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Wednesday, April 30, 2003
The Fun of SwatchingLast night, after FINALLY going to aerobics (thanks to the class schedule and my Las Vegas trip, I'd missed 2 weeks!) I sat down to watch last night's CSI and do some dishcloth swatching. I finished the first one, and even wrote all the pertinent information on a hang-tag (needle size, pattern, gauge, etc...) so I can keep them all straight. I still need to wash it, though, because supposedly the mill-end natural cotton I'm using "blooms" in the wash. I'm hoping for softer. :) I started on the second swatch, too- well, actually the third- I abandoned the second after about an inch because I did NOT like the texture the stitch pattern produced. And, since my grand idea for this whole project is to use these swatches in designing an Aran sweater for myself, I should probably stick to patterns I actually LIKE. I call them "dishcloth swatches" because, if all goes well, I plan to use the swatches as just that... I'll probably take some pics of each swatch and put together a little spreadsheet or something so I can identify the stitch patterns, but I plan to hopefully replace some of my paper towel use with the re-usable and washable cotton swatches. Every little bit helps the environment, and my wallet- after all, paper towels are expensive! :)Unfortunately, in all the dishcloth swatch mania, my mom's vest has been sadly neglected. Mainly because I haven't been able to devote the solid knitting time necessary to cast on and start the right front. I really hate not having enough time to finish the cast-on and at least 1 or 2 more rows at once- if I don't, it seems like I always mess something up when I come back to the project, and have to start all over anyway. Well, I have until June (her birthday) to get it finished, so it shouldn't be too bad... and I would plan to work on it this weekend, but between my bulletin board project and Maryland Sheep and Wool, I'm not too hopeful. Speaking of Sheep and Wool, I'm not planning on spending any money. I know it sounds crazy, what with all the vendors sure to tempt me, but I spent plenty in Vegas (mostly on food!), and I'm really just going to see the sheep dogs. I LOVE sheep dogs. :) Plus, I have enough projects in my future that I really can't justify spending $$ on "yarn for later." Between my mom's vest, my dad's vest, the dishcloth swatches and eventual Aran sweater, and the oodles of socks I've planned, I have enough "projects w/yarn" to last me for awhile. But I'm still looking forward to a beautiful Sunday wandering around the sheepy-ness of the Howard county fairgrounds. And, as an added bonus, I convinced my parents and grandma to come with me, so I don't have to drive. and since the day wouldn't be complete without an obscure Latin phrase: detur digniori "let it be given to those more worthy" 0 comments || # Tuesday, April 29, 2003 New Project Here we are in amazingly sunny Las Vegas... with the famous Stratosphere sprouting like an over-excited asparagus. Pretty cute bunch, if I do say so myself (and I do!!) I'm still in the process of dealing with all the pictures from the trip... I need to get them all cropped etc... and burned to cd's for the girls. And order a big set of prints from Shutterfly or Ofoto so I can put together a little album... :)
I started knitting with the mill-end cotton last night- a simple dishcloth to start, then branching out to swatches of possible aran patterns for an upcoming sweater. So far, the cotton is fine... I think it'll soften up a lot with washing. I do have to put a band-aid on the finger I use to control tension- the cotton is a little rough running over the skin. But I do love to natural color, and hope the sweater will work out (since I can't wear wool next to my skin!) I had a very co-ordinated night last night... knitting with creamy colored cotton, eating creamy custard. MMMMMM- I love custard, so I finally bought some custard cups and made my own. Yummers! Cricket helped wash the bowls. :) Last night, as the title of today's post suggests, I started a new project. Just in case I needed one. I had an old "regular" bulletin board- you know, the brown cork color: 
Nothing exciting. If it is going to be hanging on my wall, it needs to be exciting. I'm like that. :) I thought about covering it with fabric, or pretty wrapping paper or something, but I thought that would get messed up too quickly. Then, in the mail, I got one of my purchases from the craft books club... Celtic Designs. Inspiration hit, and I will (hopefully) jazz up the board with a cool celtic border, and, depending on how hard that was to do, a central design as well. The first step (after a trip to the craft store) was to spray paint the bulletin board black: 
I did 2 more coats after this picture was taken to make sure it was well-covered. Now I have to get the border template put together, and hopefully Wednesday (after the paint is VERY dry) I can start transfering the design to the board. After that, painting... not my forte, but I can definitely (usually) color in the lines. I will just have to remember to be extremely CAREFUL throughout this whole process, and do everything VERY slowly. I guess if I totally screw up I can always cover the mistakes with black spray paint... but it would be REALLY cool if this works out. I'll make sure I take lots of pictures as I go.... :) And if I'm successful with my bulletin board project, I'll have: difficiles nugae "hard-earned trifles" 0 comments || # Sad DayWendy's Izzy I'll do a regular update later... 0 comments || # Monday, April 28, 2003 Ahhh, Vacation RecoveryYou know it's been a great vacation when you wish desperately you could have a few days off to "recover". :) Yesterday, after getting home from the red-eye at around 8 am, I had a nice nap with Cricket until 5 pm, and still was in bed by 10. Oh well...Vegas was wonderful. Great friends, great food, great fun. Didn't make my millions, but didn't lose them either- and had great fun with the gals. Fabulous. I got next-to-no knitting done on the trip, although I did get some done on the plane and in the airport... no problems taking it on the plane. Of course, in the mail RIGHT before I left on Tuesday, I received my 3 knitting packages- a cone of cotton yarn I'm going to make dishcloth swatches out of, and maybe a sweater if I like the way it feels/washes... my package of dpn's and The Sweater Workshop from KnitPicks, and a book of celtic designs. And I didn't have time to even OPEN them on Tuesday before I left, so they sat until yesterday. And yesterday I was too tired to start knitting anything! Oh well... there's always tonight. :) I also missed the Stitch-and-Bitch yesterday... I thought I might go, but I seem to have slept through the whole thing. Hey- we were in the 24 hour city, and didn't sleep much. :) Today's Latin quote: hostis honori invidia "envy is the foe of honor" 0 comments || # Tuesday, April 22, 2003 Vegas, Baby, Vegas!!This time tomorrow, I'll be waking up in Las Vegas. SO exciting! ;) This will be my first "real" vacation in a long time... no camping out on someone's floor... but a nice, posh hotel. I just hope we don't spend too much money on food etc... ah well, you only live once. :)I finished the Karebear socks yesterday... well, I still need to do the chenille edging. But that will be after I get back from VEGAS! :) I started another pair last night for my california girl Linda... and I've got the yarn for another pair in my suitcase just in case. :) I am NOT, however, going to be like many of the KnitListers and ask for yarn shops to visit on vacation... the way I see it, with the internet, unless I'm supporting a LOCAL business, why not just order it? I don't quite understand the mentality where you go on vacation and SHOP. Not that I haven't gone shopping while on vacation, but I generally don't plan out an itinerary of shops I need to visit during my stay. If I see one that's interesting, I go in... it also strikes me as odd when people get all excited about going to a chain store while on vacation... is the Gap here really that much different? Same thing with the chain restaurants... why leave your home town if you are just going to go experience the exact same things? Oh well... as long as everyone is having a good time, I guess it doesn't matter WHAT they're doing on vacation. Well, have a great week, everyone... and "see" you all on Monday! And something for me to remember in Vegas... certum voto pete finem "set a definite limit to your desire (Horace)" 0 comments || # Monday, April 21, 2003 Fairly Productive WeekendWell, I didn't get quite as much knitting done this weekend as I was hoping, but I did finish the left front of my mom's vest. I also seamed the shoulder, side, and did the i-cord armhole finishing. I think I've decided to leave the neck and front edges as is... the i-cord looks good on the arms, but I think the "natural" edging on the front and neck will look good too- and much less work! ;) The right front will have to wait until after Las Vegas, though. One of the reasons I was having such a hard time getting my knitting done was that I was PACKING... hee hee hee! I'm taking yarn for 2 pairs of socks, which will hopefully be enough. I have a feeling that I'll "finish" the second Karebear sock before we fly off tomorrow... I'll still have the chenille edging to do, and weaving in the ends, but the knitting will be done. The next 2 pairs of socks, though, won't be nearly as short, so that should be enough for the flight + airport + incidental knitting. I hope. I'm also bringing magazines for the plane just in case... :)0 comments || # Friday, April 18, 2003 Hmmmm... about that vest.... So, I admit it. I abandoned the vest last night and spent my mindless knitting time (aka survivor) finishing the first Karebear Sock... well, not really finishing. But she did try it on, and it fits... turns out she likes them short (yippie!) so I had much less to do than I thought. I'm going to put a beige chenille rolled- edge on the cuff. I think I've got a winner, though, on the 3/1 ribbing... makes the size much more generous than straight stockinette, and still looks good with the regia yarn. And I love the contrasting toe and heel. And, if either wears out, it'll be much easier to rip out and replace! :)
My lovely assistant helped me place the sock "just right" for the photo! 
And in the mail, waiting for me when I got home, was the remaining yarn for my Dad's vest... must resist urge to start this weekend! Must finish Mom's vest! The yarn is beautiful, and I really can't wait to get started. 
But the time to finish my CURRENT project is... nunc aut nunquam "now or never" 0 comments || # Thursday, April 17, 2003 New Hibernation RulesYou know the weather isn't going to be good if the HIGH temperature for the day was at 4 am. From our lovely 80s yesterday, we're plummeting into the 40s... I think weather like that is meant for hibernating. Now, if only my work agreed, I'd still be at home, in bed, snuggled up with a black fuzzy fluff-ball!I've made tremendous progress on my first Karebear sock. (Karebear = my friend's nickname... all you 80s children will understand!) I'm flying through the pattern... 3/1 ribbing on the top, stockinette on the bottom (toe-up). The woolease sport toe looks fabulous- and I'll do the same with the heel. I know, I know, I need to take a picture. At this rate, though, I'll be nearly done by the time I manage to snap a shot! Oh well. Gotta love, though, how knitting on the sock makes me WANT to go to the gym during lunch... what a nice knitting vacation sandwiched in the middle of the day! And, if I have time after the gym, I can get a little more knitting done while listening to the BBC worldservice. I usually listen to NPR in the evenings, but for a different perspective, I'm learning to love the BBC. Every once in awile it's invaluable to be exposed to non-American-centric viewpoints. And the incredulous anger I feel after listening to international views on America's current stupidity makes the knitting go even faster! Somehow, in all this sock excitement, my mom's vest is getting a little neglected... I did a few more rows last night, and I'm about an inch from starting the armhole decreases. But there still is quite a ways to go, plus the right front and assembly- including i-cord! I have until the end of June (her birthday), but still- I've been slacking. Especially since I want to have Mom's vest done as soon as possible- after all, the rest of the beautiful yarn for my Dad's vest will arrive any day now, and then the temptation will be almost unbearable. ;) CSI tonight is a repeat... guess I can work on the vest. And next week, we'll be watching CSI from LAS VEGAS!!!!!!!!!!! hee hee hee. If you're like me and have your next project all planned out, you can respond: certum scio "I know for certain" 0 comments || # Wednesday, April 16, 2003 New SockI finished the Fire Socks last night- well, except (of course) for the ends. Considering that the yarn turned my fingers red as I knit with it, I have to wash these socks (maybe a couple of times) before I wear them, unless I want red feet! They look good, though, and I'm looking forward to wearing them. Of course, now that the temperatures are getting into the 80s, I don't really want to wear socks at all... isn't that always the way!I also cast on for my next pair- regia jacquard with woolease sport toes and heels- partly to save some "fancy" yarn for another pair, and partly because I really like the look of the contrast toe and heel- looks so cute!! I'm expecting to have to frog this project, though, since the start of the sock is also my gauge swatch, and I'm not sure what the regia will do in comparison with the woolease sport. I'm also knitting them for my friend with feet that are LARGER than mine- 9 or 9.5 I think, and wider, so I'm trying to guestimate the size. I guess I need to get her to measure her feet next time I see her (possibly tonight). She'll think I'm nuts, but then her socks will fit! Perhaps I'll be lucky and won't need to frog after all... but we'll see. Yesterday was glorious. Amazing temperatures- my friend and I went for a nice long walk/hike through Great Falls, MD. The falls were spectacular due to the good amounts of rain lately, and the weather was perfect. Such a lovely treat! Consequently, though, I didn't get much of anything done knitting-wise... I finished the Fire Sock, and started the next sock, but no progress on the vest. Ah, well... perhaps tonight- hope springs eternal! :) Next time someone asks you what your next project will be, answer: mihi non constat "I have not made up my mind" 0 comments || # Tuesday, April 15, 2003 Amazing WeatherYesterday's weather was, in a word, perfect. 70s, sunny, light breeze... I borrowed my friend's 2 dogs and took a nice walk/run through the park. :) Today is also supposed to be nice- but warmer, in the 80s. I'm planning on going to Great Falls National Park and walking around.The end of the second Fire Sock is in sight- I should finish by this weekend, and hopefully cast on for the next pair (which I think I'll dub Las Vegas... because hopefully that'll be where I work on them!!) I need to get the shoe size of my friend in California before I start her socks, though, so the next pair might end up being for a more local friend. I seem to have no problem finishing the socks relatively quickly, so I should have plenty of time to finish everyone's birthday presents before August and September. Speaking of birthday presents, no progress at all on my Mom's vest. Oh well... I'm planning on working on it tonight, though... Ugh, now to schedule an oil change for my car.... wheeee! Latin goodies: imperium singulare "absolute power" 0 comments || # Monday, April 14, 2003 I Banish Thee to the Closet, Winter Coat!!The weather this weekend was glorious. Beautiful sunny skies, mild temperatures, flowers everywhere. Ahhhh.... spring! The only thing that would have made the weekend better would have been if the stinkin Wizards could have played ANY defence on Saturday night... they lost to Atlanta by 1 point. Not that it mattered much because they're already out of the playoffs, but still... I had given tickets to my dad for his birthday, and it was fun to actually see Michael Jordan play, and almost make the winning shot. :)On Friday night I saw the directorial debut of one of my bestest friends... she teaches at a middle school, and her girls (all-girls school) put on The Secret Garden. The production was really quite good, and all props to my friend for all her hard work. I must say, however, that the musical itself is TERRIBLE. How someone could turn that lovely book into that travesty is beyond me... but I guess that just shows how well my friend and her girls did with that horrible material. Afterwards we went for drinks... My other major project for the weekend was getting the first round of herbs planted. I have an oregano, thyme, 2 sages, and a rosemary... I'm hoping they'll tolerate the window rather than being outside. I'm moving to a new apartment sometime in the next few months, and they'll have to be indoor plants there... I guess if it doesn't work, I can always plant them at my parents and go harvest herbs every once in awhile. Needless to say, I had help... notice the tail?? 
Hmmmm... can I eat these? 
I also continue to make progress on my Mom's vest... the cable is turning out well, and I think it'll give the effect I was looking for. Of course, it's almost impossible to make out in the picture, but you can kind of see it- interlocking diamonds... 
The stitch markers are another pair of old earrings... these ones are otters, and are SO cute. :) Oh, and take a look at QueerJoe's blog (button on the right side!)... he makes, in my opinion, a VERY good point about his blog and the comments. I, too, have become increasingly bored by the various lists, and the comments of my favorite blogs, especially Wendy's. (no criticism of the bloggers intended, since they do not leave the comments!!) So often, the comments are "(project) is so beautiful, you are great" posts- and though 1 or 2 aren't bad, 30 are kinda annoying. Not that I have to read them, and often I don't. But I can definitely respect Joe's decision to moderate his comments, and to encourage real discussion and dialogue. Oh, and I'm heading off to Vegas NEXT WEEK. So exciting! If anyone has suggestions (NON-KNITTING!!) of things to do on the strip, feel free to drop me a line- we're staying at Treasure Island, and plan to roam around the strip for the few days we're there. No car, so pretty much walking or shuttles only... but it should be a blast, no matter what we do! :) The Latin quote for the day: aequinoctium vernum "the vernal equinox" 0 comments || # Friday, April 11, 2003 Happy Friday!! Well, yesterday, in my genius, I managed to overwrite the previous post. Oh well- I didn't have anything earth-shattering posted. Although, as Cricket pointed out, there was a rather stunning picture of her, so I'll have to repost that as well. This is a picture of one of the amazing cherry trees still blooming downtown- I went last Sunday and spent an hour or so knitting under the trees. I would have spent more time, but it has been COLD. In the 40s cold. In APRIL. Ugh. I think it's supposed to start getting warmer this weekend... I'm SO tired of dragging my winter coat back out of the closet!
I'm about 5 inches into the left front of my mom's vest, and the cable pattern is showing up, although it is a little more subtle on account of the "wavy-ness" of the yarn. I've also discovered that I do NOT like working cables in this yarn... not a good feel to it. But I think it will look good, and give me the effect I imagined, so I'll power through the 2 vest fronts, and never do cables with the yarn again! :) I've even planned it so the cable will continue all the way to the shoulder seam, although the arm and neck decreases will eat away all the surrounding stitches. Hopefully once I edge it with i-cord, it will look good... I just saw, from my credit card statement online, that my order of the black yarn for my dad's vest was charged yesterday... so in a week or so (hopefully less!) that'll arrive. It's going to be tough to leave all that new yarn at home during our trip to Las Vegas, but I've already decided that I'll restrain myself and only bring socks to work on while we're there. :) And I leave you with a moment of kitty-zen...  .
perhaps this is the reason my nose gets tickled at night? 0 comments || # Tuesday, April 08, 2003 More Yarn :) Shortly after taking this photo last night, I finished the back. :) I also cast on for the left front, with my trial cable panel. I'm still not sure if the cables will show up with this yarn, but I hope they do! I'm not casting on more stitches for the fronts to compensate for the cables because I imagine this vest to be open in the front- I did decide to do the v-neck, but I'm going to edge the whole thing in i-cord, and hopefully it'll hang nicely in front with a few inch gap. At least that's my plan... I guess I could always add a button band later.
 . Well, I was holding out for some sun, but apparently that isn't coming until this weekend. So here is an attempt to capture the colors for my dad's vest:
I really like the color sequence, and think it'll work well. Now I can't wait until the black yarn comes!! :) The Latin phrase for today: bonis avibus "under favorable auspices (with good birds)" 0 comments || # Monday, April 07, 2003 Busy Weekend :)
The ends are DONE. All finished. There were over 500... 289 + the 225 for the giraffe = 514 total. What a pain in the @(#@!!! Now I just need to give it a de-cat-furring wash, and wrap it up and mail it to my aunt. :) Because the yarn for my dad's vest hasn't come in the mail yet, I started a vest for my mom for her birthday in June- the yarn is from ebay, and has been hanging out in my stash. I'm using the pattern from Knitter's Handy, but I think I'll heavily modify the front. I'm hoping for some cables, but I'm not sure how they'll show up in this yarn. I took this photo on Saturday, and there is a LOT more progress since then- I'm probably about 10" up the back by now! 
Here is a photo of the (almost) finished first Fire Sock, and the beginning of the second. You can just barely see the stitch marker I made on the second sock- I took several pairs of old earrings and made them into stitch markers- very easy, and really pretty. :) I took a photo, but it didn't turn out too well- I'll try for a better pic tonight. 
The Latin phrase for today: between the hammer and the anvil "inter malleum et incudem" 0 comments || # Friday, April 04, 2003 My Foot, My Foot, My Foot is on Fire!!I (almost) finished Fire Sock 1 yesterday- just need to graft the toe closed and weave in the 2 ends, and all done! This weekend I'll do the finishing work on Tiger Socks and Fire Sock 1. Oh, and finish the $*#(*@ ends of Menagerie. Yes, I am still working on that- slowly but surely making progress. I'm down to the last 3 legs of the giraffe, so I should be able to finish either this afternoon or tomorrow. I won't be finished in time for my grandma to take it with her tomorrow since I also need to wash it (somehow there are just a few black kitty hairs on the blanket....)I'm very pleased with how the Fire Sock fits me. It is a little tight to get on over my ankle, but once I've eased it on, it fits perfectly, and seems to be really comfortable. I know I'll have to wash these before I wear them, or else I'll dye my feet and shoes red! I'm thinking about making an Aran out of natural colored cotton, so I ordered 1 cone and will spend some time doing some swatches with various patterns. My plan is to be able to use the swatches as dishcloths once I'm done... much more environmentally friendly than paper towels and disposable sponges, and a good use for the swatches (after I photograph them, though!) I'll also get a good sense of how the cotton washes... :) Today during lunch (because I'm an idiot and forgot to bring my gym towel), I'll go through some of the stitches I was thinking about and start a list. :) I hope everyone has a great weekend... and look for update photos by Monday! :) The Latin phrase for today: bona mixta malis "a mixture of good and evil" 0 comments || # Thursday, April 03, 2003 WOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOYou might think, based on the ecstatic tone of today's title, that I finally finished theA few days ago, following the advice of Wendy, I ordered yarn for my dad's vest directly from JAMIESON & SMITH SHETLAND WOOL BROKERS LTD. I had to order via email, splitting my credit card information up (I'll be watching my account closely this month!), and today I received word that they had shipped my order yesterday, with a total of 17.98 pounds sterling. Whatever that means! So I checked my credit card statement online, and discovered that the total charged was $29.15. FOR 16 SKEINS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am doing the happy dance around my office. Now to wait until it shows up in the mail..... The Latin phrase for today: perpetuum mobile "perpetual motion" 0 comments || # The End of Ends is in SightYesterday, after some frantic errand-running, I sat down for some serious work on Menagerie's stubble. Just about 300 ends later, I am finally done with all the little animals... except for the giraffe. Ugh. I did tackle all the white ends surrounding the giraffe last night- over 60 of them, and when I asked my boyfriend whether he thought I had started on the giraffe yet, his reply was "no". I still have my work cut out for me! But with a good deal of work tonight and tomorrow, I should be able to finish in time for my grandma to take the blanket with her this weekend when she flys to Atlanta to visit my aunt. I figure my aunt and grandma can enjoy the blanket, and deliver it in person to my cousin- I always like deliverings gifts in person- even if it's not MY person- rather than putting them in a box. And this way the blanket can be part of her baby shower- whenever they hold it!Progress continues on the first Fire Sock... I'm almost done with the heel/ankle section, and will soon be at the foot. I guess at this point I should measure the length of my foot to check length! I just eyeballed the cuff, but I think foot-length is one of those things I should go ahead and measure. The Latin phrase for today: sine cortice natare "to need no assistance (to swim without corks)" 0 comments || # Tuesday, April 01, 2003 Shelter In PlaceOh goodie- we got our shelter in place instructions today. Wheee! Luckily, my office is perfect- no exterior walls, no windows. So if I have to "sip," at least I don't have to go very far.In knitting news, I'm just about ready to start the heel on the first Fire Sock. I definitely like toe-up better, but hey, you've got to try everything once, right? (well, I guess for socks it's twice!) The yarn is still making my fingers and needles a bit red, but I'm hoping a good wash in some vinegar will stop that. And it's a small price to pay- the yarn is really lovely and soft. Last night, Cricket-the-furry decided it would be really nice to snuggle up under my chin to go to sleep. It was really lovely- except that when she breathed, her fur would tickle my nose. I guess I was making too much noise because soon she stretched out her paw across my lips... but a few minor position-adjustments (by me, of course!), and everyone was happy. Thanks to the spring shedding, though, I think it's time to wash the sheets AGAIN... good thing she's cute! ;) The Latin phrase for today: homo liberalis "a generous or courteous person" 0 comments || # |
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