Monday, October 31, 2005
I'm feeling overwhelmed today. I spent all morning de-cluttering the bathroom-- throwing away all the old makeup and toiletries I haven't used in years, then rooted through my clothes and made a huge donation pile, and even threw away two baskets full of magazines and catalogs I've been stockpiling. I'm just beginning to feel as though my possessions are starting to own me instead of the other way around. Be warned-- there may be a stash sale posted here sometime soon. Maybe.
Anyway, I haven't knit much in the past couple days, although there is a little progress on Chocolate Waffles
As you can see, I've turned the heel thanks to Amityville Horror (2005) and The Saw which we watched the other night.
There's an interesting new knitting magazine out. Kind of dark and twisted if you're into that kind of thing:
AntiCraft. They say that future issues may not be knitting based, but instead include other crafts; still interesting nonetheless.
New
Magknits is up. Durrow looks great, Holly is neat, but I don't think I'd knit them. I do love that they went monthly though.
Ran across a cute top-down cardi pattern here:
CosmicPluto. Future use for my Cotton Ease stash? Perhaps.
I leave you with one more Autumn picture I took yesterday on another bike ride. The weather yesterday was
perfect.
Saturday, October 29, 2005
A Morning In Pictures
This morning, I decided, even though it was still chilly, to go on a bike ride. I'm glad I did, even though I may not be able to walk in the morning! I didn't go far-- just down our road and back, but check out the sites (all taken from our road):
I love tree-canopied roads.
My jello legs and frozen ears, will now curl up with this
and try to find something scary on tv to watch. I love my circa 1981 mug filled with hot cocoa, and my Chocolate Waffle socks are coming out nicely. I think they will become a gift, but I'm not sure who the recipient will be as of yet.
Oh and remember
Rox's Survivor Contest? I can't believe Rafe is still in it! Of the four of us in the contest, only my and Kathy's choices are still left. I'm shocked!
Thursday, October 27, 2005
Socktober FO!They really aren't so day-glo, but it's still dark out and it's hard to get a good picture.
Yarn:
Yarn Smith's Sock yarn bought at the Yellow Spring's Fiber Festival (they don't appear to sell online-- bummer)
Needle size: 2
Stitch count: 54
Cuff is p1k2 ribbing and heel flap is (RS)*s1purlwise,k1 across (WS) s1, p across [same heel flap as the Razor Shell pattern]
Here is my third pair of finished Socktober socks. I stayed up last night, waiting patiently and knitting while Jason watched Queen of the Damned (which we'd already seen, and I didn't enjoy so much the first time around) until 9 when "my show" comes on. Little did I know, it was a repeat! ARG
They didn't stay on the Sock Blockers for long. It was 29*F when I got up this morning. BRRRRR! So, they're already on my feet. Besides, I've been knitting here and there during lunch time at the school I've been at all week, and I think the kids will think it's neat if I wear them today.
Yesterday, I decided I wasn't quite done with socks, so I signed up for
Pixie Purls'
I cast on for a pair of brown socks, using the same cuff as my last pair (p1k2 around), but I think I'm going to try the
blueberry waffle pattern for the rest of the sock. I suppose I'll have to rename them Chocolate Waffles? The yarn is a brown hand-dyed and came from my KR Secret Pal, who kind of disappeared, but sent me some great stuff in the first package I received. Never found out who she/he was, or my angel. Wherever you are, I hope you're both ok!
Jason and I decided yesterday that we may as well go to Florida in late November, as well as England in January! Two vacations in one season! So, we're flying down to Florida on November 22nd, and I'll be flying back alone on the 30th, while he has a big auto-related show to attend. I've heard the yarn stores are pretty far and between down there, anyone have any I *must* hit near Orlando? We'll be staying with his Grandmother for a few days, and then another few days near Sea World at the
Renaissance Resort. I can't wait!
Tuesday, October 25, 2005
A quickieI got my
Sock Scrap Swap package yesterday, and all I have to say is WOWZA! It was a definite pick-me-up after my bad day yesterday.
My awesome pal was
KS, and she sent me lots of sock yarn scraps (of course!), some orange cotton yarn and even my favorite, Salt n Vinegar potato chips! YUM.
In my Socktober news, I've made a bit of progress on my Fiber Fest socks:
I'm a couple inches away from starting the toe decreases. I love having small feet ;)
Rox challenged her readers to post a favorite fall or Wedding picture so here is mine. Unfortunately we don't have our wedding pictures on disc, so it's a picture of a picture. I keep this one on the fridge.
A few people asked how exactly my washer "ate" my supposed-to-be-felted pumpkins. Well, it kind of ripped them apart at their seams and left gaping holes. Does that explain it enough?
And thanks for those of you who shared in my excitement about our England trip in January! It's scheduled for January 10th-20th. We can't wait. I'm a little nervous about taking knitting with me, as I've heard bad things about Northwest flights leaving the UK not allowing knitting on board. Hope that doesn't happen, but I'll be sure to bring a self addressed stamped envelope if that should happen to be the case.
Saturday, October 22, 2005
Socktober ProgressWay back in January, I dubbed 2005 to be the Year of the Sock. Well, once I got into late February I was sick of socks and started working on sweaters. I must say, Socktober has convinced me that I'm truly a phase-oriented gal. I go through food phases (my most recent being avocados-- especially sliced up in salad-- YUM), book phases (I have classics phases, chicklit phases, real lit phases, and am currently reading all of the needlecraft mysteries-- as obnoxious as they are), and now we have knitting phases. Obviously, I'm in another sock phase. It's all your fault
Lolly! My poor oversized raglan sweater is still sitting in my knitting bag, nary a stitch knit in weeks, my green and brown striped raglan is still waiting for a few lone ends to be woven in, and all I can think about are socks. Sock yarn, sock patterns, socks, socks, socks.
Here is my latest finished sock
I'm really happy with how this yarn knit up! I had to frog everything back Thursday night after almost starting the heel flap, as it was turning out to big on 65 stitches and there was significant pooling, so I cut it back to 54 and it's perfect!
I also have other exciting news. Jason and I have been thinking about taking a vacation. We haven't yet done the whole stay-in-a-hotel-vacation-thing unless you count our mini-Honeymoon (2 nights in Windsor, Ontario), we've only really gone on camping vacations. So, he has a couple business trips to go on the next few months, and we were going to plan one around his trip to Florida in November. However, he was booking his plane tickets for another trip in January and got seats for $500 round trip so he called me and told me we're going to
ENGLAND!
I've never even been on an airplane, let alone a foreign country (besides Canada)!! I'm so freaking excited; something better not mess up our plans between now and then. I've already started a list of things I must buy. Vegetarian Skittles and Starburst top the list, and of course
Debbie Bliss and
Rowan. I'll be sure to ask for lots of recommendations when it gets closer to our actual trip ;) We plan on at least hitting London and Stratford upon Avon.
Thursday, October 20, 2005
So yesterday was a lousy day (see my hungry washing machine story below if you missed it). Today is another day.
I woke up to find a dead rodent in our back kitchen this morning. So how about that for another bad day, huh? Today, however, I decided to take matters into my own hands and try to change things. So, first off, I finished these:
A basic sock in Regia yarn. I then decided to cast on for another pair, and tried a pattern from IK's site, but didn't like how it was knitting up with my uber-wonderful
sock yarn from Yellow Spring's Fiber Festival, so I frogged and decided to go with another basic sock. I love the colors in this yarn; it reminds me of a gorgeous tie dye t-shirt. (Yes, I'm a fan of jewel toned tie dye-- be quiet).
Now I'm off to work. Just a half-day today. Hope things stay looking up!
Wednesday, October 19, 2005
So.... uh... I guess you're looking for the cute felted pumpkins I posted about yesterday...
Well...
my washing machine must have been hungry, what with my procrastination at doing laundry lately, so it decided...
to eat them.
Yep, that's right, we had a little felting catastrophe. So, it's back to the drawing board as far as my mom's belated birthday gift goes.
Here they are, cute as can be before the washing machine from hell got to them (because of course, it's the washing machine's fault and not my shoddy seaming skills).
And I will spare you the gory guts laden pictures of them after. Oh I'm so depressed about it. I even spent an hour trying to repair them after I pulled them from their near death, and dropped them into the machine's hungry mouth again, but it was to no avail. Phooey phooey phooey! I don't know if I can even bear to knit today. Perhaps I'll pick up the sock again, perhaps not. Here's a picture of our road, and a little bit of color on trees to distract you. I love our winding, tree-lined, dirt road :)
PS I was driving as I took the picture, so that's a glimpse of my Jeep in the bottom ;)
Tuesday, October 18, 2005
Well, I did get some knitting done last night on the sock match
It's hard to tell from the pic, but I just turned the heel. However, something stopped me in my tracks this morning and said "MUST KNIT THIS." So, I put down the sock and so far have these
Can you tell what it will become? Hopefully by the end of the night, I'll be ready for the washing machine and will end up with two of the little ones of
these. I knew I must have them. However, if they turn out, they will be put in a box and mailed to my mom as a late birthday gift. I've been searching and searching for something to knit her for her birthday, and now I have it!
Sunday, October 16, 2005
Here is what my Razor Shell second sock looked like yesterday:
He looked so much like a puppet after turning the heel, I had to demonstrate.
Here are my Razor Shell socks today
Done!
Not that I'm done with
Socktober, though. No no no. Remember
this sock from my last sock progress post? Well, I just kitchenered the toe and cast on for it's mate. I figure it's the perfect mindless knitting for my week of sub jobs. Have I mentioned how much I love subbing in comparison to working in an office? Yippee! I have the next two weeks booked at schools. :)
Saturday, October 15, 2005
Note to self:
New issue of
MenKnit out. I like the Cabled Top Worsted socks. Haven't had a chance to browse much else yet.
According to
Amy, the Knitty Surprise should be up Monday.
Currently eyeing sock patterns
JaywalkerMim's Baby Socks (designer of the great Razor Shell pattern)
Flatiron Clog SocksHave lots of leftover sock yarn waiting to be used? Go join
Katie's Sock Scrap Swap!
P.S. Just finished the heel flap and am about to turn the heel on the match to my Razor Shell sock :)
Friday, October 14, 2005
We have a Sock(tober)!Once upon a time, I read on
Boogie's blog, that in order to avoid the sock curse, you must, I repeat,
must, cast on for the match immediately after kitchenering the first sock in a pair. So, I did just that
I don't know if that whole sock curse avoiding works out or not, because here's a lonely sock that's been in my knitting basket for months awaiting kitchenering
and it's mate. How sad he looks. (Yes, I've determined the sock is male, although he does fit
my foot... hmmm)
I've been watching Desperate Housewives, Season one on DVD courtesy of Blockbuster Online, so I've plenty of knitting time the past few days ;) I just finished Disc 3. Unfortunately for my knitting, we have a wedding to go to tomorrow, so it doesn't look like too much knitting will get done this weekend, and I work all next week, so hopefully I'll get some knitting time in on Sunday perhaps. I've already been thinking about my next pair of socks...
Well MIL is coming over tonight, so I have a bit of cleaning to attend to first. Jason better get his butt home soon!
Thursday, October 13, 2005
Take this
, throw in one of these
and add this
and this
and what do you end up with?
This
I'm starting down the home stretch-- just finished the gusset decreases. The point where it seems your knitting flies! I love getting to this point in a sock ;)
Tuesday, October 11, 2005
Decisions DecisionsI cast on last night for my Socktoberfest socks, but I chose to use some Cherry Hill Supersock yarn instead of the Fiberfest yarn. Looking at the yarn last night made me realize that the Fiber Fest yarn, while gorgeous, is a little thicker than fingering weight, so I'll save it for another pattern. The Cherry Hill Supersock was purchased by my sis at a going out of business sale (wish I coulda been there!), and the colorway is Life's A Beach. It's deliciously sproingy and wonderful.
Here is my progress after watching Karate Kid last night and a little of Sex and The City Season 5 (yes I've seen both many many times) today:
And a closer, flashy picture of the pattern:
I'm about 17 repeats in, with a total of 26 to do. I'm having a PMS-induced lazy day. Don't feel like doing much, and everything is frustrating me. I'm having one of those days where I'll go to pick something up and knock 3 more things over in the process. KWIM?
Ah well it's pizza subs and baby carrots for dinner tonight. What're you having?
Monday, October 10, 2005
Well, since I joined
, I decided it was time to sort through my pattern pile to find the *perfect* sock pattern. Then I decided it was time to organize that basket full of WIPs and crud that was my knitting basket, because, well, I tend to get sidetracked. So, after I untangled the mess of cotton yarn from a rug I was working on a few months back, random ball labels and other crud, I set out to determine what my Socktoberfest socks would be.
So I rooted around and got all my recent magazines out and labeled sock patterns, found my sock pattern binder, assembled all my sock books, and decided.
What did I decide? That I'd knit the pattern I picked out before I had even began. Ugh I'm such a stinker. I'm going to use the Razor Shell pattern I posted about before. I still haven't completely determined which yarn I'm going to use, but I think I'll use new yarn from the Fiber Fest. Thanks for the recommendation Lolly ;) It's just calling my name!
Jason and I took vacation days today to visit the apple orchard. A big mistake. Yesterday was sunny, cool and just plain gorgeous. Today we woke up to drizzle and clouds, but we were still determined to hit the orchard for our yearly trek to pick your own apples. Little did we know, the forces were against us. Turns out the couple cool nights we've had forced the orchard to pick all the apples from the trees, so we had to make do with buying our apples at their little market, rather than walking around to pick our own :( Bummer. We still got a little haul though:
The bag next to the apples is full of homegrown popcorn kernals (way better than store bought) and there's apple cider chilling in the fridge :) Jason made two absolutely delicious pies last year, so the big bag in the back is waiting for him!
No knitting progress to show, because I've been working on my Secret Elf project, but I promise to cast on for Socktoberfest soon.
Friday, October 07, 2005
A Good GirlSo I've gone a whole week (almost) on the Stash diet and haven't given in to anything yet. Yay me! I even got up early today before work (another sub job!) and did my pilates workout, AND only had plain yogurt with grapenuts cereal mixed in for lunch. See how much I was a good girl today?
I did however decide to cast on for another project.
Lolly just had to entice me to join Socktoberfest. Come on, join! You know you want to! I haven't knit a pair of socks since my big sock knitathon earlier this year, and Lord knows I have enough sock yarn to use! I believe I'm going to use some Lana Grossa Meilenweit, but the
yarn I picked up at the Fiber Fest is also calling my name. I even have to be a copy-cat and decide to use the same pattern Lolly is-
Razor Shell.
Lost was a great episode Wednesday night, and Survivor really threw me for a loop last night. I can't believe Steph's tribe still didn't win though. Is she jinxed? She's getting on my nerves a little, though, this season, as
Rox already mentioned. Don't know what it is...
Now I'm off to Applebee's with the hubby to drink lots of Guinness (have to counteract the exercise and yogurt lunch somehow, right?). It's certainly cool enough to be a Guinness night! I love it. (the coolness
and Guinness that is)
P.S. Don't misunderstand me, no probs on the Target purchases, SP! I love the $ spot. It's my friend :) I already tucked the little notepad into my knitting bag.
Wednesday, October 05, 2005
I think I'll go puke now.No, it wasn't the dinner I blogged about earlier, I just read
this. Go on, go read it. I'll be here waiting...
.
.
.
Aren't you just sick? I mean, seriously. The boy doth protest too much, me thinks, about his UNDYING love for Kate. I could have sworn it was all a publicity stunt to cover-up his being a homosexual or some other such thing (not that there's anything wrong with that, believe me, I'd rather he be gay, and frankly I don't really care), but maybe there's more to the story.... Eww I don't even want to think about it.
Oh well. My trashy mag loving self will just go drink another glass of wine and pitter away the time until Lost airs.
Little progress hereI worked today for a Junior High Science teacher. I watched the same video 5 times, The Secret House at 118 Street. Ugh. It was ok, but FIVE times? Oh well, better than working at an office, right? While I sat through the movie 5 times, I discreetly knit a few rounds on the Top-down Raglan (gotta love knitting without looking!). Here's my small progress since my last WIP picture.
It's still swelteringly hot here. For the past week it's been in the mid-80s. It's *supposed* to cool off tomorrow, though. I really hope it does, as Jason and I are planning a trip to the apple orchard either this weekend or sometime next week. It'll be nice if it's cool enough for sweaters.
In other news, my first SP6 pressie arrived today, and I think I've determined that my sp shops at Target ;)
Here are the goods:
Thank you sp :)
Now off to bake dinner. We've having baked spaghetti, spinach, Texas Toast and cabernet sauvignon. Gotta fuel up to watch Lost. Something good better happen this week; last week's episode was boring.
Tuesday, October 04, 2005
A New Project
While I am still working on my Secret Elf project, it's one that takes a good bit concentration, so I decided to cast on for a mindless project to work along with it. Here is what I came up with
I know it's hard to tell, but I'm using Barlett yarn in a brown tweedy color. It's kind of rough, but it's very earthy, and I need a bumming around sweater. I'm using Knitting Pure and Simple's men's pattern and making the smallest size-- I want an oversized sweater :)
I had a day off today (haven't had one of those in the middle of the week for a while!) so I stopped at the library. Picked up
World of Pies : A Novel which is proving to be an excellent read. It's a girly coming of age story. A nice, easy read, but there's a little meat to it as well; I wouldn't call it just fluff.
Blockbuster online just delivered
Robots (Widescreen Edition) and
Fever Pitch (Widescreen Edition), and since there's not much on TV tonight, I hope to crank out some more knitting.
I also stopped at the thrift store today, and while I didn't find any yarn, I did pick up a hot pink thick/thin bulky sweater that I've started to unravel. I have one arm unraveled, and half of the front so far. It's my first success at ripping out a machine knit piece so wish me luck with the rest!
Monday, October 03, 2005
FO post!!
I think I finally figured out how to take pictures with my camera timer, and although it's still not a great picture, it's better than the ones I can get in my bathroom mirror, with toothpaste spatter hiding my precious FOs.
This is what I actually look like on my way to work (keep in mind, I've only had 1/2 a cup of coffee so far). It may be wool, but it's short sleeved and I'll just deal with it if I get hot in our Indian Summer we seem to be having. I'm ready for fall!! Oh, and in case you were wondering, my work today is at an elementary school. Yippee; I'm subbing today! I hope the jobs are plentiful this week :)
I met a couple internet friends on Saturday (non knitters, well actually one is an ocassional knitter but she isn't involved in the knitting online scene) in Plymouth, so I managed to stop at the Olde Yarn Shoppe nearby. The store may be small, but it's crammed with so much yarn, it's unbelievable. I've been in once, but it's been a few years, and I was overwhelmed with all the textures and beautiful colors. I managed to enhance my stash a wee bit, but declared it my last little splurge before my yarn diet. (I still didn't buy anything at RamWools or Elann! Yay for willpower) Here's what I scored:
1 skein of Silky Wool I found in the clearance section (I'm thinking perhaps a Branching Out scarf?), and 3 balls of Debbie Bliss Aran Tweed. I've never owned any Debbie Bliss yarns before, and I must say, once I saw the gorgeous colors, I knew I had to splurge. Here's a close up of it's loveliness:
I'm still working on my Secret Project. It's for the gift elf exchange on KR. You're matched up with a partner, and each knits something for the other person. I'm pretty excited about it, as I don't have any handknits that weren't knit by me! I wish I could post a picture as I'm really pleased with how the project is coming along, but it must remain a secret.
The Vogue Knitting Holiday Preview is up. Click
here to see it. I've found their holiday issues in the past to be a little too shiney and glitzy, but this one looks as though there's a lot of wool.
This cardi is stunning.
The new
Magknits is out, as well. I love the
socks by Grumperina, but nothing else really struck my fancy. It's wonderful to browse new online patterns though, and I love that Magknits has gone monthly. I hope it sticks around.
Spunmag looks like it hasn't. They were supposed to put up a new issue in mid-August, but still nothing... Anyone know what happened there?
I leave with you an adorable picture of Jason and Marzi snuggling on the couch yesterday.