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Friday, January 31, 2003
TGIF!!Yesterday, I swatched for my mom's shawl. I can't decide whether I like the yarn or not... I'm going to wash and block the swatch this weekend, and see what I think. If I don't like it, I'll have to decide whether to make the shawl in another yarn (which I would probably have to buy...) or whether I want to make something else for her with the same yarn.Last night during CSI I tried to be good and work on the elephant-ends.... but it was SO uninspiring. SIGH! I'll finish them up this weekend, though, and get back to knitting the Menagerie.... I desperately want to finish it so I can start the Gustava! I've slated the hand-dyed project for February, and then in March I'll buy the yarn for Gustava, and probably start pretty much right away- I'm planning on taking it to Vegas with me in April... So many projects! LOL The Latin phrase for today: fossoribus orti "from humble origins (sprung from ditch diggers)" 0 comments || # Thursday, January 30, 2003 So Many Colors! The yarn's original color is the gray.... I had a blast with all the different colors. It turned out so well! I am really in love with the "Blastin Berry Cherry" Red- such a rich, warm hue... but I think for this project I will stick with the blues and greens.
Here is a close-up of the reds I liked: 
And the greens/blues: 
Hopefully soon I will put together a page with more information about the different colors and the process and everything. Much thanks to Knitty for the great instructions! Before I go all out, though, I will need to try handpaining the remainder of that skein with the 3 green/blues I chose. I'm imagining a cardigan/jacket with black chenille edging on the cuffs, and a black chenille collar. I think this will look really neat! 0 comments || # Baby Sweater
I finally finished the baby sweater last night- Cricket was very helpful with the i-cords. Here she is posing with "her toy" (I mean "project"!). Since I don't have any little ones around to model, and Cricket was being VERY uncooperative during our attempted photo shoot, I enlisted the help of my trusty friend Pooh.... he's looking very chic in his new sweater- 
The Latin phrase for today: sanctum sanctorum "a private room, a place of retreat (holy of holies)" 0 comments || # Wednesday, January 29, 2003 Getting Ready to DyeLast night, before aerobics, I stopped at the grocery store to pick up rubber gloves and kool-aid. You know, the essentials... :) I got 10 packets- 5 blues/greens, and 5 reds/pinks. Hopefully tonight I'll be able to dye some "swatches" of yarn to see what colors I like. I'm planning on dyeing the rest this weekend, and hopefully getting started on the cardigan/jacket or whatever I decide to make it into! :) It took a lot of willpower to keep myself from skipping aerobics and rushing home to start dyeing last night.Yesterday, I made considerable progress on the baby sweater- all that's left is sewing up the sides, and knitting the 2 i-cords. Perhaps I'll be able to fit that in at lunch.... Oh, and a group of us girls are going to LAS VEGAS in April- I am booking the trip today. Of course, I'm already thinking about what knitting I can take with me on the plane- I'm thinking the Gustava cardigan from Stranded. I hope that I am finished with the Menagerie by then, so that wouldn't be too many WIPs.... :) The Latin phrase for today: dum vivimus, vivamus "while we live, let us live" 0 comments || # Tuesday, January 28, 2003 Knitting for LongevityA group in my office building sponsored a lecture this afternoon about, basically, what we can do to improve our lifestyles and live longer. I went to it- mostly in order to get some knitting in on the baby sweater! One of the things he kept emphasizing was how terrible stress can be for our health. His advice? Find activities that reduce your stress. And there I am, knitting away, feeling so at peace- my friend commented last night that she felt calmer just watching me knit! Even though she was a passive observer, she found herself getting lost in the rhythm of the stitches.Perhaps one day yarn purchases will be medical tax write-offs? Covered by HMOs? One can only hope.... 0 comments || # Cricket... Doing her Part for the "Homeland" In these days of heightened security, I think it is important for all of us to do our part to ensure the safety of the "homeland." Here you see Cricket carefully inspecting this box. Though to the untrained eye the box appears empty, Cricket is sparing no effort in carefully checking for anything suspicious. She is being very thorough. Mr. Bushie would be so proud. :)
The cold continues, and so does the knitting progress (albeit slowly!) Last night, waiting backstage at the Kennedy Center, I finished the body of the baby sweater. Today I'll get started on the hood- I'm going to do it in a contrasting color (a) to make sure I have enough yarn, and (b) because I think it'll look really cute. I haven't decided what color to do the cords yet. As soon as I finish the baby sweater, I'm hopefully going to be able to start the kool-aid sweater/coat.... although I haven't really decided on a pattern, and I haven't dyed the yarn. Well, tomorrow I'll do little dying "swatches", and hopefully this weekend I'll have a chance to do the rest of the yarn. I guess I can start swatching with the stuff I'll dye tomorrow- I have a couple of patterns in mind, but may end up changing them all around anyway. I always seem to.... I also want to put in a lot of time on the Menagerie so I can get it finished! I really want to start on the Gustava cardigan from Stranded, but I really should restrain myself to 2 projects (portable and Menagerie) until it's done... otherwise I see a perpetually unfinished blanket in the crystal ball. :) The Latin phrase for today: vis a tergo "a propelling force from behind" 0 comments || # Monday, January 27, 2003 #@&$#* Jet Stream!Although I know there are many out there suffering through much colder temperatures, I must say there is something disturbing about going outside and remarking that a 35 degree day feels "balmy." I even drove around with my sunroof open because the car felt "stuffy!" I must really be losing it...I really made almost no knitting progress this weekend- probably because I'm forcing myself to weave in the ends of the elephant. ICK. And I did a little bit of swatching for my mom's shawl- I'm not entirely sure I'll stick with the first lace pattern I picked out- I might want to go with something more "all over" rather than in panels. And I think I've also decided to make this weekend "kool aid" weekend... maybe do my test dying on friday, with plans to devote sat or sun to the rest of the yarn? Assuming it works well! But the moral of that story is that I should hurry up and finish the baby sweater so I can get another project on the needles! So many projects.... :) The Latin phrase for today: vis a fronte "a propelling force from in front" 0 comments || # Friday, January 24, 2003 Making the Turtle Happy
HAH! 50 ends later, and I'm still sane. Well, perhaps not, but at least no crazier.... :) And, because otherwise I know I will avoid them like the plague, I have noted on the pattern when I need to stop and weave in the ends of another animal. If I wait until the end to do them, I might as well start the process in a padded room, because that's where I'll end up. In other knitting news, I am very close to finishing the baby sweater body- then just the hood and i-cords, some seam-sewing, and done! I haven't decided what to work on next- I guess it depends on when I get around to the great kool-aid dying experiment. So maybe I'll start the shawl for my mom first... hmmmmm... Taking my cue from Wendy, I also wasted a few minutes taking this quiz- I love how slow Fridays can be! At least mine makes sense- my maternal grandfather's family is from Ireland... my mom's maiden name is McCarty.  What's your Inner European? brought to you by Quizilla The Latin phrase for today: novissima verba "a person's last words" 0 comments || # Thursday, January 23, 2003 Ends, So Many Ends!!!! Last night, I came face-to-face with THE ENDS . All 50 of them, to be exact. That's right, 50 ends.... just on the turtle. I made it through about 35 before I couldn't take it anymore- I will finish the rest tonight (hopefully!) I estimate that the elephant has about 60 ends. The lion and the hippo shouldn't be too terrible.... but I can't even really think about the giraffe right now. 4 ends for each spot.... and the spots are so small, it will be quite a pain to hide the brown ends. But it can be done, and I will do it. At least after this project, weaving in a normal number of ends won't seem like such a pain!
At least I'm making progress- The giraffe: 
And the completed elephant: 
Oh, and I would like to point out that when the weather reporter says "with highs today possibly approaching 20, but staying well into the teens in the suburbs," no human being should be required to get out of bed. Especially when that bed contains a very happy, very warm, very snuggly kitty. If it's this cold again tomorrow, do you think I could wear my fleece pj's to work? ;) The Latin phrase for today: deminutio capitis "loss of civil rights" 0 comments || # Wednesday, January 22, 2003 BrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrIt is SO cold today- wind chill of 7 degrees this morning! In my opinion, when the weather is this anti-humanity, we should all be able to spend the day curled up in bed knitting. Alas, my employer doesn't agree, so here I am, back at work. ;)I was still plagued by the sore throat of doom yesterday, so when I got home from work around 4, I promptly changed into PJ's, snuggled on the couch with LOTS of tea, and worked on the Menagerie. I feel much better today- still not perfect, but much improved. Must have been the knitting! I am very close to finishing the elephant, which will give me 2 animals down, 3 to go. I think, though, I will force myself to weave in the ends for the 2 finished beasts before allowing myself to move on- there are 44 ends for the turtle, and quite a few for the elephant, so I think the blanket would never get finished if I were to wait until all the ends accumulated to utterly discourage me. 
I think I will keep track of how many I weave in, though, just to see... I don't have any pics of old knitting, but I did find an "old kitty" pic... this is exactly what I'd like to be doing right now! The Latin phrase for today: a minori ad majus "from the lesser to the greater" 0 comments || # Tuesday, January 21, 2003 More Snow ?!?!?!Although there was little to no accumulation, it was definitely snowing this morning. It was really pretty, actually, and if I didn't have an unbelievably sore throat, I might have even enjoyed walking in it! As it was, though, I would much rather be in bed.I did get some knitting progress logged today- I'm just about done with the sleeves on the baby sweater. Nothing like waiting in a doctor's office to get some knitting done! And the best part was that I didn't even mind the wait! LOL :) I got the bulky merino wool yarn in the mail yesterday- I didn't know UPS delivered on Holidays- yippie!!! Next I need to go invest in a few flavors of KoolAid, and some gloves, and see what kind of colors I get. :) And I really enjoyed meeting with the other 2 ladies who came to the Northern Montgomery County knitting group- I'll continue to attend when I can, and hope others will join us! :) The Latin phrase for today: penetralia mentis "a person's innermost thoughts (the inner workings of the mind)" 0 comments || # Sunday, January 19, 2003 Birth of a Turtle Mr. Turtle was finished yesterday- just in time to honor the UMD basketball team's victory over Duke. Go Terps! :) I'm starting on the giraffe- man, those long, spotted legs are going to be a pain with all the ends. I'll have to count them all up before I weave them in- I might rival Stephanie's Bird Jacket! I hope not, though...
On Friday, I had the loveliest surprise waiting for me in the mail- the first issue of Stranded from Bonnie Franz. WOW! The Gustava cardigan will definitely be my next project, after the Menagerie. But really, Stranded is excellent. I can't wait for Spring, and the next issue! Thanks to all the cold weather we've been having, the water main outside our house broke last night. So our backyard became a frozen lake, our nicely paved back walkway is covered in sludge, and there is a river hitting the back corner of our shed. But, thankfully, we hadn't paved the driveway yet- it got too cold too early so we had to delay until spring- the main broke right under the driveway.... they'll ruin a lot of hard work repairing it, but at least we hadn't poured the concrete and everything. What a pain! The Latin phrase for today: hoc certum est "this much is certain" 0 comments || # Friday, January 17, 2003 D'OHHmmmm, somehow I managed to write over yesterday's post. Ah well, I probably didn't say anything profound anyway.... although I did re-name the animal blanket "Menagerie". But I'm sure you all figured that out! ;)There's good news on the numbers front- I weighed myself this morning (I have NO idea why they have scales in my office, but they do...) and I'm within 5 pound of my goal weight! WHEEEE! And then later in the morning, when I had completely run out of work (so many people took off for the snow!), I took a practice LSAT- and got a 168! :) I need to practice a lot more so that I'm better at time for all of the sections, but I was so happy! hee heee.... 0 comments || # Thursday, January 16, 2003 The Menagerie Marches OnLast night after aerobics (and driving home in the snow!), I snuggled up with the animals (both knitted and purring!), turned on CSI, and got a solid hour of knitting done. :) Hopefully, with the 3 day weekend coming up, I'll make even more progress!On Sunday, I'll be meeting with a local knitting group for the first time- they sound like a lovely group, and supposedly the gatherings are small (<10). They meet twice a month- hopefully I'll meet some great people and get a lot done on the Menagerie at the same time! :) I was really hoping to get off work today for the snow, but no such luck. Many people stayed home, and things are pretty much dead- maybe I'll sneak in some work on the baby sweater! The Latin phrase for today: vis inertiae "the power of passive resistance (power of inertia)" 0 comments || # Wednesday, January 15, 2003 SNIFF SNIFF WAAAHHHHHHHAbout 15 minutes ago, while packing up the baby blanket, I heard a sickening "crack!" Much to my horror, my beloved Swallow Casein knitting needle had snapped in 3 places. :( Luckily, I had my Needlemaster with me, and was able to transfer the whole thing to the cicrs. I have a feeling I will be using the circs more and more and more.... definitely a good investment! :)I think my next project will be to hand-dye some yarn... and maybe make up a chunky sweater-coat for myself if the yarn turns out well! :) 0 comments || # Determined to Make ProgressI will work on the baby blanket, I will! It's so hard not to rush for the almost-finished baby sweater, though- I'm still eons away from finishing the blanket, but the sweater... ;) I'm trying to save the sweater for my "portable project," though, so I really have to save it for those times I can't lug the blanket around. I think my next portable project will be a small lacy shawl for my mom- I have some beautiful torquoise yarn in my stash that I think will work- swatch here I come! I figure that If she doesn't want to wear it, she could use it as a doily (I hate that word!) and still look at it every day.I made good progress on the baby sweater yesterday at the eye doctor's- (yippie! my vision is just about the same as 2 years ago!!) and I met a very friendly older lady who knits with her senior group- premie caps, items for head start children, lap robes, etc... She was really lovely- and was so pleased to see a younger person (I'm 23) knitting! Well, off to training- and the baby blanket! The Latin phrase for today: in obliquum "sideways (in an oblique direction)" 0 comments || # Tuesday, January 14, 2003 Slow But Steady Blanket Progress Isn't Cricket nice to help me photograph the back of the baby blanket? ;)
I had a fairly productive knitting day yesterday- I was able to work on the baby sweater on the bus, and spent a few hours on the baby blanket at home. I am trying to be good about only working on the sweater when I need a "portable" project, as the blanket really is too big of a project to lug around. I finally got Cricket to let me take pictures of the back of the blanket: 
As you can see, the ends can get quite messy- but I am just about done with the elephant legs, so that will simplify things for a bit! I am pleased, though, with how "reversible" this blanket is looking so far. I think it will definitely be worth the extra intarsia work (I hope!) The Latin phrase for today: ad finem fidelis "faithful to the end" 0 comments || # Monday, January 13, 2003 Knitting In PublicIt was wonderful- over the weekend, at both the extended rehearsal (sat) and the pre-concert rehearsal (sun), I noticed I had inspired several other members of the choir and orchestra to bring their knitting projects for the down times! One knitter was just learning, and working on her first project (a stuffed cat, I think...), and the orchestra member was working on a scarf. :) See what a little kip'ing will do for the world? My dream is that one day, knitting in public will be as common as cell phone conversations in public (and a lot less obnoxious!)The Latin phrase for today: de fumo in flammam "out of the frying pan and into the fire (out of the smoke into the flame)" 0 comments || # Sunday, January 12, 2003 Baby Sweater, or I'm not crazy enough to do 2 of these animal blankets! I decided my cousin (due in August) will be the recipient of the baby blanket- and the family friend (due in May) will be getting this baby sweater- I found the pattern on the knitlist archives, and am knitting it in Homespun out of my stash!!!. I'm actually using up some of my leftover yarn! How exciting.
Not only did I decide the baby blanket, though it looks great, is really too slow to knit 2 with all the other projects I want to start, I also realized that it was quickly becoming too big of a monster to pack around with me. The baby sweater is much better to pack up and go. :) And the Latin phrase for today: veritas signi "the truth of a symbol" 0 comments || # Friday, January 10, 2003 Photo Updates
Here is the pic of the card I made for my friend- I think it looks so nice, and it's a good use of little swatches! :) I have already gone through most of my stitch books and identified other patterns that would make good "card swatches." I am making ok progress on the animal baby blanket- I am about 40 rows into the pattern (out of 294!!!) Instead of concentrating on how much I have left to do, however, I'm trying to work at least a few rows each day. Hopefully I will finish this in time! I'm hoping to be able to get some solid knitting time in once the rest of my life calms down a little. Just to remind you- here is what the blanket will hopefully eventually look like:  Of course, I lost some knitting time last night when, to my horror, I discovered that I had twisted the white and black yarns on one of the side borders on the wrong side for the last, oh, ten rows- so the little "crossover" was on the wrong side of the knitting! It was totally obvious- so I took a deep breath and ripped out the black border, and about 10 stitches of the white seed stitch... all the way back to where I had messed up. It took me a few tries to figure out how to "re-knit" that one section- but I did it- I can see where it didn't quite work out perfectly, but I'm sure that most people won't have a clue. I'm also hoping that a good bath will even out the knitting on that section. :) I was so frightened that I was going to have to rip out the whole 10 rows- all that work! All those colors!
Since the blanket is too wide to stretch out properly so you can see the whole design at once- I took a picture of each animal. Here is the elephant (well, the legs...): 
...and the turtle (or as my University of Maryland friends say, the terrapin): 
Even though the intarsia is a big pain with all the ends, I think it will be worth it to have a more-or-less reversible blanket when I'm finished. And I did make the yarn a little easier to handle- I put all the yarn for the turtle in one plastic baggie, and the yarn for the elephant in another baggie- so at least they don't get all tangled up with each other. If you can't tell from the pictures, I am doing the white and black sections in seed stitch, and the animals in stockinette. And the Latin phrase for today: dum vita est, spres est "while there is life, there is hope" 0 comments || # Thursday, January 09, 2003 So Many Projects!Today in my interminable training, I wrote out the upcoming projects I would like to knit- of course, the baby blanket #1 that I'm working on now, and BB#2 for my cousin. And a lacy small shawl/scarf for my mom. And design my own Aran. And design my own Fair Isle. And... well, to top it all off, I had ordered a couple of books to exchange with unwanted gifts- and I picked up AS's Fisherman's Sweaters and her Celtic book also- I am not incredibly impressed with most of the Arans in the Fisherman's book, but I really loved the Baltic sweaters- especially the one in black and white. I don't have the book in front of me, so I can't remember the name- but anyway, that's on the list too... as well as the Dale of Norway that I ordered several weeks ago. And I haven't even opened the Celtic book yet- I sense more designs coming from that as well. D'oh!! I guess at this rate, I'll always have 10 or 20 "wishful projects" planned for every FO I actually produce.I'm taking the day off tomorrow to rest up for the concert, so I will take some pics- of the card, and also some progress pics of the baby blanket #1. I also think I will start working on some cable swatches to keep as reference- something quick to do when I get sick of the bb. Maybe I'll go pick up some neutral cheapie yarn- or maybe just knit from stash. Hmmmmm..... I know what I should do... lol!!! The Latin phrase for today: salvo jure "without prejudice (i.e., without infraction of the law)" 0 comments || # Wednesday, January 08, 2003 Knitting or Sleep?Last night I had my first aerobics class of the new session- I'm not totally wiped out, but I definitely didn't keep in shape over the holidays. Well, except for my hands... :) After all of these late-night (well, late when you have to get up for work in the morning...) activities, I must admit that I have been choosing sleeping-time over knitting-time! Not a choice I want to have to make.... but I have a history of getting sick around choir concerts, so I HAVE to choose sleep over knitting until Sunday. Pooh. ;)I am in the process of reading through the law school brochures- I am getting so excited! So many things sound interesting- and only 19 more months to go (6 until the LSAT...) ;) The Latin phrase for today (and Colorado's motto): nil sine numine "nothing without divine will" 0 comments || # Tuesday, January 07, 2003 Cute Project IdeaA dear dear friend's birthday is coming up, and I decided I would write him a thoughtful card explaining how important he is in my life. I am always disappointed in the store-bought cards, so, taking inspiration from another knitting blogger (sorry- I don't remember which one!), I knit a small square with a heart motif, and then outlined the heart and the border in contrasting yarn. It looks so nice- I bought a blank card (that you would use to print your own card on the computer) and tacked the square to the card front. I think he'll really like it- I will take a picture tonight and post it tomorrow. :)I am making very slow progress on the baby blanket- I have so many things going on this week that it's hard to get any knitting in! Last night at rehearsal I think I managed a dozen stitches- maybe a few more- but not even close to a whole row. Oh well! I think the next couple of rehearsals will have more knitting time as we are working more and more with the orchestra.... gotta love the solo movements! For anyone in the DC area, our free concert is this sunday- email me for details! The Latin phrase for today: pecunia mutua "a loan" 0 comments || # Monday, January 06, 2003 Winter WonderlandI love the weather channel's forcast for yesterday. My boyfriend and I had just returned from a lovely snow-walk through the antique district in Kensington, and, after stripping off wet and snowy shoes and pants, we turned on the tv to see how much more snow we could expect. According to the weather channel, we could expect accumulations of "up to an inch" through midnight. We looked at each other in disbelief, as there were already 4-5 inches on the ground, and it was supposed to keep snowing throughout the evening. You would think they could at least send someone out with a ruler... ;)While on our snow-walk, I finally visited my most local LYS.. Inez' in Kensington, litterally a 5 minute walk from my house. While I was not impressed with the layout (narrow aisles, stuff everywhere... boxes on the floor...) it was nice to see some of the different yarns they carried. Again, I was not entirely blown away by their selection- a lot of the same types of yarns... not a lot of the fancier yarns... but some neat stuff nonetheless. I also noticed the "help wanted" sign as I was leaving- perhaps in a few weeks after all my "choir craziness" has settled down (2 big concerts in January!) I will see if they would need help on the weekends. I don't need a second job, but if the pay is decent and there is an attractive employee discount.... :) but we'll see. The snow is still lovely- blanketing everything in a pure layer of white. Most pavement has been cleared, leaving ribbons of black snaking through the landscape- really lovely. Now if I could have just stayed at home and knit rather than reporting to work! The extremely appropriate Latin phrase for today: ningit "it is snowing" 0 comments || # Friday, January 03, 2003 Aran SnugglesAfter a few days on the blocking board, the Aran is great. I am wearing it today, and the weather matches the sweater- gray and rainy, making me want to snuggle up on the couch with Cricket and knit. Unfortunately, I'm at work... oh well. The sweater fits well- in hindsight, I would have made the sleeves and body a smidge longer (1" or so), but that's mostly because I like longer sleeves! :) I have to wear a long-sleeved shirt underneath as even the 20% wool makes me itch after a few minutes, but so far, with the shirt, no problems. :) I have a feeling I will wear this sweater a lot... at least during the winter! All those cables make it very toasty- I'm glad it's not 100% wool, or I'd be melting right now!In non-knitting news, I just got an excellent performance evaluation for my first rotation- I'm in a special program where, for the first year, we do 4 different rotations through different sections of the IT department. So every 3 months is a new job (but same office!)- kinda frustrating to move on just when I'm getting the hang of what's going on. Oh well- next fall I'll get my "permanent" placement... which will hopefully only be for 11 months (law school!). But it was definitely nice to get a good evaluation... never hurts to have in the file. :) And the Latin phrase for today: via compendiaria "a short cut" 0 comments || # Thursday, January 02, 2003 2002 TallyI'm not sure if I counted every project, but here is my tally for 2002:2 pillows 2 sweaters (including the fabulous aran!!) 1 baby blanket 5 scarves 3 hats It doesn't seem like much, but then again, I'm getting better everyday! :) 0 comments || # Finished the Aran!! I finished the Aran yesterday- wove in all the ends and seamed the underarms. I LOVE it!!! I'm planning on wearing it tomorrow. :) I washed it on the "knit" cycle with some woolite (by itself-) and then pinned it on my trusty "blocking board" (aka foam insulation from home depot). The shape actually was great- just a touch short in the body and the sleeves. Hopefully it'll keep its shape from now on! :) I must admit I was relieved when I opened the washing machine and the sweater was still there- intact... :)
I also started the baby blanket- what a pain! I want it to look moderately good on the "wrong side," so I am doing everything in blocks of color rather than stranding it. What a mess! So far so good- it is just slow going and frustrating to keep all the strands straight. In another row, though, the turtle legs combine- so that will get rid of a bunch of strands! I hope the finished product will look good enough to justify the extra pain of the intarsia. I am definitely not going to be in the mood to knit a second blanket, but I think I will go ahead and do it anyway since it is such a neat design. Here is an example of why I love my family:  My brother and his wife gave me the "monty python shower cap" for christmas... here I am modeling it while he pretends to eat a loaf of my homemade herb bread. I especially love his hair- very chic. ;)
And the Latin phrase for today: ab aeterno "from the beginning of time" 0 comments || # |
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