A day in the life of a k-nitter

The prodigal blogger returns

2008-07-05T12:50:00.010-05:00

Bliss is done. Heavyweight STR, 2 skeins, and lots of entrelac. It'll be a long time before I want to do entrelac again, but I'm glad I did this. It just got to be really boring, and hard to work on towards the end (ok, the middle and the end). My other two wips right now are Salto, and the February Lady sweater. I know just about everyone in the internet knitting world is making this sweater, and I can see why. It's fun, easy, and extremely cute. I'm making mine out of Malabrigo the pearl colorway. I'm already dreaming of some shell buttons to go with it.

It does have a little more pink than the picture shows, and is coming along nicely. The sock has been trying my patience since Sea Socks. I keep doing the cables backwards. I think it may be some of dyslexia coming out; I just can't seem to follow the directions. As a matter of fact if you look closely and see that I'm in the middle of knitting the cable back up to where the rest of the stitches are because, I knit them backwards. I will have a beautiful pair of socks...eventually. This picture really doesn't do the color justice. It's much brighter in person. This is Neighborhood Fiber Co. that Pam gave me before we left on the cruise.

I bought a new wheel. I sold my Kromski to a girl in my knit group before I left on the cruise for some extra spending money since I never spun (and really didn't get along with it). Then I visited Emma (also on the cruise) in Seattle, and she tempted me with her Lendrum. It was love at first site...maybe that should say spin? I wasn't going to cave then I noticed Nikki from my knit group had one, and it was all over from there. It's a lot of fun, and so much easier than the Minstrel. That wheel just wasn't for me. I've been spinning up such a storm that I've joined the Tour de Fleece (also prompted by Emma) and have already spun my beginning yarn today. I don't foresee spinning every day to be a problem except that we're going home the weekend of the 11th. I just have to decide if I want to drag the wheel home, or just take the spindle. It'll probably be the wheel. So my first few skeins of handspun are looking pretty good.

They're posted in order. The red is some mill ends merino that came with the wheel. The middle is some superwash bfl (I think?) that I bought at PKF from Artsygal. The last is some Targhee that was a lot of fun to spin, and is definitely more consistent than the rest. The last two are navajo plied which was so much easier than I thought. Right now I'm spinning some superwash merino that I'm hoping to turn into a 3 ply sock yarn. We'll see how that comes out.

I think that's about all the knitting related content I have! I know I haven't actually talked about the cruise at all, but honestly I'm still at a loss as how to describe it. It rocked. The people, the places, the classes; it was a lot of fun, and I'm so glad I had the opportunity to do it. I don't think I'll be making it this year for a few reasons. I will (along with DH this time) be trying to make more trips up to the Pacific NW as well as Alaska. They're just amazing places.

So what knit blog entry is complete without the cute kitties picture? This is so unusual I had to grab a photo. They're just not this cuddly or sweet to each other normally.

Dyslexic I am.

2008-04-06T19:13:00.005-05:00

It wasn't until a day or two after my last post (and a few re-reads) that I realized I posted 'Stash your Flash' instead of the other way around. Oh well, you guys understood; that's all that matters.

So, I've been promising pictures of my entrelac baby blanket, right? Here it is. BMFA STR Heavyweight in Hoofle Foofle. Pay no attention to every picture currently on the internet of this yarn. It is not yellow. It's more of a dreamsicle orange. Luckily the mother I'm knitting this for likes orange as well as yellow. I like the pattern; it's pretty straight forward. Entrelac is a lot easier than it seems. If you can increase, decrease (specifically ssk and p2tog) and pick up stitches then you can do entrelac. So far I'm just supremely annoyed by how much I have to turn the work. I did teach myself to knit and purl backwards to help, but trying to do the mistake rib (not to mention an ssk) bacckwards has proved difficult, so I'm saving that for one side.

I also started a pair of socks from the yarn I talked about last week. It is rather springy, and fun. I also am trying 2 socks on 1 circ a la 2-at-a-time Socks by Melissa Morgan-Oakes. So far, so good. I like the patterns in the book, and the method seems fairly straight forward. It's a method using a cuff down construction, so I think I'll likely be more successful since I understand how that works a lot better than tow ups. The pattern is a slip stitch, and I think it's going to be really cute in the yarn; I had a good 2-3 inches finished when I realized the socks were going to be too small for my feet. I ripped them out and started again; these are definitely for me cause I love this colorway.

This week's SPS comes to you from my friend Pam. Last August when she was showing me around her stash (and yes, I mean around) she pulled out a bin full of STR. I started pawing it as I had never seen so much of it in one place. I pulled out this particular color; oohing and aahing over. She told me to take it as she had never really been that into it anyway. 8D I had known this woman for less than 3 hours, and here she was *giving* me a skein of STR. Pam seriously rocks, and I'm way excited to be going on the SeaSocks cruise with her (and Emma, and Sobe). We're going to have a blast.

So, this is Pink Granite, and I'm pretty sure it's mediumweight. No clue when or what pattern, but it sure is pretty just sitting there in the mean time!

Stash your Flash!

2008-04-01T11:24:00.003-05:00

Ok, quick and dirty since I'm at work.

A couple weeks ago I photographed all my sock yarn individually. I did a group photo just for this purpose. I tried to make a cute shape, but it proved harder than I thought.

Photo may or may not have been enhanced with Photoshop to define shape a bit. No comment. :)

I have a lot of sock yarn.

SPS II

2008-03-30T11:15:00.004-05:00

You should be proud of me. Week 2 of SPS. I don't usually do schedules very well, but on a day where I'm typically lounging around not doing much anyway it seems to work for me.

This is UnionCenterKnits Whatnot Sock Yarn in Laura IV. I love this colorway. Anything with these bright greens and pinks or purples is a must have for me; I just can't resist. It's squishy, and has about 450 yds of 75% superwash merino and 25% nylon. I think this may be my next socks as it's been marinating in my stash for a while, and it seems like a perfect spring color. I imagine it'll knit up to look a bit like a spring garden. This was the product of searching through etsy one night. That's a dangerous place over there. I pretty much stay away from etsy these days for that reason. Too much temptation.

Anybody have any pattern ideas for me? Cristi left me a great comment last time about using my sock yarn for Fair Isle. I made the Three Tams from Knitty in January. I did Tam B using Silk Garden and it came out beautifully. I get compliments on it every time I wear it. I think she could be onto something with the Fair Isle. I'll have to think on it some. This I definitely want to be cute socks though, so if you know the perfect pattern please enlighten me.

In other news, I'm still slaving away on Bliss. I promise a picture for you next time. My friend is due April 26th, and this is the blanket that Brie will be wrapped in to come home. There's a whole story; have I told you? I honestly can't remember. Well, I'll check and if not then I'll tell you all about it when I finish it. I've learned to knit and purl backwards for it. I don't know if it's actually going any faster, but at least I don't have to turn the work every 10 stitches.

I also finished a pair of socks that had been languishing for about a year, but again, no pictures. Next week; I promise!

Sock Pr0n Sunday

2008-03-23T11:08:00.004-05:00

Yesterday I gathered up all my sock yarn to get an idea of how far in the hole I am. I guess the good news is that I'm not as buried as I thought I was, but I definitely have enough sock yarn to last me 4+ years if I started knitting a pair of socks a month. We all know how well I stick to that timeline. Don't confuse this with feeling bad about owning yarn. I don't feel bad about my stash. What I feel bad about is my lack of knitting. This is something I really enjoy doing, and I absolutely bought this yarn (a tiny bit of it has been gifted to me, but by and large I bought it) for the purpose of making socks. No resolutions here either; forbidding myself to do something does as much good as telling a baby not to use her diaper. How about a conscientious effort to knit more socks, and buy less sock yarn?

Anyway, I dragged all my sock yarn outside and photographed it all. Thus paving the way for at least one post a week for the next year or so. Welcome to the first installment of Sock Pr0n Sunday.

Ok confession time, it was going to be Sock Pr0n Saturday, but like the good procrastinator I am I waited until after midnight to write the post thus defeating the title of the post. I think I like Sunday better anyway, it reminds me of that monster truck rally announcer with the deep raspy voice saying something like "Sunday, Sunday, Sunday! In Stephie's backyard! Wool, all the colors of the rainbow, and a camera!" Oh, and I know that SPS sounds like I'm actually showing you some socks, and maybe eventually that will be the case, but Sock Yarn Pr0n Sunday just doesn't have that ring; you know?

The pictures were taken with my spiffy new iPhone as my regular camera still has a dead battery. I can't seem to locate the charger. Maybe in future installments I'll supplement with a few other pictures, but for now...here you go.

This is Claudia Handpaints Eat Your Veggies. I love this yarn so much that when I thought I had lost a skein (seriously could not find it anywhere) I went back to my LYS and bought their last remaining skein in the hopes that it matched the dyelot. Guess what? It totally does. Guess what else? Within 15 minutes of getting home I found that lost skein. So, now I have 3 skeins of it. Maybe I'll make some longer socks than normal. Or maybe it'd make a cute baby hat. We'll see. Not sure what pattern I'll make with this; I bet Jaywalkers would be pretty.

I'd be lying if I didn't say this was spurred on by talk of some bloggers I enjoy reading being down about their own yarn pr0niness. Take this as a sign of solidarity, and who knows maybe I'll pull out some of my non-sock yarn and join in on your fun. I don't know if the world can handle that many pr0n posts a week though.

A sock or two.

2008-02-23T23:53:00.005-05:00

I know I promised some knitting pics. It's not the greatest pic ever, but here's a pair of socks I finished a month or so ago. The pattern is Sockbug's River Rapids. It's pretty intuitive, easy to memorize, and everyone thinks it's a cable pattern. It's not; it's some well placed increases/decreases.

The yarn is Trekking color 100 which is apparently their best selling color. I can understand why; it's pretty awesome. This is the first time I've used Trekking, and I really like it. It's washed up to be pretty soft, and they're really comfy.

I'm just glad I finally finished them! They were on the needles for months. My next sock is waiting for it's mate, but I really am not looking forward to the second sock (though I think I'm close to the heel flap, or getting ready to turn the heel...I can't remember).

It's a Monkey sock, which I've made before. The pattern is easy, and fun. I've got it memorized, but it doesn't make me want to stab my eyes out like straight stockinette stitch (or ribbing). I actually gave away an almost completed Lorna's Laces sock and the yarn for it's mate to a friend simply because I really didn't want to rip it out, but I really, really, really didn't want to finish the 2x2 rib either.

Anyway, this is the infamous Noro sock yarn. I don't really know what to say about it. It's Noro. It rubbed a spot on my finger while I was knitting with it (thus why I'm in no hurry to get back to it's mate). The sock itself is pretty, and sturdy. I'm not thrilled about how the cool spectrum of colors are all at the top, and the all the warm ones are at the bottom, but there's not much to be done about that. I'm sure I'll finish them eventually.

Right now I'm working on an entrelac baby blanket. I'll post some pics as soon as I charge my camera battery.

Fuck You Radiohead

2008-02-12T21:25:00.003-05:00

Our first try at seeing Radiohead in concert was in their heyday. I want to say somewhere around '01 cause I think we were married, but I could be wrong, and it could have been before that. We were excited as they were relatively close to our hometown (an outdoor theatre in Manassas; about an hour away from home) and was on a Saturday so no time off of work was necessary. There had been a lot of rain and bad weather, and they had cancelled the show they were doing the day before. We were in the car about 30 mins from Manassas when we heard it on the radio.

The stage had literally sunk into the ground, and there was no way they could play (without, you know, electrocuting themselves).

Strike one.

A few years later (maybe, 'o4?) we heard about a festival in NY where Radiohead was headlining. There were a lot of pretty cool bands playing, and we got tickets (expensive tickets) and were planning on camping out, etc. It was going to be an awesome time. So, what happened there?

The festival people managed to pick a spot in all of NY that just happened to be the mating spot of an endangered bird THE weekend of the festival, so it got moved to the Giants Stadium in the city which we weren't prepared to have to get a hotel, and Radiohead (and a bunch of other bands) dropped it anyway.

Strike two.

I'm going on a cruise with some knitties in May. May 9th - 16th to be exact. So, when is Radiohead finally showing their faces around these parts again (after years of not being around here?) May 9th & 11th.

Strike three Radiohead. I'm done with you. I'm scraping your sticker off my car. You've dissed me for the last time.

ETA: Just to add insult to injury Nathan was going to get 2 tickets to the show in Charlotte for him and whoever he could find to go. The tickets for both venues close enough sold out in 5 mins. They never even made it to TicketMaster.

Today is the greatest day...

2008-02-09T10:20:00.000-05:00

Alright, so today is my 28th birthday. A lot has happened since my last birthday. Last February 9th I was in a dead end crappy job, I wasn't really healthy, I was kind of depressed, and my great grandmother passed away (but no one bothered to tell me until the next day). Wasn't exactly the best day ever, you know? Even though I'm referencing one of the most sad & suicidal songs by Smashing Pumpkins in my title this day is starting out much better.

On the job front I'm now working as a designer/project manager (to tell you the truth I don't know what my job title is...) at a sign shop. It's not what I ever thought my design experience would lead to, but I am loving it. My co-workers & bosses are awesome, and I love going to work. It's nice to not hate my job (pretty much a first).

Health wise? I don't know if you could call me healthy now, but I did lose 20lbs last year, and have kept it off. I'm officially vegan now. I successfully made the transition about a month ago, and I'm really happy about it. People ask me what I miss, and I can honestly say convenience more than anything. I have found some really good recipes to make up for the sweets that I miss now, so it's not so bad. The Joy of Vegan Baking has a lot to do with it. This book is amazing, and everyone should buy it and use it. Every single recipe I have made (pancakes, choc chip & peanut butter cookies, cornbread, brownies, and choc & vanilla cupcakes with cream cheese and buttercream frosting respectively) have been delicious and completely unknowingly vegan.

I deal with depression in odd ways. I'm definitely happier than I was then, and have taken some time off of school to keep from being completely burned out by it. I think the overall changes in my life have really helped with this problem. I've met some really sweet and lovely people this last year, and made some good friends (yes I'm talking about all my new knitting & knitty friends). That's been really awesome, and good friends always help.

I can't really help that last one, but here's hoping I don't have any sort of repeat on that front.

I do have some pics to upload with *gasp* actual knitting content! Unfortunately that will have to wait until later as this post is already long enough, and I have a somewhat full day planned.

Blogstalking Week 2: Purse Guts

2007-09-23T13:06:00.000-05:00

Today we will be dissecting a typical purse/knitting bag owned by your everyday mid-twenties woman. Notice the floral, yet not overly girlie pattern on the bag. If you remember our last discussion about orange you'll note that there is yet again orange in the bag. She carries this bag everyday and is happy that it's fairly indestructible with nylon straps that don't slip off her shoulders. Enough about the bag, let's get a look at what we're really dealing with, shall we?

Ok. Opening the bag up we get a cursory glance of some knitting projects, various bits of paper, keys, a wallet looking bag, and, wait, is that a roll? I think it is. This should prove to be most interesting. Has anyone here dissected owl pellets before? That's the feeling I'm getting here. We just don't know what we're going to find.

I think we should group like things together; it might get us through this a little faster. First up we have a couple of WIPs. Looks like a second sock, and perhaps a Clapotis? Interesting that she carries around the projects, but there doesn't seem to be a pattern to refer to...interesting.

What's next? We have an assortment of bags. A change purse, a Diva Cup bag, and a wallet. Inside the wallet we find an assortment of everyday items including some sure signs of a knitter; stitch markers and a tape measure. That purple thing with the drawing seems to be an actual wallet made out of Gaffer's tape. Something I believe the owner picked up in Portland on vacation.

There's that roll again. Hopefully it's just a leftover from the trip to Ukrops yesterday. Various receipts, etc that show us that the owner really needs to not use her purse as a trash can. I didn't think she had children, but that "art" certainly says otherwise. Let me check my file, ok no, apparently she gets bored at family restaurants and this is what happens. Uh-huh, moving on!

Looks like some pictures that the owner's mother gave her on the last trip home a few weekends ago. My files confirm this is her brother and his girlfriend at his senior prom, and the owner's grandfather. Yeah, that seems safe to cart them around a purse like that.

Looks like we're about halfway through here! What, you didn't think this would be fast and easy did you? This woman is a certified pack rat! She'll stuff anything she can get in her purse. Go get a drink, make a sandwich, and get back here so we can get this over with!

Ok, we back now? Good. Here we have your typical set of keys, cell phone, and Ipod. From what I understand these items along with that gaffer's tape wallet are what accompanies the owner of the bag when she doesn't want to be encumbered by a bag. Although, who wouldn't feel encumbered by those keys would be news to me. Is that a bottle opener there? What is she, a frat boy?

She seems to have an affinity for Target giftcards. Although I'll admit that the stained glass one is kind of interesting. The one with the orange face looks like it actually has slime in it; that's pretty cool. I bet none of these have money on them; that she just likes the cards. There also seems to be a checkcard that was loose from the wallet; apparently she's too lazy to actually put it back in her wallet, but simply throws it back in the purse when she's done with it.

That's odd. I didn't think that she knew what makeup was; she never wears it. How strange of her to carry around stuff that she never wears...

Hmmm. Not one, but two shot glasses. What a lush! Well, maybe they're just wedding favors that were never taken out of the bag. That's definitely likely. Also, there's a little doll that's made up like a warrior. Wait, oh neat! She's looking at you no matter which way you turn her.

Some more knitting related items although correct me if I'm wrong but you do need at least 2 of the same size needles to knit, right? Cause some of these don't have their mates. There's another tape measure, and it looks like a post-it note holder that matches the bag. So, she does have a little style.

Ahh, it looks like we've gotten down to the bottom here. This is the last bits that were hanging out. I'm curious to know what that tag goes to cause the owner definitely is no size 9! Oh, it seems to have been a hair band. When did they start giving those sizes?

Ah yes, here we are with an empty bag. What a long strange (and hopefully not boring) trip it's been. Until next time maybe with something not so telling. ;)

Blogstalking part deux

2007-09-19T20:26:00.000-05:00

This week's blogstalking assignment is Who am I? This is an excellent question. One I ask myself constantly. I'll try not to get all existential on ya'll like I do in my head, but no promises.

I've lived in Virginia my entire life. Various parts of it, but all the Commonwealth. I used to hate it here; thinking that anywhere but VA was better. It's growing on me. This is my neighborhood, and I love it (actually this was the corner I lived on until we bought our house in January). It's quaint with a little independent theater and a natural food co-op across the street from each other, and within walking distance to me. I'd definitely miss my Blue Ridge Mountains if I moved away from here.

I'm married with no children. This June was our 6 year anniversary. In October we'll have been together for 11 years. He's a guy, and comes with mostly typical guy problems, but he's all around awesome, and I wouldn't be anywhere near the person that I am today if it weren't for him. That's his favorite hat. Seriously though, I'd prob be living in good ol' Rappahannock with 5 kids and my abusive ex in a trailer. I'm not exaggerating.

I'm a vegetarian who maybe eventually will become vegan. Some days I want to more than others. One of my favorite veggie meals is Pad Si-Ew with tofu from my local Thai place (where they know my name, and what I want to order when I walk in the door). My other favorite is sausage gravy. Not really sausage gravy, but it tastes like sausage (I swear, it really does) and is yummy. Hubs is the cook, and a good one at that. Good thing too; I hate to cook. I would much rather bake.

I used to have orange hair, and it was totally by accident. This picture was taken at about 6am by my mother-in-law the day after we made the move from Williamsburg to Roanoke (about a 4.5 hour drive). I never say orange is a favorite color; those are always purples, greens, and blues, but when I look around in my life there's a lot of orange.

I'm in school getting my degree in graphic design. It's all completely online, so 9 times out of 10 when I'm hanging out on the boards I should be doing homework. I'm sure I'm not the only one.

Oh, and I come from young parents and grandparents. My mom was 19 and my dad was 16. My paternal grandmother turns 61 in October. I knew all of my great-grandparents and actually just lost the last one on my birthday this year (back in Feb). I've loved knowing so much of my family, and that's the only thing I find even a little sad about not having a kid yet. If we do they probably won't know family the way that I have. That's mom and I (dad was taking the picture) when I was 6 or 7? We were hiking/camping in Shenandoah National Park (literally 10 minutes from my hometown). We did that a lot when I was little. Maybe that's why I have so many fond memories of hiking/camping/the outdoors. Those are the really happy ones of my parents together.

Ok, starting to get a little too truthful, so until next time! I'll try not to talk so much.

Those who know/have met me know this isn't possible.

Can I see that for a minute?

2007-08-28T21:58:00.000-05:00

What to say about the Philly knitty fest. Really, there are no words. I laughed all weekend, bought too much yarn, and solidified some friendships. I keep typing out a running commentary, but honestly it's just too much and it won't be as funny the second time around. Instead I'll just post some of my favorite photos with captions.

My roomie and partner in crime Erica. I met her in NYC back in March and had a blast. We complained Friday night when everyone didn't leave our room til 2am, but then we stayed up til 3 talking. Saturday night...it was 4am. I was truly exhausted, but it was so worth it. Best roomie ever.

Pam in the back of the London taxi we had at our disposal all weekend (thanks to Sharon; she's the shortest in the ad up there). Pam is awesome, even more so cause she let me stay at her house a couple of nights. I got to see the stash in person. It is amazing and inspiring, and just absolutely drool-worthy. She is so much fun, and if you ever have the chance to meet her you better do it cause you'll be missing out otherwise.

The hotel group (2nd night) including myself (woo self-timer) in front of Gwendelene (that would be the taxi). Lots of craziness in this group. We had knitties from all over. Ontario, Seattle, Albuquerque, Jersey City, Boston, MD, and of course the local Phillites. I was amazed at how far knitties came from, but am so glad they did!

Saturday morning, taken outside of Rosie's Yarn Cellar. Unfortunately not everyone (I should have made them all come out) but pretty darn close.

Mostly this pic is just for Annmarie and Ariel. What? Did you think you were going to escape *all* the group photos? I think not! Although I did get really good at taking photos when everyone was looking at a different camera.

What we did at Loop. Sit with Amy, talk, and knit. It was fun. We got there before Amy and I was perusing the clearance yarn when she walked in (this is where I scored the Great Adirondack silk/cotton blend). People began to get a little aflutter (and rightly so) when I turned to Erica and said 'even Amy can't distract me from clearance yarn." At least Amy thought it was funny. Erica and I did sit away from the group as there weren't chairs around the table, but I got to sit directly across from Amy at dinner where she gave me some great advice on yarn choices for a Clap and Tuscany (based on my purchases).

Yes, that is the haul. There's some Alchemy bamboo, Great Adirondack silk and cotton, Be Sweet bamboo, Euroflax linen cones, Koigu mill ends, and some other stuff I can't think of the name of. I did well.

I started a lacy scarf out of the silk/cotton blend. Mostly out of sheer boredom with my socks. I just couldn't get the heel right; I don't know what's going on. So, I had the nice lady at Loop wind a skein, bought some Lantern Moon needles (my first pair) and perused a Barbara Walker treasury til I found something I liked. It's turning out really cute.

This is my swatch for Eunny's endpaper mitts. I'm using the Alchemy bamboo that I got at Loop. I'm starting a KAL on Ravelry Sept 1st, so I figured a swatch was in order. I wasn't sure which color I wanted in the background, but after this I'm thinking the green, what do you think?

It's going well...I think.

2007-08-19T14:40:00.000-05:00

Well, first I have to tell you they totaled the truck. Fixing it would mean replacing the entire bed, and apparently it's just not worth that. We'll get the value on Tuesday, so we can start hunting around for another vehicle. Ugh. Totally not looking forward to shopping for a used car. I barely wanted to go shopping for my new car, and we had all the money for it.

My turning over a new leaf mantra has been going alright. I have read two books since last week. Debbie Macomber's Shop on Blossom Street and A Good Yarn. The knitting fiction is sorely unrepresentative of good writers. Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs was like a bad Lifetime movie. Overly sad for no good reason, and really predictable. I've read the first three in the Maggie Sefton series, and tried to read the fourth,but my brain just wouldn't take it anymore. The characters are horribly two dimensional and the mysteries are completely out in left field. Not to mention the books are written so that they can be read independently, and I hate reading the same things over and over. It's one thing to catch a reader up on back story, but to be reminded that Kelly only just moved to CO, and she just decided to stay, and she used to be a corporate lackey...well, I can't take it every chapter. Anyway, the point I'm getting to is Debbie Macomber is actually a good writer. She's not going to win any literature awards, but she knows how to build characters and tell a story. A Good Yarn did suffer from the main character going on and on about her bouts with cancer a little much, but she got the majority of the catching up over with in the first chapter, and moved on. I actually finished the second one within 24 hours; it's been a while since I've done that.

I have been knitting more. I'm a good ways into my second River Rapids socks but no pictures of that. I do have a picture of some pretty yarn I picked up at the new yarn store. I know, I know. I said I was cutting down. The colors just spoke to me. I can't walk away from a green/pink (or green/purple) combination. Unless they're pastels. It's Nashua Hand Knits Wooly Stripes, and the color is Vine and Berry. 88 yds a ball, and I got 2 balls. Maybe something felted? Or a cute hat? We'll see.

The vegan eating isn't going so hot either. I ate cheesecake, ice cream, cheese (lots of cheese in various things) and various other baked goods. I've been vegetarian for over a year. I've stopped drinking milk, and eating eggs by themselves. The only thing left is cheese and baked goods. I just am having a really hard time with it. This makes me wonder if my heart is really in it. I don't know. I'll need to think about it some more, and maybe read up on the subject some more.

I spent some time outside this weekend. We went to the farmer's market and got some peaches, potatoes, sweet corn, october beans, and blackberry jam. Ohhh...blackberry jam. It doesn't get any better than a hot biscuit smothered in blackberry jam. Ok, sorry. Didn't mean to drool all over the keyboard there. Crystal (my bff4eva) brought her puppy over (we have a fenced in yard...she doesn't) to play for a bit. She's so adorable. I mean, look at this face. That's my flip flop she's trying to make off with. With such a cute puppy face I almost let her, but then Crystal yelled at me for teaching her puppy that it's ok to make off with shoes.

Here's hoping the insurance people will give us lots of money for the truck, I finish my socks, and maybe read another book or two this week. Oh yeah! This weekend is the Knitty meetup in Philly. Well, I should definitely get lots of knitting done... :-)

What a beautiful Sunday morning.

2007-08-12T13:14:00.001-05:00

Let me set the scene. It's about 11am and DH and I are cuddling in bed. We're talking about breakfast, maybe going to a movie, then

BAM!!!

Apparently a guy was driving down the street, and dropped his cigarette in the floorboard. He bent down to pick it up and swerved into DH's truck. Fun huh? He had to be going at least 40-45 mph. I mean, there's no way he did this kind of damage going 25.

No one was hurt, and honestly I think his blazer was more messed up than the truck. But, damn we didn't need this, you know?

Buying more yarn; tsk tsk.

2007-07-28T18:01:00.000-05:00

I got into Ravelry a couple weeks ago. If you're reading this blog then you have to know what it is, and I will also gush about it like all of the rest of the knitting blog population. It's just awesome. I want to know what a certain yarn looks like knitted into whatever I do a little search, and there you go. Lots of people's projects. It's just cool. There are also groups (kind of like message boards) and I've joined a few (like 12). One in particular is Sock Knitters Anonymous. They've got a KAL going on that for the next year there's going to be a monthly designer/technique (like August is Sockbug/Lace) and there's some mystery patterns (much like MS3) on every odd numbered month. You have 2 months to finish the socks to be entered into the give away goodness. I think this is just the thing to help me use up some stash yarn, and get me over my hump of sock patterns. I never seem to want to try anything new.

So, I know how I just said I'd be using stash yarn for this, but I found some Trekking XXL at the new yarn store (yes, new; I'll get to that in a moment) and it pretty much had to come home with me. It's colorway 100, and it's very pretty. It's a little more apple green than what shows in this picture, but this is pretty accurate.

So, yeah, a new yarn store in Roanoke. It's called Sereknity and it's out by Roanoke Memorial. It's really cute, and Brenda is very friendly. She carries Rowan which is nice since no one else does around here (that I wouldn't have to drive 40+ mins). She has a lending library which is awesome so that I can get my Maggie Sefton fix in without having to wait for the library, or worse buy it (no, scratch that; they're just not good enough to own). I'm looking forward to watching the store grow, and how it goes. Oh, and the best part? She;s open til 8 on Mondays. Yay for late hours!

In knitting news I'm making progress on a pair of socks I started a while back, but they're supremely boring. Hopefully I can just push through and get them done. They're Lorna's Laces in the Parfait color. A simple 3x1rib pattern that began as the Queen of Cups pattern on Knitty, but I liked the striping that was going on with the ribbing. Now, they're just boring, but I will persevere.

2007-04-13T12:47:00.001-05:00

I got bored with socks. I've been exclusively working on socks since I returned from my NYC trip in Nov. I'm tired of them, and I hope I can muster up enough sock mojo to finish up the second one of the ML, toe ups that I started before I left NYC in March. I do have an FO for you though. I have some lovely Malabrigo that I bought a while ago when I discovered a new yarn store about a 40 minute drive from myself. It got put in the stash with no real plan for it. It's been getting warmer here, but last week it was cold. Really wet, rainy, windy, and cold. So, I decided on a hat. I've never made a hat before, and decided that it was time. I found a free pattern called the 3am Cable Hat and went to town. I started it Sunday evening, I think? I finished it Wed. night after watching LOST. I think it turned out quite well.

It's the Alpine Pearl color, and I would say I have roughly half the ball left. I have one more full skein, so I think I'm going to make matching fingerless gloves. Something else I've never made, but have been wanting to try. See the all the viney leaves on the fence in the background? That's what covers one whole side of my yard. I love it. I was hoping there would be some honeysuckle in there as well, but no such luck. It's still pretty, and will make for great FO pictures.

Notice in my picture how the sun is shining? I blocked the hat because some of the purl stitches near the cables were funky. It just finished drying today. Today just happens to be the nicest day we've had in a couple of weeks. It's still a little chilly, and the wind is blowing, but the sun is out, the birds are singing, and I'm wearing flip flops. I knew as soon as I was able to wear the hat the weather would change, and I wouldn't need it anymore. Isn't that the way things always work out? I'm happy about it though. If me making this hat attributed to the sun finally coming out and spring getting it's butt in gear then so be it.

This is the first time I've ever really taken an interest in the yard. I guess cause it's actually my yard now, and not the landlord's. I have pretty flowers blooming that I didn't have to do anything at all to. They just popped up out of the ground. My MIL planted a mum while she was here that I'm pretty sure isn't going to make it. I think there might be too much sun on that side of the house. Does anybody know if mums and herbs like full on sunlight? That's the area that Nathan wanted to plant his herb garden. Which we have in containers right now, but I don't want to burn them all up in the sun.

I've also decided that for the time being my "office" (aka where I use my computer) is going to be my screened in porch. I mean...look at the view I have directly in front of me.
I love that pink tree. I have no idea what it is, but it's pretty. It might be a dogwood, but the flowers don't look like the typical dogwood flowers. The people that live in that house have a very nice back yard. You can tell that someone loves to garden. I get to enjoy it because my house sits on a hill above theirs, so despite the fence I can see into it a little. Not that I want to be spying on their BBQs, but I do like their flowers. I also have some pretty nice views all around. To my left is the cemetery which is starting to grow on me. If I lived in another neighborhood there'd be a house, and parked cars there.

When that little tree comes in full bloom it's going to be really pretty. That's where those yellow and purple flowers live; round the bottom of the tree. I'm hoping that it's a maple tree. One of the ones that turns really red, yellow, or orange in the fall. When we moved in I grabbed one of the dead lives and spread it out. It looked like a maple leaf to me (that was always my favorite part of Bio Labs...going out in the woods and identifying trees). I'll have to wait til fall to be sure though. The view to my right is of my neighbor's big pine tree. BIG pine tree. It shades a corner of our yard, and drops it's needles so that grass won't grow there. I haven't decided if it's annoying enough to trim the branches on our side or not. Probably not. I kind of like the rustic way our yard looks with the leafy vines (no idea what that stuff is called...) Yay for spring. So glad it's here. Dziga likes the porch too. Especially when the birds are around.

Tomorrow I go to the Sedalia Spring Fiber Festival. I'm excited. It's my first fiber festival ever; I'm sure I'll have lots to talk about when I get back.

2007-04-01T22:43:00.000-05:00

So much to talk about! Ok, let's start with NYC and The Represent tour. It was so much fun. The Harlot was really cool, gallivanting around to 12 yarn stores in 4 days was dizzying, meeting lots of other knitters was fun, and meeting lots of other knittyheads was awesome! I guess the thing that it really did was make me feel like I belong somewhere, and that I'm not some freak who is so boring that I love to play with string and sticks. Well, ok, maybe I am BUT I'm not alone!

That's a whole bunch of knitters (not to mention a great picture of the Harlot's mother-in-law and hubby right there in the front row). See the girl in the pink sweater directly above her m.i.l.? That's my friend. I was sitting right where Joe's head is, and I had a great view of the whole thing.

I was even able to finish the 7x9 square for Warm Up America that they asked us all to knit by the end of the talk. That surprised me as I'm not usually one for fast knitting. Stephanie is so personable, and even though she kept telling us how scared she was she seemed to be right at home.

I did a lot of lys shopping, and got to meet a whole gaggle of knittyheads on Sunday. I forgot to snap a picture when we were all at The Point. There were probably about 15-20 of us. I did manage to remember before we split off for the third time outside of The Yarn Tree. I'm not going to identify people as I didn't get permission to put their picture up, so you'll just have to trust me that they are knittyheads and they are fabulous. See the pink sweater? That's my friend Laura again!

What else? Oh, so I finally finished my socks for the sock swap. I ended up ripping back to the gussett decreases on both socks and modifying the pattern. It really was the best looking option. I sent them overnight and my pal qdgirl tells me that they fit perfectly and she loves them. I was so excited to be done with them and get them in the mail (finally) that I forgot to take pictures. Silly me! I did, however, obtain permission from her partner to post the picture she took.

They're STR lightweight in the Rolling Stone colorway. I used SKS pg 37 with the Crossover Rib pattern. From the cuff to the end of the gussett decreases I used the pattern as specified. After the gussett decreases I started doing every other knit rib in pattern, and alternated the rows, so that it was kind of a checkerboard effect. It gave the foot a nice wavy look, and thinned them out a little bit. They were pretty thick up to that point because of all the yarn used. I'm happy with the way they came out; the pattern showed up well in the yarn, and I didn't have any weird pooling.
I also received my March package from my SP8 Vaarsuvius. My battery in my camera died after some other pictures I took, so I don't have any,but rest assured it's a very nice package with lots of cool stuff. Some Malabrigo, the first two books in the Dark Tower series, some chocolate, some kitty magnetic clips...the list just goes on! My SP really does spoil me.

The pictures I took were for the Flash Your Stash 2007 on knittyboard. It's kind of quick and dirty, but it's my stash! What has this event taught me? That I have an extremely modest stash. I thought it was pretty big. It's nowhere near some of what I've seen, and I've only been through a couple of pages of posts! It makes me feel a little better actually. Hopefully by this time next year the vast majority of what's there will be knit up. We all say that, don't we?

I think that's all I've got for now. I'm working on some magic loop socks, so I'll post some about those when I'm finished.

2007-03-20T13:45:00.000-05:00

So, I've been trying to learn how to spin for a while now. I've been doing it off and on as I've found time. I've been having an ass of a time getting the yarn to wind onto the bobbin. It seemed like an easy enough thing, you know? The wheel taunted me. I've had a little more time as of late and decided to sit down and really have a go at it. Still to no avail. I posted on knittyboard, and got some helpful advice. I finally did get this. I know I'm a beginner and all, but this seemed like a poor excuse for yarn. Also, I was back at my original problem. It didn't want to feed onto the bobbin anymore. I finally decided to leave it alone last night, and go to bed.

Today I was determined to "get it". I started again with the same problem. I played with the tension some, and then *snap* my drive band broke. Figures, right? So, I went back to knittyboard (man I love these people) and posted about that, and how maybe I'm not meant to be a spinner. I got a couple very encouraging responses, and found I'm not the only drive band breaker around. Also got a suggestion for a replacement. So, I dug out some of my Sugar n Cream cotton (knew I had a reason for not making that dishcloth) and fixed myself up with a driveband. Then I looked at my "yarn" and decided to try something else. After all, I had been trying the same roving since I started. Maybe something fresh would help. I decided to really go for it and use the pencil roving that Laurie sent me (see...two posts previous?).

I did it! I made yarn! AND it's pretty yarn. I'm tickled pink right now. After all that mess this turned out to be not so bad. Now...well, now I have to figure out what I'm doing with it, and how to get it off the bobbin...

I'm going to save that for later. Right now I'm just happy cause I finally made yarn.

2007-03-11T20:46:00.000-05:00

Ok, so now what? I have at least a good 7-8 rows left, not to mention grafting. I can't believe I ran out of yarn. The secrecy behind the photo is cause these are supposed to be a surprise, and I don't want to give the surprise away. I'm just at a loss as to what to do.

The options that I can think of would be that I can unravel fairly far up the foot and change the pattern. The pattern I'm working takes a lot of yarn. If I modify it then I'll probably have more yarn at the end. My biggest problem with this is that I've already finished the other sock.

I can use other yarn to complete the toe. I have the exact same yarn in another color, but the socks aren't for me. She sent me very lovely socks that didn't have to be modified, or weird in any way, and it's really not fair of me to do any less.

I can order more yarn. Problems with this include dye lot, and everything that comes with that; not to mention shipping challenges.

I can't believe it.

2007-02-28T10:06:00.000-05:00

I received my socks from qdgirl. They are quite beautiful and so soft. I absolutely adore them (really...not just saying that). They are a little big around my ankles, but in thinking about this; I don't think it's her fault. There's a whole long, boring explanation but the short of it is that I think my ankles were swollen when I took measurements of my feet, but as it's winter and I don't really notice my ankles, etc much during this time I didn't think about it until after the fact and some super tight socks were fitting more loose. I also completely failed to send any sort of measurement correction to her, so I can't really blame her. Regardless of this I'm sure I will get a lot of wear out of them!

Speaking of the sock swap, my socks for her are just about complete, but I hit a snafu this weekend and hurt my wrist. So annoying. I'll have to say too; already having my yummy socks I'm hoping the ones I make will be up to par; having never intentionally made a pair for someone other than myself (my first pair ended up being a gift). Our sizes are different, but I'm going to give up my secret. I'm totally relying on Sensational Knitted Socks. Completely, following the instructions for where her size falls. I've heard that Schurch is not good with negative ease (didn't hear that until I was completely done with the first sock) but as my swappee's feet are fairly different in size there's no way to really gauge that. All I can do is hope and complete the socks.

2007-02-13T14:24:00.000-05:00

Ok, this is going to be a huge post. I still haven't gotten this whole small posts thing down. First, I want to talk about my wheel. There's a story behind how I got my wheel, but I'd rather not go into it here. Let's just say a very special person gave it to me, and it'll be a wonderful reminder of her.

Meet Nona. She's a Kromski Minstrel in the walnut finish. She's brand new, and is just beautiful. I haven't really gotten spinning down, but I'm working on it. Nathan has even taken a liking to it, and is quite interested in how it works. I need to invest in some non-animal fibers for him to learn as well.

I did tell the story on Knittyboard, and also asked for assistance in my first fiber purchase. True to the knittyboard style of generosity Laurie from the Black Lamb sent me some fiber to get started. She sent some south african fine wool, fine kid mohair, white alpaca top, lincoln top, and some light blue superwash merino pencil roving. It's all so nice. As directed by Laurie I started with the south african wool, and, yeah, it's getting there!
I think, ultimately, I just need to practice more.

I also participated in the Knittyboard VD super fast super secret swap. I sent out my dose of VD last week, and Kris seemed to really like it! I got VD in the mail yesterday, and couldn't wait to rip right into it. It came from MayerLove on the board, and she sent me some great VD! I got a great handmade card, and some really pretty handspun.

I got another package in the mail yesterday too. It was from my secret pal Vaarsuvius from SP8 on Knittyboard. I mentioned in my questionnaire that I like to read Order of The Stick and my SP has run with it (thus the name of Vaarsuvius). It's a lot of fun. My package had a lot of goodies in it. Wrapped up for VD with pinks and reds I got a cute card, some candy hearts, a big Reese cup heart (let's pretend it's not already half eaten in the picture) some pretty green Koigu, and a button. A very interesting button. A limited edition, only handed out at a couple of conventions with a certain webcomic artist button. Hmmmmm...

I'm excited to see where this goes, and I'm really wanting to know who they are, but I have a long time for that! I'll just have to focus on spoiling my downstream in the meantime.

Since I'm talking about all the things I'm involved in I'll say that I'm working diligently on my Sock Swap partner's socks. I'm definitely slower than some people in the swap, but I'm getting there. We've decided to keep them secret from each other, but I think they're very pretty, and coming along nicely.

Return of the Stephie

2007-01-23T20:29:00.000-05:00

Ok, it's been a while. Craziness, ok? That's all I have to say about that.

I haven't gotten much knitting done lately, but I was involved in CheapAss Swap 3 on knittyboard, and had a blast! My upstream was CurlyTop and was fabulous! Thanks again for all the great stuff you sent my way.

Speaking of swaps, I'm in the sock swap, SP8, and the sweet swap. I found myself considering another one earlier today (the favorite color swap). The madness must stop! I have to concentrate on what I already have on my plate. that being said; I'm having a blast, and my swap pals are great!

Oh, I just remembered! I did finish one Jaywalker sock. I don't like how short I made the cuff though, so I ripped out the CO, and the ribbing, and I'm knitting a longer cuff. The good part is that I'm getting a sock I want. The bad part is that it's thrown the pattern completely off, and I'm not quite sure what to do about it. I think I'm probably just going to let it go, and leave it as a reminder that I need to learn how to do toe up socks. Oh, and I still have to finish the second one. I know, but now I have other socks to make, and they have to be in their recipient's hands by Feb 28th, so there's no SSS to be had there.

So, is it bad blogger etiquette to post really old FO's? Remember the Mason Dixon Warshcloth swap I was in months and months ago? Well, I took a picture ( a nice one, I might add) of my linen towel before I sent it off, but never posted it. So, here it is! It's the chevron square pattern in the moss colorway. My downstream seemed to really like it, and it was my first blocked project.

I'm going to try hard to update more (with pictures even). Hopefully in the midst of it all things will calm down enough to let me do that.

2006-09-19T21:46:00.000-05:00

I am apparently a once a month updater. I'm embracing this...slowly. Life has been throwing me some curveballs lately. I'm adapting and dealing as best as I can.

The rest of my vacation was great. We spent time up in Rocky Mountain National Forest which was beautiful! Our flight to Portland went off without a hitch. Portland was...well it was pretty much everything we hoped it would be. I pretty much ate vegan the entire time there since Nathan really wanted to try various vegan restaurants, and all things considering, how could I say no? I found the best vegan (and wheat free) chocolate chip cookies at Veganopolis. Actually, they were probably the best cookies I've ever eaten, and did not taste like they didn't have eggs, butter, etc. I'm seriously considering emailing them and begging them to mail me some cookies.

I also found a really nice yarn store Knit/Purl. I stopped by in the morning and bought some Euroflax linen. The lady that helped me offered to wind it, and when I said that's ok cause it would fit better in my suitcase as a hank, emailed (right then and there) a link to a Japenese style winding technique that would keep the yarn from slipping out of the ball and becoming yarn barf. She then invited me to the champagne and knit night later that evening. I have to say I was nervous as I've never been to a proper sit & knit. Hubby even walked me to the shop on his way back to the hotel room. If he hadn't walked me to the door I'm not sure I would have went in. I don't know why I was so nervous, but it turns out it was completely unfounded. The people were wonderful. The atmosphere was great, and the owners were so pleasant and curious about our trip, and what brought us to Portland, etc. I even found a cute little knitting kit with hemp yarn, ( a couple balls) knitting needles, patterns, and a little bag for Nathan. He'd been bugging me to teach him for a while, but since most of my yarn has some sort of animal fiber it hadn't happened yet. I really had a great time with them, and could see myself there a lot.

We walked around a lot of Portland, went to the Sat. market and just had a wonderful time. I've never had such a great and relaxing vacation. Coming home wasn't so relaxing. I messed up my tank top on the flight from Portland to Atlanta. I've been so busy doing the Warshcloth swap that I haven't had the chance to pick it back up again. Sock Wars is starting soon, so I'm not sure I'll have time until after I get assassinated there.

So far Sept has been full of work and life. Trying to get as much knitting done as possible. I apologize for my lack of pictures. I manaaged to leave my cord that connects my camera to the computer at a friend's house in Richmond. Not sure when I'll get that back...

Maybe I'll get the chance to update more later.

2006-08-12T17:47:00.000-05:00

Wow, almost a month since a post! That's what I get for not having pictures. I feel like I don't have anything interesting... Oh well, this is going to be a picture heavy post...and a long one; fair warning! There's a nice surprise at the end though; I promise!

I've joined the Maso n Dixon s wapcloth and have been instructed by my SP to keep up with my blog, so you can thank her for this post. I got an email from her on Friday 8/11 when emails for pals were still going out, so I think she's going to be great! *waves at SP*

So, I'm on vacation! Yay, vacation! It started yesterday, and we were *supposed* to be in Denver by 10:30am. Our Roanoke to Atlanta flight went off without a hitch, and we even go through security in 5mins. We got to Atlanta to find that our Atlanta to Denver flight had been cancelled due to no pilot (who was probably delayed some place else due to heightened security). Mad dash to re-issuing line...and standing in line for almost an hour got us a flight to Vegas at 12:54pm then to Denver by 7pm. Could've been worse, right? Here's a picture of Nathan (hubby) in Chilli's having lunch. We're doing ok at this point.

Our flight to Vegas then gets delayed to 1:30, ok...we can still make the 3:30 flight to Denver, no problem. Then...it's 2:05...cutting it close, but still probably ok. Then, it's 3:30, with an ETA of 4:38. So, we have to rebook a new flight out of Vegas for 5:23. This was my view in Atlanta for a really really long time (remember I was in Atlanta from 8:30-4...yeah, our flight boarded even later than 3:30.)

The 4 hour Vegas flight was good for knitting, and watching Mission Impossible 3, and Over the Hedge, which was really funny. Plus, I got to see the Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam, the desert, and, well Vegas. The landscape looked like Mars; nothing like I'd ever seen before (coming from green VA) and was so cool. I wish I had gotten pictures...but my camera was in the top closed storage. We landed in Vegas at about 5:20, and ran our butts off across the airport to get to our Denver flight; no such luck! *This one* was on time...figures. We watched it pull out of the gate and take off. We were rebooked onto a 7:40 flight, and I got to explore the airport. No, I didn't play the slots, but I did buy some chips...how could I not?

At 7:40 we boarded our flight to head to Denver. We met a woman (in her 50's?) who was coming from Hawaii and heading to Orlando, and she was interesting. I mananaged to snap this photo out of the window before they made us turn off all electrical devices. Unfortunately, I couldn't snap a picture of the lit up Vegas strip as we went by, but it was cool.

Cities at night look really neat from the sky...like lit up lace. Got to Denver at about 10:15, and our checked bag was there!! Yay!! That was the thing I was most worried about, cause yeah they *said* it'd go on the next flight...but, well, how often do they say that? Rana picked us up in her 1970 VW bus...so cool. Got to the house around midnight (MST...so 2am EST...remember we started at 7am.)

Today, we went to a sculpture festival (apparently Loveland CO is all about sculpture.) We saw a lot of interesting things, Loveland itself is really pretty, and the weather is really nice. It's hot, but not humid like VA, and there's a nice breeze since it's all pretty flat. They don't use their AC, which I was worried about at first, but now I understand why; it feels nice without it. There's a lake in the middle of Loveland; it's really pretty...this whole place is pretty nice; I have to say.

This morning, in CO, I got mail! How weird is that? Ok, so the backstory is a really good friend of mine is moving to Richmond while I'm on vacation. She was there when I left, but won't be when I get back. The night before we left I saw her, and gave her a going away present. We also hung out the day before and went to Barnes & Noble (my absolute favorite place to bum around in Roanoke) and I saw a "My Trip" journal that I really really wanted. Yeah, like I need another journal...I have like 20 with only a couple that even have a few pages written in. There's just something about them. So, I didn't buy it. So, Leslie did! She had priorty mailed me the journal I wanted, and enclosed a little note. Aww...she's trying to make me cry.

Ok, so I promised you guys a surprise at the end. Since you've been so good, and read this whole thing...my surprise is yarn PrOn! At the sculpture festival there was a craft show, and of course I managed to find the one yarn tent in the craziness. There had to be over 200 tents there, and we only had an hour before Rana had to go to work. Don't mess with a knitter's nose; we know when there's yarn around. This stuff is gorgeous! It's a coppery gold with turquoise, and has a mohair ply and a nylon ply. I saw it knitted up...and it's beautiful. I just need to figure out what I'm going to do with one skein of it.

It's not my typical color palette, but it was just so pretty, and eye-catching! I also scored some really pretty dark purple handsoun alpaca and got to talk with the spinner at length about her wheel, and her alpacas!

Whew! That's a lot of info! I'll try to be more regular with posts from now on so it's not everything at once!

Blogging is not for the faint of heart

2006-07-15T20:01:00.000-05:00

So, I was all excited to start my blog, made the first post, and then nothing. It's an interesting thing; knowing that no one is really reading your blog, and that you could really put anything on here, and it would be fairly anonymous. Ah the anonymity of the web. How sweet it is.

I have two and getting ready to start a third, wips! I'm starting to really feel knitterly. I'm making the One Skein tanktop in Jaeger spun plum. Miles of stockinette. Seriously. Ok, so actually it's only 14 inches, but it feels like miles. This should feel meditative and wonderful because I'm knitting my very first garment, and I *think* it's coming out well. I'm so bored though; it's driving me nuts. What's my answer to this? CO some socks, well, one sock. In a very pretty orange, red, yellow handpainted wool that I got on Ebay. They're for my friend Kris in Ct to go with her Superkris costume.

Don't ask.

I also just got in some Knitpicks Options size 3 24" and downloaded the pattern to do two at once toe-up, and I want to start trying that before I get to much further on the Superkris set. If it's that much easier (and I can do 2 at once) then I'll frog what I have so far, and do that.

I know, I know. I need pictures. I can hear you guys already. I'm working on it; really. Maybe next time.

Captain's Log 1

2006-07-02T22:28:00.000-05:00

I've succumbed to the blog-o-sphere. *sigh* I'm so not cool...so not indie...oh well.

I have one wip at the moment. I know, I know! I can't call myself a real k-nitter until I have at least 2-3 more. I'm getting there...really. I think I'm missing out on great knitting opportunities throughout the day. Standing in lines, at red lights, during lunch breaks, and any time in between. If I'm ever going to get a project finished I'm going to have to find more time in the day.

We spent this weekend in Charlotte NC at Heroes Con. For a comic book convention it was a lot of fun. I really had fun talking to various artists, and am getting a custom sketch from one of my favorite webcomic artists Danielle Corsetto who's responsible for Girls with Slingshots. Much to the chagrin of dearest hubby, I also had the great pleasure of checking out Charlotte Yarn.

First, coming from Roanoke VA where there is a severe lack of friendly, well stocked YS I was awed and amazed at a) selection, and b) friendliness. They were helpful and pleasant on the phone when I begged for directions so I could replace my size 8 that I had oh so intelligently (can you feel the sarcasm? It's there...I promise) forgotten to stick back in my Denise kit before I packed it. When I had drove a little further than I thought I should have, and called back to find out I was right around the corner she was still just as lovely. When I pulled into the parking lot (empty, albeit) Remy (Remi? Remee?) walked out to greet me with a warm and friendly "You made it!" As I walked in she asked me where I was from, why I was in town, and what I was looking for. I explained my dilemma to her, and she said "well, that little slip up brought you here; it can't be all bad!" Then she went on to give me a basic layout of the store, and told me to grab her if I needed anything. She left me alone. I'm going to repeat that; she left me alone. Do you know how good it feels to be left alone and peruse? It feels wonderful. Those of you that have very nice LYS let this be a lesson as to treat them well because you never know when you could end up like me...with nothing, or worse than nothing; haughty rudeness every time you walk in.

I dropped over $200 in that store. Rowan, DB, Noro, Blue Sky...a pair of 8 24" addi, the summer IK, a couple extra cables (40" + 52") for my Denise sets. I had fun feeling the yarn...playing with it...imagining what it could be, and it was all made possible by the fact that I was left alone instead of being hovered over and followed like I was going to steal something. Remy was very nice, and offered to wind my 7 hanks for me while I sat and chatted with her and another customer (who might as well be an employee for as much time as she said she spends there). Lovely, lovely women. The part that really made me love them? Apparently, before I showed up Remy was in the middle of closing up shop (around 3:30pm) cause it had been a pretty slow day. When I called she decided to stay open just so I could get my needles. How cool is that? She decided to stay open for a perfect stranger who will not frequent her store (though I really want to!!) even though I could have been the worst customer ever.

Awesome, awesome place that everyone must visit when in the Charlotte area.