liz knits

Francis Revisited

2010-11-10T13:58:00.000-08:00

So now that I'm going to commit to blogging again, I think it makes sense for me to start with my most recent finished object, Francis Revisited.

Once I started to find my knitting mojo again, I pulled this pattern out of my "to knit" pile and cast on with yarn from my stash (Cascade Pastaza). What a bonus ... finding a pattern that would work for yarn I already had and like.

So mid-September I cast on and off I went. Earlier this year I learned the magic loop technique for socks (fodder for another post) and used that to do the sleeves. Let me tell you, sleeves have never been so painless.

I have to say, you can't beat a top-down sweater knit in chunky yarn. It doesn't take a lifetime to finish ... instant gratification (or at least 6 week gratification in this case) is what I like!

I used Cascade Pastaza for the sweater. I had a seen a few other people use this on ravelry. It was a great choice. I got gauge and I really like the slight halo I got from the lama content. I'm definitely shedding a little bit, but nothing like my part angora sweater (which I honestly should just frog so it stops taking up closet space).

Looking for a quick, easy sweater to get yourself going? Want something that looks soft and smooshy? You may want to try out this sweater in a nice fuzzy yarn.

My rating: Gold star!

Francis Revisited by Beth Silverstein
US 10 and 7 circulars (sleeves done magic loop)
Cascade Pastaza (6 skeins)
(50% lama, 50% wool)
Colorway: (lavendar) 300 (lot 8189)
Cast on September 16, 2010
Finished November 6, 2010 (funny... that's exactly one year after the last project I posted here on my blog... spooky!)

Mods: I did full length sleeves with no increases/decreases. I just knit straight down from the picked up stitches and then ended with 12 rows of seed stitch. I also did 12 rows of seed at the bottom of the sweater.

Ravelry details here.

A one year absence anniversary

2010-11-08T10:40:00.000-08:00

Wow... one year! How the time has flown. Today, the anniversary of my last post, I feel compelled to post and to try to start blogging again.

Lots has been going on over the past year (and nothing too). Work has been crazy busy and that's the primary reason this blog has sadly been abandoned. Over the past few months I've slowly starting carving out a little time for recreation though. Interestingly, this has come less in the form of knitting and more in the shape of spinning! Yep, that wheel I bought some years back has been getting some exercise and I'm really loving it.

My last post showed that I finished the cinnamon bay bag. To be honest, finishing the blanket killed my knitting mojo for quite some time. Too much stockinette in the same color, over, and over, and over (and over). =]

Switching into spinning, and then get this, actually knitting with my own yarn -- that my friends is inspirational! In later posts, I'll catch you up and show you some of what I've done.

Yesterday though was one of those great fun days (and spinning and fiber related). The Torrance Fiber Festival happened and I went with a great group of women (the Southern California Fiber Fiends on ravelry. We got to see and touch all kinds of beautiful fiber and yarn, had a great lunch, and got to laugh and talk about all kinds of great topics. I'm so glad they let me join them in all the fun. I came home all energized and excited about life.

And those feelings my friends certainly beat out stressed and demoralized (which is what I often get at work)!

Looking forward to posted here again in the near future.

p.s. today's lovely pictures are purchases from the festival this weekend. To-Ply's handpainted BFL roving in oranges and Mendenhall merino washed fleece. Goodies for future fun!

Cinnamon Bay done

2009-11-08T16:12:00.000-08:00

Yes friends, a near miracle ... I have finally finished a project again.

Between the craziness at work and the work at work I feel like there have been weeks in a row where I have knit not one stitch. About two weeks ago I decided I just had to finish my biggest UFO and went to the task.

I'm pleased to say that the Cinnamon Bay beach bag blanket is done and turned out pretty nicely.

Today was a beautiful day outside so we thought it would be great to take some photos and the dog and our outside kitty, Ricki, decide to help out.

Quite photogenic aren't they?

The idea of this blanket, knit from the center out, in the round, is that an i-cord drawstring runs through the edging and you can cinch it up into a bag. Nice idea if you want to use it as a beach blanket because it becomes one less thing to carry.

All in all, I'm pretty happy with this one. The jeannee is a pretty nice yarn and the color is really great. The final project looks quite nice too. The bad news, like any large blanket, it takes a long time. Not a great thing for me since I was so busy and then bored with miles of stockinette. I was never so glad to get to edging ... it was very exciting! I think this would be cute even knitted to a smaller size without the drawstring for a child.

Cinnamon Bay beach bag blanket by Carol Feller from Knitting in the Sun
US 8 dpns and circulars
Plymouth Yarn jeannee (about 16 balls)
(51% cotton, 49% acrylic)
Colorway: (lavendar) 0023 (lot 37841)
Cast on June 18, 2009
Finished November 6, 2009

Mods: Nothing major. I did stop a few rows short of the recommended number for the large size bag because I was worried I was going to run out of yarn. Turns out I had plenty.

Ravelry details here.

And time passes

2009-11-08T16:07:00.000-08:00

It's amazing how quickly time can just get away with me. Every semester I say that time goes faster than in the previous year. This year, I really mean it!

Work is still crazy busy, me having said the word "yes" to far too many people and too many projects. I'd say Spring will be better, but I'd probably jinx myself. =]

Everyone around here is good... the whole animal kingdom: cats, dogs, chickens, and people all happy and content. And after ummm,, maybe 3 months, I finally have a finished project to show (next post).

First, let's have fun with the chickens shall we?

Life as normal (or not)

2009-09-28T14:29:00.000-07:00

I'm taking life around here just like the chicks do ... one step at a time.

Life doesn't feel very normal right now. I actually feel like someone pressed the time and a half button. I have twice as many things to do these days and not so much time in which to get it all done. This of course makes for a lot of undone "to do" lists.

I am still trying to carve out time for myself, and the chickens, and the cats, and the dog (and of course the spouse ... that's a given... =]).

The hens (and they are now officially hens) have all started to lay now. Beatrice continues to lay almost every day (I think she's only missed about three days in the 3 weeks she's been laying). Ada and Bettina are still just getting started but seem to be getting into the habit. But man on man, are they loud in the morning. I knew roosters were loud but I had no idea that hens could make such a ruckus. That egg song phenomenon ... that's just part of the story. There's also all the agitation that happens before they lay and the chatter that happens when one's in a nesting box that another wants to get into. Crazy chicken talk I say!

Last weekend (not yesterday mind you, but a week ago), S and I took off one afternoon to catch a little down time. We needed to sooth our souls with the Pacific.

It was a great time to go. The marine layer started coming in so it was cool and overcast, almost foggy on the beach. The lights came on at Santa Monica pier while we were there too which made for a nice view. Ahh the ocean ... she is calming.

The other really nice thing S did for me was we went on a yarn visit when we were in Santa Monica. For the first time, I visited Wildfiber and WOW is this place great! The picture on their web page does not do the place justice! The yarns... the colors... the softness. I could have purchased a million things.

Instead I settled on one smallish purchase... some Manos is this fabulous green color. I'm not sure exactly what I'll make, but it's going to be great to knit with. It will be nice to get back to some wool. All summer I've been working on an endless stockinette stitch blanket in a lavendar cotton. I'm sure it's going to be nice when it's done, but it's past finished already. Luckily, I've only got 12 rows left ... now granted every row has about 700 stitches, but hey it's only 12 rows! Gotta look for the little things these days you know. =]

An encore

2009-09-07T15:43:00.000-07:00

We were thrilled with the first egg. Today, Beatrice laid a second! Still the most dainty, cute little eggs. We got another "egg song" encore as well. Yesterday I read that this in not uncommon. Here's an example I found on you tube.

The joy!

A month of good and bad

2009-09-06T11:24:00.000-07:00

A month ... time certainly has raced past me over the past 30 days. Back from vacation and into the vortex of work. School started last week and the weeks prior to the start of school are always crazy. You know, everyone has to do everything that didn't get done the rest of the summer? I survived, only a little worse for wear.

Around here, we've had happy and sad events.

This morning we had a happy event which prompted me to post. Beatrice, our most "developed" girl, laid her first egg!

Here she is, the proud egg, layer shortly after the big event. We've been able to tell that she was almost ready to lay for the past couple of weeks (her crown and waddle have really come in and reddened up). The last couple of days she's been very noisy, so noisy I've started to worry that maybe we were wrong and she was really a rooster.

This morning, even before we opened up the house she was really loud. In fact, she was in the laying boxes when I went out to let them into the run. I could just tell today would be the day. She went out into the run for a few minutes and then went right back into the house. We heard lots of squaking and after one particularly loud bout, S wanted me to go out and check on her. The noises that came out of that girl for another minute were very loud exclamations. Then she scooted right out of the house, ran to the morning snacks, and left behind the cutest, most perfect, dainty little egg (pictured next to a regular grocery store egg in the picture below for comparison).

Instincts are really amazing. It has been fascinating to watch our girls go through the different stages of development and just seem to know what to do. We didn't put the laying boxes onto the house until they hit about 18 weeks (which is the earliest hens tend to lay) and Beatrice just went right in, checked it out, and seem to know just what it was for. The girls left it alone until this week and then I could tell Beatrice had been in there just checking it out, scratching a bit, nesting. Now she's a layer. Sigh ... where did the time go? My guess is we still have another week or two before another hen starts to lay.

Also, on the happy news side, we have another baby addition to the neighborhood ... a baby peacock.

The mom has lived in the neighborhood for quite some time. According to some neighbors, years (or another female at least has been here for years). I first saw her about a year ago on a morning walk. You never knew when you were going to see her, or what part of the neighborhood she'd be in, but it was always great to catch sight of her. About 2 weeks ago, driving home from work, I saw her walking in a yard along with her new little companion.

It's unclear to me whether she has an owner/caretaker in the neigborhood or if she really just lives wild in the neighborhood. I've seen lots of houses putting out water and feed for her. As far as I know, there is no male peacock in the neighborhood. There apparently was at one time, but no longer. So, either this girl is another immaculate mother or perhaps the fertilized egg was brought in for her (maybe by an owner?). It's a bit of a mystery, but a happy addition. I've only seen the pair three times so far, but every time is a treat.

Finally, some sad news. Earlier this week, we lost one of our own four girls. One of our reds, Althea, passed away. She just collapsed on Sunday morning last week, and despite a visit to the vet and some care, just didn't make it. We buried her under the budda and think of her often. We were quite worried that the other girls might also fall ill, but so far, no signs of any problems (and with Beatrice's delivery today I'm feeling more optimistic).

So we're remembering our lost friend and enjoying the companionship of the rest of our little family. Good and bad together... I guess that is how life is.

I hope everyone out there is enjoying the end of their summer and having a good labor day weekend.

Beaucolic Maine

2009-08-07T10:09:00.001-07:00

Maine is a beautiful place. This past week we took our second vacation to the New England state, caught up with friends and enjoyed the quiet.

One of the big highlights of our trip this year was that we went to see and stay in friend SLO's new house (she's about 1 1/2 hours north of Portland on one of the coastal peninsulas).

She arrived at the house about a week before we did to move in and start to clean up. The house is 200+ years old and just adorable. She has water access, 5 wooded acres, and the house sits up on a bit of a hill surrounded by wildflowers. It is the most adorable thing ... makes me want to pick up and move to Maine. (Of course I realize I've only seen Maine in July and August and the winter is just a bit different). The ruralness of this part of the state is so appealing to me though ... very relaxing.

That lovely view is the meadow next to her house which she gets to look at outside her kitchen window. Pretty nice hmm?

That's S, another of our friends, and SLO after dinner one night.

Of course, I should disclose that our vacation included a bit of elbow grease too. We offered to help SLO paint the exterior of said 200 year old farmhouse. That picture is after we had finished ripping off the remainder of vinyl siding (the easy parts of which were removed about three years ago), taken down the guttering, and scraped off all the old paint. That scaffolding got moved around a lot and was the best tool we invested in all week!

After filling in all the holes in the wood, caulking all the seams of the house, replacing several clabbards, and priming, the house started coming together. After a good coat of paint, re-screened doors, replaced gutters and several other side projects we ended up with the beauty you see in the top picture. A beautiful home for sure!

Of course, no trip to Maine would be complete without lobster either!

S and I can't wait for our next trip!

Entrelac

2009-07-27T20:55:00.000-07:00

When Lady Eleanor was making the rounds, I managed to miss the train. On Friday, some friends asked me if I could help them learn entrelac. I love to learn something new and help out, so off to the learning process I went. There are some good tutorials out there already (here and here) but I felt compelled to take photos of my process as I went along anyway.

Curious about how an entrelac scarf looks as we go along? It's kind of like sausage... you may not want to see the messy process but the outcome is all nice and tidy. And with that type of introduction....

I'm using Allison LoCicero's Entrelac Scarf pattern. Here's the process of my learning.

After casting on 24 stitches normally, you create three triangles to start. This serves as a bit of a set up "row".

One ...

This is where things are going to feel wierd to the newbie. You have 8 stitches caught up in the triangle and 16 stitches are just hanging out there doing nothing. Then it's time to do triangle Two ...

Now you start to see what's happening. You have little triange that are attached at the tail.

Then three ...

From here the patterns repeats two "tiers" over and over in alternation.

Tier 1 involves a triangle ...

then a square (or really more of a rectangle or parallelogram if you look closely) ...

then a second square ...

and then a final triangle...

You have a full width scarf now, but it doesn't really look like it. You really need to finish more to see the effect.

Tier 2 involves three squares knit one after the other, all the same...

Here's where I am with the starter triangle row, two Tier 1s, and two Tier 2s ...

You can definitely see the pattern clearly now and get a sense of what the final scarf will be like. An interesting technique with lots of depth.

It seems a little strange at the start with all the short rows and the incomplete sections (especially on the triangle row you start with and the first tier 1, but after you get the sense of where things are going, no difficulties. At first I had to pay alot of attention to when to turn and when not to, when I was to pick up and purl versus pick up and knit. Now, even after this little progress, it makes sense. I've even found myself not really needing to count rows. Once you know what's going on, the end of a square or triangle becomes obvious. The pattern is nice because you can follow the instructions literally until you get the idea then you can just use it as a reminder later.

Bring on the students!

Yarn: Plymouth Boku
Ravelry'd here

Crochet to the market

2009-07-25T14:12:00.000-07:00

Yes my friends, I've engaged in crochet once again. I find it a nice diversion from my other knitting project right now which is miles, and miles (and did I mention miles) of stockinette stitch. Since that isn't all that exciting to show or talk about, I haven't blogged it yet. Hopefully it will look like something other than a blob before too much longer and will be blog worthy.

This stroll down the dark side came in the form of a market bag ... another easy beginner pattern.

After all, who ever has enough bags for produce from the farmer's market?

Crochet Grocery Bag by by Haley Waxberg
F 3.75 mm crochet hook
Lily Sugar'n Cream Solid
Colorway: hot purple and soft ecru
<1 skein of ecru and most of the skein of purple
Cast on July 17, 2009
Finished July 22, 2009

Mods: I accidently made more dcs into the initial circle and ended up with 10 spaces so I just kept with that which made the whole bag a bit wider (45 spaces at the widest). I also extended the handles to 44 chains so it would fit on my shoulder. Last, even though the pattern doesn't specify color changes, I used the ecru for rows 17-24 (of 28) for a bit of color contrast, rather than purple throughout.

Ravelry details here.

Hard work

2009-07-13T08:12:00.001-07:00

Who said summer is a time for vacation? They lied. S and I have been doing too much hard work this summer. This weekend was definitely the most labor intensive weekend thus far this summer as we re-did our back patio.

When we first landscaped our yard, hmmm 3 years ago I guess, we jackhammered out an old ugly concrete patio and saved the concrete pieces to use like flagstones. We planted small ground cover between the stones. That looked great for a while ... but then the clover came. I don't know if you've ever had a clover invasion, but it takes over everything ... the ground cover didn't stand a chance. Once the plants and the clover were dead, we had dirt. Not very pretty. We've been talking about fixing this problem for some time and S decided this weekend it was time.

So first we removed all the concrete.

Then we added some sand and added all the concrete back.

Then we added more sand between the concrete.

Then we finished up with river stones between the concrete.

Thank god the final product looks decent, because it is hard work to carry, move, dump, spread, and otherwise manipulate concrete, sand, and stone. And did I mention that I got above 100 degrees F this weekend?

I'm ready to just sit around in the yard for awhile.

Crochet... who me?

2009-07-09T09:57:00.000-07:00

Yes me! Three weeks ago (wow, time does fly), the owner of my new favorite LYS, the PurlSide, had a crochet class. I've been wanting to learn to crochet so I could do just this hat, the Inauguration Chapeau, designed by a blogger I follow regularly, Ellen Bloom.

For my first ever crochet project, I'm pretty pleased with how this turned out! I had to rip back almost to the start the first time I began the hat just because of beginner's stupidity in interpreting the pattern (there are 12 posts -- vertical stripes that go from crown to brim on the hat... I amazingly turned that into 24 and had a very frilly placemat going for while!). With a little help from the girls at my weekly knit-night, I got back on track and a short time later had this divine little hat.

Thanks for such a super pattern Ellen!

Inauguration Chapeau by Ellen Bloom
US US 5 / 3.75 mm, US 6 / 4.0 mm, US 8 / 5.0 mm, and a US 9 / 5.5 mm crochet hook
Patons Classic Wool Merino
Colorway: leaf green
<1 skein
Cast on June 18, 2009
Finished July 6, 2009

Ravelry details here.

Chicken coop city around here!

2009-07-05T14:20:00.000-07:00

So as I mentioned in a previous post, last weekend the chicks made their big move from the house (inside) to the outside. That meant we had to take the four walls we had been using as an indoor coop, add to them a floor and roof, and, oh yeah, take it outside.

This is the house itself at the end of our first day of work. Cute I think. You can see the big door -- the people door -- that's for us to get in and out to clean the house and refill food and water. At the bottom left is where the pop door for the chickens is. In the picture above you can just see where the hole is; we actually have a flat door that slides in from the left to right to cover the door hole and close up the house.

After a second full day of work, we also had a run!

The idea here is that during the day the girls will have the "run" of both the house and the run and at night we'll be able to securely shut them up into the house to sleep.

You can see in this last picture that they are just as happy as can be in the run, scratching at the dirt. Dirt baths have become a BIG favorite around here too.

It was quite hard for me to actually move them outside. I really gained some appreciation for the concept of an empty nest. The first couple of nights I slept in the back room with the windows open so I could hear if they called out in distress. I'm happy to report though that they have taken to the outside like pros. They seem very happy with the extra room and like traveling back and forth between the house and run.

So our urban homestead seems to be in full swing now. Here we are, garden and chickens all residing next to our patio and deck. Gotta love it!

Textured Shawl done

2009-07-02T18:52:00.000-07:00

Yes... it may seem miraculous... but in the blog silence I have done a small, very small, amount of knitting. And here to prove it is my most recent finished object, the Textured Shawl.

Years ago, I purchased 2 skeins of super soft suri merino as a yarn souvenir during a trip to Philadelphia. A few weeks ago, it suddenly dawned on me that the textured shawl would be perfect for it … a pattern already in my favs on Ravelry and designed for this exact yarn.

The pattern is essentially a recipe and is easy, with great results.

And the shawl, super warm and soft.

I was excited that when I finished this girl up we had the trip to Crystal Cove State Park scheduled. It was the perfect place for a photo shoot and we had perfect weather for it. We took photos early in the morning when we still had the marine layer, nice and overcast and just cool enough, even though it was June.

Looking for a good way to use up some special wool? This one is a winner!

Textured Shawl recipe (free pattern on ravelry) by Orlane
US 9 circulars
Blue Sky Alpacas Suri Merino
Colorway: garden (an emerald green)
2 skeins (and I used every inch... ok, I literally had one inch of yarn left when I was done... I had to use the cast on tail to finish binding off!)
Cast on May 28, 2009
Finished June 18, 2009

Ravelry details here.

3 weeks

2009-06-24T16:41:00.000-07:00

and finally a post! That is a very sad record for me. Lucky for you I'm going to have several in a row. First a couple of catch ups and then a FO!

And where do we start with the catch up... well with growing chickens of course!

The girls are about 9 weeks old now! Crazy old ... it's hard to believe. If you're any judge of chickens and remember past posts on the girls, you'll also realize what we have come to understand. Our buff orpingtons, not so much orpingtons. Our best guess at this point is that we have two lovely rhode island reds.

At least we were right about the barred rocks. And these two girls, they have gotten huge!

This is S's favorite thing (and really mine) right now too... the morning frolic with the girls. They are really a bit tired of their little house and ready to move outside permanently. Our plan is to make that transition later this week. In the meantime, for entertainment, they get the run of the kitchen a couple times a day. This basically involves me putting a big pile of zucchini, spinach, lettuce, or some other veggie down for them and then them running crazy around the kitchen. Very entertaining.

Other than chicken time (and the dreaded work... which I am not currently enjoying and will not discuss fo fear of depressing the whole world), the other fun, fun thing we did recently was take a trip to the beach. Two nights at Crystal Cove State Park in southern California (this is close to Newport Beach for those with the geography). We love this little place.

We watched lots of sunsets (well OK only two, but it felt like lots) ...

and took lots of walks and runs on the beach. A great spot. Check it out if you're close by.

Lucky for me, the beach made a great spot for a photo shot of my most recent FO -- the textured shawl. I'll post that soon. Yummy suri merino -- stay tuned! And of course... more chicken fun to come as well!

Fun and games

2009-06-05T17:05:00.000-07:00

That's not all that's going on around here, but there are at least a few fun things happening. This partly involves... you guessed it... knitting!

Not one, but two new projects cast on.

First, I've started an angora stuffed bunny. I purchased a boat load of angora when one of my LYSs went out of business. Why I did this I don't really know. But what better use for fluffy angora than to knit bunnies? I'll keep you posted on how this turns out but so far it is super soft and I won't have to wear it. ;=}

Second, the textured shawl. I bought two skeins of expensive, at least to me, alpaca on my trip to Philly a couple of years ago. Souvenir yarn you know. I had no idea what to do with it until I had a brainstorm ... why one of the projects in my ravelry favs used just 2 skeins of this exact yarn. Yeah a project is born. So far I'm loving it... also very soft with good texture. See a theme here... loving me some soft yarn.

Of course the other fun is chicken fun. Ready for your weekly dose of cute? Be sure to listen for Sterling whining through the door. He so wants to come ~~eat~~ play with the chicks!

And how bout a close up?

Hope everyone is enjoying their summer!

Lace Wrap done

2009-05-28T15:43:00.000-07:00

It's so nice to feel inspired to knit something. =]

A few weeks ago at knit night I didn't have anything I wanted to work on. Inspiration hit in the form of a new magazine pattern and yarn perfect for the project available for purchase. Gotta love that combination.

A bit of knitting time later and a finished object. Perfect.

This lace wrap is definitely in the very easy category. The lace portion is simple, simple and the rest is straightforward stockinette stitch. This makes for good tv time knitting.

I really liked the bamboo yarn used for the wrap too. Non-splitty, just enough sheen, and a perfect weight to give the wrap drape. A perfect summer throw.

Lace Wrap by Amy Polcyn
from June 2009 Knit 'n Style magazine
US 10 circulars
Sidar Snuggly Baby Bamboo
Colorway: Sage green (071 SH 144, Kit 368)
final size: 74" by 12" unstretched
Cast on May 7, 2009
Finished May 27, 2009

Ravelry details here.

Long weekends are great

2009-05-26T19:24:00.000-07:00

Really... great. There is nothing like knowing you have an extra day off before you have to go to the office. This weekend, having that extra day was just fabulous!

So what did I do with that extra time you might ask. Well nothing specific... that's the point... free time!

There was a bit of knitting, as can be seen in my growing Lace Wrap. There was much playing with the chickens.

The girls are all roosting at night now ... they are just too cute when all four are lined up side by side.

And the rest of the time, movie watching (we saw both Terminator Salvation and Angels & Demons -- thumbs up for both), relaxation, baking (lots of gluten free yummies), and running. Yep... even though I haven't blogged about it in a while, S and I have been keeping up the running. This morning, I did a 5K. It is such a great feeling to know that I can run that distance now.

So it's amazingly the end of may, the academic semester has ended, the weather is great, and I don't want to work any more!! Of course, work will happen. But I am plotting some new knitting projects. Let's see what we'll get started next....

As time speeds by

2009-05-18T18:27:00.000-07:00

WOW! What does happen with time?! One day we have chicks... and then next, well chickens!

But wait... maybe we shouldn't get back to the chickens so quickly. How 'bout a discussion of the fact that I have managed to do a little knitting since last we talked! I've missed several knit nights given craziness at work, but last time I went I just wasn't motivated to work on the sweater I have on the needles. Well, with knit night in a yarn store, where is there a better place to be re-inspired?

After a look through a new issue of a magazine, Knit 'n Style, and a browse through the yarn on the shelves, a new WIP was born -- the Lace Wrap. A very simple lace pattern that's working very well with the bamboo that I've picked out for it. Thank goodness I've found something I want to work on again.

OK... there's your yarn fix. Now, chickens?

These little guys have been growing, growing, growing! My favorite thing now is to let them out of the house to run around. I never would have guessed it, but I love the way their ticklish little feet feel when they crawl on my legs, feet, and hands.

Are you ready to see my little girls. Here you go!

Knitting... is this a knitting blog?

2009-05-04T17:15:00.001-07:00

Yes friends... I'm sure you're convinced I've simply become farmer Liz and that I've abandoned knitting for all time. Some days around here it even feels that way. But lest we all realize that I took a nearly 2 week break from knitting (eeeeks!!), let's look at a silly little project I whipped out yesterday.

Yes it's a swifter sweeper cover... all nice and environmentally friendly. Simple pattern free from Birdy's Knits.

Funny, the last time I knit with cotton like this it was to make a washcloth and it took me days... now this was just a couple of hours... guess my speed is picking up a bit.

In other domestic feats... S decided to do some baking yesterday!

Some of you know that I'm gluten intolerant so breads, cookies, cakes etc are usually limited to home baked (which is rare around here) or cardboard quality from the health food store. Back on St. Pat's day I found a great recipe for gluten free Irish Soda bread at Karina's blog. This is a bonus recipe for me because not only does wheat cause me problems, but so does yeast... soda bread.. no yeast!

S found the last ingredient for me on Friday so we decided to make bread Sunday for lunch. Can you say yummy! Gluten free... try it out. Not gluten free... try it out anyway!! Once S was going he got crazy and made two batches of biscotti too. Wow... we're living high here this week... bread and cookies!

And last of course, I wouldn't be a good farmer girl unless I posted at least a couple of cute chick-ey pictures.

Look at how big my little girls are getting!

Swiffer Re-Usable Cloth by Birdy Evans

US 8 / 5.0 mm

Colorway: Hot Pink

Cast on May 2, Finished May 3, 2009
Great instructions... since I used size 8 needles (my 7s were mia) I only knit 41 rows to finish her up.
Ravelry details here.

Chickens all the time, everywhere

2009-05-02T16:40:00.000-07:00

Hey friends... sorry for the quiet but our little chickens (not to mention work!) have been keeping us quite busy around here! By our fifth day with the little girls, we knew they weren't going to stay contained in our aluminum tub long -- they had already started flying over the edge and taking a stroll around the room we were keeping them in.

Desperate chicken times take desperate measures... time to build a chicken house!

Last Saturday was a build-o-rama day. S made up some plans and the two of us went to work. A few 2x4s, some left over fencing, wire left over from other things, and a number of hours of work and we had a chicken house! It's pretty big, but just small enough to still fit into the back room.

Pretty much fills up the room though. Aren't those tiny little chicks cute in their giant house though.

Our little guys have been growing like crazy too. Here's a picture of them on their 8th day home with us.

Now we're at day 15. It's hard to believe how big they've gotten... they are definitely small chickens now. And small chickens, well they need to drink and eat alot.

Ready for videos?

First up... let's watch the cuties just hang out in their tub so you can see how large they are (they took a little break in there today while we cleaned up the chicken house).

And next... look at how inquisitive the little girls are. S was using the vacuum and they were more than curious. I love watching them stand up on their tip toes. Take a look at the feather growth on the girls too... especially over their breast... there'sbarely any baby fuzz left there or on their backs.

And last... snack time. Garden Genie and her friends think grubs are good pets. Girls close your eyes cause you're about to see what our chicks think of grubs... yum, yum! This is video we took today of Althea having a "snack."

Hours of entertainment my friends... what more could you want out of life!

Need another dose of sweetness?

2009-04-21T18:17:00.000-07:00

Of course you do... everyone needs some sweet in their lives!

The chicks have now been with us for 4 days. We're pretty sure they are at least a week old now, if not a few days older. Check out these little darlings.

And one more still photo.

And because video is so fun... check out some more home movies. The first is general cuteness. Look at how much their wing feathers are filling in. (You'll hear S say "It's OK kitty." The cats are going crazy with us spending time in the room with the chickies... they know something's up but can't quite figure out what it is. We frequently have little paws coming under the door with them trying to explore!)

The second video shows the chicks drinking a bit better than the video in the last post... the drinking is so cute. You also get to see a bit of chick preening and, fun, you get to see how they just flop down wherever they are whenever they want to sleep.

So cute!!

Introductions are in order

2009-04-19T12:56:00.000-07:00

For quite some time now, I've thought it would be great to have chickens. I've liked the idea for a long time, inspired most recently by Animal, Vegetable, Miracle (as were lots, and lots, and lots of people, I'm sure). Last year when I mentioned it to S, he scoffed a bit at the idea. This year he thought it would be good to have chickens and I strongly agreed!

So yesterday we did a bit of research, visited our local feed store, Pomona Feed, and picked out 4 (hopefully) pullets to come live at our house.

Meet Betina, Ada, Beatrice, and Althea (from top left, down, and to the right).

(Yes we cleaned out the water trough right after we took the photo... we're new parents... we're learning the many ways chicks can dirty up their area).

Althea and Ada are the two golden yellow-brown chicks... both Buff Orpingtons. Betina and Beatrice, the two black chicks, are both Barred Rocks.

Our research shows that both breeds should be good backyard birds... docile, friendly, calm.

For now, the chicks are living in a big aluminum tub with a pine shaving floor. They'll be inside with a light bulb for heat for a few weeks. Then they'll move outside into a coop in the backyard. S is already making big plans for the coop and will build it himself.

And let me tell you, if we didn't want to have chickens for the local food -- sustainability angle of the whole thing, I would want them because they are just too darn cute! I couldn't resist showing a couple of videos. In the first one if you watch closely you can see them scratch and peck and, cutest, get a drink of water (they throw their head back to swallow ... too cute). In the second one, you can hear S and I chatting with them and watch them scurry around their little area.

I'll keep you posted as they grow... which they should do fast. We think they are somewhere around 4-8 days old right now (mostly guessing from pics). The barred rocks are a bit smaller than the orpingtons so we think they may be a bit younger. Both have started to get feathers, with the tail feathers being very tiny on the barred rocks. It's a whole new world friends ... I need to go surf the net more to learn what to expect!

Colibri Scarf

2009-04-10T08:00:00.000-07:00

Yes, during all this non-blogging time, I have managed to do a bit of knitting. Earlier this week I cast off on a gift for a friend ... a scarf made from Katia Colibri, a thick 'n thin yarn (really it's thread with a bit of fluff in a few places). My friend was recently diagnosed with cancer and I thought a bit of a yarn hug was in order.

It's nice that with a simple garter stitch, you can still end up with something quite interesting ... all because of the yarn. I simply cast on three stitches and then knit every row. On every other row I increased a stitch on each end of the row to create the triangle shape. If I were to do it again, I might increase a bit more than this (maybe increase two rows and then knit one row without an increase) so that I would get more width across the top relative to the length from top to bottom of the point.

All in all though, a nice sweet project. I hope its recipient will enjoy it.

Colibri Scarf
(my own pattern -- see above)
1 ball Katia Colibri in a beige/gold color (color 7552A dye lot 09922)
(51% cotton, 45% acrylic, 4% polyamide)
US 13 circulars
Final size: 40” across the top; 34” from top to the bottom point of the triange when worn.
Cast on March 26, 2009
Finished: April 6, 2009

Ravelry details here.

All about Aran ... done again!

2009-04-07T08:00:00.000-07:00

You all knew I couldn't stop working on this didn't you?

Nope... I had to keep knitting more squares. Now with 9 squares done I have a respectable small lap blanket or baby blanket and I'm ready to take a break.

I love the textures of cables.

I think they look great in this natural colored yarn ... even if it is Lion Brand.

Baby Aran Afghan

All About Aran afghan by Janet Szabo (as featured on Knitty Gritty)

Lion Brand Wool-Ease in Natural Heather
(20% wool, 80% acrylic)
US 7 circulars
Cast on about September 4, 2006 (but of course the squares I knit way back then all got frogged)
Cast on for squares now actually in afghan about September 2008
Finished: March 15, 2009

Modifications: none other than to use only 9 squares and to pick my own assortment of square patterns (others are in the pattern and I did not use them)

Ravelry details here.

Bulky Cable Cardigan fini

2009-04-04T15:31:00.001-07:00

This is my take on the Bulky Cable Cardigan.

I find that Stephanie Japel’s patterns don’t fit my body too well – they are always wide on my waist and narrow over my hips. For this sweater, I knit the pattern as written until the bottom of the body and sleeves. Instead of doing the ribbing (which would have drawn the sweater in too tightly for me at the hips), I just did a few more rows of plain garter stitch.

The sweater was still a bit large for me given my choice of yarn so I also left off the button bands. A pin to hold the cardi closed at the top is working just fine for me.

The sweater is bulky… buyer beware. It will keep me nice and toasty warm, but I do feel a bit like I have padding on. You can get a little sense of that from the pictures of the sleeves. Overall, I’m happy with the sweater though. After all, who doesn’t love a good cable?

And how 'bout one last photo so you can see the giant cables down the back?

Yep... it's been weeks since a post, but at least you got pretty pics this time!

Bulky Cable Cartigan by Stephanie Japel
Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick & Quick
in 178 Cilantro (lot 62446)
US 11 circulars
Cast on October 19, 2008
Finished: March 22, 2009

Ravelry details here.

More fun with cables!

2009-03-23T14:09:00.001-07:00

So Thursday was my second cabling class and boy did I have some sharp thumbtacks in the box. Look at the progress these 4 women made!

I never cease to be amazed at how different one pattern can be when knit up with different yarns, in different colors, and, most importantly, at different gauges! Everyone used about US 7-8s and still the width of the scarfs varies so much.

And take a look at Sheila's scarf below! She was worried she wouldn't catch on so she got the pattern at the first class and then actually participated in the second class. She did all this in two weeks -- looks like someone didn't really need a teacher she's so quick to catch on!

All in all, definitely a very fun process for me. Several of the women from my first class were in the shop again and all are making great progress. I can't wait to see the finish products all of them make. I'm convinced they'll all be beautiful!

Want your own? Remember I've got the Gemma Cabled Scarf pattern up as a free ravelry download here.

In other news, I've been knitting too. I've finished up a couple of projects I'll post once I have photos. Of course, really what I've been spending my time on is a Twilight binge. I got the 3 disk DVD from target first thing saturday morning and have spent endless hours watching all the extras. Fun!

Teaching is Fun!

2009-03-16T11:38:00.000-07:00

So a week ago Thursday was my first knitting class. Jayne at the purlSide, my new favorite LYS, asked me to teach a class on cabling. That's what prompted me to create the Gemma Cabled Scarf (now a free ravelry download available to anyone) -- I needed a pattern to teach.

I was worried we wouldn't have any takers. I had 12 people show up for class! Good thing I was prepared with lots of patterns and with a big giant example to teach from (see that big sage green scarf on the end of the table... that's my low-tech power point demonstration for the class... grin).

I had a super fun time teaching them the basics and everyone did such a great job! I think one of the things that's always interesting, and good for a teacher, is to see what you can improve on... what the common mistakes are. I picked up a few ideas for next time.

Look at how studious they all are... such good students!

There were a few small boo-boos as would be expected when starting anything new, but by the end of class everyone seemed well on their way to a scarf (despite my scary look below, no one had any scary mistakes that couldn't be easily fixed).

This Thursday at regular knit night, a few people from class brought in their progress... look at this!!

Very exciting to see everyone have that "lightbulb" moment and realize they too can do something new. I love cables... and I think these guys do too now. I'm looking forward to seeing their final projects even more than I was to getting my own done!

And more fun... I get to teach the class again this week! A new group to bring to the cable side this Thursday evening at the purlSide!

Gemma Cabled Scarf (with pattern info)

2009-03-09T12:26:00.000-07:00

Long time no chat friends! I've been busy in my absence, having both fun and doing work. And I know which of those two things you'll want to hear about -- the fun!

And the first fun thing ... I finished the pattern for the Gemma Cabled Scarf and taught my first knitting class!

The class was at the purlSide (in Glendora, CA), my new favorite LYS. Jayne, the owner, took photos and said she'd share those with me so I'll post those later if I get them.

Today, I'd like to share the pattern with you.

Since this was for a class, I wanted to design something not too complicated and something that could be done as a quicker project -- hence the shorter scarf secured by a pin. I knit mine up in Lion's Brand Wool-Ease but any worsted weight wool or wool blend yarn should work just fine.

This pattern looks very complicated so it gives you a lot of "WOW" for the work. It isn't simple, simple, but was successfully accomplished by the 12 women who took my class this week. The cables are basic, simple forms with lots of repeats so once you "get" how to do the cabling, the rest is simple.

I'll be teaching the same class again next Thursday (3/19) evening if anyone wants the taught version, otherwise the pattern is available as a free Ravelry download for everyone.

Gemma Cabled Scarf (link will open up a downloadable pdf)
<1 ball Lion Brand Wool Ease in Natural Heather
US 7 circulars
Cast on February 7, 2009
Finished a short time later .. February 12, 2009

Ravelry details here.

The purlSide ... my new favorite hangout

2009-02-24T10:35:00.000-08:00

Yeah... the purlSide is now open! The opening was a week ago today and it was great to be back in our own LYS. Thursday night we had our knit night back in the shop. Verdict... it's GREAT!

Jayne, the owner (sitting in front of a quilt that is a family heirloom, has done a great job setting the place up. It's spacious without feeling too empty. Great design... good colors... great places to sit and knit!

She's getting more yarn in every day and boy is it fun to find new things you just have to have.

And the best thing ... it's a wonderful place to be to hang out with really great friends. Jayne, thanks for making this such a great place to be.

The purlSide
1200 E Route 66 #109
Glendora, CA 91740
626-914-3747

located across from the Golden Spur restaurant and next to Headquarters Hair Salon

Tuesday – Friday
11:00 am to 5:30 pm

Saturday
12:00 pm – 5:00 pm

Closed Sunday and Monday

Classes Wednesdays 10:00 am – 11:00 am
Saturday 11:00 am – 12:00 pm
By appointment or class schedule
Prices will vary depending on class

Happy Valentine!

2009-02-19T10:04:00.000-08:00

Last week at my knit night, my friend Sharon passed along a Morehouse Farm pattern she had received for free with a purchase she made from them -- a Valentine Heart Card.

This will be the perfect Valentine greeting for S when he arrives home from Brazil later this afternoon!

It's a cute little idea and easy to execute... knits and purls used in contrast to show the heart design, knit up into a bit of a swatch and then stitched to a card. Love it. Can't wait to share it with my honey!

Valentine Heart Card "kit" from Morehouse Farm
Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran
<1 ball
US 4 circulars
Cast on February 16, 2009
Finished a short time later .. February 16, 2009

Ravelry details here.

Aran Afghan... done?

2009-02-11T17:27:00.001-08:00

After my little frogging game I got totally inspired to work on more blocks for this afghan. And now look... a baby version, 6 squares big, 2' by 3' is done!

And you know what... I really like it!

Seeing it all seamed together rather than just as a stack of blocks is remarkable. I still was ambivalent looking at it all laying out on the table. But once it was seamed... I don't know, it just seemed to transform in front of my eyes!

So now that I like it, the question is "should I be done?". Should I be done? Should I keep knitting more? I could knit three more squares and have a 3' by 3' lap blanket or I could knit 6 more and have a 4' by 4' bigger lap blanket. This is a true dilemma. I need your help!

So far I've used the honeycomb pattern as the primary block. It's half of the current 6 squares. (If I made it bigger, I think I would stick with keeping honeycomb as half the blocks). I also have two squares of nothing but bobbles (trinity stitch to be more formal) and one square of moss stitch filled diamonds.

Who knew this would turn out so well. Again, I need to remember... I like texture. I can't believe I forget that... I can be such a dolt. So what do you think... knit some more or be happy with what I have?

Baby Aran Afghan

All About Aran afghan by Janet Szabo (as featured on Knitty Gritty)

Modifications: none other than to use only 6 squares (so far) and to pick my own assortment of square patterns (others are in the pattern and I did not use them)

Ravelry details here.

Help me decide my friends?

My 333rd post & 48 years

2009-02-09T15:17:00.000-08:00

And to celebrate such auspicious numbers... more natural heather colored yarn photos!

This weekend I finished up my final aran afghan square ( #6) and seamed them all together (yes I did my finishing!) and you know what? I love it. Now I may have to knit more squares. I have to think about it. I don't have a photo of the current "FO" but will take one when it stops raining (yes... it's one of the 6 days a year it rains in Southern California so I couldn't take a photo... I need to hang it up outside somewhere to get a good pic I think). So with the blanket "maybe finished" I spent the majority of the weekend swatching.

My knitting group has been talking about wanting to learn to cable and I've said I'd be willing. Now that we're going to have a new LYS, I *might* be teaching an actual cabling class. I'm happy to do it... I just want to confirm that the new owner isn't just joking and really wants me to do a class.

So if I'm going to do a class, I need a pattern to teach. Hence, swatching. Behold the beginnings of the "Gemma" cabled scarf.

You can see on the left the different permutations of the scarf that I'm putting together. I started with the center cable as the prominent feature surrounded by two smaller cables. After a few inches of that I realized that the center was too small (only a 9 stitch cable) and decided to switch up to a 13 stitch center cable. I liked that one much better. After a while though I realized I don't really like the row of knit along each side of the center cable. This is similiar to what's in the luxe cable sweater, which I love, but I just don't like it here. I think it's too busy for such a small space. So out with the knits and in with plain purls in the center. A little less filler in the fourth try and I think I have something that looks not too bad. The knitting on the right is that final pattern. It should stretch out a bit wider once I wash it, but all in all, not too shabby I think. I love the texture you know, and this one has lots of it.

So will it be too complicated for a beginners class? I hope not. It's really just a left leaning cable and a right leaning cable (different numbers of stitches, some left, some right).

Only the great OZ knows whether this will turn into a class or not, but at the least I'll get a fun new scarf out of it. I'll write it up later for others who are interested too.

And in honor of my mom, a true Irish girl, I'm going to call it the Gemma Cabled Scarf. It seems quite fitting that in a post about cables and aran knitting, I get to honor my mom and dad. My mom who was born and raised in Derry and only moved to the states after she was swept off her feet by a yank.

Happy 48th anniversary Mom and Dad!

Just when you thought I was done . . .

2009-02-02T18:42:00.000-08:00

suddenly there's another square.

There is something crazy about unloading. The day that I posted that I wasn't going to make the afghan and that I had frogged three squares, I cast on another square. Yep... I must be crazy. I don't know, all of a sudden I just had three lovely squares and no real interest in making them into pillows. I started looking a the Mason-Dixon moderne log cabin baby blanket and suddenly realized that I was halfway to a baby blanket with my three squares.

Today... well now I have 5. Only one left to go and I'm about 20% through that one too! When I'm done I'll just box it up until the time is right and some friend decides to add to their family.

It's wonderful when things work out that way.

Good for me that something is working out right too. Work just sucks these days. Not work, per say. Just parts of work. You know what? I really don't like parts of my work. I don't like it when people don't do what they should and I'm the one that has to do the documentation and the "firing." I don't like it when people who have been "fired" are too stupid to understand what that means and just keep coming back again and again with more appeals. Sigh. If I could just do my job, I'd get so much more done.

On a more positive note... my better half is having a good time off traveling again. Yes my previous-South Bend, Indiana residing spouse now is off in Brazil! I don't know, some excuse about doing fieldwork for a dissertation [laugh]! He spent his first 10 days near the rain forests in Belem and is to arrive in Rio today. He spends another 10 days there "working" and then finishes up his trip in Sao Paulo. Sounds tough hmm? I get updates and have seen a few pics. Looks like all is going well there.

So that's me... working too much on soul-sucking tasks, hanging out with the boys (the cats and dogs), and looking forward to another Thursday night knitting club. And best news of all ... my LYS is definitely going to re-open (sort of). One of the women who works there is going to open her own store in another location not too far away. This is the best... I can't wait!

Happpy February friends!

Knitting... remind me ...

2009-01-23T12:35:00.000-08:00

what exactly is that and how do you find time to do it? [laugh]

How is it that time just seems to disappear on you? Work expands and fills up every moment of your cognitive existence? When you get home, you're like jello? Even knitting seems like a bit of a challenge? Such has been my tale of late.

Poor, poor, pitiful me hmm? [laugh ... don't give me any sympathy... I don't deserve it].

In the almost two weeks since last I posted, I have squeezed in a *small* amount of knitting time, mostly on MLK day (a giant blessing!). My cabled hoodie is slowly coming along, but is getting minimal attention, I have to admit. I still seem to be distracted and wanting to do something else.

My most recent distraction, another square for the cabled afghan I started years ago.

That top square represents the end of square 6 of 16. A funny thing happened after square 6 though. I got all excited about starting another square, pulled out a stitch dictionaries to come up with my own square, cast on and knit about 8 rows, and then asked myself the fateful question "why are you doing this?".

You see, even I had to recognize that the 6 squares I had completed were never going to go together into an afghan. When you look at the picture up there closely, you'll see it too. The far left, far right, and top squares are all nice and large (these are the three most recently knit squares). The three squares in the middle, the ones I started with, not so much on the large size.

I deluded myself for awhile that I could block them into the right size, but you know what, just a delusion. I could have blocked to the right length OR the right width, but there was no way physics was going to allow me to get to both the right length and width simultaneously.

Really I had three completed squares and three objects with no practical use. How much did I really want a 16 square afghan? How many more months would I spend on this task.? Was this the task which was most worth my knitting time?

Does this picture answer the question for you?!

I looked myself squarely in the face, admitted that the early squares had been a good learning experience (this was how I taught myself to cable and how I learned that you don't knit through the back loop normally ... something that never occurred to me when I taught myself... something I only discovered later when watching knitting on television and someone made the distinction between knitting normally and knitting through the back loop), and did the frog dance.

The most recent three squares I've saved and I think I'm going to turn them into throw pillow shams. The first three squares... dust. Let's just say they now rest in the stash, ready along with a number of companions to find another use in the future.

I feel a great unburdening and I've just decreased my "knitting in progress" list by one.

Now if I can just escape the vortex of work and not get distracted into frogging any other WIPs around here.... [grin].

First FO of 2009

2009-01-12T15:35:00.001-08:00

Yesterday, inspired by both Kay over at Mason Dixon and Ellen at LA is my Beat, I felt compelled to cast on for a new project -- Calorimetry, to be specific. And really, truth be told, it was Ellen's ~~fault~~ suggestion that led to my choice. She participated in this really great idea, cast on with wild abandon. I love that idea! Don't worry about what you have in progress, what you think you "should" be working on, give into your fancy. And that's just what I did.

I printed out out the pattern for Calorimetry, pulled out the perfect yarn from my stash (and trust me that rarely happens, so it must have been meant to be) and off I went.

The best thing, it's already a finished object!

S and I have been keeping up our morning runs and this is going to be perfect for a cool morning. I find that I get a little too hot with a hat, but think this headband will fill the bill. Keep the ears toasty while letting a little steam out as well.

I used Plymouth Yarn's Boku for the first time to do this project. I actually bought the yarn at my LYS's closing sale thinking I'd knit up a tea cozy (and then I promptly stopped using the tea pot ... I'm much more a 'one cup at a time' girl -- probably because the tea gets cold in the pot which is why I need a cozy... grrrr). Let me tell you, I love the colors. It's very similiar to Noro and I'm starting to understand why people love Noro so much.

Boku is pretty much like Noro in terms of its feel too ... a bit on the scratchy side. It's 95% wool, 5% silk, but honestly you don't feel the silk. But the colors... pretty. I love the transitions. I'd definitely put this on the list to use again.

And gold star for the project that can be finished in a few hours of dedicated knitting!

Calorimetry
Plymouth Yarn Boku (95% wook, 5% silk)
< 1 ball Color 7 Lot 37 (a mix of blues and greens)
US 4 circulars
Cast on January 11, 2009
Finished January 12, 2009

Modifications: None, just dropped to a smaller needle to get gauge with this yarn.

Ravelry details here.

What's better...

2009-01-09T19:07:00.001-08:00

than knitting with friends! [rhetorical question... of course]

Since my LYS closed, my knitting group hasn't met. Last night we all got together at my house for a night of fun, laughter, and knitting!

There really is nothing like having fun with friends! And to end the evening, we here in California like a little rock 'n roll....

Yep, nothing like a little tremblor to shake you up and get the adrenaline rushing. At least no one will forget knit night at my house!

I can't wait for next week to see everyone again.

My newest start

2009-01-06T08:00:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone ... thanks for your feedback on the ribbed cardi. I'm going to take your advice and leave it as is.

Of course, with one sweater off the needles, it was time to cast on for something new. Next up, the Cabled Pullover with Hood (it's from a Paton's brochure).

With the new found realization that yes, texture is my friend, I'm going to do another all over cables pattern. This one should keep me busy for awhile I think. Fun, fun!

So what's up for 2009?

2009-01-05T10:30:00.000-08:00

2008 was a good year... busy but good.
Last January I set some goals for myself and didn't do too badly on the list. Let's review shall we.

1. More quality knitting.

Check ... I came up with several projects I really enjoyed and a number of finished objects I'm quite happy with. Not everything was a winner of course, but on the whole, a successful year. I did knit one pair of socks... I love having the finished pair but still think that socks take an awfully long time to finish.

2. Higher quality blogging.

Hmm... well I think I get a mixed report card on this. My posts have become more infrequent so there is less "trash" post, but the visuals haven't improved tremendously. I still struggle with sharing alot of quality information. Something that can still be worked on I think.

3. Spinning.

Oops... failed this goal. No spinning at all this year.

4. Live within a budget and save money.

Well this always seems to be an area for improvement doesn't it?

5. Live healthier (eating healthier foods, exercising).

I finished 2008 having walked or run 616.4 miles, exceeding my goal of 540 miles solidly. I also began running. Now this my friends was a crazy thing; I have never run. Not even when I was a kid. I used Robert Ullrey's Couch to 5K podcasts and, OMG, now I can run. I got up to 5K and then dropped down to what I think is most reasonable for my knees... about 2 miles per run.

6. Learn Spanish.

Excellent progress here... I've now completed two semesters of college spanish and have learned quite a bit. Still couldn't carry a conversation in a bucket, but man oh man do I feel like I have accomplished something.

7. Increase my research productivity at work.

Well it didn't go down... does that count? This year was a crazy busy year with too many other work demands. Research didn't get the time it deserved. I'll try again on this goal.

8. Commit to being more present and positive with people at work.

I'm going better with this but will continue to work on this. We can't ever be good enough to the people around us.

9. Work on being more outgoing, less introverted, with others.

OK... I'm still just as shy and introverted as ever. Honestly, I'm not sure how important this goal is for me. The costs still seem to outweigh the benefits.

10. Appreciating what I have, being mindful, managing my work-related stress, enjoying nature.

This I did well with. Of course there were crazy moment, stressful moments, but on the whole I managed to keep my sanity. Morning walks go along way with this as does being surrounded with such a great group of handsome boys.

2009 should be a pretty busy year. Always more to do than time to do it in, right? To get off to a good start, S and I have come up with a few new resolutions. Here's my new list.

1. Appreciating what I have, being mindful, managing my work-related stress. I've decided to move this one up the list. It's what gives me quality of life -- got to give it priority.

2. More quality knitting.

3. Live within a budget and save money.

4. Live healthier (eating healthier foods, exercising).

630 miles by 2010
run 2 miles, 3 times per week
watch my diet, eat at home more often, cook healthier foods

5. Contine to learn Spanish.

6. S and I have committed to taking a nature trip and going to the movies at least once per month. With mountains, desert, and beach all within a short drive, we need to take advantage of the bounty around us.

Seems like a pretty reasonable list, right? I'm looking forward to the year. Hope your's is off to a good start and you're optimistic too.

Off the Needles in 2008

2009-01-03T09:00:00.000-08:00

It's always a very rewarding feeling to look back over the past year and to see what's been accomplished. Shall we take a walk down the 2008 memory lane? I think I'd like that.

From right to left, starting on the bottom row:

Ribbed Cardi with Collar

Cable Luxe Tunic

Chunky Knit Cowls (v 1 & 2)

Scott's sweater

Fantine

Trinity Stitch Baby Jacket

Rotating Rib Trekking Socks

baby's pure & simple pullover

Garter Stitch Mitts v. 1 & 2

Celtic Tote

Baby Booties & Beanie

Doctor's Bag

One hour hats v. 1-5

Neckwarmer v 3.0

Elizabeth Bennet cabled cardigan

Not bad for a year... 7 sweaters, 4 cowls/scarfs, 7 hats, 2 bags, 1 pair of booties, 1 pair of socks, and 3 pairs of fingerless mitts.

All and all, and enjoyable year of knitting. My favorite init this year was definitely the cable luxe tunic. I must have been slow on the up-take, but it has finally dawned on me that my love of texture extends to knitting. I'm a cables girl.

My second favorite knit of the year was the Doctor's Bag... no suprise, another textured object. Love that herringbone texture on the bag. I also love the fact that it's big and can hold big knitting projects.

I'd put both of these projects high on the to-knit list.

Hope everyone else had an equally enjoyable knitting year. Next time, I'll do a bit of planning for 2009.

Happy Holidays!

2009-01-02T15:07:00.001-08:00

I hope everyone has been having a great holiday season! The picture above is from my flight last week. The plane flew right over the tops of the mountains close to where we live. A beautiful parting shot of our warm L.A. home, I have to say.

S and I spent our holidays with family and then moving him back home from Indiana.

With family, we of course ate generous meals and had very good company. We then had two days of very pleasant, if not cold, driving through Oklahoma (where the family lives), New Mexico, and Arizona on our way back to California.

It is good to be home though and to have S back here as well.

Best wishes to you all from us both!

Ribbed cardi done

2008-12-20T11:15:00.000-08:00

I am always astonished that it can feel like you work on something forever and you still have miles to go. Then one day, all of a sudden, without warning, you're done! Such was the case with the ribbed cardi I cast off last night.

The sleeves are wayyyyy too long. I foolishly made them longer thinking that would be a good idea. Not such a good idea. Laugh. I may chop the ends off. I'm still giving this some thought.

I'm also not 100% sold on the wide collar but it's growing on me.

I can say that I loved the Sidar Eco wool dk the sweater is made out of. I'd describe it as a loosely spun single. A little splitty, but not too bad. Nice and warm, pretty soft for wool. Good stuff!

So what do you guys think? Shorten the sleeves? Narrow the collar?

Regardless...Yeah!... one more project down.

Ribbed Jacket with Collar
Sidar Eco woll dk book (336 Code c)
12 balls Sidar Eco wool dk (100% undyed virgin wool)
US 6 circulars
Cast on about October 27, 2008
Finished December 19, 2008

Modifications: Recalculated the pattern given that I got very different gauge than the pattern suggested. Extended the sleeves longer than recommended by the pattern.

Ravelry details here.

A new day

2008-12-16T14:16:00.000-08:00

This morning broke clear, blue-skyed, cold, and beautiful.

I love it when you can see snow blowing around on the mountain top, snug from inside a snow-free home.

Life is good -- despite my momentary melt down yesterday.
=]

It must be a monday

2008-12-15T10:44:00.001-08:00

It's raining giant bucketfulls of cats and dogs today (yes, I live in Southern California where it never rains.
I needed to go into the office early today to do a make-up exam (my oral exam for Spanish that I've already missed twice!)
Today was the day my car battery decided to give up the ghost so I couldn't get into work
Depite the fact that I'm wearing a turtleneck, a sweater, a jacket, a scarf (handmade alpaca of course), and boots, I can not get my feet warm.

But have no fear, all is not lost.

It only took AAA 20 minutes to come out and jump start my car
I only spent an hour at the repair shop getting the battery replace (and oh yeah... did I realize that one of my brake lights was also dead and did I want to have that fixed too?)
I still get to take my written final exam in Spanish in an hour
The rain has finally gone down to "light"
We have no mud to slide in my neighborhood and all that snow that I can see up on the mountains won't get down to us here in the valley

Some days you know it must be Monday.

=]

Long lost blogger

2008-12-14T11:23:00.000-08:00

Yep... I'm still here. Long time no post. =]

Life goes on ... work is busy. I'm so looking forward to time off at the holidays. Knitting has happened, in limited spurts.

My ribbed cardi is coming along. I finally cast off the collar last night (after the photo was taken). Now there's just the rest of the endless body to go. I get tired of sweaters before they're done. It's inevitable ... I can take a break or I can just push though... but I just get bored.

I'm going to like this one when it's done though so I'm knit, knit, knit, purl, purl, purling away. =]

In honor of our upcoming holidays I also managed to put up a few lights.

I believe strongly in celebrating the winter solstice and can't wait for the days to start getting longer again.

Hope everyone is doing well and having more free time for fun than me. I'll try to update you again soon.

Lazy days... love em

2008-11-30T15:54:00.000-08:00

Five days off of work ... this has been a great, lazy five days! I need to do this more often. And the best thing, big piles of work shouldn't be waiting for me since everyone else has been off too. Yeah!!

So what have I been doing for the past several days. Well amazingly little knitting it turns out. I've been on a Twilight binge. After I saw the movie, I reread all the books. I'm thinking about going back to see the movie again. Teen angst... love it!

But it hasn't been all teen romance around here, I did finish up one project and have been working dutifully away on my sweater. First up, a finished object.

A pair of garter stitch mitts for myself.

Last May I made pairs of these for my mom and sister and planned to make a pair for myself. Here were are 6 months later and I've finally gotten around to it.

My favorite part... the way the greenish gold colors contrast with the pinks of the Soy yarn on the palms.

Garter Stitch Mitts by Ysolda
1 ball Pattons SWS (70% wool, 30% soy), Natural Violet (color 70312)
US 9 circulars
Cast on about November 14, 2008
Finished November 28, 2008

Modifications: Cast on only 26 stitches given yarn with a different gauge.

Ravelry details here.

I've also been making progress on my ribbed cardi. Instead of knitting the body pieces in pieces, I put them all on the needles at once. This is making for slow going, but it is finally starting to look like a sweater. So far, I'm still pretty pleased with how this one is coming along.

And last, pictoral proof that I am able to cook and enjoy Thanksgiving solo. S... here's my yummy thanksgiving lunch. An overflowing plate of starchy calories.

Yum! Hope all of you counted your blessings and enjoyed your weekend too.

OK... admit it ...

2008-11-25T12:35:00.000-08:00

you want to see it too.

I did ... I love teen angst movies... always have. Loved it. All the sappy, illogical, heartthrobby stuff. It was great! Want to have that giggly teenage girl feeling again... you should go too! You won't regret it.

Sad news in the LYS department

2008-11-20T12:55:00.000-08:00

Yes, I hate to be the bearer of bad news but my favorite LYS, Knitwitz in San Dimas, will be closing next month. I'm going to miss this place... locale for my regular Thursday night knit group. What will become of me? (OK... maybe that's a bit melodramatic, but it is quite a loss, a girl has to have a place to whine a bit). It's been great to have a store close by with friendly people, a place to hang out and knit on thursdays. Maybe this will be a good excuse to move to a venue with wine.

As part of the closing, the store of course is having a sale. While I hate to prosper at the cost of a closing, I did want to continue supporting the store, so I went out sweater-quantity shopping. Here is my ambivalent (yeah new yarn -- boo store closing) haul.

Pretty cascade pastaza ... great soft lavendar color.

Alpaca with a Twist, Baby Twist. There probably isn't quite enough here for the cabled short sleeve sweater in the new Debbie Bliss magazine, but maybe for something similar.

More ecological wool! I really liked this wool when I was making S's sweater so it seemed like a good choice for more knitting.

And last, but certainly not least, cascade 220 in a rich purple.

All lovingly selected, even with some remorse mixed in. I was laughing at myself a bit when I picked this pile out. Recently S made a comment about how all my sweaters are light green ... not the truth I claimed. Of course, in the store I kept being drawn to the green yarns. I purposefully didn't let myself overload with green and look what happened... purple everywhere. At least I can identify themes in my likes and dislikes!

So on other fronts, life around here has been crazy, accounting for my recent blog absence. I spent several days in Florida on a business trip and then came back and had to immediately report for jury duty. I spent two days on a panel seating a jury for a gang-related double homocide (with a juvenile defendant). It was a long process to seat the 12 jurors and 4 alternates. Out of the panel of 60-80 people, there were only 12 of us left (including me) who hadn't been questioned when they finally settled on a jury. It was a frightening insight into the judicial system, I have to say, although in the end I felt the process was OK. Now I am back to work, trying to dig out from the pile of work that accumulated during my absence. Studying to make up a spanish exam I missed during my excursions. Why is it that you have to work twice as hard before you leave and twice as hard when you come back from an absence? Somehow that means you've done twice as much work as you would have if you never left. Makes me want to stick around more.

Hope everyone else is having a good pre-Thanksgiving week!

Look what the postal carrier brought

2008-11-11T17:10:00.001-08:00

A gift, and what a gift! Barbara Bretton just published another book and did a celebratory drawing on the blog she contributes to, Romancing the Yarn. Lucky me... I won some Debbie Bliss cashmere. Great hmmm? And to make the gift even more super she threw in a copy of the new book! I can't wait to read it. I think it will be perfect plane reading when I go on a business trip soon.

And all that cashmere... well I'm going to have to think about what kind of sumptuous items I'll make with that. Thanks Barbara!

And those of you who haven't visited the blog, you should. Barbara's very generous and has been having a number of give aways of late. It's fun to see what she, and her other author contributors, are up to.

Knitting on the ribbed cardigan continues slowly ... because of work I'm once again finding less time to knit. Yep another Sunday spent in the office... = [

On Monday for my spanish class we had a bit of fun though. We're learning various types of past tense now and for practice found recipes (in spanish) for a popular spanish food. We were to make the recipe, bring the food to class to share, and then share with the class how the item was made (yep in spanish).

My contribution... arroz con leche. S wanted to see a pic...

It's not a runny soupy pudding like you get an most indian restraurants, but more of a sticky rice dish ... full of cinnamon, raisins, and condensed sweetened milk. Can you say sugar? Comfort food, Spain and Latin American style. Wish you were here to share the left overs!

Knitting?

2008-11-07T15:54:00.001-08:00

Who me?

Well yes. Spending hours in front of a television watching election results allows one the opportunity to cast on new projects and make good progress!

These (terrible) photos are of my newest work in progress, the

Eco Wool Ribbed Jacket with Collar (ravelry link) by Sirdar.

After my last post about the bulky cabled cartigan, I saw two separate discussions about the pain that knitters get in their hands (which I also experience). I decided to take my own advice and take a break from knitting with big needles (which seems worse for my hand). That means I needed to cast on for a new project. The ribbed jacket is something I bought a few months back ... I ordered both the pattern book and yarn online from Rams and I've been looking forward to having the sweater.

It's a very interesting construction. You start at the end of one sleeve and knit up to the shoulder. The work then gets wider and half becomes the yoke for the back and the other becomes the front yoke. The front yoke includes lots of decreases so you end up with a v-neck jacket. Construction like this isn't my favorite because you can't try on as you go... you have to have faith.

I hate that since more often than not, faith in patterns seems to result in bad fitting garments.

Nevertheless, off I went. I had to recalculate the whole pattern since, even though I'm using the recommended yarn, there was no way I was going to get gauge. (The pattern recommended 6s... my swatch on 6s and 4s suggested I might have to go down to 1s or 2s to get gauge... no thank you!). You might guess this has even further heightened by lack of faith issue.

I ripped back once part way through the sleeve due to a misread on my part and then after the photos above were taken ripped back the very end of the "point" on the front of the jacket. I decided that the point needed to end sooner so the sweater would fit. The fronts do overlaps some, but would have completely doubled over each other if I hadn't tried, tried, tried again.

After I do the right side, I'll pick up stitches along the bottom (or what looks like the bottom in the picture above.. bottom is relative given how this is knitted) and knit the ribbing down. This should provide a nice finished project with ribs going multiple directions (down the sleeve and body; across the chest).

Wish me luck (and better picture taking for the next set of photos)!

You spin me right round baby ...

2008-11-05T14:52:00.000-08:00

We're having a dance party around here today!

Wanna join us? You've got to check out this web page for folding ~~candidates~~ president elect, first lady elect, and vice president elect. The music at this page (really play the video on the page... you'll feel good) is exactly how I feel today about the presidential election... deliriously happy, spinning .... Some things are good in the world.

Unfortunately, not all is well. In California, 5, 359, 110 people voted to legalize discrimination towards others. Really? Over 5 million people want to discriminate against other Americans? America is not yet a country of equality. I'm still hoping beyond hope with others though:

Statement by "No on Prop 8" Campaign on Election Status

Roughly 400,000 votes separate yes from no on Prop 8 – out of 10 million votes tallied.

Based on turnout estimates reported yesterday, we expect that there are more than 3 million and possibly as many as 4 million absentee and provisional ballots yet to be counted.

Given that fundamental rights are at stake, we must wait to hear from the Secretary of State tomorrow how many votes are yet to be counted as well as where they are from.

It is clearly a very close election and we monitored the results all evening and this morning.

As of this point, the election is too close to call.

Because Prop 8 involves the sensitive matter of individual rights, we believe it is important to wait until we receive further information about the outcome.

Geoff Kors
Executive Committee NO on Prop 8

Kate KendellExecutive Committee
NO on Prop 8

Keep your fingers crossed that those who voted early by mail weren't bigots.
After all, two other states made the wrong choice yesterday. I'm going to keep hoping bad things don't come in threes.

link to puppets courtesy of monster yarn's post today.

I voted ...

2008-11-04T08:39:00.001-08:00

have you?

No?! ... well get off the computer and go! Voting this morning was so energizing! I got up early, well in fact I woke up early several times and had to keep going back to sleep until it made sense to get up. After a brisk walk with the pup and a quick shower, off to the polls I went.

I love my neighborhood ... so many different kinds of people. The polling place was a great slice of America ... it made me feel proud to be able to vote with people of different ages, races, sexual orientations.

My wait wasn't too bad... only about 25 minutes. I figured that early (I went around 7:20am) was the best bet for beating the crowds. I suspect it will be even busier later. Even more reason for you to go vote now!

Be part of the process. Read up on the issues and go vote! Me, I'm going to be waiting anxiously for the returns. We Californians voted on some important issues (beyond the obvious presidential choice) including whether or not to legalize discrimination in the state constitution... I'll be glued to the returns to see whether my fellow residents are truely humane and don't make the aggregious error of passing Prop 8.

I haven't been so excited to vote since 1988 ... that seemed like a chance to turn the country around but we didn't do it then. I think this time we might make a better choice. =]

Crazy times

2008-10-29T11:15:00.001-07:00

Hey everyone! So another week has passed by and let me tell you it has been a crazy week around here.

Most exciting, S came home from Indiana for a visit. We had 11 days to just hang out and do alot of nothing together. . . or so we planned. Life of course always has a way of intervening doesn't it?

Friday I came home from work a bit early, around 3:45pm. Now the day before on my drive home I noticed smoke and the whole drive home wondered where the fire was. I got increasingly anxious as I got closer to home and realized that the fire was somewhere close by. No worries though, it was somewhere past our neighborhood (and I never actually did determine exactly where).

So Friday when I drove home and saw another fire, I just thought to myself, well this one probably isn't in the neighborhood either. I started to realize I was really wrong when I turned into the neighborhood and 1/2 a mile away people were out in their yards looking down the street. Yep, the fire was clearly on my block. As I got closer I could see all the fire engines and that the police had our block blocked off. I went to the next street over to park and could see over the houses that the fire was right where our house should be.

You know, adrenaline coursing through your body is not such a nice feeling. I kicked off my sandals and ran barefoot around the corner to our street. Big black billows of smoke everywhere. When I got around the corner I could see the smoke was right over our roof but our house was not on fire (of course the words in my head were "yet").

Apparently, a fire started near the alley of one of my neighbor's house. It burned their garage to the ground and then came into my next door neighbor's yard. The people next door lost two garages and everything in the back yarn (trees now black crispy sticks). Luckily for us, the fire fighters stopped the fire there. One of the garages that burned is within 8 foot of our house.

The good news here is that no one was hurt. Also good, it was only garages and yards that were lost. Scary stuff though to think about my four boys trapped in my house with a fire so close by! They were definitely a bit on the frantic side when we got into the house, but settled down after a few hours. Nothing like smoke, siriens, and lots of people to reassure animals hmm?

Needless to say, the rest of our Friday (and Saturday for that matter) ended up being fire-related. Neither neighbor had electricity so we pitched in to drag some extension cords down so they could at least have a light on at each house. We also helped our next door neighbors (who are in their 80s and were already talking about assisted living even before the fire) with contacting insurance and talking to all the people who show up.

Let me tell you, we have some great fire fighters here. They did a great job and were so very helpful even after the fire. At one point we had 6 trucks here. Which I guess makes sense since in my mind at least three houses were threatened (and damage happened on two properties). Did I mention that there was a large propane tank in one of the garages that exploded before I got home? Apparently that caused quite a noise and threw shrapnel quite some distance.

Nothing like a little excitement hmm?

This photo may give you some sense of what's left of the neighbors' yards (usually there would be a fence along the back there that would block the view of the alley and the yard and white wall of the neighbor across the way.

So after all that craziness, S and I decided we did want to relax a bit on Sunday and what would a trip to California be without a visit to the beach? So early Sunday off we went to our favorite beach destination, Crystal Cove State Park (no roller bladers and starlet-wanna-be-s here!).

This was the view when we first arrived.

Nope, don't adjust your screen ... you're seeing it correctly, overcast, foggy, cold. It was absolutely beautiful! The marine layer was dense and it was quiet and great for sitting in a chair with a sweatshirt on.

A few hours later, in typical southern California fashion, the clouds burnt off and we had beautiful blue skies and sun.

Can't ask for much more that an 80 degree day at the beach in October. =]

So S and I left the beach Sunday and he flew back to South Bend on Monday ... right into SNOW! Laugh ... yep quite the contrast. Sounds like the northeast has a bit of an early winter. I'll try not to rub it in, but I love being here where it will get into the 80s again today.

So has there been any knitting between visits and fires... a little. I started the bulky cabled cardigan by Stephanie Japel (see picture at top). I think I really don't like it. Why do I knit clothing with bulky yarn? It probably will be terrible. Somehow I still haven't decided to frog it yet though. I'm almost finished with the body now (only the body trim to do). I think I'll do one sleeve to see how that looks and then decide. Don't let me do bulky again, OK?

Friends don't let friends knit bulky.

Cable Luxe Tunic done!

2008-10-21T15:30:00.000-07:00

Call the press... throw a party ... the cable luxe tunic is done AND it fits!

This was a project that I was really skeptical about when I first started reading about it. Everyone (and I'm not exaggerating, every post I read about it) talked about the problems with the pattern. Nevertheless, I was literally compelled to cast on. It was the yoke and the cables -- I'm a sucker for texture and cables just do it for me.

So I started with the cabled yoke -- which is what initially drew me to this sweater. Love the garter stitch top and the cabled section. Once that was done it was down to the body. I loved the top but will admit I wasn't in love with the body as it finished up.

After a bit of a break, I picked the sweater back up and started on the sleeves. After at least one false start (maybe two, I've repressed the memories), off I went to sleeve island. The first sleeve was slow. You know the feeling (I know you do), you knit and knit and knit and you feel like you're no closer to the end. Then at knit-night, suddenly I was at least half way through the first sleeve and I felt the end was possible.

A dedicated weekend of knitting and one sleeve done! Now I love the sweater. Having that long sleeve just pulled it all together. The second sleeve came together in no time and Saturday I cast off and wove in the ends!

I had fun with this sweater and am pleased with the finished project. I made mistakes along the way (the slipped "stripes" between the cables -- see my last post), but also learned how to fix my mistakes. I made a few modifications to the pattern, based on the helpful hints I picked up online and am just tickled pink with the outcome.

Final verdict... a winner!

Cable Luxe Tunic (a Lion Brand pattern)
size Small
Cascade 220 (7? skeins)
Color 8407 (a greenish grey) Lot 0999
US 8 circular needles
Cast on May 14, 2008
Finished October 18, 2008

Modifications:
Quite a few.

I started with the cabled yoke which is knit flat from side to side and then seamed together. I next picked up stitches and knit the garter stitch top of the yoke. With these two parts I could try the sweater on as I went to make sure the fit was working. From this point forward, I knit the rest of the body of the sweater in the round. I picked up stitches from the bottom of the cabled yoke and knit the whole body of the sweater in the round. By knitting in the round I was able to fit another cable repeat under each sleeve (there isn't a stretch of filler as would be the case if knit flat and seamed). I also knit the sleeves in the round. With a little trial and error I simply started with the right number of stitches rather than doing the strange increase the pattern recommended. I also calculate the number to cast on so I could do an even set of cable repeats around the whole sleeve (again no filler stretches where the seam would be).

1st an errata from the pattern -- row 11 of yoke: p7, 3/3LC, 3/3RC, p7

Other changes... all found by checking out bulletin boards and suggestions given by others.

For the 3/3 LC Cable: Row 3 knit as a 3/3 LC after the center cable, Row knit as a 3/3 RC before the center cable

For the 4/4 Center Cable: Row 3 knit as 4/4 LC, K4; Row 9 knit as K4, 4/4 RC

For all sizes, the pattern indicates that you are to continue in pattern as established increasing 1 stitch in each of the center 14 purl sections every row 3 *2 more times*. I only increased once more so that I wouldn't end up with too much of a bell bottom to the sweater. It probably would have been ok in hindsight to have done both increases recommended, but I was cautious.

Last, the pattern did not specify how to do the slip stitches between the cable columns. After some trial and error I decided to slip knitwise with the yarn held in back.

Ravelry details here.

I love free time!

2008-10-13T11:46:00.001-07:00

Really! Not working on Saturday or Sunday is fabulous! And you know what happens when I don't have to work? I get to knit... yeah!!

So instead of short choppy sleeves on my cable luxe tunic, as previously promised, I get to show you a whole sleeve!

Don't you love how when I stand sideways like that you almost can't tell I still have one more sleeve to go?

Oops.. yep, not quite done [hehehe].

It's taken me awhile to get back to the sleeves on this little one (ok... not so little, actually a pretty big project). I took it to knitty group two weeks ago and again last week and that seems to have been the motivator I needed to keep going (well that and that amazing thing of unscheduled hours in the day). Thursday night at group, I pulled the one sleeve I was working on onto my arm and, wow, I realized I was almost half way done! OK... maybe this won't be a never ending sleeve after all, I though. Several dedicated hours later... yeah ... one sleeve done!

Here's an up close shot of the body. Now if you compare the body to the sleeve (or that picture to the one above or below) you might notice something unusual. The "stripe" between the cables looks different.

When I started this pattern, I was never able to see an up-close photo of the sweater. Compelled to knit it, I nevertheless plunged on. The stripe is made by slipping a stitch every other row and knitting it on the remaining rows. Of course the instructions never said whether you slip as if to knit, as if to purl, with yarn in front, or in back. These little things bother me. I picked a way and off I went with the pattern resulting in the stripe you see in the body above.

When I started the sleeve, I thought I did the slipping the same way, but apparently not. What I did was slip as if to knit with the yarn in back. I realized that this was the way that was probably intended. I struggled with whether I should continue in this "right" prettier way, or continue the sleeves in the old way (to match the body). After trial and error, I could not figure out how to replicate the old look (ok.. I didn't try that hard...but I did try a few times). I decided, who cares, and knit on with the prettier look.

After finishing the first sleeve this weekend and realizing that I really DO like this sweater, I decided maybe I needed to do something with the body to be a bit matchy.

Laddering up the sweater though? Was I ready for this frightening endeavor. Seems almost worse than steeking... no sewing there to hold the sweater together. I DO like this sweater though. I plunged ahead, starting on the back, figuring I only had to do a couple stripes on front and back to be good enough.

And you know what ... it was easy!

Here's the last stripe right before it was fixed. You can see that the laddered stripes to the left and right of the old version aren't quite as tight as they would have been if done correctly from the start, but I figure I can fix that with a good bath.

Joy... nice stripes all around the body and one sleeve done. Now I just need a few more dedicated hours for that other sleeve! Cold weather's coming and I want to wear this sweater!

It's easy being green!

2008-10-09T08:00:00.000-07:00

Now isn't that a face to love? I found this guy in a thrift store a few weekends ago and just couldn't leave without him. Somebody put some love into creating this guy!

It's nice to have another smiling face around here (since I'm still all grumpy about the amount of work I have to do!). Want to see another one?

Foster kitty, Zinn ... well he's made himself right at home (and plumped up quite a bit from when we first took him in). This is what my weekend mornings often look like... me trying to read the paper and Zinn making himself comfortable in the center of things. It's so good to be the center of attention!

=]

Time meltdown ... and cowls

2008-10-07T11:09:00.000-07:00

Don't let that calm face above fool ya ... things have been crazy around here.

Yesterday I saw a great photo on a blog of a clock spinning out of control. That's how my life has felt for the past two weeks. Time must be running faster than normal because I just can't keep up!

Work, the major culprit in my time management problems, has been insane. This weekend I spend all day Saturday and Sunday in the office trying to catch up (literally ... 9 hours saturday, 8 hours sunday). I'm pleased to report that some of the largest projects were completed. Oh yeah... did I mention that I worked until midnight last night as well? [sigh]

Nevertheless, all this productivity makes me believe that I've earned the right to take a short work break now to blog. After all ... it has been weeks!

So what knitting have I been doing since last we spoke? Well amazingly enough, despite all that work, I did finish two cowls.

Now I must confess that when cowl-wildfire was spreading throughout the blogosphere, I just didn't get it. They didn't look very warm -- not big enough to really cover up enough skin to be very helpful I thought.

Then I stumbled across this free pattern. Humm... a giant, squishy, warm looking cowl. Now that got me excited. Even more exciting... I had left over yarn from Fantine that I could use. Bonus! So I sat down one evening and ... unbelievably... a few hours later I had a cowl!

Well now that was easy wasn't it. Maybe I should try it again?

Version number 2 was finished later that weekend.

I cast on slightly fewer stitches for the second cowl so it wouldn't be quite as large and think it's a nice alternative to the really big and squishy cowl.

Both have kept me company this past weekend when I was trapped in the cold office, by myself, typing at the keyboard to earn a few cents [cackle ... cackle.. cackle .... do I seem insane yet?]

So looking for a quick project... want a big, squishy cowl ... this might be the project for you too!

I have been slowly making progress on the cabled luxe tunic ... maybe I'll show you my short stubby sleeves next time!

Hope time's treating all of you well.

Chunky Knit Cowl by Erica-Knits
2 skeins Lion Brand Jiffy Solid for each cowl
Heather (for the first cowl) & Black (for the second cowl)
US 17 circulars
Grey cowl Cast on September 24, 2008
Grey cowl Finished September 24, 2008
Black cowl Cast on September 25, 2008
Black cowl Finished September 26, 2008

Modifications:

For the grey, slighly larger cowl, I knitted 31 rows for my cowl resulting in a FO that’s 16” long (11” wide at top and 16” wide at bottom). It’s not long enough to be used as a hood, as the pattern calls for, but makes for a very warm, snuggly cowl.

I knit with the Jiffy held double to be comprable to the called for yarn (thick n quick).

For the black cowl, I cast on 10 fewer stitches than recommended by the pattern so it would be a bit smaller. I still knit 30 rows and the final cowl ended up 12” long, 10” wide at the top, and 12” wide at the bottom. Maybe I knit at a somewhat tighter gauge this time? It still a good size, just not quite as voluminous. The black cowl is also Jiffy, held double.

Ravelry details here.

Ah cables

2008-09-24T16:13:00.000-07:00

Many, many (no really, I do mean many) months ago I started a cabled aran afghan. Inspired by a Knitty Gritty episode, I wanted to learn to do cables. Why not just jump into a hugh project to do so [snort]?! I never was very practical with such things.

When I think about it, it in fact may have been the first project I started that wasn't a scarf. A walk down memory lane suggests that I started the first square in September, 2006. Two years ago!

The great thing about a big project is that you know it will take a long time. For me that's definitely been these case. Now I just describe this as one of those projects that is leisurely ... non time demanding ... used as a filler.

Don't believe me?! [laugh]

Truely, this is one of the few projects I've worked on that doesn't feel pressured to me. I don't feel like I "have to finish." With sweaters and socks I just want "to be done." With this, it's a multiple year project ... and that's OK.

It's funny, when I first started this project I was definitely a newbie. In fact it was only after I finished either 2 or 3 squares that I realized that, without meaning to, I was knitting through the back loop every time. Yep, having re-taught myself from books, I didn't realize that there was a difference between knitting into the front or the back of the loop. The back of the loop just seemed like the right way. Somewhere along the knitting trip, I had this realization.

The afghan is 16 squares all 12" by 12". It may be interesting when I'm done. Knitting through the back loop everytime pulled my work in a bit. I'll have to see if I can block those early puppies out a bit. Otherwise, I may have to work another panel wrong so I can at least have one row all the same size [grin]!

Five squares done ... 11 to go. Maybe I'll be done by the end of the decade.
=]

Scott's Sweater

2008-09-18T08:00:00.000-07:00

Yeah... my first sweater for S is not only finished, but it fits! When we were in South Bend we did the fitting, discovered my strategy for sleeve length worked (yeah!), and all I had to do was weave in sleeve ends!

A few days later in Columbus, time to model the new sweater.

S wanted a basic, plain jane sweater and this one fit the bill quite nicely. I really like the ecological wool I used to knit this sweater. The color is a nice balance of greys (with bits of white). It was soft to knit with and I think will wash up even softer.

And you know what.... I'm so proud of S, he washed and blocked his sweater himself! I was going to do this for him before I left but we just didn't have time. So he sent me these pictures today.

The sweater got a good soak.

The burrito method of drying the sweater was followed (I'm sure including stepping on the burrito but I didn't confirm this... grin).

And then the sweater was laid out to dry. We're hoping he'll get another inch or two in the overall length of the sweater from the process. All things considered.... we have a winner!

Easy Bulky Sweater for the family #30 (ravelry link) by Melinda Goodfellow

(roll neck and sleeve, ribbed bottom; plain -- no cable)
3 skeins Cascade Ecological Wool
Grey
US 8 & US 10 circulars and dpns
Cast on April 1, 2008
Finished August 31, 2008

Modifications: none.

Details on Ravelry here.

Travelin'

2008-09-16T18:51:00.000-07:00

This past week I flew up to Indiana to visit S at his new diggs in South Bend. We did the tour of Notre Dame (that's the Basillica above) and even carved out some time to relax and take it slow ...

OK... we weren't the ones taking it that slow, but we did spend a time out in Amish country and got to see lots of folks travelling the old fashioned way, by horse and buggy. Beautiful countryside out there in Indiana. Great old barns and houses.

After a few days in South Bend we got in our little Prius and drove to Columbus, Ohio to visit S's mother. Our trip was quite nice, but ended with a bit of a bang.

My parents live in Beaumont, Texas -- that's where Ike just came ashore. They evaculated to avoid the storm and from what the neighbors say, the house didn't sustain any serious damage this time (unlike Rita when it took 6 months to repair tree damage). S and I were watching the storm news there in Columbus to keep an eye on things. Little did we know we were in for our own hurricane-like weater.

Yep, half way across the country in Columbus we experienced hurricane strength winds in a bit of a freak wind storm. Partly related to Ike and partly related to a cold front that was blowing in, the winds were crazy. Trees came down all over town and I saw three trees pulled out of the ground with exposed roots. Nothing like a bit of excitement. Needless to say my flight was cancelled (the whole airport was grounded for hours), so I had an extra day of trip.

That last day of trip was spent doing what else but cutting up trees. Nothing like a little he-man business for the boys hmm?

A great trip, despite the excitement!

Next time, finish photos of S's sweater which, I'm pleased to report, fits!

Fantine

2008-09-02T16:40:00.000-07:00

Well after feeling like I was barely ever finishing a project, I have another finished sweater. Guess there's something to say for knitting big chunks of a project and then putting it aside for awhile. It takes much less time to finish "a sweater" when it's already half done!

Here she is ... Fantine. I really was drawn to this pattern when I found it on ravelry some time ago and had to explore around a bit to find the pattern. I started the project in June and then just put it aside for a while. I think other things came up (including that big men's sweater deadline). This weekend with S's sweater done, I pulled Fantine out of the pile and was off the needles in no time! That chunky yarn ... man does it knit up fast!

I love the cabling details around the edges of this sweater. They help to liven up what could otherwise be a very simple sweater ... and quite similar to the anthropology inspired capelet I've knit before.

I decided this weekend that rather than knitting the 3/4 length sleeve, I'd go for full length. My office is COLD in the summer, and I stay COLD in the winter, so I can wear sweaters almost year round. Extending the sleeves was easy and it let me put the cabling detail at the edges of the sleeves as well.

A simple pattern for a quick cover up. I've been wearing it in the office today and give it an A.
And my photography ... well that gets a grade of "credit" on the credit/no credit scale ... my first attempt with the self timer since my resident photographer now lives half way across the country!

(oh yeah... I cut my hair short too ... it was time for a change).

Fantine by Kristeen Griffin-Grimes of French Girl Knits
(scoop neck option, and generally followed the 3/4 length sleeve directions with modifications)
5 balls Lion Brand Jiffy Solid (held double when knitting to get gauge)
Silver Heather
US 8 circulars and dpns
Cast on June 4, 2008
Finished August 31, 2008

Modifications: Knit sleeves to wrists and put one repeat of cable pattern in before binding off.

Details on Ravelry here.

Now the most amazing this.... I only have one unfinished object left! I started on the sleeves of the cable luxe tunic last night and am going to work to get that one finished. Then there are many choices for the next project ... strangely I'm very drawn to more sweaters!

Woops

2008-08-31T16:16:00.001-07:00

Sorry S ...

looks like somebody else has claimed your sweater.

Giggle, giggle, snort, snort

2008-08-29T13:46:00.001-07:00

Take a look at this ... it's worth two posts in one day!

Woopie!

2008-08-29T13:26:00.000-07:00

One large men's sweater, all knit up!

Last thursday at knit group I set a goal to have this sweater finished before I went to South Bend in September. Amazingly, here I am a week later with a completed sweater (almost). I still need to do the side seams and have a try-on to make sure the sleeves are long enough. I think there is a good chance that I may have to make them longer. Without the sweater recipient here (see comment re. South Bend above, grin), I had to go by some measurements I took the day before he left.

My notes say his armlength is 25 inches. The sweater pattern suggests 22. Hmmm.... ruler error or unusually long arms? I compromised, knit 23" and am prepared to rip back the cuff and knit more length if needed.

I hate to leave without a modeled photo though ...

Use your imagination... 100 pounds heavier, almost a foot taller, and having much longer arms!

South Bend here we come!

So close

2008-08-25T12:49:00.001-07:00

I find it amazing how time just keeps whizzing by whether I'm watching or not. How is it possible that it is almost the end of August? What happened to the first half of 2008?!

The last couple of weeks have seemed quiet ... but I'm not quite sure where they've gone. S is now settled into his apartment in South Bend. Cute little place from the photos he's sent. I'm looking forward to my visit in a couple of week so I can see it first hand.

His cross country trip went well; it sounds like he had lots of fun stops along the way (visiting his dad, grandparents, and our friend slo).

So what can I have been doing in the two weeks since he left? Beats me ... maybe time really is flexible and I've been through a worm hole. Work has been busy ... new student orientation, finishing up busy work .... stuff. I guess I was a bit sick for a couple of days too and took some half days off work so I could nap. But other than that? Not sure where time went.

I have been making some progress on S's sweater though.

What sweater you might ask? Well it would be a good question since you haven't seen it since April. When S realized he was moving to the land of cold, we agreed I'd knit him a wool sweater. Way back in April, after I finished the body of the sweater, it seemed like no harm, no foul to take a break and work on a few other things. Enter the black hole of the time continuum and here I am in August. It seemed like I should pick this project back up [snort]. My goal is to have it finished for my trip in two weeks... very do-able now that I've finished the right sleeve, neck, and half the left sleeve. I'm soooo close to being done!

Amazing what a few (ok... many) dedicated hours of knitting can do in making progress on a large men's sweater. I figure I have to get it done though... once he comes back to LA he may never wear it again [laugh]!

Other than a bit of knitting, I've also done a bit of organizing in the past week. You know what it's like ... your closet gets to that point where you can't find anything anymore? For me that's confounded by the fact that my yarn stash lives in my clothes closet. After S left I decided I needed to do a little cleaning up. And now look ...

It's not the most beautiful of organizational systems, but boy can I find everything now. Yarns bundled together in big ziplocks all tucked into their new home. No stray skeins lost somewhere on the floor of the closet. Perfect. And the clothes (which you can't see .. they're to the left and right on hanging rods and on a shelf above the caddies) ... all nice and tidy too. I now have a big stack of donations ready for goodwill as well as a smaller pile of acrylic yarns I'm going to donate as well.

Now I just need to find a bit more time to knit up some of that delightful stash!

Trinity Stitch Baby Jacket

2008-08-15T06:00:00.000-07:00

As I've mentioned before, we had a rash of friends who are having babies this spring/summer. One of those babies arrived months ago, one is so close to coming out that mom can't wait (3 cm and holding as of right now - wed afternoon), and the last is due later this month.

With one gift left to deliver, I knew I needed to get to knitting. This last gift goes to a classmate of S's and I realized four days before it had to be done that it *had* to be done or it wouldn't get delivered to the mom-to-be. Drastic times call for drastic measures. Yep a binge of a different type... a knitting binge.

The trinity stitch baby jacket. One of my friends from knitting group has knit this sweater twice now and inspired me to try it out. At my last group meeting (5 days before the impending deadline) I decided this was what I should knit and I purchased the yarn. I must have been a bit omnicient because the next day was when I realized I only had 4 days to deliver the gift. Good thing I bought that yarn!

I cast on Friday evening (8/1), knit part of the day Saturday (I had to work part of that day), knit all day Sunday, and finished it up Monday morning. Buttons were purchased and sewn on Monday night and a gift was ready for its new recipient.

I really like this sweater... very easy, but quite charming. The trinity stitch trim around the edges of the sweater are really great in my opinion. The yarn is also soft, soft, soft.

Pink... well not the color I would typically choose for a baby gift, even with a girl expected, but this was the nicest color they had at the shop and I think it does look great with this charming little sweater.

And to top it all off... look at these little buttons!

I figured that as long as I was going girly, I would go all out. Polka dotted, pink chicks. Delightful!

If you're looking for an easy little project, this one is a winner.

Cormo Trinity Stitch Baby Jacket by Margaret Heathman from

Spin-Off, Spring 2008

2 balls Plymouith Yarn Dreambaby D.K. (50% acrylic microfiber, 50% nylon
Pink (color 0103 lot 63435)
US 6 circulars and dpns
Cast on August 1, 2008
Finished August 4, 2008

Modifications: No changes to pattern; did use a store bought yarn versus handspun and used the size needles recommended by the ballband, US 6s. Overall, my sweater came out about the same size as the pattern recommends, but the sleeves are a little shorter and chunkier than the original knit and the body below the sleeves (versus the body above where the sleeves are separated) is a bit shorter than the pattern indicates. I thought this made the sweater a bit cuter in the long run anyway.

Ravelry details here.

North Dakota knitting... wool socks of course!

2008-08-14T16:15:00.000-07:00

Yep... I know you never thought these would get finished (or that you'd hear about any knitting I've been doing recently), but taa daa... my third pair of finished socks!

When little Zinn, our foster kitty came to live with us, I needed a small project to work on ... you know something to do while I hung out in the kitchen with him. These socks seemed like the perfect project. Between a few evenings with Zinn and some quality knitting time on the plane to North Dakota, a second sock was finished!

I've seen many people rave about Trekking, and I will say that I like the finished socks alot (they are soft and squishy), but I didn't LOVE knitting with it. I found the yarn to be very twisty (meaning it would constantly twist back on itself as it came off the ball) and a bit splitty.

Nevertheless... a nice pair of finished socks I think. Nice subtle socks, a deep rich color.

Three pairs down ... I wonder what socks I'll do next?

Rotating Rib, Garter Rib Socks
Garter Rib Sock Pattern by Charlene Schurch from

Sensational Knitted Socks
1 ball of Zitron Trekking (XXL)

Color 77 (self striping blue)

US size 1 dpns

Cast on (in spirit) January, 2008
These socks have much more of a history than 7 months though. I know I cast on sometime in 2007, probably in July if I had to guess. I have a picture of the cast on with its 5 measily rows from October 2007. The first sock was started on in earnest in January though so that's the "birthdate" I'll use.
Finished July 31, 2008

Modifications: I used Charlene Schurch’s four stitch ribbing pattern from Sensational Knitted Socks and a rotating rib pattern (ala the Harlot): regular 2x2 ribbing, but moving the ribbing over one stitch every 10 rounds. This is a top-down sock pattern. I cast on 72 stitches with 9 stiches per inch gauge.

Ravelry details here.

North Dakota

2008-08-13T13:27:00.001-07:00

OK... time to catch up. How 'bout a brief review of my visit to North Dakota?

[the badlands ... Teddy Roosevelt National Park entrance]

The image above is what I thought North Dakota would look like, and I was not disappointed. There were amazing landscapes to see and terrific blue skies. OK... I'm skipping ahead of myself here though... I should tell the story chronologically shouldn't I?

I went to North Dakota for about 9 days on a business trip ... but... North Dakota *was* the only state in the US that my mom has never visited. How can you let an opportunity like that pass you by. We decided to take advantage of the timing and I tacked a short "vacation" to the end of my trip during which time my mom, dad, and sister joined me for a brief tour of North Dakota.

My trip was to Bismarck with a couple of brief stops across the Missouri river into Mandan (its sister city).

After I finished my work (very productive, thank you very much), my parents arrived Friday evening and, after a dinner, we decided to take a paddle boat ride down the Missouri river.

Did I mention it was a sunset cruise?

Very pretty views, nice cool breeze. Definitely the right time of day for a drive down the river. Saturday was the day for my preferred activity... a trip to the badlands.

We drove to a little town called Medora first, walked around the town which is sort of an old wild west set up, and then toured the Chateau deMores, a hunting lodge built in the 1800s and frequented by Teddy Roosevelt. Interesting place, very nice views.

Now for anyone in the know, I should point out that we skipped the Medora Musical (snort) and pitchfork fondue (steak fried on the tongs of a pitchfork... eww -- check out a link for a pic). These events should give you a flavor for Medora though ... very City Slicker-esque.

Then we drove into the badlands... specifically to the edge of Theodore Roosevelt National Park. This was the view I was hoping for. Here's another perspective to go along with the picture at the top, both pictures taken from the Painted Canyon Visitor Center.

Great heaps of rock, I would call them mountains... they were at least mountainous. Very pretty.. worth the trip. Hard to imagine how the pioneers traveled across the nation going west when this is the kind of stuff they came across. A horse drawn wagon would have had a wee bit of trouble traveling this route.

We wandered around the rest of the weekend visiting museums (the Heritage Museum at the state capitol grounds having a GREAT dinousaur exhibit with bones collected in the region) and seeing the sights. Fun.

You know what sight I didn't see? No LYS. Not a single one in Bismarck or Mandan. How could this be given the general climate and profusion of snow in the winter? Boggles the mind. Next time, the knitting progress made on the plane.

Binge

2008-08-12T14:37:00.000-07:00

It happens every once in awhile, and hit hard this weekend ... a reading binge!

A couple of weeks ago I saw more than one post about the book Twilight. I thought with more than one mention it must be good so I went to my library catalogue and ordered up a copy through interlibrary loan. Friday afternoon (after S left for his trip remember) I stopped by the library to pick up my copy. Twilight was done by Saturday midday. I read it again before the end of Saturday and went by my local book store to get the rest of the series. Long story short ... Monday night I finished the fourth book. Yep, four books, four days (and technically I did read the first one twice so maybe that's like 5 books, and I did work Friday and Monday).

Crazy stuff. I blame being home by myself. =]

I would definitely recommend Twilight if you like teen age - vampire love story type of stuff. Nothing too heavy or too literary here, just an easy fun read. The other three books are also good. They are a bit more of an adventure story. After all, you can only drag on a "are the human and vampire going to kiss or not" story for so long.

Have you read anything good recently?

Happy and sad

2008-08-08T15:10:00.000-07:00

See that little car... it's going on a very long drive. Yep S left this morning for South Bend, Indiana. It's going to be a great semester for him (happy) but we're going to miss him (sad).

Want to take a closer look?

1. Yep... you can barely see through that window can you? We managed to pack quite a bit of supplies into the prius... gotta love a hatchback!

2. The joke around here is that I couldn't go to Indiana because there wouldn't be room for me in the car. The ultimate proof ... see that passenger seat ... full, stacked to the ceiling with stuff. Nope I wouldn't have fit in that car. =]

3. At least he won't ride alone. Notice the Karl Marx finger puppet on the dashboard. Never go on a road trip without a good philosopher.

Lots of finished objects and trip pictures still to come. If I can just find time....

Pure craziness!

2008-07-30T12:49:00.000-07:00

See that big yellow box with the bazillions of little boxes on top of it. That's where I live. Well actually, 7 miles from where I live which is close enough.

I got back from North Dakota Monday night and Tuesday morning the state decided to welcome me back with some rock and roll, and I do mean that literally.

My office is on the second story of a mostly brick building and yesterday at 11:40am there was a terrific jolt and then continuous rolling... no joke, it felt like I was on a boat on a stormy sea... but I wasn't... the building shouldn't be moving you know!

I can now say I've experienced a real earthquake... you know what, I don't ever need to feel another one again!! [laugh]

We were fortunate that while fairly large (5.4 magnitude, we being 7 miles from the epicenter) it wasn't destructive. In fact, in the luxury of having no real calamities, the news was just plain silly to watch. Camera teams traveling all over the area looking for something, anything to put on film. One of the few things they found of note was some bricks that fell off an abandoned building here in Pomona. Even funnier, I drove by it (on accident, I hadn't realized exactly where it was) and there were, no joke, 6 news trucks parked in front of it this morning. It's good news to us that this silly pile of brick was the worst they could find!!

Updates on the pre-earthquake excitement, the trip to North Dakota, coming soon!

Sharing the love

2008-07-19T16:23:00.000-07:00

Recently, Emily from Not Another Knitblog decided to start a Friday Night Knit(blogging) Club... the idea -- share her copy of the book "The Friday Night Knitting Club."

The idea is simple, the club started with Emily's copy of the book. She drew my name from comments on her blog and passed the book along to me (along with a pretty fabulous bar of dark chocolate I'll mention). I inhaled the chocolate and the book... seriously, less than two days -- it's a good summer read. Now it's time for me to share the wealth.

Club rules, as started by Emily:
1) I will add my name, blog address, and a little note in the cover of Emily's copy of The Friday Night Knitting Club (along with Emily's);
2) You leave a comment on this post, maybe with a little story about your favourite “knitting club” or inspiring group of women;
3) I’ll randomly choose someone to mail the book to, so you can read it too;
4) When you’re done with the book, you’ll write a blog post similar to this one, offering the book up to the next “member” of The Friday Night Knit(Blog)ing Club, will write your own little note in the cover, and mail it on…

Sounds like a great idea hmm? If you're looking for a fun read, leave me a comment and I'll be happy to share the book with you. I'm leaving tomorrow for a trip to North Dakota (anyone know of any yarn stores near Bismark?!) so I'll pick a new "member" when I get back on the 29th of July.

And to leave you with proof that I do still knit, progress on my rotating garter rib sock!

Time flies

2008-07-14T17:15:00.000-07:00

Wow... in some ways it's hard to believe that almost two weeks have passed since my last post. In other ways, it seems like we've done so much stuff that surely it must have been months not weeks! So what's been up in the LizKnit's household? Lots! Pull up a chair and let's take a look at some photos, shall we?

Last time we talked, Little Black Kitty had just gotten back from the vet. LBK, now known affectionately as Zinn, now has a place of honor in the house.

This week he went back in for a second surgery. Big stuff this time. The leg unfortunately hadn't healed up so they went in, cleaned up more, and stitched it back up. Keep your fingers crossed that this time it takes! Also on the agenda, removal of four canines (that would be teeth, not dogs, =] ) and one neutering. Seems our little guy has really had a tough life... all four of his canines were broken off and had to be removed. He's been a little trooper though... all happy and healthy after surgery.

In fact, this is the sweetest, most friendly cat I've ever come across. Zinn constantly, and I do mean constantly, wants to be with you. On your lap, in your arms, being petted, laying on your legs. I guess food was not the only thing he was starving for outside. It's hard to imagine how this sweet little fluff managed to get along out there for so long. Even harder to put together what I know about him now with the mean, tom cat image he put off when he was living outside. I thought he was mean... my neighbor told me she was scared of him. Funny how you can so misperceive a cat.

Regardless, we're all comfy inside, Zinn in his special room (and sometimes in the kitchen). Issac, Dylan, and Sterling have the run of the rest of the house. The separation is definitely the hardest part. I spend part of my time with Zinn and part of the time with the other guys. There's never enough time to go around for everyone though. Zinn is definitely FIV+ (the second test did come back +) so no playing with other kitties. We're still taking it one day at a time, but I love them all so much I feel like I need to be two or three of me to spread myself around.

In addition to kitty hospital, we've also had company over the past week. S's mom came to visit. Always looking for entertaining diversions, we took her to see both high art and, well, let's call it less high art.

Our first stop, the Museum of Jurassic Technology.

I'm not even sure where to start in describing this museum. Maybe sharing that some of the exhibits are a portrait gallery of all the dogs sent up in the soviet space program and carvings that are in the eye of a needle and on the head of a pin is a starting place. It's almost indescribable. Any one who likes things off the beaten track should definitely check this place out.

My favorite thing... the Floral Radiographs of Albert G Richards

You view these amazing "photos" with 3D glasses (not the cheap cardboard stuff, but special glasses that give you a three dimensional effect) and they are stunning. In the LA area and looking for an interesting way to spend some time? It's going to be hard to find anything much more interesting than this!

After this excursion, we headed over for a bit more high brow artsy fartsy stuff... the Getty.

Don't S and his mom look happy here? I think that I've shared that my favorite part of the Getty is definitely the grounds. There were several interesting photography exibits and an exhibit of Maria Sibylla Merian's watercolor studies of butterflies, but the views from the Getty are definitely the best. It was a terribly smoggy day, but beautiful even still.

And then even better, we spent a night at Crystal Cove State Park. The Cove has a group of cottages that have recently (last year or two) been renovated and opened to the public for rentals. It's affordable and you are right on the beach! The trick is getting one. Reservations open on the first of the month, for seven months in the future, and the cabins are all usually gone within 10 minutes. S braved the internet back in December and got us one night, his birthday even!

The highest cabin there on the left, that's where we stayed. It was divine!

How 'bout a view of the beach with your window?

We did lots of walking and enjoyed the afternoon and evening immensely.

The cabin was perfect ... just your basic cabin (but with a million dollar California beachline view!).

There is nothing like getting to watch sunset at the beach knowing you won't have to drive home after dark. These two photos are my favorites from this trip.

And even better, getting up early the next morning to walk on the beach and take a swim before almost anyone else is around.

It's pretty super to get to enjoy this without being a bazillionaire who can afford to buy it all up privately. Here's to the Crystal Cove Foundation and the state for keeping this great asset going!

But a couple of museums, a trip to the beach, this doesn't sound like two weeks of business does it? Well, no that's no the least of it. The real reason for J's visit... work. Since we moved to California three years ago, we've wanted to renovate the kitchen. This summer we committed to getting it done. J volunteered to come and help with the work. The museums and beach were bribes [laugh].

And work we did.

We started from the top and will work our way all the way down to the bottom. First up, we had to fix up the ceiling (seen here in it's glorious post-spakled, pre-painted glory).

Next up, cabinets. We wanted to being as minimally environmentally deterimental as we could (considering that any renovation creates waste and uses resources) so we decided to keep all the cabinets and just repaint (VOC free paint... Pittsburgh Paint... we love it... try it!). Last Sunday we plunged in, emptied out the cabinets, took off the doors, and took the plunge.

That's me above in what became a very familiar pose all week. In the midst you'll notice the over-the-stove microwave we've already installed, the new kitchen island, as well as the new light fixtures. (Yes I know it probably would have made more sense to install the fixtures after we painted... but we had to put them out to make sure they were what we wanted. And yes I know buying all these things new isn't exactly no-impact, but the other stuff was terrible!).

J did an amazing job with the shelves and cabinet doors ... assisted by the ever porch-loving pooch, Sterling.

Over a week later, I'm pleased to report that "most" of the painting is now done. We put up crown moulding on Saturday and realized we will have to caulk all of it as there are gaps where it hits the ceilings and walls (the joys of a 1930s house). So we'll have to break the paint back out to touch up the ceiling and wall after that's done and of course the moulding itself will need a touch up too. The biggest part of the painting is done though. Next comes countertops and floors. These I suspect won't happen anytime soon (maybe not until the spring since S will be in Indiana all fall).

I'll share post-paint pre-floor & countertop pictures after we clean up the disaster that's left in the kitchen. It's amazing how three adults and one renovation can create so much havoc in a small space!

And that my friends is what has kept me busy. And knitting you might ask? Well just when do you think I would have had time to knit (snort!)? Truthfully, I did pick up my rotating garter stitch socks after Zinn came into the house as a small sit-with-the-cat project. I had forgotten how much fun turning a heel can be. Now I'm in the long foot stretch. So a bit of knitting, but it pales in comparison to the painting!

I hope to be back soon with more knitting progress (and a clean kitchen!).

Progress continues... on the kitty and knitty fronts

2008-06-29T13:18:00.000-07:00

This weekend was the weekend of the kitty. As you readers may remember, I started feeding a stray in our neighborhood a few weeks ago. I've been getting him warmed up to me... you know, food, love. Friday was the day to take him to the vet. Little thing hid from me of course.

Yep... every day for a week he shows up for breakfast, promptly. The day I have a vet appointment for him, no kitty. The vet's assistant says cats think in pictures and he knew what was coming. [Laugh]

He did show up for dinner Friday night and quickly got swept up into the kitty carrier and transported to the back room. Little black kitty has a pretty bad leg wound and I knew he'd probably need to stay inside for a bit after we had him tended to. I had prepared the space thursday in anticipation. So Friday night he had an overnight vacation and Saturday morning got to go see our friend the vet.

>^..^<

[I'd insert a cute little black kitty picture here but the blue cone of shame around his neck just doesn't flatter his skin tones. ]

The good news is they stitched the leg up and it's looking so much better. Other good news, kitty's been inside for about two days now and is doing pretty well. In fact, he probably didn't need any time at all to do OK. I could not believe how lovey he was with the techs and the vet Saturday. Just let them poke and prode and even purred a bit throughout. Now that he's inside he's been happy to crawl up into my lap to be petted and just eats everything you put in front of him.

We got some great little gadgets that I didn't know about before too. First off, have you ever tried to medicate a cat? I have -- I've popped a lot of pills down kitty throats. Not generally much fun for kittys or for me. Now, somebody out there (Greenies) finally did something smart and developed Feline Pill Pockets. Soft kitty treats with a hole for the pill to fit in! Let me tell you, little black kitty gobbles those things up good as gold. Check it out if you need to get your cat friend to swallow a pill.

The other thing we're trying ... cat pheromones. Litty black kitty is still all male and has been seen to spray all around the neighborhood. Now while he hasn't sprayed inside (crossing fingers and knocking on wood), the vet recommended Feliway, the aforementioned pheromone, to help reduce the spraying issue. Apparently it makes cats feel comfortable and reduces undesirable behaviors like scratching and spraying. (Do I sounds like a commercial yet?) We'll see how that works.

So for now we have a relaxing little kitty spa, complete with kitty pheromones and one loving little black kitty, in the house. The other cats and dog don't love being restricted from the kitchen and back room (the kitty spa) but don't seem bothered by the visitor in the house otherwise. In fact, the cats couldn't seem to care less. Sterling is a bit more out of sorts. I'm doing my best to share my time across the three so nobody has to feel jealous. =]

The bad news, kitty tested positive for FIV (kitty HIV). The vet says that the test does have a high false positive rate so we'll probably have him retested with a more reliable (probably more expensive) test, but in the meantime, the need to keep him separate from the other cats is even more important. We were hoping we could fix him up and continue to care for him as an outdoor cat. If he is FIV+ that won't be a good option (don't want to let him infect the rest of the neighborhood ... although since he's lived outside for three years already chances are good that everyone out there already has it). Hmm... we're taking it one day at a time. We might be looking for a home for him in the future though. Too bad... that little lap sitter has really been earning brownie points around here.

And on the knitting front... well the body of the cable luxe tunic is done!

I'm pretty pleased with the modifications to keep it from being too bell like. I think once the sleeves are knit, this will turn out pretty nicely. Next stop, sleeve island!

Pure & simple

2008-06-26T10:09:00.000-07:00

Cute hmmm? I'm tempted to keep this tiny sweater for my little rabbit guy. He already has a striped pink sweater though so maybe, just maybe, I can part with it.

It seems that this is the season of knitting for other people's babies. I've seen so many finished baby sweaters recently, destined for showers, that I'm wondering what was going on last November. I don't remember any natural or manmade disasters last November... what else could explain such a baby boom across the country though? I'm going to have to investigate this further.

On my front, I'm pleased to report that this little sweater knit up in no time and is destined for a shower coming up in a few weeks... yep, I'm actually done ahead of time! I have to admit, casting on and bringing my UFO total up to 6 was motivation to finish this up fairly quickly. I worried that I wouldn't be able to bring myself to do the finishing work, but I conned myself into it last night. You know the "ok, I'll only do one seam" then "well now that that one seam is done, it won't hurt you to go ahead and knit the neckband, that is knitting after all," and then "well all that's left now is just a few side and sleeve seams, just do it." Before you know it, I managed to push through and get it all done. I did seem to have an unwealdy number of ends to weave it, but wove them in I did!

The pattern for this sweater is baby's pure & simple pullover from Weekend Knitting (which I shamelessly bought from Michael's with a 50% off coupon). I saw the finished sweater over on Soule Mama's blog not long ago and thought it would be good for one up the upcoming arrivals. I knew I wanted to use my old baby standby, Lion Brand organic cotton. Of course, the pattern calls for nothing of the sort, it wants a skinny little DK yarn. I wasn't going to let that slow me down. I've finally, and this is a milestone, gotten to where I'm willing to try to recalculate a pattern to use yarn of a different gauge. This sweater was perfect for that, I'm mean really, it is all garter stitch.

All in all, I'm pleased with how it came out. Soft, smooshy, and best of all organic. I even love the brown buttons -- they came out of a jar of buttons I bought in a flea market in Maine last summer. Reuse, you know! I hope the baby this sweater is destined for will find it comfy.

baby's pure & simple pullover by Lana Hames from Weekend Knitting
2 balls Lion Brand Nature's Choice Organic Cotton (100% cotton), AlmondUS 6 circulars
US size 9s and 7s
Cast on June 19, 2008
Finished June 25, 2008

Modifications: Recalculated the pattern given yarn with a different gauge.

Ravelry details here.

Mosaic Meme

2008-06-24T15:09:00.000-07:00

How many of my answers can you figure out from the photos?

Questions:

What is your first name?
What is your favorite food?
What high school did you go to?
What is your favorite color?
Who is your celebrity crush?
Favorite drink?
Dream vacation?
Favorite dessert?
What do you want to be when you grow up?
What do you love most in life?
One word to describe you.
Your Flickr name.

The instructions to create the mosaic are:

Type your answers to each of the questions below into Flickr Search
Using only the first page, pick an image
Copy and paste each of the URLs into the mosaic maker

*****

Today was a day that needed distractions from office business. What better than to play along with a good meme. I've seen lots of these around blogsville and have enjoyed looking at others. Hope you guessed a few. If not, here's the crib sheet.

=]

1. Where's Liz?
2. J.Co Donuts
3. Forest Park Trail
4. Greener Pastures
5. Who? Me?
6. Hot Milk Tea
7. Point Lynas on a Christmas Mornin'
8. Montgomery Street Cafe: Chocolate Cake
9. Youthful exuberance
10. My boys in black and white
11. lamp detail
12. Liz Knitting

We're melting!

2008-06-23T19:47:00.001-07:00

The heat here in southern California has been absolutely unbelievable. Both Friday and Saturday our thermometer said it was 108 outside; 106 yesterday. Today we only seem to have gotten up to 102. Crazy hot stuff. Every day I expect to see the concrete starting to melt.

In the context of such heat, it should be no surprise that the desire to hold heavy wool fabric on my lap has been low. In fact, the desire to knit at all has been sapped by the heat. Given that, it's pretty amazing that over the weekend I whipped up all the pieces for the baby pullover pictured above. All that's left is the seaming and finishing. Maybe when the high falls back under 100 degrees I'll feel motivated to finish up the silly thing. Heaven knows that baby will be smart to stay inside until at least August when the heat starts to disipate.

In the meantime, we're all using a similar strategy to cope with the heat.

You know... the roll onto your back and expose your belly strategy.

I hear it's great for cooling off.
=]

Travels

2008-06-17T20:16:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, S and I took off for distant lands... southeast Texas, the land of my parents and sister.

The flight out and back gave me a few more hours to work on the cable luxe tunic, but how many in progress pics of that do you want to see? Instead, I'll share photos of some of the highlights of our trip.

Highlights? you might ask. What kinds of highlights.

Well my first morning there, we went blueberry picking!

There is a local blueberry farm that is open to the public in the spring/early summer. We went out bright and early. Now I'd never seen a blueberry bush before, let alone harvested any blueberries, so this was great fun. It was a large orchard with great pickings.

After all, how often do you get to pick your own blueberries from bushes containing bird nests? It definitely got a bit hot (understatement city here) but was lots of fun.

Buckets of fun were had and I brought 1 1/2 gallons of fresh blueberries back to California with me. Fresh blueberries for months!

Another highlight.... pouring, buckets of rain. I know this seems silly but, let me tell you, you spend a few months in California and thunderstorms start to rate high entertainment value.

The other really great thing we got to do was tour the Buu Mon Buddist Temple and gardens in Port Arthur. My sister has volunteered there for awhile and so knows the monks who reside there very well. They have an absolutely spectacular collection of lotus, lilies, and bamboos.

Just take a look at some of these little jewels.

Makes me want to put in a big water garden in the back.

We missed the lotus festival by a week, but we certainly didn't miss any blooms.

Their bamboo collection was not to be missed either. Several different types. Here's just two. A bright yellow,

and a gorgeous black.

These things were as tall as houses and just amazing. The temple was quite nice as well and the monks very welcoming and friendly. I was glad to have had a chance to meet each of them and to visit the temple.

Now with a centered soul... back to the knitting!

A little bit of paint...

2008-06-11T18:16:00.001-07:00

With S taking off for parts colder come August (his semester at Notre Dame), we've decided to commit to finishing several house projects, long planned, this summer. This weekend we made some major progress on our bedroom

That lovely, white ceiling -- newly painted. Those crisp Drifting Blue walls -- newly painted.

Those new-to-us old Chinese scrolls -- newly hung.

This work now represents about 4 days work, but well worth it I think. Of course we still have all the trim to paint (yuck! my least favorite part of the job) but I think we are at least 2/3rds of the way done. I need to pull out some different bedding to color coordinate better but we're please with how this came out. We had a really dark teal color in there before, left by the previous owners, which was a nice enough color but was far too dark for this little room. This light blue opens the space up quite a bit for us and I really like how the dark browns contrast with the whites and blues.

On other fronts, I thought I should also introduce you to the newest member of the household, little black kitty.

Now in the technical sense, he's probably most accurately described as a foster child, or maybe even more accurately as someone who just pops over to visit once in awhile.

Little black kitty has lived in the neighborhood since we moved in three years ago. He's always lived a tough life but I always thought he "belonged" to someone. In the last few weeks, he's started looking more and more malnourished... in fact he's just whittled down to bones. We've had several people leave the neighborhood this summer, some because of foreclosure, and I think perhaps this guy, who is absolutely, 100% an outdoor cat, got left behind.

A few weeks ago he walked through our backyard and I was stunned at how thin he was ... in an innate mom-type fashion I felt compelled to start feeding the guy. We've been looking after him for a bit now and he's started to warm up to me. I'm hoping I can fatten him up a bit more and then get him to the kitty doctor to get a check up. I know he needs some serious care. Of course, he is, to the core, a tom cat, and probably not all that friendly to other cats -- he strikes me as an alpha cat -- but I'm hoping with a bit of fat on his bones and a "home" he'll get sweeter. I was suprised at how quickly he warmed up to me ... I think he must have been someone's pet initially, not a true ferral. If not, I'll be primary caretaker of a mean tom cat. =]

But of course you don't really care about painting and cats do you... you're here for the knitting content?. Well, little knitting progress has been made recently between painting and work demands, but Fantine is coming together fairly quickly.

I'm ready to pick up the sleeves -- I'm going for the 3/4 lengths. I may end up ripping back the bottom border and lengthening the body some more, but I'm going to wait and see how things feel after the sleeves are done. So far, so good though. Love the cable-like detail along the edges and talk about a quick knit. Love it! And bonus... doesn't that look like some Air (project spectrum like, you know)?

p.s. Have you seen the new Knitty yet? It's live! I'm over to take a gander.

The solution for boredom ...

2008-06-05T12:12:00.000-07:00

you cast on a new project!

I have come to realize this week that my boredom quotient tends to be exceeded before I get to the end of an adult sized sweater. Case in point, the cable luxe tunic and S's cable sweater. Now I will finish both of these, but seems that after some point I just need a break... something different.

Last night, I reached the point of needing something different to work on ... you know, startitis. Luck for me I had just received the pattern for Fantine in the mail and had the yarn stashed away based on careful planning. Yeah a new project... something different! And a bonus... this project fits with the new season of Project Spectrum, Air.

Here's to new projects!

Wanna smile?

2008-06-03T18:22:00.000-07:00

This is making me smile. Progress is continuing on the cable luxe tunic. She still has a ways to go, but the inches are slowly but surely adding up.

But you know what makes me smile even more? These two.

This is what Dylan and Issac look like every morning at breakfast. Waiting ... patiently... for their chance to get those great vitamins.

So close... but you'll be happy to know the vitamin was rescued. Of course, maybe the kitties need glucosamine too.

Not much happening around these parts other than work stuff (boring blog content). Thought you might enjoy the funny pics though so wanted to say hello. Hope everyone is having a good beginning of the summer!

Only someone with great inner confidence ...

2008-05-26T17:19:00.000-07:00

would be willing to share photos like these with you. [grin] Holidays are for no makeup and pigtails.

Amazingly, the cable luxe tunic is coming right along and so far I don't hate it! In fact, I'm liking it fairly well.

So far I've been following the increases the pattern recommends. In fact I think I've only got one set of increases left to do. So far, no giant swinging bell -- I'm going to continue on for a while I think and maybe put in a lifeline before the last increases. If the bell look starts to get too extreme I'll just pull back and think about putting in waist decreases instead. Love the cables though.

Gotta love the three day weekend too! This (above) is where I was before the weekend... cable part of the yoke done, part of the garter stitch yoke complete. Many hours of uninterrupted knitting and the sweater is starting to look like a sweater. [ Again, I give kudos to those of you who manage to take mirror photos regularly. This is clearly not my talent area.]

Not much else happening around here this weekend. The garden is growing... cucumbers, radishes, and lots more strawberries harvested this weekend. Just one big leisurely break -- the very best kind.

Hope all of you have been enjoying your weekend!

Woohoo... 5K!

2008-05-21T10:43:00.000-07:00

Ok... those strawberries don't cost $5000 but don't they look fab? The first big haul from our garden this year. Organic, grown right outside our backdoor, strawberries.

So if they strawberries aren't 5K then what is? Well friends, you may want to sit down to hear this. I ran 5K this morning! Yes, a miracle has occurred. The earth shifted on its axis, worms turned over in the ground, the sun broke through the clouds and I actually ran 3.1 miles, in a row, with no walking break. Never, never did I think this was possible when I started the Couch to 5K program last January. Today I'm proof that anyone, and I do mean ANYONE, can do this if I can. I was the girl that couldn't run around the track once in elementary school because I couldn't breathe and got a stitch in my side. Today, it's official, I can run. Even sweeter, S also ran 5K. He made the target earlier this week.

This week was (supposedly) our last of the 9 Robert Ullreys podcasts that we've been using to train. This week all three of our runs have been 30 minutes long. Let's just say that S runs a bit faster than me so he made the full 5K in his first 30 minute run. Me, not so much. I ran a little longer on Monday and then today I ran about 34 minutes and got in the full 5K.

Can you tell I'm pleased?

I won't lie and say I enjoy running... I don't really ... but I don't hate it either. I do like the fact that I definitely feel, and am, much healthier. It's great to know that I won't get completely winded just going down the street. I just imagine my heart and lungs doing so much better now. I figure this is important since our hearts and lungs decline with age and you know I'm not getting younger (hitting this goal is especially sweet as my birthday is Friday... got there before my birthday... yeah!). I like to think of this as my little strategy to extend my life expectancy. Mine is currently 92 years ... have you calculated yours yet?

Between exercise and good eating, why shouldn't I get all the way to 100 after all? And speaking of good eating ...

This here little garden is going to give us some wonderful goodies this summer. That giant bush there at the front, butternut squash. It has just grown like crazy in the past week -- it must like 100+ degree heat. Our cucumbers are growing and growing and we have tomatoes on the vine now. And this morning...

Yep, our cauliflower have started to set heads. We aren't really sure we'll get to eat this given how hot it's gotten and given that cauliflower, we now know, are cold season veggies. We'll keep our eyes on these girls though and maybe we'll at least get appetizers even if we don't get full grown mama cauliflowers.

So for me and S, it's more running and more veggies. Pass the cucumbers Martha; we're organic, healthy, and getting better looking every day!

=]

Compelled

2008-05-16T19:18:00.000-07:00

This week I was compelled, forced really, by my own mind to cast on a new project. This is made even stranger by the fact that I feel 85% certain that this project will turn out awful.

What would propel me to cast on for the Cable Luxe Tunic? I can't really explain it!

I've looked at other finished projects on Ravelry, and this project is usually a dog. I've read posts over on the knitting boards and most people who knit it hate it. So what is wrong with me?

I think it must be the sound of the cable siren. I just can't seem to resist the cables. And if I think about it, I also really like the garter stitch part of the yoke too. Ever since Melissa posted her garter stitch yoke sweater, I've wanted to do one.

My plan is to knit the yoke, cable and garter stitch, and then see what happens next. Maybe sanity will have returned by then. Maybe I'll come up with an alternative. Maybe I'll knit the sweater as planned and just see how terrible it will end up.

Call me crazy .. it would make sense that I'd gone over the sanity edge... work is pushing me as hard as it can these days. I'm gonna embrace my insanity and knit on though!

(Cascade 220 is the yarn being sacraficed for this crazy experiment.)

Gift knitting

2008-05-10T14:45:00.001-07:00

May is a big gift giving month around here. First you have your mothers' day and then you have birthdays. For the past week (of silence) I've been doing a bit of covert knitting. Mom now has her gift and it's unlikely that Karen will see this before her's get to her (but Karen if you see this, happy birthday!).

And what did I choose for gift giving this spring? Well, fingerless mitts of course!

These are the clever Garter Stitch Mitts by Ysolda and I just love the pattern. That Ysolda really has got it all figured out. Clever designs, great final projects.

I used Patons SWS for both pairs of mitts. I purchased one ball to use for myself some time ago and just hadn't gotten around to using it. I pulled the ball out when I decided it was time for gift giving and I'm so glad I did.

The wool-soy blend in this yarn is very soft and I love the subtle stripes in the color.

The gauge with SWS is definitely different than that in the pattern but I got a good fit just by reducing the number of stitches cast on.

Short row shaping is really a pretty amazing tool to have in your toolbox as well. So fun to see how you can get extra coverage into just one small area (this is how the thumb is created) with so little effort!

If you haven't tried this pattern, I'd encourage you to put it into your queue. I know I'm keeping it there for a pair for myself!

Happy Birthday Karen and Happy Mother's Day Mom!

Garter Stitch Mitts by Ysolda
1 ball Pattons SWS (70% wool, 30% soy), Natural Violet (color 70312 lot 179535) for first pair
1 ball Pattons SWS (70% wool, 30% soy), Natural Denim (color 70117 lot 16021) for second pair
US 6 circulars
First pair cast on May 2, 2008
Finished May 4, 2008
Second pair cast on May 5, 2008
Finished May 10, 2008

Modifications: Cast on only 32 stitches given yarn with a different gauge.

Ravelry details here.

Giggle, snort

2008-05-03T10:37:00.000-07:00

Wanna guess what we did last night?

S's been talking about camping for weeks now and we had hoped to go to Joshua Tree last night for just a one night trip. One of the (many) bad things that happened Monday was that the window of my driver's side car door fell out. Yepp... I'm driving down the road and the window just fell down into the door.

Now you might expect that this would be quite startling, but, uh, well it's happened once before. Jettas apparently were made with dysfunctional window clips. Plastic mind you. Over time they rot away and then the window just falls in. We're lucky the window didn't break.

Anyway this was a long way of getting to the point that we decided we couldn't camp last night because S is going to fix the window this morning (actually is fixing it, as I type). I think he was very disappointed though because earlier in the week he had gone to REI to look at tents.

Yesterday was the start of their giant anniversary sale and apparently he "accidently" found himself there again and brought home a new tent. We decided we'd camp in the back yard last night.

This was our first night camping together and Sterling's first night camping ever. We figured we need to give him some practice to make sure he doesn't bark all night long.

That's about as comfortable as he looked all night [laugh] ... he was mr. sentry all night. It's a great tent, Great Agnes actually, and we had fun. Around 4:30 the birds started singing and I was wakey-wakey. Sterling was shivering a bit so he and I went into the house to get warm and finish up the evening's sleep. He's crashed now. S says he was awake most of the night growling at nothing. Poor babe. Maybe we'll camp again tonight... practice makes perfect!

Yo corro.

2008-04-30T09:53:00.000-07:00

So was yesterday depressing enough for you? It depressed me just reading that silly post. Today I still have all the same work to do but I'm much less stressed. I'm back to that "I just don't care if it all gets done" place ... a much better place if you ask me [laugh!].

So today I thought I'd focus on something a bit more positive. I haven't been sharing my running progress and today S and I hit another milestone so it seems like a good time to post about it.

As some of you may remember, back in mid January S and I decided to start a Couch to 5K program using Robert Ullrey's podcasts. We went out and equipped ourselves (new shoes, new running clothes, new mp3 player for me -- love my little 1 GB Sansa Clip MP3 Player!) and off we went.

Those first days I never believed I'd actually run for minutes at at time (yep you read that right, meaning more than 1 ... the program starts with run a minute, walk, run a minute, walk ... and even that was a challenge!). Over the past 3 months, S and I have been slowly but surely working our way through the program. Now if you count the weeks you'll realize that we should be through the program but we're not. Life happens you know and my goal was simply to try to run, not to make or break get to a 5K in 9 weeks.

I made it through the place where you run 20 minutes (all without a break!) and was so proud of myself. The next week has you run 25 minutes in a row.

I have learned that for me, where I am in the program now, about 75% of it is in my head, not my body. I really had a hard time getting to that 25 minutes. I kept "needing" a walking break. Then a bit over a week ago S's ipod died and so I ran with him (running a day I had already finished -- the 20 minute run). This time the 20 minute run seemed easier. Somehow *knowing* I could run 20 minutes in a row (and didn't really *need* a walk break at the 10 or 15 minute mark) really made a difference for me. Over the next week I gradually ran 21 minutes in a row, 22 minutes in a row, and finally 25 minutes in a row. Yeah!

This week S and I ran together (again repeating week 6 for me) and today we both ran 25 minutes in a row! I won't pretend it was a walk in the park but the truth is I can do it. I went from not being able to run for 8 whole minutes (with walk breaks every minute) at the beginning to running 25 minutes without a break. This is truely hard to believe. In fact, I think there must be some major crack in the foundation of the universe somewhere in order for this to be true.

It is a big accomplishment for both S and I to get to this point. Our program now has us run 25 minute runs for a week, then 28 minute runs for a week, and then finally 30 minute runs. Getting to the end no longer seems impossible. I know I'm going to want to take breaks and now I *really know* that that is just my brain, not my body talking.

S and I will perserve and maybe in a few more weeks our hearts & lungs won't know what hit them!

This is definitely a positive to focus on -- yeah for health and for life outside of work!

Time, how she flies

2008-04-29T18:15:00.000-07:00

The best thing I can say about the passage of time over the past week is that at least the garden has been growing. We have baby cucumbers, corn, and radishes in the garden now. That unfortunately is the end of my upbeat interpretation of the week.

This week has been hell. I can't even point to one or two bad things, it was just one of those weeks. Too much to do, not enough time to get it all done. Ever have so much to do that you just get paralyzed and can't do anything? That's the kind of busy I have right now. I've been just denying the number of things that need to be done and then Friday I got some bad news at work (I'm losing a co-worker who has really helped me keep the boat afloat -- it will be a tremendous loss for us). I successfully managed to put the news aside all weekend and just pretended that nothing had happened.

Yesterday, back in the office, it wasn't so easy to pretend. I went through the motions and just fought off the urge to burst into tears every hour or so. Today was better. I got up and started problem solving. I fixed a few small things and found out that one bad thing won't be as terrible as I thought (the person who is leaving is willing to stay involved part time for a year which will help alot!). I still have a mess to clean up, no real idea how it's going to get fixed, but at least a little time to figure it out.

I think the trick is going to be just to push through... one task at a time... and to just hope for the best. It's a fact, not everything in life can get done at once. I'll do what I can. It won't feel like enough, but what's a girl to do? Sit at home and knit? Don't tempt me [laugh]!!

There's not been much on the knitting front around here ... my paralysis has unfortunately followed me home. S's sweater (above) is coming along but feels like acres and acres of stockinette stitch ... oh wait... it is acres and acres of stockinette stitch! The fabric is knitting up quite nicely and is nice, easy knitting. I'm more than half way finished with the front (the back already complete). Sleeves are clearly going to be endless though. I've already started joking with S that I'm going to turn it into a vest!

So hang in there everyone... I will be. Clutching to my sanity and trying to slowly, one by one, cross things off my to do list!

Happy Earth Day!

2008-04-22T17:33:00.001-07:00

I've been thinking about earth day all day today. Most of the day yesterday and the day before as well. Honestly, the earth has been on my mind quite a bit for the past months (and for some time before that as well).

To celebrate earth day today I decided I wanted to think about how I'm going to be reducing my footprint by eating more locally ... right outside my back door in fact. Today's pictures reflect the state of our garden this week. Not looking too shabby, I think.

Just take a look at these lovely tomatoes! Gotta love such healthy looking plants in April.

Our other veggies have that fresh green, spring color going for them as well.

I can hardly wait to pluck a big salad out of that bed!

Even our brand new, just a few months old peach/nectarine 4-fer has set fruit. We had to take a picture of that (right before we pulled the fruit off -- you aren't supposed to let them grow fruit the first year or two but rather put all that energy into root, leaf, and trunk development).

Even our avacado tree has put on a blush of new leaves. Doesn't she look pretty?

Just walking though our little backyard farm makes me very happy. It helps me feel like I can make a small amount of difference right here at home.

I've been finding inspiration all over the place recently. Most of that inspiration, from books. I've read some real winners! Animal, Vegetable, Miracle (very inspirational), In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto, All New Square Foot Gardening (a great how to do it gardening guide for bio-intensive gardening), and Root Cellaring: Natural Cold Storage of Fruits and Vegetables to name a few. I'm so inspired to grow lots of produce and then can and store it all away. I don't think Southern California is cold enough to actually cellar food though. I guess the trade off is I can grow great tomatoes in April (and probably grow other plants in December and January).

While I haven't yet committed to any "buy nothing" pacts yet, I've made a lot of effort to reduce my purchases and feel like that's gone very well. I've been using public libraries alot (!!) and feeling very content with that option.

I even thought about trying to use public transit to get to work today, but then thought better of it (my last two tries it took 1 1/2 hours and 1 hour 45 minutes respectively to travel the meager 4 miles ... I could probably walk faster). This is one of my future goals though.

I think today I've been most inspired by a post over at No Impact Man. He talks about the futility that we all sometimes feel and the wondering we do about whether we can make a difference, whether or not things can be changed overall. He says:

"So sometimes, the question of whether we can make a difference or not may be the wrong question. I think another line of inquiry might just as productively go like this: Do I want to be the kind of person who tries or the kind of person who doesn't?

It took me 42 years to realize it, but I want to be like Mayer Vishner. I want to be the kind of person who tries. Whether Michael Pollan is 100% right or 50% or 10% right, when the game is over, I want to be one of the people who tried. Whether the world is saved or not, whether I'm still alive to see it or not, I want to be able to say I tried."

I think this really hit home for me. Sometimes I'm a little too "half empty" for my own good (and certainly for the good of others). I know I don't want to say I didn't try though. So that's where I'll be. I'll at least be able to say I tried. Tried to make the world a better place, in lots of ways. My job now is to keep finding all those ways and to make the list of ways I tried a bit longer.

Enjoy your earth day and I hope it's a day of reflection and inspiration for you as well.

Celtic Knots knotted

2008-04-19T14:11:00.000-07:00

I'm pleased to report that my celtic tote is now knit, felted, and lined.

When I first started this project, I struggled quite a bit with the cable pattern -- it's definitely the most complex cabling I've done. After quite a long vacation from the project (about 4 months) I picked it back up and found it to be quite simple. Don't know what made the difference: better knitting skills, better neuron functioning? Regardless I didn't look a gift horse in the mouth and kept up the progress to finish the job. (Of course with this increased skill and ease I realized that I wasn't knitting the wrong (even) side rows of the chart from left to right but doing all the rows from right to left. Most of the time this didn't matter, but there are a few places where the cables aren't symmetrical so I do have some purls where I should have knits, but after felting it doesn't really show).

The knitting was finished about a week ago. Amazingly, the embroidery also didn't take me too long. I had seen several comments on ravelry complaining about that. For me, the seaming was more punishing, but that's only because I have a mental block about it.

Here she is, prefelting, lounging outside on one of our recent 90+ degree days.

And then into a bath she went. Now in hindsight I realize I probably should have felted it even more, but I was worried about overfelting and erred on the conservative side.

Post bath and drying, I sewed in a bit of a liner (which should help especially since it isn't very felted) and she's ready to go.

See the lining. Love the green myself.

It's a generously large bag. Somewhat narrow at the top, but deep and wide.

Celtic Tote from Interweave Knits, Winter 2007 by Jennifer Tallapaneni
2 balls of Patons Classic Wool Merino (100% wool)
Color: Old Gold (Color 204, Lot 175068 07)
1 ball of Patons Classic Wool Merino (100% wool)
Color: Chestnut Brown (Color 231, Lot 153067)
Lining: Batiks' Olive Green Floral (100% cotton) from JoAnn's
US size 9 circulars and size 10 dpns (because this is the size dpns I had)
cast on November 13, 2007
finished April 18, 2008

size pre-felt: 11" tall; 13" wide at top, 15" wide at bottom; 2" deep at top, 5" deep at bottom; straps 18" long from end to end.
final size: not much different, my felting was minimal

Modifications: Repeated cable pattern for strap 11 instead of 9 times to lengthen the handles. Cast on 10 instead of 6 for sides and bottom in order to make the bag about an inch deeper (and I'm glad I did as it still is fairly narrow).

On Ravelry here

Seaming serentity... coming soon (we hope)

2008-04-13T15:59:00.000-07:00

Time... she is quite elusive! Since last time we talked, two more conferences have transpired. S left for Portland on Wednesday for his sociology conference (and arrived home this afternoon).

After dropping him off at the airport at the obscene hour of 4:45am on Wednesday, I traveled to the second conference, mine in Irvine -- of the psychological variety.

While S stayed in Portland for the entire length of his conference, I just made the trip down to Irvine a few times. Irvine is S's daily commute so driving there for a few days seemed quite reasonable for me.

My conference was fine. Nothing terribly outstanding, but my talk on Thursday seemed to go well. The best thing, after conferencing on Wednesday and Thursday, I decided to stay home on Friday and Saturday and do a bit of knitting.

My celtic tote called to me from my WIP pile and I'm pleased to say that as of Sat evening, all the pieces are now knitted and embroidered.

The bottom of this bag is fairly interesting (picture above). You start knitting the narrow top of one side, knit down the the bottom, double your stitches and then knit in the round for the entire bottom. This creates a sleeve into which you place a plastic sheet to provide a rigid bottom for the bag. Once you get the bottom to the length you want, you close the sleeve up (essentially by knitting two together, using one stitch from the top and one from the bottom of the sleeve) and then you finish up the other side.

Now all that's left is the seaming. Ah yes... the seaming. Can you guess why I'm blogging right now and not working on the tote? Yep... seam avoidance {grin}.

I finished up my conference this morning with a great little statistical workshop and thought I'd jump right into the project this afternoon. No so much. I'm going to meditate on my budda hand and hope that some seaming serenity descends soon.

Hope everyone else had a pleasant and productive weekend!

Relaxing over the (nutty) weekend & an opening

2008-04-07T07:45:00.000-07:00

Really... there is nothing like it. Sitting on the couch, going to the farmers' market, running or walking when you want to ... weekends are great.

As you might imagine given the idea of relaxation, none of the work that I brought home with me this weekend managed to get done. None even came out of the book bag. Sadly that means that it still all waits for me, but the good news is that my weekend was stree-free!

So in between all that relaxation (or maybe I should say as part of it), what kind of knitting did I do? Well baby knitting for the wave of pregancies and baby expectations that seem to be cropping up everywhere! In the past week or so, I've learned that two more families are expecting children (in addition to one other I've known about for awhile). The closest delivery date is in just a couple of weeks so off to the knitting tasks I went.

With a few modifications... the booties and beanie hat from Natural Knits for Babies and Moms.

Nonnahs, over at A Little Loopy, had posted pics of her finished set several weeks ago and I ordered the book thinking this might be a good project for one of my expectant families. When two more families turned up, I decided that I should dive right in.

[Don't you love how the decreases come together at the crown of a hat?]

I had my heart set on using these green and natural colors (Lion Brand Nature's Choice Organic Cotton). Of course all I had to do was open the book to see that my gauge would be way off with this choice. Amazingly, I didn't let that stop me this time. I pulled out my handy dandy calculator and did some pattern adjustments and, yep it's amazing, it worked.

Boy's Striped Beanie from Natural Knits for Babies and Moms by Louisa Harding
<1 ball of LionBrand Nature's Choice Organic Cotton (100% cotton)
Color: Pistachio (Art 480, Color 170, Lot A6439)
<1 ball of LionBrand Nature's Choice Organic Cotton (100% cotton)
Color: Almond (Art 480, Color 098, Lot A6343)
US size 6
cast on April 6, 2008
finished April 6, 2008

On Ravelry here

Boy's Booties from Natural Knits for Babies and Moms by Louisa Harding
<1 ball of LionBrand Nature's Choice Organic Cotton (100% cotton)
Color: Pistachio (Art 480, Corlor 170, Lot A6439)
US size 6
cast on April 5, 2008
finished April 6, 2008

On Ravelry here

Modifications to both: stitches and rows modified for gauge of substitute yarn.

On other knitting fronts, there was also a LYS opening yesterday! One of the women, Veronika, who attends my knitting group has had a long time dream to open her own store and accomplished that goal yesterday. You can see pics of the store, All about Yarn, and all of us who showed up for her first SnB at the link above. It's nice to have another LYS in the area! Put the date on your calendar, the grand opening is April 19th (the store is in Azusa, CA).

And... by the way, I finished week 6 of my couch to 5k plan over the weekend. Yes, I ran 25 whole minutes! Yeah me!

p.s. did you catch the nutty part of my weekend? almonds and pistachios?

Budda gives you a blessing

2008-04-04T19:23:00.001-07:00

This, I think, is my favorite souvenir from San Francisco. It sits on the dining room table, where we sit for meals and where I work on the computer, and keeps me centered. It's a beautiful object and reminds me that there are important things in life and less important things. Sometimes it's important to remember that and not get caught up in the little stuff.

Speaking of which, I can't believe a whole work week has flown by! It has been a crazy busy week ... so busy that I didn't get around to blogging about the rest of our trip to San Francisco (or anything else for that matter). I'm glad to say that I don't go back to the office for two full days... thank goodness for the weekend!

So what about the rest of my trip. Well of course knitting played a role in my weekend trip! As I shared in my last post, I did do a bit of knitting. I'm now finished with both the front and back of my celtic tote. It was funny picking this back up after a bit of a hiatus. The pattern seems simply easy now. I don't know if my neurons have just resorted themselves to be able to knit this more easily or if my skills have actually increased that much, but I just zipped through the rest of the chart to finish the front of the bag. I've already started on the sides/bottom and think I may try to find fabric to line this bag as well.

But knitting was not the only fiber-related activity of the trip. No, of course not. I had to do a little yarn crawling too. First stop, Artfibers. This was a very nice store. Very helpful staff. You may know that Artfibers sells their own line of yarn and the best thing about the store is that you can see swatches of every yarn knit up in every color. There is nothing like seeing a yarn knit up for me. I just can't visualize what a yarn in a skein will look like when knit up. Seeing things all put together... great.

One swatch in particular called to me, a lovely sagey green silk/superkid mohair blend.

I don't have a pattern in mind yet but am hoping this will become a summer sweater.

Next stop, Imagiknit. OMG... this store!! Loved this store!! Really, I can't imagine how a store could get much better than this. Big space, stuff with lots and lots of different kinds of yarn, all well organized, very open, very bright, incredibly helpful staff. It was absolutely heavenly. It was one of those stores I kept going back and looking at everything a second, and third, and fourth time. Wow to live in San Francisco and have access to this store regularly!

One of my goals for this little trawl was to find some yarn to make a sweater for S. I think I've already mentioned (although I can't be certain and am too lazy to go back and look) but S is going to be living in Fort Bend, Indiana for a few months later this year as a visiting fellow at Notre Dame. Guess what, it's a little colder in Fort Bend than it is in Southern California. S has now decided that it would be great to have a handknit wool sweater.

I am happy to oblige and we picked out this great Ecological Wool for the project. So far, love this wool too. It seems like I can feel just a bit of lanolin in it as I knit, and it feel soft and slick as I work. The swatch I worked up and washed is just as soft and nice as it can be too. Very exciting.

I, of course, couldn't wait to start and cast on April 1st (no fools!). And the extra bonus... it gives me something to carry around in my Doctor's Bag!

Hey there San Francisco

2008-03-31T19:35:00.001-07:00

Did you miss me? Bet you didn't even know I was gone. That's one of the perils of less frequent blogging I suppose. More good stuff per post, but less daily tracking.

Well I've been gone, and man oh man was it a good gone. S and I jumped on a plane ...

did a little of this along the way, and ended up here...

Yep... San Francisco! S had a conference there this weekend and we decided to make a vacation out of it. We stayed in the Union Square area in the most amazing little hotel, The Maxwell. They call this a personality hotel and it did have personality! It was a fun little art deco style, 1920s building and we loved it. Close to everything, right in the middle of downtown. If you like something a little different, we'd recommend it.

We started our trip with a stroll down into Chinatown.

Even on a Wednesday afternoon this place was bustling. And on this very first day, our very first meal, we had what I think was our very best meal.

Those are mushrooms (left) and shrimp with fresh spinach leaves (right) and they were DELICIOUS! We ate at the House of Nanking and following our guidebook (which was a winner in terms of recommendations), gave the waiter (you can see him in the pic at the restaurant review) a general sense of what we wanted and he ordered for us. De-lish ... I almost licked the plates!

After lunch we walked up to Coit Tower, got our exercise there, and got a great view of the city from Telegraph Hill. The weather was beautiful so we could see for miles. The top picture is actually taken from the hill.

After walking back down into Chinatown, we decided to go do a tea tasting at Vital Tea Leaf. We must have tried 15-20 teas while we were there and ended up bringing home more than our fair share ... Blue People (a green tea with ginsing... very zingy... an energy booster), a Pu-ehr (a black smokey tea supposedly good for digestion), Jasmine Pearl (a white tea), and Angel (a hand picked 3 to 4 days old green tea good for cleansing, diabetes, cholesterol, high blood pressure, antioxidant, daily prevention tea). In fact, we bought and tried so much tea that the guy made us a Fairy Plum.

3 flowers inside tea leaves... quite lovely and nice to drink too. All of this can be bought online in case any of you are inspired.

Now if we hadn't already eaten and drunk more than we should have, we had to have dinner. Another fabulous meal at the Millenium. A great restaurant serving sustainable, organic food. A great meal was had.

You won't be suprised to hear that by the end of the day we crashed into bed and slept hard. All of this in our first partial day!

Thursday we rented a car so we could drive out of town to the Muir Woods. Along the way we drove around the Presido and Marina areas and stumbled onto this amazing Palace of the Fine Arts. We didn't go in but did have to stop to gawk at the spectacle.

After this brief detour, back into the car and over the Golden Gate bridge, which is truely impressive.

And onto the forest we went. Now you know your trip is going to be a good one when, as you first arrive at the park, one of the park rangers has a banana slug for you to see up close and personal.

Yep, I know everyone thought that banana slugs were only a fictitious mascot for UC Santa Cruz, but no, they are real live slugs and as you can see above they are huge and yellow and look for the life of them like a banana. Crazy!

So after admiring the wildlife, off into the redwood forest we went. (Now I have to tell you that the entrance area and the first part of the walk -- where the paths are finished/wood was terrible ... hoards of people, yelling kids! Thank god we had planned to go for a bit of a hike because you had to get off into the real trails to escape the noise, but once you did... amazing nature to see. Moral of this story ... don't go on the tour bus...take a car and plan on walking out into the trails for a couple of hours).

When you get out and hike, you get to see this.

This is definitely a place to stop and listen to the quiet and appreciate the slowness of life.

After our hike, we climbed back in our car and took another short drive to visit Muir Beach and Stinson Beach. Along the way we stopped for lunch at the Mountain Home Inn. Food was acceptable, but the view from the deck, where we ate outside, was well worth the cost of the meal!

And then the beaches themselves... breathtaking.

This is my kind of beach. Rocky cliffs, blue water, green grass.... bright sun.

This is definitely a sight not to be missed!

On our drive back, we stopped at Green Apple Books... a very nice book store with a fun supply of used books (including knitting books). Finally, as though we weren't done yet, at the end of another lovely day, we had to eat once more and this time visited the Greens in the Presidio. Again, great food in a super location with beautiful views of the marina. How can one city have so much great stuff?

Friday S did start to do conference things but played a little hookey so we could go to the Castro district that afternoon. We had more yummy tea at the Samovar Tea Lounge which I would highly recommend for a leisurely sit down (try the honeycomb platter...yummmmmm). And then we did a little shopping. We stumbled onto two different Tibetian/Buddist type stores on/just off Castro street and picked up some souveniers for ourselves (my favorite was Dolma, Inc., 530 Castro St.). We wrapped up our evening with a lecture at City Lights bookstore.

Saturday S did more conferencing and I had a nice quiet day all to myself. All and all, a great little vacation.

And you want to see the picture that was most inspirational for me?

This little handmade sign was posted on a fence guarding an empty lot for sale on our walk up to Coit Tower. Here are words to live by... "if you can do no good, at least do no harm." Words for all of us to live by.

Can't wait to see even more? Our full set of 77 photos is on flikr.