikes must come to an end, and ours did quite spectacularly when - not 100 yards from the end of the trail - I tripped and ended up ass over teakettle. Check out my totally adorable leg post-fall:

Luckily my boyfriend is not one of those obsessive leg-men. I'm finally almost healed, but the skin is sort of... super-pink, still.

All in all though, a very successful hike, and one I'd do again anytime.

Coming soon: The Icarus, progress has been made! And, pictures of my Mystery Socks (I finished them days ago, but my boyfriend has been visiting, and so I've been ... distracted). A review of the Sea Silk, and a new Shawl-In-Progress.

Adventures in Hiking (part 1)

2006-08-20T14:01:00.000-07:00

Since I spend a ludicrous amount of time knitting (those shawls don't just knit up in an hour, let me tell you), I have a tendency to be somewhat... indoorsy. This was especially brought to my attention by my dear friend Jessica (model of the Noro Sweater of Intense Angst), who pointed out that I have become somewhat, well, shall we say, reflective?

Then there's Jeanne. Jeanne is an OutDoors Type of Person:

That's Jeanne conquering the Bench on our latest outdoor adventure. Jeanne is good for me, because gourds know otherwise I would probably never get outside. Note how comfortable she is in her surroundings. I, on the other hand, accidently wore sandals, and was COVERED in dirt.

Anyway, last Wednesday she got me out of the house again, and we went on the neatest trail. Like I've said, I'm not much of an outdoors person, and I suspect I may not be the most fun person to hike with, but what a gorgeous hike.

(Note: The following photos are courtesy of Miss Jeanne, whose camera and eye for photography far exceeds my own)

We saw the coolest manzanita trees, which, if I could have - I would have brought home with me. Manzanita is one of the only substances my parrot can't destroy instantaneously. He can still chew them eventually, but yeah. I love the bark on these, and the interesting way it peels away:

The trail (all 5 miles of it) also has some spectacular scenery. Let me tell you, when you've been hiking in the sun, and you see fog like this coming over the mountain, it's the best feeling in the world. In the Bay Area, this is natural air conditioning, and boy do we whine if we don't get it. This valley is stunning, though, and it almost reminds me of some of the pictures I've seen of New Zealand. Blogger is limiting my photos, as always, so I'll try and post a few more in the next post.

The trail also has a number of hallways created by the overhanging trees. I absolutely adore places like this - it feels like being in a storybook. Admittedly, this particular storybook was a little overpopulated with spider webs and poison oak, but storybookish all the same.

It's not just all plants and fog, either. The park is full of neat animals, which I'll post in the next episode. :) Surprisingly enough, even though it's August, the park was FULL of baby animals. Unfortunately, the quail would always get away before we could get a photo of them, but take my word for it: The cute and fuzzy factor was THROUGH THE ROOF. Cute Overload would have had a field day.

Coming soon: BABY BUNNY!

Silverware Pr0n

2006-08-16T15:52:00.000-07:00

For those of you who like this sort of thing, and I know you do *coughJeannecough*, I thought I'd share the glory that is my new silverware! I've been living with crummy plastic handled silverware (not that it even deserves that title) for two years, and I finally decided to upgrade.

The pr0n:

A special thank you to the ladies of the Knitty Chat, who helped me choose between designs and figure out what the hell "Continental" size is.

So. Pretty.

And yes, I do obsessively organize my silverware. Why do you ask?

Work in Progress Roundup

2006-08-13T21:48:00.000-07:00

From my recent posts, you'd probably think I was actually caught up on my works in progress. Sadly, you'd be wrong. Here are a few of my current projects:

The Paisley Long Shawl from Fiddlesticks Knitting. Fear not, the red is only being used for the provisional cast-on. The yarn is the very lovely Schaefer Andrea in colourway Greenjeans. I'm still on the silk-a-thon. It's quickly becoming my favourite fiber.

Next, a scarf slooooowly being knit up for my mother. Considering how many problems she's bailed me out of recently, I really ought to be knitting this faster. The pattern is just a feather and fan, and really, I'm still tempted to change it. I'm trying to find something that will really show off the lovely colours of the yarn. The yarn is from Mystical Creations Yarns, and is a 50/50 wool silk blend. Frankly, I can't remember the name of the colourway. I definitely recommend checking MCY's eBay store, as they've constantly got lovely yarns. I could so mortgage my soul to them.

Then there's the poor abandoned hat from GirlFromAuntie. It's the Cabled Cap pattern, and like I've said before, her patterns are worth infinitely more than she charges. You always get plenty of extra information, and they're so easy to modify. I'm knitting it with Noro Transitions, colour #19 mixed with a sparkly Trendsetter yarn that I lost the ball band for long ago. The hat in progress is modeled by my darling kitty, Ceres, who is obviously VERY proud to be part of this show.

Also modeled by Ceres is the Icarus-in-Progress. I'm working with Misti Alpaca Laceweight, in the Sea Mist colour. I love the finished shawls I've seen, but I have to admit that putting work into Icarus is... well... not very interesting at times. It's great for detailed movie watching though, and I can even watch subtitled movies and knit this shawl. I suspect it's going to be a long time before it's finished though. The yarn is fab, and it's super soft and springy. I'm hoping that won't be a problem when blocking.

Finally, my main project: the Mystery Sock! It's also a Schaefer yarn, Andrea. The pattern is technically Viv's Lacy Sock pattern, but somehow working without a picture has freed me to make adjustments that I would usually be afraid to make. I made the heel a reinforced heel, and just worked by eye after that. The sock is being held quite reluctantly by my adorable boyfriend Tom, who has been incredibly patient with all this yarn taking up space.

I suspect the socks will be finished before anything else, as I actually have a knitalong to spur me into finishing.

I'm still on a shawl binge, and I've got Sea Silk coming to make the Peacock Feathers Shawl from Fiddlesticks, and soon I fully expect to be knitting three shawls at once. I never thought I'd be a shawl wearer - they seem so fussy, somehow. Imagine my surprise that they're really better than a jacket for California's oft changing weather.

And of course, my favourite part - gauge, while useful, isn't as incredibly important as while knitting a sweater. I've never knit a shawl that didn't fit. Here's to many more of them while summer lasts.

Poor Neglected Socks

2006-08-10T13:30:00.000-07:00

As much as I'm a yarn slut, sometimes a project takes over my life, and nothing else gets worked on. That was the case with my poor neglected Embossed Leaf Socks from last Winter's Interweave Knits. They had several strikes against them - a) it got stupidly hot in the Bay Area, so knitting with wool was Out Of The Question, b) standard Second Sock Syndrome, Squared, because I'd already made these socks for my mothers' birthday in April.

Interestingly enough, my gauge apparently has also suffered a HUGE shift. The second sock was finished on the same needles, but it's roomier and longer than the first one. All you have to do is look at the stitch difference. I don't know what happened; it never changed needles, and I've been so stressed out that I wouldn't think my knitting would loosen that much. Anyway, here's pictures, the "second" sock is the sock on the left:

On the job front, as many of you know, I left my position because the harassment and comments from my boss had gotten to the point where I couldn't deal with them anymore. I'd talked with our San Francisco office, and been told they had a position for me, I'd be great for it, etc. etc. They said to talk to my boss about pursuing it anyway, so I kept that in mind when I gave my two weeks' notice. That was almost two weeks ago. Now? It's "oh, you need to send in a resume," and "oh, well, we're evaluating the position, so it'll be at least another week before we make a decision."

The delicate readers might want to cover their ears for a moment...

....

....

What the EVERLIVING FUCK? I bow out gracefully so the company doesn't get embroiled in Ye Olde Lawsuit of Doom, and this is how they treat me? Come fucking on. Ugh, it makes me so incredibly pissed.

And that's why I'm surprised at my second (giant) sock. Neat how I tied that all together, huh?
Oy.

Dear Gourds, it's DONE

2006-08-09T08:59:00.000-07:00

8:30 this morning, I wove in the last edges after a good night's blocking:

I stayed up till 1 am last night, determined to finish the edging that night. Blame it on the full moon, but it seemed important at the the time. Took a few minutes to block the darn thing out (with an excutive decision not to pin the edges out) and fell into bed. Picture below of detail:

And that's it. I'm stumbling off in the direction of a shower and to brush my teeth, and possibly to go back to sleep.

Blank Spaces

2006-08-07T13:37:00.000-07:00

Obviously, my posting "schedule" has not been quite the norm lately. Those of you who know me from the thing we call "Real Life" or the knittyboard know that I've been without computer because I quit my job.

Luckily, I have a new computer at home, and can hopefully get back to posting regularly. The shawl is almost done, and with any luck I'll have pictures in the next few days.

The Corvette

2006-07-27T14:12:00.000-07:00

By popular demand (yes, one comment IS popular demand for me, okay? ;)) here it is: My new baby, the 1981 Corvette. We've named it Maverick, in honor of the best 1980's movie EVER. The front isn't as big as it looks in the photo, proving that even for cars, the camera adds ten pounds.

Photo credits to Jeanne.

And yes, it came with the damage. But I will love it and fix it, won't I baby? Yes yes yes. *drool*

Loving the Lace

2006-07-24T11:14:00.000-07:00

Thanks to the blazing summer heat, lace has become my summer-knit of choice. As mentioned before, I've started on the Icarus shawl in a lovely alpaca, and have begun the Shetland Tea Shawl from a Gathering of Lace using lace silk from Hand Maiden (yes, I am shamelessly copying the Monkee). I also have some Schaefer Anne in colourway Greenjeans laying about, wondering what shawl it might become. Suggestions for that yarn are highly welcome.

Learning the circular cast-on for the above mentioned tea shawl made me feel like a new knitter all over again. It took me three days of casting on, getting my stitches all twisted, and cursing like a sailor to finally get it right. I am pleased to report that the shawl is now at doily-size, and growing quickly. Circular shawls definitely appeal to me.

Will post pictures of Shawls in Progress as soon as I find my camera cord.

Oh.

And.

I BOUGHT A CORVETTE.

Pictures soon, I promise.

Lace Gone Wild, and some Stash Enhancing

2006-07-17T13:44:00.000-07:00

After much talking about it, I've finally gotten yarn and cast on for the Icarus Shawl from Interweave Knits summer 2006 issue. Seems like most of the knitting blog world is doing this shawl, and much as I hate to be the conformist type - lordy is it pretty. I'm using Misti Baby Alpaca and I'm constantly stopping to fondle the teeny bit of shawl I've knit so far. Soooo springy and soft!

And, much to my delight, I've finally gotten ahold of some Fleece Artist silk lace via eBay. I can't WAIT till it gets here. I picked up "A Gathering of Lace" and will probably make one of the circular shawls therein. While I was on eBay, I noticed Mystical Creations Yarns had a gorgeous wool/silk blend in pretty shiny blues. Anyone who knows me knows I can't resist anything with tropical blues and greens. It's a sickness.

Current Project Breakdown:
Log-Cabin Blanket - Probably going to end up as an ottoman cozy
Embossed Leaf Socks - Halfway done with the second sock
Prairie Tunic - Hahahhahahahha
Third Cabled Hat - All I've done so far is the roll-brim. Possibly the hat madness has ceased to affect me.
Icarus Shawl - About 30 rows. DAMN those are tiny charts.

So much for my attempts to finish some projects before I started another shawl. Ah well.

In non-knitting news, the weekend was a rousing success. The Hussies Three went to see the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie, and man was Johnny Depp hot in that. I'm even beginning to see the appeal of Orlando Bloom (in the words of fellow Hussy's sister: "He's actually got some facial expression in this movie.") We followed the movie up with cake and martinis, and started our morning the next day with some SUPER yummy Christian Bale in Equilibrium. As a side note, if you like sci-fi, you MUST see this movie. It's got a much smaller budget than some of these films, but is still very effective.

Mmmm.... Christian Bale.

Dances with Hats (a pictureless post)

2006-07-13T09:34:00.000-07:00

I have never been a hat wearer. I know lots of knitters who make lovely hats, including my dear friend who makes baby hats at the speed of light. But a little while back, I finally gave in to making one for a male friend of mine who has been subtley requesting (and by subtley requesting, I mean asking "Where's my damned toque?") one.

I am now on my third cabled hat. The Noro transitions lust has gotten hold of me. I even frogged the original toque and reknit it on slightly larger needles because I decided it Must Be Longer and Wider (story of my life, really. ;)).

Shameless (unpaid, don't worry :)) advertising here, but you MUST go check out: www.girlfromauntie.com . Try the cabled hat pattern. It's 3 bucks, it's addictive, and oh my GOD does it look good with Noro.

Must... knit... hats....

Adventures in Mass Transit

2006-07-12T11:03:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was not a whole lot better than the Monday of Intense Evil. I took the train, and then BART up to the city to drop off some paperwork for the Bossman. On the bright side, I saw stuff like this:

And I discovered that Caltrain has been so thoughtful as to put in yarn ball holders! Hooray for Caltrain, they do love their knitters (I actually had a conductor who is an avid crocheter ask me about my sock - I guess he wants to learn to make socks for his mum. What a sweetie!)

Also (and please excuse the thumbprint), I though I would share my favourite "WTF" sign at the local station. Note the middle sign. The first time I saw it I thought "No cigars? No hoverboards? QUOI?"
Apparently someone else was equally confused:

The embossed leaf lace socks from Interweave are nearly done, but I have been remiss in taking photos. Instead, may I present the Tulip socks from KnitP icks. Adorable, but with a heel pattern of Much Evil. There are two (these were finished a while back, but I never took more pictures), and further pictures are in the photo album "Socks," located in the sidebar to your right.

Coming this weekend: Adventures in 21st birthdays (aka - the hussies get knackered)

I hate Mondays

2006-07-11T08:56:00.000-07:00

Yesterday went like the 12 Days of Christmas as written by, oh, say... the Devil.

12 hours on the go
11 hours running around like a lunatic
10 hours of transit
9 hours at work
8 of those dealing with messes from hell
7-ty million files that are horrendous
6 legged beasties
5 prospective bossssssssssssssssssses
4 more days till the weekend
3 collection notices
2 cat bowls full of ants
and a dead fish in the fish tannnnnnnk

Needless to say, no knitting got done. Maybe today, if I survive with my sanity intact. Also, I forgot my camera cord, so no pictures either. I suck, I know.

And a wild time was had by all...

2006-07-06T12:52:00.000-07:00

Since we both had Tuesday off, my friend Jeanne and I decided to hit one of the local parades/craft fairs. Jeanne found what may be the most hysterical cat item I've ever owned:

It looks JUST like my overly fat cat, Ceres. Thanks to Jeanne, for the adorable gift!

But of course, no duck outing is complete without some minor disaster. A little while back, for whatever reason, I had a paint can next to my driveway. So as we were pulling out of the driveway to go frolic at the fair, we hear this loud "ka CHUNK" noise. I re-arranged the truck and pulled out of the driveway where we saw... this:

And of course, the first thing I said was "Oh sh*t, I hope we don't leave a trail of paint!"

Of course. Of bloody course.

Emmy says: I'm SO embarassed.

Socks to come, I swear. One is finished, one is in the works.

Photo credits for today's post go to Jeanne, because heaven knows I would not have taken photographic evidence. ;)

A Walk in the Park, pt. 2

2006-07-03T08:51:00.000-07:00

Yay, Monkee loves me! All right, here's some more pictures of my favourite Bay walking spot. Sorry for the delay, but Basenjis are distracting.

Part of what I love about the trail is the number of benches they've set out to just sit and look out at the Bay. There's nothing really special to look at - sometimes on nice days we get a bunch of kite-sailers - but most of the time it's just the water, the bridge, and the cities far off in the distance. I like that despite there not being anything to really watch, they've put places in to just sit and de-stress. In an area like ours, where things tend to move at high speed, this is a pleasant respite.

<The other nifty thing about this trail system is how well they've integrated wetland areas into a park. There are tons of places just like this, close enough to view, but kept apart from the joggers and dogs. Our local ducks seem to love it, and we do get the occasional egret. At least, I think it's an egret. I'm definitely not the biologist type - but it's a pretty white bird that looks like a miniature heron.

We also have some damn cool architecture. This building and the footbridge nearby were featured in the San Francisco Chronicle a little while back. They're sort of silly looking, but it's a nice change from the standard blocky park buildings.

And of course, the Bay sunsets. Admittedly, I've seen more colourful ones (Oahu and Maui come to mind), but this is the reason I walk in the evenings. I have an innate love for palm trees and sunsets - I don't think I could ever live some place without palm trees.

And finally, home home again, to find that my vine is finally starting to give in to the watering and fertilizing regimen I've set for it. I absolutely love passion flowers, and I'm hoping to eventually have them covering the whole front of the porch.

Thanks for coming by, and thanks to my good-feedback leaver. ;) Will be back tomorrow with Actual Knitting Progress (and pictures, thereof).

New Addition to the Zoo

2006-06-30T09:10:00.000-07:00

I am a sap. That is the only possible reason that this:

Has invaded my house. Yes, it's a basenji. A dog that Wikipedia describes as "somewhat casual about obedience." A dog that does not bark, but rather, makes a sound best described as a yodel from hell.

But she is so darned cute. Look at those sweet little eyes saying "As soon as you leave, I'm going to eat more of your lamp cords. And you don't mind if I sleep under the covers with you, do you?"

DemonEris (tm) says: "Get that thing OUT OF MY HOUSE."

A Walk in the Park, pt. 1

2006-06-27T10:16:00.000-07:00

This is what I would call a highly experimental post. If there's good feedback (or no feedback), I'll keep it up. If y'all hate it and don't care, well... I'll give in to peer pressure, I guess.

So I'm one of those poor types that can't afford to travel, and I love seeing new cities. I just don't get much of a chance. It occured to me that I'm probably not the only one like this, and I'd love to see photo essays of people's cities - especially the smaller places you probably wouldn't see as the typical tourist. So on that note, I thought I'd start off with a small trip through one of my favourite evening walking routes.

The first photo is a small canal that runs through a heavily developed home area. There are always ducks here, and while I tried to capture them on film, they are elusive little buggers. You can sort of see them in the area of water that's looking a little disturbed. Everything around this canal is concrete. It sits next to a car repair shop that is always packed full of old, beat up, and rusted automobiles. And yet, here it sits, pretty and green in the midst of cars, smog, and people.

Right around the corner is what I think of as the typical Californian church. Stained glass windows and palm-trees. Although I am definitely not a church-goer, I love looking at this each time I go by. It sits so serene and lovely behind a gigantic chain link fence.

I love flowers, and colour, so this vine always attracts my attention. It's in another field of concrete - right behind a huge sound wall that tries to keep the exhaust and noise of 3rd avenue away from the local residents. Maybe it's just the hippy in me, but I always love to see parts of nature flourishing amongst man-made materials.

Finally, two shots of the Bay for which the area is named. The Bay lands are always stunning, albeit somewhat smelly on warmer days (brackish water - yum). This spot pictured in the next two photos is one of my absolute favourites. Again, it's a strange juxtaposition - high voltage towers mixed with the reeds, silt, and rocks. This is part of a recently built park with trails, playgrounds, and a fantastic dog park (not that I have a dog). I'll have more pictures of the park proper tomorrow.

Doesn't it just make you feel... serene?

Gauge Hell

2006-06-26T12:18:00.000-07:00

So I spent this last Saturday with my two bestest friends (Yes, you know who you are), and even found a home for the Dibs on Ribs sweater that has been the cause of so much knitterly angst. Turns out that while I thought I was making myself a birthday present, the sweater knew it was being made for my friend Jessica. It looked hideous on me - gorgeous on her. Such is life.

Anyway, Jessica's birthday is coming up in July, so when she was looking through my Interweave Knits magazines and decided she loved the Prairie Tunic from the Spring issue, I thought "why not?" I had a good cotton yarn substitute that was going to be another Eris sweater before I realized that cabling REALLY makes me want to set my needles on fire, I had the proper size needles, and how much work could a tank top be?

So I did a sort of vague gauge check (this, dear readers, is where the Jaws theme song should start playing in your head) and went ahead knitting. Did I mention this top is knit on size three needles? Several rows in, it occured to me that this piece (the back half) was looking, well... slightly... large? We were going for a length of 21 inches (IIRC) and we had 28. So I took a second look at the yarn, realized that I had utterly perfect row gauge, and decided to knit two sizes down and just see what happened. Instead of 21 inches, I had 25.

I know the good knitters here are snickering at my lack of proper swatching, which would no doubt have saved me 4 hours of super teeny stitches, and I thus hang my head in shame. I have learned my lesson:

I'm knitting the smallest size possible and hoping for the best. *ducks to avoid needles being thrown at her head*

Eris says: Mom, I think you're a few inches off.

Finished Baby Booties!

2006-06-23T09:18:00.000-07:00

Spurred on by the successful finishing of the hat (Thanks to Chelle, for clearing up that pronunciation thing, "tuque" does make more sense) I sewed together the Ugg-Style Baby booties last night.

Here they are pre-sewing... very lumpy little buggers. At this stage, I was concerned. They didn't look at all bootie like.

But, after loads of experimenting with embroidering... they turned into things an actual child might wear.

I'm still a little worried about the size, but this is the 9-12 month sizing. To continue my general theme of asking the commentors to help with my ignorance, if anyone could let me know if this looks like the appropriate size I'd be incredibly grateful.

I still have a load of the yarn left over, so I'm thinking about trying to make the smaller size with what I've still got. Worse comes to worst, I figure I can switch the colours, and use the darker brown as the main colour.

Coming soon: Your humble host figuring out how to link to photo albums of previously Finished Objects, and hopefully a list of 2006 FOs.

Have a great weekend, I'll see y'all on Monday!

Finished Toque!

2006-06-22T09:05:00.000-07:00

Okay, before it gets sent to Canada to live out its days, voici le toque!

The pattern is Girlfromauntie's cabled hat pattern. I can't recommend her patterns enough - 3 dollars gets you not only the pattern, but loads of instructions on customizing, and different charts for different gauges.

This particular toque was made with Noro Transitions, on size 7 needles, and only took two days. Boy, do I love quick knitting projects. I bought two skeins just in case, and it looks like I'll have enough to make myself one as well.

Incidentally, for any Canadians who might be reading this post... how does one take the word toque, which my years of French classes insist should be pronounced "toke" and end up with... tooque? I am much confused.

Will post pictures of booties soon, I swear. No, really.

Long weekend in San Francisco

2006-06-21T12:17:00.000-07:00

This weekend was spent with my darling man's parents, touring various parts of the city and getting No Knitting Done. Luckily, I'd finished the knitting for the booties and toque on Friday evening, and now they just want finishing.

I have to say, I don't think I've ever seen a more beautiful set of days in San Francisco. We attempted to go to the Legion of Honour, but were thwarted by not realizing that it was closed on Mondays. We went instead to the zoo, where of course, all "special" exhibits were also Closed On Monday. No matter we said, tomorrow we're going to Half Moon Bay and will do more there.

Who wants to guess how many shops in Half Moon Bay were Closed on Tuesday? No fair if you live there, or go there often enough to actually know the sheer number.

At any rate, it was the amazing food tour. I could probably go without eating this entire week and not have the slighest hunger pangs - Ninis and the Yacht Club on Sunday, Buca di Beppo on Monday, and Duarte's on Tuesday. Too Much Food.

Tomorrow I'll post pictures of the toque, which has turned out absolutely GORGEOUS (and I'm beginning to think I must have one), and the booties if I've finished sewing them together.

Looks to be another ludicrously hot day here in the Bay Area... I need to start knitting more with cotton.

Project overload

2006-06-16T11:59:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time, I had all my projects so caught up that I was able to work on one project at a time. I would finish each project before moving on to the next, not ordering yarn till I needed it, and was feeling awfully proud of myself for having defied the Yarn Harlot's theory that no such knitter exists.

That lasted about... oh.. two weeks. Now? Having given into the Mason-Dixon Log Cabin knitting obsession, I'm cheerfully trying to log cabin away my stash o' random yarns (I'm even forcing myself to use up the old acrylic from my newbie knitter days - nevermind that it feels like sandpaper, MUST USE UP OLD YARN. Me? Obsessive). Of course, then thanks to Brenda Dayne at http://www.cast-on.com , I'm using up my acrylic/wool blend to knit the gigantic Dulaan scarf of Doom. And then there was the yarn that I bought to make the darling boyfriend a sweater...

A quick side note here: How stupid am I to buy yarn for a man who is too hot every day of his life? What actually made me think that this man, who will not EVER wear sweaters, would wear one if I knit it? I blame temporary insanity.

Anyway, I'm using that yarn to make the Eris cardigan from http://www.girlfromauntie.com . I made the pullover a while back in a lovely alpaca, and now I'm thinking a cardigan would be nice.

Oh, and then there's the toque I'm making for my friend, who was promised a proper toque about... a year ago. It's also a girlfromauntie design, and while I love her patterns, those cables are freaking killing my hands.

And then there's the UGG baby booties I'm knitting for my co-workers (shhh, surprise) shower.

How did I get here? I used to be such a good knitter... ;)

Welcome to Duck Knits!

2006-06-15T09:40:00.000-07:00

So, I've finally gotten around to making a proper blog. I'll be trying to get the various pictures and such over from my poor disused msn spaces account. In the mean time - be patient with me as I try to get this thing up and running!