Come Check Out The Twins!

What? What "twins" were you expecting?

Okay, now that the pervs have come and left, I'd like to introduce my perfectly matched pomatomus socks. The second was birthed mostly while I was riding the 'hound out to visit my dad out in the desert.

I grew up in Riverside, so I like to do my layovers there. The station is next to the Mission Inn and a whole bunch of coffee shops and antique-y places. A year and a half is way too long to not see family that only lives 150 miles away; if only driving didn't terrify me so...

So, we visited. We mutually agreed not to speak of Boy unnecessarily, to the great relief of all. We made pickles and sweet zuchini relish. We ate meat that used to have a name and went hunting with nightscopes. I am redneck, hear me roar.

In the evenings I started my grandmother's holiday shawl and spun.

Me likes spinning!

The Fiber Ninjas Strike

Check this out:

Following the directions in Spin-It, I took a tiny tiny bit of the Desert Daybreak batt I bought from Spritely Goods and made my first tiny tiny bit of yarn! Check it out, my first slub!

Then, this morning on my way to work, the Fiber Ninja's dropped this off at my house:

(That's not one of the ninjas by the way, it's just my mum's troll).

I used one of the samples to make my first spindle yarn:

I can see how this could become addictive... I still wish I had someone to show the "ropes". Hee-hee, I made a funny!

I've had this fiber for years and years; I don't know what it is but I took it out of someone's tree. I think the time has come for it to meet it's destiny.

Ground Control to Major Me...

I seem to have fallen off the face of the Earth again... I apologize, but I have a decent excuse: Boy has not one, but two family members in the hospital. Lucky for us they are in the same hospital (though I pity the poor nurses), but it has made for some harried, stressful days. So, no blogging and very little commenting. I haven't sent Shannon her goodies yet (I'm sorry, they're coming!). I even missed my not-so-secret pal Jen while she visited on vacation.

What have I been doing?

Finished Project: Rowan OSW


I got to the part where you start on the sleeve part, looked at how much of the Kid Classic skein I had left, and loudly exclaimed "one-skein wonder my ass!" So, the sleeve cuffs are doubled-up Rowan dk Soft; a lovely accent if I do say so myself.


Project In Progress: Pomatomus Socks

I think I finally have the hang of these beauties, though I had some serious trouble wrapping my tired brain around Chart B. I may just have a pair of socks by the end of Socktoberfest!

Project Not In Progress: Grandma's Janet Shawl

Have you read the directions for this shawl? Holey Moley, Batman! I'll get over my intimidation eventually, but for now I just want to get my socks done.

Oh, and I did some shopping:

The fiber ninjas got to me, too. Bastards!

Post-Weekend Update

Just a few quick notes before I hop off to work:

My grandparents in Maui are just fine; the earthquake just broke a glass bottle and knocked a few things over. One of their friends lost 70 feet of yard when it fell into the ocean, but no one was hurt.

Boy's grandmother is in the ICU right now. Without going into it at all, she seems to be stabilizing, but still not quite herself. If you have any spare happy thoughts, please send them her way?

Margaret Radcliffe commented on my blog. Margaret Radcliffe! My twisted knitting question was answered in the book, I was just looking in the wrong section. I am working my Kid Classic OSW in "real" knit and purl stitches, and her non-standard knitting section really helped me figure out the trick to the whole thing: the yarn goes counterclockwise. Who knew? (Please don't everyone raise their needles at once).

I am such a Rowan junkie. I keep groping the Kid Classic yarn as I'm knitting; it makes me feel all tingly!

I'm bidding for a knitting kit on eBay and should know whether I get it or not by the time I get home from work. I am terribly excited and may just hold onto that "trading" batt I ordered from Spritely Goods with the Soak I've been coveting.

I'm on my seventh straight day of work, only today and tomorrow to go... wish me luck!

It's Going To Be Okay!

Boy and I had a long talk last night. He reminded me that I tend to get, well, obsessive and that he was afraid I'd get bored with spinning soon and we've have a whole new treasure trove of junk in the house. I reminded him that I wasn't talking about picking up a spinning wheel (yet), just a drop spindle and some roving that would end up taking up as much room as a meatloaf. So, we agreed that I could introduce a new brand of insanity into the house.

Then I started fishing around for a new project. Hoo-boy, do I have a lot of yarn! I think I'll mull it over while working on my first OSW...

Now We've Done It...

You are all in so much trouble.

You know who you are, you fiber-pushers, teasing me with your tales of spinning and all the gorgeous pictures.I've left multiple requests in the comments on your blogs to quit leading me into temptation. And yet, the pictures of batts and roving and wheels continues unabated.

So last night I start looking at the possibility of trying hand spinning, just to see if I like it. It turns out that drop spindles are not terribly expensive at all; in fact, they come in little learn-to-spin kits with instructions and roving and everything. I could try making my own yarn for under $20.

Anyone notice that greased slope coming up?

Well, apparently Boy sees it. I told him that I was thinking of ordering a learn-to-spin kit and was going on and on about how inexpensive it was and what came with it and how much fun it would be.

Boy told me "No".

I don't know if the new job has caused his cajones to drop an inch or two, but he looked me straight in the face and told me no. I was so surprised that I argued the point for a few minutes before realizing what had happened. Boy has never told me no. I am still in shock; he's told me that we can't afford something or we didn't have room, but he has never just flat out denied me anything before. I'm not sure what to do with this, but there will be repurcussions. Dire consequenses and what not. And none of this would have happened withoutyou all tempting me with your spinny goodness and pushing Boy to the breaking point...

So, what's the best drop spindle to learn on?

Stick A DPN In Us...

Cuz the Angora Bodice is Done!!!!

Sweater, say hello to the nice blog.

Hi Blog!

This picture captures the color of the yarn pretty accurately, but makes my skin-tone look like I spend all day at the beach using a magnifying glass on myself. The sweater is a little big on me, but that is completely my fault, as I've lost a bit of weight recently.

Here are the sweater specs:

Pattern: Knitted Bodice by Glampyre Stephanie Japel, released by Stitch Diva Studios. I knit the 42" bust size.

Yarn: Angora Soft by Knit One Crochet Too in colorway 635 Soft Turquoise, 45% Nylon, 40% Viscose, 15% Angora. A very soft cabled yarn. One skein had a bunch of knots, but that ended up as part of the aborted first sweater.

Needles: KnitPicks Options, circular sizes us 7 & 4, Crystal Palace bamboo dpns, size us 4, and Boye dpns size 6.

Modifications: I didn't want big hangy-down sleeves, so I tweaked the sleeves a bit to get this tighter 3/4 sleeve version:

Follow directions for sleeves until you reach the end of the purl ridges after the lace panel. Switch to us 6 dpns and knit even until they are long enough for you (35 rounds for me). Switch back to the us 4 needles and do the first 6 rows of the purl ridge pattern, then bind off.

Okay, the only reason I used the size 6 dpns is because I did not have any us 7 dpns on hand, but moving to the slightly smaller size worked out splendidly.

I am so excited; my second sweater ever turned out so well! Now, let's see if I can block it without ruining it's soft snuggliness...

Duck!

I'd rather be knitting right now, but I felt bad for not posting for so long. So, in lieu of an actual post, here's a pic of my favorite Disney character holding my sock:

Oh, and the winner of the poll drawing is...

Shannon of Knit it in Black, Please!

She will get her crummy little prezzie as soon as I hit the post office, hopefully Friday. In the meantime, hit her blog and congratulate her on the most bodacious hickey ever :)

Me as a Bootie

You may not be able to believe it, but a mere year ago I was not privy to the joys of sock knitting. I was, incredible as it seems, scared of sock knitting. It looked so complicated... Since the beginning of this year I have completed a whopping ten pairs of socks (not nearly as many as Trek, but not bad for a beginner).

I finally picked up the dpns because I wanted to knit something for my Boy. He didn't want a hat or a scarf, and the thought of knitting an entire sweater scared me more than a pair of socks at that point.

So, I knit my first sock from the training sock pattern on Knitty. In fact, I have to credit Knitty for helping me realize that I didn't have to make the same scarf over and over. I looked at the website and realized that I could knit these patterns and that I wasn't stuck with whatever crap yarn was at WalMart, that there was a whole community of knitters out there, and I had a whole lot of catching up to do!

This is my trainer sock, made out of the most uncomfortable red acrylic crap I had in my stash. I then went onto my first real socks, knit with Jawoll on us1 needles. I then learned about the knitter's lobotomy; I knit the socks in stockinette and Boy has size 13 feet. Once they were done he absolutely loved them, they are now his "special occasion" socks and are holding up very well, especially since I didn't realize that I should use the thread included to help the toes and heel from wearing through. Eh, there's always next time.

I am currently working on my second pair of socks for myself, and I have to admit that this is my favorite sock yarn so far:

The pattern is Pomatomus from the illustrious Cookie. The sock yarn is the amazing aloe and jojoba infused Austermann Step from my illustrious secret pal The Knitting NICU Nurse. Now I really feel like I've hit the big time, knitting-wise.

I've discovered that I love working with bamboo dpns for socks, there's just something wonderful about knitting wonderfully useful things with tiny bits of wood. I have resized projects and done other wonky things to work with my preferred gauge, I've substituted yarns, done lace, cabled, stranded, and even another plain stockinette sock. There's one hurdle I still need to get across to make me feel like a sock expert: I've only done the flap heel, but would really like to try another sort of heel. Darn my timid knitter's heart!

Speaking of indecent affection for socks, Aija made a comment about the little plastic stoppers that come with the Options cables I reviewed here. I have actually used the stoppers, but only to hold the sleeves while I knit on the rest of the sweater. It turns out that the cables are too long for sleeve knitting, so I've turned to my trusty bamboo dpns for the rest of the ordeal.

Oh, and I'm not sure where the poll went, but it has vanished... A drawing will be held for everyone who commented on this post as soon as Boy and I see each other conscious. I have him pick the winner to make sure that I am completely fair. It also makes him feel very silly, which I like very much. I hate working the morning shift while he works graveyard!

Back Asswards

I have a question: Why didn't any of you nice folks tell me I've been knitting backwards?!?

I cast on my Socktoberfest Pomatomus' and I seen this abbreviation I've never seen before.

K tbl

I couldn't find it in my new Knitting Answer book, so I hit the Knitting Help website and looked at the video explaining it. It turns out that I always knit through the back of loop. I then checked out the how to knit video, it looks kinda screwy to me, but it makes a knit stitch...

I feel like such a weenie... What do I do now?

100

1. I was born in the middle of a flood in 1980.
2. My favorite color is grayish-blue and dark red browns.
3. I knit in public.
4. I prefer dpns to circular needles.
5. I have a cat named Stinker.
6. I have never had anything dry-cleaned.
7. I have never been married.
8. I have size 8.5 feet.
9. I learned to knit from the Reader’s Digest Complete Guide to Needlework.
10. I couldn’t figure out purling for years. One night I dreamt about it was able to purl the next morning.
11. I am right handed.
12. I am very near-sighted.
13. I bite my nails.
14. I inadvertently put my underwear on inside out about half the time.
15. I used to sport an awesome set of dreadlocks.
16. I love bad horror movies.
17. I love zombie movies.
18. Chucky terrifies me.
19. I love Audrey Hepburn movies.
20. I can read and knit at the same time.
21. I am allergic to milk.
22. My favorite board game is Scrabble.
23. I miss my mom.
24. I finally got my driver’s license after I turned 25.
25. I haven’t driven since I got my license.
26. I slept through the Northridge earthquake.
27. I was a preemie.
28. I am the fifth of the six children that lived.
29. I am decidedly untidy.
30. I have been one lousy class away from my associate’s degree for years.
31. I don’t know what I want to do when I grow up.
32. I am right handed.
33. I got a C in Keyboarding in middle school. I should have flunked, but I really tried.
34. The only class I did flunk was AP Biology.
35. If I had passed AP Biology, it would have covered that last class for my AA.
36. I have never lived alone.
37. I cannot have children.
38. I avoid confrontation whenever possible.
39. I cannot sing, but do so anyway.
40. I have lived in California my entire life.
41. I like lima beans.
42. I used to be a photography student.
43. I am not photogenic at all.
44. I lived off chocolate-covered espresso beans and Mountain Dew in college.
45. I played the violin in elementary school and the cello in middle school.
46. I have been with my current boyfriend for three and a half years.
47. He won’t let me knit him a sweater; he’s afraid of the Sweater Curse.
48. I am prone to tummy ailments.
49. My hands and feet are always cold.
50. I can crack nearly every joint in my body.
51. I sprained all the fingers in my right hand playing softball in high school.
52. I attended six elementary, two middle, and three high schools.
53. My family moved around a lot when I was a child.
54. I haven’t seen anyone I’m related to in over a year.
55. I work for a telecommunications company.
56. I have been promoted three times in two years.
57. I’d like to be a writer someday.
58. I used to be afraid of knitting socks.
59. I am afraid to do anything until I actually do it.
60. I am chubbier than I’d like to be.
61. My body’s ideal schedule is awake at 10am, asleep at 2am.
62. I am funny. Honestly.
63. I am crazy good at remembering song lyrics.
64. I am horrible at remembering names/dates/titles.
65. I am a spatial thinker.
66. I can fix almost any problem if given time to think about it.
67. I have a moral objection to MySpace.
68. I used to think blogging was dumb idea.
69. I have been known to say stupid things.
70. I can cook, but I don’t do so very often.
71. I have a hard time keeping my houseplants alive.
72. I’m not terribly short, but I’d like to be taller.
73. I am a Class-A procrastinator.
74. I tend to obsess.
75. Noro is still my favorite yarn so far.
76. I like to knit socks on 2.25mm needles or smaller.
77. I use us15 needles for my favorite scarf pattern.
78. I mostly knit for others.
79. I am a Pisces.
80. I love cherry pie filling.
81. My knees tend to get achy in the cold.
82. I have never broken a bone.
83. I drink tea because coffee does a number on my stomach.
84. I miss having a little bit of outside attached to my house.
85. I walk to work every day.
86. I am very lazy, but I get a lot done once I get going.
87. I am easily discouraged.
88. I like teaching people how to do things.
89. I have trouble learning different languages.
90. My favorite ride at Disneyland is Splash Mountain.
91. I just want to be loved.
92. I am hard on my shoes.
93. I have only knit myself one pair of socks so far.
94. My hair is long and tends to frizz up.
95. I never remember to pack a lunch.
96. Ginger or Maryanne? Maryanne.
97. I hate to be ignored.
98. I’d rather do something by hand than figure out how to make the machine work.
99. I curse to make a pirate’s parrot faint.
100. This is my 100th post! Woo-hoo!

We Have Some Options Here

Ooh, ooh, look what I did:


The body of the bodice has been completed! This picture has been generously cropped to spare you all the horror of my worst skin-tone ever. The yarn color is pretty close in this shot, though maybe not as day-glo. I am loving the sweater so far, it fits perfectly and will look much better once I put in the neck. I seriously debated not doing sleeves at all and just binding off here, but I'd like to wear this with a camisole in the spring and hate having my upper arms exposed.

I started the right sleeve last night during Saturday Night Live. Boy and I were a little wary of the pared-down cast, but agreed that Seth Meyers can handle the Update desk. The first half of the show was a little strained, but the second half was much better.

Anyway, back to knitting: This is my first project using the Options needles from KnitPicks, so I thought I'd whip up a review for all you nice folks.

The Official Mid-Project Options Review

I have been using the us 4 and 7 needles for the bodice and so far have no serious complaints. They are shiny, sharp, and smooth, making for easy, frictionless knitting. The interchangeable cables have to be my favorite feature. I bought a set of 24" and 36" cable sets to knit up this sweater and used the two 24"s to hold the sleeve stitches while I worked on the body, allowing me to try it on without a lot of hassle. Then, when I was ready to start working on the sleeves, all I had to do was plug the tips in and start working.

I've only had two problems with the needles so far: When I was knitting the lace section the working needle was starting to unscrew. The screw is long enough that I didn't lose it entirely, and once I got home and used the little wrench-thingy it didn't happen anymore. I'm hoping this is an I-didn't-have-my-wrench-thingy issue and not a it-starts-to-unscrew-when-you-do-lace issue; I also picked up a set of us 11's for a pi shawl for my grammy. Also, I stabbed myself in the thumb with one of the needles last night when I missed with the point protector. These buggers are sharp!

My only lingering concern are these parts:
I have a feeling they will be meeting the fate of scores of Barbie shoes and other small plastic accessories before you know it...