startitis or finishitis

Is it startitis or finishitis?

This is Malabrigo Laceweight in the color Azul Profundo. I got two skeins the other day for Juno Regina.

I tried casting on with a pair of size 3 Addi Turbo Lace needles, but I’m pretty sure now that I want to use a size 4. I talked myself into buying the 3s because I don’t any and I didn’t have the 4s with me.

Don’t tell me you’ve never done that.

Does anyone want to buy a pair of size 3 Addi Turbo Lace needles? Or trade for a pair of size 5 or 6’s?

my awesome monkey sock swap three package

My package came from the Monkey Swap Three from the Swap Hostess, Rebecca of Socks For Mum. The paper was really cute and the address label had monkey stickers on it as did the note! This package included a huge pile of my favorite monkey things.

The socks are lovely and even have the picot edging I so coveted. I’ve been really good not checking out Rebecca’s blog. It’s hard when you know who your partner is. Anyway, she solicited information on what stuffed monkey to send and you guys definitely picked the right one. Although, you can’t see his red tail in this photo.

eating your way through your fridge (project spectrum)

Warning: skip to the next page for actual knitting content.

Honestly, I’m trying to lose weight. But through exercise, not through dieting. Although, today I’m skipping my walk in favor of cleaning the bathroom and other similar activities.

Also, this is the time of year where one tries to eat the contents of their refrigerator. I don’t mean all in one go. I’m not Joey! Crud. Just listen to me. This is the time of year… What’s really going on is that this is the time of year where my husband I move. Even though we managed to stop in Colorado for four whole years, we still had three residences. No one wants to pack that can of beans you’ve been carrying around for the last four years. Or the prepackaged soup mix you were given for Christmas in 2001. It’s still good. You’d think we’d have picked up better shopping habits by now. But it’s no good. We enable each other through the Asian foods section. Ah well.

Wonder when I’m going to make the Beignets. My husband brought back a mix from New Orleans a few years ago from THE Beignet place. Someone remind me the name of it and I’ll post a picture. It’s the one on the corner in the French Quarter and I believe it’s still there.

Anyway, I’m getting plenty of exercise cleaning and moving stuff around to take Project Spectrum Photos. There are pink, yellow and green books. And then there are green books.

 

 

 

catching up

This is what I’ve been up to.

These are some squares made from Noro Kureyon inspired by Amy Swenson, the designer behind indiknits‘. The pattern I’d been eyeing was the Saratoga Sunburst, felted handbag. I saw one someone else had made and had to have something like it! It’s slow because I can’t count to 100 and I keep losing the 5th needle. Seriously, I can find my size 0 needles more easily than one 11. What’s with that?

countdown

Estes Park, Colorado

I should have started a countdown nine days ago. Tomorrow the movers come and take our stuff and hopefully show up with it sometime soon in Minnesota. My computer is going to go in the truck while my husband’s computer is coming in the car. He’s got a nice portable lap top and it has his life’s work on it so he gets priority that way… So this is going to be my last post for a bit. I’m not sure how long it will take to get internet access in the new apartment, but I’m sure I will get some knitting done in the sixteen or seveteen hour trip to Minnesota. (I added a couple of extra hours for eating and pit stops).

I finished the embossed leaves socks this afternoon while having the oil changed in my car. It’s always good to get a car with 169,000 miles on it tuned up before you drive it across the country. It’s not dead yet though, it’s a Honda Civic after all. For some reason the second sock took me longer than the first. I just kept missing yarn overs. They don’t match perfectly, but it’s close enough for me!

While out on Tuesday, I found some more Mountain Colors for my ostritch plume scarf/shawl and the perfect book for my trip, Knitting on the Road by Nancy Bush. I haven’t picked out what to knit on the road, but I promise to show you what I did when I get computer access again.

The following lists contain personal opinions and I hope everyone takes them that way.

The Top 5 Things I will miss about Colorado:

1. All the new friends we made
2. 300 days of sunshine a year, beautiful scenery, incredible wildlife, and the lack of mosquitos.
3. Short driving trips to New Mexico and other places of scenic beauty.
4. Wonderful bookstores
5. Decent Mexican Food

The Top 5 Things I don’t regret leaving behind (Warning: Personal politics listed below):

1. The Christian Right, G.W. Bush Stickers on every other car, the fear of being political and other inflexible, close minded attitudes towards life, the universe, and everything.
2. The lack of water (which causes among other things dry, itching and flaking skin), rain, and foliage. Hail in July, high winds and other weather weirdness.
3. Insane drivers and other things that have caused accidents, near broken bones and other bodily injuries.
4. Large trucks parked in compact spaces. I’m talking about trucks with an extended cab and extended bed.
5. All the information I learned about helicopters, machine guns and everything technical I know about the Army (I hope.)

Top Five Things to be Concerned About in Minnesota:

1. Winter: “Forty below keeps out the riff-raff.”
2. Summer: The mosquito is often referred to as the state bird.
3. We know two people in the entire state.
4. It’s the Midwest.
5. I don’t have a job yet.

Wish us luck. Minnesota here we come.

hospital knitting, falling leaves and embossed leaves socks

Some friends threw a very nice going away party for us last night, but then after I got home I smashed the bridge of my nose into a closed jar of skin cream that was sitting on the edge of the bathroom sink. Since there was no blood, I sat around for a couple of hours after it happened with ice on my face, but then removed the ice pack to watch a little TV and when I got up to go to bed got very dizzy and nearly passed out. I thought that I ought to go to the ER and have it checked out. They took a few x-rays, gave me some ice packs and a Vikadin and sent me home after three hours when they’d figured out I didn’t break anything. Mainly they worry that you have broken the bone around your eyes; if you have then there’s a little possibility of blood going into your brain. On one hand you think, well if my nose is broken, I’m justified in going to the ER. On the other hand, if your nose is broken, it’s going to hurt like hell when they set it. Fortunately, there’s just a little swelling and bruising today and it should feel a lot better tomorrow. At the moment I’m a little dizzy and well, my nose feels like it ran into a sink. More ice for me today I think and some asprin. In short, I’m fine; I just got my nose a little out of joint.

I actually tried to knit at the ER. Somehow upon realizing that I needed to go the ER, I had the prescence of mind to grab my knitting on the way out the door. I was there about three hours while they asked me questions, did x-rays and ultimately concluded that my nose isn’t broken. I didn’t realize how hard it might be to knit with an icepack over the majority of my face, but I knit a few rows during the time in which my face was too cold to keep an ice pack on it any longer. I’ve had to rip out the stitches that I did last night while I was in the ER.

I’ve been working on the Embossed Leaves Socks as designed by Monda Schmidt from the Interweave Knits Winter 2005 issue. (Here’s a photo of someone else’s completed Embossed Leaves Socks with a Sherman heel.) I determined that the falling leaves socks are just too big for me. I’m not sure I like the pattern with the variegated Koigu. The pattern was shown in a variegated Koigu, but it works better with the bright colors that Jessica Landers chose. I guess I’ve had a run of bad luck using variegated yarns with lace sock patterns. Anyway, I think I will send out an email to friends & family to see if anyone wants the socks. If so, I will finish the socks. If not, I will follow the Yarn Harlot’s lead and rip, rip, rip-it either down to the foot where I can correct the length, or all they way down. Of course, they might look better off blocking.

For the Embossed Leaves Socks I’m using the Watercolor colorway from Lorna’s Laces and the result is a beautiful spiral of colors. That’s Lorna’s Laces 2, Koigu 0, Cherry Hill Tree 0 or Interweave Knits 1 for 2 and Knitty 1 for 2. If this were the world cup of sock yarn, Koigu and Cherry Hill Tree would play off to see who would go on to the next round. They each get two more chances to attempt to show themselves off in a variegated lace pattern. I hate knitting plain socks, but that’s where the yarn will end up if the next couple of tries don’t produce some results I like. Or maybe I’ll try this ostritch plumes stole pattern with the Earth colored Cherry Tree Hill supersock. More embossed leaves socks can be found at yscmama, maybe lazy and julie’s stuff.

The patterns were more or less fine, although I don’t believe for a second that the writer managed to use Koigu on size 2 needles for her socks. I had to use a size 0 needle and they still came out in the large size. The main issue is whether or not the variegated yarn works for the pattern. I think that both the falling leaves and lace knee-high patterns may require either solid colors or varigated yarn with more contrast. I wonder what would happen if I switched the colors that I chose for each pattern.

socks, socks, socks, socks, socks

What would be a vacation without some sheep? These are Mountain School sheep. The school was selling some yarn, but in somehow in all the confusion, what with the dark (the power kept going out) and the talking with old classmates I forgot to ask whether the yarn they were selling was made from Mountain School wool. (Note: none if it was sock yarn.)

The completed Potomatomus Socks. Note that the colors are much better in real life; they are more red and blue. I hate to say it but they are almost Spidey like.

Finished on June 12th. Knit on Size 1 12″ Addi Turbo needles using Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Worsted. The pattern comes from Knitty. That was the most challenging pattern I’ve worked on in a long time.

I bought some more Lorna’s Laces last week sometime in the Watercolor colorway. I haven’t figured out what I’m going to do with it yet. I could do the Straight-Laced pattern, but then I’d have to buy another circular needle. I like the pattern though. We’ll see.

Have you ever started on something that you think is just awful? I’m not sure how I feel about the Lace Knee High pattern from the Interweave Knits Winter 2004 issue inthe Cherry Tree Hill Green Mountain Madness. There’s something very loose about the entire thing and I’m not sure I think it’s appealing. Maybe this is something that shouldn’t be done in variegated colors.

Here is the picture of the Koigu I bought in Exeter at Charlotte’s Web. I’ve been playing around with the Magic Loop Method for the piquant Falling Leaves Socks (pattern available at Knitty). It’s kind of neat, although the Koigu is so dense that I find doing “p3togtbl” a bit tough. The question is will it pay off after I finish the toe?

Can you say addicted to socks? Who’d ever have thunk? I don’t wear socks very often. Socks are for the gym, really snowy days, padding around the house and going to work in (if I can’t get away without them). Maybe I will want to wear them in Minnesota though. I’ve got small feet so these are speedy projects I should probably enter the Knitty 2007 calendar contest with my socks (assuming I finish the Knitty ones). Only…doing what?

The finished iPod holder will have to wait until tomorrow for display.

completed sock

Does something about this picture look familiar? I did the kitchener stitch and then I finished the first sock! It’s a bit loose around the foot , but I think the fit is pretty good!

Here is the completed sock, drying.

Also, I just want to show you a picture of the most shameless cat ever. No knitting involved in this one.

pomatomus socks

Piquant my left !@$#%$^. This is only a “piquant” rated pattern if you remember to read the directions with a ruler. I’m seriously afraid of an “extra-spicy” pattern and I’m usually not daunted by anything. This pattern does sneaky things. For example, it never tells you (while you are working on the sock gusset) that you don’t need row one of chart B in this part.

Other than that, the sock is going beautifully. I highly recommend using the circulars though. It’s kept the lace from falling off all the time. It may mess with your gauge. I got gauge with normal size 1’s so I expect the sock will be big. I also think it will be big because the pattern is probably for an average woman’s foot. I’m a bit small and my feet match pretty well at size 4 1/2 – 5. But I couldn’t resist the pattern as written. On the other hand, I think the leg and heel are right, so maybe I’ll just do something funky in the toe area and then the socks will be mine.

Otherwise, my Mom will score once again.