yarn shark

The Flu Shot

2010-09-17T09:05:00.002-04:00

To the best of my knowledge, I have never had a flu shot. I qualify that statement because nearly every early childhood memory of the doctor's office involves needles, and nobody was giving my toddler self any specifics, so they might have snuck a flu shot in there with the polio and the mumps, I don't know. Anyway, today at work I got an e-mail about our fabulous workplace health fair, where we can get a flu shot, and our biometrics, and find out how to save on our ~~car~~ health insurance. Yippee! Except now I have to make a decision.

Pros to the Flu Shot:
-Covered by my health insurance premiums.
-Solidarity with other flu-shot getters. You know what I mean. People are always asking, "Did you get your flu shot? I got mine!!!!!" and then I say, "Oh, no, I've never had a flu shot..." and then they say, "Oh!!" and inch away slowly. This could also be a con, because clearly people aren't that confident in the flu-shot effectiveness if they're afraid of my un-immunized self. So actually, this one doesn't count as a pro.
-10 minutes that I don't have to be working, more if I do all the other health fair stuff at the same time. But I like my job, so maybe this isn't a pro either. I'll let it slide, but it's kind of weak.

Cons to the Flu Shot:
-Last time I remember having the flu was my junior year in high school. In the ensuing eight years I have been flu-free despite my exposure to co-ed university dorms, public transportation, and myriads of germ-laden children.
-Only covers 70-80% of flu strains. I have terrible luck. I would get each and every one of the remaining flu strains back-to-back, and then I would get fired for being disease-ridden and also weird.
-Possible injection of government-issued nanotechnology designed to read my mind.
-Furthering of paranoid ideas derived mostly from dystopian novels and science fiction television. There probably aren't nanobots in the flu shot...but WHAT IF THERE ARE? Then I set myself up to be a government (or alien!) science project. My ultimate demise would be my own fault. I could never hide on a farm in the middle of nowhere because they would find me and steal my brain and kill all my sheep.

So that's two pros and four cons. I think I've worked this out rationally.

In which I attempt to write coherently on four hours of sleep and Red Bull

2010-06-09T19:39:00.004-04:00

You don't even want to know what sort of rambling monstrosity I was typing up to post here earlier this evening. Onward with the listage!

1. I pretty much destroyed my living room to move my desk into a position where I can watch Stargate while I spend all weekend making paper flowers for my wedding. I have decided the only solution to the now-revealed and terrifying clutter is to move. Soon.

2. Red Bull and watermelon is not the most nutritionally balanced dinner combination, but it is rather refreshing.

3. I took a sock to knit on the treadmill last night. It went ok, except the whole time I was in mortal fear of dropping a needle and causing gross personal embarrassment, damage to expensive equipment, death, or a lifetime ban from the gym. Next time...circular needles. And maybe a helmet, just in case.

4. There's a pond right outside my front door. This pond houses bullfrogs bigger than my head. I am sure their constant nighttime croakings are a plot to overrun the apartment complex.

5. There was a little family of ducks and ducklings swimming around the pond over the weekend. I hope the frogs didn't eat them.

6. This post is awful. I'm going to bed. Better luck next time!

They Called it 'Night of the Treadmilling Pincushion'

2010-06-08T19:15:00.002-04:00

Right now (or rather, in about five minutes after I finish telling the internet about it) I am finishing my knitting so I can start new knitting so I can go knit at the gym. I haven't been to the gym in...well, let's just call it 'a while' because I'm not really sure how long it's been, and I don't really want to go right now, because I had a crappy day and I just want to hide in my bed. Actually, I just got done talking myself out of going to bed, because I convinced myself that I would be angry tomorrow about wasting all that perfectly good knitting time with sleeping. I'm not sure where the thought that I should go to the gym slipped in like an uninvited party guest, but this is where I am right now.

So if I never post anything again, it's probably because I'm just a bad blogger, but you can use this post as an excuse to envision a spectacular accident involving a treadmill and sock needles. If you want.

Breaking Out the Nerd Badge

2010-06-05T01:03:00.001-04:00

(I will apologize in advance for the unseemly use of capital letters in this post.)

A couple of weeks ago, I was at the library perusing the DVD section. This activity always makes me feel…illiterate. Usually I check out a book too, so all those people paying so much attention to me at the library don’t judge me (I don’t know why I worry about this. I know exactly zero people in this town, and exactly zero percent of those people that I know are library snobs that hang around libraries judging people. The public library here doesn’t even make me deal with the librarian to check my books out. In fact, the librarian shoots you with her laser eyes if you dare talk to her or say, tell her that one of the very warm and personable check-out computers is frozen.).

Anyway, I was perusing the DVD section in search of a television show, preferably completed and with at least five seasons, so I could have something to watch over the summer since my DVR now consists mostly of Mythbusters, and I can only watch those crazy guys blow up a car so many times before I need a break. I decided on Stargate S.G. 1, which has not five but TEN seasons of nerdy awesomeness, plus a movie and a spin-off series. Score!

The thing I love best about this show is that I can just picture the writers in a little room, hyped up on coffee, delivering their ideas for crazy plot twists IN ALL CAPS OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!! Because that’s what every plot point feels like. OMG YOU THOUGHT THEY WERE SAFE BUT NOW TAKE THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! MUAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

Last night, I was watching a very dramatic episode in which Our Beloved Main Characters were trapped where NO ONE HAD EVER ESCAPED, and they were about to ESCAPE when suddenly their death-defying plans were thwarted by THE REALLY BAD GUY FROM THE PREVIOUS SEASON, who, it should be mentioned, THEY ALL THOUGHT WAS DEAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Because that is the Number One Rule of Stargate: No one is ever really dead. You can all hang around and watch someone die, and he will come back FROM THE DEAD with an evil plan next season (which Our Beloved Main Characters will conveniently thwart in under forty-five minutes, even though the evil bad guy spent MONTHS perfecting his evil revenge. I love television.).

I might have burst into hysterical fits of laughter. Especially when the music crescendoed and the screen flashed ‘To Be Continued…’

Posty post

2010-06-03T22:15:00.001-04:00

Hello, bloglets! Long time, no typey. I believe the last time I graced this free webspace with my prose, I announced that I was participating in the Knitting Olympics (a la Yarn Harlot and not a la Ravelry, because I love Ravelry but I am terrible at team sports. See: every knit-a-long I have ever joined) and I was going to crush them with my amazing knitting amazingness.

And really, I almost did, but I was taken down at the final stretch (seriously, the last three days) by a migraine. The throwing-up, turn the lights off, stay home from work and lay on the kitchen floor because the cool tiles feel SO GOOD sort of migraine. So I did not finish the afghan in time to be awesome. BUT, to my credit, I did in fact finish the afghan a week later. I took Mouse’s advice and went ahead and sewed the squares together without blocking them and it all worked out just fine.

I do not have a picture. If you came to this blog expecting pictures, you are not in luck. I refer you to pretty much every post since 2007 and my Ravelry page.

Things worth mentioning:

I moved (again).
I’m getting married (in August).
I have a new job (can’t think of an exclamation of joy strong enough).

So far

2010-02-16T12:22:00.005-05:00

So far, I have 11 squares knitted out of a total of 48. If I continue at my current pace, I predict I will fail miserably. I'll no longer be able to visit the the Yarn Harlot's blog out of shame for my abject failure. The unfinished blanket will sit in a shopping bag, filling my apartment with its resentful presence.

I should probably knit faster.

As soon as I knit the first square, I knew I had even more to contend with than originally thought. I'm going to have to block each and every one of these suckers before I sew them together.

See how it isn't square? Isn't that a great plot twist?

This guy wanted in on the photo shoot. Blog, meet Max. He likes to eat yarn. And toilet paper.

Also, I don't know why my horizontal pictures aren't horizontal. If I stop to figure out why, I will never post this blog. I'll try to fix it before my next post. Toodles.

Knitting Olympics

2010-02-11T11:11:00.002-05:00

I'm coming out of blog hibernation to participate in the 2010 Knitting Olympics.

I'm knitting this blanket (Ravelry link) out of some reclaimed Goodwill yarn.

Should be fun! Who's DVRing Olympic curling?

The Ron Weasley Blanket

2009-06-30T21:08:00.002-04:00

Note: I am sure that a very clever prop designer created the blanket found on Ron Weasley's bed in the Harry Potter films. I am not that prop designer; I am merely a fan who had a lot of random yarn to use up. I was asked by a user on Ravelry to create a pattern page others could link to when making their own Ron Weasley blankets.

Materials:
A whole bunch of yarn in various exciting colors that knits to about 5 sts/10 rows per inch in garter stitch.
Appropriate needles

I would also suggest finding one or two good screenshots from the films to get a feel for the blanket. If you can't make these yourself, The Leaky Cauldron has a great screenshot database.

Guidelines for squares:
I found 7 inch squares looked the most authentic to me.
You'll want to knit some of your squares solid. The patterned squares should be striped patterns only, not stitch patterns. This is a garter stitch blanket.
Knit a few squares on the diagonal.
Include some heathered yarns, or some tweedy yarns.

Guidelines for finishing:
The squares in the original blanket are arranged so that the garter ridges are aligned alternating vertically and horizontally. Basically, you will always be stitching a cast-on or bind-off edge of one square to a row edge of another. Except for the diagonal squares, obviously.

startitis

2009-06-09T15:50:00.002-04:00

It's not really the most creative of blog post titles, but last night between the hours of 9:00 and 10:00 I started four projects. There was the previously mentioned top-down cardigan, a pair of mittens for a friend, a scarf, and this hat (Ravelry link), which I have since finished. The scarf is probably going to get frogged, I don't really love it. Really, I don't love knitting scarves, but this past winter I noticed that while I have many lovely individual winter accessories, most of them don't really match. Hence, I have a vague summer goal of knitting hats, scarves, and mittens to match what I've already knit. We'll see what happens. So far I've only managed to produce another hat that doesn't match anything else I own.

are you a good knitter or a bad knitter?

2009-06-08T16:10:00.004-04:00

The situation: Many months ago I finished knitting the second sock of a pair of Sidewinders. The sock has been languishing on its circular needle, waiting for me to suck it up and finish the never-ending final graft. Today, I decided I want to knit a top-down fingering weight cardigan without leaving the apartment for supplies.

The good knitter would take twenty minutes and finish the graft on the Sidewinders, especially since they're for my boyfriend's mother and she knows I'm knitting them.

The bad knitter would find a pair of straight needles in a close-enough size, transfer all the stitches, and carry on with the cardigan.

Today, I'm a bad knitter. Oops.

because I have updated my facebook status too many times

2009-06-08T15:08:00.002-04:00

Let's skip all the nonsense about how I haven't blogged in forever and why, it's very boring. Right? Right.

The cat level has increased from one to three. Cat number two, Windsor, joined Sassy and I in January. Windsor enjoys climbing my curtains and clawing the carpet. Cat number three, Max, joined us in April. Max enjoys sitting in the bathtub and eating my yarn. And by eating I mean...eating. Literally. I can't leave yarn out anymore. Or toilet paper, for that matter.

My knitting has been all over the place. The only constant has been socks, and that's really just because they fit in my purse. I'm pretty sure the day I pack a complicated knitting project to work on during downtime at my job is the day we'll suddenly be so busy I won't have time to breathe, let alone knit. I feel my coworkers won't thank me for pushing it.

Today I went to the doctor for this monstrous sinus-thing that has been plaguing me in various forms and degrees since Easter. She gave me a prescription and recommended I also purchase the special sort of Sudafed that they keep behind the pharmacy counter and you have to sign for. And geez, did I have to sign for it. I figured they'd just card me to make sure I'm old enough to get myself addicted to the OTC medication of my choice, but no, they took my address and my driver's license number, and I probably signed away my soul and my first-born child too, but I was so out of it I stopped paying attention. I have drugs, I don't care.

wouldn't it be nice

2009-03-22T19:55:00.002-04:00

If I could play Zelda and knit at the same time, my quality of life would skyrocket.

I would just like to know

2008-09-16T18:57:00.003-04:00

Has anyone else ever spent four years working on an art degree, landed a full time job related to her major, and then lain awake at night thinking she should have been an accountant?

It's kind of stressing me out.

The knitting has been entertaining lately, though, although I am not currently interested in anything without a lace pattern in it. I have the pattern for the Inky-Dinky Spider Stole (that's a Ravelry link, for some reason the Fiddlesticks Knitting site does not want to load) and I think I'm going to start it soon, after my monstrous lace project from Victorian Lace Today is all finished.

Also, Christmas knitting? I don't even care. You have permission to laugh when this changes in two months.

This weekend, I'm going to Toronto to visit some friends, and I have been promised a trip to the yarn shop, although I haven't decided which yarn shop. Maybe we will go to many, because it is my birthday this weekend (Friday, actually), and shouldn't we go to yarn shops if it is my birthday? I think so. You should too.

did I tell you I moved to Ohio?

2008-08-21T22:31:00.004-04:00

My place of employment makes up the work schedule for several weeks into the future. This is great for planning weekend trips, but kind of a bummer if you need a specific weekend off (it does, however, give you a lot of time to plan elaborate bribes in order to make other people give you their days off. Not that I would do that.). I am not sure what, exactly, led me to think about Rhinebeck, since I have never been, and I don't have any knitting friends, and I haven't really heard people out in blogland muttering about it yet, but it crossed my mind the other day. So, just out of curiosity, I looked it up, and what do you know? I have that weekend off work! I might go. It would be delicious.

Today was one of my days off this week, so I did what anyone else would do and stayed up too late last night designing a weird pair of colorwork mittens. I don't really have any yarn to knit them with, though, so I trolled Ravelry and bought the pattern for Bubbles (that's a Ravelry link, folks; my apologies if you're not a Raveler). I'm nearly finished with the first mitten and may just stay up and knit the second one too, I'm in that sort of mood, and I don't have to work tomorrow either.

At this point, I am painfully aware of the fact that this post would be way more entertaining with pictures. I'm going back to my mittens.

so apparently someone reads this

2008-08-11T16:36:00.004-04:00

That's right, Toni in Florida, I'm looking at you!

Sadly, my digital camera has spent the past three months or so dying a slow and painful death, and as of right now it refuses to turn on even with fresh batteries in it, so I think that's a pretty good sign that it's not going to be helping out with the blog anymore. It really is too bad, because I have been knitting even though I haven't been blogging. Last month I finished the Bayerische socks that I started in January...of 2007. Heh... The truth is I hadn't knit so much as a stitch on them since March of 2007 until I picked them back up in July. At the moment I've been seeking out rather epic projects, just nothing with cables... Although, did you see the Bonnie sweater from the Twist Collective? Honestly, if I don't knit that sweater before Christmas I don't think there will be many reasons to keep living. That being said, I have as of this post purchased neither the pattern or the yarn, even though I could because...

... (I thought this would be an awesome place for a new paragraph) I'm all finished with university and managed to snag myself a full-time job somewhat related to my field of study. The contract I signed says I can't talk about it on my blog, though, so you'll have to use your imagination.

Today was my day off and I happened to drive by a Goodwill while I was running some errands, so I went in to see if there was anything exciting in the sweater section. While I was at school, I was really into finding wool sweaters at thrift stores and frogging them, and I thought that it was just to get yarn that I didn't have to sacrifice my grocery budget for, but now I realize...it's all the thrill of the hunt. In May, for example, I scored a men's large 100% Shetland wool sweater that gave me about a ton of fingering weight wool that is currently being knit into the Beginner's Sampler Shawl from Victorian Lace Today. Sadly I didn't find anything good today, but the selection of sweaters in August is probably not what it will be in October. So I will bide my time.

Right now, though, I have yarn to play with and movies to watch and a day off to cram as much knitting as possible into, so I shall sign off for now. Cheerio!

frustration

2008-06-20T13:47:00.002-04:00

There I was, sitting on the deck, enjoying an idyllic afternoon of no obligations, knitting away on little tiny needles, when the cruel hand of knitting mischief swept down and knocked one needle out of my hand, sending it flying between two slats of the deck and into the murky abyss below.

I calmly assessed the situation (when you think of 'calmly' you should think of Darth Vader at the end of Attack of the Clones. Noooooooooooooo!). Almost immediately I came up with a plan that was almost immediately thereafter thwarted by the position in which the needle had fallen (that may be the cruelest part of all, that I can see the needle but I can't get the needle). At that point I decided to petition my mother for help. After all, for what did she obtain a degree in engineering if not to help me recover my knitting needles? It was fate, I tell you. Fate.

Um, except that her clever idea involved a magnet, and my needle is plastic.

I guess I'm going to the yarn shop...

so maybe he has a little leverage

2008-05-26T19:02:00.002-04:00

I walk into the computer room, where my brother is sitting reading something online.

Me: "So what are you reading?"

Brother: (after a mad scramble to change windows) "Nothing! Nothing!! Go away!"

(too late)

Me: "Oh, Harry Potter fan fiction? So what? Sometimes I read Harry Potter fan fiction."

Brother: "Well I don't!"

Me: "You were clearly just reading it."

Brother: "I was not!!"

Me: "Wait till I tell all your friends."

Brother: "Wait till I light all your yarn on fire!"

backwards

2008-03-03T15:37:00.002-05:00

Last night I started knitting the Coupling socks from the Summer 2007 issue of Knitty. These socks are knit toe-up, and for some reason I am wary of toe-up socks, but these socks are cute so I decided to get over my completely irrational prejudice. Now, I've seen a lot of toe-up socks with a short row heel, but these socks incorporate a gusset and heel flap, done in reverse, of course. And for whatever reason, knitting a gusset and heel flap in reverse is really tripping me out. Like, I stare at my knitting and think "How can this be?!" and feel like I'm cheating on my old reliable top-down heel flap construction.

The yarn I'm using is some crazy old stuff called Lady Galt Kroy that I picked up at Value Village last spring. Now, I've googled this a few times, and generally all I can find are people selling it, or people similarly unable to find its origins. The most I can come up with is that it isn't made anymore, which is really a pity because it's a nice sock yarn. It's not a luxury yarn by any means, but it's reasonably soft and pleasant to knit. Actually, it feels a lot like the old Paton's Kroy (not the new Kroy Socks stuff, that stuff is significantly less soft). But hey, if you're reading this and you happen to know the full history of Lady Galt Kroy, encompassing its inception and eventual demise, let me know.

pfft, title, whatever

2008-03-01T12:54:00.004-05:00

Blogger didn't remember me today. I guess it's been a little while. Still, it kind of hurts. But I suppose the unfaithfulness is on both sides, no? Dear Blogger, let's start over. I'll promise to post more if you promise not to make me type in my password every time I want to be with you, ok? Just a little trust, Blogger darling. That's all I'm asking.

This past week was my very last spring break EVER, and I had an enjoyable if fairly quiet week of lounging around my parents' house knitting and watching Law and Order. Actually, what I want to know is, does USA air anything other than Law and Order in the evenings? Because every time I wanted to watch it, it was on, and I'm definitely not complaining about that because I can't get enough of the Special Victims Unit, but still. It seemed a little...odd.

Last weekend my mother and I trekked down to Detroit to visit John K. King Used and Rare Books, and if you like books then you need to go there. I would have set up camp and never left if they had let me. The main store is four floors full of books...think of your average sized Chapters or Barnes and Noble, and then think of a store with about ten times as many books. That's what it was like. The only thing I could have complained about was that there were only five knitting books in the entire store. FIVE. But, I overheard one of the people working there telling another lady (about five minutes after I'd seen the knitting section and been disappointed) that tons of people call about knitting books and they hardly ever get them in. It does kind of make sense, though. Would you give up any of your knitting books? Even in my wildest decluttering moments, the knitting books are sacred.

the dresser of my dreams

2008-01-31T11:27:00.000-05:00

And the Lord did grin. And the people did feast upon the lambs and sloths, and carp and anchovies, and orangutans and breakfast cereals, and fruit-bats...

found it at Apartment Therapy.

I buy lots of things in bags, why?

2008-01-24T19:01:00.000-05:00

without preamble or any sort of context

my friend, Adam: Do you buy milk regularly?

Me: Fairly often, I suppose, why?

Adam: Okay. Do you buy it in... a bag?

(I started laughing a lot right about here.)

Adam: You live in Canada, so I must know.

I don't, in fact. I can't drink that much milk by myself before it expires.

future poet laureate

2008-01-23T21:54:00.000-05:00

It always gives a little thrill
To learn a brand new knitting skill,
But to not say this would be fibbing:
I greatly dislike corrugated ribbing.

I keep forgetting to title my posts.

2008-01-18T14:15:00.000-05:00

Today is a day gloriously free of obligations, which is perfect because it also happens to be the first day of the Secret of the Stole II knit along, which I joined, even though I have previously listed myself as a KAL failure. This time, though, will be different. Really. I mean it. Stop laughing! I have no obligations today, and I have every intention of knitting right through the first chart before the end of the evening.

The Nantucket Jacket is ridiculously close to being finished, and I finished a pair of socks on Tuesday. Unfortunately, my camera's USB cable is somewhat MIA, so you only get to see one sock:

But I think you can imagine what the other sock looks like. I used Knit Picks Essential in the Volcano Twist colorway, and I think it's great yarn, which is good because I got a ton of it for Christmas.

In other news, you know those striped socks I mentioned last time? The idea was completely enchanting for about three hours. Now I don't care. Why, you ask? Because I found something better to do with leftover sock yarn.

Fishies!!! (When faced with digital camera difficulties, a scanner can be very useful.) I got a wee bit obsessed last night. The one you see above is my favourite, knit out of some leftover Trekking XXL. I see a glorious fishy blanket in my future, and am somewhat unreasonably excited about it.

this may say something about me

2008-01-11T21:11:00.000-05:00

I'm going to make some striped socks.

They are not going to match at all.

heeheeheeheeheeheeheeheeheeheeheeheeheeheeheeeeee....

there aren't any pictures in this post

2008-01-07T17:19:00.001-05:00

Before I actually talk about knitting, I must tell you that this is a special day for me. I hear you asking why. I shall tell you.

Today, Blogger remembered me. Today, Blogger recognized that I had checked that little box on the sign in page that says "Remember me" and actually did it. Maybe it was some sort of test. If you are persistent (or just naively hopeful) enough to click that box eleventy zillion times, even though Blogger never, EVER remembers you, the eleventy zillionth and one time you click it, it grants your wish. Hooray!

Ok. Anyway.

Since today is the first day back to classes, I shall choose today to pout about Christmas break being over. It seems fitting. The total knitting output for the month of December was as follows:

1 lap blanket
1 pair of socks
1 scarf
1 pair of mittens
1 other pair of socks, which I wore today and realized are too big, so they will have to be frogged and reknit

The first four items on that list were Christmas gifts. So, the majority of the knitting in December happened before Christmas, a period during which I was extremely busy. So the question remains: what in the world was I doing for two weeks in which I had no obligations?

Sorry, that sounded really cliffhanger, like I was going to give you some fabulous answer. Wrestling Arctic Musk Oxen! Tap Dancing With Giant Tortoises! Using Capital Letters Inappropriately!

The truth of the matter is, I kept doing things that weren't knitting compatible, like ice skating and sledding (although you shouldn't think for a minute that I didn't try to think of someway to make those activities knitting compatible). There was also a fair amount of sleeping, which, as we all know, is an activity in direct competition with knitting. And, actually, I have this Nantucket Jacket (Interweave Knits, Winter 2006) sitting here that only needs one more sleeve cap and a back, so maybe I've been more productive than I think.

I'll stop rambling today and leave you...well, I was going to leave you with a picture, but Blogger is being stupid. So I'll just...go...awkwardly...

2007-12-23T02:25:00.001-05:00

Things that may impede Christmas knitting:

1. Sleeping

2. Jobs

3. Large and insistent lap cats

4. Random excursions to Toronto

5. Super Nintendo

6. Cooking

7. Books that will not stay open by themselves

8. Sub zero weather (impossible to knit outside at the bus stop)

9. Car rides with anyone on your Christmas knitting list

10. Blogging!!!

the yarn must flow

2007-12-18T17:35:00.000-05:00

The past three days have been amazingly fabulous for knitting (excepting, of course, this morning, when I thought all my internal organs were trying to escape out my nose and my mouth in the form of greenish yellow goo. But I'm better now). Sunday morning I woke up to the abominable (but rather pretty) snowstorm, and a very irate roommate with a cancelled flight (I kept my personal opinions about beautiful snowstorms to myself). But a snowstorm! A perfect excuse to hide inside, drink hot chocolate, and get cracking on the Christmas knitting (although we did venture briefly out for some shopping. Because we were apparently caught with the crazy.) (You know, I really hate it when people over and misuse parenthetical phrases. I am a filthy hypocrite and will go knit with fun fur to punish myself).

Yesterday I was complaining about the lack of new and exciting movies just sitting around the apartment, and lo and behold my roommate pulls out the special edition director's cut of the TV miniseries Dune and says, "Here, watch this. I'm not taking it home with me." Then she went off on her rescheduled flight and left me alone with the crack. I watched the whole thing, and when it was over I went and found the sequel, Children of Dune, on YouTube. Then I stayed up way too late watching it and woke up this morning with the aforementioned ailment. That, of course, probably had nothing to do with what I was watching or how late I was watching it, but for some reason I am feeling slightly resentful towards the engrossing storyline and the crazy costuming and feel better blaming the miniseries, which makes absolutely no sense, but I don't care. As a brief critical note, however, I must say, the sequel went a bit overboard with the storylines and a bit underboard with the explaining-what-happened. But I watched the whole thing anyway.

Now, this weekend, when I go home, I will most likely rush down to my parents' basement, where I know the Dune series is lurking, and try to read them. Part of me is very excited about it, and the other part fully expects to find them just as uninteresting as I did the other eighty bajillion times I tried to read them. Oh the difficulties I face! I really don't know how I bear it all.

in which I do not loosen up

2007-12-08T09:47:00.000-05:00

I started a pair of socks as a Christmas present a couple of weeks ago (Actually, I started about ten things a couple weeks ago, but that's another story). After I knit the first one, I knew I didn't really like knitting the pattern (the way it looks is fine, though), but figured I would slog through the next one, because then I would have a Christmas present finished. Of course, because I'm blogging about it, you must know that my cunning plan has been thwarted. I don't know why, or what I was doing when I knit the first sock, but my gauge is so much tighter in the second sock that the same number of pattern repeats in the leg comes out to nearly three quarters of an inch shorter, and the first sock is about three quarters of an inch wider as well.

I'm frogging both of them. I cannot stand the idea of knitting an entire sock in this pattern again, and if I'm going to stay on the Super-Amazing Christmas Knitting Plan of Doom and Awesomeness (which I wrote on the bus yesterday), then I'm supposed to have this pair of socks done today. So I need something pretty, but uncomplicated, easy to memorize, and no freaking mini cables. Bah.

muuuuah

2007-12-06T23:51:00.000-05:00

My dear little bloglet,

I meeeeesed you!!! And now that the craziness is OVER, I will loooooooove you, and give you connnnnnntent, and piiiiiiiiictures, and it will all be so LOVELY!

Affectionately with cheesecake,
Stephanie

you must do what you feel is right

2007-11-08T22:36:00.000-05:00

You have run out of hand knit socks to wear. What do you do?

a. Do your laundry.
b. Wear your store bought socks.
c. Knit faster.

cable brim hat

2007-09-30T20:11:00.000-04:00

Yarn: 200-ish yards of worsted weight wool
Needle: 5mm DPNs and circular

Pattern:

Pull out your stitch dictionary of choice (I confess, I am deeply enthralled by Barbara Walker) and pick out a cable pattern that looks like it will knit up to be 2-3 inches wide. Add two stitches to either side of the motif and do the following:

RS: slip 2 stiches, knit cable pattern, slip 1, purl 1
WS: slip 1, purl 1, knit cable pattern, purl 2

The extra stitches and all the slipping give you an even, nice-looking edge while also creating a border for your cable motif.

Knit the cable motif until it is however long you want your hat brim to be, and sew the cast off edge to the cast on edge. I tried to be clever and start with a provisional cast on and then graft the two ends together, but it didn't turn out that well. This is probably because I didn't feel like thinking that hard about it when the time came, and not because it can't be done, or that it would be particularly difficult. Do whatever you want.

Then, with your circular needle, pick up stitches all the way around the brim you just made. If you need more stitches than you picked up, increase in the next round. Knit the rest of the hat like you would any other hat (for advice on this I highly recommend the section on hats in Knitting Rules by that other Stephanie).

Cast off, weave in ends, feel clever. The end!

a small update

2007-09-30T19:24:00.000-04:00

What I have been doing for the past month:
1. going to school
2. working
3. sleeping
4. eating
5. knitting like mad

Sadly, blogging is not on the list, although I could add "thinking about blogging," but if I start including things I have been thinking about to the general list of what I have been doing, that list is going to get pretty un-concise pretty quickly.

But, I have been knitting. I finished a pair of socks this week, but didn't take a photo, and now they're in the wash. You might never get to see them, because my ability to take photos of my finished objects is sketchy, at best. But rest assured they are very pretty, and I, like many before me, have discovered the delights of Trekking XXL.

Now I am going to contradict myself and show you a picture of another finished object I finished this week:

I made the pattern up, but I'll do a seperate post explaining what I did, because I thought it was fun, because I am a nerd. Also, I seem to be all about the almost-run on sentences today. Strunk and White are going to kill me in my sleep.

Currently, I am completely addicted to this:

Which is, of course, The Hemlock Ring Blanket. I am completely taken by this doily blanket business and have been perusing all sorts of old doily patterns, making grand plans for at least fifty lap blankets. And actually, this current one is knitting up pretty fast, so I might get through a couple before I get sick of the idea. You never know. Stop snickering.

Other than that, I started a pair of fuzzy feet for mindless bus/boring classes knitting. Actually, in the interest of full disclosure, I should tell you that I'm really not knitting "fuzzy feet." I just saw the pattern while perusing knitty and decided that I would make giant socks and felt them. I've never felted anything before, ~~but it doesn't seem that difficult~~. (On second thought, I should not tempt fate by saying things like that.)

what a dream I had

2007-09-12T17:08:00.000-04:00

You are held captive by a mad scientist in a dimly lit castle decorated like a cluttered, late 1970s rec room. As you enter the main drawing room, you suddenly spot what seems to be a basilisk. Horrified, you squeeze your eyes tight shut, until the mad scientist says to you, "Have no fear, my prisoner. The crocheted basilisk is not dangerous. It is the knitted basilisk you must be afraid of."

If this ever happens in your dreams, you can probably be sure of one or more of the following:

1. You spend way too much time knitting.
2. You have read Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets recently, or too many times. Or both.
3. You saw this in a library book:

And were duly frightened. You find out later in the book that the dear snake pictured above is, in fact, Crispin the Crocheted Cobra, but I must confess upon first sighting I was more inclined to think of him as "Sammy the Serpent of Satan". But that's just me.

And yes, I really had that dream.

is this thing on?

2007-09-01T16:58:00.000-04:00

To start, a confession: I've been back around normal, English internet services for a little over two weeks now. I've been meaning to post, I swear, but wasn't sure what to say or how to begin. Finally, I decided it didn't really matter, and that I'd better post something before school starts (on Thursday!) or I never would.

So hi. What's up? How was your summer? Eventually, hopefully, I'll post about Quebec, and the knitting that went on, and the yarn-buying that went on, and the French-speaking that went on, but not today, mostly because at the moment I'm more in the mood to get a post up than to sift through pictures.

The past couple of weeks I have, among other things, been cleaning out the stash. Don't let the time allotment fool you: my stash is not particularly large, I'm just a slow organizer, and when I'm stumped by something (in this case, "Where am I going to put all of this yarn?!!"), I tend to let it stew for a bit before going back to it. I'm pretty much finished, and I did get rid of a lot of yarn (ok, actually, the yarn is in a big bag in my front hall closet, waiting to be mailed off to Interim House). I decided to keep only the yarn I have a very specific plan for; I've found that otherwise yarn is a source of some anxiety for me.

However, I still have a bit more yarn than I really have room for in my apartment, so I've done two things: planned my Christmas knitting around what is currently in the stash, and made some rules.

I won't go into details on the Christmas knitting, since I think some of the intended recipients stop by here on occasion, but the rules are as follows:

1. Finish all Christmas knitting the stash currently has yarn for before buying new yarn for Christmas knitting the stash cannot accommodate.

2. If Christmas knitting gets extremely boring, work on a UFO.

3. Avoid Value Village at all costs.

Now, to be frank, I'm pretty sure rule three is going to get broken a lot, but it's ok, I have back up Value Village rules too:

1. I do not need any more random acrylic for the Weasley blanket.

2. Yarn may be bought only if it meets one of the following conditions:
a. it is pretty, not 100% acrylic, and enough to make a scarf
b. it is sock yarn
c. it is fabulous and doesn't meet condition a or b

The Value Village rules exist mostly because I sometimes lose all reasoning abilities in the face of a good deal; for example, the ability to determine what a good deal really is. Twelve balls of Paton's Kroy Socks for seven dollars? That's a good deal. A bag full of random yarn with questionable fiber content in dated colors? Probably not a good deal, even if it is only two dollars.

One last thing: I got my invite to Ravlery while I was in Quebec, and this past week I've finally had a chance to properly play around with it. It is every bit as great as everyone says it is, and a definite threat to my ability to not procrastinate this year. Ah well.

signing off

2007-07-05T22:09:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow morning I'm leaving for Quebec, and I'll be gone for five weeks. I've heard that internet access where I'm going is limited, and at any rate I've been such a slacker about blogging lately that I doubt I would post anything with such distractions as "having to speak French all the time even though my French is atrocious" and...well...actually that's the only distraction I can think of right now. I am hoping that the break will make me more interested in the blog when I get back.

Later gators.

score!

2007-06-24T20:28:00.000-04:00

I adore Value Village, especially when I can buy 12 (TWELVE!) balls of Paton's Kroy Socks for $7.00.

I must confess that I did a fair bit of maniacal laughing when I found it, and then proceeded to walk around the rest of the store with the bag clutched to my chest (I didn't think it was safe in the cart. Admit it, you would have done the same thing.). Looking back, I suppose my behaviour might have been embarrassing my friend, but she was nice enough not to mention it.

sorry

2007-06-18T10:48:00.000-04:00

I am being such a blog slacker. My sincere apologies. Since my last post I have knit two socks, one washcloth, and ten Weasley squares (I have 96. I need 140.) I also moved into a new apartment, and that was about as much fun as you think it is. Right now I'm going to go knit more squares, and maybe I'll have this blanket finished before September.

c is for cookie

2007-06-03T15:57:00.000-04:00

Reasons Why Eating Cookies All Morning is a Good Idea

1. Cookies are very tasty.
2. It's easier than going grocery shopping.
3. It's too hot to cook.
4. They go well with milk.
5. The cat doesn't try to eat them too.
6. Did I mention it's too hot to cook?

Reasons Why Eating Cookies All Morning is a Bad Idea

1. You can't eat cookies and knit at the same time.
2. Heat makes me sick. Excessive amounts of sugar make me sick. They will not cancel each other out.
3. There'll be less cookies to eat all evening.
4. Have I told you how nauseous I feel right now?
5. I'll feel obligated to vacuum later.
6. Seriously. How old am I?

and by 24 hours I obviously meant 2

2007-05-27T17:16:00.001-04:00

pattern: Jaywalker Socks
yarn: Sockotta by Plymouth Yarn (45% cotton, 40% superwash wool, 15% nylon)

I must confess I liked the yarn better in the ball than I did knitted up, and was a bit irritated by the weird flashing thing it did in the second sock after behaving so nicely in the first, but I do think the Jaywalker pattern used the yarn best. I first started making just plain stockinette socks with it, and it did that weird flashing thing all over. I don't really mind the zig zags, but the colors of this yarn made it look like a kindergarten classroom threw up all over it.

motivation

2007-05-27T15:11:00.000-04:00

There's nothing like pretty yarn, and only one set of needles to knit socks on, to cure the dreaded Second Sock Syndrome.

Expect to see finished Jaywalkers in the next 24 hours.

nobody loves garter stitch like I do

2007-05-06T20:34:00.000-04:00

I've been hanging around the knit blogosphere for a bit now, and I know you all understand buying something yarn-related just because it is a ridiculously low price. So, I assume you'll understand when I tell you that I bought a whole box full of crochet cotton at a garage sale, because it was only a dollar for the whole box.

Heh.

I'm not really sure what I was thinking. When I got the box home, I just kind of looked at it for a bit, in a dazed, confused way. Then I got a popsicle and stared at it some more. Then I remembered that I started knitting Jaywalker socks, and I forgot about the crochet cotton until a couple of nights ago, when I pulled out some skinny knitting needles and started knitting.

So I don't know what it is. Maybe I'll just hang it on the wall. I like hanging things on the wall. I sorted all the crochet cotton by colors, so I'll have a large, garter stitch, pinky orange thing:

And a large, garter stitch, green thing:

And a large, garter stitch blue thing:

And another green one:

I'm a bit light on the purple:

But maybe, if the first four don't drive me insane, I'll go pick up some more purple-ish crochet cotton.

jaywalking

2007-05-01T20:03:00.000-04:00

getting it out of my system

2007-04-22T15:33:00.000-04:00

finals finals finals

2007-04-20T19:22:00.000-04:00

So this morning I was doing normal morning stuff (get dressed, trip over the cat, burn myself on the toaster oven, etc.), and the knitting came pouting over to me with one of those "I'm depressed and it's your fault but I'm going to pretend like everything's fine" looks. Generally I ignore such silly behaviour, but I make allowances for my knitting. I mean, it's my knitting. So I said, "What's wrong?"

"Oh, nothing..."

Ok, fine. I went back to burning myself on the toaster oven.

"It's just you've spent all week with those textbooks!"

Slightly surprised, I said, "But you know I have exams next week."

"That's not an excuse. We were together before you had exams."

That doesn't even make any sense, but again, I let it slide. Knitting.

"Listen, this isn't because I don't like you anymore. You know I love you. You know I want to spend every waking moment with you. But, if in the near future you want me to have disposable income to spend on you, you have to leave me and the textbooks alone for a few days."

The knitting didn't answer. It slunk back to the knitting basket (where it belongs) and I went to work. I thought about telling it about the lovely long train ride we'll have together next week, or the lovely nice yarn shop we can visit in Detroit, but it's being so pouty I don't even want to.

terrorist tactics

2007-04-08T16:14:00.000-04:00

"One false move and the yarn gets it."

I got an A+ in Nerdology 101

2007-04-06T14:39:00.000-04:00

I finally wove in all the ends on the Gryffindor scarf the other night, so I suppose I should be mildly grateful for the weather giving me the chance to wear it around before the summer. In this picture I am demonstrating rare use of the flash, frizzy hair, and my desperate love for the color balance tool in Photoshop ("Ooo, I can make everything MAGENTA!"). Maybe I'll talk somebody into taking better pictures of me wearing it...but don't hold your breath.

Stephanie 1, cat 0

2007-04-05T17:01:00.000-04:00

I have found her weakness at last...wool!

My suspicions started back in the fall, when, somehow, this wool sweater that I have ended up sitting on my desk. The cat started sleeping on it all the time. It was great, she stopped sitting in front of the computer and trying to eat my knitting and generally let me enjoy having her around without her being extremely annoying. But then, silly me, I decided to wash the sweater and put it back in the closet where it belongs (I obviously don't know a good thing when I've got it). The cat reverted to her usually cuddly-but-somewhat-annoying self.

Then, in November, I got a wool coat. I often leave this coat draped over the armchair closest to the back door, because hanging it in the coat closet five feet away is a lot of work. The cat immediately started sleeping on it. She'd get mad at me when I actually wanted to wear it. I began to contemplate the idea of knitting her a big piece of wool to sleep on, but didn't really execute that plan because cats have a tendency to not like something if they think you want them to like it. Why waste the time and the wool?

Well, I've been knitting this wool pullover, and I finished the back last week. I had it lying on my desk a few days ago, and, surprise surprise, Sassy was all over it. Still, I didn't seriously contemplate making her a wooly blanket until today. I was sitting on my bed, trying to knit, and she was just mauling me. Biting the knitting, sticking her whiskers in my face, stepping on the cord to my headphones, and just generally making herself unpleasant. I got up and pulled the sweater back out of my knitting basket, and layed it on the foot of the bed.

Game over, I win. Coming soon to this blog: bright red wooly cat blanket.

In other news, this is the view from my apartment today:

So much for April showers. I wonder what April blizzards bring.

April blizzards bring big lizards:

Hmm.

April blizzards bring brave wizards:

No, not until July.

April blizzards bring turkey gizzards?

That's just disgusting. I think I'd rather have the showers, please.

just so you know

2007-04-02T22:17:00.000-04:00

Planning and executing short-row shoulder shaping in your French class, without any help from the internet, will make you feel very, very clever.

And yes, I did learn some French tonight. I can conjugate l'imparfait indicatif like it's nobody's business. For example:

je tricotais, tu tricotais, il/elle/on tricotait, nous tricotions, vous tricotiez, ils/elles tricotaient

Watch out for me.

I swipe memes shamelessly

2007-04-02T12:08:00.000-04:00

You scored as Luna Lovegood. You're an extreme introvert and because of this, are also a deep thinker. You ponder things others would never dream of pondering and stand with your beliefs without backing down. You find it more valuable to daydream than to socialize, because there's so much more going on in your head than others'. Most people don't understand it, but you seem to prefer it that way.

Sirius Black

72%

Luna Lovegood

72%

Neville Longbottom

69%

Albus Dumbledore

69%

Bellatrix Lestrange

69%

Harry Potter

66%

Remus Lupin

63%

Hermione Granger

59%

Ron Weasley

59%

Severus Snape

56%

Percy Weasley

50%

Oliver Wood

44%

Lord Voldemort

31%

Draco Malfoy

25%

Harry Potter Character Combatibility Test
created with QuizFarm.com

Found it at Carrie K's blog.

feeling better

2007-04-01T12:17:00.000-04:00

Before I talk about knitting stuff, can I just say that I love, love, love April Fool's Day on the internet? Facebook made my day:

click for larger

Anyway...

Still life with unblocked Argosy and cat.

I still don't know what I'm going to do with it, but I'm sure eventually some occasion will call for giving someone an orange mohair lace scarf, so I'm not too concerned.

And now, now, I am going to say to the world: I hate the carpet in my living room. HATE IT. I can say this because I'm moving into a different apartment in June, and I no longer feel obligated to tell myself the brown carpet really isn't that bad. UGLY BROWN CARPET!!! Ugh.

A strange family of turquoise yarn has taken residence on my printer:

But I am ignoring them in favor of a large quantity of brown stockinette:

The turquoise yarn looks a bit vulture-like, no? I was knitting Wavy with it, but I really didn't like how it was turning out. Frog pond! Now I am rather suspicious that it is asking to be another Argosy, but like I said. I'm ignoring it.

tune in tomorrow for the next episode, in which Stephanie starts a turquoise Argosy

blergghh

2007-03-31T23:07:00.000-04:00

Finished Argosy. Too sick to write anything clever. You go look at Harry Potter cover art. I'll go read a Star Wars novel and moan weakly. The cat cares. mahgfuadhibjnhjfw...

belated blogiversay

2007-03-26T11:14:00.000-04:00

I meant to post something on the 24th, which was the official one-year anniversary of this blog, but I wanted to post something...special. Something exciting. But, it wasn't finished yet. Heh.

So, last night (or this morning, if you want, but I generally consider everything before I went to sleep as yesterday, no matter what standard time keeping systems might have to say about it) at 3AM, I finished...a sweater!

And of course, I immediately rushed to take dorky blog pictures. I suppose that picture doesn't look quite so dorky, since I cropped out my dorky head. My face looked a lot like my driver's license photo, which basically looks like "WHEEEE!! DRIVER'S LICENSE!!!" Just replace "driver's license" with "sweater" and, well, you know...

Here you see the sweater actually being blocked, and the cat suffering intense inner conflict, as her urge to lay all over any piece of clothing battles with her deep dislike of touching anything wet.

I think we're under attack!

2007-03-23T22:40:00.000-04:00

black sheep

2007-03-13T10:54:00.000-04:00

Usually, I avoid horror movies at all costs, but this made me laugh hysterically. Maybe it's a Shaun of the Dead thing; it's kind of scary but you're supposed to laugh. Or maybe they just didn't realize that zombie sheep are hilarious. Or maybe I'm crazy.

options socks

2007-03-12T12:46:00.000-04:00

When I was in middle school, I met a girl named Kristen. Kristen never, ever wore matching socks. Ever. She probably still doesn't. In fact, I really hope she still doesn't, because I always thought it was fabulous. Who cares if your socks match? Why wear two that are the same, if you don't want to? Besides, if your socks don't match, you don't have to fold them. You can just throw them all in your drawer and pull two out at random every day! Fabulous! I have occasionally thought about doing this, but I absolutely could not stand it if the socks felt different on my feet.

Later, I discovered knitting blogs, and people knitting socks, and people who go to great lengths to make their hand knit socks match. Please, if you are one of those people, I don't think there's anything wrong with it. It's ok. I like my silverware to match*, so I kind of understand. I've knit matching socks. But I was thinking about the lovely wall of Koigu at the yarn shop, and how you have to buy two skeins of Koigu to make a pair of matching socks. But, all the Koigu would probably feel the same, no? So what's stopping me from buying two, or four, or maybe just three different skeins and knitting them all into socks using the same pattern? Mix and match socks! It'd be spectacular. Kristen would be proud.

*If you are thinking "but obviously when you buy a set of silverware, all the pieces match..." then I must tell you about my parents' silverware, which is comprised of not one, but three different sets of silverware. As a child, if I was setting the table for dinner, I would always make sure the silverware at each place setting matched. And sometimes, if I was irritated at someone, I'd give them mismatching silverware, although I doubt they even noticed, much less felt the burning sting of my reproach.

gratuitous sheep photo

2007-03-11T18:20:00.000-04:00

Icelandic sheep at the Lavender Fleece

easily amused

2007-03-08T16:54:00.000-05:00

This afternoon* I knit a wee lace swatchie from this pattern (first one on the page), and then I blocked it. It was really, really fun. I giggled while I did it. Even the cat was impressed (she didn't say so, but I know). I ran out of straight pins (I only own six), so I used some thumbtacks too. When I was done, I pointed at it and giggled some more. I'm glad my roommate is napping.

*By this afternoon, I mean I just did this about five minutes ago, and I wanted to blog about it right away, while I still feel rather clever.

tasty mittens

2007-03-05T20:17:00.000-05:00

So I talk to my friend Adam about knitting a lot. Adam doesn't knit, but he doesn't seem to mind the knitting talk. This is probably because I listen when he tells me all about ballroom dancing and playing the carillon, activities which are not listed among my hobbies.

A few weeks ago I offered to knit Adam some orange thrummed mittens, because he thought my thrummed mittens were cool, and I have a whole bunch of roving left over from the mittens I made my dad for Christmas (which I don't have a picture of. They were black and thrummed. I think you can work it out for yourself). I bought way too much roving, I know, but I was thinking about making a drop spindle and learning how to spin...

*ahem*

Adam and I had this conversation earlier:

Me: I think I'm going to have to dye the wool myself, though, because I went to see if they have orange wool in the brand I like to use for mittens and there wasn't any. It'll be fun, and I have an excuse to learn how to dye wool with Kool-Aid now.

Him: Kool Aid?! I can't wait until you're done with the mittens... so I can taste them.

sign of the apocalypse #397

2007-03-05T17:30:00.000-05:00

Last night I was sitting around, feeling kind of bored, and dreading the return to classes today. Usually when this kind of mood hits, I knit something. Obviously. So, I picked up several different knitting projects, knit a row (at most) and then discarded each of them. I went over the stash in my mind, wondering if I could cast on anything new. Nothing occurred to me. Then I thought, "I should do the dishes."

I should mention here that when I started living in my own apartment, most chores really didn't bug me too much. They ~~probably~~ don't get done as often as they should, but I don't really mind doing them. But I realized very quickly that I really, really detest washing dishes.

But last night, I filled the sink up with hot, soapy water, and sang songs from Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals, and had a really satisfying time washing the freaking dishes. I willingly washed dishes instead of knitting, and I had a nice time doing it. Dios mia.

go go gryffindor

2007-03-04T23:54:00.000-05:00

The Gryffindor scarf is off the needles! I think... I may actually add two more stripes, but we'll see after I finish the mittens. I did start the mittens, but they are a teensy bit smaller than I'd like, and for some reason have ladders. Ladders! My first pair of socks didn't have any ladders! This must be the universe's idea of a funny joke, "Heh heh, let her get away ladder-free the first few times she makes stuff with DPNs, then BAM! Out of nowhere! Ladder her dead! Muahahaha!"

We are not amused.

Other not-amusing things include an unsuccesful battery harvesting. I did raid my small, unused electronics, and got a total of six double A batteries from my CD walkman (Duracell), my portable tape recorder (Energizer), and my Gameboy (Polaroid). My camera only requires four double A batteries, but apparently they all have to be the same brand, because no combination of any of those brands would make the camera stay on for longer than it took to ~~give me the raspberry~~ tell me to change the batteries. Picky picky.

I have not knit a single stitch on the Bayerische sock since I spouted off about wanting to finish it over slack week. It has been lying on the floor by my desk giving me accusatory looks every time I walk by ("Yeah I know where you're going. You don't even want to be in the same room with me. You're going to the living room to work on that scarf. I am way more impressive looking than the scarf. Didn't you see your Grandmother's face when you showed me to her? She didn't look at that stupid scarf that way. And you know what, everyone's going to think you're a nerd when you wear that scarf." Hey sock, guess what? Chicken butt.)

Yesterday I bought some yarn at Zeller's because I thought it was funny. I mean, everyone giggles when they see grey chenille, right?

my camera is dead

2007-02-28T16:27:00.000-05:00

...but something tells me I have batteries in this apartment somewhere. Or, at least, I have electronic devices that I don't use with batteries in them (watch out, CD walkman, I'm coming for you). Pictures...later!

My apologies for the ten-day absence, this week is reading week (or, more appropriately, slack week; or, more Americanly, spring break), so of course last week was a bit hectic with assignments due. Anyway, I was just pouting because Eunny Jang has been absent from blogland for so long, and I quite miss all her cleverness. Then I felt like a bit of a hypocrite since I've been slacking over here, so I thought I'd stop in and say hi...

There has been a lot of knitting going on since last Thursday. I started another Harry Potter scarf, in Gryffindor colors this time, and it's about four and a half feet long already (I spent a lot of time riding in the car over the weekend). I'm aiming for somewhere around eight feet, plus fringe, and then matching mittens and this hat. Then, I can be really smart and date a tall, red-haired guy. I can't wait.

I also made a lot of progress on the second Bayerische sock, and I'm hoping to get it finished by the end of the week. I'd like to finish something else too, and it will probably end up being the Gryffindor scarf, because right now I am sadly addicted to the knit one, purl one ribbing. Mmm...monotony....

startitis

2007-02-18T10:25:00.000-05:00

Here I was, thinking I would diligently finish at least most of my started projects before I began new ones. In hindsight, that sort of planning seems laughably optimistic.

Lately, I've been daydreaming about long scarves in crazy patterns, and thought Wavy would fit the bill nicely. I have an idea for another scarf that involves lots of cable patterns, but obviously I won't start that until I've finished this one. *ahem*

Besides scarves, I've really wanted to start another pair of socks (that don't have crazy cables all over them (and yes, I did start the second Bayerische sock)), but I don't have any more "sock yarn." Then I kicked myself and decided I can knit socks out of whatever yarn I want, hmph.

I'm using Wendy's generic toe-up sock pattern and some wool I happened to have around.

Tra la la la la...

"I sold my soul to Voldemort and all I got was this lousy scarf." - roommate

2007-02-14T16:08:00.000-05:00

And by "lousy" she obviously means "so fantastic my heart might burst with happiness."

Ok, at any rate, I've seen her wear it. Voluntarily.

Pattern: no real pattern, just alternating colors in 1x1 rib. I know that the Slytherin colours are actually green and silver, but she wanted something that didn't really scream "Harry Potter," so we went with the green and white. So, you know, people might think she just likes Michigan State.
Yarn: Caron Simply Soft or Super Soft or Squeaky Soft or something, I don't remember
Started (well, this version anyway...) January 12, 2007, and finished February 10, 2007.

full disclosure

2007-02-12T12:27:00.000-05:00

I thought you might be interested in knowing about this:

And this:

The first being, obviously, Argosy (I say obviously because I think every other person in knitting blogland and elsewhere is knitting or has knit this pattern.), and the second being the Simply Marilyn sweater from Interweave Knits.

I'm really just knitting Argosy because I like the pattern, and I needed something to do with the yarn. I won't be keeping it. I look terrible in orange, which is sad, because I do like orange quite a bit. And, because I know you're asking, I bought the yarn because it was $2 at Value Village, and it looked happy. It wanted me to take it home. What was I supposed to do?

As for Simply Marilyn, I've finished the back and one sleeve, but remember how I mentioned that I'd figured out how to hold my yarn differently? Well, it does make knitting go faster, and I stop paying attention to my tension, a situation which is only made worse when I really, really just want to get something done. So that sleeve that I mentioned? It's about an inch and a half longer that it should be to match up with the body. Argh. Haste makes waste, dearie, haste makes waste.

save point

2007-02-10T21:26:00.000-05:00

And lo! Out of the chaos and clutter, there rose one...completed...Bayerische sock.

two-day project

2007-02-08T18:01:00.000-05:00

Pattern: Fetching from Knitty Summer '06
Yarn: The rest of the Icelandic wool from Laurie at The Lavender Fleece
Modifications: The picot bind off, while pretty, curled a bit too much for my liking. I wanted something that fit a bit closer and snugger to my knuckles. So, while binding off, I knit the two middle stitches of each four-stitch knit section together, and didn't do any picot-ing at all.
Started February 6, 2007 and finished February 8, 2007

random sunday

2007-02-04T14:46:00.000-05:00

1. I have finally figured out that whole "holding the yarn by weaving it through your fingers to create tension" thing. I'll have to tell my grandmother. She only tried to teach it to me twelve years ago.

2. I've been weaving in the ends of the Slytherin scarf, but it's taking twice as long as I thought it would because I have to split the ends to avoid creating big lumpy spots where I weave them in.

3. What to wear with ice skates:

4. There really is no need to carry your purse if you're carrying your camera bag. There's plenty of room in the camera bag for the camera, your wallet, your cell phone, and an in-progress sock. However, if the camera starts acting up and you have to take it to the camera shop in the middle of your excursion, you might feel a bit silly pulling the sock out to get to the camera, especially if one of your DPNs goes flying out of the camera bag, and you have to chase it halfway across the shop.

5. The camera:

6. This cat is so plotting evil things.

7. More proof of evilness:

8. I love gumbo.

silent poetry reading

2007-02-02T13:37:00.000-05:00

for the Bloggers' Silent Poetry Reading

Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments; love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove:
O, no, it is an ever-fixèd mark,
That looks on tempest and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wand'ring bark,
Whose worth's unknown, although his highth be taken.
Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle's compass come;
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
If this be error and upon me proved,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved.

Sonnet 116
William Shakespeare

too much excitement

2007-02-01T20:11:00.000-05:00

1. The Slytherin scarf is off the needles as of...as much time ago as it took to toss it triumphantly onto the bed and log into blogger.

2. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows comes out on July 21.

...

WHEEEEEE!!!!!

infiltrators

2007-01-29T11:07:00.000-05:00

Yeah, so, those moths? They weren't wool moths. They were meal moths, and they were living in the large bag of cat food in the kitchen. Now, being totally honest, I would prefer cat-food eating moths to wool eating moths, but still. Ew. And poor kitty, what sort of moth stuff has she been ingesting? Of course, I've seen her and the cats at my parents' house eat bugs before, so I don't suppose eating some moth eggs would be terrible for her. She seems fine, and she hasn't been burping up moths. Needless to say, however, I threw out that bag of cat food, and I haven't seen a moth in days.

Now I'm going to go take a shower. Just thinking about bug infestation makes my skin crawl.

pretending to be organized

2007-01-24T10:03:00.000-05:00

Last night, all the yarn lying around my room in plastic bags finally started to get on my nerves (you should read that as "I tripped over some innocent looking wool and almost died"), so I put on some music and set about thinking up a new way to store all the yarn, as it has managed to outgrow the plastic box I had been keeping it in. I finally came up with this:

Which, I think, will work very well. On top of the blue box is the yarn for things that I'm currently working on, and inside the box is the yarn for the projects I'd like to start next.

I think my needle storage solution justifies my saving any cool-looking box that comes my way:

And I put the rest of my yarn in the Office Depot file boxes currently pretending to be a night stand:

Now, I'd like to introduce my oldest Unfinished Object:

Why yes, that is a crocheted afghan. I started it in high school, but I don't really remember the exact circumstances. It's at least five years old, if not older. I do kind of like it, except I'm not really sure about the orange stripe. I know, when I started it, that I really liked the orange stripe, because my color preferences in high school were generally "loud". Not that I don't still like loud colors, I just now also have an appreciation for colors and combination that don't burn out your retinas.

Anyway. I like the pattern.

Just, for some reason I have an odd sense of confusion whenever I look at this blanket. Ah well. Maybe I'll go grab a crochet hook and do a couple rows.

Or maybe I'll knit a sock.

lady thrumsalot

2007-01-22T12:33:00.000-05:00

I actually finished these back in December, but for whatever reason I didn't get around to weaving in the ends on the second one until this morning. I suppose some part of me feels more motivated now that it's actually cold outside.

Pattern: Thrummed Mittens from Interweave Knits Winter '06
Yarn: Dyed roving from the Zeilinger Wool Company, and Icelandic wool kindly given to me by Laurie at The Lavender Fleece.

bayerische beginnings

2007-01-22T08:53:00.000-05:00

This pattern is so much fun, I can only work on it for short periods of time so I don't over stimulate myself.

Ok, actually, the pattern really is fun, but it's slow going because a) I haven't memorized the charts and b) I'm a slow knitter anyway.

On the moth front, I went through all the wool I own, and I did not find any evidence of a moth infestation. I'm still suspicious, because I killed two more moths yesterday, so I separated my yarn into ziploc bags. Hopefully, if the moths do decide to show themselves, that should make it really obvious which yarn needs to be frozen, microwaved, refrozen, remicrowaved, vacuumed, and then blessed by a priest.

war mongering

2007-01-19T22:08:00.000-05:00

Today, I waged war on the ends, specifically the ends dangling off the sides of all my Weasley squares. I got through about a third of the squares I've already knit, and resolved not to knit any more squares until I've finished weaving in the ends of the completed ones. Then, I'm going to weave in the ends of each additional square as they are finished. Why I didn't employ this very logical, sane process before, I have no idea, but I have decided that it is more beneficial to my sanity to not think about it.

I restarted my roommate's Slytherin scarf again, this time on straight needles in 1x1 ribbing. I was previously knitting it on a 12" circular needle in a long tube, but she and I both agreed that it was just too thick for a scarf. I'm two stripes in, the first stripe representing V for Vendetta, and the second representing Kingdom of Heaven. I'm probably going to have to call in Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, and Harry Potter for some help as well, because movies are really the only way this scarf makes any progress.

On a scarier note, I've killed five moths this week in my apartment. I'm...concerned. But, explaining to my roommate why I am microwaving my wool might be fun. And so it begins, the great battle of our time...

Ich bin eine Socknitter

2007-01-13T19:04:00.000-05:00

One sock...

...Two socks!

This photo is closer to the actual colors...

Pattern: generic sock pattern, as explained by that other Stephanie in Knitting Rules!
Yarn: Koigu KPPPPPPPPPM...ok, I actually can't remember how many P's there were, so, um, Koigu of the sock-yarn variety, which was purchased when I randomly decided to go to the yarn shop after my last exam in December.
started December 27 and finished January 13

The worst part was finishing the first one while I was home by myself and not having anyone to show it to. Fortunately my roommate was around when I finished the second one about an hour ago, and she seems to think knitting is pretty cool (even though she usually declines my suggestions that she take it up herself), so she was properly impressed when I modeled the pair for her.

Oh, and kitchener stitch? Fabulous. I love it. It's just so gosh-darned clever.

your attention please

2006-12-18T09:48:00.000-05:00

That's right. I finished something. HA.

Pattern: Cowgirl Slipper Socks from Interweave Knits, Winter 2006
Yarn: 100% merino from Table Rock Llamas Fiber Arts Studio
Modifications: I only did two repeats of the cuff pattern because I thought I wouldn't have enough yarn for the full four. Turns out I probably would have. Phooey.
Started December 7, 2006 and finished December 12, 2006

things you don't want to hear your roommate say, #7549

2006-12-01T12:09:00.000-05:00

"Hey, I found a moth in my room last night."

2006-11-17T22:04:00.000-05:00

After my last post, Carrie K asked if I really needed to frog the Slytherin scarf. I wish I could say that I really didn't, but I started it over with nice, untwisted stitches, and it looks so much better that I really wouldn't be able to live with myself if I didn't redo it. Everytime I saw the scarf it would make me cringe.

The Evidence:

I have been doing some other knitting:

Both are Christmas presents so I won't really elaborate until after Christmas. Heh. Someone out there is laughing hysterically while thinking, "Christmas presents? This kid's been knitting for a year and hasn't managed to finish one single thing! How is she going to knit Christmas presents?" And to that person, I sniff disdainfully in your general direction (unfortunately, that person seems to be living in the back of my head, so physically pulling that off is a little tricky).

Oh, and if anyone is wondering, yes, those are full of twisted knit stitches, but I have decided that in their cases it is not an issue.

The Weasley squares are mustering.

I would say that I'm going to end this to go knit some more, but I'm not. I picked up Labyrinth by Kate Mosse the other day and it is highly engrossing...

2006-11-14T10:05:00.000-05:00

If anyone is interested in finding out how it feels to learn that you've been making the freaking knit stitch incorrectly for nearly a year, let me tell you. It feels bad.

I almost didn't post about it because I feel so silly. But, I've been knitting this Slytherin scarf for my roommate, as I've said, and I've noticed that the stitches all seem to slant to the right. At first I just thought this was a feature of circular knitting and that it would block out, but then I looked at a few pictures of other people's circular knitting. Their stitches weren't slanting to the right...

My stomach started to feel funny. Then I read something about twisted stitches on knittyboard.com, and my stomach started to feel worse. I kept looking at my stitches, unsure of whether I had twisted them or not, and then a horrible thought occured to me.

What if I've been knitting wrong?

This was all last night. The thought was too horrible to be contemplated so I went to bed. I had dreams about knitting. And X-men, actually. But I digress.

This morning I decided to set aside my pride and the fear of ripping out the Slytherin scarf (and the sock, which is also doing the funny slanting thing), and went over to knittinghelp.com and watched the video about making knit stitches.

Yep! Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, WRONG!

I'm going to go eat some brownies and try not to cry while I frog two months worth of incorrect stitches.

Oh, and if anyone is wondering, I do make my purl stitches correctly. I watched those videos too, just to be sure.

2006-11-12T20:53:00.000-05:00

My roommate occasionally travels to Toronto to visit her brother. She went again this weekend, and I finally asked her the question that has been plaguing me for nearly a year:

"How do you ride on the bus for that long and not knit?"

2006-11-02T11:12:00.000-05:00

WILL THE UNIVERSE PLEASE HOLD STILL AND BE SILENT...while I cast on thesee 163 stitches. Thank you.

2006-10-29T00:02:00.000-04:00

A few weeks ago, during my internet travails, I stumbled upon a picture of the Ruffles scarf, from the book Scarf Style (if you want to see a picture too, you can go here, scroll down to July 18). My "hey that's really cool" alarm went off, and much to my delight I found out that the London Public Library has four copies of this book. I put one on reserve and waited a few days. Then I got the e-mail, "Hey, come pick up your book," and, full of anticipation and plans to start the scarf as soon as I got home with the book, I went to pick it up on my way to work.

I probably shouldn't admit this where anyone could read it, but I was so excited about this scarf (seriously, go look at the picture) that I couldn't stop thinking about it while I was at work, so on my lunch break I pulled the book out of my locker, just to look at the pattern. According to the table of contents, the pattern is on page 103.

Imagine my fury upon discovering that someone had ripped page 103 out of the book.

...

Yes, just breathe for a few seconds. Acknowledge that this is not the end of the world, and that the library has three other copies. Plan to resolve the problem Monday between classes. Plan to tell the librarian, but try not to suggest that she should be hunting down the perpetrator with a battle axe. Eat some chocolate. Knit something else. Don't let it ruin your weekend, but feel free to mutter darkly about how hideously uncivilized a person would have to be to rip something out of a library book.

2006-10-18T18:12:00.000-04:00

As I mentioned briefly in the last post, I started a sock. If it goes well, I might knit two socks, and wear one of them on each foot. I know, I know... Anyway, the sock has become the new "knitting I carry around with me," and I pulled it out of my purse this morning to work on it before class, only to find that I only had four DPNs instead of five. I did not, however, collapse on the floor in a state of horrified panic. I merely rifled through my purse a bit to determine that the missing DPN was not in fact lurking near the bottom, then stuck the sock back into my purse and turned to my other form of amusement (Han Solo at Stars' End-and no, I don't read anything difficult in my free time during the school year, I love my brain more than that).

I would like to think that this is a sign of personal growth, that I am learning to accept and work with unexpected difficulties, but I think it was more a sign that I only had five hours of sleep and just didn't have the energy to panic.

On the bus ride home, I did manage to summon the energy to acknowledge that I could knit the sock with four needles instead of five, if the fifth one was indeed lost forever, but I found the deserter lounging on the tile in my foyer, so no harm done.

2006-10-17T10:18:00.000-04:00

I was going to update with lovely pictures of progress (progress!), show you how many Weasley squares I've finished (58, 82 to go...), show you the Slytherin scarf and my lovely new sock (yes, a sock! I haven't gotten to the heel yet...), but as luck would have it, the camera has refused to operate until I bring it a sacrifice of four double-A batteries. What a jerk.

Usually, I talk while I type, but I didn't say that last part out loud because the camera is sitting right next to me and I don't want it to get angry and start demanding other things (like shrubberies).

2006-10-11T21:53:00.000-04:00

Sometimes, when I'm feeling really adventurous, I use the printer to print things.

Booky McBookbook

2006-09-27T19:56:00.000-04:00

Meme swiped from Carrie K's blog. =D

1. One book that changed your life: Hmm...I don't knowing about changing my life per se, but I've found all of C.S. Lewis's non-fiction, that I've read, to be deeply profound.

2. One book that you’ve read more than once: Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand

3. One book you’d want on a desert island: All of the Harry Potter books. I know I'm cheating! But it's one big story, right? RIGHT?! (That said, hopefully I don't find myself on any desert islands before book seven comes out...)

4. One book that made you laugh: Anything by Terry Pratchett, most recently Going Postal.

5. One book that made you cry: Ghost Soldiers by Hampton Sides

6. One book that you wish had been written: How to Never, Ever Procrastinate Again. Heh...

7. One book that you wish had never been written: Hmm...I can think of a lot of books I really disliked, but I know other people have really enjoyed (The Catcher in the Rye comes to mind...). However, I get really disgusted when I see trashy fiction targeted at young teenagers, especially girls. So that. "Trashy fiction targeted at young girls."

8. One book you’re currently reading: The Dante Club, but I'm having such a hard time getting into it. My mom said it was really good though, so I'm trying. I was also reading Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets earlier today...

9. One book you’ve been meaning to read: Marie Antoinette by Antonia Fraser

10. Now tag five people: Haha right, like five people read this.

rarr

2006-09-23T13:10:00.000-04:00

I love it when she sleeps like this. She does so many ridiculous things. Everybody should have a pet that makes him laugh every time he looks at it. If Sassy weren't doing something strange, I'd probably think she was sick.

So today, she is obviously a happy, healthy cat, while I am a wretched, snot-spewing lump. I've stopped working on my roommate's Slytherin scarf because the idea of me intermittenly blowing my nose and then picking up her scarf again to work on it probably grosses her out. She wouldn't actually tell me if it did, but it kind of grosses me out too. Obviously it's going to get washed before she actually wears it, but still. Today is the age of the super-germ, and you never know what might be coming out of my sinuses. Grossed out now? Good. Because it'd just be really selfish of me to keep all the grossing out for myself.

Sloppy sinuses haven't stopped me from working on the Weasley squares, though. But obviously the Weasley blanket's going to get washed after it's all put together too! It really doesn't matter. I believe in the power of soap. Such is the advantage of acrylic yarn...as soon as the blanket's done it's getting tossed in the washing machine and I won't even worry about it.

2006-09-22T22:10:00.000-04:00

My yearly fall cold has made its appearance in all of its lime green snot glory. But being sick does give me an excuse to knit and watch movies all day. Mindless knitting, of course, but the only projects I'm really paying attention to right now are mindless. The Weasley blanket? Garter stitch squares. The Sesame sweater? Stockinette flat. The Slytherin scarf? Stockinette in the round. Mindless! It's ok though. Mindless knitting allows me to knit on the bus and to knit in the library while I'm doing my reading for class (all of my textbooks stay open by themselves this year. I knew I picked good classes.).

Wednesday I had been working on a Weasley square on the bus on the way to school, and when the bus stopped, I got off and just kept knitting. I was halfway to my building before I realized I'd been knitting while I was walking. Part of me is proud of myself and part of me is really happy I was heading to a night class and there weren't that many people on campus.

The Slytherin scarf is slithering off the needles at a fairly respectable rate. I'm not a very speedy knitter (as evidenced by the sad lack of finished objects to appear on this blog), but I'm trying not to beat myself up about it. Plus, the addi Turbos do seem to make the knitting go faster...but maybe that's just the placebo effect.

good timing

2006-09-19T11:23:00.000-04:00

Since my new 12" Addi Turbo arrived in the mail today, on my birthday, I'm going to pretend that I planned it that way so I'd get a birthday present in the mail...

What is the 12" Addi Turbo for, you ask? Well, actually, it's not for anything, I just knew that if I wanted to get in with the cool knitters I was going to have to own at least one Addi Turbo knitting needle. So can I be in the club now? Can I? Or do I still have to run into the yarn shop naked and throw myself at the Koigu?

Kidding. My roommate has announced that she's in Slytherin and needs a scarf to prove it. I decided that six inches wide was a better size for a Harry Potter scarf than eight inches, but of course the 16" circular that I had would not accomodate that decision. I suppose it is possible that other needle brands make 12" needles, but I figured if I was going to have to order it online anyway I might as well see what all the Addi Turbo fuss is about.

Oh, and speaking of birthdays, my ever so delightful siblings (brother 16 and sister 12) gave me a gift certificate to knitpicks.com. Am I excited? Oh yes...ever so excited...

It's a bird, it's a plane...

2006-08-16T13:31:00.000-04:00

...no, it's an update!

I found this lovely stuff at the Zeilinger Wool Company in Frankenmuth, Michigan, while I was home in July:

So I swatched it a bit:

The Weasley blanket cometh...

...very slowly. But if you're interested, I made a Flickr album of the finished Weasley squares. Well, actually, they aren't really "finished," they've got ends sticking out and some of them don't look very square...ah well.

2006-08-03T22:30:00.000-04:00

So...pretty.. *drool*

I've almost got the merino laceweight under control, so I was poking around on the internet looking for a lace pattern. I don't have enough yarn for that particluar project, which at any rate might be a bit too ambitious when I have about 5,349 other things going and school is going to start in a month. But one day...one day... *wistful look into the glorious, spider stole future*

2006-07-31T19:23:00.000-04:00

More books.

I've been knitting Weasley squares because they are brainless, and my brain has melted from all the heat. Right now, I would probably sell my soul for an air conditioner. But I wouldn't sell it to just anybody. I have standards. Like I definitely wouldn't sell it to anyone named...Lord Voldemort...or...or...I don't know.

It's too hot to say anything funny.

2006-07-21T16:48:00.000-04:00

I may now understand, just a little, how parents feel when their children get along.

2006-07-21T15:32:00.000-04:00

I'm not too sure about this quiz. I mean, no, I wouldn't consider myself the Supreme Ruling Empress of Girl Nerds, but last year I stayed up alllll night making a Jedi robe to wear to a Star Wars premiere. I think that alone should earn me a permanent, high-ranking spot in nerd heaven.

Just so this has something to do with knitting, I had been mulling over the idea of a sweater with some sort of Tetris block pattern in it, although probably just in two colours, so it would give the idea of Tetris without being excessively tacky. I should include a drawing but I haven't made one yet. Maybe if I plug a USB cable into my brain... (things adapt to their environments, right? I mean I bet in the next ten years or so babies will start being born with USB ports in the backs of their heads. Just watch). Anyway. Tetris makes me want to punch things at the moment so I think that sweater may be on hold.

I'd like to knit a shark. Actually, my dad caught a shark last summer while he was fishing on a charter boat, and it just arrived from the taxidermist. Maybe I could knit him a shark cozy for Christmas. But he already calls me eccentric so maybe I won't.

2006-07-13T21:49:00.000-04:00

I've been spending a lot of time in the living room lately...

2006-07-12T16:43:00.000-04:00

Today I didn't have to work at all, which is a very exciting occurence when you have two jobs, so I went into my usual "no work" mode and curled up with some podcasts, some snacks, and some knitting. I spent a good four hours this way, but about three o'clock I started to get a bit restless. "I should go outside!" I thought, even though it's been raining on and off all day. "Why should I stay cooped up in my apartment when there's such a nice drizzly day out there?"

So on my bike I got and off I headed to the ~~Place of Tempting~~ ~~Place of Beauty and Evil~~ ~~Place Where I Wish I Was Independently Wealthy~~ yarn shop.

Now, I did say in my initial post about the yarn shop that I wasn't going to go back because it was really expensive, most of it. But, I needed a specific sort of fiber for the final hurrah of the One Skein secret pal exchange, and I thought that someone working at the yarn shop migh be more help than someone working at Michael's. I did find a reasonably priced, suitable yarn, so I bought it and turned to leave the shop...

...only to find that somebody had pressed the 'on' button for the rain and turned it up to eleven.

Well, whatever, rain is just water. But then I got splashed by a nice, large city bus driving kind of fast through a nice, large city puddle, and now I just feel kind of gross.

The Great Yarn Rescue of '06

2006-07-12T14:10:00.000-04:00

It was twilight at my grandfather's cottage on a small lake in northern Michigan, and I had been sitting on the pontoon knitting. As the sun set, the weather had cooled, and the mosquitos had begun to salivate. Not wanting to be their next feast, I decided it would be best to take myself and my things up to the cottage and change into some more evening appropriate attire-the swimsuit and sarong look wasn't going to hold out against the insect onslaught. I picked up my book, my knitting, and the extra ball of yarn I'd been carrying around with me all day (in the event that I came to the end of the working ball, I didn't want to have to trudge all the way to my luggage to get another one), and stepped off the boat onto the dock. I was just stepping off the dock onto the grass when I looked down at what I was carrying and realized something was missing...

Horrified, I whirled around and looked wildly at the dock, but the extra ball of yarn was nowhere to be seen. I hurried back onto the boat, but there was no yarn there either. In the growing darkness, I looked mournfully into the water between the boat and the dock and realized what had happened. I had dropped the ball of yarn into the lake. Desperately, I knelt down on the edge of the boat and peered into the water, but I couldn't see anything (I didn't really expect to, but I was distraught and not thinking clearly). Now, I am not a person to give up when I know there is still a way to overcome an adversity, but I am also generally realistic. I came to the very logical conclusion that the yarn, like a few pairs of my mother's glasses, my dad's fishing rod, and an odd number of swim shoes, was lost forever in the murky depths of Wixom Lake.

I'm not really the sort of person to get extremely emotional about most things. I did cry for half an hour when Chewbacca died in Vector Prime, but that was Chewbacca (on a side note, do you think there are knitters in the Star Wars galaxy? And do you think that anyone spins yarn out of wookiee fur? Like...wookiee wool?!!). However, I did feel a bit nauseated about losing a ball of yarn, as I had only bought five of them and wasn't entirely sure I was going to have enough to finish the project I'd started. I knew there were stores I could get to easily that sell the yarn, but what if I couldn't match up the dye lot? These possibilities made me feel very pouty, so I went up to the cottage and whined about it to my mother, who did sympathize but obviously couldn't remedy the situation.

For whatever reason, perhaps a desire to return to the scene of the tragedy and find closure, I went back down to the boat and half heartedly looked around again, in case the yarn really hadn't fallen into the water and I'd missed it in my initial search. Realizing I was being silly and still hadn't managed to change my clothing, I stepped off the boat and happened to look out on the lake.

Floating there, about fifteen feet out, was my yarn.

At this point, something very silly happened. After an initial surge of joy at finding the yarn not at the bottom of the lake, I thought, "Dad won't let me go swimming when it's almost dark outside..."

Then I mentally slapped myself, realizing that I am almost twenty years old and can go swimming any time I want, and this was an emergency. I threw the sarong and my glasses onto the boat and jumped into the water.

This proved to be momentarily disconcerting, as I can't see that well without my glasses-beyond eighteen inches or so, everything is pretty blurry. As I have said, it was almost dark, and for a moment I couldn't see where the yarn was and I thought that I was too late, that it had soaked up enough water to actually sink, and that my one brief glimmer of hope was just that-a brief glimmer.

But then the water moved just the right way, and I could see the outline of the ball of yarn, and I swam with all possible haste towards it. Reaching it, I grabbed it out of the water and held it aloft. Then I swam back to the dock using only one arm, since the other arm was occupied keeping the yarn above the water.

Having successfully executed the rescue mission, I went back inside to comfort the victim.

2006-07-10T19:11:00.000-04:00

Introducing...yarn from my one skein secret pal! It is 100% merino and it is lovely. "Blondi" says she had it dyed at her LYS "to your specs!" Is that cool or what? I feel special. Thanks Blondi!

2006-06-26T22:53:00.000-04:00

Self-medication, variation 5783:

1 Smirnoff Raspberry Twister + Disney's Beauty and the Beast + mindless knitting

Still in test phase, but seems to be working.

2006-06-16T20:31:00.000-04:00

The laceweight merino is still lying in a dejected, half-tangled mess on an end table in the living room. I feel guilty looking at it.

This morning I started my third attempt at knitting in the round with double-pointed needles. It's not a total disaster, although the stitch marker kept falling off so I gave up on it and just resolved to keep very good track of my stitches. Famous last words, probably, but so far I haven't lost track. I decided to ~~try~~ knit Kate from the Winter 2005 issue of Knitty. I just had a momentary image of Yoda poking me with a giant knitting needle and saying, "Do or do not, there is no try," so I guess I'd better see Kate to the end or I'll be a bad Jedi knitter.

I did knit in public on World Wide Knit in Public Day, but since I've been doing that for a month or so now it wasn't really that exciting. It might have been more fun to go hang out with a bunch of knitters in the middle of an intersection and knit, but I don't know any knitters with whom to do death-defying (or not so defying) knitting things. Rats.

Oh, the summer reading list has been updated...scroll down...