Lazy Sock Monkey

Not alot!

2009-07-18T03:15:00.000-07:00

I don't have alot of great pics to share unfortunately. Things have been uber busy here though, my family came to visit for a week, I've registered for school, I'm up at 4:30 because of the dog...hurrah!

I've been knitting like mad and never seem to get anything finished. I'm working on Nadine, the sweater from hell for what seems like years and continually fail to get it right on putting together the finished pieces. I am taking out a side panel for the FIFTH time beecause I can't get it right. Me. Not the yarn (although that was the culprit the first 3 times). We sidestepped that by substituting sock yarn in a matching color and then I very neatly assembled the panel..upside down. Here I went again, picking out nearly 90 stitches of Kitchener and cursing like mad. This last time, it's just puckered and I can tell I didn't pick up stitches as neatly as I could have, hence go round #5.

I've done a few preemie caps, have a dog snuggie on the needles, did a couple of crocheted gnomes..Mostly I've been spinning. The spinning goddess smiled upon me and allowed me nearly a laceweight in a merino, something before unattainable for me..yay! I am plying it with a fine, sparkly thread and it's lovely. Rather it was before it began falling apart because I failed to give it enough twist to begin with. ARGH. I re-spun it and this time it seems to be holding its own much as I'm holding my breath every time I sit down to ply a few more yards. It truly is lovely if I can just finish it before spinning guild tomorrow.

Thats my news, not much at all.

2009-07-07T16:59:00.001-07:00

2009-06-11T03:40:00.000-07:00

I've been knitting on my first baby sweater ever for my friend Christy's baby shower last week. I knit Bamboozle in Caron's simply soft shadows, dark blue and I love the way it turned out. Hate moss stitch with a purple passion though, just FYI.

I just haven't taken alot of pictures of other blog-worthy stuff although I'll look and see if anything is worth viewing here:

Jack and Sarah in the pool last week..Sarah isn't so sure about this although Jack Russell's are supposed to love swimming...

I finished painting the master bedroom. As you can see the walls were sort of mud green/gray previously and I think the golden yellow is the bomb. The one wall with the door is now a very dark maroon and the whole room looks so much better!

Happy Memorial Day!

2009-05-25T14:46:00.001-07:00

It's been a good holiday weekend for me - Saturday was the Middle TN Fiber Festival in Dickson, TN and my friend Nichol drove us both over there for the day. I watched shearing:

And tried new wheels:

And bought fiber (sorry, no pics of that yet)

Then today I continued on the wash the wool program after spinning up a lovely bobbin of it this morning:

The washing is gross, people. The water is gross, the slimy feeling is gross and I'm damn glad to have it to do regardless, this wool is BEAUTIFUL!

I'm fortunate that my other friend Mary has lent me her hand carders for the weekend so here's my little bundles of wool, ready to spin.

I'd like to be ambitious and say I want to get a sweater out of this fleece but the reality is that I'll probably get a great purse/tote and some other smaller items. I'm not spinning well enough yet to produce sweater yarn, I don't think.

Social Networking

2009-05-20T08:07:00.000-07:00

Is Everywhere! I swear, I spend so much time social networking that I never socially network for real it seems! By the time I get pictures onto Flickr, or Ravelry or Facebook (a new one for me) I forget I need to blog and post here!

It's been busy around here. I spent yesterday in the first step of processing that fleece which meant laying it out on a sheet so that all cut sides were down and tip ends up. This took a bit since it'd been compacted into a box from Colorado to be shipped here. Next, I gathered pieces into 12x15 zippered mesh bags, the kind you get at Dollar Tree 3 for a buck. I bought 12 and filled them all; this accounted for about a quarter of my fleece.

Next I put it into water in containers in my backyard where it's soaking until tomorrow to get the first round of goop out. My friend Mary says this is an exceptionally clean fleece and it might take only 1 soaking before we wash.

Last Saturday I went to a Dye Class that Mary taught for the Spinners on the River Guild. It was very cool in that each of the 10 folks there chose a different color to recreate then followed the recipe out of Mary's master book and to get the shade. Each of us got a card from one another with the recipe written out, including any variances we found that day that affected the final colors. It was amazing. I chose shades of green (go figure) and set about making my dye. I ended up with this amazing Big Bird screaming yellow. THEN, I put it into an indigo bath for 5 minutes. The interesting thing about indigo is that it requires oxygen to complete the color change. You can imagine what people inside the University of Memphis thought to see a bunch of adult women out on the lawn spinning lengths of yard madly to get the oxygen into them. It was a sight to put it mildly. The end result was almost exactly the same as the master book. My variances were 90 minutes cooking instead of 60 and 1 indigo dip instead of 2. I'm very happy with the results and wish I had a bunch of undyed yarn and the materials to recreate this colorway at home.

Sunday was Spinning Guild and our program was on short fibers. We had samples of yak, cashmere, cotton, denim, New Zealand opossum with gorgeous merino to blend it all with. I brought home little samples of everything and spun a few inches of opossum and merino while there on my drop spindle. Short fibers aren't my favorite yet. I mostly spun a batt of some blue roving that came with my wheel. It has a sister batt in a ruby shade of the same fiber blend; I'll probably ply the two to get more yardage. I still have no clue how many yards I will get out of anything I try to spin.

Finally, I spun some raw alpaca and got 7 good yards (don't laugh, I really struggle with raw locks still!) to send into the Spin Off thing by June 1st.

In between all this I am knitting the now never ending sweater, a market bag for Mary, a gift for an upcoming shower and the nefarious second sock. Obligatory knitting content inserted.

Serene Cat Photo

New Wool!

2009-05-11T16:18:00.000-07:00

There's new wool all around here on the home front or will be! I will have new 'wool' tomorrow after I go and get my hair put into dreds, something I've wanted to do forever! I'm getting tiny ones and hopefully it won't make my hair so short I look umm...strange. We'll see.

I had new wool going on in the sweater I'm knitting, Nadine from French Girl Knits. It's a llama/cotton blend that is delightful to work with. I'm a little worried about drape though, I did a hat out of it with a lacey sort of pattern and it is softened and lost in the translation. At any rate, I have the 2 side panels done, they double as shoulder straps and more boring sweater parts I don't think I've ever knitted. They made reverse stockinette exciting when I started the connecting center panel. Truly.

I belong to this Thrifty Knitters n Spinners group on Ravelry cuz I'm often broke and looking for ways to get more bang (or fiber) for my buck. One morning I was reading along as I had coffee and behold! Right there in the "Cheap or free fiber" thread was a lady in CO who Had Enough Wool. Really. She had All She Needed. (this is an alien concept to me but ok). As a result, she had 3 fleeces to offer, either half or whole for little more than the cost of shipping. I danced, screamed, waved my hands and sent off a PM hoping to snag the gray one. It arrived today, all in it's smelly, skirted glory. I've put it aside until next week when my friend Mary can help me lay it out into a sheep but of course I had to grab a few handfuls to wash.

I'm not sure the camera does the smoky, silvery gray justice but this thing is to die for. I spun it out in the washer and it should be dry enough to spin in the morning. Oh fiber goddess, you are truly divine...

Old

2009-05-06T17:23:00.000-07:00

Really old. I mean, this sock has grown gray hair and a beard. I have dragged this poor sock on it's size 2 needles up and down the red line when I lived at Lawrence and Pulaski. Then to the end of the line when I moved to East Rogers Park. I bought the yarn in the old Loopy location when I had a fixation for sock yarn and yarn in particular that had aloe and jojoba in it even though $22 for a sock yarn was outside of my budget. I bought the yarn after taking Vicki's sock class, knitting several pair and giving away every damn pair. These were for me. It's been napped on after I zoned out at the beach. It's travelled to DC on vacation and survived a switch from Clover to Crystal Palace needles after Krista talked me into them at the new Loopy location.

Do you think I can knit a second?

All mourn the never ending sock - it ended. (I actually WON a ball of yarn at a guild meeting for having the oldest project there) I told my friend Kirsten I finished and she said "the one you had at the Yarn Harlot appearance?" Embarrassing.

3 Ply Attempts

2009-05-05T05:16:00.001-07:00

So, this is my attempt at 3 ply yarn. It was going to be for a Wooly Wormhead hat but then I found out their (UK) bulky was really an Aran or something crazy to me so now it's just another pretty yarn. Tragic.

Raining/pouring...

2009-04-29T18:59:00.000-07:00

My new basket supposedly made in Ghana to decrease the poverty levels and create financial independence amonth the women there..LOVE this basket, seriously.

It's been a 'rains and pours' kind of day, kind of couple days really. Knitting guild last night and I think the swap went pretty well, everyone seemed happy with their gifts. Nancy made me 3 cloths in chocolate and lime that were just lovely! They seemed so thick as to be double knitted and I immediately rolled them up into a basket in my guest bath, see? I hope my swap person liked her stuff - of course I forgot to take pictures before I sent it along, stupid me! I made her a Grrlfriend Bag and tried to make her a blue row counter bracelet with limited success. It was pretty though!

Jack has been working hard at designing me a skein winder in her garage and nearly has it figured out. She made me this small prototype and finished it yesterday and I'm pretty proud of her for it. I wound a little alpaca I'd tried to spin into a mini skein on it tonight and it turned out really well also. See how small it is in relation to the tennis ball? From this experiment we have decided we'd rather have a full size winder that was not a windmill style, rather a table style. She is putting a long bolt on the end so I can wind from my spinning wheel bobbins if I want.

I've been knitting a Wooly Wormhead hat in cotton to celebrate my upcoming dred-dom, Meret. This was interrupted by some yard work I tried to do today. I had the big green city can rolling it around the backyard for bits of tree I'd trimmed all over the yard. Took a step forward with my right foot and stepped onto the giant lid..lid slid forward, wheels turned, can began to tilt and I'm trapped on this wild escaping trash can thats sliding all over the place. Lovely. Ended up on my left shoulder (and my face) in the yard with some serious contusions and swelling. Double effing lovely. I get my dreds on the 12th and it will take around 3 hours to do. I'm excited because I've wanted them FOREVER!

On Friday I am going to Collierville with my friend Mary for a school's Pioneer Day. We're going to demonstrate spinning and I think knitting and it should be alot of fun! I like spending time with Mary, she's very smart and funny and her studio just makes my mouth hang open.

Last but not least here's my funny girl. She follows me everywhere and barks incessantly like someone just blew helium into her gut. Times like that I don't mind that they had her de-barked so much.....

Meerkat in Memphis!

2009-04-27T05:32:00.000-07:00

What a Handsome Fellow!

Our friends from Chicago were visiting last week and it was a great chance to see some of the things Memphis has to offer that of course we've been too busy to just stop and visit ourselves!
We went (of course) to the Zoo and it was a BEAUTIFUL facility! Almost all the exhibits contained running water and overall it was clean and friendly and didn't cost an arm and a leg and some quivit for entry. This guy stole my heart along with the other meerkats there..between they and the lemurs I am smitten!

Yesterday I mowed for the first time this season..saw something wriggling, wriggling like mad and swooped on it. Baby bullfrog I nearly chopped into soup! Yikes! I gathered him up and of course in his distress he 'peeped' at me repeatedly while I carried him through the house insisting to Jack that we put him into an aquarium. Jack convinced me to release him next to the pool however. We were also in the pool for the first time yesterday - water temp was 77 and It Is Not Even May. Woo Hoo, take THAT Chicago!

Our Spinning guild met last Sunday and did the 2nd half of our program on silk that Mary was teaching. We soaked cocoons, pulled out baby silkworms and their 'ahem' leavings, stretched them over frames we'd built, reeled silk onto cardboard and dyed a layer of silk hankies all in one afternoon! Some of my new friends were there and it was fun to sit and chat with them also! I don't feel as if I learned much other than how to remove the worms from the cocoon honestly..there were alot of participants and it was difficult at times to hear but I had great fun and brought home a little sample pack of all the offerings for my spinning notebook!

I've been deadline knitting for 2 weeks and most of it is swap/secret pal stuff that I can't post pics of until after our Knitting guild on Tuesday. I have 2 projects going for that plus the sweater from French Girl Knits that I don't have any decent pictures of yet.

May 9th is All About Women and I'm excited about being there in a spinning/knitting capacity in the 'life' section of the convention, where women learn about ways to enjoy life and just have some down time. On May 1st I'm scheduled to help my friend Mary with Pioneer Days at a school in Collierville with a spinning demo as well. Fun!

Ok, enough for now. May 1st is NOT that far off and I also have 35 of Jack's Department Heads and Managers coming to our house that day for a quarterly meeting which means 'get busy'!

One more pic - Buddah helps us keep it in perspective (to his belly, that is!)

Pearl after a bath

2009-04-15T19:59:00.000-07:00

I went over my wheel Pearl with some fine sandpaper and a bottle of wood feed/cleaner today because she's going to be travelling just a little and needs to look good and I think she does! Her wood is really coming into it's own after some care and removal of old paint and decorations.

This was a good spinny week for me - Mary's package arrived from the Butterflygirldesigns Spindle and Fiber Club and it's a beauty. No pics yet but it's a flower shaped spindle of gold flecked glass and 3 oz. of Tuscany fiber which is exactly what it brings to mind..golds, rusts, deep reds and wood tones. It's 1.3 oz and very fast from the little twirl I gave her!

Our friends Nancy and Chris arrived last night from Chicago and it's SO good to see them! They are our first houseguests and the closest thing we have to family as a couple. They also brought Artemis, who is recovering from bone cancer and chemo with an expermental drug treatment. Artemis is 120 lbs of very loving Rottie and it is great to see her looking so good although our little dogs aren't sure how to act!

I am knitting a secret swap gift and knitting like mad to meet next week's deadline. I had started a pattern and it was looking very strange and scary so I opted to start something else less experimental for my swap partner. Once I finish I'll post a link to the pattern cuz I thought it was just the coolest concept EVER and it's very fun to knit!

I also need to post pics of the guest bedroom now that it's finished..it looks awesome even if I did do it myself! Jack has been busy with her new tools and made stretching frames for my spinning class on silk for myself and a new spinner that's joining me today. They are nifty and I'll take lots of pictures today.

It's a monsoon out there..I love the storms but jeez..I'd like to unload my wheel without trying to protect it.

Alpaca

2009-04-07T06:17:00.000-07:00

A friend recently gifted me with a couple plastic grocery bags of raw Alpaca seconds (from these trash bags full she was gifted with!) Since my experience with less-than-processed fiber is minimal, I decided to try and flick a bit to see how it looked after I messed it up, I mean worked with it. I'd been told it was still quite full of vm so I put down an old pillowcase to catch the fallout and got started. I didn't know Alpaca had no lanolin until my friend told me! She also said I could spin directly from the wool but I wanted to see what it looked like before and after flicking. (I also didn't feel particularly like spinning right that second!)

Lump O Alpaca- I think the crimp is lovely (especially for free fiber!

One little lock

Nice shot of crimpola, gad I love it

pile of fiber with nice 5 inch staple

Thirds (I guess..this is the stuff out of the brush after flicking) I am always a little horrified at the 'waste' but I guess I'll learn.

Finished little basket of fiber

Monday Already!

2009-03-30T05:15:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure where the weekends go! I did manage to finish a square for a chemo-afghan and Jack dropped it off at Hank's for me on Saturday. I also frogged back mohair lace (sigh) a few rows to find out where I was on a pattern I'd put down for a bit, Voyager Stole from Elann that I'm making for my mother for Mother's Day. (I have too many projects going) I don't know why this picture insists on being sideways..just turn your head to the right and you'll get the idea....

I finished the Lemur King for Jack. ARGH, the knitting was easy..the putting together, see for yourself:

I stripped the original warp off of my pvc loom and started a simple strap for my Traddy. Angela showed me this ingenious strap she wove that she just ties on and it makes a shoulder strap for her wheel! When not in use, it just falls out of the way to the floor! This is the first foot or so of that:
It's going to be interesting because the loom really isn't designed for longer pieces but I wanted it all woven at once for strength. If you look you'll see the 'V' shaped improvs, we'll see how it works in reality. Right now it's holding a tight enough warp for weaving easily. Here's another pic of the pretty colors (Peaches & Creme cotton)

Trying to keep up!

2009-03-22T17:38:00.000-07:00

I've decided to 'try' and keep up a little with blogging here - there's SO much I'm doing, spinning, knitting and I've gotten really lazy about uploading pictures and messing with Blogger. Sorry about that.

This is Jack and our new dog renamed Sarah..they are howling at the moon together while Kasey looks on in amazement. (and me, I never heard a person howl quite like that)

This is some yarn I spun recently. An Etsy seller named Michelle is on Etsy as Knitkass. She is like the nicest person EVER in my book. She sent me a part for my brand new wheel I'd broken without ever talking to or meeting me! Wouldn't even take postage! I got her first handspindle from her store along with this fiber. It's hard to tell but it has a little 'glitz' in it also, and my technique is getting SO much better! Yeah!

This is my first spindle and fiber from the Butterflygirl Designs spindle/fiber club and I'm loving it so far. It's merino/bamboo/firestar blend and I'm going to do it in a SAL challenge on Ravelry. Again, the pic doesn't do justice, the fiber has this gorgeous blue/green sparkle to the bamboo that looks amazing with the black merino. The spindle is Italian Resin and I adore it.
Here is a picture of Sarah - she is ALL Jack Russell and has adopted me as her forever person. The former owner had her de-barked (ugh, I don't want to know details) but it's made her sound really funny, like she's sucking helium right before she barks, heheheh.

Other than this stuff, you can always find me hanging out around Ravelry, most often on the spinning boards. I'll try to get better about keeping up here!

Finally Friday!

2009-03-20T05:46:00.000-07:00

I don't know what I'm whining about, being home all the time means Fridays are not nearly as big as for those who work outside the home! I'm really tired lately though, not sleeping well so perhaps I'm dreaming of a sleep in on a Sunday morning...

The keyword around here is S P I N

It's all I want to do. If I'm not spinning on my wheel I'm playing with spindles. I've jumped into trying Merino even though it hates me and I can't spin it. I've stopped looking at my stash as if it's gold and I'm poor and stopped being afraid to try it (for the most part)

I do still have a lb of forest green merino I won't touch but that's for laceweight someday. Right now I'm trying for laceweight (and getting fingering) on a light spindle from Butterflygirl Designs that was part of her fiber/spindle club.

Insomnia Sucks

2009-03-11T01:51:00.000-07:00

Here I am at 3:52 am blogging. ?? Hello?? Normal people SLEEP at this hour. They aren't drinking coffee and wishing they could crank up the spinning wheel without making my partner crazy with it's adorable little 'click' as it goes round n round.

I think the fiasco with the alarm people has caused this. Yesterday he arrived 2 hours late to do our install. Ok, fine..you needed a ladder and you're clearly a kid. I began to have reservations but continued to do the laid back, nice client routine and listened to him explain that this was his first ever install by-his-lonesome. Uh-oh.

6 hours later he calls for reinforcement. God only knows what he was doing all that time since I was a little consumed with the new dog we just adopted. Her former 'mom' had come by to do a house visit and brought her because our first interview went well and she felt good about us overall. The reinforcement arrived, saved the day and left again. Now I've had this green kid in my house for 9 hours. NINE HOURS of a stranger, even worse a sweet, nice stranger that you can't be rude to. UGH. To top it off, they discovered in hour 8 that some contacts already in place on our windows were wireless. A call to our sales guy resulted in "Tell them the wiring for that is an extra $45 a window. ($45 x 5 above and beyond our quote means Jack is not a happy camper) We in the kitchen heard "I'm not mad YET but either you're going to fix this or you're going to experience MAD" They fixed it but jeez..it really pisses me off that the guy thought we'd just bend over and say thank you to over $200 in cost not quoted. By the way, the keychain remotes were never programmed. He was prepared to stay another hour (!!!, keerist Noooo) to try and do it (hadn't done that before alone either!). We politely kicked him out until today.

At any rate, the dog is a sweetheart. Her name is Hero and she is 4. She's a Jack Russell that immediately began to run like the wind with our other dog, Kasey.

I've been spinning ALOT. This is my homemade tensioned lazy kate, taken from a web pictorial (thanks, unknown web spinner!) and my plied, kool aid dyed yarn that I'm in love with.

Here's my new, gorgeous, huge diamond that my wonderful Jack bought for me. Speaks for itself.

Here is the DIY weaving loom I built because I don't have enough fibery stuff to keep me busy. I need to find more

Gone and probably forgotten!

2009-02-04T19:46:00.000-08:00

So, yeah..it's been months, years, decades..whatever. I've decided that Ravelry has an adverse effect on blogging in general. I mean, either you've posted yourself silly discussing whatever knitting or fiber issue you have on their forums or already uploaded pictures of projects because of course, having those pics link from our photo hosting site onto Ravelry is just well..

Let's just say we love Ravelry *cuz I do* and leave it at that. I had a few friends nudge me gently about this old silly blog so I decided to update it a teeny bit in the interest of staying sharp. (blink)

I know it's been a long time but I've been spinning..whoooooo! My partner got me a wheel for my birthday and after spending a couple of weeks looking at it blankly in terror I've begun to spin. I love it! I've read alot about spinning and whats funny to me is that I could not handspindle (dropspindle) for 2 years more than a wierd twisting of a yard or 2 here and there. Once I started with my wheel it ALL began to make sense and I am totally in love with my wheel (Thank you, Jack, my love!) AND my high whorl spindle which is carrying some Icelandic in a brown beautifully but slowly!

Ok, Blogger is being a butthead demon (some things never change) so y'all are stuck with the awful pic of me spinning with the adopted dog clinging to me like I'm the second coming.

Crafty Time

2008-10-12T15:04:00.000-07:00

I am finally getting enough settled around here that I have time for a few fun things like crafts. I saw a wreath in a magazine (out of more expensive materials) and decided to improvise my own for Halloween:

I think it turned out ok for less than 8 bucks in materials and I've fixed the odd lump on the side of the wreath.

We went to the Farmer's Market here for the first time yesterday; it was the Harvest Festival weekend so everything was gloriously fall-ish and beautiful. I got some mini-pumpkins and gourds to put this on my front porch:

I'll post more pictures soon of the market! There were sheep (and sheepdogs herding!) as well as a petting zoo with a llama and a psychotic camel, among other animals. The displays of pumpkins and mums were absolutely beautiful and I have some great shots to share. In the meantime here is Jack and I in front of one of the displays.

Memphis

2008-10-09T06:22:00.000-07:00

Different city and state, same pissy Emmy. Good to know some things don't change.

It's been awhile but we have made the move, complete with 3 unhappy felines and the moving company from HELL. Boxes were crushed, items were shattered, movers were rude bastards that refused to do anything the contract stipulated. This included putting back together the furniture they dismantled for no real reason other than it had thousands of fiddly pieces of hardware to keep up with (they didn't, btw). It's been a slow process but we're getting closer to fine and I simply love the house. The link below has various pics of the house, furniture and neurotic cats if you're interested.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/30701943@N04/

Most of my knitting time has been in the car running here and there to spend money on things for the house. I haven't really gotten into a consistent routine yet and it's sort of bugging me. I 'did' finish one of the Forest Canopy Shawls I'm knitting and blocked it yesterday. I think it's beautiful! Now to finish the one in fingering weight with beads. THEN..if I'm really feeling insane I want to start another in a sport weight for a special knitting friend/mentor of mine for Christmas. We'll see. In the meantime, here's a couple of shots of the shawl in the lovely sunshine in our backyard!

I'm also trying to run an online KAL for The Great American Afghan on a group, ILoveKandCAlongs. I'm working on square 1 (not my favorite of the bunch) and like everything else here, it's slow but sure. Krista at Loopy was wonderful about helping me choose colors, I'm sure I drove her insane! This is what we finally settled on:

I'm a little discouraged about the KAL and the group in general, honestly - there are like 4 people that post and the rest of the members either aren't reading or don't care to participate. Neither of those options is a good thing to me but I don't know how to change it! At first I thought it was the season, summer is a slow knitting time but summer is long past. I can't make people read or post or knit for that matter but it is a little discouraging.

All of that said, I'm liking it here so far. We live on a nice cul de sac with friendly neighbors and it's so wonderful to be running around in shorts in October! I'm working on Halloween crafts for the house in between unpacking (and cooking!). I'm looking forward to a Halloween where there are actually children coming to the door! It's been years since I experienced that living in Chicago.

Ok, I've probably killed enough time for now. Off to keep trying to organize my craft/knitting stuff in the spare bedroom so it's reasonable!

So...

2008-08-25T10:54:00.000-07:00

This is what it looks like around here.

well, actually Emmy always looks that pissy

boxes in the kitchen

what used to be our vintage living room

more boxes

I haven't blogged for a few reasons, all the boxes you see being the primary. Also, I've discovered (much to my surprise) how very intertwined my being has become with Jack's. She has been working in Memphis for several weeks and drives home each Friday to spend Saturday with me (it makes me want to cry) and every Sunday morning she gets back in the Jeep and drives back to Memphis to go to work on Monday. I function here...I mean, things are getting done and I'm knitting and spending time on my beloved beach but it's not "right" without her and when she's here and it is "right", time is too brief to waste it on typing out a post.

I've gotten in the habit of heading for Loopy on Sunday afternoons after Jack leaves and it's been so wonderful. I piddle at knitting this crazy cabled sock that has no business being knit with distractions at all and talk to the people there without haste or urgency (another thing that surprises me in that I never realized I've "always" been in a hurry while there). This means I spend alot of time with the ends of my dpn's either waving in the air or pressed into my lower lip depending on whether or not I'm running my mouth.

I also started The Great American Afghan (as in swatching) in the hopes that I could reduce the size of the WIP box that I currently guard against movers as "must go with Lisa in the Jeep". It seemed (in the moment) that squares out of a yarn that is readily available anywhere was a good idea for a transitional project.

The WIP box is freaking ridiculous in size, not as WIP's but as things I refuse to let out of my grubby little paws to be loaded into a moving van. I mean, why would I entrust nearly THREE THOUSAND yards of Emerald Laceweight from Sarah's Yarns to moving people? (never mind why I have that much of that color of 'that' yarn from there to begin with, if you needed that information you'd be Jack and you aren't)

I've been told it could be 3 days before they appear with our belongings. They can't have my Ott light.

Moving!

2008-07-17T04:52:00.000-07:00

Well, I knew it was a possibility..I knew Jack was applying for various promotions in cities we had discussed as 'ok' as potential new locations but I'm not sure I expected it to happen. It did.

Jack will be moving to Memphis, TN on August 3rd to begin her new position with Home Depot. I'm staying here for a few weeks more in order to pack up the house and finalize things in Chicago. It's exciting and sad for me. I've been here a long time and Chicago is truly a city that I love. Like many Chicagoans, I am now bemoaning the things I never got around to doing...the Architectural Tour via the river, Randolph Street Market..as well as the things I know to be so fine about this city; Italian Beef sandwiches with lots of juice and hot peppers, My Pi deep dish pizza, Jimmy's Hot Dogs, our nearly new apartment right on the beach on beautiful Lake Michigan..our friends Nancy and Chris and Debera..

Loopy Yarns..(sigh)

It is truly exciting though! The economy in Memphis is much more forgiving - it's possible that Jack and I can finally buy a home and there it means a home with a little land (think garden and maybe a few animals) and if we're really careful I can stay home to take care of all that and of course knit.

I haven't touched myChicknits Twist sweater in several weeks but have not lost my love for it. I've just been enamoured of quicker projects that don't require quite so much attention to charts and rows. We've been doing a KAL on a Yahoo Group, ILoveKandCAlongs of a free pattern from LionBrand called Lacy Stole. It's lovely and lends itself well to a variety of yarns and needle sizes which made it a great stash buster for the members. I finished it yesterday and got it blocked (Noro Silk Garden discontinued color 264-US 10.5) and I adore it. I'm mad that it's in the 90's and I can't reasonably WEAR it. The edges on my work still look sloppy to me, not sure what I do wrong at the end (or beginning!) of a row but I crocheted a border around this stole to tidy it up and I'm glad I did. (Sorry the pictures suck - somehow my digital camera was mysteriously 'not' among my belongings when I picked them up from my former employer)

Hanging in my dining room window in the breeze....

A closer shot of some of the detail...

Next, I plan to start the Forest Canopy Shawl in Koigu. I swatched last night but my needles were too small. (US 5) I'll try today with a 7 and see if I like what I get.

Bad Blogger!

2008-06-03T13:50:00.000-07:00

So, I’m a lousy blogger, I admit it. Lots has been going on, I had a stint in the hospital, fundraising for the Avon Walk, a car wreck on the way to see the Yarn Harlot (in a brand new rental car – don’t go there)

The good news is that I’ve been knitting quite a bit! I’m working on my first sweater, Twist by Bonnemarie Burns at Chic Knits and it’s going wonderfully so far! I have the back finished and am working on the left front section and it’s going pretty quickly.

I’m also working on a free KAL pattern for the ILoveKandCAlongs Yahoo Group with some other knitters – it’s the Lacy Stole pattern from Lionbrand. I like it because it’s leafy-lacey and because it lends itself really well to like stash yarn. Doesn’t matter what gauge or yarn or needle size really – it’s a pretty pattern. Everyone in the group seems to be using different yarn and needle sizes and loves it

My cats are getting a little out of control with my yarn. I have one of those rolling totes that Joann’s sells for yarn and I keep it next to my living room table so I can dig in it at will if I’m looking for inspiration or a WIP I’ve abandoned (did I actually SAY that?)

The other morning I got up and saw a skein of my beloved Sulka that had clearly been dragged out of the middle layer of the tote, played with wildly, wildly enough to untwist it totally. It was linty and cat-hairy from being skidded all around my hardwood floors – this made me especially happy since it’s a deep burgundy color, designed to show lint and cat hair clearly. Now I have to keep the tote zipped all the time. I wonder if it’s the silk content that drew them to it. Anyone else experience this?

Ok, that’s enough for now..I’ll try to be better about this blogging stuff, especially since I have cool knitting things to share.

Oh yeah! World Wide Knit in Public Day is June 14th! We are doing cool stuff here in Chicagoland at Millennium Park – Yarn Swap, Meet/Greet table, charity afghan assembly and a fiber/tools collection for Interim House and their knitting program – hope to see some of you there!

Horrible luck!

2008-04-29T19:07:00.000-07:00

I was all psyched last Friday..I had 2 tickets to see the Harlot and my partner who has zero, zilch, no, none interest in knitting put in for 2 so I could take 3 knitty friends for an afternoon/evening of knitting delight. I contacted my corporate rental car place, got a great car, the weather was rockin in the 70's which was summer for Chicagoland..

Traffic was stop//go//stop//go//

The truck ahead of me stop//d//

I go'd// bam
into his huge, black, rubber bumper of a thing that would have repelled godzilla.

I watched in horror as the front end of my beautiful rental car crumpled like a thin tin can under a grinder and then started the process

{to the LYS where my ladies were meeting for me to pick them up}

Hi, hi there Kirsten..it's Lisa. This really sucks but I've just rearended someone and my rental car is trashed..if you think our friends want the tickets I'm at the North Ave. exit....

(tickets are floating in the 70 degree day breeze and the officer in charge is coughing loudly because he doesn't get the signifigance of fiber)

I'm quietly weeping because I want nothing more in life than to have Stephanie Pearl-McPhee sign a book for my knitting mentor Natalya as a surprise for either her bday, US citizen anniversary or Christmas holiday, whichever comes first. The policeman doesn't understand the weeping and clearly contemplates testing me somehow for substance abuse. Unfortunately for him I'm making perfect sense and am just honestly sad.

LYS ladies (and now really my friends even though I was afraid to lay claim)
I'm so lucky to know you* All of you*
love
me

Promised pictures!

2008-03-12T13:13:00.000-07:00

My stitch markers from Cat

(very difficult to force them to all look at the camera at once!)

Marking the important boxes...

My new drill/screwdriver thingee!

See how small?
Bleh..my former living room

My beautiful wheel
(had to sneak that in again)

Insanity

2008-03-11T19:48:00.000-07:00

That's what I have in my life right now. Job insanity, house insanity,

MOVING INSANITY.

I kid you not. We move in 10 days (that until recently was like 20 days and suddenly things change) I am in full blown "throw it away" mode, only bother to Freecycle stuff I really know is of value that someone might want and leaving the rest in our alley neatly exposed for the time honored Chicago tradition of Alley Shopping (aka dumpster diving).

My house is an utter, total wreck. Our 3 cats have become schiztoid alien monsters darting around our ankles, entangling us dangerously every time we begin to move with a box. They're freaked out because they've done this before. They know there's a whole new house coming for them to inspect (secretly fear) , a new (GASP) cat bathroom spot (which is almost the worst fate EVER for a cat) and the absolute WORST fate, a C-A-R-R-I-D-E-I-N-T-H-E-F-R-I-G-G-I-N-C-A-R-R-I-E-R (aka Alcatraz, Prison, Nylon Death Sentence)

I want to kill everyone here except the Pleco in the fishtank. I feel sorry for him, I think he's slowly starving while the grotesque black moor greedily grabs his algae tabs. He and I could cohabit happily right now, I think. (he is formally known as a Rubber Lipped Plecostomus and I'm prolly spelling the P word wrong, so what)

I've had a little job stress recently that expands my feelings of murderous lack of patience to an explosive level. I can only applaud my partner, Jack. She is acquiring the patience of a saint in dealing with me these days. Working all day and packing all night makes Lis a cranky monkey.

I have pictures to post but of course now that I have a new computer I can't find most of the software for my stuff, like my camera. I took the pics tonight (including the yet neglected cat stitch markers from my friend) and will upload all of them tomorrow without fail with very little dialogue.

Good news in my world is that I have tickets to hear the Yarn Harlot speak in Oak Lawn, IL in late April, actually the night before the Margaret Cho concert that Jack and I are going to. We also have tickets to Cyndi Lauper (hmmmmm) who has the B52's (squee!) opening for her in June and a Chicago Philharmonic event in May.

May? WAIT..that's my Avon Breast Cancer Walk.

I need to start training to knit simple socks while walking. I will kill the women I walk with if I cannot occupy my hands for 39 miles. In addition I have Lorna's Lace's breast cancer donation colorway here to use! I would love to be able to memorize one of the ribbon sock patterns I've seen to do during this walk but that might be stretching it..k2, p2 ribbing might be best.

Good news again..Jack bought me an early Easter prezzie. I've been grumbling about disassembling furniture here and I have a brand new, very cool electric screwdriver sort of thingee. It has many many lil bits that fit into it's hex drill bittie thingee, it reverses to unscrew with the touch of a finger and it's so totally comfortable in the hand. So much so that I performed weird and uncomfortable machinations to photograph this for you. Something to look forward to tomorrow. (All of you butch women laughing at me for my description of the hex drill opening can kiss my arse-ask my butch, I'm so anal about my tools it makes her look careless AND she works for Home Freakin Depot!)

So far I'm at 27% of my goal for my breast cancer walk which I guess is not so bad with 2 months to go! I worry a little since I had to sign to guarantee 1800 bucks on Walk day whether or not I'd fundraised it but I think there's time. We'll see..

Until next time!

Oh wait, that's tomorrow with the pics..nearly forgot, getting old, yanno.

Lis

A Wheel!

2008-02-28T19:00:00.000-08:00

Ok, folks..some of you know I've been lusting after a wheel for freaking ever. I've been putting lil bits of money into a jar at my house, haunting Craigslist on a daily basis and generally believing that 'the right' wheel would present itself at the right time, keeping all that universal karma copacetic, yada yada yada.

Sure enough, it did and I did and now we have what appears to be a homemade, handmade spinning wheel here at the house along with a set of carders and a box of horribly deteriorated quilts with a lot of perfectly useable wool batting in between the layers. It needs some fixing up and I'm scheduling with my LYS's spinning instructor to go over it and figure out how to make it go but it looks damn good as is..someone loved this wheel and now I do too.

Look at how carefully someone repaired this split in the wheel...

The carders are interesting also..they have "M Ward" imprinted faintly on the back and appear to be in reasonable shape although I'll have to let Meg be the judge of that..

Better still yet, my new 'face to face' knitting buddy Cat sent me a surprise today from an Etsy vendor..a beautiful set of glass lamp bead cat stitch markers with a cool pin of a big orange cat (much like our beloved Em) with a red, white and blue sweatband on her cranky looking head! Too cute! The stitch markers will surely help with the Icelandic shawl as it is trying to kick my butt. Thanks Cat! Meeting you was awesome, calling you my friend is even better! I'll post pics of the markers tomorrow when I get my camera into the office!

Obsessed

2008-02-09T06:44:00.000-08:00

I've come to the conclusion that obsessive and knitter go hand in hand. If this isn't true, I don't really want to know!

I've been obsessively swatching for my first sweater and was AMAZED last night at my LYS when Zoe said "I don't want to bust your bubble but you should swatch again" and I didn't lose it..I didn't get upset, I said "ok, if that's what you think" and here I am swatching again with new needles that I actually intend to USE to knit this sweater.

Never mind the new obsession with Lantern Moon needles and my firm conviction that I must have one of EVERY size possible in Ebony or Blond wood like yesterday.

On a different note, I'm very excited to be travelling to Raleigh, NC next week and an opportunity to meet Cat, the owner of a group I help moderate, I Love KandCAlongs!

Just a short update...I'd do pics but my home computer no longer 'see's' my digital camera so it's a pain..We have new laptops on the way so soon it will be better!

Bizzaro Meds!

2008-01-26T12:59:00.000-08:00

I can't tell you how wierd it is to me that meds prescribed can have such an affect on folks, well specifically me! I was a really healthy gal all my life, never a prescription other than an antibiotic round here and there and then the 40's set in.

Christ on a crutch.

I take high blood pressure meds, fluid problem meds and anti anxiety stuff (cuz I cannot for the life of me ride in a car anymore without freaking out) I also have really ugly sinus issues and a friend acquired an herbal cleanse round from HER dr. that supposedly was the bomb.

Last night I came home from work only I don't remember so well getting home. My partner tells me I couldn't really find the right key for the back gate so I stood out there for a bit and finally called for help to get inside. The wierdness is that I have almost zero memory of this even though it was only 6 pm or so! She dragged my ass to the Dr this morning obscenely early and he was a little shocked as well. They did a bunch of tests and it seems to NOT be neurological but we took tons of blood and we're now looking at thyroids.

To top it all off, I felt queasy from wake up today. I coughed a bunch in his office, went and threw up cuz my tummy was so aggrieved then we went to Target. Coughed there and felt my tummy revolt and horribly enough threw up in the laundry fabric softner aisle when I couldn't make it to the restroom. Icky as it sounds, I'd had NO food, no drink other than a little soda so it was relatively non-horrific.

I think I just want to sleep a bit.

Great Hat!

2008-01-16T14:37:00.000-08:00

I know I’ve been MIA but it’s because I’ve been knitting, knitting, knitting, gotta love it! Below is my latest which is to me the cleverest hat ever:
With it’s buttons: (which are not sewn on ONLY because I left my needle home like a MORON)

AND!! the cleverest bit of all – an opening for my ever present and very bulky ponytail! I love this hat! It’s Hannah’s Hat by Blake Ehrilch and it was a very quick knit. I wanted to use Noro Silver Thaw so I held two strands throughout and it came out perfectly size wise.

I hope everyone had a lovely holiday season!

Happy Holidays!

2007-12-25T16:11:00.000-08:00

As I relax after dinner and contemplate my next 'bus' project I wanted to take a minute and wish everyone a happy, happy holiday season however you celebrate it!

Jack's cabled scarf was a huge surprise and a big success! The Mirasol Sulka in a Juniper blue was just a joy to work with! I have an off centered very simple cable with moss stitch and it's lovely!

Jack was lovely to me in return and I received another Ott Lite, this one with a magnifying panel! I also got wool, an alpaca blend and a cashmere blend..the Vogue Ultimate Knitting Guide (YES! LOVE THAT BOOK!) as well as new subscriptions to Interweave Knits and Vogue Knitting for 2008! There were also 2 smaller volumes dedicated to spinning and a ton of new clothes!

The down side is we discovered today that our eldest cat Emily has a urinary tract infection...we worry so about her as our old, overweight girl! We started an antibiotic and will follow up with the vet later this week.

Happy holidays and peace to all of you*

Lis

No News

2007-12-09T06:36:00.000-08:00

Sadly, all my knitting effort at this point is secret holiday gift that I can't photograph for fear of spoiling the surprise for Jack.

I cast on the 247 (groan) stitches for the knitted edging for the Adara shawl, knitted the first of 5 pattern rows and ended up with 4 extra stitches. (Insert cursing that bears remarkable similarity to pucker) Tried to tink THAT and found another mistake so I not so cheerfully ripped all of it out and cast on again.

At this point my darling Jack revealed my birthday present..an OTT Lite! YAY! I sat in it's otherworldly glow while watching the fight on HBO in utter glee!

RaAnn for whatever reason deleted alot of her groups with no notice. One of these, Shawls and Scarves Etc. has been recreated in Yahoo at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ILoveKandCAlongs/. We will be starting the Icelandic Shawl in January along with other smaller KAL's and CAL's. Come join us!

Blocking Boards and cable

2007-11-21T11:00:00.000-08:00

So along with knitting and knitting on the Adara shawl (on the last repeat section OH YEAH) I’ve been working on this blocking board so I will actually have somewhere to stretch it out and shape it.

Last year somewhere on a blog I saw the version that spawned my blocking board. It is by no means original and many thanks to whoever posted this originally, I’m sorry I don’t remember who you are!

I bought a 6-pack of Styrofoam panels at Home Depot (actually I had Jack pick them up while she was at work). They were a little thin but dirt cheap (like 6 bucks) so first I glued together 3 sections of 2 panels each.

Then, I put double sided tape onto one side and covered them with gingham fabric with 1 inch squares (about 4 bucks at Joann’s with a 50% coupon). Then on the back side where it wouldn’t be getting damp I used craft glue to secure the rest of the fabric.

Then I took Velcro strips and fixed it so I could attach all three boards together for a bigger item, end to end for a long scarf, etc. etc. Apart, they’ll take up a relatively small bit of our space when not in use. Together, it will block a fairly large piece, I have built in measurements in the fabric and my bed won’t be damp when I move it for the night! I’ll take more pics of it in action when I finish this shawl!

My lace is totally stalled. Enough said. My other new project can’t be posted because it’s getting too close to that holiday and the recipient reads this blog! My only other knitting news is finally trying a cable and guess what!

Mystic Waters Stalled!

2007-11-07T08:57:00.000-08:00

I have stalled at row 65 on the KAL and I cannot get past it! ARGH! I have tinked now 5 times and redone it all with the same results. I’m going to try one more time with the written instructions and if that doesn’t work I’ll have to frog, I suppose. (muttermumble)

I had to lay it aside, it was making me too crazy. Instead, I’ve been knitting again on the Adara shawl. After doing Mystic Waters this pattern now feels like a mindless snore, exactly what I need to get it finished with no more mistakes! I have about 36 more rows to do and it will be (finally) finished.

I’m really anxious to see if it softens up a little with blocking, the linen content is a touch rough. Anyone else out there knitted anything with the Elann Adara? Please tell me how you liked it with time! It’s also looking a little grubby to me after so many months OTN. It will be nice to brighten it up with a washing.

Here’s a picture of the Adara as it stands..it is traveling with me everywhere because I am determined to finish it and then re-start Mystic Waters. It’s just a little huge!

Mystic Waters KAL

2007-10-31T14:04:00.000-07:00

I started this KAL because I love lace and thought it would be a great forum for a 'first leap'. So far that's very true! I also promised myself I would not allow 'keep up' anxiety because even I know the fastest way to muck up lace is to rush madly along. I've done some great mad-rushing in my time and the frogging afterwards is not worth it!

That said, I finished chart A today - it's probably a little less than half the first clue and I'm pretty happy with the results - first laceweight, first chart attempt! The red background is AWFUL but it was the best I could do at work - I pinned it to the door of an overhead cubicle bin.

I think I see a missing loop but it's far enough back that I'll probably just chalk it up to experience and try to block it open later.

I also have several socks going and an absolutely HORRID hot pink/black hat for this gal at work that's clearly palette-challenged (shudder) People look at me on the bus and I say "She picked her own colors" defensively before they even ask. You'll not see pictures of that till it's finished in all it's horrible glory. Bleh.

Knitting about

2007-10-24T13:28:00.000-07:00

I haven’t been blogging this week; I’ve been knitting! I finished a hat/scarf in Kochoran for my friend Nancy’s birthday and tried to knit the swatch for the Mystic Waters Mystery KAL a dozen or so times in the Alpaca Cloud from Knit Picks. I kept finding mistakes and ripping back which sort of scared me since the shawl starts today. I’d already swatched once in a laceweight (Shimmer) so I decided that the knitting goddesses would not strike me down if I started in the alpaca. Here it is 15 rows along:

This is my first laceweight project, my first KAL and my first mystery knit. I think it’s pretty fun and I swear I’m not going to necessarily pressure myself to ‘keep up’. Deadlines and knitting combined make me very cranky. Just ask Jack.

I’ve also finally started socks again since lace and the Chicago Transit Authority (aka The Bus) don’t get along well – I decided I was attempting a pattern that was too ambitious and reverted to my nice, neat k2 p2 ribbing. I read on one of my lists where someone did both socks at once in sections to avoid second sock syndrome and I’m trying it. I have one cuff done:

I’m starting the second cuff on my new Knit Picks dpn’s – I’ll be interested to see if my gauge is any different with the metal! I’m also still doing a few stitches here and there on the Adara shawl, I refuse to give up on it!

Virtual Vacation Swap!

2007-10-15T09:11:00.000-07:00

Good grief! It’s been such an exciting morning! Months ago, I joined the Knitters Virtual Vacation Swap. Well, my secret tour guide was unable to complete my tour for whatever reason so I was assigned an ‘Angel Pal’ and today my package arrived from Laurie! It was sooooo heavy and I could not wait till I got home to open it! Inside I found:

A ‘tour’ of Lowville, New York – Laurie told me she learned a lot about her town that she never knew from this!

Two patterns – one sock pattern and one for legwarmers and a hat!

Knit Picks ‘Dancing’ sock yarn in a beautiful fall colorway and Sassy Stripes (which I LOVE), enough for 2 pairs of socks.

Two lavender ‘wands’ made from lavender out of Laurie’s garden – These are SO clever, I adore them! Also, a bar of lavender soap from a soap company just up the road.

Trail Mix (with M&M’s!) and Garlic Sesame sticks from an Amish grocer in the neighborhood.

A yummy pineapple sage candle and Café de Oriente coffee – this is going to be soooooo wonderful next Saturday morning – I love coffee!

A jar of honey peach jam (Laurie, did you make this yourself?) that I can barely wait to open. Can I have jam for lunch??

Dearest of all to me was a little felted pumkin that Laurie made herself! I adore knitted gifts from others, knowing the work that goes into it! I love seasonal decorations but Jack and I don’t have very many yet ‘together’. This pumpkin will spend the rest of the season on our kitchen table J

Laurie, I can’t thank you enough for putting such thought into my package. It really made my day and probably my week!

Mystic Waters Lace

2007-10-08T11:26:00.000-07:00

I have joined the Mystic Waters Mystery Shawl KAL and it is due to start October 24th. Anna is still accepting knitters so if you’re interested go here:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mysticwatersKAL/

I have some Lorna’s Laces Helen’s Lace for this but I have to take it back to Loopy and have it wound. A swatch was published and I couldn’t wait to try it so I used some Knit Picks Shimmer I already had wound and here’s what I got:

It is 6 inches wide by 6.5 inches tall and I love it! This is my first attempt at lace weight knitting and also my first KAL! (My damn cat grabbed it off my desk while I was looking for a needle to weave in my ends! X@!*#) (In 10 seconds she ATE the entire 10 inch thread, gnawed it off right at the edge – see above where it says DAMN CAT)

I decided I was going to make my own blocking board since my honey works at Home Depot and just adores it when I send lists of ‘bring this home’. We are tight on space so I want it in pieces that I can join depending on the size of the project. I’m going to use Velcro strips for the joins. Below are the materials – we’ll see how it works out!

Branching Out

2007-10-02T16:07:00.000-07:00

I came right down to the wire on the Branching Out scarf for my mother's birthday, what with spinning my homework and my typical 'home stretch' loss of interest in looking at that yarn for several more inches. I stopped at 37 inches in the Panda Cotton yarn which has a bit of elastic.

After blocking (and I'm sure I was tenatively blocking, it's the first time I've done this!) I ended up with 57 inches of 6 inch-wide lace. I was blocking Saturday morning and it had to be dry by 6 PM for the birthday dinner so outside it went into the breezy day. (I nearly died later while out running errands when it looked like rain). I'm quite pleased with it (and myself!) now that all is said and done. So pleased that like a total masochist I signed up for the Mystic Water KAL. Sign ups are open till 10/24. (yes, I'm enabling, so what).

Spun out!

2007-09-29T15:23:00.000-07:00

It was a really exciting week for me - I had to spin what seemed like MILES of yarn on my wooden-dowel-old-CD spindle for my Tuesday night class at Loopy. I worked very hard and finished the required 120 feet during my lunch break that day. I went to class only to find no one else had made their yarn! Pah! I got to spin on 4 different wheels that night and it was comical. I had twist for miles and nothing drafted for it! Out of the 4 I tried, I think I liked the Ashford Joy the best but it was really brief trials, just 15 or 20 minutes on each. I'll have to go back and try some more!

Below is some of my spindling - the green on the right is shetland that I learned has been carded but not combed, which explains why I have such difficulty trying to work with it.

And here is the distaff I made with my first spun yarn:

I also finished the Branching Out scarf just in time for mom's birthday - I blocked it this morning (the birthday is TODAY) and put it out on the balcony to dry. I'll get pictures of that up Monday. Needing mindless knitting for public transportation, I grabbed this:

Only to find that I had grabbed the WRONG size needles once I got on the bus. ARGH! Once I got to work I tried to utilize a pair of chopsticks:

Clearly that didn't work very well. Finally an understanding co-worker lent me their car and I ran out for needles on my lunch break. I ended up carting the Miski home (I am LOVING the Marisol yarns!) and instead started this hat. We are off to take Mom to My Pie - I can't wait to see how she likes her scarf!

Another Hat!

2007-09-22T14:00:00.001-07:00

I'm happy to report that the Mirasol Sulka worked up just beautifully into a lovely hat. It is so yummy to work with that I've had to FORCE myself back to mom's birthday scarf that must be finished by the 29th. (Feh! I'm so mad at myself over the scarf, I'm continually miscounting and having to tink) I want to finish a nice gift for her though; she's bringing me back WOOL from Ireland and if I know my mother she'll say "Oh..that doesn't look like very much, I better get several!" My stash is drooling in anticipation of such esteemed foreign travellers!

As you may have noticed, I haven't 'quite' mastered the art of blog-buttons just yet but I'm working on it.

Slowly.

We're off to the casino tonight to celebrate our friend Debera's birthday. I could give a hoot for gambling but Jack gave me fun money..if I don't spend it all I can buy more Marisol on Tuesday at my spinning class......The spinning class was cool - Meg's a great teacher but I Am A Klutz. I can't get that whole drafting while spinning thing yet. I draft a bit then spin it (badly) then draft a bit and on and on. Still I persist. Heh.

IMG_1233, originally uploaded by yarnballer.

http://www.mirasolperu.com/mirasolx.swf

Spinning and Hats!

2007-09-17T12:39:00.000-07:00

I’ve signed up for Spinning 101 at Loopy Yarns starting tomorrow night – I can’t WAIT! I’ll actually get my hands on a wheel before it’s over with! I went Friday night to register and bought some of this:

It’s a merino/alpaca/silk blend and it feels like HEAVEN in my hands. I have a deadline on the lace for my mother’s birthday but I had to cast on a hat with this stuff!

I finished my first ever hat yesterday. It’s Noro Kochoran and that’s another yarn I love working with. Below is Jack who doesn’t want her picture on the internet modeling said hat.

I had notice that a wee mousie had inhabited my office at work. We called the appropriate authorities and they came and made decisions about what was to be done. I wanted nothing to do with it so I left the area and promptly forgot about it.

Until today.

Yep, you guessed it. Something smelled funny, I called for help and then fled the crime scene. Bummer.

Yarns and Parties

2007-09-11T07:19:00.000-07:00

It’s been a really busy (but mostly fun!) week. Friday night was Loopy Yarns 2nd birthday party and it was a blast! I’ve never seen so many knitters jammed into such a tight space before and on top of that Franklin was shooting for his 1000 Knitters project!
I finally found a free chair and sat down to chat (and knit) with some other like minded folks. The Ravelry conversations crack me up; it reminds me of the early days of the internet when everyone had AOL and the big topic was what your screen name was. Now it’s “who are you on Ravelry?”

I am loving Ravelry, by the way – I just can’t spend much time online at all with my computer in a crash state currently.

I gave in to temptation at Loopy and bought 1 (ONE) teeny skein of yarn. It’s Noro Kochoran and it is going to become a beautiful warm hat (or 2).

The scarf also continues bravely forward – it generated a lot of interest Friday night when folks realized it was a sock yarn.

Jack bought me a prezzie this weekend – she said it SO is me when I’m knitting and it’s the perfect size for a project bag. I think she’s tired of seeing me drag around beat up ziplocks.

Lace Scarf

2007-09-06T10:57:00.000-07:00

Again, a sorta grainy shot from my cameraphone. This yarn is working up beautifully now!

Computer Disaster!

2007-09-05T16:32:00.000-07:00

My computer decided this morning that it no longer had to connect to the internet in any way, shape or form no matter how I pleaded or threatened. As a result, my blogging may be less frequent for a week or so while I fix this mess.

Knitters Virtual Vacation Swap

2007-09-04T16:05:00.000-07:00

I had never joined a swap before although I swapped yarns with a lady overseas for a bit. I'd read the etiquette and made darn sure that I overnighted my tourist's package so it would arrive on Friday.

No Word.

Ok, maybe she went away for the weekend (while my evil inner voice is whispering "She HATED it, you're the worst swapper EVER")

So today I check and still No Word.

The evil whisper escalates to a mad cackle and I begin to lose all faith in my package (even though I thought it was pretty damn nice on Thursday). Finally, a light flickers and I call my shipping guy for a tracking number.

There was some glitcho with the address "Cannot deliver without a valid street number. We have sent the recipient a postcard requesting the correct information". HUH? I mean, if you can't deliver it how in the hell is the postcard going to arrive? Does a postcard stealthily slip through where a shoebox size package cannot?

I had one of the tour guides email my tourist and I left the info in comments on her blog since I didn't want to blow the surprise. She's on her way to pick it up now!

Oh me of little faith.

Panda Cotton

2007-09-03T18:46:00.000-07:00

This yarn is BEAUTIFUL. Their colors ROCK. That said, I cannot produce a sock out of this stuff. It is splitty, ravelly, I can't get gauge, etc. etc. etc. Of course I own a zillion balls of it. I decided to experiment and knitted the lace pattern for the Branching Out scarf and wet it and blocked it. I've since decided I Like It and unorthodox as it may be I'm going to do the scarf in it. (This is not the blocked tester, this is the work in progress.

The KnitPicks Shimmer just wasn't right for this pattern. The solid areas didn't 'pop' and the holes didn't look like lace, they just looked like holes.

It was a good 3 day weekend even though I had work related stuff to attend. We rode our bikes and mostly ate healthy so it's all good.

I hope my tourist got her package for the Virtual Knitters Vacation Swap! It should have arrived Friday via UPS but I haven't heard!

Frogged!

2007-09-01T18:08:00.000-07:00

After much agonizing I have admitted to myself that the beautiful yarn I chose for that lace scarf is the 'wrong' yarn for the project. I am frogging it and starting over with another yarn. I'll post an update tomorrow with some pictures and name the yarn (if it works out!)

(fuzzy monkey at the library)

This and That

2007-08-30T12:51:00.000-07:00

The Adara Shawl and I are fighting. I am not speaking to it until it stops removing yarnovers that I know I placed and messing up my count. I have put her in the basket for a time out. I cannot tink the same 200 stitches again this week!

As a distraction I decided to try an easy lace pattern with an actual laceweight. (Note: laceweight and Chicago public transportation do not mix well)

I love the yarn, KnitPicks Shimmer and now that I've tinked it a few times I'm alot more comfortable handling what seems like a thread. Sorry for the grainy shot, it's my cameraphone.

Yesterday I picked up the last item for my tourist in the Virtual Knitting Vacation Swap and got all that mailed off today. It had been awhile since I spent any time at LoopyYarns so it was good to see the ladies there! With volleyball over, I've sworn to make Friday night knitting there a priority at least twice a month!

I have been messing alot with Ravelry too now that I finally got my invite - it is pretty amazing! It kind of boggles me too, I mean I feel rude being able to 'add friends' that bloody well have no clue who I am! The Harlot must be innundated! (No, I didn't add her but I was tempted)

Knitting Helper

2007-08-23T09:56:00.000-07:00

This is one of 3 furry helpers I have in my home - her name is Chloe. Her favorite thing in the WORLD is to chase the knob end of a long knitting needle and she does it whether or not I happen to be using the other end! I'll introduce the other 2 in a later post.

This is my boss on his birthday. Welcome to my world. He does, however tolerate the knitting on my desk.

ARGH!

2007-08-22T11:49:00.000-07:00

ravelry > antsy
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Projects and Yarn!

2007-08-15T17:53:00.000-07:00

This is my ever growing shawl and first effort at 'lace' knitting.....below is THE BAG FROM HELL, my vacation yarns and my yummy wool and spindle. Oh yes, and the Skully facecloth and finally finished wonderful table runner!

WOW!

2007-08-15T10:48:00.000-07:00

I swear, I didn't realize I'd totally abandoned this blog! No way has it been a month since I posted anything!

Actually it has - I was depressed over losing Louise (thanks for the kind thoughts, everyone!) and then we had a little vacation trip to D.C. and then the re-entry into the real world after vacation..bleh! Time just flies!

So, D.C. was cool, I'd never been there. We stayed in Baltimore and commuted each day to see different stuff. My sweetie mapped out a trail to several different yarn stores and very patiently spent an entire day driving me to them and waiting while I prowled around. I bought some souvenier yarn here and there but really didn't go crazy. I 'did' treat myself to a pair of Lantern Moon wooden needles that I loved!

I finished 3 dishcloths on the trip as well as forging ahead on the table runner I was making. BAG from hell. I knitted like crazy to finish this thing and was soooo excited about felting it and 70 dollars worth of yarn later um...it just doesn't work right for me. The straps won't stay over my shoulder and it now sits home hanging over a doorknob. Lovely decoration. Pffffffffffttttttttt.

Stitches Midwest was here last weekend! I began knitting after all the cool classes had sold out but I went to the market on Sunday. I ran across Franklin, this great guy who is doing a photo shoot of a thousand knitters. I was really, REALLY shy but worked up the nerve to sit for him. He was funny and very easy to talk to! The best part of the market was finding the ladies at the wool coop booth and getting a lesson on a drop spindle with some lovely green shetland. OH YEAH! I've been dying to learn to spin but know better than to bring home a wheel before I've exhibited the correct fortitude to Jack by learning the cheaper version first! I'm still struggling with tension and stuff but it is such an awesome process and I feel incredibly smart for trying! Ha! Modest too!

Ok, that's enough psycho babble for now. Here are a few pictures I happen to have downloaded to my work PC.

Really Sad

2007-07-17T20:27:00.000-07:00

I'm very sad tonight. I woke up this morning sick with a fever and many icky symptoms and I just have to say that when I was smoking feeling sick was evidently just a way of life. Now that I don't smoke getting sick is a whole other awful world and I hate it.

I stayed home because I couldn't be vertical and functional even though I can't afford time away from my desk. During one of my lucid moments I went to the living room for more yarn and snagged the mouse's cage for feeding/attention/love.

Our mouse was dead. :( Her name was Louise and she'd gotten mega vet care recently after ripping her ear somehow in her habitat. We'd administered antibiotics and continued lots of hands on handling but she's gone and it makes me so sad and afraid that I should have done more. She was fine yesterday, ran into my hand and up my shirt and we talked in that she squeaked and I made appropriate noises back and we had mousie love.

I hate losing a pet. In fact I live in fear of my old cat dying, she's 11 and hugely overweight and the light of my life. When she dies I will be using vacation time because I know I won't be able to go to work and act as if just a cat has gone elsewhere. Honestly, I'll be postal and imagine my doctor will prescribe nerve thingees and recommend counseling. I look at her alive and sleepy here, imagine her moving on and it makes me cry. Ick.

Catching Up!

2007-07-10T08:32:00.000-07:00

I kept avoiding posting because I have all these pictures I want to share but really NEED to set up a photo storage account to link to and I really just NEVER take the time to figure all of that out…I mean, I need knitting time here!

That said there’s been a lot going on here in our little world. Pride was the 29th and as usual it was a great day with great friends! Not so great was the mini van that had parked directly behind us blocking our exit…bleh!

Work is very hectic for us both and most evenings we’re exhausted but I still manage to knit. I finished the gargantuan entrelac market bag and took it to my LYS to felt it. I LOVE how it turned out! I’ll post pics later today, I swear! I also finished the purple socks pictured below and I cast on another sock in an absolutely gorgeous yarn by Lorna’s Laces called Hawaii. The pattern for it is here: http://www.knitlist.com/00gift/japanese-feather-socks.htm I’m hoping that the white will really make the pattern pop – the purples and blues are really short segments within the yarn.

I am also working on the Adara Rainbow Shawl but in 3 colors instead of 12. I can’t do all those pinks and stuff, I am a green kinda gal so I picked 3 in the green/blue spectrum. It’s my first (successful so far) attempt at lace techniques and I am finally getting to know the pattern well enough that I’m not constantly ripping out as much as I knit! I’m starting to worry already about the size – it doesn’t look big in the picture but I’ve used 1 ball (of 12) and it is already like 20 inches wide when I stretch it a little! And yes, my gauge swatch was right on even though it says the gauge isn’t critical. I may end up with a triangular blanket, who knows.

The sock monkey has been adventuring – he traveled to Lincoln Park via bicycle recently and stopped with us on the way for pizza. Soon there will be pics of him in his travels! I also was assigned my 'traveler' in the Virtual Knitter's Vacation Swap and have been shopping for her already!

Another week

2007-06-16T04:19:00.000-07:00

The Knit in Public Day gathering was very fun. The day was beautiful and it seemed like around a 100 knitters working away or wandering about admiring everyone's work. I saw some beautiful sweaters, socks, bags, you name it! I took my camera but since I knew not one person there I was too shy to take photographs - I just parked my chair near a friendly looking group of knitters and took off on another round of the endless Market Bag. I really Really REALLY want to finish this x0!% bag after nearly 7 skeins of yarn. I miss my unfinished socks (I'm truly afraid I'll forget how to do the gussets) and I know I have to finish them so I can start something new as a vacation project. I'm trying to keep to a small project, suitable for keeping my hands busy for a week since Jack has already asked with a tone of fear "Honey..how MUCH yarn are you going to have to haul on vacation?" I have a gorgeous stash of Lorna's Laces superwash in the Hawaii color..mostly white with sections of striking purple and teal. I found this free pattern for a very lacy sock that I think will showcase the yarn beautifully.

Of course I am swatching up a cotton/linen blend for a before-mentioned shawl as well. Hmm. All the yarn for that might appear before the end of July, who knows?

Jack and I play on a beach volleyball league here in Chicago. It's a lot of fun but it basically means that neither of us can move on Saturday. Ugh. I was called into work today so I'll ride my bike and hope to stretch out the soreness.

Yesterday marked the 10th anniversary of CAT - Crochet-A-Thon (from Crochetlist of Yahoo Groups). CAT is an amazing thing to me, a charity is picked each month and crocheters (and knitters!) donate their time and stitching for the chosen charity and it's needs. They pick a 24 hour time frame and meet in an MIRC chatroom over that 24 hours to yak while they work..pretty amazing! I was to have hosted an hour tonight but work is going to interfere and that bums me out. Hopefully next month but I'm sorry to be missing an anniversary month. Bleh. Work.

Friday Monkey

2007-06-08T18:06:00.000-07:00

Yanno, I'm starting to think of Monkey as Mon-key in the same way Shrek says "Don-key". Scary. Here is the relaxing Friday night Monkey doin his (my) thing.

Tomorrow is World Knit in Public Day and supposedly Chicago knitters have a big gig going on at Millenium Park. I have this vision of hundreds, no Thousands of knitters working away on projects together all afternoon. I'm going to toss my bike and knitting on the train and go check it out for the afternoon. God knows I need to spend 4 solid hours working on this bag in order to be caught up for my next class lesson on Tuesday evening. We're doing the Market Squares Bag from Bags-A Knitter's Dozen. It's an entrelac style so I'm getting huge experience picking up stitches and more stitches and yet MORE stitches.

I have finished the last increase row and have started the decreases with Tier 7. I'm convincing myself that I WILL get to Tier 15 by Tuesday. After all, they're getting smaller each row, right?? Right. (help) Here's a shot of the bag as is..a big knarly mess in a beautiful Noro Kureyon.

Virtual Vacation Swap Questionaire!

2007-06-05T16:28:00.000-07:00

1. If you could visit any state in the US, which would it be and why?
Hawaii..I adore the water and tropical foliage/flowers.

2. If you could visit any country in the world, other than your own, which would it be and why?
I would LOVE to visit Australia. I actually like hot weather and lots of sun and I bet their yarns are very cool!

3. Have you ever driven across several states/providence/countries?
Yes. I have driven from Chicago to San Francisco. Not planning on it again anytime soon. :P

4. Have you ever visited someplace you consider exotic? Where was it?
It wasn't a city or state but Hearst Castle was amazing to me from the grounds to the history to the castle itself and its state of preservation.

5. What was your favorite "travel" vacation? Why?
My favorite vacation was when I flew into San Rafael, CA and picked up a rental car. I then spent 10 days driving along the coast on Highway 1, stopping each day somewhere different. I ended up in Escondido where I spent another week with beloved friends.

6. Have you ever played tourist in your own home city/state (if international, country)? Explain.
My girlfriend and I do this ALL the time. Our friends live all over the country and Chicago is SO rich in attractions and culture! Whenever someone comes that hasn't visited before we take vacation time and do all the touristy things all over again.

7. Are you a museum visitor, beach comer or an amusement seeker?
Beach first, museum second. I don't seek amusement-I carry it in a ziplock. It's called yarn :)

8. What's your favorite type of yarn?
That's tough because I'm still so inexperienced. Of the yarns I've handled I think I like Noro Silk Garden the best. I also love Lorna's Laces superwash sock yarn, it feels way cushy on the toes!

9. What's your least favorite type of yarn?
Red Heart Super Saver, rough acrylics

10. What items do you like to knit/crochet?
I have a passion for lacy shawls although my skills aren't quite there yet. I also love socks since I learned how and I'm a bag/purse maniac. I am in a class for the Market Squares Bag in the book Bags..A Knitter's Dozen and now that I've learned to pick up stitches I see many totes in my future..

11. What do you pack, knit/crochet wise when you go on vacation?
I just started knitting last November so I haven't had a vacation yet. We're planning one end of July though and my girlfriend is already asking (with a touch of fear in her voice) just "how" much yarn I'll need to bring. I'm planning to try to be sensible and just start a new pair of socks. After all, I'm visiting yarn shops in the D.C. area while there...

12. What other crafts do you do/would like to do other than Knit/Crochet?
Right now I only knit, it's my obsession. I at one point in my life wasn't so singular and crocheted, cross stitched, quilted, sketched. The only other thing that tempts me right now is stringing jewelry or more specifically trying to make beautiful stitch markers.

13. Are you allergic to anything? (Yarn wise or treat wise)
No, but I'm not big on sweets ( I know, blasphemy)

14. What is your favorite color? Least Favorite?
GREEEEEEEEEN!!!!!!! I love it! Least favorite..hmm. Pastels. Baby colors (ICK)

15. Sweet or Savory (Treat not personality)?
Savory!
16. Anything else we are forgetting to ask that you think your partner desperately needs to know? I'm a relatively new knitter and a new swapper. I think I'll be pretty easy to please!

Monkey Travels

2007-06-05T07:56:00.000-07:00

The monkey travelled to Park Ridge today. My co-workers 'had' to see him in person and he has now been kidnapped for the day by Natalya.

I am suffering to resist buying the yarn to make this shawl:http://elann.com/ShowFreePattern.asp?Id=209024

I have more shawl yarn than some small 3rd world countries. I don't need anymore. Really. (but the greens are sooooo nice and I'd love a cotton/linen shawl) Nevermind that I have a shawl on needles already halfway done that I've abandoned because it was an acrylic wool blend that I no longer like the feel of. Nevermind that I'm not very experienced with lace techniques and probably would mess up this pattern bad.

I could just do a blend of fern, pistachio and waterfall...

Journey

2007-06-03T20:30:00.000-07:00

I taught myself to knit last October - I can't remember why but there was a big 'reason'. I used to crochet but that's history, let me tell you. I got tired of squares and rectangles pretty quickly but couldn't master things like picked up stitches and such on my own. I realized I had to do it.

I had to...

Find a LYS that didn't scare me and find a class. EGAD.

Chicagoland actually has a wealth of stores and I'm blessed in that. Visiting them and finding a comfort zone with the staff took a little more for me. Finally, Loopy Yarns seemed to fit the bill after a visit and I emailed the owner explaining exactly what I'd taught myself. She recommended a sock class which I LOVED!!

Himself

2007-06-03T12:43:00.000-07:00

I am primarily a knitter but I fell for this sock monkey kit several months ago. It said ages 7 and up you see, and my niece was coming for the weekend.

Pfffffttttt#@x!*%!!!!!

The first thing it required listed INSIDE the package was a sewing machine which I didn't have. This produced a very disappointed niece (Madison) and girlfriend (Jack) who has this wierd obsessive love of sock monkeys.

One hand-me-down sewing machine later he lives (sort of). I give you the Lazy Sock Monkey.