Knit, Knitting... Knat?

I am back from the bachelorette party! And it was fun, my peaches. I was so tired on the train back home that I fell asleep with my knitting in my hands and missed an undetermined chunk of The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, which was b.a.d. One should attempt not to fall asleep for the crucial buildup of a thriller, or one is apt to wake up to some Serious Spoilers. I am trying to put them out of my mind.

Before I left for the bachelorette weekend, I stopped at the local library to check out a book that I was in the middle of when I left Coal City. It wasn't there, so I consoled myself with a stack of other books. At the moment I'm reading a pair of books by Pauline Gedge about girls in ancient Egypt. Afterward I'm debating over whether I should re-subject myself to GRRM's A Song of Ice and Fire series. The debate goes something like this:

Me: I love those books, and I've largely forgotten what happens aside from everyone dying. I should read it again!

Me, Too: But the series isn't finished! And we haaates cliffhangers!

Me: But they're so. good! There is plotting, and scandal, and Jamie Lannister! And Jamie Lannister's abs, which are strangely compelling! Maybe it's his bad-boy-turned-good persona... or his square jaw... why do antiheroes always have square jaws? Is it a sexual prowess thing?

Me, Too: Stop avoiding the point and distracting me with attractive fictional men! Have you learned nothing from Robert Jordan's death? Never begin a series that the author hasn't finished!

Me: We're reading the Outlander series, which also isn't finished and also involves amazing abs - this time of the Scottish variety. How is that different?

Me, Too: Cheating. She could end the series at any time (do you hear me, Diana? Any. Time.) and it would still feel complete. Not so with GRRM and his many hundreds of dangling plot points.

Me: You have a point.

Me, Too: This is why we like classics.

Me: Agreed. Would you care for some Tolstoy?

Me, Too: Don't mind if I do.

And so it goes.

But back to the knitting! Of which there was plenty this summer.

THB's Last Chance Socks weighed in at 440 yards.

The Cornucopia socks were smaller, being for me and not my gigantic-footed brother. They used 305 yards.

I finished knitting my second Girasole, which was ridiculously easy and fast this time around. By weight, it is 1040 yards, but isn't yet blocked. Bachelorette duties called, after all!

I completed my second Jolly Green Knee High on the plane back from Illinois and with a broken needle, no less! Note to self: size 0 wooden needles do not fare well when jammed into a bag at top speed! Note the second: carry spare needles, durrrr. They used 545 yards, but the next iteration will use fewer as these ones are a little floppy and loose and prone to falling down, which is not a good look for knee highs, generally speaking.

For those playing along with the 12-Mile Quest (Brie), that puts me at 2330 yards completed, or 1.32 miles, not including the Ishbel for Grandma! That's not too shabby considering that I also spun almost all the Be-Bop-a-Lula singles and knitted about 70% of the Cheraphim before THB arrived with the skein of yarn I needed - he dug through my stash to find it for me, wasn't that sweet? - and it turned out to be not the color I thought it was, so now I need a Plan C. I'm thinking I might just dye the offending Wrong Color Skein, or maybe the whole she-bang after I finish the knitting. I am as yet undecided and the shawl is in Time Out. 

Here is the new shawl I started when I got home and caught up on Omly's blog. It's the Hera Mountain Ridge Shawl, and I'm particularly pleased that I didn't have to a) buy any yarn for it, or b) dip into my Lorna's Laces stash, which is strangely sacrosanct for socks lately. Instead, it is alternating skeins of Tess Sock Yarn from Stitches Past and my dear friend Cynthia. I am also completely enamored of the stripes. You might think that this much garter stitch would make me crazy, but you would be wrong. Don't feel bad, it happens to everyone.

Maybe it's just that my brain needs a rest and something to practice knitting without looking while watching Bones (boy howdy, did I miss Bones!). But I'm enjoying the hell out of this so far.

And speaking of Grandma, she is doing well. The last day I was there happened to be her fourth chemo treatment, so she and my Uncle left the house before I did and I got to wave her off. But that's not the story! The story is that as she was getting ready that morning, I told her that she looked as if she was missing something. She checked her head, neck, and ears to make sure she had on her wig, necklace, earrings, and hearing aids, then gave me a totally blank look. I couldn't keep from grinning like a fool when I pulled out the finished Ishbel from behind my back and gave it to her! She was sooooo happy, and it looks lovely on her:

Isn't she an adorable little Grandma? I'm so glad she loves the shawl. We definitely had our differences while I was there, but I'm completely happy that I went.

2008 Finished Objects

Ok, it's still "objects finished in 2008," but this title is much more goal-worthy, don't you agree??

1/6 - Grape Jelly pencil roving, 113 yds.
1/11 - Copperpot Woolies Dye4U roving, 205 yds.
1/13 - Charade Socks for Gabe, ~326 yds.

1/16 - Happy Chinese Apple Sweater, 170 yds.

1/24 - Flor de Loto roving, 233 yds.
2/6 - Cargo Pants, 202 yds.

2/14 - Hedera Socks, 268 yds.
2/17 - A Fetching Rainbow, 83 yds.
2/20 - Faina's Scarf, 462 yds.
3/18 - Rhubarb roving, 202 yds.

3/19 - Zombie socks, 315 yds.

3/25 - Egyptian Jungle Cardigan, ~200 yds.

3/29 - Black Magic roving, 383 yds.

4/3 - Reversai Socks, 347 yds.
4/18 - Quietude roving, 171 yds.
4/18 - Millefiore roving, 205 yds.

5/2 - Buffalo Soldier roving, 233 yds.

5/20 - Perplexed roving, 450 yds.

6/11 - Wussy No More Socks, 311 yds
6/13 - Juno Wedding Shawl, ~950 yds.
6/26 - Black Forest Shawl, 383 yds.
7/5 - Tobacco Road roving, 903 yds.
7/11 - Stutter Socks, 436 yds.
7/18 - Pink Sky Socks, 51 yds.
7/27 - Under the Boardwalk roving, 694 yds.
7/29 - Seed Stitch Shoes, 56 yds.
7/29 - Veteran's Hat #1, 106 yds.

7/31 - Veteran's Hat #2, 142 yds.

8/1 - Veteran's Hat #3, 87 yds.

8/4 - Veteran's Hat #4, 92 yds.

8/8 - Torch Island, 255 yds.

8/11 - Veteran's Hat #5, 120 yds.

8/15 - Veteran's Hat #6, 120 yds.
8/20 - Baby Mama Shawl, 267 yds.

8/23 - Baby Surprise Jacket, 360 yds.

8/28 - No-Purl Monkey Socks, 257 yds.

9/6 - Daffodil Socks, 294 yds.

9/6 - Theodora Sweater, 198 yds.
9/13 - No-Purl Monkeys, 298 yds.
9/20 - Torch Island Hat and Scarf, 255 yds.
10/4 - Pink Lightning Socks, 303 yds.

10/25 - Elphaba Socks, 531 yds.
11/1 - Duckling Dove Socks - 319 yds.

11/13 - Seeded Rib Scarf - 233 yds.

11/20 - Gabe's Socks - 400 yds.
12/17 - Alexander's Hat - 120 yds.
12/19 - Erick's Hat - 120 yds.
12/20 - Seeded Rib Scarf #2 - 215 yds.
12/22 - Seeded Rib Scarf #3 - 216 yds.
12/27 - Seeded Rib Scarf #4 - 215 yds.

Getting There

Let's see. I have pictures and FO's and yes, the embroidery pictures. But first, a confession that will shock no one: I have failed at my 12-Mile Quest for 2008. I tried everything from knitting faster to squinting sideways, but there wasn't any real, practical way to get my tally up from barely starting Mile 9 to over Mile 12. That, my friends, is three sweaters, or 12 pairs of socks, or one really scary Wedding Shawl. None of which are feasible between now and oh, 10 days hence.

So, on January 1, I'm starting over. I'm going to maintain my attempt at having reasonable expectations for myself, and say 12 miles for the entire year of 2009, instead of getting to September and realizing that I need to extend my goals. There is a stress point at which I operate perfectly - there's just enough pressure that I feel motivated, but not so much that I throw up my hands and admit defeat. Next year will be about trying to nail down that stress point more clearly so that I can be more productive but less agitated. We'll see if that works...

I'm also debating between 2009 as the Year of Lace or the Year of Socks. Mostly because I'm graduating in May - surely you've heard - and if I move it will be to somewhere colder than the Silicon Valley, and I will need more hand-knitted socks if I intend to survive. Which I do - if only to avoid passing my student loan debt onto my parents. Anyway, these are the things I ponder when I don't have slide tests to cram for or papers to whip up.

Yesterday I finished up this little beauty:

Seeded Rib Scarf #2, Malabrigo "Stonechat," 215 yds.

It'll be for Grandma M. Next up is a Seeded Rib Scarf #3 out of Malabrigo's "Indigo" for my Aunt C.; I've discovered that I'm quite fond of how the seeded rib looks, so that's the theme for the rest of the Christmas and King's Feast scarves. Only one more for Household 2!

In between Alexander's Hat and the Seeded Rib #2, I made a hat for ManCandy in Michigan colors. Neither hat is in my possession at the moment, but they're pretty standard hats, and based on the weights of the Veteran's Hats I made this summer should be around 120 yards, so that's what I'm putting for each. Which brings today's 12-Mile Quest total up to 455 yards; not that I'm counting so much at the moment, but maybe I'll finish up Mile 9 before the year turns.

In other news, here are the embroidery pictures:

Mandala #1, mostly finished

Mandala #2, about 1/2 finished

Sort-of comparative sizes.

Ultimately there will be 3 mandalas on the rectangular piece of fabric, all pretty much the same size (about 5" square). Currently the first one is about 4" square and the smaller one is about 2". In terms of time commitment, I had completed about 95% of what you see in Mandala #1 before I decided to use this as my art project for school, so it only took about 2-3 hours to get it to where it is now. Mandala #2 represents about 40 hours of work up to this point, and I left out some of the filler in favor of overall size. The mandalas themselves were designed by Martina Weber, who is a gifted artist in terms of her embroidery work. I have several of her designs stashed away, waiting for the whim to overtake me. She prefers to work in silks and beads, which are beautiful but also expensive, and so I don't have many of her pieces kitted up.

The piece is being worked on 40-count linen over 2 threads, which means that instead of each cross stitch taking up only one warp/weft pair in the fabric (+), it takes up 4 (#). Therefore, there are 20 stitches per inch on the fabric, which means I need quiet, a big chunk of time, and good strong light to work on this. It is, to say the least, rather time consuming.

Happy Holidays, everyone! I'm off to finish reveling in my only day off with no one in the house. I think I'll celebrate with a glass of wine and some television. And, of course, a Seeded Rib Scarf.

10-minute blog post!

Oh yes, cheer in exultation, my friends. Today you get TEN minutes worth of information instead of the usual FIVE. I know you're excited. 

Knitting. There has been some - quite a bunch, really. I stopped doing the November Sweater thing when I realized with a panic that I can't make some people in my family handmade gifts and simply buy things for the rest; my family is all craftsy and artsy, and they know the difference in time/thought commitment between handmade and store-bought. 

After several tries, the Buffalo Soldier 3-ply I spun up awhile ago became a scarf in short order - 2 days of knitting and my dad has a Christmas present:

Seeded Rib Scarf, CMF "Buffalo Soldier" 3-ply, 233 yds.

That's a Seeded Rib pattern from Barbara Walker's Second Stitch Dictionary. I have come to the conclusion that I need to knit with more handspun. Jasmin will get all "I told you so!" in the comments, and she's totally right. I need to spin more so I can knit with more handspun, because it's utterly charming. I was more pleased knitting up this little scarf than anything I can think of recently, except for Jessie's hat and scarf... which are also made of handspun. Oh, and my stepmom's shawl - ALSO handspun. Two incidences make a straight line, but three is a trend, as my engineer father is wont to say. Clearly I need to bust out the Sonata more often.

Here's another shot just 'cause I'm so chuffed about the scarf:

Last weekend, I was off on both Friday and Monday as the Relatively Normal's had a bar mitzvah to attend in New York State. I had planned to spend the weekend drinking wine and enjoying the first weekend of the newest World of Warcraft expansion, but I was thwarted when my father called up and asked if he could fly me to LA to spend time with him. I admit freely that I was a little bummed - my dad and I have a rocky relationship, and I had planned my long weekend out to the hour, including time for school projects and going to pick up dinner to eat it in front of the computer screen (can't sit at a restaurant! must level!). But filial duty is a strong part of my nature, and I knew I'd enjoy myself once I got there. 

My dad's college roommate, Sam, was docked in San Diego, so Papa picked me up at the airport and we headed down there to see him and his family. Sam is a character; his family is independently wealthy due to some clever choices in the early part of the 20th century, but he hasn't ever used the money except as a potential safety net. Instead, he buys derelict yachts, fixes them up, then sells them again - but not before sailing them around the world to "make sure they're ship-shape." Needless to say, the man has more stories than Grimm's. I spent an exceedingly pleasant weekend learning about boats, visiting the Maritime Museum and the San Diego Zoo, and learning how to navigate in the world of traveling people. I took a bunch of pictures, and you can see them here; although as of right now not all of them are up on Flickr yet. 

That's the end of my 10 minutes, but I also finished a pair of socks for Gabe's Christmas present - ~400 yards of Regia 4-ply. Pictures to follow!

Completa!

Duckling Dove Socks, Knit Picks Bare "Pink Lemonade"
319 yds.

Piddle, Twiddle, and Resolve

It's Thursday, Oct. 30, and in any other year I would be cackling over my Halloween costume and planning my route to various parties. But this year, I'm simply sitting, waiting anxiously for Tuesday. Everything that doesn't involve voting somehow seems unimportant, which is how I can justify procrastinating on my paper for Biology. This year, I am going to only one gathering - not really a party, more a collection of friends - at Jasmin's house to play Rock Band and hand out candy to kids. My costume will consist of a pair of rockin' jeans, possibly a corset but more likely a tank top, and some yet-to-be-procured colored hair gel. Oh, and a plethora of eye makeup.

The stasis I feel about the election seems to have very little impact on my fingers. Knitting is a fantastic pastime for the twitchily anxious, and in that light I am thrilled to show these off!

Elphaba Socks, Knit Picks Multi "Meadows," 531 yds.

They're just a teensy bit tight; next time I'll start the calf increases a little lower. But for my purposes, I love them. The night I bound them off, we went to hear our friend Juanita sing at Unwined and had a fantastic time.

Me, Lisa, Jasmin, and Gigi. Photograph by Andrew.

I came home and immediately started another pair of socks in the same yarn base so I wouldn't have to fuss with swatching. I'm nearly to the heel of the second sock, which is a small kind of miracle as I had to think very carefully about whether to frog the first one and start over. These socks are Duckling socks of the highest degree. They are stunningly ugly until you put them on your foot, and then they're quite nice. Since I don't intend to show them to many people off my feet, I decided to keep going along and finish the pair. I'm fairly enamored of the colorway; I dyed it way back in the day with Kool-Aid, and I may need to figure out a way to reproduce it using more professional-grade dyes.

Duckling Dove Sock #1

Now if you'll excuse me, my coffee is finally ready and I can now go check out 538.

Surpassing Loveliness and Unbearable Angst

First, happy Jewish New Year, my friends! Take a moment to celebrate life and those you love whether you adhere to the Jewish faith or not. We don't take enough opportunities to remember the overall beauty of the world we live in, I think.

Are you done? Ok, back to me.

While I watched the debate on Saturday night, I finished the collar on my Ribbi Cardi! Now all that's left is to (find and) install the zipper, and it's d-o-n-e! I'm going to weigh it before I put the zipper in; at the moment I'm not certain how many yards it is, but it's definitely a big ol' chunk of them!

Also falling under the "finished!" tag are my little sissy's Christmas hat and scarf:

Pre-blessed by my mom's cherub fountain! I used the Torch Island handspun for this and I'm quite pleased with how it knitted up. The gradations I worked out on paper ended up pretty close to what I got in a finished fabric, so I'm quite chuffed with the whole she-bang. And as a final finish, I put buttons on the Theodora sweater:
Astute observers will notice the buttons don't match; this is because I used buttons from my great-grandmother's button box. I was utterly charmed when my mom pulled the box off the shelf and let me dig through it; it started life as a little 6 oz tin of buttered toffee from England and has grown to fill a Christmas cookie-sized tin; later that afternoon Mom gave me the original 6 oz tin and let me chose some buttons to start my own button collection. Things like this give me a feeling of being connected to my past. Growing up in Alaska, far away from most of my extended family, I didn't ever really connect with my grandmothers, aunts or uncles. Of course I love them dearly - they're family, after all - but we were definitely cut off from a big family experience, and so I don't know them as well as I would wish. I sat for hours stirring buttons with my mom while she told me that certain ones reminded her of her grandmother, great-aunt or mom. Occasionally a button would recall a specific sweater, or make us cackle with how ugly the original garment had to be to deserve such a monstrous button. Mom was delighted that both her children had used Great Grandmother Madge's button box in the same day; Gabe needed a button for some khaki's, and he learned to sew on a button while I tacked on the three wee buttons for the Theodora sweater. I think now that I have the beginnings of a button box, I'll be more likely to pick up a few here and there when I see them. I already have plans for a few of the lovely buttons I took from the original box, and I'm pretty secure in the knowledge that if I don't actually use them, they'll all fold back together again when the box comes to me.

I've also been working on an Accordion sweater for my friend's mother. She asked me to make a sweater for one of her nephews, and I accepted. I've never done anything on commission before, and I don't know that I will again. Despite the fact that I liked the pattern and didn't mind the yarn, I definitely felt a slight undercurrent of mutiny while I was knitting away. Hopefully that won't come through in the finished piece; at the moment it's waiting to be sewn together and blocked:

But on to the main event! I met this lovely icon on Saturday:
Cat Bordhi and her workshop were everything I wanted them to be. Mom and I joined Jasmin and her mother Gigi along with our friend Colleen and trekked up to Lafayette for a day of mind-blowing ideas. Jasmin and I have been saying for quite some time that neither of us understands toe-up socks or short rows like we want to, and in the 8-hour workshop Ms. Bordhi settled both problems with alacrity.

The woman has magic hands, I swear. She thinks like an engineer and an artist at the same time. We all agreed that one of our favorite things about her is her genuine desire to teach people instead of market her own ideas. I can't yet explain the things I learned at the workshop, but I am reasonably certain that I'll be making many more toe-up socks that actually fit me from now on.

After lunch, we stepped over to the charming Yarn Boutique, and when I walked into the store and Jasmin looked up like a deer in headlights, her arms full of Kauni. For shame! But according to our deal, it's okay as long as she's getting rid of an equivalent amount. This afternoon we'll be doing some weighing out of both of our stashes; I simply could not allow this Anne to stay orphaned at the shop:
Isn't it stunning? I'm in love. Yesterday I stopped by Purlescence to replace some Addi needles I lost when I misplaced a sock bag and picked out this for my stepmother's Christmas present:
I think the bright pink will amuse her when she looks down at her feet during the day; there's an added bonus in that her feet and mine are exactly the same size, so I don't even have to guess about stitch counts. I also cast on these in the same pattern:
That's some of the Regia Man Yarn I bought pre-SPE. It will probably be socks for my dad's Christmas present, but I'm not sure yet.

The mail has been pretty busy lately; I got a fleece back from Sherri at Morro Bay. It's a Lincoln/Merino cross named Steve, and for whatever reason it just tickles me that somewhere in the world there is a Sheep Named Steve. I also got my Knitters for Barack Obama gear:
That's the hoodie and t-shirt; I also got a mug and stickers for my car. I was able to customize the shirts and the mug with my name, and for whatever reason it makes me feel much more involved than if I had simply ordered the stuff without. Zazzle is awesome, people.

And really, this stuff is just in time. Let's have a tiny chat about Sarah Palin, shall we? She's debating with Joe Biden on Thursday, and frankly I'm looking forward to seeing her crash and burn. She may have done fine as governor of my home state - my dad the staunch Dem *loves* her - but she canNOT be allowed to have any part in running our country. Equating being neighbors with Russia and Canada with foreign experience is theatrics - although theater is by and large more watchable than Palin. Everything that comes out of her mouth borders on gibberish, and what isn't ridiculous blustering is jaw-droppingly ignorant or party-line. She's simply appalling, and I'm embarrassed for her as a woman and as a politician. My friend E is heading to Reno to campaign for Obama this week, and I plan to join her as an Alaskan for Obama for a weekend in October.

I think one reason we lost the 2004 race is largely that we sat back a little, thinking no one could possibly vote for Bush after the shit he pulled during his first term. It was a mistake - if so small a term can be used for such a monumental failure - and I for one don't intend to let it happen again. I believe it was Olberman who said that if Sarah Palin gets elected VP, all 350 million Americans will have to evacuate the country, and he's so right it hurts.

Run Out and Reset

So just after Brie left her comment about my adherence to the Social Pressure Experiment, I fell down a little. But before you snort into your tea (it is before noon, after all), allow me to explain. My friends Kate and Conrad moved to Prague, Czech Republic on Tuesday. They are some of the best, most loyal friends ever, and I will miss them terribly. A few years ago, I re-taught Kate how to knit, and she's been working doggedly away on the same garter stitch scarf ever since. When I learned they were actually leaving (it's been in the works for a couple of years now), I decided I would knit her something. Something gorgeous, lacy, and appropriate for going out to the nice dinners Conrad is so fond of. Something epic. Something like this.

Then, a week before they left, I spent the night at their place in order to help them get rid of all the wine they couldn't take with them to Europe, and Kate tried on my No-Purl Monkey socks. She's very sensitive to wool, but these, she gushed, were perfect - except that they are purple. Kate is not a girly-girl, and the only other color of Panda Silk in my stash was pink. So that settled it; off to the yarn store I went, in search of a Kate-colored Panda Silk that I could whip up into socks in the week before they left.

When I got to Purlescence, I did a bit of in-for-a-penny shopping and picked out three colors I knew Kate would like: straw, tan, and olive.

Olive was the color I pulled out of the bag first, so off I went. I started the socks on Tuesday, hoping to have them done in time for the going away party on Saturday. It didn't quite work out - I had worked through most of the second sock's gusset decreases by Saturday night. So in between sets of Rock Band, I knitted away, and managed to graft together the toe during Conrad's rendition of "Paranoid."


So yes, I bought yarn without intending to get rid of something in the stash. But I did seriously consider what I have before making my expedition, which was the major point of the Experiment in the first place. Neither Jasmin nor I are very interested in having a stash that fits into a shoebox; we simply wanted to break the habit of buying yarn on impulse.

I planned to confess once Jasmin got back from the California Wool Festival, but I received some unexpected absolution in the form of Jasmin's poor resist roll against fleece. She picked up one or two lovely things, and to assuage what she thought would be my indignation - as well as to make up for the loss of the Fleece That Got Away - she bought me 2 pounds of gorgeous oatmeal roving:
It's merino, raised and processed by a 93-year-old woman, and it's simply gorgeous. Every time I look at it, I see a cobweb ring shawl, all floaty and serene. Absolution, indeed. I 'fessed up to the Panda Silk, and we decided that we would call it a wash.

In other news, I've started the daunting task of Christmas knitting. It's really not so bad; I started with a simple diagonal scarf for my sissy out of some handspun. I realized at some point that I should probably have begun the hat first, so I put the scarf on hold and cast on for a hat last night:

I hope the colors agree with her. I'm pretty sure they will - she's wicked cute.

And speaking of wicked cute, let me show you something that is NOT:

This is the Norah Gaughan sweater that (dis)graces the front of the Webs catalog for Fall 08. Now, I'm a fan of Norah's, and I love her unconventional approach to construction. And I confess that at first, I liked this particular unconventional confection. But then I began to channel my inner Jessica and Heather, to the detriment of the garment. The epaulet shape on the collar/shoulders is very cute, but it does strange sag-inducing things to her bust. Then the bottom two rows of shapes create this weird, unattractive corset-but-not shape around her middle, and make her look like nothing so much as an aging flapper whose Spanx have lost their ability to rein in what they are designed to rein in. I hate it. Hate hate hate, and I can't think of a single person I know - of any size - who would look good in this shape.

This idea might possibly fly if the shaped bits stayed on the shoulders and dissolved into a nicely-fitted stockinette sweater, but as it is, I am just bowled over by the unflatteringlyness of the whole thing.

On the plus side, I really like the model's hair.

I don't have to work tomorrow - the Refreshingly Normal family is hanging out together, thus giving me an unexpected day off - so I'm headed up to the Farm tonight. I plan to spend the weekend laying on the porch and working on my as-yet-non-existent tan.

Have a good weekend!

Miles to Go

I've been plugging away at things lately. Inspiration seems to have dissolved along with my will to live in our annual early September heat wave, so I've been using the time to finish up a whack of stuff that has been hanging out on the needles:

No-Purl Monkey Socks, Panda Silk, 257 yds.

Daffodil Socks, Undulating Rib pattern, Lorna's Laces "Daffodil," 294 yds.

Theodora Sweater, Dream in Color Classy "Chinatown Apple" and "November Muse," 198 yds.

Ok, well that last one isn't 100% complete - I'll pull out the needle and thread to attach the buttons after I publish this post. But for real it'll get done today. I swear. 

I've also been fooling around with a Branching Out Stole, and I think I've come up with a workable pattern. I'm one whole repeat into the thing, and it seems to be coming along nicely. I'm nowhere near close on memorizing the lace yet though, so no pictures yet; I'm avoiding the 'lookie! I'm smart!' jinx. 

I've decided that 12 miles of knitting in 12 months isn't such a bad goal, so I'm extending my 12-Mile Quest through December. Despite the fact that once again I seem to have bitten off more than I can chew in terms of completed items, I do feel like I've been getting things done in a relatively timely fashion. This is not the time to mention to me how long the knitting on my Ribbi Cardi has been finished. I'm waiting for the Perfect Time to block it, and obviously that Time has not arrived. Shut up. 

Jasmin and I sat and chatted at Purlescence this afternoon, and I manfully resisted the siren call of a Perfected Henley's worth of Dream in Color. As far as I can tell, the company's not going anywhere and I should be able to get the yarn in February, should I still lust after it. This Social Pressure thing is working! 

However, I did pick up these little gems:

Shibui Knits Sock, "Hawaiian Sea"

We all agreed that if a knitter has been lusting after a color so much that it invades her dreams, she should probably make room for it in her stash, so it came home with me.  I'm not certain it wants to be socks, but I could be wrong - perhaps it wants to be some Millicents or even some German Stockings. Hmmm. Speaking of the ever-innovative Cookie A., I picked up her 2 newest patterns today: Ornette and Moselle. Aren't they lovely! It'll be awhile before I make them, considering that even simple things have my brain in a muddle lately, but they're in my queue nevertheless. 

I also brought this little unassuming ball home:

 Cascade SW merino, "Pie Crust"

It's not really called Pie Crust, but that's what it is destined to become. That's right folks, I remembered to get pie crust yarn after only a month and a half of forgetting. Call Guinness; we've got a record on our hands here. And while you're there, get me a celebratory beer. 

Lastly, Robin the Amazing remembered my abiding love for Schaefer and gave me this: 

Schaefer Anne... mmmm!

It's this lovely autumnal mixture of colors that just make me smile. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go purge 200 grams of yarn from my stash. I think the awful chenille in the back corner of my bureau might be just the thing...

P.S. - As promised, the Baby Surprise Jacket yardage was [drumroll please!]: 360 yds.

Girl's Weekend, Part 2

So when I left you last, Mom and I had just hit up Fibers, where I walked away with a much smaller bill than usual - clearly this Social Pressure thing is working! From there we went to see Mamma Mia!, which was just as entertaining the second time around as the first. I'm a die-hard musical fan as well as an ABBA junkie (shut up, it's good for singing in the car!), so this one was a slam dunk for me. About 5 minutes in - somewhere in the middle of Honey, Honey - Mom leaned over and said, "I think I'll own this soon." To which I replied, "that's exactly what I said!" Clearly we're related. 

My judgement of musicals is pretty simple: did I want to sing along? Buy the soundtrack? Dance in the aisles? Live in that world? A resounding Yes! to all four puts Mamma Mia! solidly in my Happy Place. When I grow up, I will move into this musical with speed and alacrity, thankyouverymuch. It helps that I've known the words since I could squeak. Oh, and the gorgeous Greek scenery made me choke up a little, but that's a whiny, why-can't-I-travel post for a different day.* 

Mom is a consummate gardener. She's one of those people who can look sideways at a plant and it bursts into flower - a talent I envy, but don't want to work for, hence my struggling Back Porch Ficus (now with 5 leaves!). She planted something like 24 tomato plants this year, everything from Goliaths to tiny little Sun Sugars, and they are all delicious. Given last year's spectacular success with spaghetti sauce, we filled three baskets with garden bounty and set to work:

(Don't they just make your mouth water? They were sooooo goooood!) We blanched, skinned, seeded and mushed tomatoes for nearly an hour and a half, then chopped onions and enough garlic to fell a horse, dumped in some wine - what was left of the bottle after an hour and a half, anyway - and a few peppers from mom's garden in. Pierre supervised from the Observation Deck:

Then we simmered it on the stove for a bit and dumped it into the crock pot to finish cooking over night. In the morning, the house smelled heavenly - if not breakfast-like - and I came into the kitchen to see this:

Looks delicious, doesn't it? Deep red, properly reduced, and tasting like absolute shit. Sickly sweet, then with a bitter aftertaste that stuck in the nose and the back of the throat; it was a 12-hour Labor of Love, fit only for pigs. I have some idea of what happened - something about red onions instead of white, and a minor scorching while over the stove - but this will be chalked up as one of my Great Kitchen Failures, of which there are thankfully not many. I did have fun cooking with my mom though, so it wasn't time entirely wasted. 

On Sunday morning, after we'd made coffee and cleared the taste of the Spaghetti Sauce from Hell out of our systems, I ventured outside to get some pictures of my mother's lovely flowers. I managed the Koi Pond 

and some lovely flowers 

before the sprinkler system turned on and sent me scurrying out of the yard. Then it was time to go, and I spent the train ride home reading the 5th book in the Outlander series. ManCandy picked me up at the train station and we headed up to a friend's house for dinner. All in all, a highly satisfying weekend. 

And in sort-of-but-not-really-related news, I have a few finishes! Pictures still to come, but here's one:

"Torch Island," 100% merino from Copperpot Woolies

255 yds, 2-ply, worsted thick'n'thin

*I know why I can't travel: because I keep buying yarn instead of saving my pennies. That's not the point! 

Eep!

Today is August 5th. That means that tomorrow is August 6th, marking the beginning of the last month of my 12-Mile Quest. As I'm still working through Mile 6, this could prove... difficult, especially since I have been diligent about finishing (or ripping) my works-in-progress, and so I have very few mostly-finished pieces that I could whip out for a chunk of mileage.

I'm contemplating the addition of 3 months to the Quest, making the goal a mile of completed knitting per month, but the whole operation will require some extra thought. In the mean time, I've been playing with my new camera:

An homage to Brooklyntweed

-a Canon Rebel XT that I bought from Crazy Sarah -

and avoiding blocking my Ribbi Cardi for completely lazy and idiotic reasons: that it won't be nearly as impressive a blocking process as lace, and that I don't want to do all the measuring necessary. See? Lazy and idiotic. At least I know myself!

I finished another veteran's hat for the Knitters for Obama group on Ravelry:

Lion Brand Wool-Ease Chunky, ~80 yds.

I think this is my last chunky-weight hat. I have little bird wrists that have given me trouble since several falls on dance team back in high school - falls that were both choreographed and *ahem* unchoreographed - and I've noticed that working with anything heavier than worsted weight seems to give me problems. (Aija, do you want the rest of my charcoal chunky weight? I can get it to you on the way to Monterey if you'd like it for KFBO knitting!)

ManCandy gave me his credit card for our anniversary, which coincided nicely with the Knitpicks book sale. I have a copy of every EZ book Knitpicks carries on the way to me, along with some various needle tips and 24" cables.

I also started a Theodora Sweater (Rav Link) using the rest of the Classy I bought for BabyBean knitting. It's a clever little pattern and I like that the body is done in mostly one piece; the only seams will be for the sleeves and attaching the shoulders to the back:

Sweater Body - I'm working up the back now.

Perhaps I'll do all the sweater blocking at once when the knitting for this one is finished.

So far, the Social Pressure Experiment is going well; maybe in part because I am Dead Broke until the new job starts (less than 2 weeks! Eee!), but also because this was the little push I needed to re-examine my stash. There is a distinct lack of sport and DK weight yarn in my stash, but I have enough lace, worsted and sock-weight to last me at least until Stitches West in February - if not long after.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to watch more West Wing and finish off what yardage I can.