Thank goodness!

I'm so happy to be through with gift knitting! Now onto my regularly scheduled crafting...

I had ripped out the CoH shawl, since I didn't like the way I had tried to shape it. I charted out my plan, and I'm going to start it over on JRRT's birthday, January 3. Maybe I can get it done before another year goes past.

I finished a baby surprise jacket for my sister's (yet unborn) daughter. I used Duet sock yarn in the St. Valentine colorway that I got from The Loopy Ewe. TLE is one of the best places I've bought anything from, hands down. I think I'll also make an Emli bonnet out of the leftover yarn, and of course a pair of matching sockies.

Right now, I'm spinning some Targhee that I got from Susan's Spinning Bunny. I really love down wools, because of their spongy, springy hand. The colors of the roving are browns, creams and reddish browns...such beautiful colors. I'm not sure what I'll make out of it; I'm going to spin it up about sport weight and see how many yards I get. Then I'll see what patterns I have to go with it. Exciting!

Well, back to my wheel...

Sigh

I wish that I was better at blogging. I just get so busy reading that I forget to write!

I'm working like mad on Christmas presents, and I have all but one finished. I've made 3 Wisps and I'm finishing the 4th. I also have two hats and 6 ornaments done. For a person who usually finishes a pair of socks in 2 months, that's a pretty good percentage :)

I decided to Etsy several presents, figuring that if I can't make them, at least the recipients are getting handmade stuff. I got some beer soap for my brothers, a sweet coffee mug for my friend Deb (I might add a spider-special if I have extra time), and a beautiful clutch for my Mom. I also got some fun bath/body care stuff for my little sister, whose birthday is the 20th. Where else can I buy things and feel good about it?

I have to start taking pictures of things that I'm making before I give them away!

I also need to get back into the lace groove. With all these Wisps under my belt, I should just jump into one of lace projects I have in the wings and stop fiddling around.

Well, back to Wisping...

So many projects...

Just a quick note to say I'm working like crazy on Christmas presents, and I'm not getting anything fun done for myself.

Except, I'm in Ravelry...it's so neat! I love being able to look up a yarn and see what people have used it for, or a pattern and see what people have done with it. I resisted it as long as I could, but there's no going back now.

Hat headaches

Argh! For some reason, I just can't make hats to fit my head.

I made the Koolhaus hat from the IK gifts issue, and it's just too short. My sister loves it, and she would love it as a gift, but I can't give her a present that doesn't really fit. So, I'm going to give it to my 7 yr old cousin--he's very precocious, and I think he'll enjoy the cables :)

Next I tried to make Urchin from the Fall 07 Knitty. It was super easy and quick and cool...but it didn't fit my head, even as a jaunty cap. I ripped the whole thing out and will try to make it bigger. Argh!

I'm working on my third Wisp, and I'm really loving it. Who would have thought that yo/k2tog would be so fun? It's the perfect gift for non-knitters, since it looks so complicated :)

I also finally got a monkey off my back that's been sitting there for 3 years...silk and cashmere. 3 years ago, I was at a friend's house drinking port. We were talking about spinning, and she asked if I could spin up some silk and cashmere for a sweater for her. Under the effects of the port, anything was possible, so I said sure, no problem. That resulted in my buying 2 (!) drum carders, 2 lbs of silk and 2 lbs of cashmere, and a bunch of dye.

I dyed it all up, then proceeded to try to blend and spin it. It was horrible: neppy, static-y, time consuming.... So, I decided to buy some preblended silk/cashmere and try to spin THAT. Well, suffice it to say, I decided to pick up knitting as a form of avoidance :) I ended up with about 500 yards of worsted weight yarn and many pounds of fiber hiding around my apartment.

Finally, lightning struck. While I was surfing Webs a couple of weeks ago, I saw a worsted weight silk/cashmere yarn for only $5.99 a skein! I bought a sweater's worth and shipped it to my friend's house. I feel so free!!!

Wisp-y

Sooo...my last attempt at knitting Kid Silk Haze ended up in disaster: itchy palms, a rash, etc. But, I have 10 balls of it in various colors, so I really wanted to use it up. Therefore, last week I decided to try it again. Strangely enough, no rash! I finished one violet KSH Wisp, and I'm 2/3 done with another in Pearl KSH. I think I'll do at least one more in Wicked (black) for a co-worker.

I think that the lack of allergy is possibly due to the dry weather. Maybe when it was humid, my palms were too sensitive. At any rate, I'm loving it!

I finished the Koolhaus hat, but doing all those little cables really did a number on my wrist. I won't be making another one of those anytime soon, unfortunately.

I'm probably going the scarf/slippers route this Christmas for the rest of the family presents; I just don't have enough gumption to make fancy lace for people who don't really appreciate it.

Speaking of lace, I'm pretty excited for the Make One year of lace to start. I love lace, and it's not a bad idea to have several finished projects ready for giving, should the need arise :)

In other news, I'm starting fertility meds (hence the lack of recent posts). One of them has "suicidal thoughts" as a side effect--eek! At work, there are some pretty despicable and possibly illegal things being done by congregants. I'm going to have to get out of there soon. All in all, things are pretty scary around here, but at least I can still knit!

Ah, broken is the golden bowl

I got my October sock club shipment, and it's the best yet. It's black lightweight STR with bits of dark blood purple. And the pattern that goes with it (Lenore) is perfect: a simple sock with columns of eyelets. The minute I opened the package, I knew that these would be the perfect socks for my sister in law. She's not quite goth, but just a little dark :)

Since these are for a gift, I'm not going to use one of Cat Bordhi's new sock patterns; I'm just going to use my standard toe up, short row heel. That way I'll know that they'll fit.

I think that I'll have to buy more of this yarn the next time I treat myself. I've enjoyed the sock club, because I love all special things, but this color has made it worthwhile.

It's been a long time...

The holidays are finally over, and I'm just starting to get back into the swing of life again.

I started the I Do shrug from knitty for a wedding this Friday, but after finishing half of it and trying it on, I realized that a handpainted yarn that makes stripes around my upper arm is just not all that flattering. I ripped it out and am trying to think of what to make of it. The yarn is two skeins of seasilk in the woodland colorway, but every lace pattern I try with it looks like garbage because of the color changes. I'm so wishing that I had bought two more skeins of the moss color instead...then I could make a nice big shawl.

I'm retooling my Children of Hurin shawl to get some more shaping into it. Faroesing it in a way.

I spun up a bunch of merino tencel roving into sockweight yarn, and I now have to find a pattern for it. It's beautiful, shimmery and soft. It may have to be another pair of Coriolis socks, to show off the colors.

I finished the silk baby doll from KLS, and I may just rip out the knitted surplice bodice. If I'm honest with myself, my figure and that top just don't go together. The yarn is so beautiful, I have to make something wearable out of it. So, when I get up the courage, I'll probably rip it out...probably.

I bought the gift issue of Interweave Knits, and I started the Koolhaus hat. The many little cables are giving me fits, but it looks really neat. Jared designs such beautiful things.

Knitting, and knitting, and knitting...

Really, I am! I just don't have time to take pics, post them, or write anything about them!

I finished my toe-up, Coriolis STR August club socks on Friday morning. I love them. Unfortunately, I wore them before taking a picture, so you can't see them until I wash them!

I also started in on the "wiggle room" socks from New Pathways for Sock Knitters (NPSK), and I have one done. The other is just a toe, but it should be done this weekend, at which point it will go to my sister as her first pair of baby booties for my niece/nephew in utero. The socks are really fun to make, and I'm using the leftover yarn from the STR August skein, so they're very groovy and wiggly.

I stalled out on what to make next from KLS, and the High Holydays kept me from whipping up a late summer/early fall shawl. I think I'll just dive back into my Children of Hurin shawl as soon as the weather cools off. Maybe this will allow me to finish all my little WIPs running around.

I did have to buy a skein of Yarn Nerd's sock yarn from The Loopy Ewe, even though I still haven't finished my "Solstice Slip" socks from the STR June shipment. The color is a lovely blend of greens and browns. I'm not even sure what I'm making out of it, but it was so beautiful, I couldn't resist.

I also heard that the 2008 sock club signups will be starting soon. I think I'll have to join again. Depending on what my job future holds, I might not be able to be buying yarn next year like I'm doing now, so getting yarny presents in the mail will be just the thing.

I'm off to finish up some sockies...wish me luck!

High Holydays aka High Horror Days

So, why didn't I take pictures of all the great stuff I've been finishing up? Why didn't I post for 10 days?

The High Holydays.

Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are the biggest days at the synagogue, and tons of planning go into making them work. I'm the entire office staff of my synagogue, so things have been crazy since July. Add the Capital and Endowment Campaign, and it makes for one insane time period.

Rosh Hashanah begins tomorrow night, so I'll get a break until Monday. Then I have that week to get everything set up for Kol Nidre and Yom Kippur.

In my experience, people who don't work at the shul don't know how tough these days can get. For those of us that work there, it's one crisis after another until you wish you could kill yourself, but then you realize you'd be reanimated to finish your work, so it's not worth it.

Thankfully, my husband bought me a birthday present that got delivered yesterday: Moby Dick. I think I'll try to read a bit of it tonight to calm my nerves before the craziness of tomorrow.

And in knitting news...I finished the baby kimono and almost finished my STR August socks. I just have about 4 inches to go. I didn't decide which shawl to make, but the holidays made the question academic!

Finished, and begun again

I finished the autumny socks, but didn't take a picture before wearing them to work. I'm relatively happy about how they turned out; I used two different lace patterns...they don't quite fit together, but they don't look awful. It was also a good learning experience. If I make socks at that small of a gauge again, I think I'll just make them anklets!

I'm almost done with the Impossibly Cute Baby Kimono, and I hope to get it done this weekend. I feel too guilty to start a shawl until I have that finished.

I also went back to my Silk Slip from KLS and played with the seam allowances. I think I may have solved my problem...pics to follow if I'm right.

I didn't finish the babydoll yet, but I'm not sure why. Ennui, maybe.

I also found out that my younger sister is pregnant.

Plus, it's my birthday on Tuesday.

Life is insane right now!

In lieu of something new

I give you my last two shawls:



and



The first one is the Lace Garland from Shawls and Scarves. It took me a year to knit, mainly because I stopped knitting on it for 8 months! I love it, and I loved blocking it--so magical. It lives with my mother in law. Here's a closeup of the lace:



The second is the Ethereal Fichu from Heartstrings Fiber Arts. I used one skein of Schaefer Anne in an unlabeled colorway. It was an extremely quick knit. It lives with my sister in law--if her cat hasn't destroyed it yet. Here's a (slightly blurry) closeup:



I have too many shawls to decide from as my next project. The only thing I won't be able to do is use any of the Kid Silk Haze that I bought, since I'm so allergic to it. I'm trying to decide between the bee shawl or stole, the garter and lace from Shawls and Scarves slightly modified, a silk scarf from Victorian Lace Today, or just going it alone and making up a triangular pattern. I want something I can finish in a month or two, so that I have time to work on my Children of Hurin Shawl, but I need something light enough to work on when it's still warm outside (which is the reason I'm NOT working on the CoH shawl right now.) Argh...decisions.

I got my STR August shipment on Friday, and I don't know how I feel about it. The colors remind me of Mr. Freeze freezie pops, and the pattern for the cuff is vine lace (which I had a bellyfull of with the Lace Slip from KLS). I'm thinking of modifying the pattern to fit one of the new Cat Bordhi ones, but I'm not sure.

I'm also working on the Impossibly Cute Baby Kimono from Mason-Dixon Knitting. I'm using Cotton Flamme from Crystal Palace yarns. It's a really nice slubby cotton, and I'm enjoying working with it. I hope this little kimono works out.

Sockies!

So, I've been working on my autumny socks, but they're just bus knitting. It takes a long time to make a pair of socks that are 10st/inch when you only knit on them 10 minutes a day. Sheesh.

However, I'm happily making socks from Cat Bordhi's book. To wit:



The blue socks are the Coriolis socks:



And the pink ones are the little sky socks:



I am LOVING this book!

Gah

I guess I just give up on the silk slip. I made the cups one size up, and now the thing is too big. I'm not going to chuck it onto the rubbish heap, but I can't work on it any more any time soon. Gah.

In other news, I found out my best friend from high school is having a baby! She just got married, and she got pregnant the first month. I'm so happy for her, but so depressed for myself. Next week will be the anniversary of my last miscarriage.

The good news is that now I have someone to give all the test sockies from the Cat Bordhi book to :)

Almost there...

After redoing the cups on the Silk Slip from KLS, I merely have to sew them to the waistband and I'll be through. Criminy! I'll be happy to let that albatross fall off my neck and into the sea.

Still a few more inches to go on the silk babydoll.

I'm getting 10 st/inch on my autumn rusty socks, which is probably why they're taking so long. I'm finally to the heel turn. I'm also going to wind up the June STR yarn to work on next.

I made the Riverbed baby sock from New Pathways for Sock Knitters...it was so fun! I love trying interesting things. Here's a somewhat cruddy pic of it:



I think I'll make one of each of the test socks and use them for Christmas ornaments. They're just the right size for it.

We finally got a new digital camera, so I'll hopefully be able to take pictures without becoming supremely irritated.

My eyes are bigger than my stomach when it comes to crafting. Since I'm finally at the point in my life where I have disposable income, I can afford to have multiple projects going at once. This is not necessarily a good thing!

New Pathways for Sock Knitters

Oh my goodness--I just got this book and I'm utterly enthralled. If you enjoy sock knitting, you should get this.

In KLS news, I decided to redo the cups on my silk slip. I guess I'm not actually a B-cup! The babydoll is 4 inches from being done, so I just have to figure out what to make next :)

I have a couple shawls on the needles, but they're just to keep my hand in, not for any special purpose. The CoH shawl is still on hiatus, since its 10 million degrees outside.

Back to my socks!

Where are the pictures?

Of course, I still haven't taken the pictures I meant to...argh.

I did finish the silk slip from KLS, but I had to rip out the bodice seams after trying it on. DP thought that it looked great, except for the boobage area. Those darts were just too square. So, I'm working on getting them a bit more curved. If I made this again, which I might, I think I would rework the darts with short rows or something.

The babydoll is just 9" away from being finished. I have to decide whether I want to do the thong panty, the bikini, or make a boy short.

My socks are languishing, mostly because I bought this book and have been reading it instead of knitting on the bus.

I also found out that there's a group of congregants that think I'm ruining the image of the congregation because I'm so mean. My meanness consists of attempting to get payment from users of our building who refuse to pay rent. Argh.

Wedding bells are ringing

This Friday is my best friend's wedding, and I'm completely unprepared. I decided that I'll wear an outfit I wore to another wedding, since I don't have time to buy or make a new one. Argh!

On the knitting front, I'm still working on my red socks--until I finish them, I won't start the STR Firebirds. I still need to get some time to finish up both the silk slip and the silk babydoll from KLS. This past weekend was utterly taken up with going to my parents' house (as I had guessed), so I got nothing done.

In sewing news, I'm going to help my sister make herself a simple cotton skirt. We got the material yesterday, so now it's (as ever) a question of finding the time to go over to her house. I think that it'll take the entire day because she doesn't know how to sew yet :)

I really need to get some pics up of all these projects. Hopefully I'll get that done tonight!

Whoa

It's been quite the week--I hardly had time to turn my computer on at home when I got home from work.

I spun another skein of the Crown Mountain roving; I think two more will do it, and I'll be able to start on the socks.

I finally got the silk and interfacing that I ordered for the Silk Slip from KLS, but this weekend will not see very much crafting. We're going to my parents' house with my sister and brother in law for his birthday, then to a baseball game tomorrow. My socks will come along, of course, but I won't be doing any sewing!

As I was working on these socks, I realized that I don't particularly care about sock patterns so much as sock mods. I like to be able to work my standard toe and heel, over my standard amount of stitches, but mix it up on the leg and instep. Something totally different is okay once in a while, but for the most part I like certain things to be predictable.

And now, a propos of nothing, check out this site. I love Indian movies, but I also love how campy they can be.

Fie!

I was all geared up to work on the Silk Slip from Knitting Lingerie Style--I finished the knitted bits in one day, and then went to iron on the interfacing. Unfortunately, I forgot one important thing: if you use dark bronze yarn to knit a lace pattern, white interfacing ironed on the back is going to look really stupid. Thank goodness I decided to do a "test ironing" and didn't wreck my silk and cashmere lace! I ordered some black interfacing and will just accept that the lace will be a bit more subtle. Sadly, this means that I can't work on the slip today. Sigh.

I'm not one to be without a plan though: I ordered some Adrienne Vittadini Celia to make the Babydoll, so I'll start on that :) I also have a new pair of socks on the needles, since I still haven't gotten my STR shipment and I couldn't keep waiting!

Sock Saheliya

One of my favorite songs was the phonetic inspiration for the title:)

I finished the STR sockies--hooray!



They're just standard 64 stitch toe up, short row heel socks, but the lace pattern is from the Surplice Bodice Camisole from Knitting Lingerie Style. I loved that pattern, so I had to use it for something else. They took me a rather long time (almost a whole month!) because they were mostly bus knitting, and now that it's summertime, I only take the bus to work, so I can walk home. As soon as they're done drying, they'll be off in the mail.

I'm still waiting for my next STR installment; I'm afraid that the mailwoman might have lost it or delivered it to someone else.

I also finally got my order from the Loopy Ewe:


(Counterclockwise from top right: Dream in Color in Chinatown Apple, bonus yarn Online Supersocke in Highland, Posh Yarns Applause and Roses by the Knittery on the bottom of the bag)

It's not Sheri's fault that I got my package so late; my lame-ox replacement mailwoman never told me she delivered it to the apartment office on Monday. Argh! However, there are some delightful things for me to start working on...where to begin?

On the food front, we're having twice-baked potatoes for supper tonight--they're so simple but so tasty. I made a gross discovery when I went to wash the potatoes before cooking them: one of them was rotting from the inside out, and liquefying. It was so disgusting. Thankfully, DP was napping, because if he'd seen that he wouldn't have let me use the rest of the potatoes! He's easily grossed out.

American Psycho

That was the theme of Friday at work. I spent all morning getting yelled at by a co-worker who was trying to frame another employee for theft, then I had a visit from my local psychotic. A year and a half ago, I had a person come into the shop at my work (I'm going to call my place of employment BI from now on). He thought he was Jesus, and he wanted to "baptise me". It was VERY scary, but I heard from the police that he was committed to the local psych ward. Well, he obviously got out, because he came back to my shop on Friday. I didn't recognize him at first, but he seemed familiar. Then he came back in to say one more thing, and I KNEW it was him. He left, and I locked the door so he couldn't get back in, but it was extremely frightening.

After I got home on Friday, I had to sleep because the events of the day had given me a migraine. When I woke up, I got to thinking. The employee that was yelling at me is an older guy, veteran of WWII from Poland. He can't do his job anymore, but BI won't let him go because of his age. I hired someone else to "help" him, and he systematically tried to frame her for all manner of things and generally make her look bad. Then she left, and I hired a new helper. Everything was fine until a month or so ago, when he started doing the same thing. I can't tell if it's dementia or a guerrilla war, but I can't handle it anymore. But what I started thinking on Friday was that maybe he's trying to get me to quit or be fired. Maybe he blames me for taking his job away from him. We're starting a big fund-raising campaign at work, and it would be a bad time for me to quit. But if this continues, I might have to leave. It's horrible to never know what is going to set him off.

On the crafting front, I decided that I'm going to make the silk slip from KLS for the KAL. I'm going to use Handmaiden silk-cashmere from my stash:


Now I just need to get to the material store and buy the silk for the slip part. I think I have enough interfacing for the knitted bits. I'm excited for this project!

I still haven't finished the sockies...for some reason, I feel like it's a slog. However, my next STR kit is in the mail so I better finish them before it comes. I wish more people would post spoilers for the kit, since I can't quite tell what the pattern is like from the pics that I've seen ;)

I also ordered some things from the Loopy Ewe, and I may integrate them into KLS patterns rather than socks. I'm on a reds/purples buying kick, and I'm feeling the need to actively make things and not just buy the materials to make them with.

I give up

Since I can't seem to take a good picture of myself, and my DH is not up to the challenge, I give you this lame-ola pic of my Surplice Bodice Camisole:



What: Surplice Bodice Camisole, from Knitting Lingerie Style
Time: 11 days
Materials: A little over 6 skeins of Louisa Harding Grace (silk/wool blend)
Needles: US 7
Modifications: I knitted this as one piece, rather than seaming it together.

I love this top, but I have to decide which tank top to wear underneath. In washing, it grew just a hair too much for me to only wear a bra under it. However, I'm very excited to wear it out to dinner at some point! It was very easy to knit, and it went quickly, even with my modifications. The only issue I had was that at some point in the lace knitting, I entered the black hole and seemed to make no progress no matter how much I knit on it. That passed, and left me with a loverly top.

I decided to give my brain a break, so I started the Beginner's Triangle Shawl from A Gathering of Lace. It is pretty easy, and I'm going to work on it when I need some down time.

I also took some of the Crown Mountain roving to work with me today, to spin on my way home. It's soooo easy to spin. I'm having very little drafting issues, and there are no bits that are felted together from the dye process. When I finish this batch, I think I'll have to buy more in another colorway. Thank you so much, Amanda, for steering me towards it!

Yarny

My arm numbness finally wore off, so I've been spinning the Crown Mountain roving, and I think I love it :) It went from this:


To this:


It's a Navaho-ply, around fingering weight, about 100 yards. I was too impatient to see what it would look like plied to spin more of the singles.

I'm also eagerly awaiting my June STR shipment...

In other news, I found out that my best friend from high school is getting married in a month. We became friends about 20 years ago, when I taught her how to crochet on the playground. In honor of that, I was planning on crocheting her a shawl. I'm not going to say which one, because I have a bit of a problem with the pattern. It was published in a book, and also available from the pattern writer's website. I figured that since I didn't like the book, I'd buy the pattern from the writer. I bought it, downloaded it, and found it riddled with errors. I could figure my way around them since I know how to crochet :), but it sort of took the excitement out of making the shawl. I went to the bookstore a couple of days later to buy a book for my dad, and I picked up the book with the pattern in it, to see if it made more sense in book form. Lo and behold--the errors in the pattern that I bought were not in the pattern as it appeared in the book. Frankly, I find that SUPREMELY irritating.

Still no picture of the surplice bodice camisole: the ones I took were awful, so I need to clean them up.

It's here!

My Crown Mountain roving is here! Unfortunately, I can't spin it yet, since I seem to be having a problem with my arm--it's going numb. So, I've been resting it for a couple of days and hoping it gets better.

Argh!

Too many projects

Sigh. I am just too tempted by projects. I'm currently working on my STR sockies, and I'm about a third done. I love anklets :) I really want to cast on for another project from KLS, but I should wait for the KAL to begin. During lunch, I was looking at knitty, and I think I'm going to have to make the Unmentionables. I just can't resist them. Plus, I have 4 skeins of yarn that are screaming at me to become 2 pairs of socks. Really--every time I walk past my stash tote, they shout at me. Can't anyone else hear it?

I also just got a gift certificate to my LYS from the mom of a bar mitzvah--$50! I'm so excited, I can hardly stand it.

(Looking back on what I just wrote, it reminds me of the moment in the TTC journey when you realize that you know [and use] way too many acronyms.)

I'm religiously following the trail of my Crown Mountain Farms roving on its way to my apartment. Spinning some of the batts from Abby has made me a lot more relaxed about my spinning, but also a lot more confident. I'm really impatient for that fiber to get here.

My italian sausages are almost done, so I better grab them before they burn!

Ain't No (Crown) Mountain High Enough...

My roving from Crown Mountain has shipped--I'm so excited!

To answer Amanda, my grasshoppers are not too droopy, though that might be because I ended them before I got to my calf. I think that would be the spot that could cause problems. I made the large size (I'm a size 10 wide), followed the directions for where to start the heel and had no problems with it. Though, "fiddlyness, thy name is reverse gusset heel." I love the end result, but the heel was a bit obnoxious. Nothing specific, just irritating.

I'm happy to see that the new Knitty is up. Wisp, in particular, is very tempting. Unfortunately, my mohair allergy has progressed to epic, palm scratching/breaking out in hives proportions, so I won't be able to knit with my KSH anytime soon.

On the surplice bodice front, my sister told me that I could use some of the purple ribbon she had left over from her wedding, so as soon as I see her, I'll be able to wear the bodice :) I now have to decide what to make next out of KLS. I'm thinking of the silk slip...

Spinsterism

So, yesterday I was bummed out because the Sock Hop yarn from Crown Mountain Farms that would be perfect for my sister-in-law's socks was out of stock. But as I was looking at all the other beautiful Sock Hop yarns, I realized that the names were familiar: I had read about someone spinning roving with those same names. Silly me, I hadn't even thought of that! I bopped over to the fiber page and ordered the color of fiber that I would have bought in the yarn. So, I'll just spin up the yarn and then I'll have what I need. (This also means I can dye the KP yarn I bought in some colors that I want:) )

My surplice bodice is done, but I found that the ribbon I had is not long enough--not even a yard. I'm going to have to trick someone into driving me to the fabric store at some point. I'm trying to decide whether to wear it with a tank top underneath (since it's really low cut) or to buy a fancy bra and let it show. I'm not sure how daring I want to be. No pic yet as it's still drying.

I cast on for the STR anklets; I may use the lace pattern from the surplice bodice for these sockies. Since it's Knit In Public day today, I'm thinking of going down to the Sundance Cafe and working on the sockies while listening to my LOTR audiobook. This version is the best I've heard. If you're a longtime reader of the books, you'll notice that sometimes Robert Inglis says the wrong words, but his reading is wonderful. It's much better than the BBC dramatization, which is too dramatic in my opinion.

Hooray!

Well, the yarn drought did not materialize--I got the yarn in time for the weekend, and worked on the surplice bodice all this week. Now I just need to finish one more armhole (k one row, p one row and bind off) and then it's done. I'm very excited.

I also finished my grasshoppers yesterday:


Pattern: STR Knee High to a Grasshopper
Yarn: STR Silkie April club yarn
Needles: US 0 circular, 47"
Modifications: I worked from two skeins, since I thought that I'd be doing kneehighs. I got bored, so they're only ankle length, but you can see that they're different dye lots. I also used k2tog, yo instead of p2tog, yo, but I can turn them inside out if necessary to mimic the real pattern:


My plan is to make a pair of anklets with the leftovers, then jump into either birthday socks for one of my friends or the next STR pattern, whichever gets to me first.

I also got a great tip from Amanda on some great black and yellow yarn. Of course, by the time I got to looking up the url it was sold out, but oh my goodness is it gorgeous.

I really need to look at my comments quicker!

Yarn drought

Argh. It may seem odd that someone with enough yarn for 10 pairs of socks, several thousand yards of laceweight and 15 pounds of unspun fiber could suffer a yarn drought. Alas, it's true. The one yarn I need more of is not here. It's on its way here, traveling from NYC, but it's not here yet and I'm totally bummed. I was hoping to finish my surplice bodice camisole from KLS this weekend, but if that yarn doesn't get here in tomorrow's mail, no dice. Double argh.

I read an interesting review of Kitting Lingerie Style here. I enjoyed seeing someone else's perspective on the patterns. The comments on the review are neat too. I think I'll be joining the KAL; I should have at least 2 pieces done by the time it starts, so I should have a grasp on how to knit the patterns.

In the "not all people are jerks" category, I had an awesome email back-and-forth with a rabbi in Israel yesterday. I've been looking for an English translation of one of his books, and I can't find it anywhere--I've asked booksellers all over the country, and no one has it. I found the author's email while surfing around, and I decided to take a chance. He emailed me back that he'll send me a copy! He was very nice about it.

I still need to finish the ribbing on the grasshoppers, so I guess that's what I'll be up to this weekend. I just got bored with the pattern and so couldn't make them kneesocks. Maybe I'll get more gumption at some point and be able to make a pair of knee highs.

Socks and camis

I've been a busy little creature lately. Over my break, I made this:


What: Cotton Cami, less expensive cousin of the "silk and pearls cami" from Knitting Lingerie Style
Time:Begun Thursday morning, finished Saturday evening (because of the cursed seaming)
Materials: 2.5 skeins of Blue Sky Alpacas organic cotton in sage
Needles: US 9

This was a great little knit, and I'll definitely make it again, perhaps out of silk or a silk blend. It was easy, but my seaming definitely needs work. My first attempt looked like absolute garbage, and I ripped it out. My next attempt, using mattress stitch, was much better. I'd probably make this in the round next time, instead of making the front and the back and seaming, mostly because I don't like seaming. If I did it in the round, I might add an EZ-esque "phony seam" for looks.

My next project (already begun) is the Surplice Bodice Camisole, using Louisa Harding's Grace (50/50 silk/wool) in deep purple with a dark chocolate stripe. I love the feel of Grace and the fabric it knits into, and I'm so excited for this piece. I'm almost done with the top of the bodice already. I may end up using another lace pattern, or I may use the pattern in the book; I haven't decided yet.

I have decided that I'm going to end my grasshoppers soon, and make another pair of silkie ankle socks for a friend of my sister. I'll definitely have enough yarn, and she has the same size feet I do, so I'll be able to make them up no problem.

I'm on the lookout for a black and yellow sock yarn for one of my sisters-in-law. I've seen Lorna's Laces bee stripe yarn, but I'm not sure if I'll use it. I may end up dyeing my own, especially since I bought Knit Picks bare sock yarn for that purpose!

Well, my supper is almost done, so I'd better go eat it. The sooner I do, the sooner I can work on the camisole.

Socks and more socks

I saw this yesterday when I was searching for something...I think my next pair of socks will be a pair of pairs!

I'm working my way up the leg on the grasshoppers, and I think I won't do any increases until immediately below where my calf muscle pushes out. That would be about 6 inches instead of the 3 in the pattern.

I've also totally given up on my springtime socks. The mohair in the yarn is just too much for me. A little bit of mohair is okay (a la Schaefer Anne), but even when I was spinning it, my hands were itching. I think I'm going to give it away. Sigh.

Since I have today, Thursday, Friday and Monday off, I'm hoping to get some cleaning and crafting done. I have a huge pile of clothes to give to St. Vincent de Paul, and I think I'm going to pack up some of the books that I read infrequently so that I can get more space in the living room. That's the problem with marrying someone who loves books as much as you do...we have hundreds of books, and no place to store them. We need a house simply to have some room for our "library". If I get enough cleaning done, I'll be able to knit or spin with a clear conscience.

A couple of days ago I watched Shaolin Mantis, one of my favorite David Chiang movies. It has nothing to do with the Shaolin temple, instead it's the story of Ching spy infiltrating a Ming loyalist family. While overall the fights are not the best, the two with Lau Kar Wing are awesome. The other fights are a bit slow, and you can almost feel the actors counting the moves--I do this, you do that, I do this. The fights with Lau Kar Wing are a lot faster and more fluid, mainly (I think) because he's a great martial artist. The praying mantis in the training scenes is one of the best creature-actors I've ever seen. At one point he's holding a twig, and he looks like he's going to start pole-fighting. So cool. After watching that, I had to watch the final fight from Sword Stained with Royal Blood. This movie has an extremely obnoxious female lead and a lame plot, but the fights with Kuo Choi, Chiang Sheng and Lu Feng make the movie worth the money. I had this on an old xth-generation video tape and bought the Celestial version when it came out. Every time I need a little dose of kung fu, I pop it in.

Why is it...

That nothing I say at work can just be accepted? I have a policy in place about bringing donations to the library: call or email first. The president of the NP came in today with books that she didn't call or email about. I told her my policy, and then said that I'd just hold them for the librarian until she came in later, but that in the future she needed to call first. The prez got offended by that. Why? She's giving us junk and making us have to deal with disposing of it--shouldn't I be the one who's offended? Of course not. ARGH.

In other news, I finished both heels of my grasshoppers and an inch of the legs. I'm not sure when/if I'm going to do the increases, or if I'll do them as written. The lace is darn stretchy, so I don't know if they'll fall down if I add more stitches.

I also got my copy of Knitting Lingerie Style (finally!). There are a lot of interesting patters, and a lot of patterns I'd never knit in a million years. It's not that they're too scandalous, but that they're just ugly. There's a "camisole" in Douceur et Soie with ruching on the sides that looks like it's just an ill-filling cardigan sewn together in the front. But there's an amazing looking wasp-waist-style sweater that I think I'll have to make. It looks lovely, and I think I would work for those of us that have a bit of a tummy. A couple of the camisoles also look like good summer tank top patterns, so I might have to whip one up for my walks home from work. All in all, the book was worth the money.

I generally get bummed when people dis a book because they don't want to work all the patterns in it--you have to expect that not everything can be a must-make. I consider a 50/50 ratio of good to bad patterns make a book worth buying. You also need to realize who a book is written for. There was a pattern book that came out a few months ago, Twinkle's Big City Knits, that was written by a designer originally from Taipei. Her stuff is very interesting, but it looks best on those with petite and slender figures. So, if you don't have that kind of figure, don't buy the book! Don't buy it and then complain that she doesn't know how to design for "real women".

I should really get off my soapbox and back to my socks...

Notes

I got into my office today to find this note on my desk: "I can't find any grape juice--any ideas?"

Sitting right in front of my desk, where the person would have to walk around them to get to my keyboard to leave the note, are 10 bottles of grape juice.

Argh.

Trying new things

One of the reasons I joined the RSC was to try out new colors and techniques. I got a chance to do that this afternoon, when I found a knot in one of my skeins. Of course, the location of the knot meant that the break in the yarn would be in the middle of the lace pattern (argh!). So, I decided to try out the Russian join. It worked like a charm. Hopefully, I'll soon get to the heel, which is a standard heel worked upside down. I'm excited to try that out and see how it wears.

I'm plugging away on the CoH shawl, but with my grasshopper STR socks in the queue, I've slowed up a bit on it. I do have until fall to finish it, so that's good.

I found a pattern to use with the violetta Kidsilk Haze--the Mountain Peaks shawl by Miriam Felton. I think I'm going to cast it on tonight; I have addi lace needles in the size called for by the pattern, and enough yarn (I think) to finish it. Miriam has a lot of lovely patterns...they make me wish I had more time to spend knitting.

I've been listening to a lot of Sam Spade radio mysteries lately, and they make perfect knitting listening. I also watched Piyar Ka Ghar last Friday. If you are a romantic but hate "romantic" movies, please watch this film! It's about a newlywed couple that has to share a small apartment in Bombay with the husband's parents, his brother and sister-in-law, and his younger brother. It's sweet, has a somewhat sappy ending, and is funny enough to make you laugh out loud. I loved it.

Dragon's head!

I have to write this down so I don't forget it: I plan to knit the dragon's head with the i-cord body yarn, either as intarsia or in some sort of stranded pattern. Gold and Silk Garden yarns together will look very cool. I might have to work up a sample tonight when I get home. Exciting!

Some scary images

That's the rating warning on The Fellowship of the Ring movie--eek!

Things have been both crazy and boring around my burg, hence the lack of postings.

My CoH shawl is coming along nicely, and I got The Children of Hurin in the mail on Friday. Not bad, though I wish that they would have included the first half of the fall of Beleriand, where Hurin brings the Nauglamir to Thingol. I decided that for the cabled i-cord border of my shawl, that represents the body of Glaurung, I'd use some stash yarn in a golden and bronze colorway. He is, after all, Glaurung the golden! I also think that I'll use one repeat of seafoam for his eye, since it really opens up the fabric. I may make DP sketch a dragon's head for me; I'm really having trouble with it, and actually gave up for now. The cover of The Children of Hurin gave me the idea, since it has Turin on the cover with the dragon helm of Dor-Lomin on. I think that DP could draw something like it on graph paper, and I could work it out in a sample before I get that far on my shawl.

I watched two fun movies: Nagina and Prem Granth. Both star Rishi Kapoor (of Bobby fame), and both are a bit later in his career. I came into Prem Granth thinking it would be horribly lame, but it was actually (I thought) an interesting look at the state of women's rights in India. Nagina was more of a throwaway fun movie, but I loved Sridevi's dancing at the end, and I was rooting for the snakes all the way!

I made a tasty supper tonight. It's based on a recipe from my Indian cookbook...you could tell it was my favorite recipe, since the spine is cracked on that spot and the book always opens to it :) You basically quarter and steam a pound of potatoes, then set them aside. Combine salt, tumeric, garam masala, cayenne pepper and coriander in a small bowl, set that aside. Put a bit of oil in a frypan, and fry about a teaspoon of cumin seeds for a few seconds. Add the potatoes and spices, and stir about. Let them fry a few minutes, then deglaze the pan with lime juice. Delicious, and relatively good for you.

I'm off to Middle Earth...

May Day!

Hooray for May! I can't believe that we're already almost halfway through 2007. Argh.

Yesterday was just awful. I got into work and found that the bad caterers had taken all the dirty tablecloths from the simcha on Saturday and put them into trash bags, instead of laundry bags. I went upstairs to get the laundry bags from the stage (where they are stored with the clean tablecloths), and discovered that the caterers had taken all the clean tablecloths, unfolded them, and threw them onto the dirty stage floor. I got the laundry bags, came downstairs and listened to my voicemail, only to find that the numbers I had for the luncheon Monday morning had gone up 20 people! I quickly went back upstairs and set up more tables and chairs, then came back downstairs and started putting the tablecloths into the laundry bags. Suddenly, my maintenance man came up to me and told me that the walk in freezer had died, and all the food inside was melted. I went back upstairs to find the good caterers (who respect the building and aren't idiots) trying to deal with the pool of blood spilling onto the floor from all the meat that had melted in the freezer. I then went back downstairs and got the mop and bucket so the caterer could mop up the blood, which he graciously offered to do. All of this happened between 7:30 and 8:15. The rest of the day simply followed the theme of madness.

On a more pleasant topic, I finished DP's socks, and he actually wore them all day Monday. I couldn't believe it--I figured that after they were done, he'd decide they were too scratchy or something. The stats: 2 skeins of Claudia Handpainted in Ink, size O and 1 circs. I ended up doing the foot in stockinette on 0, the cuff in 2x2 rib on 1 and the top 2 inches of the cuff in 2x2 rib on 0. The verdict: the yarn makes a great sock, springy and comfortable. However, knitting with it dried out my hands like nobody's business. I've make two pairs of Regia socks in a row, and that yarn has nylon, and my hands didn't get as painfully dry as with the CH. I don't think I'll use it again, unless it's in some color I have to try.

I'm doing more work on the CoH shawl; I've frogged it twice, so it's on its third iteration. I realized while knitting on the bus this morning that I can do whatever I want with it--the words of EZ floated through my head: you are the boss of your knitting. I stopped agonizing over the types of eyelets and whether the tree trunks were twisty enough and just knitted. I know it sounds silly, but it was very freeing.

I also stopped at the coffee shop this morning. I'm trying to cut down on coffee and sweet coffee house drinks (I generally don't actually drink coffee), so I only go Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays now. Unfortunately, a new creature is inhabiting the coffee shop, and supposedly he'll be there every day. He's nice enough, but I don't like to socialize with people first thing in the morning. I may have to change the time I go to the coffee shop in order to avoid him. How irritating.

It's Rainin' Yarn

Halleluia! I got my April STR kit yesterday, and I'm pretty excited about it. The pattern is a stockinette foot with lace instep and leg, and can be made into knee-highs if you order another skein of the yarn. Of course, that's what I'll be doing :)

Here's an artsy shot of the yarn:


It's very soft, and the colors are outrageous. I'm very happy.

On the "filling up the corners" front, I also bought a few things from my LYS:


Two skeins of Koigu, possibly for a scarf or some freak-out socks, a skein of Noro SG for the border of my CoH shawl, and some Kid Silk Haze to round out some numbers of skeins I already have. The wine color will be for (hopefully) an Ostrich Plumes shawl, and the violetta is for an as yet undetermined shawl for a friend whose favorite color is purple.

The CoH (children of Hurin) pattern is moving along. I've decided to go with a cabled applied i-cord border, to better suggest Glaurung's body. Before there's any outcry, I don't mind doing i-cord. I made a 10 foot length of it for my brother's girlfriend over a weekend, with the only payment being I got to keep the leftover yarn, and I didn't find the process all that obnoxious. While I was at work I googled "cabled i-cord" and found Eunny's version. It's pretty much what I was planning to do, so I feel validated. If I can get this pattern knocked out so that I can make sure my brain is wrapped around it right, I shouldn't really have a problem. I want it to be done before it gets cold again, since I'm planning on it as an autumn shawl.

I'm off to work some ribbing and come up with something for supper. Yargh.

April Showers...

Bring sock yarn--soon I hope!

I've been peeking at STR April installments (like here), and I'm darn excited. Hopefully I'll get my package before the weekend!

I also ordered two skeins of Knit Picks "dye your own" sock yarn, to make a pair of socks for my sister in law. She wants black and yellow socks, but they may end up being dark brown and yellow socks :)

I worked on the children of Hurin swatch last night, and I hope to have something picture-takeable by the weekend. It's a bit tricky for me to make a cable pattern into openwork, but I think I have a good scheme going. I really like how the colors work with the pattern, too.

Narn I Hin Hurin

Not that I need to start any new projects, but what with The Children of Hurin coming out, I'm thinking of making a heavy autumny shawl out of 5 skeins of Noro Silk Garden "inspired" by my favorite part of the Silm. I'm going to tweak a woodsy pattern from a Japanese pattern book that I have to make it more open, and use a cable border to look like Glaurung's body. I'm planning on putting the dragon's head on one side and his tail on the other, but I'm not sure where to put his feet. I'm sketching it out now, so no pix yet, but perhaps I'll start swatching soon. It is extremely frustrating, trying to find a good dragon's head.

I just have to finish the ribbing on DP's socks, and then they're done. I didn't get much knitting done on Wednesday because the coffee shop was too full--I didn't have anywhere to sit, so I just walked around downtown until it was time for my class.

I wish I had more time to knit and spin. This past week, I've been sooooo tired. I've been falling asleep with my glasses on. I wish it was because I was pregnant, but no such luck. I think it must be because it's turning into summertime and my body isn't used to it yet.

Spring Cleaning

I've been doing a bit of spring cleaning at work--I can't do anything that will stir up dust at home until DP is completely well--and I'm pretty happy with the results. My desk has had tons of "work in progress" piles of papers since 2002, so I finally filed them away! I removed everything from my desk and sorted it into piles on the floor (no one was in the office on Monday except me, so this worked well). Then I just went through each pile, without looking at the other piles and distracting myself, and so was able to actually get through them. I've gotten several compliments already, along with some worry that the reason I cleaned off my desk is that I'll be quitting soon. Having a desk that someone else can understand is one of my goals before I leave this job...

On the knitting front, I haven't done too much on DP's socks. If I could just get a couple of hours of free time, I could probably finish them. I have t'ai chi tonight, and I'm hoping to use the time between work and my class to work on the socks. Positive thoughts.

Lace-wise, I decided to use Rosebud Mesh from Barbara Walker's Second Treasury. (Sadly, it's not yet on this site.) I think it goes great with the colors of the yarn, which are very rose-y. I started on the rose pink end of the skein, so it's going rose-pink, deep pink, pink-purple. I'm very excited about it! I'm also very happy with the singles--they turned out pretty even and washing them in hot water with a cold rinse took out a lot of the excess energy, so the yarn is not kinking up at all. Pictures will be forthcoming.

Has anyone been reading the Socks that Rock blog? It was getting so catty that the mod had to post tell people to play nice. Working at a non profit, I get a lot of spiteful complaints, and it seems like some of the people who call me at work are also posting on the STR blog.

I'm very interested in the next STR shipment--I think the April one is supposed to be shipped the 3rd week of April. The Monsoon socks are so comfortable; I hope the next pattern is as nice.

Suddenly Sunday

Where did the weekend go? I don't know if I can bear to go back to work tomorrow. On the upside, DP's lungs sound great, though he still has a cough.

I spun one batt of the Tiger Lily and navaho plied it:


I spun the other batt but left it as a singles for lace. I'm drying it now...I'm thinking of a lacy little scarf. Maybe tiger eyes?

I also spun up the Crown Jewels batts:


I navaho plied them as well, and they're also drying. Hopefully I'll have enough to make a pair of ankle socks.

With warm weather on the way, I'm hoping to get some more spinning in. I usually spindle while I walk home from work, and at 3 1/2 miles, I get some good yardage in. Huzzah for nicer weather!

Gurgling

That's the sound that DP's lungs are making; our health insurance starts on Sunday, so he's trying to live until then. Sigh.

On the spinning front, I've been spinning up the Tiger Lily batts I got from Franquemont Fibers on eBay. I'm spinning as thin as I can and hoping to get a good three-ply out of each batt. I'll post a pic as soon as I ply the singles.

For supper tonight DP is having some low-sodium chicken soup, and I'm making a patented spider supper, eg. mix a bunch of stuff together and hope it turns out. I'm cooking Puy lentils and brown basmati rice, then adding some spinach, beef stock and goat cheese. Possibly I'll drizzle some truffle oil on top...possibly. A little of that goes a looooong way!

Happy Easter Peeps

Thank goodness we're back home from MO. My dh developed some sort of viral infection about 15 minutes before we left home and was horribly sick the entire time. He's still horribly sick, but at least we're not there.

It was fun seeing his relatives and just hanging out. My sister in law made an

And we colored Easter eggs:


I also did a lot of knitting on DP's socks:


They'll have to be washed soon though, because they're full of cigarette smoke. They're simple stockinette socks over 72 stitches on US 0, with a short row toe and heel. I think I'll rib the cuff, but I'm not sure yet.

All in all it was a pleasant time, but I really wish they lived closer to us. It takes us 9 hours to get there, which is about 5 hours too long.

In other news, I finally got a pic of the Monsoon socks:


I used US 0 for the toe through heel and US 2 for the cuff. I followed the pattern for the toe, foot and heel, but changed up the cuff a bit. I didn't use all the cables they called for, and not all of my cables were 5/1/5 crosses. I think it looks good, and they are extremely comfortable. I enjoy thick-ish socks that cushion my feet, so I am extremely pleased with them.

I hear that there's a scary winter storm coming through this week, so perhaps that will give me more time to post!

Coffee Shop Psych

I spent 4 hours at a coffee shop today because they're replacing the pipes in my apartment building and the water was shut off. Argh. However, I got my Monsoon socks done (pic to follow) and got to hear a lot of interesting talk.

One thing I like AND dislike about coffee shops is that you get to hear the conversations of the people in your vicinity. Sometimes this is frustrating, but other times it's very enlightening. Today, the theme seemed to be psychology. The first couple to sit near me discussed how the personality of one woman's replacement in some sort of league (I couldn't figure out what the "league" actually was) caused the "sustainers" to withdraw support. The next couple was a psychologist or social worker and a little boy. The social worker was having the boy describe his week so far and talk about how big brothers should treat their little sisters. The final couple seemed to be a woman with her brother-in-law, and they were trying to see if they could still be friends since the woman was divorcing the brother-in-law's brother.

It was really neat to listen to these interactions and see the similarities in the way people talk out problems. If I would have had my mp3 player with me, I probably wouldn't have heard any of their conversations. The brother-in-law had a great saying: being human is bloody hard. It sort of summed up all three of those conversations.

I'm going to be visiting my in-laws in Missouri for Easter. Who knows what interesting conversations I'll hear!

Socks for DP

First--hooray for vacation! Two days off to knit, spin and do laundry. Sweet. Before I left work, I picked up this phone call:

Me: Non-Profit X, this is Spider.

Weirdo: Hi; am I correct in assuming that you prepare chicken soup with matzah balls for purchase?

Me: I'm sorry, we don't sell food here.

Weirdo: Well, I was told that you did. I need some for my friend. Can you tell me where I could buy it?

What I wanted to say was that she should look up a recipe, but I refrained.

When I got home there was a surprise waiting: my yarn shipment from the Loopy Ewe. It contained (amongst other things) two skeins of Claudia Handpainted in Ink; a very subtle black/shades-of-grey colorway. I made my sweet husband, DP, feel them and then sprung the news: they'd be socks for him. He took it well, and if he decides he can't handle handmade socks, our feet are the same size...

In between knitting socks and spinning more yarn for knitting socks, I'm trying to come up with a motif for my next shawl. I have one skein of Shaefer Anne, which was enough to make a triangle shawl 3.5 feet long and 5.5 across the hypotenuse. I'd like to branch out into my own pattern, but I have to find something that looks right with the yarn and that won't require more than 560 yards of it. I'm thinking using starlight lace or bleeding hearts, but I don't know if bleeding hearts will be open enough, and starlight is a bit wacky to chart (the stitch count changes on the 6th row, I think). I'll probably go through my Barbara Walkers a few more times before I even get to the swatch stage.

Air Raid Sirens

Last night, while watching Double Indemnity, we heard the air raid/tornado sirens TWICE. Argh. That's the problem with living in an apartment on the third floor--no basement to run to. Thankfully, the tornadoes passed us by.

I did some spinning today, finishing up the spring green fiber blends I got from Franquemont Fibers on eBay. Once I predrafted, I was able to spin long draw and I think I have enough yardage for a pair of socks. If it's a little short, I think I'll do the heels and toes in a different color, or maybe use an openwork pattern.

I'm not sure why I enjoy making socks so much, but enjoy it I do. I feel like it connects me to my grandma, who got me interested in crafty things.

I'm looking forward to this week--Passover! I get Tuesday and Wednesday off, along with the following Monday and Tuesday. Plus, I took off Friday, so I'll have a 5 day weekend. De-lightful. Most of the time the holidays don't work out in my favor, but this year is an exception. This is one of the few benefits to working in a non-profit. No vacation or sick time, but no one can work on the holidays :)

And it begins...

This is the blog of a craft-y, bookish, movie-watcher. Compelling, eh?

Currently, like about 2000 other people, I'm working on my Socks That Rock socks, in the Monsoon colorway. They're garter stitch short row heel/toe, with a ribbed foot and cabled cuff. I'm just now getting to the cuff part.

I really like the yarn. It's tightly spun, but not too tight, and knitting it on smaller needles than I'd usually use gives a nice thick fabric. Once I find my digital camera, I'll take a picture.

In between rows, I've been reading Dracula. Man, I love that book! The first time I read it, I thought it was horribly boring, but the second time I read it, I kept looking over my shoulder to make sure there wasn't a vampire waiting for a bite. Since then (1992?), I've read it about once or twice a year. Why did I read it again if it was garbage the first time? I figured that since it was a famous book, I ought to give it another try. Thank goodness I did!