Think Pink!

There's a contest for a pink Dyson going on, but I don't think you should join. Keeps the odds in my favor. :D

More Than One Can Chew

Ahhh, fall. It's probably my favorite time of year, especially in California. Summer is hot hot hot with none of the rain my Alaskan-raised soul began to crave once I had been out of the rainforest for about 6 years. I rouse slowly from my heat-induced lethargy and begin to long for productivity, soup, and warm mugs of tea. Which is why, when my Brit-Lit from 1800-Present professor announced that garment construction could be a viable term project, I fired off an email rationalizing why knitting something from Victorian Lace Today would be a good idea. I figured, I'm only 2.5 seasons in with Buffy, there're 5 seasons of Angel, and untold seasons of good HBO shows in my Netflix queue, so why not?

Then reality hit me on the head. A lace shawl by the 6th of December? Yikes. So last night I threw the atrocious Perlas Rojas into the dye pot with some vermilion and fire red, let it simmer and then cool in the pot overnight. This morning, it is drying in the fall sunlight on the porch. If I get the go-ahead from the prof tomorrow, I'll be ready to go, and if she thinks it's a weak idea, I still have 1600 yards of claret red lace that I didn't have before.

Since the last time I updated this thing, some stuff has happened! Nothing really major, I grant you. But stuff, nonetheless. First up, I finished the Gryffindor Socks for my pal! They knit up surprisingly quickly with only one skein of Lorna's Laces plus some Skacel yellow for the peasant heels and toes. I just need to block them - maybe I'll add them to the fall sunshine on the porch before ManCandy and I head to brunch on the hill this morning.

They make me wish I were a Gryffindor, but only for a minute.

I've turned the heel and begun gusset decreases for the Hedera's I'm knitting to be a Sock Savior for Sockapalooza. I feel a bit guilty that it took me awhile to begin them, but the pattern is a relatively quick one and the lady's feet are a teeny US size 5, so I'm hoping to have them in the mail by the end of October. This pair sort of makes me wish I'd learned to do 2 socks at once, but it wouldn't actually go any faster; I would simply not have the second sock hanging over my head.

I also swatched for the Secret of the Stole, which may be on hold pending teacher approval for the Handsome Triangle. I'm going to use the Clivia I got from Handpaintedyarns.com with some pearl-colored beads originally purchased for Mystery Stole 3. I was completely disgusted with that color when I got it, but it's grown on me a lot since then. I'm looking forward to working with it. I had a nightmare of a time printing the damn pattern - the printers at work hatehatehate me and refused point-blank to print, so I had to wait and do it at the school lab. But now the first hints are in my hot little hands.

Why are the top 3 rows of garter stitch so huge and the bottom 3 rows so tiny? ARGH!

Lastly, I mentioned the KP 45 in my last post. This little feature will have to wait awhile since I'm broke-ass for reasons I'll go into in a non-yarn related post (gasp and alack!). But here is at least one KP45 to tide you over, 'cause I know my yarny antics just get people goin' in the morning. Har.

KP Gloss in 4 colors, Palette in 2, Jaquard starter set and Options Harmony size 4's

Yep, forty-five bucks can get you a lot of bang if you do it right. HAH! I'm funny. It's actually been since the Purlescence birthday bash that I bought yarn, which was Oct. 13th. I'm going to see if I can make it for a month - depending on what that prof says about the Handsome Triangle, I may not have much of a choice!!

What did I buy at Purlescence, you ask? 1200 yards of BMFA Bambu in Calypso. Go big or go home, baby.

And I shall leave you this fine evening to go work on the Savior socks with this little tidbit I snapped awhile ago:

I call this: Can I Help You?

It's Alive!

Short post, busy as hell.

We're gearing up toward the end of the session at my Tutoring Center, the timing of which will coincide nicely with my midterms at school (joy!). I'm trying desperately to find time to restore the cat netting on the porch, do laundry, homework, and still have a life, but day-am.

Coming soon:
*Gryffindor socks!
*Sock Savior socks!
*Printing the Secret of the Stole trauma
*Fighting the startitis virus
*a possible new feature: the bi-weekly KnitPicks $45! (yarn diet? what yarn diet?)
*A review of my newest favoritest show: Pushing Daisies

And last but not least:
*a return from the incessant Buffy obsession that is 7 seasons of Joss-y goodness. Yea, I never watched Buffy before last Sunday, what of it?

I shall leave you, dear reader, with a rhetorical question: How does David Boreanaz manage to go from barely attractive to smokin' hot in just 2 seasons? Could it be the leather pants?

I'll See Your Wagon and Raise You a Boxcar

Do you ever feel that it's somewhat useless to blog because your life is passing you by so quickly? That's how I've felt the last few weeks. So much has been going on, it's hard to know where to begin. Sometimes we have to just give ourselves permission to only catalog what we remember and let the rest slip by for another time, which is what I'm doing today. (Doesn't "give yourself permission" sound like such a new-agey thing to do? Harumph!)

First, about 2 weeks ago my Knitpicks Options needles arrived! I hearts them, and I spread the love this weekend when the Mother Ship was here; she will be getting a set, probably of the Harmony needles since she works with more slickery fibers than I do. More on that later. The bummer with the KP set is that the needles don't come smaller than a size 4. Or perhaps that's good for me, since I tend to hover right in the size 1-3 range because I am a *cough*looseknitter*cough*. One of these days I'll knit a sweater (or seven. My Ravelry queue is getting sweater-heavy for fall).

Knitpicks Options needle set, now with toast!

In a fit of excitement, I fell prey to Handpaintedyarn.com and picked up several hundred yards of their laceweight and 10 ounces of roving. For the first time ever when I opened a box of yarn, I thought the company had sent me the wrong order. I was bitterly disappointed. I have a sneaking suspiscion that the photos are doctored, but I'm not sure and wouldn't want to cast aspersions. Here are some comparison shots:

____
Perlas Rojas from the website: rubies and pearls _____Perlas Rojas in person: rust and smog!

The roving is closer, and the Clivia seems to have mellowed since it arrived and sat in the sun for a day, but I don't know that I'll be ordering from them again. I do like the greys in the Perlas Rojas though, so I might pick up a few skeins of the solid pearl grey - just not any time soon.

To comfort myself, I ordered a pair of the Harmony tips in size 4 from Knitpicks. Of course, I couldn't pass up the free shipping for orders over $45, so I added $38-worth of stuff to my cart. Shut up, my math is excellent! In the package will be a Jaquard starter set (hurrah!) and the Gryffindor yarn for my HP Sock Swap 2 partner, so when it arrives I will be dropping whatever I am doing and cranking out those socks. I found a pattern, thanks to Bella Knitting! Sarah, you're awesome.

Then, up until this weekend, I hardly knitted at all because of school work and projects. The Mother Ship arrived on the train on Friday and we spent a happy evening surfing Ravelry (I signed her up) and helping her transfer her newest project to a set of my new KP Options needles. You see, she had started a sideways Feather and Fan shawl out of mohair, and was trying (poor dear!) to cram 246 stitches onto a 32" Addi size 9. Those puppies were popping off all over the place! So I handed her my KP size 9's with the 60" cord attached (I knew those extra sizes would come in handy!) and helped her transfer and count all the stitches. Within about five minutes, I ordered a set of the Harmony size 9's and had them on their way to her house - clearly wooden needles are best for a mohair shawl. Good lord.

Then on Saturday, we went on an impromptu fiber crawl. First we hit Yarn Dogs where I bought enough sport weight to make a scarf I've been looking at and half of the Misti Alpaca laceweight to make the Feather and Fan Shawl from AGoL. Apparently I thought 1200 yards would be fine even though the pattern calls for 2500... wtf, memory? I'll also be taking their 4-session spinning course in October, hurrah!

________

Frog Tree Alpaca in sage green _______Misti Alpaca lace, but only 1300 yards! Waugh!

Then we dashed to Los Altos and went to Thai Silks, where the cutest little old Thai ladies work and coo over all the choices their customers make. One lady patted my head and told me that she used to knit when she was a bride in her country, but has forgotten in all the hundred years since. So cute! Mother Ship bought silk enough to make a skirt and top, and then we headed back out into the California dew. Our foray into the rain was cut short by the discovery that Uncommon Threads was across the street (how did I not know that?) so we went there and discovered that if I ever want to make a sweater, this would be the shop to which I would turn. The ladies there suggested Purlesence as well; I had planned to skip it in favor of my pocketbook and going on Sunday for Tea and Sympathy, but since it was on the way home... to Purlesence we went.

I need to go more often. The ladies who work there are famous for their hospitality and energy, and their fame is well-deserved. My mother managed (with the help of knitters-by) to con me into making a pair of Clessidras for her by 1) reminding me that she gave birth to me I didn't know Camille at all when I made her such fabulous socks, and 2) buying the yarn. The knitters-by reminded me that she is my mother and I have to do what she says. All of these are salient points. I acquiesced and, as a reward for being nice to my mommy, bought myself a copy of IK winter 2006 and a skein of STR Geisha, and into my Ravelry queue went another set of Clessidras (I might be crazy a little).

____

Geisha in Carbon, perhaps a sweater?____Maizy in Hibiscus, destined to be (more)Clessidras

Now, dear reader, I have more yarn than I know what to do with. Well - that's not strictly true. I know what to do with it. I just have to find the time! Perhaps I should get a job at a yarn store instead of as a teacher... *sigh*

This whole weekend I have successfully hidden Faina from my mother, but since she doesn't read this blog here's a sneak peek:

____
Faina: 1.75 of 4 repeats done - that's nearly 1/2 way!

Last night, I started the second half of the Super Secret S---x project, only to find out that since I put it down last time my knitting skillz have improved drastically. So instead of being more than half done, I frogged the first half and have begun afresh. I am 2 repeats away from being 25% finished; it's much quicker going this time around - a slight relief. Perhaps I should start knitting tiny test socks before I attempt new patterns!

The kittehs continue to get along better and better. Both boys sleep on my bed at least at the beginning of the nights; I'm thrilled that Darcy is taking back his spot near my feet. School is becoming a trial and my faithful, trusty Saturn is slowly dying a painful death, but I'm hoping she'll last long enough for me to switch my work schedule so that I can take public transportation to both work and school - about 5 weeks (hopefully - fingers crossed!). And now, I must go plug myself back in to Jane Eyre while I knit. It may be slower going than if I were to just read the book, but it does mean I get to knit at the same time - a fair tradeoff for possibly not getting the book 100% finished by Tuesday's class, I think!

KEEL me now.

I discovered Veronik Avery's work today, which gives you two reasons to shoot me in my sleep. One, because I've been knitting for awhile now and never recognized her as a Goddamn Certifiable Genius, and two, because I will never, ever live long enough to knit all the amazingly beautiful things she creates, which will slowly tear at me from the inside out. Damn you, Ravelry!

Is there an acronym for accumulating so much Ravelry queue that you'll never get to it all? Something like SABLE, but PABLE doesn't sound right. AHH! I've got it; we'll call it KEELS: Knitting Exceeds Expected Life Span.

P.S. - Brie Ellen, this is all your fault. You and your stupid queue! We can transfer the blame to Kai if you like - he's hearty; he can stand it.

P.S.S. - I'm Tikabelle on Ravelry, for any who want to be my friend. Anyone? Bueller?

Why is it?

Why is it that I seem to spend all my time looking at knitting, thinking about knitting, but seem to get very little actual knitting done?
I think this has something to do with the overabundance of beautiful yarns and projects available both on Ravelry and the interwebs in general. Knitting Daily's free weekly patterns don't help either, I must say. That Quilt Wrap stole (from Folk Style but available to KD subscribers, go sign up!) looks like my darling Mother Ship, and if two of the Knitpicks Gloss colors I would use in said scarf weren't backordered until the end of October, I would be out some $45 right this moment. I'm the type of person who can get stuck in the toothpaste aisle for half an hour because I am struggling to choose the perfect item. So getting overwhelmed with the plethora of beauty on the 'net, well. Par for the course, my friends.
It's also something to do with a constant feeling that I should be doing something else - regardless of the usefulness or importance of what I'm doing at the time. Very strange, and yet reminiscent of the term I took 3 studio art classes at the same time - two from the same professor. I'm not sure why that is; I'm not overly strapped for time or cash at the moment (although I could stand to re-dedicate myself to the Yarn Diet... *cough cough*). Oh well - these things seem to work themselves out in the end.

In other news, I got my Options needle set yesterday, along with my Starry Night yarn from the Zen Yarn Garden ART Walk Sock Club. It's be-yoo-tiful. I'm on the lookout for a stole of some sort that I can make with 420 yards of fingering weight - this is too pretty to be socks. I'm still waiting on the stuff from Handpaintedyarn.com, but hopefully it will show up in tomorrow's post. Once it gets here, there will be a full photographic update, never fear!

The Senor Sancho Panza, Esquire continues to grow - soon he'll be full grown and we won't be able to call him the Wee One anymore. But in the meantime, his kittenhood is both entertaining and exhausting, especially when he wants to play in the middle of the night. Thank god he'll be grown in a year - what if he was a KID?!?

He has discovered my sock projects

And thinks the monitor is his own personal toy

But he sure is cute when he's sleeping!

Mr. Darcy is still not amused.

Scarf Month? What Scarf Month?

ARGH. I got to around row 100/423 on Faina and realized something important. That pain in my right wrist? From working on straight needles. I got tendonitis years ago from dance team, and it acts up every once in awhile. So Scarf Month has been put on hold - again - until I can get myself a set of Knitpicks Options needles. ::sigh:: I was just getting into that lace thing, too! But there will be updated pictures once the camera battery re-charges.

Money will be tight for awhile. I had my 3-month review at work yesterday and discovered that the vacation I took in August - the one I was encouraged to take - will likely not, in fact, be paid. Now, my boss is super-nice and may pay me anyway, but it means that the financial aid I was going to save for next years tuition might be re-purposed to pay rent this month instead. It also means that the previously mentioned Knitpicks Options set will take a little longer to arrive in my hot little hands. Bah! It also means that I won't be getting a spinning wheel for awhile. I'm a bit sad about that, but yesterday I consoled myself by hauling out my drop spindle and spinning up some of the wool that's been sitting in my closet for a year - or is it two? It's addictive, that drop spindling.

In the mean time, I've been working on my brother Gabe's Charade Socks. They're quite lovely (in a manly way, of course) and I'm enjoying them a lot. My friend Sarah IM'ed me last night and wanted to know where HER socks are and why, if I'm not currently making her some, I insisted on tempting her with all that lovely fibery goodness. To which I can only answer: Evil. Pure and simple. ::grin::

But enough about knitting! Yesterday, the kitteh announced that his name is Senor Sancho Panza, Esquire, and he would like you all to know that he is the clever one. And please do not disturb him while he is eating:


Or while he is watching bugs on the wall:


or for the love of God, sleeping:

A New Addition

On Thursday night, ManCandy and I went to the Rock Bottom Brewery with Jer, Elizabeth, and some other friends. To my surprise, the brewery was hosting a benefit for one of the local animal shelters. Can you see where this is going? There was a pair of kittens there - part Maine Coon by the look of them - who were feral until their foster mama took them in at around 3-4 weeks old. The little boy stole my heart and I brought him home last night. He's currently holed up behind the couch in the TV room, but he's come out a couple of times to play with string or get some pets before he remembers he's afraid and runs back to shelter.

He's between 10-12 weeks old now, has been fixed and gotten his shots and has a microchip already (hurrah!). Darcy so far seems supremely unconcerned that there is another cat in the house, but that might be because my brother got him so stoned on catnip last night he passed out on the living room floor. I'm hoping that because the as-yet-unnamed kitteh is just a baby, Darcy will beat him into submission and they'll live in harmony.

No yarn pr0n today, but I did manage to salvage the Hideous Raw Silk using an excess of blue dye. I used the leftover dye bath and dropped in my final cone of Kona, and I was rewarded with a lovely arctic blue that I will probably use as a base for some experimentation. We'll see!

Without further ado, here's the kitteh:



Isn't he aDORable? He purrs like a lawnmower. I hearts him.

Scarf Month is finally here!

Well, I bound off my test knitting last night, which means Scarf Month only took an extra 15 days to arrive. I think that means I can safely extend Scarf Month into September; I'll probably need to in order to get all of my scarf UFO's taken care of. There are only 3, really - but they're all doozys.

First up is Faina, because the Mother Ship has been bothering me in an only half-joking tone .

Now, let me go back a couple of days: Here's the haul my mom and I picked up from the lovely Fibers in Grass Valley.

And here is her portion:
The rest was mine. ::blush:: Isn't the tiny little iron just as twee as can be? It'll keep me from having to haul out the ironing board every time I want to press open a seam for the forth-coming sock project bags. Anyway, my mom let slip at the yarn store that she had forgotten what Faina even looked like, not to mention what color she chose for the yarn. WELL! Of course the Startitis virus that has been lying dormant in my brain began to twitch and awake. If she didn't remember, why on earth couldn't I start something else? No reason at all! To make it worse, when I got home my order from Knitpicks had arrived, including A Gathering of Lace and EZ's Knitting Workshop. ManCandy had to wrest me away from the Faux Russian Stole page in GoL, shouting what I've told him to say in situations like this: "NO! Don't give in! It's not you, it's the Startitis! Come back to me! Don't give in!" Sometimes it works, but he has to catch me early.

So I somewhat regretfully hauled out the original Faina: She's looking a bit neglected, isn't she?

Since I began this project, I have learned a whole lot about fiber and knitting and mysterious words like "drape" and "gauge" and "yarn weight." I knocked out about 1/2 of a row before I discovered that I missed a YO somewhere. Again, I contemplated ripping and starting the Faux Russian Stole, but I resisted mightily again - mostly because GoL was out in the living room and I was knitting in bed, and I knew that if I couldn't keep track of YO's in Faina, I certainly would muck up the FRS beyond recognition. Instead, I looked at the pattern again. The piece on the front of the pattern was knit in sport weight alpaca. I was knitting with worsted weight Cascade 220. Now, Cascade 220 is lovely, but it has no "drape" and is the wrong "gauge" not to mention "yarn weight." But damn if I didn't get the needle size right! No wonder it didn't look much like lace. I wracked my brain and remembered this little gem in my stash:Purple Kool-Aid Knitpicks Superwash Fingering Weight

So I ripped the Cascade - maybe it'll be a French Market Bag or something - and wound the Knitpicks into a ball. I don't think she'll ever notice, but if she does I hope she likes the Knitpicks Bare better. It feels lovely against the skin and it'll be easier to wash should it get dirty. Y'know, 'cause she lives on a farm and all.

Knitpicks vs. Cascade! Yarn weight? Whazzat?

And here she is, re-fitted and I think much more suited to herself:

She still smells like Grape Kool-Aid. Yum.

Here's some kitty pr0n as well, since I've been seriously remiss with the cute kitty pictures lately.

Waffles and Pierre lounging at the Farm

Darcy checking out the bed A new sleeping spot!

My Blog Contest

The Yarn Pirate (yes, that Yarn Pirate!) suggested I have a blog contest to get people over to my Etsy store, so here it is. I present to you, gentle reader, My Blog Contest.

What I need: a logo for my store, and a banner to put it on (yarrrrrr!)

Specs: The banner needs to be 100 pixels high x 760 pixels wide to conform to Etsy standards. I would like the logo to be something I can separate out to put onto a label tag. Feel free to manipulate this quote any way you choose (or to leave it out completely): "If we can't succeed, we'll die trying." The file needs to be in JPG, GIF or PNG format.

The winner will receive: one skein of sock yarn from Dye Trying, current or previous colorways. One sock project bag of their choice (pictures coming as soon as I finish the bags) and a matching set of stitch markers made by my mom, the master beader in the family. Oh, and bragging rights! Don't forget those.

The sorta-legal stuff: The banner I choose will belong to me to use for dyetrying.etsy.com, and the winner agrees that he or she will not give it to someone else to use commercially. Of course, the winner is free to use the banner in a portfolio etc. if that's what floats their boat.

I think that's it! I will accept submissions to my dyetryingshop (at) gmail (dot) com through August 29 and choose soon after that. Bring it on!

ADDED 8/16: If you'd like to buy anything until the end of August, because you entered the contest shipping will be free. Don't send your payment immediately and I'll send you an adjusted invoice. Just put your etsy name somewhere in your email along with your entry.

Irony, thy name is knitting

Today is Saturday. I wrote the following on Thursday:

I would like to stress – before I begin to rant – that there is nothing
wrong with the pattern I am test-knitting. The whole thing is quite
well-written and understandable. And yet there I was, all up on my high
horse, at the top of the heap, mixing metaphors with the best of’em.
Making my own sock pattern for my first pair of socks? Cake. Cookie’s
German Stockings on size 0’s? Simplicity itself. Knee-highs for someone I
didn’t know? A bit more challenging, but utterly do-able. But somehow, the
simple-yet-elegant pattern in these socks has both given me my
come-uppance and taken me down a peg.

The pattern looks a bit like this:
Row 1: [SSK, k6, YO] repeat to end of row
Row 2 and all even rows: K all stitches

Doesn’t look difficult, right? Let me tell y’all, something about “knit
all even rows plain” has got me all kinds of f’ed up. I seem to be keeping
one row for every three rows I tink, and it’s incredibly aggravating!

I can’t seem to do anything while I knit these socks. I think I’m just
going to have to pull them out on the car trip to my mother’s this
weekend and plow through them as best I can. At least I’m getting the
experience of knitting with my own product! I like the color variations.
This is the same base I used to over-dye Beatrice, but I think in the
case of this hank I used blue instead of Beatrice’s green. I don’t like
it quite as much – I prefer the multi-faceted greens to the
aqua-and-jungle-yellow of this hank. However, it’s still pretty, and it
stands up to the tinking pretty well.

Not even 2 hours after I wrote that, the pattern went *click!* and now I'm off to the racecs. Half a repeat (14 rows) left until I start the heel, which is short row so won't take very long. Hurrah!

My mom and I found a fantastic fiber store in downtown Grass Valley today. The yarns were delightful, plentiful and reasonably priced. The people at the shop were super-nice, and encouraged my mom and I to gab about the new Fall Interweave Knits (bought), the 25th anniversary Vogue (bought) and the possible benefits of spinning your own recycled sari fiber or making your own stitch markers. Mom bought a pattern and some Brrocco Ultra Alpaca for her first knitting project that will involve purling (and YO's and k2togs - never let it be said we're not an intrepid pair!) - a gorgeous scarf by Frog Tree Alpaca which just might be my new favorite alpaca pusher. 130 yards for 7 bucks? I'll take 5. Except I didn't. Instead, I bought 2 hanks of Shaeffer Anne in this white/green/pink colorway that reminds me of spring. 1120 yards of superwash merino/mohair blend. Score: yarn diet wagon: 0, Tikabelle: 2. Go me!

We also let some ideas about stitch markers for Dye Trying percolate, but that's another discussion for another day.

Sockapalooza 4!

I got a box in the mail today from - of all places - Berkeley. Who knew my sock pal was so close? I certainly didn't. Maybe she'll comment here and we can have coffee! I promise to wear my A-MAZING socks. Thank you, Aimee! Here's my loot!




Are you jealous? Aimee said that this is only her second ever pair of socks, which obviously means she's well on her way to being a fantastic sock knitter. And the Lorna's Laces? I put that color down yesterday with a stern "No, Tika! Bad Tika! Yarn diets are not about buying more yarn!" and what happened? The Yarn Fairy came through for me via my sock pal. I was going to swear off swaps for a bit, but getting presents in the mail is just too much fun to pass up.

Speaking of which, my sockapalooza package is going in the mail tomorrow morning, along with my Very First Dye Tyring order! Augh! I'm all a-flutter.

Edit: Does selling one skein of yarn allow me to buy several more in celebration? 'Cause KnitPIcks thinks so...

Going Live

As promised, I photographed the Dye Trying yarn yesterday morning and set up my Etsy store last night. I must admit the naive part of me was disappointed that it didn't all sell magically during the night, but the realistic part of me reminded myself that I merely set up the store and didn't make any announcements to the blogosphere or even to my friends, so it was to be expected [this was in conjunction with the me who was urging myself to get up and go to work this morning - it was a veritable convention of me's in my head this morning, and all of them (us?) were clamoring for coffee].

Here are the Pomatomus socks drying in the California sunshine:


And here, as promised, is my fab K'nex skein-winder! Hurrah for ManCandy! (Or, as Brie has dubbed him, BrainCandy. He's so proud of that...)

Oh, yea!

And not the "oh yea I forgot" type of oh yea. More like the Kool-Aid pitcher guy busting through the wall in the old 80's Kool-Aid commercials "Oh, yea!"

Yesterday I discovered this thing called a skein winder. It's the opposite of a swift; it's designed to wind yarn into skeins (imagine that...) and I NEEDED one. So, I used Google and found one - for $300. The cheapest one I could find online was about $115, and it was made of PVC. Here is how that little scene played out:

[thinking] A hundred and fifteen bucks for PVC? Screw that right in the ear. Home Depot is around the corner from my house!

[gets in the car and drives home, picks up ManCandy and drags him to Home Depot] Me:ManCandy, I need to build this thing like a 3D windmill to wind my yarn onto. ManCandy: Okay... [looks at me like I'm crazy] But, like a good boyfriend, he helped me and carried the heavy stuff. And didn't complain when I hacksawed 30 feet of PVC pipe into a 3D windmill and got plastic shavings all over the carpet. I glued the thing together and traipsed off to bed.

[the next morning]
Me:ManCandy! The plastic glue didn't hold the plastic PVC pipe together! W.T.F.?!? Gah, make me coffee!
[ManCandy hauls out a mysterious box] ManCandy: Baby, we could make you a yarn ball skein swift winder out of... [he opens the box] K'nex!
Me: ... ohhhhh kaaaaay...
[ManCandy proceeds to explain his genius theory] Then, we spent the next 3 hours happily creating a skein winder out of kids toys. And girls, it has an electric motor. So once I get the yardage figured out, it's good-bye hand crank and hello automation. Oh, yea!

So now I have an adjustable skein winder made of K'nex, and once the camera re-charges there will be pictures.

As if that weren't enough, I used the skein winder in conjunction with my swift and re-skeined all the yarn I dyed last weekend into tidy little bundles of colorful love. Tomorrow I'll photograph them, and then - ta DA! - Dye Trying will be officially open! Again, camera + recharged = pictures. Oh, yea!

And lastly, I finished my Sockapalooza socks. They're soaking in lovely Earth-friendly tulip scented soap right now and will be put out on the back porch to dry in the morning. Next up: finish the Test Knitting, then (the rest of) August is Scarf Month! Faina, I've got my eye on you... Oh, Yea!

Crash and Burn!

I haven't joined any sock clubs because - well, just because, really. But this one reached out its sneaky little hands and grabbed me by the scruff of the neck. Can you guess why? How could I not join? Anyway.

I've been listening to Cast On from the beginning. So far, I'm just about 14 months behind schedule, but I'm enjoying the Muse series. Ideas are percolating in my brain for a piece about Urania and Clio, but you'll just have to wait for those! I spent all weekend and several nights this week plugged in to my iPod, happily dyeing skeins of yarn. My first batch is going to be Henry's Attic Kona, but I think the next set will be Knitpicks Bare. It's inexpensive and already put up into hanks of 100g, which will make my life a bit easier. Plus, I can use several things from their Bare line which will give everything I make a bit of continuity. I will miss the textured feel of the Kona though. Perhaps if I can find a place that will put it up for me I'll go back to it eventually.

My Sockapalooza socks are so close to being done. I'll be able to send out my package tomorrow during lunch; only one day late. Argh! Then it's on to the test knitting.

Off to speed-knit. Pictures will be forthcoming once I stop blogging from work.

Moving Right Along

Well, Jer has moved out and ManCandy is looking for furniture. The 7th Harry Potter book is out and I've finished reading it, the Hogwart's Sock Swap (Year 1) is over and Year 2 has begun. I'm working on my second Pomatomus sock for Sockapalooza since August 2 is next week - I may have to take an afternoon off to knit in order to finish on time! - and the moment I cast off the Pomatomus socks I'm putting on some test knitting, which I will be doing in my very own yarn from my very own Etsy shop. Sooner or later I'll get things going; I've been pretty good about doing something for the shop every day but what I'm really looking forward to is a week off in August with nothing to do but dye and photograph yarn. And catch up on my 15 bazillion podcasts, of course.

Speaking of which, I should dash. Those pomatomus socks are whispering my name from the other room, and tomorrow is the Relay for Life so I'll be up relatively early. I'm ready for my shift; I've got Lime 'n' Violet on the iPod and a little sock bag for my knitting, now all that remains is to see if I can walk and knit at the same time. Should be interesting!

I've passed!

Hogwarts Sock Swap Questionnaire

Second Years

1. What Hogwarts house have you been sorted into? Ravenclaw

2. Shoe size? Foot length? Foot circumference? US 7.5, EU37. Foot length: 9 inches. Circumference at the ball of my foot: 9 inches.

3. List your three favorite sock yarns.

a. The Knittery 4-ply cashmere or cashmere/merino

b. Koigu KPPPM

c. Rowan 4-ply merino

4. Would you like to try a new brand of sock yarn? If so, which brand? Louet Gems, or maybe Tofutsies or Curious Creek or Panda Wool (I’ve tried the cotton), or or or… J

5. Do you prefer variegated or solid sock yarn? Either is lovely.

6. What colors would you like to add to your sock yarn stash? I don’t seem to have any browns or neutral colors, so probably those.

7. What kind of sock patterns do you gravitate toward? Lace? Ribbed? Fair Isle? I tend to like ribbed/cabled patterns and am learning to love lace. I have a super-high arch, so I tend to prefer stretchy patterns.

8. Do you have any allergies? (smoke, animals, etc.) I’m allergic to cigarette smoke, but otherwise no.

9. Will your socks be exposed to cigarette smoke or animals as you knit them? They will be exposed to my cat; try as I might I can’t keep the little alien away from my wool.

10. Are you willing to have an international Hogwarts Sock Pal? Of course! My uncle is extremely interested in International Magical Co-operation.

All Hail the Slytherins!

Okay, but only for a minute or two, I swear. I came home yesterday to a package from the Owl Post! At first, I promised myself I wouldn't open it until I sent off my own package. But then I decided to catch up on my knitting RSS feeds and found a picture of Ravenclaw socks that made me simply drool. Her blog said she was in Massachusetts, and the return address was in - you guessed it - Massachusetts. So what was there for it? I had to open the box! And here it is:

Presents for me!

Just loooooook at all those goodies! And they turned out to be awesome. Earl Grey tea for weekend mornings (like today! Yummmm), some Blueberry Body Butter (ManCandy approves!), Burt's Bees lip balm (which I had forgotten to buy at Whole Foods earlier last evening, thankfully!), a Solitaire game to keep my wits sharp, a lovely chocolate bar, beautiful casein DPN's (no nickel!), and best of all? The socks, hand-made stitch markers and matching earrings!

They're perfect!

I absolutely love everything, thank you so much, Omly! You utterly and completely made my week. Now, I'm off to wrap my pal's gifts and hit the Owl Post Office myself. Go Hogwarts!

Edit: I can't resist putting in a picture of the stitch markers and earrings. They're just too gorgeous to be real!

Darcy says:

There are many like it, but this shelf is mine.

Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy-warty Hogwarts!

I fiiiiiiinished my Hogwarts socks last night and got some goodies for my pal today, so I can send off my package on Monday when I hit the Post Office to get my passport. Pictures once my pal's owl is well on its way!

Next up: Pomotomus socks and some work on the Faina stole for my mom. w00t!

PS: Ravelry is evil. It sucks my will to finish projects before I begin new ones... damn start-itis!

The Things I Am Not Doing

1. I am not casting on for the Mystery Stole 3 even though it is Friday and Clue 2 comes out today, because I have not finished my Hogwart's Socks.

2. I am not registering for Fall '07 classes because I am waiting for my school to decide where all my transfer credits go. If I don't have to re-take Chem 101, I'm certainly not going to!

3. I am not freaking out that ManCandy has left Michigan in a car and is at this very moment hurtling toward a life with me.

4. I am not freaking out that ManCandy has left Michigan in a car and is at this very moment hurtling toward a life with me and will be here tomorrow night and there is nowhere in my room to put his clothes.

Okay, I may be freaking out a bit about the latter.

I stopped on my way home today and bought a basket that will eventually hold yarn in a pretty and convenient fashion, and a crochet hook for putting beads on Mystery Stole 3. I also printed out directions for my Sockapalooza 4 pal's socks and found a good project for Gabe's socks as well. Tomorrow is the Fair Isle knit-a-long at the LYS, which means no sleeping in for me but that I will be playing with Alpaca/Silk for 2 hours in the morning. Yippie!

Oh, and I'm in the home stretch for my Hogwart's socks. I may even finish them by tomorrow night, if Nadh and I don't get too much of a shopping bug. Perhaps Sunday would be a better bet...