Friday Miscellany

Okay, there's gotta be an easy way to reply to comments on Blogspot. Is there a setting or something I need to change? (The FAQ and poking about with different combinations of layouts isn't helping.) What really obvious thing am I missing here? Or is LJ really just that much more advanced? I'd actually like to be able to reply to the comments I get, even if it's just a "thanks!" or "ooooo, neat!"

In book news, whilst searching for Yarn Harlot Audiobooks/files, I disclovered Free Range Knitter: The Yarn Harlot Writes Again, available fall, 2008, in hardback. Hmmmm. May have to preorder that. Also looks like "Yarn Harlot" isn't an *available* audiobook (drat), so will have to figure out if I'd rather have "Knitting Rules" or "Meditations for Women who Knit Too Much" on the iPod attached to the shiny new exerbike. (Seriously. I have speakers for my iPod now; they came with this cool exercise bike attached.)

Also, In all the moving things around on Wednesday, I found my Britney purse, and I couldn't figure out if I'd shown it here or not (I don't think so, not since it got lined), so ta-dah!!


And the matching eyeglass case. I just *adore* this color green!


It's going to look so cute with my finished Britney top, once it gets warm enough to wear it!

The house ate my yarn.

Out sick yesterday. In between bouts of much-needed sleep, I pulled apart the parts of the house I could easily reach, looking for the little Michael's bag containing the other two skeins of Paton's "Allure" (colorway had "rose" in the name - but I don't think it was "Rose Quartz", since it was peachier in tone - and there was a lot number, I know there was...) that I tracked down when I was one repeat into the scarf. As it turns out, I really only needed *one* extra ball, since I got four repeats out of the first one, and I really only need seven... but hey, if I put an edging on it, it'll be a shawl, right? Ooo, will do that. Anyway, can't, due to no yarn. Pfeh. This is exactly one ball of Paton's "Allure" in the Travelling Roses Scarf pattern. Here's how it looks right now, accompanied by a shot of my lovely "stained glass" back door:


Since I couldn't move far after all the non-yarn-finding exertion, I ended up going back to SotS-II, fixing the stitch I'd dropped, and continuing on. I'm about 1/3 of the way through Hint #3 at this point.


You'll note I was a good bunny, and didn't start something *new* just because the house ate my yarn! (And I thought about putting sleeves, or starting to, on the Cat Sweater, hence its appearance in the photo above. Thankfully, that impulse passed.)

(pretend it's Wednesday)

Out sick yesterday, thus blog twice today.

Drat Silkweaver's Fabric of the Week! It's Mocha, possibly my favorite for actually stitching stuff on. And it's still Lent. Darn!

In unrelated news, I figured out my problem (well, one of them, anyway): I want to have knit a sweater this week. As in, "have a completed sweater magically fall off my knitting needles, without having to stress much about it". Yeah, I'm a dreamer.

I found a couple I like: the Dovetail Pullover from the Spring '08 Interweave Knits; Mariah or Josephine from Knitty. (Josephine might actually happen someday, actually.) Or I could do something really, really radical: finish one of the sweaters that I'm working on. Specifically, finish the bloody sleeves! I've got two sweaters in almost-sweater form at present:

The Stoplight Sweater Just Needs Sleeves!

The Cat Sweater Just Needs Sleeves!

Okay, the Stoplight Sweater also needs to be steeked and its zipper put in; the Cat Sweater needs to be steeked and its button band put in. But that's really not all THAT much. And I could have two sweaters, both of which would be really nice to have since it's STILL bloody cold here!

For folks who actually *do* knit things and finish them, check out Teeny Project Runway. I think I like the argyle sweater on Kermit the Frog best, but Molly the Sheep in her string bikini is ...something, too!

UFO sightings (and not)

So I figured out something as I looked at my UFO list yesterday. I have a lot of UFOs. (Okay, we all knew that. Hush.) The majority of them can be divided into three categories: (1) too big/heavy to haul around; (2) involving complex beading/tweeding that doesn't travel well and (3) "I can't see the bloody thing but I know it's in here somewhere." (Quite a few projects are in more than one category, mostly because I know they're in the craft room... somewhere. If I actually get around to moving the Huge Pile of Boxes that's taken over the floor in there, I'd probably be able to put my paws on 90% of the listed items within five minutes. It's that "moving the Huge Pile of Boxes" thing that's causing the problem.) The annotated list of projects is presented below. Items in bold I can both find *and* are small enough to carry around. Items with an asterisk (*) I can find, but there's a part missing or about to run out.

1. Sanctuary/Drawn Thread (1),(3) 2. Pocahontas "Proud Princess" (3) 3. English Knot Garden (1) 4. Guenivere (3) 5. Tiffany Wisteria Window #1 (3) 6. Autumn Sampler - Twisted Threads OCSJ class project (3) 7. Welcome Friends (1),(3) 8. Spirit of Christmas (1),(3) 9. "Castle Sampler" (1),(2) 10. "Day" (2),(3) 11. "Unicorn" ("Night Watch") (2),(3) 12. "Peacock Tapestry" (2),(3) 13. "Arcadian Angel" (2),(3) 14. "Dreamcatchers II" (2),(2) 15. "Fairy Tales" (1),(2),(3) 16. "Waiting for Ships/Mermaid of the Pearls" (1),(2),(3) 17. "Autumn Queen" (1),(2),(3) 18. "Angel of Christmas" (1),(3) 19. "Wedding Sampler" (3) 20. "W - Christmas Signpost" (3) 21. "Angel of Hope" (FIL) (1),(3) 22. "Mysterious Spirit Woman" (1),(3) 23. "Abundant Acorns" (2),(3) 24. "Once Upon a Time" (The Fairy's Secret Love) (2),(3) 25. "Tropical Dreams" (1),(3) 26. Stoney Creek Chivalry Sampler (2),(3) 27. Water Dragon (from M) (1),(3) 28. Pocahontas "Beautiful Braids" 29. Tiffany Wisteria Window #2 (1),(3) 30. Firebird (3)

31. M&I's Sampler (3) 32. "MS 2000" (1),(2),(3) 33. Eight "Joy" Ornaments (JCS Ornament issue '06) (3) 34. Six Williamsburg Mini Ornaments (2),(3) 35. Lounging Leopard Rug (1),(2),(3) 36. White "Bagaria" Afghan (1),(2),(3) 37. Illusion Dragon Blanket (1),(3) 38. Stoplight Sweater, Take III (1),(3) 39. The Cat Sweater/"Kitty Love" (1) 40. Secret of the Stole (3) 41. Peacock Scarf (3) 42. Traveling Rose Scarf * 43. Secret of the Stole II 44. September 11 Patriotic Shoo-Fly Quiltlet (1),(3) 45. Optical Illusion Squares Quilt (1),(3) 46. Block-Of-The-Month/ Red, Green, Gold (3) 47. Blue Triangles Quilt (1),(3) 48. "Northwoods Challenge" Quilt (1),(3) 49. A Very Broncos Christmas (3) 50. Quilt Block Exchange Quilt (1),(3) 51. Quilted Christmas Chessboard (3) 52. Dragonfly Window (1),(3) 53. Bargello Flames Bag (1),(3) 54. "Partridge in a Pear Tree" stocking (1),(3) 55. Fishing Pillow for Dad (1),(3) 56. Peacock Mandala Canvaswork * 57. Stained Glass Peacock Kit (3)

So, I can actually tell you where about 7% of my UFOs are, and could actually finish, without having to tear the house apart, half of those.
These numbers need some work!

Knitting Out Loud

Knitting Out Loud is a new audiobook publisher that publishes audiobooks about KNITTING! Having checked "No Idle Hands" out from the local library (I think it's overdue - whups!), being able to listen to it would be *much* fun. I do wonder about the pattern book audio books ("patterns not included"), though. Is it bad of me to hope that eventually Stephanie Pearl-McPhee will get into audiobooks? Hm, let's check: She has! Okay, I may have to cave and get Audible after all. *sigh*

On the actual knitting front, I'm about to have a Yarn Emergency. I'm two rows away from finishing repeat #4 of Traveling Roses, and I've probably got enough yarn to get through about a third of repeat #5. SOMEWHERE in my house, there are two more balls of this dye lot (which were a BEAR to get in the first place!)... but I have no idea where they're hiding. And I'd really like to have another three or four repeats on the scarf, too! *sigh*

We interrupt your knitting for a SQUEEEEAL!

"So, tell me what you want, what you really really want..."

Eeeeeeee! Okay, the Spice Girls concert was last night. I've been looking forward to it since they added DC as a venue (which, to my amazement, did not sell out!). I saw the tour, minus Geri/Ginger, in '98, got the poster (and t-shirt, and program - and was talked out of buttons and mugs then). I got absolutely NO knitting done, because I was bouncing around so much. This time, I got everything that caught my eye - and, oh yeah, there was this WONDERFUL show!! Seriously, I've been to a lot of concerts, and this really was one of the best, all partiality aside.

Look at how close we were - keep in mind, this is with a sucky tiny phone camera, because I didn't realize I could've brought my really GOOD camera/videocam and recorded the whole bloody thing! I TOTALLY would have!!

Really, they're RIGHT there!! Beginning of Concert

Final Number

We're there - bottom left, see?

LOTS of swag!

And since this is what the Bridge from Hell looked like coming in, I'll be leaving work at noon to go home and knit!!SEE YA!!

So, how's "not buying yarn" working for you?

Lent, starting Week II:
Okay, so, I collect things. Anyone who's ever seen my house can attest to that. My husband, realizing that I was going to collect things no matter what, has steered my main collecting drive to "Disney Pins". These are small (very), take up limited space compared to *everything* else I could collect, and I've chosen three categories: "Jessica Rabbit", "Si & Am", "Maleficient as the Dragon" and some "Tinkerbell". Sometimes, other things get snuck in there, true, but those are the big four, and I'm only a total completist with the Si & Am pins. (I have every Jessica Rabbit pin released before 2006 - which is when the art quality fell through the floor, and Disney realized it was getting insane amounts of money for Jessica pins, or sets with Jessica in them. As a result, I'm now only getting the ones I like.) ANYway, I'm going to be getting a Jessica Rabbit Pin Trading Bag. I don't actually know about it, but was shown the item, asked about personalization, and told to forget it. Yay!!

And, of course, the internet is a dangerous place. Look for one thing, find another, like this:

I just love WB's "Pussyfoot" (or "Precious", depending on which cartoon you're watching)... and finding I could get a shirt with her playing with a ball of yarn? I was torn on the wording: "Bad Kitty Cat" was OK ("Bad Kitty" would've been perfect); "I enjoy being a girl" was unnecessarily sexist, as I know guys who knit/play with yarn; and "The Cat's Meow" was cute. More yarn things I can't get. (Oh well.)

Got the third repeat on the Traveling Roses Scarf done, and had the "fun" of trying to put a lifeline in without a needle. Tweezers off my little green Leatherman Micra more or less did the trick, but it took forever. (Photo of Micra on the link doesn't show its true sparkly greeness, btw.) Starting on repeat four, and expect to get pretty far along while waiting for the SPICE GIRLS CONCERT!!!!! Wheee!

Finally, pictures of actual KNITTING!

Sometimes, knitting can't just be put down and picked up again.

Example: My Pretty as a Peacock shawl... which is no more. I'm going to have to be a bright bunny when I restart it (eventually) and use magical things like "row counters" and the magic see-through highlighter tape my friend Moria got me. What really bums me is I got ALL the way through Chart A, and realized I was horribly off somewhere, so unraveled and started again... and I was almost through (I think) - I just stopped in the middle of *some* row in the late teens, and honestly couldn't tell which. It sucks. I'm also going to ball my yarn - I'd actually been knitting this one with the yarn around my neck, and doing OK. *sigh* So, on Ravelry it's "in hibernation" - in reality, it's off the list. Not the way I want to lower my UFO numbers!

I did finally get a picture of my Secret of the Stole II, in progress. This is halfway through Hint #3:


I love love love this yarn. It's Sanguine Gryphon's "Gaia" in "The Gorge", which I'm totally glad I went with over "Moss on Bark" - which also would've been lovely, I'm quite sure, but I really like this. Yay, I'm getting closer to only two hints behind (assuming I can get a ton of knitting done between now and Friday, which isn't going to happen, what with half the secretaries at work out sick and the Spice Girls concert tomorrow night...)!

On the brighter side, I'm thisclose to finishing the third repeat on the Traveling Roses Scarf. It's going to block out to about 18" wide, and it's lighter and fluffier than some of the others I've seen... but I'm using size 8 needles, and it called for 2.5mm. Don't care. It's FLUFFY!!


And I'd like you to meet my newest gryphon, Victoria, who, thanks to my friend Cat, was able to come home with me. (I'd been distracted by a plush panda-bear, and had actually MISSED a gryphon sitting within inches of my nose!) She's a puppet, and is able to show quite a range of expression (which is tough with a beak).

She got into the yarn... ...and wants to point out that the UFO count is now 57.

Yarn Harlot!!

Okay, Monday, April 7, 2008: Stephanie Pearl-McPhee will be at the Borders in Annapolis at 7pm. I am officially begging for a ride now. I can be tossed onto Metro at New Carrolton on the way back (or whichever Metro station works for the kind person driving me), or left at my in-laws' (I think. I'll check with them.)

Also, this weekend was (a) Katsucon (much fun if you're into SF/Anime/Cosplay) - and (b) the Daytona 500. One of the guys at my office went, and got me this:

Yay! Pin!!! I also did a whole bunch of knitting, but forgot the SD card with all the photos. Got halfway through Hint #3 on SotS-II, and found a dropped stitch - thankfully, only two rows down! - that I need to fix. Finished the second repeat of the Traveling Roses scarf - man, it's gonna be pretty! - and am halfway through the third. The pattern called for smaller needles and thirteen repeats of the 44-row pattern; I'm thinking 7 repeats will suffice.

Pictures tomorrow, I promise!!

Letting Go of Stuff (literally)

Today's thing to torture myself with Not Buying are the lovely very brightly colored 'punk' stitch markers in Orange, Chartreuse and Hot Pink from MeowingDog.net. I totally need, say, 4 of each. Just can't get 'em yet. *Sigh.* I am being good, but I'm going to whine about it a wee bit.

I'm also becoming a Lace Knitter. As in, I don't find myself planning to knit anything but lace in the forseeable future.

I'm also coming to realize that there are some projects (mostly cross-stitch) that just never may get finished. For example: TW's Castle Sampler. I started it in 1991 (1993?), back when I crossed my X's the "other way" from the way I do now. I think I *am* going to finish it, but not according to pattern. I'm going to throw a couple of dragons in the "bottom" (where the people are), and some of her crosses... and then I'm buttonholing the entire center, and turning it into a picture frame. Because there's just no way I'm ever going to finish it as is, and then I'll have a nice mat for a photo of, say, me and my husband, or our whole family, or whatever. Another example: There's a "Welcome Friends" that I started long, long ago as well - same issue on the "x"s, and, quite honestly, it doesn't go with my house now. The words are done, most of the flower is done, and the ribbon can be truncated. It's never going to be done according to pattern, so I'm going to figure out how to finish it fast... and the next of my friends that gets a nice, new, elegant home gets it. Yet another example: I started making a quilt of tiny blue triangles when I started quilting a few years back. I didn't measure particularly well, I didn't mark the seams particularly well... and as much fun as I had cutting up the little triangles and hand-piecing them together, it's never going to be anything usable. Or even salvageable, at this point. I think I've got one piece that's almost 18"x18"; I think it'll become a pillow-top, and that will be that.

See, a lot of stitching, knitting... crafting in general, is knowing when to let go. I'm not good at letting go; I've got thirteen generations (or more) of pack-rats behind me, and, being an Army brat, "home" was where my stuff was. I get very attached to stuff. I am slowly learning to let stuff go (I donated BOOKS to the library last week!), and eventually, I will get my stuff under control.

At least, as evidenced by the stitch markers referenced above, I'm getting new stuff that's markedly *smaller* than the old stuff it'll be replacing. It's a start.

V-Day

♥ ♥ ♥ Happy Valentine's Day, everyone! ♥ ♥ ♥

Before The yummy stuff doesn't last long at our house!

After

"The storm should go north and west of here...."

Bad: The city got hit by an unexpected ice storm. This meant that my usual two-hour commute home was four - and that was short compared to some folks! Thankfully, I was alerted that the Major Interstate running south was closed (yeah, they closed an east-coast interstate for something other than fire in the Everglades), so I took the subway as far south as possible, and caught a bus back north on the backroads. Which also weren't moving - or were, just very, very slowly, as everything was already coated in ice (including the umbrellas of several fellow bus riders).

Good: Three solid hours of knitting time!!

Bad: I decided I would always look at the muck I'd made of one corner of my SotS-2 and, while it was passable, it wasn't *perfect*, so that three hours ended up getting frogged.

Good: That left me another hour to knit it back in, and now that I had the pattern down cold, it went much more quickly. I'm almost up to the point I frogged from (about eight rows), thanks to...

Bad: This morning's commute from hell. I got to work by 10:15am... which isn't 8:30, when I'm supposed to start. Nor, might I add, was it 6:55am, when I started standing out for the bus that never showed up (or the three after it). Hands were very cold.

Good: At least I had knitting with me once my hands warmed up. Knitting is calming and soothing. Knitting is why I won't accidentally kill anyone today if they get on my last nerve. Knitting saves lives.

Bad: There's more snow and ice on the way for the commute home tonight.

Good: At least I have my knitting.

New Project

Remember how I said that the Sekrit Projikt had been unraveled - and didn't count on the UFO list anyway? Well, sadly, Secret of the Stole II *does* count, and I've started it. Not only started, but (happyhappyjoyjoy!) it's going along swimmingly! I'm really liking the Gaia, colorway "The Gorge" silk/cashmere yarn from The Sanguine Gryphon. There are still 9 hanks left, I note. Although DK says she envisions her pattern in "nonvarigated yarn in subtle earth tones", I'm loving my more richly-colored varigated stuff. The lace pattern still pops just fine, and it's pretty! I have no idea what the theme is going to be, but to me, the colors look all pasture-y. Which is pretty much going to scream out for a fluffy white sheep shawl pin (or three).

This weekend was all houseworky - I actually got the baseboards installed where they'd been ripped out from the floods a few years back. This required getting them at Home Depot; when the cart went past the Shiny New Power Tools area, so I lost Mom and Spouse in there. Thankfully, I had knitting with me.

Yes, that's green knitting that you haven't seen before. That is my shiny new Secret of the Stole II, aka UFO #58. (Yep, it would've been #59 - you were paying attention! - but I also unraveled my Rose Romance Sweater - it just wasn't working, and I didn't have the heart to start it up again, so it's de-listed.)

[Warning: Rant, political in nature] Naturally, I was going to take pictures of my SotS progress this morning, but I had to get up to vote (which I did). I forgot everything else after being welcomed to the local elementary school, the sign out front which read "STRENGTH THROUGH UNITY". More than mildly disturbing, as I live in an incredibly diverse neighborhood (ethnically, nationally, religious, you name it, we've got it all). WWII - someone clearly forgot that fascism was what we were fighting over there - the whole notion that there was One Right Way to do things, and One Right Way to be. "Strength through diversity!" was very much our motto in college - what the heck happened to make people forget that in a decade? Clearly someone thought putting up that particular slogan was a good idea... and they're teaching our kids. *Shudder.*

Day six, and still haven't bought anything.

Now, I can track my UFO progress with a bunny!! Wheee!!

The Sekrit Project hit a bit of a snag during lunch on Friday when I realized that "winging it" just wasn't working, so I had to turn to Expert Advice. The expert in question is Wendy Johnson, and the help was her Generic Toe-Up Sock Pattern. I've used it and variations before, and darned if it isn't about the best out there for a nice, no-fuss toe-up sock. I chose to call Part #2 (which had yet to be frogged) my "gauge swatch", and did the math from there. So, back on track, with socks Sekrit Projikt Parts that will actually both hold up *and* fit my foot. Golly! However, being me, something else happened, which will be detailed tomorrow.

My brain almost tricked me into buying a knitting related thing (the Big No No until Easter), since it was a "don't let me buy knitting things" AND a totebag. I'm totally weak when it comes to getting totebags. And I really want this one... it's so appropriate just now!

Click photo to get your own!

Plus, there's the Frogging Queen t-shirt, that's really tempting to get my best friend. She'd kill me, though, for reasons related not at all to crafting. Sasquach Stole My Knitting Needles. I don't need that one, really, it's just funny due to... well, if you know me, you know why it's funny. There was a "Chthulu Wants Yarn" shirt... but when I checked the link before posting, it wasn't there anymore. Creepy. But, it leads to this one, Since I knit while I game, I should get that one, too. *Sigh.* Thankfully, lots and lots of the items available are NOT offered on tote bags.

I'm totally getting that totebag day after Easter.Two of 'em!

Sekrit Projikt

Sometimes, I worry I'm losing my mind. I sometimes write several entries in advance, and had, in fact, set up this entry (excepting this first paragraph, of course) yesterday. Around noon, I checked my journal... and didn't see this entry. What had happened? Where had it gone? I knew I'd posted around nine, so certainly, this entry should be there! I checked my dashboard... well, sure, I had, in fact, posted on the seventh. I checked my daily desk calendar, the pages of which I rip off the instant I sit down each morning. It's the seventh. What had happened? Why hadn't my post shown up? It took about five minutes of checking and rechecking everything, before I opened my set-up file... and found the entry, clearly marked "For February 8". *Sigh.*

Day Three of Forty of the Yarn & Stuff Diet: So far, so good. Luckily, I stopped off at Stitch DC in Georgetown on Mardi Gras, and got yarn for my Sekrit Projikt. I have discovered that projects such as the Sekrit Projikt are *not* fun, relaxing knitting; they're work. As such, they don't go on the UFO list, because they're gonna be done really, really soon, because I want them DONE. It's another one of those I-gotta-write-what-I-do-when-I-do-it, and then translate my chicken-scratchings into Standard Knitting English. Twenty rows in on Part #1, and so far, so good. I've been able to replicate (using my notes and not peeking at what I just did) Part #1 in Part #2.


It Begins...
Progress 2-7-08
The other tricky part is figuring out how normal people do stuff. When I make a stitch in stockinette, I first pull the loop of the stich in the row below the "next" stitch up, knit in that, and then knit in the "next" stitch. Nice little almost-invisible increase. I'm pretty sure I've seen something similar somewhere, but is this "normal"? If, for example, I had a patern that said "M1, K10, M1", would people get that they had ten stitches on the needles, and they were supposed to make it twelve by increasing at the beginning and end of the row? Or would "increase by one stitch at beggining and end of row" be better? Or would I actually have to spell out how to go about increasing just so for the pretty effect made by M1, K, M1 at the edges of the allegedly circular project? So confusing, this trying to think as normal people do!!

On the upside, there will be Vast Gallumphing Progress on the Sekrit Projikt, so the day-to-day photos should actually show astounding amounts of progress... at least until I get to the part I haven't figured out yet.

ed: The Sekrit Projikt has received the go-ahead from She Who Decides in this instance. Yaaaaaaay!!!!


Progress 2-8-08,
at which point I unraveled everything
and started over.

Lent.

              So, what are you giving up for Lent?

Usually, it's a foodstuff, and usually I make it. Not much of a challenge. So, this year, in the spirit of giving up something that will actually be *tough*... I'm not buying any new craftstuff. No yarn, no needles, no cool little hooks, no cross stitch, no patterns.

              We'll see if I can actually last 40 whole days. I hope I can.

It's been a while since I've forgotten to add a Fabric Softener Sheet to a dryerload of clothes. As I am a Goddess of Static Electricity, dryer sheets are one of those things that vastly improve the quality of my life. When I forget to add one, this sort of thing happens. Sunday night, late, I unloaded the dryer and in addition to the usual zaps and pings from vicious socks, I was presented with this:

Look at all the fuzzy tendrils CLINGING to the shirt. Like tiny electric TEETH.

Now, people tell me that if I just let it sit, the static will eventually discharge into the air, rendering the garment harmless.

People lie. It's been four days, and the suckers are still clinging together for all they're worth. Neither I nor my spouse wish to be zapped to the degree that might - nay, will - occur upon attempting to separate my Turtle Fur hat from my Izod shirt.

Maybe we'll just let them sit quietly until, say, April.

Lilly-of-the-Valley Shawl is Done!

Much excitement!! I've actually finished a big project - the Lilly of the Valley Shawl from Lace Style, which I did as part of the Lace Style Knitalong.

Full view, sort of

A very pretty little corner

I haven't blocked it; when I do, I'll take pics with the *real* camera, to do it justice. Because I only had so much yarn, I knit it on size 1 needles, so it's definitely not as large as it would have been with the right amount of yarn and the needles as called for. It's hovering between small shawl and large scarf; hopefully, blocking will send it firmly into the "shawl" category. Either way, I got it done in time for Easter!!

Big ol' HappyDance!! (P.S., that's 58 on the UFO Count!!)

Today, Garter Stitch is too much of a challenge.

OH MAN, I'm tired today. At work until 10:45 (plus the cab ride home) last night; back in on time this morning (which means I actually hit the building before 8am, since the alternative is waking up at the same time and going via bus, which gets me here just barely by 8:30. I'll take the extra knitting time, thank you).

My Knitterly Brain was supposed to deliver a sketch or two to Sanguine Gryphon yesterday, and felt wretched because I hadn't done so (at midnight). Naturally, it kept me awake until I had a concept, and had more or less figured out how to execute it. When I hit my desk, I did a quick sketch of my idea, a couple of options around it, annotated it, scanned it, and e-mailed it off to Gryphon. Even if it's not a go for her, I may make a pair anyway, just for fun! Now I've just got to figure out how to do a couple of the other ideas I have properly. One has a lot of different colors, mostly two-colors per band, but possibly too many colors to make a workable kit. One was too generic, initially, but I've come up with a more fun way to execute something specific - again, with lots and lots of colors, but I think it could work. The trick is to make them visually and elementally different enough that they'd be Something Completely Different for a sock club, with different techniques for knitters to play with. And, okay, I wanna learn stuff, too!

Today, I share with you the Secret Dip Stash. Seriously. A Safeway we don't usually shop at has Helluva Good French Onion Dip in Vast Quantities... we usually can't find it near our house, evidently because they keep it about ten miles west of there.

Dip on shelves

More dip, stashed illicitly in Pillsbury cooler

We counted over SIXTY containers... the most we've ever seen at our local store is EIGHT. They had SIXTY. That's a lot of Dip.

I got YARN!

The "Resolutions 2008" Ravelry group has an ongoing thread on "how much yarn have you used this year?"

I wasn't sure. I know I used all but 4" of 6 balls of Patons "Rumor"... looks like 16.8 oz, or 1 pound 8oz. Wow. I've already used a pound of yarn by the end of January!!

The UFO numbers so far are doing well, too. I've started five things, finished five things (four of which were started in January), so I'm still at 59 UFOs one month into the year. This is pretty good, for me!

Speaking of Yarn, I got my box from Sanguine Gryphon on Saturday. I'm still all a-twitter at how GORGEOUS this yarn is. My cameraphone just doesn't do the colorway justice - I'll get a better picture if I'm ever not at work again.




I haven't started SotSII yet,, as I didn't finish the Lilly of the Valley Shawl over the weekend as I hoped I would. I *did* get to watch a wicked good football game (and that phrase right there should tell you which team I was rooting for), and see lots and lots of my friends, which I don't do nearly often enough. I also distributed the first packs of Bacon Salt, which is amazingly yummy... and probably addictive. Don't care, I love my Bacon Salt, and it's gotta be *the* best use of funds from an America's Funniest Home Videos wing!

Hoping to get to go home today. At some point.

I'm a practical creature at heart. Thus, my fair-use copy of the little edging pattern for my Lilly of the Valley Shawl is carefully taped, upside down, to the inside lining of the bag I'm toting said shawl around in. When the bag is open, then viola! the chart is right-side up. (Note shawl, festooned with plastic-coated paper clips every sixteen stitches, with extra for the corners, poking up out of bag.)

I'm actually starting the 3rd row of 14 for the edging (and I put an additional two edge set-up rows in, just because). Depending on how the weekend goes, there's a chance LotV-S will be ready for blocking by the end of the SuperBowl. Yay!

For anyone syndicating through LiveJournal... I didn't realize the feed was going to dump ten posts onto your Friendslist at once. Sorry 'bout that, and just so you know, I don't post THAT often.

In other news, thanks to the "Resolutions 2008" group on Ravelry (the only group where I'm reading absolutely every message), I know what I'm supposed to be doing this year. I'm doing okay on the health-things - more water, less calories, and eventually I'll be exercising more regularly (stomach flu pretty much killed the last ten days). I'm not doing too badly on the UFO count; I'm at 59 right now, with more things falling off the list soon. Right now, I need to concentrate on getting things framed up to put into Woodlawn. I'm balking at getting set up on DeviantArt and Etsy... the first, because I don't have a bunch of images ready to go up on DeviantArt; the second, because I don't really want to sell stuff I've made, just patterns. Which *is* done on Etsy, but I need a bit more practice first. So I'm gonna pull that off the list, for now, to stop worrying about it. At least I'm almost ready to start putting comics up; I've been carrying a little sketchbook everywhere for the last few weeks, and practicing. I almost have consistently recognizable rabbits. Yay! Now I just have to get the house organized again, and I'll be all set.

Unexpected Warm Fuzzy Department: Ran into the other half of my writing group on the bus last night, and she was wearing the scarf I made her last year. This was very cool; I don't give away much of my knitting, and it was neat to know that she actually gets use out of it!!