I think we're under attack!

black sheep

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

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

Icelandic sheep at the Lavender Fleece

easily amused

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

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

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

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

...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

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

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

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

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

two-day project

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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...

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.

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?"

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

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.

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.

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).

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

Booky McBookbook

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

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.

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

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...

...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.

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*

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.

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

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.

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

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

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.

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!

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.

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...

Over the weekend, I went to City Knits in Detroit, which was a bit on the small side but had a lot of nice, reasonably priced yarn (at least, it was less expensive than the yarn in the yarn shop here in London). I met a very friendly hank of 1375 yards of lace weight merino wool, and decided it needed to go home with me. The yarn shop lady at the counter said she had never wound that particular yarn, but if I wanted her to she would. However, my mom was waiting for me and I've wound plenty of yarn by myself, so I just paid for the yarn and left.

About an hour ago I started trying to wind it. I'm trying to stay optimistic, but it keeps cringing and wanting to know what happened to the beautiful life I promised it when I took it away from its yarn store home. I feel like a bad parent.

Summer Reading List...

...because, you know, all the other knitters are doing it.

Actually, I don't have an actual list of books I want to read this summer, but since my roommate went home for the summer, I'll have no one to jabber at nonstop. So, when I'm not in the mood for listening to podcasts and knitting, I'll probably end up reading, because talking to the cat gets boring after the first five minutes.

Books finished as of June 1:

June 4 Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis

June 6 The Giver, Lois Lowry
I should have read this book when I was ten, like normal children, before I read Brave New World and 1984, but, since I didn't, this book just ended up being extremely unsatisfying. There were so many things that were alluded to but couldn't be discussed and resolved fully in a children's novel, which really makes me wonder why it was written for children. It is a unique take on the post apocalyptic totalitarian regime theme, and I wish the novel had been more fully developed.

June 8 Ghost Soldiers, Hampton Sides

June 16 Legally Blonde, Amanda Brown
I've read a few books after I saw the movie, although it isn't something I normally do. Generally I only watch the movie first if I either didn't know it was based on a book, or had very little interest in the book. Legally Blonde fell into the former category, and it's taken me however many years since the movie came out to remember to track down the book and read it. I was disappointed. The movie was better.

June 17 Girl in Hyacinth Blue, Susan Vreeland

July 31 The Dark Is Rising sequence, Susan Cooper
Over Sea, Under Stone
The Dark Is Rising
Greenwitch
The Grey King
Silver on the Tree
I started reading this series when I was twelve or thirteen, but didn't finish it then. I spotted it at the library and, having always kind of wondered how it concluded, checked out all the books. The first two books and the fourth book were very exciting, the third book was forgettable, and the last book was...alright. To be frank, I thought the ending was terrible. But there's a lot of references to King Arthur mythology, and Cooper is a skillful storyteller, so the series was overall, reasonably entertaining.

August 11 Eragon and Eldest, Christopher Paolini
This trilogy is shaping up to be Star Wars with dragons and no space ships, but so far it's been a fun read so I'm not complaining. It's a good way to get my "classic tale of good vs. evil" fix.

August 21 Going Postal, Terry Pratchett
What can I say about Terry Pratchett? His books are nearly nonstop hilarity from cover to cover, and this one was no different. RIght now I want to go to the library and check out every single book he's ever written, even the ones I've already read, but I wouldn't finish them all in three weeks and then I'd have loads of overdue fines.

May I introduce me, the online knitting group loser extraordinaire.

First, there's Knit the Classics. The May book was Pride and Prejudice, which I love (although I love Sense and Sensibility more, especially since Alan Rickman is in the movie and...well...Alan Rickman...), but did I read it? Nope. I even had a crazy idea that seven people commented in support of, but did I knit it? Nope. Now I think I can safely blame this on moving and working six days a week. But still. I was disappointed that I didn't have the time to do either of those things.

Second, there's the Sexy Knitter's Club. I was prepared to at least attempt to fit another project into my budget, because for some reason I really, really wanted to participate in the June KAL, but then the Tempting II pattern won, and it just doesn't tempt me. I tried to like it. I looked at the pictures and I read the pattern and I tried really, really hard to like it. But I just don't. So I won't be participating in this KAL.

Third, there's the Amazing Lace. A while back, I bought and frogged a sweater from Value Village that I had intended to make into the Marilyn sweater from Interweave Knits, but it wasn't working out at all. Now I really like the look of floaty, ethereal lace made with toothpicks and thread, but I don't have any in my possession and for one reason or another don't feel motivated to go buy them. What I do have are size eleven needles and fairly thick yarn. Hey, that sounds like a great thing to knit lace out of! And hey, there's a lace KAL on the internet! So I joined, because I was going to knit some lace anyway. Except I don't have a digital camera, and my roommate leaves for BC tomorrow. So, I'm not really sure how I'm going to finish all the "challenges." I reckon if I were really creative, I wouldn't need a digital camera. Maybe I can plug a USB cable into the lace itself and transmit it directly onto my computer. I wonder how much space lace takes up. My hard drive is getting kind of congested...

Next weekend I will be returning to my native land of Michigan.* London and Flint are about two hours away from each other, but getting home is always a complicated process. Unless someone comes to pick me up, I can either take the train to Sarnia, and have someone pick me up there, or I can take the bus to Flint. Now at first glance one would think, "Why, take the bus, of course!"

BUT! A Greyhound bus trip from London to Flint takes EIGHT HOURS, because the bus does not drive directly to Flint. The bus drives to Windsor, then leaves you in Detroit for three hours, and then another bus drives you to Flint! Utter silliness, in my opinion, but probably better for the bus line, money wise.

Anyway. It's more expensive to take the bus so I usually take the train, but I can't leave until next Saturday and there are only afternoon and evening trains on Saturday. TO SARNIA. What was I forgetting?

WINDSOR.

If I take the train to Windsor, I can get home a few hours earlier. And if I take the train to Windsor, whoever picks me up will have to drive through Detroit. And if we drive through Detroit, we can go to a yarn shop!

So, hopefully my mom picks me up, because she would probably humor me. She can knit too, actually. Sometimes I forget. It's not a regular hobby of hers (otherwise I wouldn't forget about it), but I believe I remember her telling me that she learned to knit and crochet in an after school class when she was in elementary or middle school.


Ahaha, as I was writing this my mom just called, and the "yarn shop expedition" (her words) is a go! Yay!



*Right. I was actually born in St. Catharines, Ontario, so if you get really technical about it, Michigan is not my native land. However, I grew up in Michigan and it is much more familiar than this silly Ontario place.

So I went to the yarn shop.

...


WHY DIDN'T ANYBODY WARN ME THAT FIFTY DOLLAR SKEINS OF YARN EXIST?


*deep breaths*


It was beautiful. But so expensive.

I really shouldn't have been so surprised. There's a high end and a low end to everything, right? The clothing store I work at sells twelve dollar pairs of sunglasses and the Sunglass Hut (or whatever it's called) by the food court sells one thousand dollar pairs of sunglasses. The shock was maybe more related to the sudden realization that I have developed a potentially very expensive habit that can only receive dubious, sporadic support from my bank account.

I did buy something. Three somethings, actually. One skein of Debbie Bliss pure silk in a very exciting pink colour (it doesn't have a name, just a number, and I don't feel like looking it up online), one ball of Jo Sharp kid mohair (it was fifty percent off, and actually it might have been Rowan, I don't remember now and it doesn't have a ball band), and one secret skein for my one skein secret pal, which I won't specifiy in case she stumbles unwittingly across my blog.

The yarn shop is not going to be a place I visit often. I just don't need to be tempting myself that way.

Friday I packed, Saturday I moved, Sunday and Monday I tried to recover...so not much knitting has been going on in my little world. Besides the whole moving thing, I have misplaced the piece of paper on which I was keeping track of my ribbing rows for the Sesame cardigan, and am now afraid to keep working on it. This has me really bummed out, because I was really enjoying working on it despite it being mostly stockinette stitch (at least it's not stockinette in the round). I half-heartedly started another Weasley square, and I pulled out the ribbon x-back (which I cast on for a few weeks ago and have since done nothing), but could not bring myself to deal with the ribbon yarn, so it is currently languishing on my desk.

So yes! A post about no progress whatsoever! They'll be calling for a book deal any day now.

I woke up at quarter to eight this morning, a feat I am incapable of during the school year, and have spent the last two hours or so reading Eunny Jang's knitting blog. If I find a blog I really, really like, I will go back to the very beginning and read the whole thing chronologically. Is that weird? Actually, I think it's weirder I don't do that with all the blogs I read. I refuse to read book series out of order, and I listen to all the back episodes every time I find a new podcast. This has nothing to do with knitting. MUST...STAY...ON...TOPIC! ugh.

Today I'm going to the yarn shop downtown to see if I can find some yarn for my One Skein secret pal. I'm kind of nervous about it. What if the staff looks at me and just KNOWS I usually buy yarn at Michael's? *shudder*

This has nothing to do with knitting, but I really like noodles.

My absolute favourite thing in the world is being woken up by construction in the apartment next door!

er...

Monday I had to go to Cambridge to help train people at a clearance center run by the company I work for. Cambridge is about an hour away from London, and since I and the other people going were travelling for work, we were paid for the time it took to drive there and back. Now I, of course, knit the whole trip, so you know what that means right? RIGHT? I got paid to knit!

I'll be a professional knitter yet.

I've had two people from work, after me telling them that I am knitting a sweater (cardigan, whatever), ask, "Is it for you?" And I feel guilty for saying yes, as if for some reason I'm not supposed to knit for myself. It seems like a strange question to ask. When someone walks into a clothing store you assume they're shopping for themselves, right? So why would making a piece of clothing be different? And it's not like there are any major gift-giving holidays coming up (ok maybe Father's Day, but my family's never done major gift-giving on Father's Day). Who'd want my first sweater anyway? The sleeves might not be the same length.

Today is my one day off before I move, and I will be spending most of it packing. But right now I'm going to knit. Actually, most mornings I start knitting right after I get up. I could write a book. Confessions of a Grumpy Morning Knitter.

hmm...

I just finished the back of the Sesame cardigan, hurrah. I'll probably cast on for the right front right after I post this, so I can start working on it on the way to work.

I signed up for the One Skein Secret Pal exchange, so I suppose I'll post the questionnaire here...

1. Which yarn is most like your personality (you can be specific or general with your answer- brand, type, color, fiber, whatever)?
Er...well...(stuck on the first question...) I suppose being a quiet, creative person, understated yarns would be most like my personality. Now, what's an understated yarn? You decide! *snicker*

2. What is your favorite color yarn to knit/crochet with? I like very soft pinks and any sort of green, except neon. I don't really like neon anything.

3. Have you ever used variegated, or magic, yarns? I've used variegated yarns but never the self-striping ones. They certainly seem interesting, though.

4. Do you tend to favor certain fibers when choosing yarns? No. I'm a university student on a budget so I only buy yarn sporadically, and I can't buy anything expensive. If I weren't on a budget I'd probably be open to anything, since I haven't knit enough to really have an informed opinion on any one fiber in particular.

5. Do you prefer to work with center-pull or traditionally wound balls of yarn? Either.

6. Have you ever worked with organic yarns or are you interested in trying them? No, I haven't worked with them, and yes, I'd be interested in trying them, just for kicks.

7. How many and what projects have you made in the last year? I've only been knitting since December, so not much. I finished knitting a Harry Potter scarf but I haven't blocked it or added the fringe on yet. I have an afghan comprised of 7" garter-stitch squares and the Sesame cardigan from MagKnits in progress.

8. Will you be knitting any gifts this year? It is a distinct possibility.

9. What is your favorite one skein project? Unfortunately, I haven't had a chance to look at the book yet.

10. How much yarn do you have in your stash and how do you store it? Not a lot. I have a plastic storage cube (about 18" square) that holds all of it.

11. Do you have a yarn in your stash that you love so much you can never use it or part with it? No, although I do have yarn I'm not sure what to do with.

12. Do you knit less or differently in the summer? No.

13. Do you belong to any knitting groups (online or offline)? Online, the Sexy Knitters Club and Knit the Classics, although I'm mostly just a lurker.

I was almost late for work because I spent all morning laughing hysterically at this.

Yesterday, for the first time in my life, I KNIT IN PUBLIC.

On the bus.

Boy did I feel daring.

I did it again today.

*shiver*

I borrowed my roommate's camera...

In a couple weeks I'm moving to a new apartment, so I thought I'd start packing up some clothes I know I'm not going to wear any time soon. I pulled out the bottom left drawer of my dresser and found these:





Who knows how long they've been there, forlorn and forgotten! Oh evil Sassy, bringing about involuntary diaspora!

Um...actually, as of typing this, I still haven't pulled them out from under the dresser. Rather, my first thought was "Argh! Cat!" followed by "Hey, I should take a picture of this."

Then I went crazy and took pictures of other things too, like this scarf I started a while back and work on occasionally:




The yarn is from the frogged blanket.

The beginnings of Sesame, from Marji's yarn:



Squares for Ron's blanket (which I shall henceforth refer to as "Weasley squares"):



The Harry Potter scarf, obligingly modeled by my lamp:



Half of the back of this sweater...



...but I'm going to have to frog it because I messed up a repeat or something. Yuck. The yarn was, in its former life, a Gap sweater. Bet it feels silly now! I would...

Some ribbon yarn that was on sale at Michael's, for this tank, maybe:



The frustrating mystery ribbon yarn:



And the pink mystery yarn:

I've been feeling kind of down the past week or so, and can't think of anything particularly witty to say about knitting. I have been knitting, though. I now have eleven squares for Ron's blanket, and I just finished knitting a swatch for the Sesame cardigan, from MagKnits.

I put all the little balls of yarn for Ron's blanket in a mesh laundry bag, and Sassy sat looking at it disconsolately for quite a while.

Last week I was at Zeller's before work, poking around the yarn section for any yarn that looked like it might go well in Ron's blanket, when I stumbled upon a giant basket of bagged yarn marked "1 lb bags factory ends unknown fiber- $4.97." Mystery yarn! I bought a bag of some lilac ribbon yarn and some sort of pink yarn (acrylic, but it feels nice, and for five dollars...). I might make another Sesame out of the pink, but I'm not sure what I'm doing with the ribbon yarn yet. I tried knitting some lace with it today, which was actually looking neat, but the yarn kept getting twisted, and being in a bad mood, it was frustrating me to the point of tears. I put on a Harry Potter audio book and spent a couple hours winding the yarn around a piece of cardboard. I should probably be able to do something with it now.

There was some highly sketchy looking yarn in that mystery yarn bin, though. I might go back tomorrow, since I'll be at the mall for work, and see if there's anything else that wants me to take it home.

This is how stashing starts, isn't it?

I've looked up a couple of yarn shops in London, so once I buy a bus pass I'm going to go, just because I've never been to a real yarn shop. I think, as long as I keep myself busy, things'll be alright. At least school is over.