The Other SP

My favorite yarn to knit with is:
I wracked my brain over this one and can't come up with a favorite. Hmmm, I really liked the Paton's Classic Merino. And the Noro Kureyon. And the Socks That Rock. And the Koigu. You see??

I really do not enjoy knitting with:
Kudzu? Nothing! There's no knitting I don't enjoy.

If I had a choice, I would banish this yarn from my LYS:
Fun Fur (I love it, but a little goes a long way, you know? Once you make the scarf, what else are you going to do with it?)

If I could knit only one more project for the rest of my life, it would be:
Ooooh I know this one. This:
In the black colorway (Dale Salt Lake Olympic sweater.)

My favorite flower is:
Roses. White are my personal favorite, although yellow hold a special place in my heart because they were my mom's favorite.

My current color obsession is:
Red. But (and as shocking as my sisters will find this) I think this is currently in flux, alot of blues have been showing up on the radar lately.

My other interests are:
Reading, spinning, crocheting

Something I wish I knew more about is:
Particle physics, and extremely high level mathematics. In the fiber world, tatting and nalbinding.

A knitting technique I want to learn is:
There isn't one.

10. My favorite needles to knit with are:
Metal. Inox, Susan Bates, addi Turbo.

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11. Do you knit socks?
All the time

12. Please provide your foot measurements*:

length (longest toe to heel): 9.25"
instep circumference: 8.75"
ankle circumference: 9.25"

(*a note to my sock knitters: If I have that request wrong, TELL ME so I can change it! Thanks!)

13. What was your favorite childhood movie?
Willie Wonka (the original)

14. What is one thing in your knitting bag that you can't live without?
My measuring tape. But I currently can't find one. So the measurements above are..."-ish"

15. What is lacking in your notions bag that you really, really want? (Cable needle, Kacha Kacha, Chibi, etc.)
Definately a Chibi

16. What is currently on the needles at your house?
Socks (perpetually), and I'm currently tossing around ideas for a new "big" project

If you could do nothing but knit all day, every day, for the next month (and get paid for it!), what would you knit?
A tough one. Maybe a vintage knitted "quilt" from Weldon's.

18. Least favorite color(s):
Purple

19. Favorite genre of music? Or any way you want to answer that question...basically it's the what kind of music do you like question.
Jazz. Cool jazz or light jazz.

20. Favorite candy or sweet:
Hershey's Symphony with almonds and toffee

21. What is the most challenging thing you have ever knit?
A simple poncho made from "Boa" (a fringe yarn). The pattern was simple enough, but the yarn was a pain to work with.

22. How long have you been knitting?
Since I was 9 so that would be....a few years ;) Seriously though, 31 years.

In Memory

Happy Belated Memorial Day. Got my poppy while out running errands on Saturday. While I was pinning it on my purse I wondered how many people out there know why we use poppies to symbolize Vets? (If you don't know or just want to read the poem, go HERE.)

So what did I spend my long weekend doing? Did I finish the Fuzzy Feet? You betcha. There they are in all their unfelted glory.
But then I veered off and finished this ensemble. I designed it OTF -- The basis is one of my favorite summer outfits Older Son wore as a toddler which was nothing more than a very large T-shirt that snapped at the crotch. This is for a co-worker's son, due in early July. The hat looks alarmingly big, but I'm trying to convince myself it will be OK since babies really do have alarmingly big heads (ask any new mom) and it's meant to be floppy anyways.

And finally -- has anyone seen this guy's baby hat book? The patterns are all ripped off from Internet sources. I have a Baby Hat pattern at Knitting About.com and I know some of the patterns were harvested there. I don't want to give this guy my money to verify whether or not he has my pattern (I'm thinking maybe not because there's no professional-type photo, but who knows?) so if anyone out there has seen the e-book and can verify for me, I would definately fire off a "cease and desist" notice.

Thank God It's Friday

Whew! It's been a rough week. I'm sooo glad it's Friday and I have a nice long weekend stretched out before me. My plans for the weekend are to maybe finish my current sock project, to knit up a pair of Fuzzy Feet for Younger Son, and start on my Booga J Bag for me. I got some great bright yarn a MDS&W and I see it as a fun summer bag. I plan on felting both projects together. We'll be going to the movies to see X-men 3 for Older Son's birthday (we usually see a movie on his birthday, he delayed it for this one to open). I still have to do all the regular weekend stuff like laundry and grocery shopping. In addition my SiL will be here visiting so I can finally give her her Christmas gift I never mailed. (There was stuff that was too delicate to trust to the mail). And on the room front I hope to clear the stairs up to my new room. A feat in itself, let me tell you. I was going to post a picture of it, but chickened out.

What Do Smurfs Do All Day

When Older Son was small Dave and I read this book to him ad nauseum. For some unfathomable reason it was an all time favorite. We even have two copies of the cursed thing. What do Smurfs do? Turns out lots of things. But it's a good segue way to what I've been thinking about lately, which is that we spend our time doing what we really want to do. Let's face it, if we really want to do something we find the time, right? And if we don't want to do it, we certainly don't do it every day. So what do you do all day? I've thought about it and here're some things I do every day (or close enough it makes no difference). I knit. On the bus, at home, in the car, at work. I do it just about everywhere.
And lately, I spin. Mostly on a spindle, but we'll see about getting the wheel back into the mix.
And I read. It helps me to quiet my mind so I can fall asleep more easily at night. I also take time for my family (but how can I show a picture of that?) I ask the boys about their homework, talk to my sisters, take care of my dad.
Finally (and I was horrified when I realized this one) I do laundry. Every day. What's up with that? Lets make this a meme, shall we? I tag Heather and Holly. OK ladies, post 5 things you do every day.

All I Want is a Room Somewhere...

OK, I live in a big old house that has five bedrooms. (Five!) You would think that I could finagle one room just for me. I could put my wheel there, my RH loom (maybe even get a stand for it) and my Triangle Loom-To-Be, maybe even a table to work on. Lots of bookcases for my books and magazines. Well, no. Apparently that is too much to ask. The two bedrooms that we are not currently using have become a repository for all Things There Is No Other Place For. (And you know how much stuff that is!) Oh, don't get me wrong, I've tried. Five separate times during our tenure in this house I have worked long and hard to completely clear these two rooms (they're connected, both on the third floor). Each time, through some obscene twist of fate, SOMEONE we know ends up in desperate need of a place to live, and moves in with us. And EACH time, they leave behind more stuff than there was before!! The last time, I swore I would never do it again. And it's been awhile (~6 years). So call me a glutton for punishment, I think I'm going to do it again. (My apologies if you are the one that ends up living on the street unless you move in with me. Remember, you were warned!) Some of my fiber stuff is already up there. Alot of Dave's music stuff is up there. Here's my plan. If I actually move my bed up there I can let Dave have the current bedroom for all of his stuff. He should be happy with that, and it gets his stuff not only out of those rooms, but out of the living room and dining room which he has taken over because he doesn't want to carry stuff up two flights of steps. The plan definately has merits. It remains to be seen if I have the personal fortitude to see it through.

Note that I have updated Monday's post with pictures. Thanks for the well-wishes for my Dad, he is feeling much better, and seems improved today.

Weekend

Well, I had quite the weekend. It started off great with knitting Friday night. Heather finished up her Booga J Bag and doesn't it look great? We were all amazed that she dressed to match the bag, serendipitously.


Celtic Queen was there too, working on a (Socks That Rock) sock. I taught Heather how to spin on a drop spindle, hopefully she's still at it. I spun on my spindle and worked a bit on the new sock-in-progress.

Then Saturday things went downhill. I arrived at my Dad's for Older Son's birthday party to see an ambulance outside. He had fallen. CQ and the Celtings found him and called the ambulance. Fortunately he was ok, although I'm not sure how long he had been laying there. (He says it was just about 20 minutes, but I think it may have been longer.) What really frightens me is that it was only sheer luck that had us there that evening. Normally no one would have checked on him until Sunday morning at the earliest. He refused to go to the hospital, of course. So I stayed with him Saturday night. Again, a fortunate occurance, because he ended up having severe low blood sugar and was unresponsive when I checked on him Sunday morning. I called the ambulance and we were off to the ER (I insisted this time!). They gave him sugar and x-rayed the shoulder that he had fallen on the night before (just bruised) and sent him home. So he's home now, and as comfortable as can be expected, but I feel like a nervous wreck!


But I did get alot of knitting done while waiting at the hospital. I finished the first sock of this pair (they will be for Younger Son, he tried it on and it fits perfectly.)


And just to round things out, here's my spindle spun yarn. I abused the skein to finish it, and it really feels great. It shrunk about 30%-40% in the process. But it's nice and springy now.

*OK, I know I reference photos, and I have them here on my computer, Blogger just won't let me upload. I'll try again later.

You Say It's Your Birthday

There's the birthday boy. 17 years today. I was going to relate all kinds of sweet memories of him as a baby and go on about how important he is to me, how smart and good looking; but not now. He did NOT like the gift I got him. The ungrateful brat. And as if that weren't bad enough, he couldn't even fake it for me so I now have to listen to his father gloat about the fact that he told me so. It's the Tele Tubby incident all over again. Hmmphh. I should have just stuck with the yarn that I initially said I was going to get him. I don't think he even ate any of the birthday brownies I made a special trip to the grocery store to buy him. In retaliation I have cancelled one of his birthday parties. (Not really, the planning for it just fell through. And lest you worry too much, his father went out and bought him something from his list so he did get a gift he wants. I was not privy to the list.)

The knitting and the spinning continue, though. I spun up more singles, and grafted one of the underarms on the Red Head sweater while watching Love Story. I was in the mood for a good cry anyways.

Birthday Knitting

Well, the birthday knitting is just about completed. Actually, the knitting part is completed, I just have to do a bit of finishing on the sweater -- graft the underarms and sew down the fold-over collar. The sweater is the "Shirt Yoke Back" from the Seamless sweater yokes in EZ's Knitting Workshop.

Here's a shot of the shirt yoke back. I might finish it up tonight, or maybe tomorrow. Since we're having three birthday parties for Older Son, I need three gifts. The sweater will be gifted on Saturday when Celtic Queen will be in attendance so that she will have the opportunity to examine it. The socks will go on Sunday. I have a DVD (Final Fantasy Advent Children) and a book (The Encyclopedia of Mythical Creatures) to fill in the gaps. Dave doesn't think OS will like the gifts (well, the DVD and book, I know he'll be nonplussed by the knitting). He keeps bringing up the Tele Tubby mistake I made when Younger Son was four. Gee, it's only been eight and a half years.

In non-knitting news, I missed posting because I was sick. I've been down with a stomach bug since last Wednesday. Not major, but enough to make me feel just...bleah. I finally got some medicine today and now I feel better. Yeah! Wish I would have lost a bit of weight, though.

And Younger Son survived his camping trip. Although there was a bit of a snafu about picking him up. I kept questioning Dave about whether he had heard anything about picking YS up. No. So I got a call from YS on Friday -- I'm here, but I don't see Dad. I had to call Grandma to come to the rescue and pick him up (both Dave and I being at work and at least an hour away.) YS insists he made arrangements with Dave to pick him up....

Current Works

I am almost to the toe on the second of the Birthday socks.
I was just a tad concerned about whether or not I'd have enough yarn -- I did make the cuff a bit longer than usual on these socks. But I estimated I'd have to knit 10 stripes of the yellow color, and the last stripe was number 9. I still see some yellow in the skein, so I know I'm golden now.

And here's the current spinning project.
It's actually an old project revisited. I started it about 8 years ago before I even had my wheel. The skein was made then. It was before I made my first niddy-noddy too. The skein was made by wrapping the yarn from my hand down around my elbow. That's why it's so small. The spindle on the left represents my work this week. I spun one of the singles making up the yarn, and did the plying. Looking at it compared to the old yarn, I see I plied quite a bit tighter. Well, I have to admit I am a bit more twisted now than I used to be. The spindle is a Mondial spindle bought way back then (it was a major investment for me then) and not used since. It's been sitting away with all the fiber for this project waiting for me to get back to it. I'm struggling with putting it away again. I don't like the spindle (it's wobbly) or the yarn (plying, bleah). But I'm going to try to persevere to the finish.

In non-fiber news, Younger Son has been off on a school sponsered camping trip. Wouldn't you know it, we've had drought conditions here for a month and now it's been raining steadily all day. He's going to be one big mudball when he gets home. I'm a bit nervous about him being away. He's been on camping trips before with scouts, but I don't trust the supervision from the school. I keep checking the phone all day (hoping?) for a phone call telling me to come and pick him up.

Maryland, Oh Maryland

I had a great time at MDS&W. And spent way too much money. I took alot and I was thinking, "Oh, I'll never spend THAT much. I spent it all the first day. I had to get more to go back on Sunday. I know, I know, you're thinking "Shut up already and show us what you got!" So here it is (since Blogger is graciously allowing me to post pics today -- I added them to yesterday's post too.)
This is a mohair/wool blend I got at...I can't remember. I was buying this fiber when Holly spotted me. (Well, actually my bag. She recognized me by my knitting. How cool is that??) We chatted for awhile but I forgot to take a pic. Holly looks AMAZING. I hope she enjoys her purchases! And Holly? I'm thinking predrafting will help you with the bumpiness. Back to the fiber, nestled there in the navy fiber is a Bosworth spindle made of Tulipwood.
Here's a selection of the fibers I got to spin and yarn. Most are from Little Barn. Some flax, some "Angora", some colored wools, some nylon (to blend with wool for my own sock yarn), and a cotton/silk blend. The grey yarn is to make an Aran for Younger Son. As you look at my selections, I'll relate a conversation I had with Celtic Queen last week. We were discussing Socks That Rock colorways. I said I liked Tonalite and CQ said "Yeah, your color choices are like that -- they're either screamingly bright or very tonal." So yeah, look at what I got. These next two projects show this very well. Screamingly bright -- Noro Kureyon to make a Booga J Bag for summer use (to contrast with my very tonal Olympic Bag in more wintery colors). Yarn from All About Yarn in Columbia Maryland. Their signage said they were a new vendor, so I did my best to make them feel welcome.
And very tonal. A mitered mitten pattern with yarn from Wool in the Woods. I had actually picked out very bright yarns for this first, but then changed my mind, opting for something I would actually wear. I dithered about this purchase, and bought it on my second time in the booth. I had to leave the first time after I accidentally stepped on some poor girl. I was standing there on her foot and had no idea. How embarrassing.
We'll chalk this one on the screamingly bright side. Steeler yarn (but I think the official name is "Magic".) Maybe socks, maybe gloves.


Some sock yarn. (Tonals on the left, brights on the right). What can I say? I'm nothing if not consistent. See the fiber in the first picture? Brights and tonal. And I finished up with some books. I'm up through Vol. 12 with my Weldon's and the mitten book just appealed to me.
And to end tonight, just a couple of scenes from the festival. The popular food this year was apparently these Curly Chips -- a potato version of nachos. The line to buy them was longer than the line for the bathroom. And the Sheep to Shawl. I didn't get to see who won. Anyone out there know?

Back in the Saddle Again

And with yarn too! Sorry for the long time no post. I lost my computer. It was borrowed from Dave and he needed it back for work. So he bought me a new one. I now have my very own brand spanking new laptop. It's very nice. I'm happy.

So where did we leave off? Oh yes, the birthday socks. Well, I was at Heather's knitting and showing off the birthday socks when I noticed:
A dropped stitch. Waaaaay back there. "No problem," I said, "I'll just chain that sucker up and it'll be as good as new." Yeah right. I dug out my little crochet hook the next day and did indeed chain it up. The problem though was that it left a definate ridge in the knitting. If it had been on the top of the foot I would have been tempted to leave it in the hopes that a few months of wear and washing would distribute the yarn around the foot and everything would even out. But it was on the bottom of the foot where walking on it could be uncomfortable. I didn't want the socks not to be worn because of it. So I sucked it up and ripped.
I'm happy to say it didn't take me too long to recover.

And the Read Head sweater. Well, I left the yarn behind that same fateful night at Heather's. (And what's up with that? That's the second time I've left some of this yarn behind. Is it some kind of omen?) Heather held it hostage for an undetermined item from MDS&W and some spindling lessons. What could I do? I ponied up and got the yarn back. The big day is next week, after all. I need to get busy!

And MDS&W!! I spent way too much money! Lots of loot to show. Right now, Blogger won't let me put up any pictures, so I promise to show and tell all tomorrow!