knit@nite

No Tin Foil Hat Here

2006-12-23T21:12:00.000-08:00

"You know what they call people who thinks everyone is out to get them?"

"Yeah, PERCEPTIVE".

It means I will move this blog to my own server, permanently. We all know how I feel about Google, and Google WiFi in particular... I could go off on a rant about the Goodness of People, and especially Corporations. Nobody is motivated by anything but their own self preservation. Maybe it comes across as cold-hearted and depressing, but it's what I believe. And I'm allright with it. Privacy is a personal matter to me, and not something I give away just for some measly free internet.

That doesn't mean I don't like to knit for people. I love it. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy, and that's my reward. It's worth it.

After curbing the insane list of Votive Sleeve Christmas Present Recipients, it's down to the core family, and they are DONE!

The latest fun part of this project was making up names for the different color combinations. Marrakesh with turquoise, golds and blues are for my Gramma. Her favorite colors. Light dusty purples, browns and golds spell Victorian Harem. It's such an oxymoron I love that combo. The spherical candles look a little like boobers too, or maybe it's the picture composition...

Going to Pismo tomorrow. 3 hours of uninterrupted knitting, if my mind allows me.

Holiday is fucking over. It is there, and then poof it's gone. G.O.N.E. The months leading up to it with endless hours of work, then going through it, waking up every morning checking everything, sitting on pins and needles WAITING for shit to break. I'm glad it's over, now it's time to decompress, and I'm not entirely sure I know how to do that. But if we're lucky, we get to repeat it next year!

I mean to take this picture every year, this apartment complex do the tackiest Christmas decorations, but at night with the pool reflections, it is so nice... So California...

It's a frigging miracle I have finished the Christmas shopping. After an early treat...

Colder Than O-hi-o

2006-12-21T22:04:00.000-08:00

Tell me about it. I had "snow" for one day (not even that); some flurries spread out over two. And then weather in the 50s.. Wtf is up with that??

Back to good old California and 30 degree weather. I kid you not.

It's Frosty the Audi at 7:30 a.m. Thank the Lord for bum warmers. Hell, I even use those in the summer.

San Francisco average temperature in the summer: 59 degrees.

There is still time to knit that damn shedir hat (Knitting funk is sustained indefinately..)

Frosty the park. Absolutely gorgeous leaves. I love the Bay Area in the Fall. (Ok, winter. It's mid-December and we still have leaves on our trees...)

Knitting Funk

2006-12-17T23:43:00.000-08:00

It doesn't really stop at that, it's a complete Holiday Funk. I knew it was going to happen, spend two weeks in a strange town and a different state in December, living in a lifeless hotel room, et voila.

How do you fix it?

Glogg. (Special Blossa delivery from Sweden! Liquid gold nursed since last January. Divine. Add almonds and raisins.)
Nat King Cole.
Watch the Grinch and Rudolf, and sing-along. Out Loud.
Get awesome Holiday Cookies and the coolest home crafted holiday display from a great friend.
Find some colored lights and green wreath like things and hang them up.
Watch football. (No, that just comes with it being Sunday.)
Invite yourself to the above friends company holiday party and wear something SHINY. (Yes, my pants! At Rye.)

(Not necessarily in this order of course.)

Votive made from beads purchased in Buckeye state. One down, five trillion to go. Done before Christmas? Fuck no.

[Wednesday heart Mac.]

Morton's

2006-12-13T23:57:00.000-08:00

Is not Mitchell's. But it's allright.

Last evening, and a Happy Holidays from Columbus and High Street!

Time to get ready.

Mmmitchell's

2006-12-12T20:58:00.000-08:00

Abridged version:

No knitting done. None. Nada. Ingenting. Picture taking ditto.

Long version:

1. Hanging out at the FC where no daylight puts you in the cocoon where you will never ever see the sunset. Loads of fun. Awesome crew.

2. Went to the pub. O'Shaughnessy's.

3. Window shopping at the Easton mall. Absolutely gorgeous. I just wish there had been snow! Horse and carriage rides. (We had the worst possible service at PF Changs. Hello, My Name is Doorstop.)

4. Mmmmitchell's. What else is there to say, except, I could never be a vegetarian. A bloody steak and an excellent cabernet are close to orgasmic.

[Seems my linux box really ate shit this time. Will fix when I get home. Sigh.]

Day Two in OH

2006-12-05T22:46:00.000-08:00

26 degrees in the morning. Nice and nippy.

Good breakfast.

Gratuitous Crafty picture.

The Only crafty thing today.

(And I'm three hours ahead. And used my mittens walking across the street for dinner today! Yey! Need to finish that hat, I can really use it...)

Waiting at O'Hare

2006-12-04T19:30:00.000-08:00

It's not so bad when you have your knitting. The tough thing is to not nod off while waiting for the connecting flight to Columbus,OH.

It was dark when we arrived, and light when we left. With everything covered in a dusting of snow. Ah, Snow.

One day I want to visit Chicago for real. Especially in the winter. I love love love cold. And how many knitting benefits come with that?!?!?!?!

Gloomy but beautiful Chicago in the morning.

The Columbus leg was a hop, skip and a jump. We barely got up in the sky when we had to descend.

Encountered some flurries while driving to the office. It was 30 degrees all day, some wind, and a few flakes. Ah, Winter.

Spent the day at the office.

And couldn't believe it. There's a Michael's like half a mile from my hotel! Yeah ! Stocked up on colors I never saw at the Michael's at home.

The Bitty Bunz is alittle fuzzy as you'd expect from angora. The cables are not very defined, but I still love them. Used Eunny's idea of twisted stitches for definition, and it helps.

All in all, it's soft as a bunny's bottom.

RedHot

2006-12-03T15:34:00.000-08:00

Arlo's favorite toy. It's been lost behind the bed for awhile, but he found it the other day. At the unplanned Vet's visit yesterday he was 89.1 lbs. Whoops, I guess he's almost 10 lbs heavier than I've been telling people (where they respond "Wow, he looks bigger"; and I just reply "it's mostly fluff"). Well apparantly there's more than fluff to him.

In the spirit of the title which I completely ripped off of our big sale event at work (mmmm cashmere..), and the fact that it's my favorite color, and that it's that season again when it's oh so popular, and the fact that two of the current knitting projects for myself are done with that color yarn, I decided to take some pictures of it.

The socks were made with some acrylic yarn back in '94, when we'd just moved to California, and I needed some pretty Christmas socks! I tried to tuck in the little frayed yarn pieces around the holes in both heels! Yes, they need to be darned!

Living room knitting corner. Complete fluke that the couch and the futon cover were the same color. The tapestry fabric was from a friend of mine who knows how to get samples, I just love that stuff. The super-swedish blanket (guess which one?!) was from my Aunt. Just so cute.

The every day things; work notebook, coffee cup (banged up by numerous intimate encounters with the San Francisco sidewalks), laptop sleeves and my favorite scarf. Still. Finished in 2000 or so, we still lived in the city is all I remember, so maybe '99.. Wore it this past week with the cold weather, and heard "OH, I thought it was machine knitted". Not sure how to take that comment?? But it came from one of the nicest and coolest innovative knitters I know, so I'll take it as a compliment! The pattern was from the Vogue scarf book (that little one), modified the pattern to a much smaller gauge, omitted the fringe, and hunted the yarn forever with the Neck Fondling Rule.

Since I am going to Ohio for work for almost two weeks I figured I needed a hat. No, it's not done, but the yarn name is just the cutest, and it's from Artfibers! Angora, wool and nylon. The beginnings of Shedir.

Well yeah, I should be packing since I'll be on a plane in five hours, but I know how to PRIORITIZE. Spent quite some time today making a list of projects to bring:

Print O' the Waves Stole (not going to graft the middle, following MD advise! Brought a ton of pins so I can block it in the hotel room if it's finished in time, and sans dog hair, yey!)
Votive sleeves (packed all the beads and wire!)
Shedir

Free wireless in the hotel room, and wishing for some snow!!!

Leftovers

2006-11-28T23:19:00.000-08:00

This year I didn't even make a list of all the things I had planned to knit for christmas presents. Didn't really have alot of things I wanted to knit, it was so insanely crazy last year with all the matching scarfs and shawls and hats and the Five F shawl.. And they had to be shipped overseas in time. Planning is really not my thing (and in that department I am doing very well, having accomplished not very much at all..)

This year, I am going for easy, so it's going to be the votive holders from Handknit Holidays for everyone! They are a total bitch to knit, but quitck, and turn out so nice!! (Ok, for you three people reading this, you won't get them, because you can knit them yourselves! Ha ha ha.)

Figured out with about 22-28 rows, and with 8 stitches per row, that means threading about 170-220 beads. 26 gauge wire, in a golden color for warmth, and the Crate and Barrel glass votive holders. They fit perfectly. Make sure the candles you use are either all wax, or if they're tealights, they have a clear holder.

The fun part in making these, is planning the beads and color combinations. I like when they're not easily divisable by 8; it makes the beads not look striped, but scattered and fun. Made some with light pinks, purples and brown.

The latest set is a mixture of bright holiday colors interspersed with more reds. I found that the 6/0 guage beads are the best ones, make sure you check how big the HOLES are. It's fun to get a mixture of different types of beads in a similar color.

Tried to make sure each bead went inbetween the stitches, and stretched out the "stitches" after every row to make them as straight as possible.

What to do with this jumbled mess?

[Last day of leftovers! No more green bean casserole, no more stuffing, sniff... And for a Wiki update? I am one step closer to fixing the DSL router/modem. Looks to be a bug in the router software where, if there's a power outage it "loses" the "feature keys". Seems like a GREAT feature.]

Pomopolitans & Mr. Turkey

2006-11-25T18:15:00.000-08:00

It's hard to write, but even harder to say after one (or two).

Pomopolitans

100% Pomegranate juice.
Vodka (unflavored)
Cointreau

Fresh Pomegranate seeds and lemon zest for garnish.

There are no measurements, just pour in what you think tastes good. I dump it all in my shaker with some ice, shake it up, then pour into martini glasses and add garnish. Just be VEWWY VEWWY CAREFUL! It is a HIGHLY potent drink. Believe you me, you want to control the vodka, you can't taste it, but I can guarantee you it's THERE. We had three each, and look how happy we were! (Well, I'm the photographer, but see, the picture isn't blurry!) And the COLOR, just a beautiful ruby red!

It's all for Mr. Turkey. If Eric's stuffing wasn't the most divine stuffing on the planet, I wouldn't care so much about a Turkey. The Turkey is really good, but not my department, I just know there are oranges and orange marmalade and some herbs and spices and stuff involved. Look how PRETTY it is! 15 pounder this year with eight people in the crowd!

These are our staples.

The stuffing is from Williams-Sonoma's catalog from 5 years ago or so; wild rice, fennel, home made (or Marie Callendar's herb) croutons, fresh roasted chestnuts, and various and assorted other things that Eric puts in it. I just roast the chestnuts, that's my only job for the stuffing (or he would get the icky canned ones. Peeling chestnuts are a BITCH on your fingers.) Remember to make the cut along the mid section of the chestnut before roasting. Makes it SO MUCH EASIER to peel. 350 degrees about 30-35 minutes.

Then peel them pretty quicklike. Yes, they're smoking hot, but the skin comes off easier.

Green bean casserole. From Cook's Illustrated's cookbook they put out a couple of years ago. You can substitute chicken stock for some good veggie stock if you have vegetarians in the crowd.

They do still use the fried french onions, but mix them half and half with some regular bred and alittle of butter, for the top.

Cranberry Sauce

1 bag of crannies
3/4 cup sugar
1 orange cut up into chunks
zest of the above orange

Throw it all in a pot and let it putter until the cranberries pop or are cooked through. Voila done. I always make it the day before (well, I didn't ALWAYS do that, but with experience..)

Pumpkin Cheese cake from the Pumpkin book from Williams-Sonoma. They don't do the fancy water bath that they do in the Cook's Illustrated version, but if I do the candied orange peels for the top, I try to cover up the cracks if they form!

After a bite of the cheese cake, who cares anyway! The longer it sits, the better it tastes! (Well, make it the night before anyway...)

And this year we got the very special treat of home made icecream!!!!

Pumpkin, Vanilla and coffee. Absolutely divine.

Family & Friends & Food. Life doesn't get much better that that.

Big Bird's Corner

2006-11-21T23:47:00.000-08:00

How long can you live without a cell phone? 4 days is my limit. Maybe it's because I'm a sysadmin. And I love Amos Lee. He keeps me calm.

The Promised Pictures. The knitting mini-retreat was so friggin awesome. My awesome party slaves showed up at like NINE. Hello, how cool are they??? Tina started with a VIRGIN Bloody Mary. (What is wrong with that sentence?) She still looks happy though!

I had SPINNING WHEELS in my living room. How cool is that???? Kristi and Margit were spinnin' away, I am so ENVIOUS!

Wednesday was a Big Love Bug. Having to be the center of attention! Amanda was happy with her coffee (or maybe it was post-Bloody-Mary!! Either way!!) , and Abigail was working on stuff!

The Bermuda Triangle couch. Wednesday hanging out with Abigail this time. She Picks Her People.

We watched Foul Play, Shooting Fish (I so don't know what that movie is about still!)

There should be so many more pictures. But I'm a terrible hostess! Jill's working something out (and on the votive holders from Handknit Holidays! We love them!) Elizabeth and Jean showed up, at which point we were so not interested in taking pictures! But they ROCKED.

NEXT TIME, I'm thinking we need to all just SIT DOWN and RELAX and KNIT.

And next time, we'll be watching Grease. Oh yeah!

[Can you believe those socks are self-striped and NO STRIPE PLANNING was involved?? Just Pure Luck. I love them, the Widdershins from Knitty... And Big Bird is my Honney Bonney. So happy with all the people at the party (especially Margit, OH THE DOGGIE SMELLS:) You have to go visit Mojo, he's ONE CUTE puppy!!) See the big orange face squished between the couch and the coffee table? He just loves everyone. From behind, in the car , looking out through the back window, he looks like Big Bird. In Los Altos the other day when he was being a Social ButtFly, one guy even called him Big Bird. It's not a coinkidink.]

Champagne Girl

2006-11-20T20:25:00.000-08:00

Five on three in race five to place. I won $9.50. And the feeling of being alittle bad, and just so very cool. She kicked ass too. It was my friend's birthday so we spent an evening with one dollar hotdogs, beers (MGD piss water, but hey, it was a dollar), and soda. It was cold, it was noisy, the nacho cheese was nasty, it smelled like smoke, and it was SO MUCH FUN!

I see them run every morning at Bay Meadows, looking out the window from Caltrain. Thinking how cold and miserable it must be out there, especially this morning in the fog at 6 am, but also so exhilirating when they book down the straights, the steam of the horses and the smell. Yes, I LOVE the smell of horses. At the Cooper-Garrod Vineyard they have horses, and the lady inside wrinkled her nose at me when we began wine tasting. "Do I smell like horses?" She said "Yes." I took that as a great compliment. I'm sure that's what she really meant.

It suits my theory, there are two kinds of girls, the ones who have the Horse Period of their lives, and the ones who wrinkle their noses at them. They're missing out.

While cleaning this past weekend (no work, woohooo!!! Because cleaning is just SO MUCH FUN.) I found this cute little white lamp and crocheted cover I brought with me from Sweden, I leave it in its little bag because it still smells like my Gramma. She said she won't have anywhere to put it, so I said "I'LL TAKE IT!" So gorgeous. Need to put up the lamp somewhere, just don't know where...

My Gramma is a great crocheter, with her eyesight not being the best these days, crocheting is easier than knitting. "NO MORE YARN" she said when we spoke last. She has enough yarn to last her for awhile! She'll be 80 on January 10, and I would like to make her something special. Maybe the Ene shawl? Any ideas?

I have no idea when she made this bedspread, it's another one of those things she says she'll never use again, so my Aunt is going to put it to use in her spare bedroom. It was on my Grandparents bed for my entire childhood, so many memories, I had to snap some pictures of it so that maybe one day if I'd feel so inclined, I can make one myself.

The Print O' the Wave stole is progressing, I love Misti Alpaca, and I love knitting lace, it's so relaxing, taking your mind off stupid shit. And I love to stretch it out after every row (yes, it's going slowly) to see what it is going to look like.

No life line yet. Living on the edge.

[Yeah, yeah, pictures from the retreat are coming, but Abigail and Kristi did such a good job, it took the pressure off! He he. And yes, the damn wiki is down, I have to fix my DSL modem/router Real.Soon.Now. And yes, my cellphone was lost at the RaceTrack on friday. No use in calling it. No, I didn't lose it because of the beer, it doesn't even qualify as beer. And besides, I only had two cups of that piss water, but hey, it was A DOLLAR. ]

Simply Irresistible

2006-11-12T18:38:00.000-08:00

The very beginning of the Print O' the Waves stole by Eunny. Misti Alpaca laceweight in holiday red. Tried some other projects today, a scarf for a friend, played alittle with the Nylon Noro and entrelac, but didn't fall in love. My first real lace project? We'll see. Not quite the same with my new toy. I can't believe it's mine, time to sell the old laptop, and go hang at the Apple store downtown tomorrow for lunch.

Finished the hat for the baby and the matching MDK sweater. Hope the hat will fit! It's 14 inches in circumference at about 110 stitches on sz2 needles with Dale's Stork yarn. More Details. The little guy isn't born yet, so I have to get this to his Mommy a.s.a.p!

(Happy 11 year wedding anniversary sweetiepie! Not a fancy day, no going out for dinner, just a very rare and nice night of not having to do anything..)

Bloody M

2006-11-11T23:35:00.000-08:00

Let's imagine the perfect boyfriend. He would wake you every morning with yarn. He would use his cell needle to spin you 4-ply times a day. He would rub your cottony back after a wooly day at the twisted office. He would help you shop for skeins without knitting one bit. He would cast on all of your friends with his colorful charm. He would never click over to a pro wheel game while you're watching your favorite episode of "Bobbin in the Circulars". And he wouldn't be at all jealous of your obsession with Heath Ledger. Ladies, he is out there just plying for you!

Mad Libs with a Knitting Theme, aren't they fun?!

Knitting Retreat Vegetarian Chili
1 large chopped onion
3 cloves garlic chopped
3 ribs celery chopped
1 zucchini chopped
1 carrot chopped
1 can black beans (drained)
1 can pinto beans (drained)
1 can piquito beans in chili sauce (with sauce)
1 can corn ( drained)
2 28 oz cans chopped tomatotes
1 small can chopped green chilis
Veggie stock
3 tbsp chili powder
1.5 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp coriander
1 tsp cinnamon
S&P to taste (not much salt added..)

Sweat the veggies with the garlic until they're soft. Add the rest of the ingredients, and veggie stock to a consistency you like. Add spices. Cook for as long as you like, a couple of hours or so. Keep the lid on.

The bags were sweet. The Yoga Turtle from the Palace of Fine Arts was the inspiration. I LOVE my pumpkin bag. Because I had awesome Party Slaves, they got the orange ones, and everyone else got the green ones, with some goodies inside. They whip up crazy fast, you gotta love Amy Butler!

Used the pattern for the drawstring shoulder bag in "In Stitches". The lining is so nice, you can fit a small project like socks, or a scarf, in it. Perfect for the train commute! Only have one bag + goodies left over. What to do with it?

I hate to lead people on, but no pictures from the partey tonight. I'm too damn tired and need sleep. Just a huge thankyou to everyone who showed up, and all the goodies they brought! And something for the road (as long as you're not driving!)

Bloody Mary's
38 oz Tomato Juice (We mixed V8 and the spicy V8 in a pitcher).
1 tsp pepper
1 tbsp celery salt
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 lemon, juiced
1 cup vodka (or more, yes more)
4 shakes hot sauce (or cayenne if you don't mind it between your teeth)
1/2 tsp horseradish
citrus vodka

Mix all ingredients to taste. Chill. Pour a splash of citrus vodka in glass, pour in Bloody Mary.

Tomorrow is Football Day. Ah.

Prototypin'

2006-11-07T23:17:00.000-08:00

Well first off, I'm a Finisher.

It's been the damn plan of crocheting the edges and the fasteners that put a screeching halt on the project. Since I did this all in stockinette, the neck line rolls unattractively, so I put in two rows of single crochet just along it, in the back, to give it some stability. It's not perfect, but a hell of a lot better.

Since baby hands are very squiggly and difficult to put into sleeves, I left a small slit, about 1 inch long open along the seam on the bottom, and crocheted around the sleeve for some stability.

The buttons are clear snap buttons. Used one on the inside flap, and three on the front.

Now on to the hat. It's 14" in circumference (I'm about half way, not really sure how LONG to make it), and it looks really really big. But people say babies have big heads, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Need some baby booties, found a nice set of socks on Interweave's website, they look like winners.

The last two days haven't been as productive as I may have hoped. There's been alot of decompressing and just doodling on the mac and watching TV. And it's hard to let go of work when that's ALL you've thought about for the last 3 months or so. Withdrawal. How pathetic is that.

Finally got off the couch today (even though it was Governator day on Encore, and I lovelovelove the Terminator movies. Speaking of that, here's the fun Movie Trivia from work today: What kind of computer is John Connor using when he gets money out of the ATM? Bonus Q: Who is Linda Hamilton married to during the making of this movie? Yes, it's relevant to the movie.)

And speaking of the election, I hate that I can't vote, I should actively pursue citizenship. The thing I LOVE about not being able to vote is to freak out all the annoying people trying to get you to register to vote, WHEREVER you go, months before the elections. "I can't vote", I say. They look at me. And get out of my way. It's so much fun.

Anyway, made a prototype knitting bag based on the Amy Butler shoulder bag in "in Stitches". It's so incredibly simple and easy to make, and I LOVE how it has a lining, it's just so PRE-fessional lookin'.

The S.O was NOT PLEASED I used "his" fabric - "I thought that was supposed to be pillows for the boat??" Isn't the fabric cool though, all map like and geeky?? I have a ton of it. I should get to those pillows soon...

Since it was so easy to make I decided I had graduated to the "fancy" fabric, whipped up one of those bags real quicklike too, it's so nice, in fact, I may bring it with me in my bag on the train when I go back to work on Thursday. It's green and gold and fall like.

And there is a little surprise inside.

The M-Spot

2006-11-04T15:58:00.000-08:00

M as in Mmmac. Sheesh people.

It's really from work, but I schlepp it home on weekends (pretending it's a laptop, but not so well) until I decide it's time for one at home. Well, it really is, but how to justify the MacMini when I already have a laptop, regular computer, linux server (for DNS/mail/knitting webby content)?? I AM SHOWING RESTRAINT. And I'm a convert. PC my ass, P as in PEEEEEOEY.

No knitting on the Lana Grossa sock for two days. TWO DAYS. Spent most of this morning staring into the wall, fixing my iTunes, and listening to music. It was all my brain could handle.

And taking some fally pictures. I got this guy in Skelleftea (pronounce that!) on our last trip, because he was SO DAMN CUTE. Yes, I am into the Mountain Man Look. The S.O. is sporting his winter beard too. SO CUTE. (No pictures of him though, he hateshateshates his picture taken, just wait until the four-oh sweater is done, he'll HAVE TO, muahahhahaa. Yes, it's still on the needles, I have been approached with "soo... how is my sweater going?" I ignore those comments. It'll be done when it's done, but NOW I have baby stuff to knit. And socks. Always socks. I feel a tiny pang of guilt over the sweater, I HOPE it'll be done by semi-cold weather.)

Hopefully I can get a breather next week, to catch up on housey shit, but also to begin taking some serious pictures again. These pictures are so beautiful, so inventive, and have really really motivated me to get serious about photography again.

Maybe substitute sushi for yarn?

The Toe Up Experience

2006-10-31T23:39:00.000-08:00

The Thirsty Bear is a micro brewery on Howard (and 3rd) in San Francisco. It's less than a block from work. Needless to say, we spend ALOT of time here. Almost always after work on Fridays. The brew is so good, the tapas are yummy, what more can you ask for?

Lana Grossa is such a fine yarn, I can probably wear these socks in my regular shoes. They are skin tight, the toe is so prim and perfect, the heel just the right size. Size dimensions and the basic pattern from Knitty's Widdershins.

The pattern is great and basic, it's my new choice of technique for making socks! Used Judy's Magic Cast On to begin each sock. It's very intuitive and easy to figure out once you do it.

Such a great experience. (And alot of football to go with it.)

A Super Hero

2006-10-29T02:12:00.000-08:00

He was wearing a red long cape down to his knees, red plateau shoes and tighties (not whities, but red). And he was hitchhiking. I really hoped he wasn't going far, it was pretty cold outside. Oh, and yeah, it was 2 a.m. and I was driving my friend home (not including daylight savings, it's really 2:17 now, but this was an hour ago). I had to call my friend when I got home to tell her, "Did you give him a ride??" I'm here to tell the story aren't I? Yeah, never picked up a hitchhiker in my life. Never ever hitchhiked either. Even though my friends did it in our podunk town we lived in when I grew up. I am S.Q.U.A.R.E. I admit it.

We'd been drinking a good Syrah from McDowell vineyard in Mendocino county, and knitting. Of course.

I love the Jaywalkers, really my favorite sock, even with the itty bitty needles that I'm not used to using for socks. Next time I think I will spend some time writing down my row counts. It's not quite t he same after you knit the whole sock to try to measure and count rows properly. One is really alittle bigger than the other. They're both so covered in dog hair who will really notice??

Finally bought some knitterly metal needles at the LYS. The Store Lady approached me with "we have those in bamboo too". If I wanted bamboo, I would have picked them up, no?! I'm not blind (and no, I wasn't that rude either). Another lady chimed it "yeah, mine break ALL THE TIME TOO"!! I'm done with expensive, fanschy schmanschy ebony Lantern Moon twenty-two-dollar needles. Got the $3.95 version, and they're DIVINE.

Also picked up some Misti Alpaca in a manly Olive to knit a scarf for my friend. He won't read this blog anyway, so I can post progress pictures freely! Will knit the green Manly scarf from Scarf Style. Another trip to JoAnns and the LBS (Local Bead Store) resulted in more beads and wire (26 gauge) for the votive holders from Handknit Holidays. I hope they'll be a hit, I'll be knittin' 'em like cwazy.

Started the pink pretty Lana Grossa #2525 for the Toe Up Experience.

Last Century Socks

2006-10-26T23:12:00.000-07:00

Always in need of being darned, worn to threads, but oh so comfortable. If socks make it to the darning stage, they have passed the Test.

That's how I knit socks. Size 5.5's, 6s, worsted weight yarn, they were warm and had a function. Cast on around 40:ish stitches, used only 2k2p ribbing, usually with some stripes (they add alot of cuteness), a funky heel that my Gramma taught me when I learned to make socks (and would always forget until I got to the heel and had to figure it out all over again). Most of them are wooly, the acrylic ones from the mid-nineties are so holy that I can't wear them anymore. The wooly socks are all in various stages of feltiness, the "whoops-it-made-its-way-into-the-washer" syndrome. Then you might as well toss in the second one in the next wash for a matching pair. They hold up quite nicely after felting too.

No fussy socks, these are plain and easy, and so fun to crank out a pair in a day. Socks are satisfying, they're the quick fix. Especially if you only make one.

Apparantly there are some socks floating out there that, at some point, I knitted for both friends and family. They pop up once in awhile, and I am determined to begin recording them in some fashion.

Shameless Plug

2006-10-25T00:25:00.000-07:00

It arrived. The EOM Loot.

I know, it's terrible when you do this for the company you work for, but I LOVE the stuff I got!!! Lugano Candelabra, Ghost candles (scarey? Hell no), Marble cheese tray, (along with place markers for the cheese), Cordoba Etched Glasses (we have the clear ones too), Cheese knives, and an itty bitty monogrammed key chain.

All set for the Knitting Mini-Retreat. Any ideas of fun crafty projects to do for it?

Wore my pomatomii all weekend. And I mean all weekend. 24/7. They really didn't come off. Don't know if I can bring them to Bobaknit, they need a serious washing.

Socks that rock do really rock in a big way. The lagoon color way, with its mossy greens, navy blues, greys, is like walking in the woods in the fall. Perfect. The Jaywalker pattern is oh so easy, they are cranking out.

Have also learned to not buy expensive as hell ebony needles since they will break, and then you're stuck with three of them and completely screwed, unless you have the shitty Brittany short needles as a backup plan. I need some metal ones. At least they bend.

Veni, Vidi, Vici Pomatomus

2006-10-21T13:03:00.000-07:00

They're fucking done!

Really, the second one didn't require much swearing. (Well after I figured out my main problem.)

The Short Version, a.k.a. What I Have Learned...

1. Follow the right chart. (How hard is that? Not very. It's not like there are more than two charts, and it's not like the pattern is THAT friggin' difficult. And no, there's no errata, Cookies pattern is immaculately accurate, the errata is my brain.)

2. Don't knit socks for the same pair 3 months apart. Your gauge will be way fucking off.

3. Knitted the first knit stitch after the YOs, didn't like how it looked with it through the back loop.

~

Love, love, love the twisted stitches and half moon shapes. The shape of the heel is nice. The pickup of stitches around the heel is so nice, no weird holes or anything (the twisted knit stitches helped alot too)! Picked up the stitches inbetween the stitches gives alot less holes.

Will I make another pair? Uh huh.

After hell week (yes, worse than last week if that's possible), and 2 beers at the Thirsty Bear we stopped by at Borders on King St, on the way to the train (before Happy Donut, mmmm Happy Donut... ) O'Reilly's, yes, the publisher that publishes THE best technical IT books, every geek loves them, have published "Craft", " a craftzine" as they call it. It rocks, it is beyond cool, it has so many inventive and fun crafty things. Who doesn't need little cute ghosts made out of, yes, can you believe it???

I got a set of Mindstorm Legos a few years ago and had grand plans for them, none of them came through, but how about making this, the coolest ball winder ever??? I have to knit the robots too. They're just so cute.

And clothing, I just NEED this electric t-shirt!! It's classy.

The Wire

2006-10-15T19:39:00.000-07:00

Only the best TV show ever. Ever. (Yes, better than Northern Exposure.) New season is on, so good and so real (because I know what the hood is like in Baltimore, uh huh, but you know what I mean...)

Purlescence opened yesterday, in Silly Valley all the knitters were EXCITED. Stood around chatting alot mostly (eating cookies), and felt up alot of yarn. Bought some Socks that Rocks, because it's Socktober. Three books purchased, Knitting from the Top, Holiday Knits, and A Gathering of Lace.

The votive sleeves in Handknit Holidays are just so adorable, mostly because I saw Grumperina's pictures, the gunmetal they used in Handknit I didn't care for much. We ran around to all the crafty stores in the area, (i.e. JoAnn's and Michael's) to get beads, wire, metal knitting needles, and votive holders from Crate & Barrel. Golden 26 gauge wire, and size 6 beads in reds, yellows and gold.

The prototype is so pretty, but took forever, and 2.5 times the beads the pattern suggested.

With the second version, I stuck to 8 stitches and sz 8 needles, and it came out the PERFECT size. Used about 150-180 beads. Look at the big difference with the Prototype version??

Had to keep going, substituted red for purple in the next one.

So 20s , Eric said.

Every Girl

2006-10-09T21:54:00.000-07:00

When my Gramma was young (and as she grew older), she crocheted alot of small borders in filet crochet. They were pretty simple, but with a hook so small you could barely see it. The thread must be smaller than sz 30.

In preparation for married life, her friends and sisters would then sew their own bed sheets, attach their pretty borders, and embroider the white cotton sheets with their married name initials.

A few years ago, I was pretty lucky to get an old used set of them, I just take them out for a look see once in a while, but that's it, they're too treasured to actually use.

While on vacation, in an antique store in Reijmyre, Sweden, I found someone elses embroidered pillow cases. I bought three of them, thinking, lacking sentimental value, I would actually use them!

It's Socktober. I can't find my 2s to finish the second Pomotomous (I bet I can find a million ways to spell it though). Need to go hunting for it, but in the mean time I started Chuck's Cabled Socks, by Eunny , on 1s, against her recommendation, just because. Or because I'm really a process knitter, and need to knit.

(Book group? Yeah, I haven't read a bookgroup book since what, April?)

The Swedish Flu

2006-10-08T21:44:00.000-07:00

Managed to avoid it for two weeks actually IN Sweden, until the Swedish Entourage arrived with it. They managed to get it back in time for when they left yesterday, after two weeks of Touristing, with 2 out of 3 being sick and sniffly as well. It was abit of a revenge I must admit. That's excuse number one, number two is always Work. It's crazy this time of year, nothing we can do about it...

It's funny how things are always cyclical (or really not surprising), at my Gramma's I was admiring all her embroidered goods. I found one of the little doilies she made me still in its wrapper when I cleaned at home (it was in the bookcase, don't ask me why cleaning the book case was so important before overseas guests arrived, or why it was even in there to begin with, it was just a nice surprise.)

The "Fabric Store" as my Gramma's crafty store is called, has all these little embroidery kits. They come with the pattern, thread and fabric (usually linen). This time I decided to buy the ones I wanted, regretting last time not having anything to show for when I got home. Back at my Gramma's, we went upstairs to her storage unit, where she dug out (resisting my help as always) another embroidery kit with a Christmas theme. I'm so excited to start them! (The Wiki has much larger pictures to study the patterns in detail!)

They are going to be alot of work, but it will still be fun! (And a nice knitting break!) The very pretty for a pillow case cover of flowers, I gave away and have no picture of! (To Someone who is in dire need of a digital camera I might add!)

Tried to pay attention to all the crocheted doilies I was so used to just seeing (and clearly not appreciating) when I was young. Took some pictures of them as well.. (Maybe not the prettiest of colors, but a very simple and crocheted dish towel.)
David's Doily (my brother sure was raised right, he can appreciate the doily! Or closer to the truth, Mom's been decorating..)
Our 1 am snack at Eric's Birthday Party! Yes, that is pickled herring! And yes, we finished a whole bottle of Aquavit! There's nothing like some boiled eggs, potatoes, herring and a cold beer right before the end of the party! (And look at my Mom's pretty crocheted doily!!)

And then to the reason we all knit. A Nautie in very good hands. Her big brother is just too cool (with his own Nautie next to him)!

Knitting content? Right. The Four-Oh sweater is coming along. Got about 17 inches into it, almost ready for the start of the sleeve bindoffs. Got tired of knitting it (reverse stockinette and all), and started a modified MDK kimono sweater for a co-workers soon-to-be baby boy (well, he's still boy, he's just not born yet).

It's knitted out of Dale Stork (same as I used for the Orangina) on 2's. Modified the pattern by picking up a hell of a lot more stitches (60), did a moss stitch border on the bottom, some striping (no really??) and alot more increases for the sleeves (to make them the correct length). Along the front wrapped area, I did 2 knits on each row for the edge so it wouldn't curl (and I think it looks cute). Haven't decided what to do with the sleeve edges, or the back of the neck of the fasteners for the front. Either buttons, or some ribbon. Any ideas?

It's Socktober month. Maybe Pomotamus is calling. I should try to find the one I finished. And see if I have enough yarn.

Greenwich Nice Time (plus one)

2006-09-18T16:12:00.000-07:00

It's 1 am. Really, in my head. Fighting the urge to go to bed. I thought jetlag used to be worse going the OTHER way.

Icelandair is cheap. There's a reason why they're cheap. The TVs are terrible (I must be entertained) , when they're not flickering, the food is not too great, no ear plugs, no free booze. (I love Virgin. Love Love love.) But you do get to walk around and touch Icelandic wool sweaters in the duty-free shop when leaving the EU. It's worth it.

2000 miles of driving (erring on the low end), I drove maybe 30-40% of the time, and didn’t even finish the Four-Oh sweater. Didn’t even finish the front and back either. As a matter of fact, I barely knitted at all during the entire trip. It's pretty sad. Did start and almost finished (no thumb) one wrist warmer for my Gramma before we had to leave. It was made with some ArtFibers Kyoto I had brought with me that she loved! (Who doesn't love Kyoto??) She wanted to finish the second one so I left it with her. I think I took a picture, but out of the 1100 pictures or so we took, it's going to take awhile to dig out... Sweater progress below. I added 2 plain rows between each repeat.

Bought abit of yarn though. The sock yarn is from the yarn store in my Gramma's town. They did have some nice yarn! The white cotton is from my Gramma's stash, she just wanted to get rid of it, so I was the lucky recipient! It's definately enough for a whole sweater. 10-12 skeins or so. The Lovikka yarn is from a fancy artsy fartsy store in Lulea. Got two skeins for a friend of mine too. The red yarn is from a local spinnery in Morjarv. Very nice, and it's local, so I had to buy it! I am just disappointed I didn't have time to run around to the local spinneries.

Ate and drank enough for the next two weeks too.

Got a bunch of cool crafty projects not related to knitting, but that's for another day.

[ With too much work and too much craziness planning for the Sweden trip, I forgot to update on the sweater progress. It was all ripped out. After the first 6 inches I made the SO try it on. I had an inkling it may be alittle big. it was huge. Ripped it all out and made it 192 stitches instead of 236, now it fits. All the dishcloths were finished too.]

The View

2006-08-22T23:35:00.000-07:00

when my Alternative Retirement Plan kicks in. Oh yes. Maybe not to watch the Oakland Raiders at the Coliseum, but a SUITE, to watch FOOTBALL, at the stadium. Life would be hard pressed to be better than Sunday. It's almost as if the day spent doing labor in the Data Center didn't even happen. Most importantly, NO KNITTING done during the entire game. It was an odd feeling. And football, in the sun, drinking (free) beer, close proximity to the spic and span bathroom, multiple TV screens showing the game in the suite, and us hanging over the edge out the window watching it for real. We were pretty damn lucky.

Mindless knitting has taken place, particularly in the form of the Mason Dixon Ballband Dishcloths. Seven of them. I have a few more to go before I can go to Sweden. They're itty bitty presents for the family.

The Four-Oh Sweater has gone through all the planning stages.

It's in reverse stockinette for most of it.
The pattern repeats all the way up one side on the front and back in mirrored images of each other.
Used sz4 needles for the ribbing, and sz5 for the rest.
Measured the S.O.

The calculations were based on the initial swatch, where my swatch was 8.25" wide with 44 st, resulting in 5.33 st/in. The circumference of the sweater was calculated with the S.O's measurements to be 238 stitches (Number of inches * 5.33= 238 st). To make the ribbing flow into the pattern properly, I had to have 4 knits on either side of the sweater for symmetry. To make sure it didn't look too funky, I made a 4 stitch cable for each of these areas. Used one of his sweatshirts to check the measurements. This was helpful for shaping the armhole area and to know where to place the cable that is running up the side, as well as general sizing issues.

Did I figure out the armhole shaping or length or collar? Hell no. I just wanted to start knitting.

Y is for Yarn Victory

2006-08-09T22:07:00.000-07:00

E-baying is really not my thing. My S.O works for them, and I bitch all the time HOW MUCH THEIR WEBSITE SUCKS. Like you have to log in a gazillion times when you navigate around their site. Crappy programming, I say (and I know what I'm talking about because I'm the Enemy, the SysAdmin.) Yarn? Oh right. Brown Sheep Cotton Fine.

Can't find it in the number of skeins and color I want, not even on E-bay. (There IS plenty of pink, maybe it's what HE wants that's so difficult. Bitterness? OH NO.) Eunny used Cotton Fleece for the Macho Aran, but I thought it would be too thick for the S.O, until 5 p.m. last night when I was SO SICK OF LOOKING AT YARN. So I went to the yarn store. Squeezed in through the door as they were locking up (they were so nice to let me in), scooped up their 8 skeins of Cotton Fleece in Wolverine (S.O accepted color) and was out the door in 3 minutes flat. He's gonna have to like it.

It's alittle shiny, very cottony sharp, but alittle stretchy wooly. I really like it. It's decent to knit with, alittle boring, but it is shiny. He said "Eh" when he saw it. Good enough for me. I think I'll pick some up for me in a FUN color when I want my own cable sweater! (That's still one of the requirements of this project, me wanting to make another one.)

He picked the cable pattern used in Fjörgryn from Elsebeth Lavold's Viking Patterns book. "It's assymetrical". Bet your ass it is. BS CFleece recommends sz 6, so I picked up the 4s for the ribbing, and used 5's for everything else. Tried a few different ribbings. I like the fun twisted stitches (k2tog, leave on needle, k 1st stitch, pull both off). Tried it in k2p2 ribbing for the k2's, tried it in every other k2s, then did plain k2p2 ribbing. He liked that. Plain old boring k2p2 it is. I figure, WHEN I make mine, I can do twisties.

(I'm ashamed, the color with the tungsten lights is SO BAD. Need to be home to take pictures in DAYLIGHT more often...)

What do I know so far about the sweater design?
1. He wants ribbing. Plain old ribbing.
2. He wants one long cable going from the ribbing up to the shoulder, probably on both sides. Nothing else.
3. He doesn't want raglan or drop shoulder.

The long cable swatch was fun to knit. Presented two versions.

1. Regular stockinette stitch for most of the sweater except the cable pattern. Notice how the cable goes into the ribbing? The number of stitches didn't add up properly, so I will have to fudge that somehow. Maybe a small tight cable?

2. Reverse stockinette around the cable throughout the sweater. (This was my first swatch so I hadn't figured out to run the cable into the ribbing, apologies. They're both really the same swatch, two repeats of the pattern and folded over.)

He picked Number Two. Sigh. Reverse stockinette on a circular needle. I CAN'T WAIT. "It's my sweater". He's right dammit.

A Quest for Yarn and Unfocused Knitting

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

I love that feeling of casting on for a brand spankin' new project. You knit in a frenzy just to see how the yarn "knits up". It's so important. And it's fun to play with new yarn.

Reading EZ's "Knitting Without Tears" is empowering, hence the hot pink "idea T". Won't have enough yarn for more than that anyway...

The orangina is ready to be worn. I just have to find something for UNDER it, and daylight to take a picture of it in.

A wool & cotton blend is hard to find. Received the Knitpicks tester yarn (Main Line) today, and promptly knitted up a little swatch with some cables on it. The yarn is of the wrong weight. Way too thick. It is soft and nice to knit with though.

Will try to pick up some Brown Sheep Cotton fine in a "manly" color. (This color-picking is trying my patience. Really. Why do all boys want drab grey and the darkest shades of blue and black? So boring.) One of the Knitpicks samplers I ordered, had a grey heathered yarn that passed the color test, 100 % wool though. But now I know what to look for. It's time for real knitting, enough swatching already.

Loosey Goosey

2006-08-06T23:32:00.000-07:00

That's how I knit.

After years and years of knitting, I just finally figured it out. (I'm bright like that). Like Elizabeth Zimmerman said, gauge is the most important thing in knitting. The width gauge. The height gauge? Not so much, just make it longer. Use whatever needles you need, use whatever yarn you want, but MAKE SURE YOUR GAUGE IS SPOT ON. What kind of knitter are you, Loose? Tight? Just normal?

Best advice ever.

When I have the great opportunity to teach a newbie to knit I always say "knit a swatch, it's boring boring boring, but it's MUCH LESS ACTUAL WORK, than knitting an entire sweater, or even just a few inches, and realize it's too small/big." Huge.

Knit a swatch.

And then there is me. Apparantly most knitters actually SAVE their swatches. Do you? I don't. I figure it's a waste of yarn, so after I take my measurements I always rip it out. Sometimes right after I make it, and sometimes after the project is completed.

And another one of my quirks, I'm fanatical about running out of yarn. I think it comes from having it happen to me, so now I have a boatload of one skein wonders. Always leftovers. But I figure, at least I didn't have to lose sleep over not having enough yarn. How do you buy yarn? Just as much as the pattern requires, less, more?

Here's a swatch of Allhemp3 knit a few rounds on sz4 straights, a few rounds on sz3 circulars, and a few rounds on sz2 circulars. My favorite? The size twos. I thought I liked a tight knit, but I think now it's a combination of my loose tendencies (allright, in KNITTING, sheesh) and unfavorable view of holey knitting. The interesting thing is that the circulars look alot looser than the straights, I must not be tightening up the yarn quite as much as I do on straights. Good to remember. Obviously this is not knit in the round, which is whole nuther story.

What's the project for the hemp, have you made anything with hemp? Nothing firm yet, but probably Big Dotty from MDK as a pillow cover for the couch pillow(s). It's far down on the list for now, first is the Four-Oh sweater (waiting for tester yarn from KnitPicks), and the MDK linen towels for a present. The two ballbands that were finished this weekend from MDK were mindless and pretty (sort of like Arlo.) Also presents for the Big Trip.

Then more swatching. This time it's for a summery, homegrown little T. Maybe I'll even keep the swatch. As long as I won't run out of yarn. But I will at least take a picture of it.

The Four-Oh Sweater

2006-08-01T23:41:00.000-07:00

A.k.a Chronicles of the First Homegrown Sweater.

The first sweater ever for the Significant Other, and also the first homegrown sweater, so I am going to chronicle it to death. Hopefully I will learn at least alittle bit from my mistakes.

Why?

It’s the Big Four Oh. And the man has everything, but a special sweater.

What do I want to get out of it?

I want him to wear it. And I want to want to make more of them.

The biggest risk?

I want him to be able to design as much of it as possible, to get a sweater that HE wants, not something I want him to wear. I am aware of the Boyfriend curse, yes, and I am aware of the fact that knitting for your Significant Other will probably put a strain on the relationship (especially with my goals in mind, coupled with the stubbornness in this family. Just as an example, 12 years ago when we moved into our little studio with a tub it took us a week to agree on a shower curtain. A week. We both gave up at the same time standing in the isle at K-mart for the third time. We lived with the hideous jungle and parrot shower curtain for 4 years). The strain is already evident. “Can you look through this knitting book,(Viking patterns by Elsebeth Lavold), and see if there’s anything you like?”, I ask. “Mmmhmm, just not now, I am tired/hungry/have to go for a bike ride/go to 7-11”. I will let it slide for now. Maybe I will even learn patience. Yeah, right.

How to begin?

Yarn

The most important choice. It must be a cotton/wool blend in favor of cotton, the man is a furnace. Options are Knitpicks Main Line, not sure about the colors, and they have no color wheel I can buy, and Liana from Artfibers.

Color

The requirement was a solid color yarn. Blue, green or black. Picked up some Liana at Artfibers, one skein each of blue, brown and orange (he loves orange). He picked blue, but was not thrilled about the slight varigation. We’ll see.

Pattern

Gulp. It’s intimidating, it’s nerve wrecking, but really, it’s just a damn sweater. He has requested one funky cable on the left front, on the arms, and the rest in a “tight kind of weave”. (After a show and tell of knitting stitches I figured out it means reverse stockinette). The cable request has added restrictions to the type of sweater to make. I don’t think a raglan sweater would look good with cables so I am going to either use a drop shoulder (so easy) design or saddle shoulder. The sweater will be knit up in the round, and then I’ll figure out the sleeves and chest when I get to it. The other request is a ribbing on the bottom of the sweater, so it’s tight over the hips. He also wants cables going sideways there, but I think I may make regular k2,p2 ribbing and the twisted stitches (mini-cables) every other 2k’s.

What’s next?

Finalizing the funky cable design, and try knitting a couple of swatches with the “test yarn”.

When is it due?

September 7^th. No pressure. If it’s not done in time, it isn’t done in time. We’ll be in Sweden, so which project to bring on the plane to knit will already be decided! It will be the Travelling Sweater.

Other Updates

1/2" left of the ribbing on the Orangina. How come I'm not doing it now? Because I am working on a new project. Duh.
1 Pomotamus sock is DONE MAN!
Three more mitered squares are done. It takes one day on the train roundtrip to make alittle over one square.
I love steroids. I love them. No more poison oak. It's but a memory and some dry itchy scars...

Knit Your Bit

2006-07-14T14:46:00.000-07:00

My grandparents were teenagers during WWII. They lived through the war on ration cards, but never really talked about how tough it was. Because in other parts of the world people were killed and tortured. They just starved. And complaining was really not in their vocabulary.

[ Picture taken on June 20th, 1942 in Strömnäs, Sweden. He was 22.]

The most shameful of all were the German trains. My grandpa told me about watching the trains travelling through their sleepy town. They never stopped, they just travelled through, shipping the Germans to Norway for the occupation. They were sanctioned by the Swedish government, but hated by the people. I don't think the Norwegians have ever forgiven us for it, their leaders went underground and fought for their lives, while we just made deals to save our hide.

All these memories floated up because of the Red Cross package I dug up from my knitting pile.The knitting effort during WWI and WWII was amazing. While getting the commemorative knitting kit from WWII, and knitting these socks may not help someone today, I thought it would force me to never forget our past, our history. Because things aren't much different today.

Afghans for Afghans are doing a tremendous job. I signed up, and even if I won't make the current deadline, I'm going to knit my bit, for someone else, who needs it alot more than I do.

Pomotamus Kicks My Ass

2006-07-12T23:07:00.000-07:00

It's just a sock, I figured. Well there's been alot of time spent unraveling. A few things I've learned along the way:

The first stitch (either a purl or a KNIT) after the YO ridge I don't twist on the knit side. I kind of started out forgetting to twist that stitch, then slapped myself for it, and started twisting it. Then realizing I didn't like how it looked so different on the knit or purl side, and started to NOT twist it again. No frogging. The socks are just for me. Let's call them a Prototype.
Don't forget to move the stitches around on Row 23. Took me 15 minutes on the train and alot of swearing to realize I should read instructions. Really. Maybe that's just me. I hate instructions. And 12 hours at work-work really sucks.
Maybe get metal needles. My sz 2 dpns are BENT from all the squishing with an unfamiliar pattern. Hopefully they won't break until the socks are done...
Be sure to have enough yarn. I'm hoping and keeping my fingers crossed. I don't know what I did with the #$)*(#)(*#$ label.

~~~

Here's a perfect picture for my yarn-counting sock-knitting-abilities. All of them not finished due to lack of yarn. I suppose they could be ankle socks... If I knew where the half-knitted mates were.

~~~

The twisted knit stitches are so prim and proper and poppy on Pomatomus! I love how neat they look! Socks are such a good in-between project. And they are a good way to work up to making the Knitting Project List. Alot of it needs to be done before going to Sweden (Sep 2nd.) I think the Jaywalkers are next. Even in the summer they're not bad to knit, and they are Wooly. But like Mark Twain said: "The coldest winter I ever spent, was summer in San Francisco".

~~~

I even saw a lady wearing a padded winter coat two days ago. What a crazy bitty I thought, until I stepped off the train. The city is damn cold in the mornings.

~~~

The Poison Oak is going to be with me until the day I die. Maybe the Drs Appointment tomorrow will help kick it. I refuse to take pictures of it. I will never go out in Nature again.

Yarn Crawl

2006-07-08T23:08:00.000-07:00

It never hit me until SnB the other night that Moths are really every knitters biggest enemy. Seeing Cookie with her huge hefty bags of yarn she was de-stashing made me think. "Huh, those could be useful." So at Walmart the other day (I really don't go there often, this was the P&C run and justified) I got two boxes and decided that one day I would make my yarn moth safe. When I still had some left. So last night at 1 am after doing some work-work (the one I get paid to support my yarn-addiction with) I decided it was Time. Out came the camera at ISO 800 and one of the studio lights (I just needed enough light to not have to use the flash. Ick, ick, I hate flashes.) Pictures are not compensated for tungsten light so they're VERY yellow.

So many single skeins that were bought "just for fun" back when all I knit were socks (instant gratification.) With socks you can really justify splurging $20 on a skein. The Classic Elite alpaca in black and red will come in handy (ha ha ha) for the sheep puppets from Spin Off Summer 2006.

There were projects that haven't seen daylight in YEARS. A pair of mittens (well clearly not done, so 1.5 mittens) from the Folk Mittens book (the lapland ones, cuz ya know, that's where I'm from, and I'm proud of it dammit.) One mitten is clearly too small, but I still kept going (or didn't). Some dpns were missing in it too.

3/4 of a sock has been knitted in my pretty blue and green stitches yarn, using the embossed leaves pattern from IK. I love the pattern, finished a pair already in a different color, but got bored with the second pair. I'm thinking Pomatomus or Jaywalkers maybe. I've always wanted to do a toe up sock.

I almost forgot the homegrown felted bag with leaves. It is worked in intarsia and the round, isn't that an oxymoron? Took me one row exactly to figure that one out. " Where the fudge is the yarn??" (Only I didn't say fudge.) I'm bright, I know. One corner of the bag is open. It will be sewed up before felting. The Manos pink and purples are gorgeous.

The dreaded sweater. Brought it out for the Yearly Inspection. "Yup, the first sleeve is STILL at 5 inches." The knitting fairies are but a dream. Although this time, I also decided that when the weather gets colder (in the CA Bay Area that will be in OCTOBER I hope) I am bringing out the beast to FINISH it.

A tip for the knitter who hasn't left a project hanging for more than a few weeks. Don't. ( But you'll know for sure you're a Process Knitter.) And if you do, then make sure you unravel about 2-3 rows before you begin knitting. If the yarn has been hanging out on the needles for too long they get stretched. You will definately see a "ridge" in your knitting where you picked up the work again and started knitting unless you unravel that row. It can maybe be fixed with blocking, but I wouldn't take that chance. Rip, rip, rip.

For this sweater I am actually going to start the other sleeve first (or maybe do two at once) because God only knows ( if she knits) what my gauge is like now, and I'd prefer it to be the same on both sleeves at least.

I love Artfibers. I'm a broken record, I know. Their stuff is stellar. Kyoto and Satori (a.k.a. handpainted Kyoto) are my favorites. So shiny and so soft. I have made a gazillion hats and scarves with this yarn. Not for myself though, but I still have yarn left to pet. Alot of it.

Novelty yarns. I'm sure Old School knitters shudder at the thought. But it's fun! My grandma (79 years old, who probably knitted for about seventy of them) sent me some ribbon yarn the other week from Sweden. "It's so FUN and PRETTY to knit with, and guess what?? It's ALL IN GARTER STITCH. How easy is that??" She even got my sister to start knitting. WITHOUT ME. I am so jealous.

~

Knitting research is awesome. Got my books from Amazon on Friday. Only looked through the Pattern book by Barbara Walker so far. So the pictures are in black in white? So the book is THICK? It is such a wealth of patterns and information I think EVERY SINGLE KNITTER should have this book. I found the pattern for the Orangina in it. I think. It is so pretty. (And it's coming along..)

~

So the Yarn Crawl? It was really just a trip to Creative Hands in Belmont (We almost had a heartattack when we noticed they were not in their old location in San Carlos!! Just drive a couple of miles north and it's on the left right when you get into Belmont, phewey), and to Fengari's in Half Moon Bay. Don't take 92, it's a bitch to get over the hill. Not for my friend though "you can take as long as you want, I'm knitting."

Four skeins of sock yarn, and 4 skeins of Cotton classic. Thanks to Organizing Streak I didn't spend a fortune today. Because, even if I don't think so, I DO have SOME yarn at home. At least enough for a couple of sweaters and too many pairs of socks. So it's time to make the Complete List of Objects to Knit. Scary.

Happy 230th

2006-07-04T23:17:00.000-07:00

It's remarkable that many, many years ago, on a hot, hot muggy summer day, 13 colonies decided that enough was enough. Only one abstained, to make sure the vote was unanimous.

Some very brave men made some world changing decisions. It must have been quite the times back then.

Ballband bathmat is completed. Triple-stranded S&C . 3 skeins of beige, 3 skeins of white. The problem with S&C is that whoever is winding it, doesn't know how to count. The yardage was WAY OFF on each skein. But then again, it's $2.50/skein. I suppose I shouldn't complain. 100 % cotton in the bathroom mat, it's gonna be nice n cushy and most important of all, easy to clean!

Was running out of the beige, so I had to do some color switcharo. Or I could also say "I meant for it to look like this". But I really didn't. I still think it looks nice.

I blame Mason Dixon

2006-07-03T09:53:00.000-07:00

for the lack of Peaches & Creme at Walmart. (Yes, I actually went to Walmart.) Looked online for it, since I'd never heard about it before, but at bobaknit snb on Thursday Abigail said "oh you can just get it at WALMART". At which point I looked at my watch, it was 10 pm. Dammit.

A trip to Walmart on Friday resulted in some boring beigy cone P&C and some varigated stuff (see title). But hey, the cone was LESS THAN SEVEN BUCKS (at 1000 yds) and the smaller skeins were $1.27/each. How great is it to be able to fill up a basket of yarn and NOT EVEN FEEL BAD ABOUT IT??

Since it's almost 4th of July, I got the patriotic colors and whipped up the dishrag Friday night, while watching 24 (season 3).

The number one concern for me with these, is the absorbancy factor. I did alittle bit of research with it over the weekend (whiped down the counter once), but was mostly lazy, (had to find some more of that P&C, that clearly took priority!)

During lunch two days last week, I went to NoeKnit in Noe Valley, and Imagiknit on 18th n Sanchez. NoeKnit had pretty much what you can get anywhere else, but Imagiknits has a HUGE HUGE collection of yarns. I found some Tahki Classic Cotton that is required for the Mitered Square Blanket, and bought a few skeins to start it . I figured, a coupla skeins a week, and eventually I'll have enough for the blanket (40 skeins). Also got this nylon Noro on a whim. They have alot of yarn I want to get on a whim. But I showed restraint, which you could only tell by going in there, and seeing what they have. Really. Have to go back again with people who try to not CRAMP MY STYLE. Boys. "Can we go now, can we go now, can we go now ?" Clearly you need about 3 hrs easy in there. Easy.

Friday was Walmart, and on Saturday, my friend and I went to JoAnns (Yes, tons of Sugar & Creme!!!!!! Blue, Turquoise, Pink, Beige, White. Another basket full), and then to Uncommon Threads in Los Altos. She bought some Tahki Cotton Classic for a log cabin blanket (YEY!) and I got some more of it for the Mitered Square Blanket. Allright, the colors were lovely, so now I have 11 skeins. More than my allocation of yarn this week, but now I don't have to buy more for WEEKS. I'm almost fooling myself into believing that.

The mitered squares are fun to knit, and it's nice to knit something besides the Orangina. It's abit mindless.

Not to forget the P/S&C, started a bathmat with three stranded P/S&C in beige and white, using the dishrag pattern on Saturday evening. It's going to be pretty big, I've knitted about 12 inches or so, and it looks SO CUTE. Oh, if you want the pattern without buying the MDK book? It's on the back of the tag of the P&C! (I'm sure everyone is going, well, DUH.) But this is all news to me.

And did I speak too soon? Yes. I now have Poison Oak all over my leg, my arms, my eyelid (nice). And these are the ones I know about as of today. The bug bite at the back of my leg? Not a bug bite. Now a raving culture of Poison Oak that is spreading icky bumps and yuckiness all over the back of my leg. With vodka (on the cut, hello!) and Cortaid spray, life is almost non-scratchy. For another two hours.

X-ray Day

2006-06-29T16:43:00.000-07:00

Digging out the Arlo-hair covered yarns that are mostly on my mind...

On the top:
Allhemp 3. Can't decide what to make with it, something sturdy. I love hemp. Made a cute little evening clutch in hemp from Artfibers a few months ago. There are some very nice housy patterns in Mason-Dixon that are on my mind.

In the middle:
Manos, Cotton. How can you not love this yarn. It was supposed to be for a nautie, but we'll see. I just like to pet it. Pet. Pet. Pet.

On the bottom:
Knitpicks Shimmer. Supposedly the Candle Flame shawl, but it's wool, and it's summer, and the two don't mix. It's just a gorgeous color so it's in the picture.

~~~

Knitpicks dye-your-own, lace weight (I wanted sock weight, but they were out, and I needed INSTANT GRATIFICATION.) Some day I'll get the dye too... And then the green lime shine that was supposedly for the Picovoli, it'll collect dust, but the color is beautiful.

And just because I love to have an excuse to pet the yarn and take some fun pictures..

Yarnaholic (just like the t-shirt says)

2006-06-28T20:55:00.000-07:00

Progress of the Orangina. Started it with sz 3 needles and the 130 stitches size but it really looked big and abit sloppy. Redid it with sz2 needles and now it looks alot tighter, neater and like it will fit alot better! Looks like boobage may fit as well without any tinkering width wise. Phew. The 16" length for this size will probably not be enough to cover properly before the ribbing, but I started the back and when I get to 16" on that side I'll make a decision..
Love, love, love the pattern! It's so much fun to knit, never boring, but it does take its sweet time.. Look how pretty it is!

The yarn is Dale stork, 100 % cotton. I just love the color, hopefully it will go well with jeans! Got 7 skeins, so it should be enough yarn...

~~~

And because it is summer, and this is the first summer I'm knitting, and because who knits with wool in the summer? And because I'm back into the knitting frenzy thing, and because I would like to try to maybe attempt creating my very own sweater (gulp), and because I'm hunting for lots of cool and different texture patterns, doing alot of research, reading alot of technique type o' things, and just because I don't really need an excuse, and because I love to take pictures, here are some of the recent purchases over the last week or so...

~~~

Rowan 4 ply cotton. It's the recommended for the Orangina, but I had already started it with the Dale Stork, and I so love that Royal blue color, but also turquoise, and maybe I can make ANOTHER little summer sweater, like the one from the latest Interweave Knit magazine (but without those damn ugly-assed embroidered things.)

~~~

Because it was on sale at ArtFibers today. 100 % cotton in a most FABULOUS color (I had to give in to it.) And it could be used for swatching and for making some little vesty garment... One of the girls at ArtFibers had used it for a Rebecca pattern, which was lovely in lime green.

~~~

Just for research, purchased with the fabulous colored cotton. Oodle is the cutest yarn and for sz2 or 3. Made a little test swatch a few weeks ago during lunch to see if it could be used for the Picovoli, but it didn't really work. But I'll make it work for SOMETHING. And the sheep is just so damn cute.

~~~

More yarn from ArtFibers. To be used maybe with the Oodle for stripe effect. (I love the baby lambs butts too!)

~~~

I love ArtFibers. Their yarns are DEE-VINE, AND affordable. The people are so friendly, no snooty attitudes (far to common nowadays in knitting stores), free swatching of ANY YARN THEY HAVE, like I heard today; if you want to make a felted project, knit a swatch in the store with their swatch stash, take it home, felt it to see if the yarn will work for you, who else does that tell me?? Free advise and pattern when you buy yarn for your project. They rock, but even if they weren't so friendly, their yarns are just the best anyway.

~~~

And all this fun stuff with an elbow that has seen much better days. Drugs help. They really do. But it may be time to make a call to the Dr and get this damn thing X-rayed. Damn creek embankement (but at least I didn't get Poison Oak!) And Happy Belated Midsummer too.

Nautie Photoshoot

2006-06-19T01:15:00.000-07:00

Miss Conduct's Nautie is done. It's ready to go chill on the boat.

Pico was washed and blocked.

Decided the Candle flame shawl is going to have to wait until it is not so damn hot. Started the Orangina instead with the Dale Stork 100% cotton..

So now there are three projects on the list again.

One Nautie Down

2006-06-16T10:12:00.000-07:00

It was an evening of finishing things.

Putting eyes on the nauties did two things.

1. Gave them a life and personality.
2. Made me want to make MORE of them. (Which is a good thing since I'm down three still..)

Ok, and it made me sorta feel like I accomplished something. The satisfaction of removing them from the KIP list.

Miss Conduct's nautie will be moved to her in the near future, but not before the obligatory photo shoot....

What a Wonderful Combination

2006-06-15T18:07:00.000-07:00

Knitpicks Shimmer in Grape Hyacinth and the McHenry Vineyards Estate bottled 1998 (or 2001) Pinot.

Yum.

Process Knitter

2006-06-15T11:43:00.000-07:00

This means I usually have, well, about 2 old dusty projects (definition: been around for longer than one year); and about 2 projects I work on when I feel like it. It's gone too far now.

1. Teal cable sweater. I'm afraid to mention this one. I have not taken it out for at least a year. Started this sweater back in 2001 or so. It's 100 % wool and NOT something I can knit right now. Right, cuz it's summer. And it really won't be wearable right now anyway. So there. I should take a picture of progress so I know at least it still exists, and to make me feel guilty once in awhile. I think I'm on the first sleeve. Done with front and back.

2. Felted bag with lining. (The actual knitting and felting of this bag was done in early December at some point when I decided it would be a GREAT Christmas present. Then the birthday came around, and still no lining. I suppose it's about 90% done.) Arlo mistook the first set of (super nice and expensive) handles for dog bones. It's easy! Same length, same chewability, it's like almost a dog bone! This is the second pair.. 3. Winter hat for Auntie. Was made to match the shawl I made (and completed). It was knitted back in January sometime, and still no lining (insert trend here.) It involves bringing out the sewing machine and all that. Alot of work. She'll get it for next winter.

4. Miss Conduct's Giant Nautie. Does not have eyes yet. Is trend fully established yet?

But Elliott doesn't care.

5. Pink Girl Nautie. I was obsessed with them, until the knitting got done, eyes? Who needs eyes?? This one is also missing a few tentacles when they got boring to make. I'm probably bringing it to Sweden for the little squirts, and that's not until September so I have PLENTY of time.

6. Picovoli. It's my current obsession. 100 % silk, Hana from Artfibers. Yumyum. Will not require too much finishing, so I see an end for this project.

7. Candle Flame Shawl from Knitpicks. ALLRIGHT. I just got the yarn for it, I can't help if it I just "try it out" for 20 rows or so. It's almost just like a swatch, and that is DEFINATELY not really a new project.

I suppose

2006-05-24T19:32:00.000-07:00

this is where all the Nightly Knittin' information will be recorded. I'm pretty straight to the point, certainly not very eloquent, so this is a short stop with notes on any yarn fiber related projects I work on, and if I can share and learn, so much the better! But here's the obligatory knitterly background...

My yarn and thread background started when I was about six years old, sitting in my Mom's bed in my red pajamas with a big ball of yarn and a crochet hook, with her showing me how to single crochet a string. I think when I finally stopped it was probably about 3 meters long and I was dragging it across the floor to see how long it was.

After that vivid moment it took me another 7 years to start on my first real knitting project. Leg warmers in garter stitch (hey, it WAS the eighties). They were navy blue with white thin stripes, and they were for horsebackriding (yes, I was crazy about horses when I was 13). Naturally I finished one and a half of them, while my friend completed hers.

I think this is when my knitting style first exhibited itself. I am not so much about finishing projects as I am about the actual knitting process. Makes me a scary person around mistakes as I have no qualms about ripping out inches of knitting just to fix pretty small mistakes. Knitting is my therapy and what makes me happy just doing.

After the legwarmers I attempted about 3-4 sweaters, most of them were completed by the time I was 20. My favorite was a grey varigated acrylic yarn HUGE sweater in stockinette (again, the eighties..) that I wore all winter long, I think I could layer about 3 more sweaters under this monstrosity (northern Sweden is COLD.) Another one of them was the Boyfriend Sweater (yes, it has the same curse in Sweden, and yes, we stopped dating about 15 years ago.) My grandma ended up finishing it, and it fit my mother, it was before I learned about GAUGE.

Then, while visiting with my grandma in the early nineties for two weeks, she showed me how to knit socks. It involved alot of size knitting and frogging, trying on the sock, measuring how long the heel should be, and how long your foot is (and mine are LONG.) It's a process I love, it's all out of necessity, and for You. She taught me everything I know about knitting. Sitting in her living room with the wall clock ticking, knitting together while chatting, is one of my favorite memories and moments.

In 1994, me and my California BF packed up our car in CT and took a roadtrip to California to settle down. I began to knit for REAL. One of the first things I made was a Christmas stocking (which had to fit alot of gourmet coffee and 3 ft of salami, he's not much into sweets unless it's Reeses Peanut Butter Cups). Beverly's acrylic yarn in some hideous greens and reds. Let me also mention, spelling out in RIBBED stitch someones name, even if it only has four letters (thank God) - does not look pretty. 12 years later, and I'm still not allowed to make him a new one. (I didn't know the concept of "carrying" the yarn in the stitches inside either, so to get things OUT of the stocking is abit difficult with all the yarn floating around.) It's got sentimental value or some crap like that. But with some Manos del Uruguay in muted greens and reds and pretty embroidery and snowflakes, I try to convince him (also, it could be LONGER you know, and FIT MORE GOODIES). Still no go. And no, no Boyfriend Sweater either... Socks that were 3 sized too big for Christmas last year though, I don't think I've seen them since Christmas morning when he felt obligated to wear them. (Maybe I should dig them up from the bottom of some clothes pile and just felt them and they may fit me??)

From that point on it was ALOT of socks, some sweaters. Alot of acrylics (hey, I was broke, and didn't know I was a Yarn Snob at heart). I think my knitting record (while unemployed) is 3 days for a simple cardigan. My ass was attached to the couch the entire time. The yarn cost me $9 for the entire sweater (of course it was acrylic) and the buttons about 50 cents. I wore it all the time.

As years went by, I migrated over to more natural fibers, (the popularity of knitting really helped to bring out a huge selection of yarns, readily available), alot of hats, socks, mittens, my favorite cable wool/cashmere red scarf, and even a sweater or two. Always wool. But never in the summer. I am a seasonal knitter. Knitting in the summer is just too damn hot.

Then two years ago the bug REALLY hit (or maybe I finally had some funds to support my addiction to yarn, and a gazillion knitting stores kept popping up!) Everyone got knitted items for Christmas, I started spending (un)healthy amounts of time in all the yarn stores in the Bay Area, buying books, patterns, creating patterns, and just having fun! Got all my friends involved (not that they had a choice, besides, I bribed them with wine). Some of them got the bug worse, or just as bad as me now, and some of them made a few items and then decided it was not for them. More power to ya (NOT!).

The satisfaction of creating an object for someone else, planning it, figuring out what they like, and worrying they won't like it, is really my second favorite thing about knitting, and the reason that keeping track of what I knit has become so important (I have to give the damn things away). I love knitting things for my family. Hearing their excitement (long distance to Sweden, and it's not like they have a choice not to like it) makes me warm in my heart. I'm alittle sick of making matching shawls/scarfs/hats and mittens though, even if the Scarf Style book has TEN patterns I am DYING to make!!

The Knitting Olympics rolled around in February 2006, and I realized that making a lap blanket in 16 days was alot more difficult than making some stupid little sweater. So I finished a fun sweater (the Essential Stripe), an old sweater I'd worked on for five years (or more aptly, NOT worked on). And then the big question. Was the knitting going to stop when the rain stopped? I promptly decided I was going to TRY to knit something summerly this year to wear when you really just want t-shirts and tanktops. There are other yarns than wool (apparantly). I have to admit, there was a two month hiatus where I crocheted like a mad person. Anything doily like, size 10 or 20 crochet thread and itty bitty hooks.

However, the last two weeks have been about researching yarns that have so far been unknown to me, the cottons, hemp, silk, spending alot of time at ArtFibers in San Francisco during my lunch break (it's a 4 minute walk if I hit the lights right from my work, and if you walk fast, you have more time to touch n browse..) Got some of the Catnap, 100 % microfiber and made a few nauties that are going to be presents for my family with kiddos (and my lilsis who likes cool stuff like that too). Recent purchases are Hana (ArtFibers) , 100 % purply silk for the Picovoli, and the KnitPicks Shine in some limey color for maybe the Orangina.

Which brings us to today.