Knitwit's Rambles

Moving House

2007-06-25T20:57:00.000-04:00

Hey everyone, just posting here to let you know that I've moved the blog over to Wordpress, and won't be updating here. Blogger has been ticking me off with a few annoying traits and so all the old entries as well as new ones can be found over at: http://knitwit1912.wordpress.com/

Don't forget to update your bookmarks!

Grumblings

2007-05-25T22:36:00.000-04:00

Grrr.

Where in the hell is that 2.5mm circular I bought? This is the only thing I don't like about circs--trying to store them. I think I'm going to have to consider getting a binder with plastic sleeves or something. Of course tidying my room and organizing my knitting stuff would work too, but that would actually be work.

Of course the reason I'm looking for it is because I finished the Trekking socks and I want to move on to a new pair, but it makes it rather difficult to do that when I can't find the *&^% needle I want to use. Of course this should probably be a sign to finish the ones I already have on the needles, particularly as I'm planning to join a knitalong which does not involve socks--or doesn't this month at least. More on that when I actually join.

I'll have pictures of the Trekking socks in a couple days, as I've been working all day and I want to try taking pictures of things under natural light, so it'll have to wait for tomorrow.

"Mrs. Fairfax had settled into a corner with her knitting..."

2007-05-19T22:54:00.000-04:00

Well here I was thinking that the photos I took of the socks I'm making in Lisa Souza yarn were going to be sadly outdated by the time I got them up on the blog. Then, with both heels turned, I actually tried them on.

You can see where this is going, right?

I had tried them on before doing the heels, but looks like I was mistaken in my idea of where they should start--the heel is shorter than ones I've made in other yarns, and so those heels and the small amount of what I'd knit on the cuff had to come out.

That was a week ago, though, and I've managed to turn both heels and get a few inches up the leg--quite a few inches on one of them, thanks to a marathon viewing of the 4-hour Masterpiece Theatre adaptation of Jane Eyre (one of my favourite books; more on the miniseries in a minute). And I have pictures this time, pictures that are only a day or two old!

Both socks, nearly the same length
Detail of the calf increases--a bit wonky, as I was making it up as I went along, but looks better when it's on.

In other good news, we have a local stitch n' bitch again, desipite the closure of the store that was hosting it. The person from that store that started it has moved it to a cafe downtown and even better, it'll be on the first Thursday evening of the month, which works well with my work schedule.

As for Jane Eyre, I thought it was done pretty well. There were a few moments early on where Rochester seemed to be portrayed more emo than I got a feeling for in the book (I was referring to him as "emo boy" for a while), but I did like that both he and Jane also had their more lighthearted moments instead of being permanently dour. There were a few things that were changed from the book of course, even those that weren't just for length reasons, though most of them I didn't mind. Really, it's to be expected in any adaptation for television or the movies. And this is better than a lot of the more recent adaptations of Jane Eyre simply by its being twice as long as the other films--four hours instead of two. The others (the A&E version with Ciaran Hinds and the big-screen William Hurt version) sufferend by having to cram too much into too little time, and I've been hoping that someone would do a longer version for years now. Definitely good to knit to!

The Times They Are A-Changin'

2007-05-05T22:02:00.000-04:00

I'm not dead yet! Work and other things (*coughRPGcough*) have made the last couple months busy ones, and somehow whenever I sat down to update my brain shied away from forming sentences. So how about I spare you a long synopsis of everything that's been going on and just cut to the news of the day?

Well it was nice while it lasted. Looks like the more upscale yarn store in town is closing, as the owners are moving. No more cashmere, no more Malabrigo, no more higher-end alpaca and 100% wool. The ladies at the other yarn store in town are nice, but a lot of the stock...well it's kind of old and not as nice as the stuff at the other store. Definitely no cashmere, no handpaints, no Elsebeth Lavold, and very little sock yarn (thought admittedly the upscale store didn't really have that much handpainted stuff either). Looks like it's back to waiting until I go into Toronto for the good stuff; either that or ordering off the internet. Though some things will hopefully only mean more trips into Niagara Falls to the yarn store there, as they have some things that the yarn stores here don't carry (laceweight!).

It also means no more second-Saturday knitting group, which has me thinking about starting one up. The main problems are timing and location, but those are pretty big problems. There are only a couple cafes downtown that are a distinct possibility. I know the library's policy on room usage and that's out--it would be costly and there's a line in the policy about groups not using it too many times. Community centres tend to be out of the downtown core and I'd like it to be close to the bus station.

The other problem is my work schedule, as I work every other Saturday afternoon, which is problematic. Also probiematic is that while I have a regular evening shift on Fridays, technically I can work any night between Tues-Thurs as well. I'm not sure I like the idea of making it only once a month, as if you miss that one day you're kind of screwed (as I know from personal experience). There is a gathering at the other yarn store in town but I only got to go once before I had a string of months where I couldn't make it that one night a month, and I haven't really been able to get back to it. Having it every Saturday afternoon, or on a night when I have to work that week would be all right once it's an established group and there are one or tow other people I know will show up (and that I could give signs to, or whatever), but it's problematic when you're starting. I'd also have to check with the owners of the venue and see how they would feel about people being there every week, though if we could find a time when they're not usually that busy they might welcome an every-week gathering! Ah well. I'll check those cafes, speak with the owners and see about it.

It's something I think I'd especially like to do as there doesn't seem to be much of a knitting community here, and the yarn stores here never really seem that busy, though maybe it's just the times that I drop in. The knitting groups at the yarn store also seem to be heavy on the friends/co-workers of the owner, too, which can be a little awkward and off-putting, particularly when it's a small group.

Now the yarn store in the Falls, I dropped into a couple weeks ago and wasn't there for more than fifteen minutes before the owner was asking if I'd like to teach a class--and I've only been there twice in the last year! There were a group of people sitting in the back and they invited me to sit down and knit, and I readily agreed as I'd had to go into the Falls for a dermatologist's appointment (whose office, handily, was about a 20 minute walk from the yarn store). It took a load off my feet, pulled out the sock I was working on on one circular needle, and the owner and I got discussing it, and bam, she asked me to consider doing a workshop. She's always looking for teachers, and this was before I mentioned that I teach knitting at the library. I'd love to do it though the timing is going to be a little tricky with my work schedule, and the fact that I don't have a car so I have to take buses into the Falls. During the university fall/winter semesters Niagara Falls transit runs a bus to the university that can let me off right near the store, but in the summer I'd have to use the Greyhound, then take a bus from the terminal. We'll see if we can work it out, though.

And finally, some picspam of recently finished socks: I call them my "Table Rock" socks. The yarn is "Cliffhanger" by Sunshine Yarns, and I wanted to do a themed sock with it, so I thought about cliffs nearby. Of course the biggest one in this area is the Niagara Escarpment and, naturally, Niagara Falls, so I decided on a stitch pattern of my own "unvention", to make a similar effect to that in Knitty's Wavy Scarf. With the colour of the yarn the pattern doesn't show up as much as it could, but I know it's there. Using cabled waves instead of knit and purls would show up better, but I decided I didn't want to do cable twists 12 times every 4 rows. They're named after the rock formation on the Canadian side, right at the edge of the Falls.

The vertical wave pattern, while in progress, click for larger pic

The finished sock!

Next time: photos of the socks I'm making with Lisa Souza yarn. I loooooove it.

Heavy on the "Rambles"

2007-03-02T19:33:00.000-05:00

I just finished mopping up a surprise remnant of the flood we had in the basement of the library branch I work at this morning (from other staff's reports, we had about an inch or two of water on the floor), so as a treat for dealing with the water and slime, I've been experimenting with Google's Blog Search feature looking for sock knitting blog posts. Recently I've been thinking I really should knit something other than socks sometime, but then socks are such wonderful projects; portable, relatively fast (says she who takes about a month to finish a pair) and I have such pretty sock yarn, why bother at the moment. I'll keep knitting them for the moment; a sweater can wait.

I actually haven't knit a sweater yet, something that shocked the ladies at the Sit & Knit last month. I had t explain that for four of the six years I've been knitting I was in university, and therefore if I was going to be knitting a sweater it would have to be in Red Heart, which I didn't want to do. In the last two years I've gone through various stages of employment (or unemployment) and it's only in the last year that I've really had the ability to...well, somewhat afford nice yarn.

There's also the issue of my being a plus-size, yadda, yadda. As I said, a sweater can wait.

So instead, it's socks, socks, socks, and I am unrepentant. Particularly as this way I can get truly yummy yarn without breaking the bank, like the ones I'm working on now. I also got more inspiration in the form of Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush via Inter-Library Loan.

Now hopefully, despite a leaky sink in the staff bathroom there won't be any more mopping to do. The fun of working at a small branch without its own on-duty maintenance person--all maintenance staff work out of the main library downtown. It's not something I'm not used to though; for a couple summers during university I worked at Hutchison House Museum in Peterborough, which was so small that staff--including the curator herself--were responsible for everything. If there was sweeping or dusting-- or mopping, considering Peterborough's penchant for flooding--or anything to be done, you did it. Working at a small branch is a bit like that, though we do have cleaners in the evenings, which helps.

Anyway, more experimenting to do. Google + Librarians = OTP!

A Perfect Time to Knit

2007-02-22T17:51:00.000-05:00

The wind is whistling in the trees and beating against the walls of the building, so this is definitely a good day to curl up with some knitting. Particularly as the power is flickering somewhat ominously. I'm dogsitting for my brother while he and his girlfriend are in Las Vegas, and I'm in their apartment, above the roofline of the surrounding houses, so the strength of the wind is really noticeable.

At least I've had a fair bit of knitting to do. I've finished the Blood and Bruises socks, though I don't have my camera here so I can't get a photo of the finished socks. I do have photos of the Times Squared socks, though, finally.

As I mentioned in my last post they're wonderfully soft and warm, particularly after they've been washed.

Since then I've been trying the Magic Loop method of working on sock--I know, me, who said she preferred DPNs and didn't see herself switching any time soon.

I can't exactly say why I decided I'd try doing magic loop, I was mainly just curious about the technique, and thought it might be interesting to find out how to do it. You can never know too many techniques after all.

I got a small 2mm circ when I was at the yarn store for the second Knit & Chat a couple weeks ago. It's too small to do socks for me on it comfortably (in true tradition I didn't see any of the sites where people said "longer circs are better!" until I'd actually bought the needles) but luckily I know a couple people that have spawned, and have been intending to make them baby socks with leftover sock yarn that I've had lying around in the stash.

I figured out how to do the figure-eight cast on and got to work, and I have to admit, it is a handy technique. No knitting needles poking out of my totebag, and it's not as unwieldy to lug around as socks on two circs does. I finished the first sock a couple days ago and have cast on for a second.

Unfortunately the yarn stores in my town aren't the greatest at stocking very small size circs however, and I wanted another 2mm circ in a longer length, as the yarn I got from Lisa Souza and Sunshine Yarns is fairly fine. I was also far too impatient to order off the internet and wait for them to arrive, so yesterday I made a trip to a yarn store in Niagara Falls that I really like, The Knitting Habit, using the local transit system. We don't have a regional transit system, but Niagara Falls and Welland Transit each have one bus that goes to Brock University, so I can head up there and get one of those. Even better, the N. Falls transit bus goes right by the intersection closest to the store, and as I have a monthly pass for St. Catharines Transit, the expense was really only the extra fare for the Niagara Falls bus.

I may have to make that trip more often, as there were quite a few things at the store that I wanted but stopped myself from buying as I have way too much stash already, and I remembered correctly that they had Addi Turbo needles, so I was able to get a 29" 2mm Addi needle as well as a long circ by...I think Aero in 2.25mm and another in 3.5mm for a project that I want to do. I've already started on the first sock using Sunshine Yarns in the "Cliffhanger" colourway, and I think I know what theme I want to do with this one. I'm just loving the yarn so far--it's so wonderfully soft and makes a really nice fabric.

Now if only the interlibrary loan I put in for for Sensational Knitted Socks by Charlene Schurch and Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush would come in, I'd be in sockmaking heaven. I don't think I'm going to give up the DPNs completely for circs, but it's nice to have yet another set of tools I can use to make socks, so I can have more on the go at once.

At the moment, though, I'd just prefer it if the power came back on so I could knit, as it finally went out about 45 minutes ago, and I've been touch-typing since then. Luckily brother and his girlfriend have digital cable which appears to provide a powersource for the router and TV, so I can still post this!

As the Yarn Ball Turns

2007-01-26T18:33:00.000-05:00

Well, I wrote this whole huge post the other night and when I went to post it, Blogger gave me a "Hey! We're doing maintenance!" message and I lost the entire thing. I know, I know, I should have saved it as a draft, but a lot of times if I stop writing to do that, I lose my mojo and don't end up finishing the post. So here's the point form version of what I'd written.

--Times Squared socks: DONE! I've worn & washed these and the Cherry Tree Hill bloomed so nicely after hand-washing. They feel even softer now that I've washed them than they were when I was knitting them. I'll post project details and photos tomorrow as I'm on my break at work.

--Dad's Worksocks: DONE! Thank God.

--Afghan from Knitting group: Still ongoing. Oy. Don't ask.

--Knitting group at the local LYS! Only three people showed up including me, but it felt great to get out and meet some other local knitters. We're hoping to find a cafe to host it as the person who was organizing it--while affiliated with the shop--doesn't actually own it, and she knows from other groups she's contacted that a common complaint about having one in a store is that people might feel obligated to buy stuff.

--Knitting group at the library! It's turning out really well so far. I have two adults and eight teens so far actually, thanks to a misprint in the announcements for it, but it hasn't really been a problem. The girls seem to have taken no notice that there's a couple adults there, and the adults don't seem to be put off my the teenagers--they've been chatting along quite amicably really. The adults have been picking it up really quickly, though one of them I know said she'd been shown how to knit long before, and the other I'm assuming has because of her age--considering the time period she would have grown up in I'd find it hard to believe that she hadn't at some point. My new teens are picking it up really quickly as well, which is probably helped by the fact that with the new adults going well I can spend more time with them, not that they need much help.

--Yarn Porn! I got the skeins I ordered from Sunshine Yarns and they're gorgeous. They're even more beautiful in person as there's a subtlety to the colourways that you really don't get to see in the photos on Etsy. They're so wonderfully soft, too. I can't wait to get started knitting them, but then I also have the Violet's Pink Ribbon, and the Lorna's Laces, and the Trekking...

--I have started on the Blood & Bruises socks! I'm doing them in a 4x2 rib as the colours in the variegate really wouldn't let any pattern show up--the rib is so I don't get bored and also to make them fit better. I'm doing them toe up and am into the foot on one; I'll wind the other skein into a ball this weekend and start that one soon, as I like to stagger my socks a bit. So far it's working up really nicely, though this is one colourway where I almost wish it would pool, however the colour splotches are really short. But then that's an idea if I ever wanted to ask one of the great yarn dyers for a custom dye job. ;) It feels a little thicker than I remember the other Koigu being but then that could be a combination of my imagination and the colours used.

I think I'm forgetting things, but then this update is long enough, so I'll leave it at that for now. Photos this weekend!

Small Victories

2007-01-05T22:29:00.000-05:00

*squees, dances* I got a package in the mail this morning, and it had yarn in it!

Yes, the Lisa Souza sock yarn in the "Violet's Pink Ribbon" colourway arrived this morning and I'm in love. The colours are vibrant and gorgeous, and it's soooooo soft. I just couldn't stop touching it or rubbing it against my cheek and revelling in its softness. It's seriously yummy stuff.

Of course it only makes me want to finish all the other projects in the queue ahead of it even faster, and luckily there's some progress on those fronts. I think I've found a rib pattern that would suit the Blood & Bruises socks. Of course it likely won't be too obvious as the colourway will hide some of the texture, but if it's not too eye-hurty I might do it anyway, simply for my own personal giggles.

As for the socks already on the needles, last night after a few concentrated hours of knitting I turned the heel on Dad's second sock, and am now starting on the leg.

It was a nice accomplishment, too, as yesterday was a real bitch of a day, and I was worn out, somewhat pissed off, not feeling well and probably hormonal, just to make things that much more fun. And then today, while commuting around before work, I managed to start the cuff on the Times Squared socks. So far I've only got about a half and inch of 2x2 ribbing on each, but there's a certain comfort to knowing that you're working the cuff, and have entered the home stretch. Hopefully finishing those won't take long.

It'll be about time, too, for me to have a new pair of socks, as I really have to go through my stash and get rid of some. Mainly some of the first ones I knit, which at the time I thought fit fine, but as I've refined my tehnique and gained experience in sock knitting, I've come to realize that some of them really don't fit that well. There's one pair that I wore the other day that I couldn't keep up for more than about 5 minutes, and there are about 3 pairs I've already moved to the "donate" pile, as I only wore and washed them a couple times before I decided that they really were too small, but didn't feel like ripping them out, even when that would only really involve making the foot a little longer. A lot of the earlier ones are also looking somewhat the worse for wear; no holes as yet, but more the heels felting or pilling really badly. They're pretty sorry-looking and even though they might fit someone else, I wouldn't want to donate something that looked as awful as these things do.

Of course this will also answer my mother when she says, upon seeing me knitting another sock, "More socks? Don't you have enough socks?"

The answer, obviously, is "No, mother. You can never have enough hand-knit socks."

I'll probably have to knit her some, just so she can see for herself. ;)

As for knitting other than socks? I had a brainwave tonight (just before I, um...announced we were closing in five minutes an hour before we actually closed *facepalm*), and have an idea for another project. This would be for whenever I finish the afghan and the Swallowtail Shawl, and a couple scarves and...

I need to learn to function without sleep so I can knit. Can't someone invent some kind of regeneration thing like the Borg use (circa Star Trek: The Next Generation) at least?

Etsy Will Be The Death Of Me (Or My Bank Account)

2007-01-03T12:35:00.000-05:00

Site Meter is now the funnest thing ever. I got a hit tracker for my blog (see it way down there at the bottom of the sidebar?) and I've been checking it somewhat obsessively to see where people are in the world that have visited the blog. So far it's mostly Canada and the US though there was one from Britain, and one from Portugal. It also tells you where people have come from, including what the search terms were if they used a google search. So far, no bizarre searches to report.

If you stop by, drop me a comment and say hello, especially if you have a knitting blog of your own! I don't bite, really.

Confession time: I bought sock yarn off of Etsy. Sunshine Yarns was updating this morning and I couldn't resist. I snagged a skein of Stormwatch and Cliffhanger, adding two more pairs of socks to the list of socks to be knit. This is also the first time I've bought yarn that I wasn't able to fondle beforehand, so we'll see how this turns out. Consdering the positive feedback the seller has and the overall glowing things I've heard about sellers on Etsy, I have no worries.

Did I mention I still have the three pairs' worth of yarn that I got in October when I went to Toronto that I haven't even touched yet?

But things are looking up: the Times Squared Socks are nearly finished. After having to rip back three rounds' worth last night on one of them, I'm ready to start the ribbing at the cuff. I even have recent photos!

Two nearly-done socks!

Closeup of the texture pattern

Dad's socks are still very much in progress, as you can see by the photographic evidence here. The longer one is probably just about ready for the cuff, though I still have a fair bit of the charcoal yarn left, so I may just keep going for a couple more inches. I did maybe another couple inches on the shorter one yesterday between commuting to the library branch across town and Spike showing some newer episodes of CSI, but there's still a looooong way to go. Men need to have smaller feet.

One of these things is not like the other...

Though the charcoal rib is kind of pretty in its plainness (even if you can't really see the ribs from here).

But of course the purchasing doesn't stop there. I'm itching to get a couple sets of DPNs and a set of circs from KnitPicks--not the full Options set, as I don't have that kind of disposable income, but just a couple of the tips and cords. I do kind of need the circs as I've heard from many people that a) Addi Turbos are rather blunt for lacework, though I didn't have a problem with my lace sampler shawl, and b) the pointier tips make it easier (but not necessarily easy!) when doing the nupps on the Swallowtail Shawl, which I would like to finish in the next couple months. It would be great ot have Swallowtail to wear when friends and I go to see Phantom of the Opera in Toronto in March, but I'm by no means counting on it. Particularly when I have so much sock yarn, either in my stash or on the way. ;)

So yes, say goodbye to more of my Christmas money. Though I know I'll certainly get a lot of use and enjoyment out of it!

Holiday Wrap-Up

2006-12-30T12:12:00.000-05:00

Well, Christmas is over and it's official: I didn't get Dad's socks done in time. Oh well. He doesn't mind, so I don't, really. At least I've got most of the way up the leg on one and finished the toe on the other, and now I can actually work on them at home in front of him, so it shouldn't take too long.

Hopefully it won't, too, as I still have the yarn I bought in Toronto to dive into and start knitting with. First up, the Blood and Bruises socks, for reasons too geeky to mention. I also have Lisa Souza yarn on the way; just got the email the other day.

Also, as of December 19th--in only four days--knitters around the world were able to double the amount raised for Knitters Without Borders. That's over $120,000 in four days, for a total of (at elast count) $248,000! (though suddenly it strikes me to wonder if that's in Canadian $$ or American--or a combination of both because people reported without stating which it was). And that's what it was up to by the emails Stephanie had received on the 19th, who knows where it is now. Go knitters!

The afghan continues to be seamed, and I'd post a photo if I wasn't feeling lazy/sick of looking at it at the moment. Must work on it over the weekend.

I'm also coming down with a cold, thanks to no sleep over Christmas, and one of my aunts being ill, so off I go to medicate!

2006-12-25T11:26:00.000-05:00

2006-12-23T19:59:00.000-05:00

Well, it's less than 36 hours before the presents get opened, and...I'm pretty much screwed. Grandma's Feather and Fan socks are finished at least, but not even the first sock of my Dad's pair are done yet. About a week ago I was going to blog about how I was nearly done the second of my grandmother's socks, so at least I'd have another pair of needles to start my Dad's second sock and wasn't too worried.

At least that's what I was planning before I went to hold the second Grandma sock up against the first to see how much longer the cuff needed to be and saw that the foot wasn't the same length.

By about half an inch.

Arrrrgh.

Needless to say I spent the fifteen minutes remaining before my shift started ripping back to just before I started the heel. So yup, it's pretty much confirmed now that dad's getting...well, hopefully one completed sock and the toe of the other in his stocking. At least that's not the main gift for him.

At the moment, Christmas knitting is all I'm working on, and all I've been for the last few weeks. For Grandma's socks, I'm using some Regia Canadian Colours that I had in my stash. Can't remember the number and the ball band is long gone, but it's a light blue/light yellow-green/dark blue/dark teal-ish colourway. They knit up pretty fast, considering the amount of time I've been able to devote to them, and the feather and fan pattern is a good one to stave off boredom.

For Dad's socks, I'm doing a plain worksock: off-white toes, heels and cuff, tweedy charcoal grey for the foot and leg, in a 4x2 rib. No need for really fancy work as I'm not sure he'd wear it if I did. Serviceable socks seemed a better idea, particularly as he'll ask for worksocks on his Christmas list, something my brother and I always tease him about.

Other than those, I'm trying to out together the afghan created by the girls in my knitting group at the library. Of course I had to take the complicated way of doing it (creating black sashing inbetween the squares, like a quilt), so it's going slowly.

Somehow over the last couple years I've always ended up doing Christmas knitting, though every year I've thought that I wouldn't. I'm not one of those people that has to make a knitted gift for everyone--particularly not one for everyone for the same holiday. I don't get the whole "I have to make something for everyone!" mentality, as I know that not everyone will want or appreciate a knitted item for Christmas; but then I think I can understand it if your family is the sort to compare gifts and keep score in the "they-got-something-handmade-so-why-didn't-I?" kind of way, in which case the pressure on the knitter is coming more from without than within.

My family isn't like that, and I usually try to focus more on what's the perfect thing for each person, rather than money value or handmade-versus-bought (though I try and spend approximately the same on my main family members).

Anyway, as I said I've decided I wasn't going to knit anything for anyone in the last couple years, but then Mom asks or grandma keeps hinting that she wants socks, or I decide "hey, it might be nice to amke this small thing for ____" and there you have it: Christmas knitting.

And speaking of giving, for those that don't listen to the podcast, Miss Violet of Lime and Violet is having some medical problems, which she can't even get diagnosed until she's found $1000 to pay for the testing. To help, Lisa Souza has created a special colourway called "Violet's Pink Ribbon", with part of the proceeds going to Miss Vi's medical fund. Any money raised over the amount needed will be donated to a related charity of Miss Vi's choosing.

Or to spread some more Christmas cheer, the Knitters Without Borders campaign, hosted by the Yarn Harlot, is back in full swing as well. I'm hoping to contribute this time, once the next credit card billing period comes along.

So if you have any disposable cash left, make one more gift, either to the ones I've mentioned or a charity of your choosing. After all, knitters know the joy of giving, with only warm fuzzies as the reward.

The Sadly Delayed Update, Part 1.

2006-12-04T16:04:00.000-05:00

Okay this thing has been languishing in my blogger account as a draft for a good month now, and I really have to get it put up. I had been meaning to post this around the end of Socktoberfest, but as the result of dog-sitting overnight (yeah, my sinuses hated me for that, guess I know one thing I'm allergic to), not getting anywhere enough sleep and working with the public, I got the creeping crud again. Cue feeling like someone had filled my sinuses with Elmer's Glue, and it just would not go away for a couple weeks.

Since then--and in the last couple weeks particularly--I've just been exhausted by work. It's that time of the year that people get sick so I 've been getting a lot of overtime, though the upside is that it'll give me some extra cash for the holidays...and more sock yarn, once my holiday knitting is done. But more on that later. First, housekeeping.

First up, the Boring Socks of Doom. DONE. Finished those a few weeks ago, and was glad to see them gone.

Next: Socktoberfest Shopping! I went into Toronto for the Creative Sewing and Needlework Festival and a yarn crawl on Oct. 22nd, planning to limit myself to two hours at the CSNF as I was going to be meeting up with someone in the Beaches for lunch.

I finished my walkthrough of the CSNF in about thirty minutes without seeing one thing that I really wanted to buy.

Yeah.

I haven't been able to go in the last two years so I don't know if there's been some gradual decline in the number of knitting vendors, but damn, it was disappointing. Not only that, but those few knitting vendors that were there weren't carrying anything I was looking for: precious little sock yarn--mostly of the self-striping variety--no laceweight and no knitting books that sparked my interest. A lot of the vendors I saw were selling kits (which don't really interest me as I'm a) a plus size and b) more likely to make stuff up on my own) and a lot of the others had a great deal of the frou-frou, fluffy crap that I'm not interested in.

Needless to say, I don't think I'll be going next year. I'll consider the $15 admission fee the cost of re-prioritizing my yarn trips (the DKC Knitter's Frolic is now the highlight of my knitting calendar!).

Anyway, went off to the Beaches and met up with my non-knitting friend at the Naked Sheep, which I was glad to finally be able to go to. Nice store, nice selection, and yay, I found Nancy Bush's "Knitting on the Road"! Though I'm not sure it'll become a regular haunt on my knitting trips to Toronto, considering it's fairly far out on the streetcar and a lot of the stuff I'll probably be intending to look for isn't stocked--which is nothing against the store, it just doesn't fit in to my purchasing habits (hell, I hardly go to Romni anymore for the same reason). If I have time, though, I'll make the trip.

Long, comfortable lunch with friend in a pub, then we split up and I went off to Lettuce Knit. This was my first time at the new location, and I love the store--so cozy, and so much good yarn. They had just gotten in a shipment of Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock! So many colours! It probably took me a good half-hour to decide which of those I wanted alone. I also got my hands on some Trekking XXL, finally, and I found some gorgeous alpaca laceweight that I didn't buy even though I was lusting after it. Next time, and once I finish the Swallowtail Shawl. I also got to pet the resident kitties, which was nice as I still miss my housemate's cat from university. If I hadn't had my arms full and if I'd been sure of an easy reception from the cats I would have picked them up and cuddled them.

Last stop was the Knit Cafe on Queen St. W. and there, I found KOIGU! I must have spent half an hour trying to decide what to get, which was complicated by the fact that I could only find one of each of the colourways that jumped out at me, which is always the way, of course. I did find two skeins of a colourway I really liked, and which turned out to be rather appropriate. Oddly enough, the colours I picked...were exactly the same colours of the bruise I found on my thigh later that night from whacking it with the turnstile at one of the subway stations. I have now dubbed it the "bumps and bruises" colourway (see below), and I'm looking for a texture pattern that, well, fits the theme. Something like what the Lizard Ridge squares look like before they're blocked. Of course I could use Lizard Ridge, but all thos wraps and turns look like they could really be a pain in the ass to do in a sock, and I'm not sure it would keep that texture.

See? The dark blues, the dark reds and purples... They're even more vivid in person, really. Told you I was sad. Of course I could elaborate more about where my brain has gone with connections to that colourway, but then it would only make me sound even MORE sad, so no.

I have more--namely everything I've been doing in the weeks since that trip, but I think I'll have to save that one for another post or I'll really never get this one put up.

You Learn Something New Every Day

2006-10-18T16:06:00.000-04:00

...like the fact that while I've been doing short-row heels since January, I apparently do them wrong. Or at the very least, half-assed.

This is likely because back in January when I was working on my second pair of socks using the short row heel, I was at my best friend Amanda's house in Pickering for New Years and had forgotten to bring the book I had with instructions for short-row heels, so I just did it from my (faulty) memory. The 6 litres of Pepsi I'd drank that weekend during our 24 Season 1 marathon (and, for that matter, the marathon itself, no matter that I'd seen the season before) may have had something to do with it too. It seemed to work and looked fairly good, if a little messier than other people's short-row heels, so I've done it that way since.

However, thanks to the tutorial on Cosmicpluto Knits last week, I discovered that I a) have been wrapping my stitches half-assedly (I would slip the stitch to be wrapped, then bring the yarn to the front, slip back and then bring the yarn between the stitches ready to work the next stitch) and b) have been doing the second half of the heel half-assedly, as I wasn't double-wrapping stitches. I'm already past the heel on both the Boring Socks of Doom, so I can't do the non-half-assed version any time soon, but will have to try it with my next pair and see what it looks like.

Speaking of the Boring Socks of Doom, I may be cursing myself here, but they seem to be almost done. I think if I can get another inch or two on the cuff of both of them, I can call it quits, and Thank God for it. Then I can cast on something more interesting, in time to take with me as travel knitting for th Creative Sewing and Needlework Festival this weekend.

Speaking of CSNF (I'll be there on Sunday, thanks to work scheduling, and dammit, there better be Koigu and Trekking left when I get there!), dammit is there some kind of T-pin embargo on this city or something? I need T-pins so I can block out the lacy sampler scarf, which only has about 6 or 7 inches of edging to go (I'll be able to finish that tonight, really, as each edging repeat is about 1 inch long and it's a pretty quick knit). I want to wear the scarf to CSNF this weekend.

But could I find T-pins in the THREE stores I tried? No! Fabricland? Out. Wal-Mart? Out. Husquvaarna (sic?) sewing store near work? Out. And with work I don't have time to go looking for them elsewhere in town until Saturday afternoon, by which time it'll be about 16 hours before I want to wear the damn thing. I won't even have time to hop off the bus near the yarn store tomorrow, run in, grab them (if they have them in the first place) and get out to the bus, as I have to commute from one branch to another on my lunch hour. If I got up very early on Friday, I could *maybe* have time to haul ass out to the other Wal-Mart in town, but I would then be very grumpy the rest of the day because from now until the evening of Sunday, I'm going to need all the sleep I can get.

Considering the scarf is made of laceweight yarn and very open and airy, there's a chance it might be dry before I need it, but it's cutting it awfully close. Arrgh.

I have bunch of photos to post, but they'll have to wait for next time as they're at home and I'm at work with about 5 minutes to go before I have to be on duty. So next time: photos, I promise! Hopefully I'll get them up before Sunday as I'd like to do some photoblogging about my trip into T.O. (aka "Yarnapalooza 2006") when I get back. But considering my track reocrd, no promises.

Socktoberfest is Here!

2006-10-03T23:33:00.000-04:00

Anyone who's been watching the blog for a while should know by now that I love knitting socks. They're practical, they're portable, they're not to quick a knit, and not too long a knit, and there are so many gorgeous yarns. So needless to say, you all should know that I was going to be all over Socktoberfest like white on rice.

So to start off the celebration, Lollyknitting Around has posted a few questions for the Socktoberists.

1) When did you start making socks? Did you teach yourself or were you taught by a friend or relative? or in a class?

I started making socks in the summer of 2002. I came home one day to spot my downstairs neighbour sitting on the porch of the house we lived in (we were in a duplex), knitting a sock, and thought, "I should try that!" I taught myself to knit them using some worsted weight yarn and Judy Passman's Generic No-Frills Sock Recipe. I still think that, for those with some experience knitting, this is the best way to learn to knit socks, as it teaches the general proportions and techniques used in sock knitting, instead of getting hung up on exact numbers, allowing you to knit socks with any type of yarn at any gauge.

2) What was your first pair? How have they "held up" over time?

My first pair were a heavy, 100% wool worsted weight and the first time I wore them (in boots, no less) the soles felted. Needless to say they became house socks after that (but very cozy and warm ones!). They're still around here somewhere--I think buried in one of my storage bins in my closet.

3) What would you have done differently?

Not worn them in boots. I think it was a good idea to use the worsted the first time though, so I wasn't trying to juggle teeny yarn and needles as well as figure out the pattern.

4) What yarns have you particularly enjoyed?

KOIGU. Oh dear mother of God, when I go to CSNF I'm going to mortgage my firstborn for the stuff. Same with Fibre Artist, and I can't wait to get going on the Cherry Tree Hill I got in NY. I like Regia as well, and I kind of like the self-striping yarns, but I think I'm making the transition over to handpaints. I'll probably still get some of the self-striping occasionally though (though in more interesting colourways than the Boring Socks of Doom). When I finally get a credit card I'd love to start trying some of the smaller producers, like people with Etsy shops.

5) Do you like to crochet your socks? or knit them on DPNs, 2 circulars, or using the Magic Loop method?

I barely crochet, so no. I Use DPNs as my circular needles are unorganized enough already--I don't need 2 pairs of every kind. Plus, I do two socks at the same time anyway--I have two sets of all my sock-size DPNs so I can two the two socks at the same time, but this way I can also stagger them, so that when I'm knitting the foot on one, I'm doing the heel on the other, etc. Magic Loop... Meh, I might try it sometime, but I don't see much of a reason to switch from DPNs as they're working just fine for me. Plus, they make non-knitters boggle.

6) Which kind of heel do you prefer? (flap? or short-row?)

I've been doing a lot of toe-up socks lately so I know while there is a way you can do a heel-flap type of heel toe-up, I just stick with the short row. Plus, I find the short row heels fit my heels better, so even the last couple pairs of top-down socks I did were with short-row heels.

7) How many pairs have you made?

Oh Lord. Um...at least 20. I've got about 10 in my sock drawer now, at least 5 or 6 in my laundry basket, 1 pair that I just finished, 1 pair that still needs to ahve some ends woven in, I've made a couple for people that asked me to, and I know I'm forgetting a couple more.

And naturally I've got a hell of a lot more sock yarn to knit up.

And to ring in Socktoberfest, I have photos of the COMPLETED Kasshabog Dusk Koigu socks! Wore them today for my first Preschool Storytime and they were so comfortable.

Ta-daaa!

Mmmm Geekery

2006-09-29T20:57:00.000-04:00

Been tinkering with the look of the blog a bit - basically just changed the Blogger-provided template. They all look kind of weird, but then that's probably because I have a widescreen monitor and the proportions of the blog components don't adjust to the monitor size, so when I look at it, I have two huge blocks of background colour on either side of the content, which just makes it look out of proportion.

Also, Blogger? It helps if you don't randomly change the comment option to "Only Comments from Members of this Blog". Especially if you don't TELL me this. Just happened to be looking through the options and spotted that little detail. Oy.

I've also started trying to use bloglines but am kinda meh on it. I'd like it better if I could get it to display new posts like LiveJournal does on their friendlist feature: posts in order by the most recent, regardless of their source, whereas right now bloglines shows the five most recent posts on each blog. Most of them I had to click on the post anyway to see the whole thing which opens in a separate window anyway, so... Yeah, not sure how much use I'll get out of that.

Anyway, away from the techie stuff and back to the knitting.

First in knitting news, nearly done the Kasshabog Koigu socks. Went through about three or four possible ideas for the tops before I decided to just go with plain garter stitch. I don't really need the ribbing at the top to keep them up as they're all ribbing, and I just want to finish them.

Of course when they're done I'm not exactly free to start the socks that I want to, as I want to do those on a size smaller needles than the Koigu ones, which are currently take up with the world's most boring self-striping yarn. Really, I should have known this stuff was a dog in the skein: light blue, a slightly darker blue and grey interspersed with bands of black & white patterning, and all the colour bands are washed out and kind of mottled, like denim. Really, it's not the most interesting stuff, but now that I'm halfway done the foot on one and at the heel on the other I don't exactly want to tear it all out. See kids, this is why you should never buy yarn in desperation just to have some new yarn and something to knit. Because eventually you will get better yarn, by which time the dog yarn will be hogging the needles you want to use.

The socks I'd like to start once I'm finished the Koigu ones are using the yarn I got in New York, which I've found the perfect stitch pattern for. It was in one of the Regia sock books, a six-stitch repeat, making stockinette squares outlined by garter ridges. Or to me, in this yarn, like the neon lights of Times Square reflected in the grids of windows of skyscrapers. Therefore, they are now officially dubbed the "Times Squared Socks". *is a dork*

Now I just have to finish the Boring Socks of Doom so I can have my 2.25mm needles back. However, at least when I finish the Koigu socks, the BSoD can become my travel projects, and considering my work schedule just got interesting ("Define interesting." "Oh God, oh God, we're all going to die?" Sorry, random geekery) I should be spending quite a bit of time commuting to and from work on the bus.

Speaking of work, my knitting program at the library started today! I've been looking forward to it; particularly as I'm doing it with teenagers as an afterschool thing, instead of kids on summer Saturday mornings. Considering teenagers have more autonomy, especially around that time of day, I'm thinking there's a greater chance that the kids will be there because they're actually interested and want to be, as opposed to some of the kids I had last time, some of whom had less choice in the matter. Today 7 of the 9 kids showed up (Seven of Nine! HEE! Sorry, more geekery) and they were a really good bunch. Most of them already knew each other as they're homeschooled. A few of them already know how to do some knitting, some are starting from scratch, so the ones that already knew the basics basically had a little stitch n' bitch (including the others, of course, once I got them started off) while I taught the newbies.

The newbies did really well, and by the end of the class they were knitting away. It was nice to have them catch on fairly quickly, which I had been hoping would be the case. One of the girls was struggling a bit on her first row, and mentioned that she thought she'd probably stick with beading as "this yarn thing" wasn't really her cup of tea. By her third row she was saying that she could see how it could be addictive. :) Should be interesting to see how the class goes from here on in.

Also, I could really do an entire entry about knitting podcasts, but just mentioning one I've found recently, though they've been podcasting for a while: Lime And Violet. OMG. I love this podcast. I kept hearing about them on Cast On (the other of my have-they-posted-the-podcast-yet weekly addictions) and just downloaded a couple eps last week. These girls are hilarious; incredibly wacky and yarn obsessed. They sound like the kind of people I would love to hang out with because we'd just be howling the entire time. Now every time I see some incredibly delicious yarn I think of Miss Violet saying that she wants to rub it on her good bits. *snigger* Go to the blog or to iTunes or Podcast Alley and download them.

So anyway, there's the updates. Hopefully next time I update I will be closer to starting the Times Squared socks and I will have the Boring Socks of Doom closer to done.

Attack of the Creeping Crud...and Photos!

2006-09-15T20:03:00.000-04:00

Not of the creeping crud. And no self portraits as unfortunately I am not laying back gracefully amongst the pillows wearing a fetching bedjacket. Instead I'm propped up on pillows, nose dribbing everywhere, coughing every half second, with greaseball bedhead.

...I'm sure you really wanted to know all that.

Anyway, as promised, I have pictures of knitting, which I'm sure will be a much more welcome sight to all of you out there in blogland.

I also never did my update for the rest of August and the beginning of September which, well, really, there's not much to update. I worked on my yet-to-be named Koigu socks. I'm kind of thinking "Kasshabog Dusk", as the colours remind me of the colours you see at the cottage we rented a couple times on Lake Kasshabog in the Kawarthas, north of Peterborough. It could also be because while I was working on these socks Mom and Dad were headed up north to another cottage we used to go to and I wasn't. *pouts*

Anyway, I'm almost finished them as you can see in this photo. I'm probably going to start the ribbing soon as they're getting to about the length I like them. However, it also means that I still have the subject of the photo on the right: another entire skein of Koigu (in ball form, of course), as the store owner where I bought the yarn said with Koigu you needed 3 skeins for socks, unless you wanted ankle socks. My feet being of mammoth proportions, I bought the extra skein. Now I'm not entirely sure what to do with it. Lacy handwarmers maybe? Hold it together with the white cashmere/wool blend I was going to use to make myself handwarmers? I'm not sure. Will have to ponder this.

Meanwhile, have been working on a couple other things, of course. I've been doing some destashing by working on a scarf for donation. I had an entire skein of Paton's Shetland Chunky in a charcoal grey, as well as a skein of Naturally Tussock 8 ply in a charcoal grey with little tweedy flecks. Not enough to make a scarf from either alone but held together, and knit on gigantic needles, you get a proper adult-sized scarf. Am doing it in boring garter stitch, but it's going fast enough that I don't care about the boredom of the endless knitknitnknitknitknit... Besides, it's great for talking on the phone and knitting as I don't really need to pay too much attention to what I'm doing.

As for the stash additions, they're mainly single balls for testing out yarns I'd like to use for my first sweater, which I'd like to do sometime soon. Particularly as at the moment my LYS is still having a 40% off everything sale, which would certainly help a lot. The stuff I'd really like to use is Kathmandu DK, in this gorgeous deep plum/burgundy colour (which you...really can't see in the photo at all, unfortunately), with subtle flecks of red and beige. It just screams to be made into a warm, earthy-looking sweater (maybe cabled?) that would be great to cuddle into in fall. Only problem being that even with the sale, and considering how much I'd have to buy to cover my plus-size body, I'd have to be very careful with the pattern; ie. making it one that I Would Not Screw Up. And did I mention the part where I'd be making this pattern up?

There are a couple alternatives, other yarns I'd looked at that I don't remember the names of at the moment, and I'm too lazy and tired to get up off my perch and hunt down the ball bands for. But I am seriously in love with the Kathmandu. The others are nice and soft and very pretty colours (one burgundy, the other teal), but they're solids, and I love the tweedy look, especially as it's getting more into fall and getting cooler.

Eh, we'll see.

Only other news is that the Swallowtail Shawl is proceeding slowly, though I've only been working on it at occasional moments, when the urge takes me, so that's nothing to be surprised at. I also went through my knitting basket (well...one of them...) and took out a couple UFOs that I really need to work on--including a pair of socks, quel surprise. At the moment, though, I'm trying to finish up another pair of handwarmers in a lovely soft alpaca/wool blend. It'll only take a couple more hours' work to finish them, really, as they go so quickly. I'll post photos when they're done but if you're curious, they look the same as the green ones I did back in April.

Other than the couple balls here and there I'm just trying to save up my $$ for the Creative Sewing And Needlework Festival in Toronto in a month's time. I really want to go this year as I missed both the spring and fall shows the last couple years, and besides, I need to scope out more laceweight...and maybe more Koigu. And some Trekking XXL. Because you can never have too much sock yarn, right?

Oh! And have completely forgotten to mention here that my boss approached me a while back about doing a knitting program at the library and it's scheduled to start in a couple weeks. It's for 12 to 18-year-olds and while there was only one person signed up the last time I saw the sheet, I got an email from one of my coworkers to say that someone else signed up the other day and mentioned that a bunch of homeschoolers they knew would probably be signing up too. More news on that front as I have it. Anyone have any advice for beginner knitters that you think I should pass along? I plan to try and get across that there's nothing to be scared of in knitting, that everything will feel awkward at first and smoothness just comes with practice.

And now off to listen to the new Cast On and get myself some more cough syrup. Fun.

In Which I'm Very, Very Lazy

2006-09-05T18:12:00.000-04:00

Okay, so I'm tired and lazy today, so you get a voice post. It's about 10 MB, will take a couple minutes to download, and you don't actually have to save it to your hard drive to listen. Enjoy!

Bonus Links:

Peacock Feathers Shawl, Fiddlesticks Knitting
Swallowtail Shawl, Interweave Knits magazine, Fall 2006 Issue
Knit One, Kill Two (#1 in the Knitting Mystery Series), by Maggie Sefton
Died in the Wool, by Mary Kruger
Chicks with Sticks (It's a Purl Thing), by Elizabeth Lenhard

Promised Picspam

2006-09-02T22:05:00.000-04:00

Okay, finally here are those photos I was talking about.

The Jack Bauer Felted Manpurse of Justice! The flap actually comes down lower than that; it's just kinda wonky in this pic.

The Koigu mistake rib socks! Which have no creative name, unfortunately. And they're much further along than that now; will have to take some updated pics soon.

NYC swag! Cherry Tree Hill supersock in the "Country Garden" colourway.

And here's a closeup of that colourway, though the colours are perhaps a tweege less vibrant in real life. Still undecided what stitch pattern (if any) I want to use with this yarn.

Back from the Big City and Been Very Busy

2006-08-30T23:09:00.000-04:00

Ha, try saying that title five times fast!

Well it's been a while. I actually wrote most of this post a couple weeks ago, after I got back from nym NYC trip, but I was so sleep-deprived that week (in the four days we were in NYC, I only got about 10-12 hours of sleep, whee!) that I didn't have the energy to do the resizing and uploading of photos that I wanted to do for the post. Since then I've been really busy/wiped-out by work as we've been really busy, and we had the summer reading parties last week, and when I got home I wasn't exactly capable of stringing together sentences. ;-) So here we have a very big catch-up post! Or, well, part of one. I think I'll mainly focus on the trip and knitting related to that, then do a catch-up on the last couple weeks since then sometime this weekend.

Had a great time in New York despite the sleep deprivation, visiting a lot of different places (the UN, Times Square--in day and at night--Central Park, the World Trade Center, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Grand Central Station, the New York Public Library, Union Square and a dozen other places that are skipping my mind at the moment) eating in some great restaraunts and even getting to meet a couple people that live in New York that I've known through the net for a while. The only real problem on the entire trip was the heat, which I was expecting but couldn't really prepare for. It was so unbelieveably hot, and standing on subway platforms waiting for our train (which could take 10 minutes) was brutal. I can see why those that can flee the city in the summer months.

For those that have been following the saga of the manpurse, it WAS finished in time, though the strap was still rather damp during our flight. It was also way too long and as I didn't have time to fix it while I was there, I didn't really wear it in the city, but it did serve a good purpose as my carry-on on both flights. Also for those who persist on asking on knitting groups about whether you can take knitting needles planes, I took my Koigu sock-in-progress on bamboo needles and at Pearson though I was selected for a random search, the attendant didn't seem to pay any attention to my needles (she didn't even open my solid metal iPod case), and at La Guardia, they didn't even open my bag after sending it through the x-ray machine. Of course, that was when we got back, three days before the incident in London. Now the list of what can be brought has changed, which means people are going to be asking that question on knitting lists more often than they already were.

Of course while I was there I was hoping to get to a yarn store or two that I'd written down before the trip, as there are a few things that were advertised on a few yarn store websites that I've never seen up here. I didn't get to go to any until the last day of our trip, though, and then only one, as I was travelling with non-knitters, and there was just so much else we wanted to do. There was a great little yarn store only a few blocks from our hotel, though: Knitty City, at 208 W. 79th St., in the Upper West Side, that I got to visit though. I got a skein of Cherry Tree Hill supersock there (wanted to get more but I was nearing the end of my budget) and I loved the store. The staff were friendly and welcoming and if I lived in the area, it would so be my LYS. Have I mentioned before how jealous I am of everyone that lives where they have a knitting community?

Anyway, it's a good thing no one took my needles away at the airport because on the way back, we were stuck on the plane, on the tarmac for two hours. We had jsut gotten loaded and it was time to leave the gate when the pilot reported that we had a hydraulic problem and maintenance needed to see if they could fix it--if they couldn't, we couldn't fly. Then after the problem was fixed and the paperwork finally completed and signed by the right people, we had to wait for a number of other flights to take off, as there was bad weather in the area that was delaying a lot of other flights. We got back two hours late, and I didn't get home until a quarter to one in the morning. And did I mention the part where I had to be at work at nine a.m. the next day?

But anyway, am home and finally rested and had a great time. I can't wait to go back. Only this time...not in August.

...And for some reason Blogger doesn't want to put the photos in the post, so will do a separate photo post tomorrow.

A Minor Setback

2006-07-31T23:41:00.000-04:00

Well, things were going really well on the Felted Manpurse, at least until last night.

By about 10:30 last night I'd gotten it to the stage you see here, with the body done and about halfway done the flap. Great progress! Sure I'd be finished in time to felt it and block it while drying before Thursday!

And then I happened to whack my right index finger against the bathroom counter. Very, very hard. So hard that I thought I must have broken something, though forcing myself to bend my finger through the pain obviously proved that nothing was. Didn't prevent me from letting out a whispered stream of curses, though.

So instead of knitting for hours last night, I spent the time with my index finger tucked between two icecubes, wrapped in a towel. This morning when I woke up it was so stiff and sore I couldn't get back to sleep, but over the day it's loosened up and doesn't hurt as much so there's hope. I finished the flap and did the I-cord bind off and actually I think it's helped get some of the flexibiltiy back, as earlier I couldn't curl my finger around the yarn and now it only hurts when I curl my finger as tightly as I can.

Here's hoping it hasn't gone all stiff again tomorrow, as I need to do the felting then. Of course it wouldn't be Jack Bauer's manpurse if things didn't go badly wrong at the 11th--er, more like 23rd hour and there was a race to the finish, the outcome uncertain until the last minute. ;-)

Here We See The Wily Felter...(now with pictures!)

2006-07-18T22:45:00.000-04:00

Am currently on a felting adventure. Worked up two swatches in Lopi that I had hanging around as test swatches for the Satchel (aka the JackBauerManpurseofAsskickery) and they are in the washer as we speak! Feel the excitement! Revel in the fact that I haven't a clue how in the hell they're going to turn out as I'm kind of making this shit up as I go along!

Okay, not quite. I've read a lot of people's blog entries about felting and as I have a number of woolly things that I don't want felted I know the basic rules. Hot water + agitation + soap = felt, with the side addition of cold water shock = even more felting and shrinkage. So I've whacked my swatches in a pillowcase and tossed them in with my sheets and a couple towels that needed washing anyway. Should be done soon. Unfortunately in my haste to get going I forgot to take "before" pictures, but I'll get some "after" ones and hey, at least I took measurements!

ETA: Success! Mostly. Come on down to my felting lab and I'll show you...

...come into my parlour said the spider to the fly...

Okay, here's the felting lab, a.k.a, my basement. Washer, dual-compartment sink (very important in a couple minutes), cleaning products, weird stains on the floor, the whole shebang.

So I pulled the swatches out of the washer and...

...huh. A little felting going on, but not much. Considering I shrank this photo quite a bit and you can still see the stitches, not terribly good results. I did a garter stitch swatch as well, just to see how the different stitch patterns felted, but it's really boring, so I'll leave the photos on that one.

So here's where the fun started! Were I actually making something, this is where I'd do the lazy thing and just whack it back in the washer with more loads of laundry, but I didn't want to waste the water or wait. So instead, I hand-felted it!

Filled up a little basin with hot, hot soapy water and put it in the left half of the double sink becuase that's where the dishwasher drains and ew, it's gross in there. Turned the tap on cold in the other side of the sink, then proceeded to violently agitate and shock that swatch. I was violent. I tortured it. I...pulled a Jack Bauer on it. ;-)

Anyway. After all that shocking and agitating, shocking and agitating, I got...

...FELT! It didn't shrink much width-wise, but it did shrink about half an inch lengthwise. I know it usually doesn't felt evenly in both dimensions, but then I thought it might change a bit more at least. The swatch was fairly dense to begin with, though.

So looks like it worked well. Both swatches are drying downstairs, and I'll see what they feel like when they're dry. But it looks like the Satchel (aka JackBauerManpurseofJustice) is a go for New York. Will get the yarn tomorrow. *cackles*

Of course I'm kind of bodging it as I've never seen the yarn used for the original project, and there are a bunch of other variables with that but the stitch gauge was about the same and really, as long as it's big enough for my stuff...

Besides. Making stuff up as I go along? So Jack.

...Now I wonder if I could do it in 24 hours?

This is Why I'm Keeping Myself from Podcasting

2006-07-17T15:58:00.000-04:00

Somehow it never seems all that long since I've blogged until I happen to glance at the date of my last post and the number is almost the same as the one on my desk calendar. I've been thinking about doing a podcast (as far as I know there are no Canadian knitting podcasts. WTF?) but looking at the track record of my knitting blog, I'm thinking that might not be a good idea.

However! There are improvements in the blog coming, namely:

PICTURES!

Yes, people, I finally got a digital camera. *happy twirl* I've been experimenting with it and will probably be doing the Alphabet Meme that some other knitbloggers have been doing, so I have an excuse to post more often.

At left, you see my modified Pine Tree Toe-Up socks, using my bedsheet as a background as it was the only light-coloured thing I had handy for photo-taking at 11:45 pm. Note the flare at the top of the sock from the cast-off; I've yet to find a bind-off for toe-ups that is stretchy, but also non-flaring. I know quite a few people swear by EZ's sewn bind-off, and I should probably try wrapping my head around those diagrams again. The mate to this sock is still on the needles, and I may try it on that one. After all, no one's going to notice when I'm wearing them.

Besides, I should really finish that sock because I kind of need the needles. Need them for some KOIGU, that is. My first Koigu. I feel like there should be a Hallmark card or something for this. Finally I get to use yarn that all the cool knitters are using! All I have to do is get some Trekking XXXXXXXXL and the transformation from nerd knitter to cool kid will be complete!

...Okay, I'm done with the sarcasm. It's just jealousy anyway, of all those knitters who live in a Certain Big City and have access to this stuff at actual yarn stores and to God knows how many SnBs. Seriously, I have to see if one of the LYSs here might start one or figure out how to start one myself, because I keep reading about people who have these great SnB nights and I'm insanely jealous, wah.

Anyway, so yes, I have Koigu. I went on a yarn crawl to Toronto a couple weeks back on one of the frigging hottest and stickiest days of the summer, as it was the only day I could do it for the next month or so, and Koigu was on the List of Things To Look For. Found a colourway I liked at Knitomatic, and I'm nearly at the heel on one sock. So far I'm loving the way the Koigu works up; it really is gorgeous stuff (which it had better be, really for $45 for a pair of socks). Have to get the other PTTU off the needles before I can start the other one, though, which I should do soon, as I don't usually knit one sock at a time. One stays in my purse/tote bag, the other by the TV and I switch them every so often so that the interesting bits are staggered.

Also in the nearing-completion pile is another photogenic work: The Lace Sampler Scarf. Which unfortunately has to be shown in three pieces as even with standing on a chair, I couldn't get all of it in the shot. And for some reason now the picture-adding doohickey on Blogger isn't working, so I'm coding this by hand.

...Okay, I'm copy-and-pasting the code from the first pic and using it for subsequent pics, just changing the URLs and the alignment codes. Like I'm going to reinvent the wheel, when I don't know how to make the wheel in the first place, pshaw!

Anyway, yes, the scarf. It's actually a little further along than in these pictures, by now, as I only have one more short-row corner to do and then the last stretch of the side edging. Luckily in these pictures (and probably in the finished object) you can't really see that with the corners, I am so making it up as I reach each corner. That's the point of a sampler, though, right? Learning experience? :-)

Okay, it was more to show off a woman's skills, though many of them were used as a learning tool as well. Personally I like the samplers with mistakes; we had a number of them at the living history museum I worked at and I always found the ones with misspellings and lines that ran out of room to be more endearing.

Anyway, all I have to do is finish the edging and them block this monster somehow. I've been thinking of getting some of those interlocking playmats--the kind that look like big, square puzzle pieces--so I could do it downstairs in the family room, though it's rather dusty down there. Either that or I could borrow the bed in the spare room, as long as I could be sure no one was going to use it in the interim. Though it shouldn't take too long for this piece to dry: it's laceweight mohair and silk, and it's very thin, light and fluffy as a cloud, but very warm.

As for current and immediate future projects, I have the Koigu socks (photos of those next time) and I really have to do swatching and start on the Satchel (aka the JackBauer Felted Manpurse *shifty*) from Knitty as I'm heading off to New York City in two weeks.

TWO. WEEKS. OMG. This has obviously not sunk in yet.

I wonder if my travelling companions would be put out if I wanted to visit a yarn store or two (or three...or four...)?

Busy Nothings

2006-06-18T14:23:00.000-04:00

Am nearly done my pseudo-Jaywalkers. Or should that be my pseudo-Pine Tree Toe-Ups? Maybe some kind of illegitimate child of the two? (Oh, come on. You know those two would be getting it on.)

Ahem. Um. Anyway. Yes, almost done, just need to do the last bit of ribbing, then make another attempt to figure out that darning-needle ribby bind-off. I tried once before ages ago with a different project, but my brain was having problems translating the pictures to my hands. Will give it a whirl again, though.

I've also finally started knitting on the edging to my sampler lace scarf. It's going well--after a couple false starts trying to add another row of eyelets and some extra stitches to a pre-existing edging, I just cut out the fancy crap and added a couple plain stitches to the pre-existing edging for a border. It's looking quite nice, though when I gave the knitted-on part an experimental lateral tug, there wasn't much stretch there, and I'm not sure how much the entire piece will stretch lengthwise when I block it. It's not bad, though, and I don't think I really have to worry too much about increasing the length to make the lace patterns I used look better. Maybe I'm just pulling the edge stitches too tight.

I'm trying to resist buying yarn as I already have enough for quite a bit of knitting, but part of me also wants to plan a yarn crawl to Toronto soon. For some reason now my brain is debating the colour I chose for the Peacock Feathers Shawl when I was at the DKC Knitters' Frolic and have been checking about maybe picking up some more Jaggerspun Zephyr, but the only places I know of in Toronto that have it are mail-order, so I may just have to bite the bullet (or check out The Yarn Store With The Unhelpful Staff which I have had mixed experiences with). I have also been longing for KPPPM since I was at the Frolic, though hello, I have enough sock yarn already (but it's not Koigu!). Mainly just working out the timing between paycheques, time off work and the oh-God-end-of-the-month bills.

I might be buying some yarn for a specific project soon, though. I'm rather tempted to make Satchel from Knitty, particularly as it looks like it might be good or my trip to New York in August. Room for my wallet/iPod/camera/guidebook, a strap that goes over my chest so it's not falling off my shoulder all the time, and harder for someone to grab...

Of course it has nothing to do with the fact that it kind of looks like this one. Of course not. The fact that it looks like the Jack Bauer Manpurse of Justice has no bearing on it whatsoever. However could you think that? ;-)

Okay, so truthfully it is the functionality that I'm thinking of. The fact that it looks like the Jackpack basically just makes me giggle incessantly.

And speaking of trip and cameras, I'm looking into getting a digital camera, so hopefully soon there will be more actual photos of knitted items on this blog. *crosses fingers* I'm looking at something under $200, probably a 4- or 5-megapixels, preferably with USB hookup instead of a special dock, as well as removeable memory storage. Any suggestions as to manufacturers/models?

2006-06-11T14:10:00.000-04:00

Well I made it through the two convocation ceremonies, and I have to admit I only brought out my knitting once. I'm sorry, but the Acting President's speech was long and boring as hell the first time, sitting through it the second time and not knitting would have been impossible. And at least I didn't fall asleep like some people in our party.

But yes, survived, though it wiped me out and I've been paying for it with sleep deprivation the rest of this week (though that's also because I didn't go to bed early enough some nights...).

Anyway, on the knitting front, well...there has been an astounding lack of progress. I think at this point my brain's saying "Yeah, remember why you don't knit to deadlines? Because it only makes you want to knit less? Oh, and now you have three more projects on the go. Congratulations!" Needless to say, this week I decided to cool it with the Dulaan knitting, considering I've only got about a week before it would have to go out and I think I'll just resolve to stock up on donatable knitted things for next year's Dulaan or Afghans for Afghans, or to donate closer to home. The local hospice has a crafting guild that meets on (I think) every Wednesday, making items to sell, and of course then there's the usual winter-woollie making for Sally Ann, Community Care, etc. It's the usual debate--people around the world need our help, but then there are many here at home too.

One thing I'd like to do in that kind of vein is start a teen knitting group as part of the programming at work. I've yet to discuss it with my boss, but I've been asked a couple times about if I would be interested in doing a knitting thing sometime, and I think I've go enough information to makea good pitch for an afterschool program. There's an afterschool chess club at one of the other branches that's been really popular, and we have a lot of teens coming into the library after school. Mostly to use the internet, but if I can give them maybe the opporunity to do something else...

The way it links into charity knitting is that I was thinking of offering a couple weeks of lessons or a couple weeks before the group starts. That way, people who don't know how to knit can learn before meeting, and of course learning techniques is always a good vehicle to create squares for blankets... Teens with some experience could come to the group meetings and could contribute squares as well, or work on their own projects. I think it would be interesting if we could find a place at the branch to display squares as they were completed, so that the teens--and everyone in the community--could see the blanket grow. When finished, we could maybe display it at the main library for a week or two, so that the kids could feel that they were showing off their accomplishment. I could also encourage them to knit mittens and hats and things.

But then like I said, I still need to approach my boss about this, see what she thinks, as well as whether we have a place in the schedule for it. Here's hoping, though.

2006-06-04T16:50:00.000-04:00

Ahahaaa, love you too, Blogger. Dammit, is there no way to change the date of a post?

Anyway, after working on it for about a week, I just published a post, but can't find a way to change the date of it, so can't change it to appear on the day I actually published the post.

ETA: A certain helpful soul commented to point out that you can change the timestamp, by clicking on...the one link I didn't click.

*facepalm*

Anyway, on to what I originally wrote...

Not much in knitting news since I started that post. I'm trying to do some knitting for the Dulaan Project, both to contribute something as well as to try and get rid of some of my stash. Really, I need to get rid of some of my stash before I buy any more yarn. As a result, other projects are on hold, though my Dulaan knitting is not helped by the fact that I keep starting to cast on stuff, think "this isn't working" and rip out.

I'll have lots of time to knit on Tuesday though, as my brother and his girlfriend are graduating from the same university, but in separate ceremonies. Meaning, of course, that I get to sit through an entire day of grad ceremonies, joy. I'm glad for them, and I'll willingly do it as I love them both, but it's still going to be dull. Hence, the knitting, so I don't fidget. It got me through the training sessions for the new computer system at work without fidgeting, it'll work here.

It's weird, the fact that knitting helps in that regard. I'm not really a fidgety person, or someone with a short attention span. I've always been a big reader, and I can sit for hours and just read. Maybe it's just that the part of me that would get bored is somehow calmed enough by knitting to not be making itself known, though I often have the urge to knit even when I'm doing something I enjoy, like watching TV. Sometimes it's the calming factor--I had to work on a sock during the 24 season finale because I was far too wound up to just sit, though considering my hands were shaking and I had to rip out pretty much everything I did, despite its being mindless knitting, that probably wasn't the best idea. Usually I can get away with mindless knitting during 24, but um, obviously not the season finale (omgwtfisitJanuaryyet?).

Whatever the reason, I'll arm myself with needles and yarn for a long day of sitting, and try to resist the urge to impale myself on them.

The Prodigal Blogger Returns

2006-06-03T17:25:00.000-04:00

Agh, it's been more than a month since I posted and I have...well...not much to show for it. Haven't had much luck with projects of late, though that may be because I have way too many. I've been working pretty steadily on a pair of Pine Tree Toe-Up Socks by Kim Salazar, my kind of pseudo-Jaywalkers. The stitch pattern makes the same kind of chevron pattern as the Jaywalkers, but each pattern repeat uses a smaller number of stitches. I decided I might as well, as considering the two sizes in the Jaywalker pattern weren't big enough, I was going to try doing those toe-up anyway as I wasn't sure if I'd have enough yarn to make the cuff as long as directed in the pattern. Besides, I've only tried toe-up socks once before and those didn't work out well--I ended up ripping them back if I remember correctly--and I wanted to try again.

I've kind of fiddled with the pattern a bit though, adding 2-stitch purl welts inbetween each repeat to hopefully give it a little more stretch, and I'm doing a short-row heel instead of...well whatever kind of heel is mentioned in the pattern. A short row heel, is basically symmetrical, and I've done them on top-down socks as well, so why not?

As for other projects, the sampler lace scarf is still on the needles. I finally got around to picking up stitches around its edge, and tried starting to work the edging while watching the BBC's North and South on DVD last week, but out of nowhere I got a monster headache, and in the end I gave up. Too bad, as it's while watching British period dramas that I especially want to knit, particularly anything historically inspired. Which is, well, often.

It probably shouldn't be surprising that as a history and Museum Studies major, I'm particuarly fascinated by the history of knitting and historical patterns. Or, considering the fact that I'm Canadian, and knitting was, for a long time, a particularly essential skill for chldren (male and female) to have. Though I doubt she did a survey, I think there is some truth to Catharine Parr Traill's assertion in her 1855 book The Canadian Settler's Guide that "[t]here is no country where so much knitting-work done as in Canada...", even if I imagine citizens of other northern countries would be inclined to disagree. But that it was an essential skill at the time is true; particularly for those that were moving to the bush, as the Traills were, near Lakefield, Ontario. It can be hard to imagine not being able to but anything as simple as socks or mittens by running to the store when they wore out, or got lost.

Interestingly, she also mentions a kind of limited financial independence knitting could bring for women of the time; she mentions a couple instances of cases where young women were able to fund the stocking of their hope chest by selling things they'd knit, often from yarn they'd spun themselves. Not to mention the general increase of the family's finances by the production of mother, daughters and possibly sons.

I do have to wonder at some of the rosy view she gives (there's very much a tone of "yay, work!" to it, not surprisingly, considering the context), as well as some more modern writer, though. I have to wonder for how many women, knitting wasn't a means to a modicum of independence or a means of creative expression. It was another task, one that was crammed intbetween marshalling children, mending, unending laudry or food preparation. Traill mentions it filling the time "between twilight and candle-light" which, though people of the time would have been used to it, is still awfully dim light to be working by.

I'm sure for a lot of women at the time it was a way to be creaitve and something that was both necessary but that they also enjoyed doing. I also just have to wonder for how many it was a chore. I've met a couple people that learned to knit as a child but gave it up later because it was always something they had to do, not necessarily something they wanted to do, and this would have been as recent as the 1950s.

Maybe that's one of the best parts of this resurgence of knitting, quilting, and other traditional skills. For most of those in the Western world, at least, it's something people do because they want to, not necessarily because the family economy requires it. The people who knit are the ones that want to, and while knitting can be undervalued, the fact that it is a means of creation and expression, not a complete chore, has to be a good thing for the craft.

It's Aliiiive!

2006-05-17T19:15:00.000-04:00

Not dead! Really! Work has been kinda crazy the last few weeks as the library's getting a new staff-oriented computer system, which went live today. Needless to say knitting has helped me maintain my sanity through confusion, chaos and two incredibly boring conference-call training sessions.

However, things seemed to work out all right today and hopefully will do so for the rest of the week. Update coming this weekend, hopefully, and it'll involve more beads and sock yarn. Someone stop me now, please.

If at First You Don't Succeed...

2006-04-14T21:59:00.000-04:00

Easter is a time of rebirth, and those Jaywalkers I was working on? They've been reborn as...well, two skeins of yarn. Ripped them out, washed the yarn to get out the kinkiness and the accumulated dirt/skin oils from knitting them twice and let them air dry. Now I just need to find a pattern I like to re-knit them. Unfortunately the patterns I like don't include a separate stitch pattern section; ie. at the beginning of the pattern a quick little descrption of what the stitch pattern is, including what multiple of stitches the pattern needs. This is essential, considering chances are I'll have to size them up a bit. I think this means I should take a swing through the stacks tomorrow at work and grab the Walker Treasuries to come up with something myself.

In lieu of the Jaywalkers, I'm working on a pair of Regia Canadian Colour stripe socks, in shades of blue, beige and grey. They're nice, mindless knitting to do while I'm on the bus. I also found a number of lace knitting books that were recently donated to the library and checked them out, looking for any last patterns I want to use for the sampler scarf, or for its border. The one on Orenburg Lace shawls has given me an idea of how I can do the corners without trying to re-draft the pattern to turn a corner, even if the results likely won't be as pretty.

In other knitting news, I'm crossing my fingers that I have no sudden call-ins to work this weekend, and therefore can go to Toronto for the Downtown Knit Collective Knitter's Frolic, and a bit of a yarn crawl. I'm actually more interested in going to this than the Creative Sewing and Needlework Festival, even if I wasn't working every day of the CSNF.

For one, the CSNF website design team yet again didn't include instructions on how to get to the venue by public transit. For another, getting there is a giant pain in the ass--subway out as far as you can go, bus to the city limits, pay an extra fare when you get off, ride the bus for 45 minutes... All to go to something where there aren't really any classes I want to attend and when, considering my options locally, just going to the yarn stores in Toronto is enough of a treat? Yeah, I don't think so. I'll wait until the fall show, by which time it'll have been about 2.5 years since I've been to one.

However, it will be nice to have a yarn crawl. I haven't done one of those since I was in university and there are number of yarn stores to try that I haven't been to yet. I'll have to make up an itinerary. ;-) It also helps that I just finished doing my taxes and the government's going to be giving me some money back (even if much of that is going toward a new iPod, as I *whimper* dropped my iPod mini).

Whee, Toronto yarn stores, here I come!

When Gauge Swatches Lie

2006-04-06T16:03:00.000-04:00

Time for another post on the old knitting blog!

The Jaywalkers proceed apace, through I just realized that gee, considering I had to rip them out because they were too small, I may want to, you know, try them on at some point. Like right now, considering I've turned the heel on both.

Yeah, that might be a good idea.

...Just tried them on and they won't go over my heel. Dammit. Looks like another trip to the frog pond--this time I'll actually steam them a bit to get the kinkiness (ooh, kinky yarn! Yes, I'm twelve) out of them. Though considering I've been looking at this colourway and thinking that it really is the best colourway of the sock yarns I have for some lacy ripple/chevron-effect socks, I'll probably switch patterns and do the Jaywalkers in the darker colourways I have. Of course I could always finish them and give them to someone else, but...um...I don't wanna?

Did I forget to mention that I'm a sock yarn addict? I am. Very much so. Ever since I lived in Peterborough during university, I wear only hand-knit socks in the winter, and I have at least 15 pairs right now, plus enough yarn for about, oh, maybe 6 more pairs or so. Not to mention that as someone who commutes anywhere between 10 minutes to one hour to work each way, they're the perfect portable project, even if the yarn does tend to wind itself around everything in my bag. It's also the type of thing which is bound to get the occasional question--the other day when I was heading home from the mall, one older woman commented kindly as she passed to get off that it had been years since she had knit socks. Most people ask if I'm working on sleeves, though.

They're fairly quick, they're fun, and best of all, there's nothing nicer than warm, handknit socks when you're shivering at the bus stop in the dead of winter.

Mmmmmm, Cashmere.

2006-03-25T17:21:00.000-05:00

More progress in projects to report. I'm working on a pair of wristwarmers/fingerless mittens/whatever you want to call them for the United Way raffle we're having at work. So far I've got one done and the other is about half done.

The evidence (without the ends woven in yet):

They're done in a spiral rib pattern on DPNs, sort of based on the ones in Last Minute Knitted Gifts, but I basically looked at the pattern and figured it out for myself instead of buying the book or getting it from the library. I got the idea when I was prowling my local yarn store and fondling some of the fancier blend yarns, thinking about making a shrug with them. I bought a couple balls of a couple different types to make swatches and then realized I could actually make something out of them instead.

The best thing? The yarn I'm using is a merino/microfibre/cashmere blend. Yes, that's right, cashmere (Rowan Classic Yarns Cashsoft to be specific). For me this is a big deal as a) it wasn't until this store opened last fall that we got such purty yarns as that out here in the boonies and b) it wasn't until I got a job last fall that allows me to afford stuff like that (in moderation) that I actually had the chance to buy nice yarn. Also because it's the texture of yarns I love the most and this is so heavenly soft.

So yes, anyway. I really want a pair of these now. I have a ball of burgundy angora/silk that I got the same day that I'll probably use, though I should probably go back and get another colour that will go with my coat better. Love having my fingers free though--makes it easier to knit outdoors when it's cold. ;-)

Knitting Makes Everything Better

2006-03-22T16:27:00.000-05:00

Eheheheheh, yeah. We can all see how well I'm doing at the posting-with-regularity thing.

Anyway. Today got off to a bad start (I was awake when my alarm went off, I swear! Why my body decided to go back to sleep until one hour after I was supposed to be at work, I don't know) so I decided I needed yarn therapy so I should head to the yarn store after work and hey, when was the last time I updated that knitting blog of mine?

So yes, here I am, and I bring pictures of a current project. ...Er, sort of.

Behold, yon Jaywalker socks in Regia Canadian Colours, colourway #...oh hell, I forget:

Or at least, yon Jaywalkers before I got as far as you see in the picture before I decided they were too tight and I'd never be able to get them on if I kept going, so both socks (I have 2 sets of DPNs in my sock-knitting sizes so I can do both socks at the same time) had to get frogged. The good news is that after starting over using the number of stitches for the larger size Jaywalkers, I've already got one sock about that length again, and the other... Well, okay, I'm about half done the ribbing, but the pattern section goes so quickly that it'll be that length again in no time. Particularly as that one is my carry-along sock: the one that gets stuck in my purse and tote bag and travels all over the city with me.

I am a shameless knitter-in-public. I take public transit everywhere, which, particularly in this town (where routes run every 30 minutes), means I spend quite a bit of time waiting at bus stops. Personally, I value not being bored more than I do not looking weird, so knitting at the bus stop it is then. Unfortunately I don't get to do it as much as I'd like around this time of year, as if I did, I wouldn't have fingers left to knit with thanks to frostbite. I also knit while on the bus (pointy sticks and a bigass tote bag are, of course, the best way to keep the weirdos from taking the seat next to you), sitting and waiting for movies to start...basically anything where you need to fill up a small amount of time.

I've pretty much been doing this since I started knitting, back in university (which is a story for another day), as I quickly learned it was a great way to have some quiet time to relax before lectures started, or during the 10-minute break most profs let us have during 2- or 3-hour lectures. As going to and from my residence in downtown Peterborough to the Trent University main campus meant at least a 15-minute bus ride, it was also a nice way to spend time on the Trent Express (provided I actually managed to get a seat).

I know some knitters have said that when they KIP they get weird looks, odd comments, that kind of thing. I have to wonder where these people live, as when I do it, if anyone's staring they usually look fascinated--or at least interested--and any comments I get are the usual, friendly, "oh, what are you making?" type. 99% of the time, as far as I know, no one really gives me a second glance.

I fail to see why knitting in public would be seen as weird, though. People read on the bus, listen to their iPods on the bus, stare out the windows and daydream... Knitting, really, it's just something to take up time in public, like anything else. Maybe it's because the people who make odd comments about it have some mental block about knitting being something you do at home, sitting in a rocking chair in front of a fireplace. Not something you do while sipping a peppermint hot chocolate in one of the comfy chairs at Starbucks, which is of course, one of my favourite ways to spend an hour on my day off.

And now that I'm finished ranting, it's off to medicate myself with some Irish Breakfast tea, cashmere/merino/microfibre yarn and Kiefer Sutherland kicking ass on DVDs of 24.

The Debriefing

2006-02-27T19:16:00.000-05:00

Am slowly recovering from post-Closing Ceremonies fatigue.

A recap of my weekend:

Sat. 8:00pm - Check Greyhound schedule. Decide to take 10:40am bus so that I have some time before the 2pm official gathering time to eat/take TTC there.

9:00pm - Realize Mom and Dad are going to church and won't be able to drive me to bus terminal. Also, city buses don't start running until 10:45 am on Sundays. Resolve to take a cab.

9:05pm - Realize that I have no money on me.

Shit.

Come up with complicated plan to go to convenience store the next morning and pray they're open and the ATM is still there and working.

Sun. 8:30am - wake up, get up, check email, have shower.

9:15am - Sset out for convenience store. ATM is there and working. Success!

9:25am - Return home, do laps around house checking and rechecking that I have everything I want to bring with me.

10:00am - Call cab company #1. No answer. Swear. Call cab company #2, hold breath as phone continues ringig. Someone picks up on the 4th ring.

10:20 - Arrive at bus terminal. Buy ticket. Twiddle thumbs.

10:40am - Get on bus, luckily not crowded so I can listen to podcasts and knit with Very Tiny Pointy Needles without worrying about people hearing me giggle/poking people with needles.

12:00pm - Arrive in T.O. with Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" on iPod. Eat. Head to subway with "The Drop" from the Bourne Supremacy soundtrack playing because it is cool and purposeful sounding and good for running around using public transit.

1:00pm - Arrive at corner of King St. W. and Niagara St. Decide to walk up to Queen and see where the hell I am (please God, close to Romni Wools).

1:10pm - Queen & Niagara and--hey, Romni is just over there! W00T! Browse books, but still do not find copy of "Knitting Vintage Socks" aka That Book I'll Have To Kill Someone To Get.

1:40 - Arrive at Old York, still rather early.

1:45-5:45pm - Meet people, coo over projects, joke around and talk knitting.

This? Is brilliant. Loved meeting so many people and being able to talk about a passion of mine with many like-minded individuals, as well as enjoy the general camraderie. I definitely have to approach the LYS owner here about starting a knitting group, because I really enjoyed the experience yesterday and am envious of all those people who have their weekly S'n'Bs.

6:15 - Arrive at Dundas station, buy ticket home, call parents. Run over to World's Biggest Bookstore. Again not find "Knitting Vintage Socks". Swear.

6:50 - Head over to HMV. Notice sign on door saying they're closing at 7:00. Craaaaap. Hurry over to appropriate bin and grab the second Vienna Teng CD which for some reason store in St. C. never has in stock.

7:00 - Grab munchies for bus, then wait. And wait. And wait. wonder why my arms are cold under my jacket but my bare hands are perfectly toasty.

7:30 - Board bus, start heading home. Have seatmate this time so no pointy sticks.

8:55 - Arrive home in middle of pretty snow squall.

After that it was vegetate in front of TV, then attempt to be coherent on the internet, though the people I was talking with will attest that I was very much not so.

In all, v. busy, but v.v.v. fun day. How long is it until 2008 again?

And She's at the Finish Line!

2006-02-25T16:15:00.000-05:00

Crossed the finish line!

Finished the beaded pendant bag today after picking up beads at the bead store to do the chain. I actually finished the bag part last week, just dragged my feet getting the beads.

In lieu of getting to stand on the podium, I bring you pic spam:

Voila! The bag and chain in all their glory. The colour of the scan is accurate, though of course you can't really see how prettily the beads sparkle under the light. And of course the colours are perfect for the Knitting Olympics--a rich red for Canada, and, of course, gold. :-)

The beaded bag, with two rulers thrown in for scale. I could maybe get a couple toonies in there (for you Yankees, those are two-dollar coins), but not muhc else. Obviously, it's an ornament, not a useful bag.

And finally a smaller one showing the detail of the beads I used for the chain. I used leftover #10 seed beads in the red, as well as #10 in that dull gold, and I found those beautiful, Victorian-style diamond beads and had to have them, even if they were a little mroe expensive than I wanted to spend. But hey, this is a special project, might as well splurge. Plus the thread and beads to make the bag were so inexpensive, really; only about $7 Cdn.

I loved making this one, too. It's actually extremely simple--all you need to know is the knit stitch, casting on and casting off, and there are some short rows at the bottom of the bag to make that shell shape. In fact, I liked it so much that I started another beaded bag, this one with black thread and silver beads. I also bought a book of beaded handpag patterns from Swallow Hill Creations and I can't wait to try those as well.

Heading off to Toronto for the Closing Ceremonies with other members of Team Canada, and I can't wait to see some of the things I've been seeing on the community blog in person, meet my fellow teammates; as well as to meet the President of the IKOC (International Knitting Olympic Committee), the Yarn Harlot herself.

Citius! Altius! Fortius!

2006-02-11T13:42:00.000-05:00

And they're off!

Started my bag yesterday at work, worked on it last night while watching the Opening Ceremonies at home, and...I'm about 1/3 of the way through the pattern already.

Hrm. This may not take as long to do as I thought. Guess I can cast on those Jaywalker socks

Photos coming soon hopefully.

Also, someone on the Team Canada blog posted a button for "Team Western"--that's the University of Western Ontario.

Not to be outdone by someone from Western, I made my own for my alma mater:

I'm probably the only Team Canada member that went to Trent, but still. Go Trent!

Brainwashing the Next Generation

2006-02-09T15:53:00.000-05:00

I can't believe how excited I am at starting the Knitting Olympics tomorrow. Seriously, I keep eyeing the strung beads and ball of thread and my hands just start itching to pick up the needles.

One. More. Day. I can last that long, right?

Part of it may just be from the fact that I'm purposely delaying pleasure which makes me even more eager to begin. It's like Christmas--even when you know where the presents are stashed, you wait until the 25th because it's more fun that way.

In other fibery news (sort of), I had my first Toddler Time storytime in the new session today.

Yeah, I know, explanation of how that fits in with knitting.

One, just so you have some background, I am a librarian. Well, technically a librarian assistant, but as most people will be unaware of the fine differences between the two, librarian it is. Part of my job is doing programming for the library, and I've been given the task of doing the 24-to-40-month-old storytime. This is actually my first full session; I was hired back in October, jumped into the Toddler Time deep end with a couple sessions last November when someone was sick, and the post-holidays sessions at the library I was supposed to do them were cancelled, so I'm doing it at a different branch.

Anyway, the connection with fiber comes with the theme I did today: sheep. I read a couple stories (Sheep in a Shop by Nancy Shaw, and Farmer Brown Shears His Sheep by Teri Sloat) and did the usual nusery rhymes, and as I couldn't find a good active song for the kids, I brought in some unspun roving I have and gave them some to use for their craft--a little cardboard sheep with pipecleaner legs, as well as a couple other things. The kids really enjoyed it, which was the important thing.

Anyway I've put a bunch of Olympic-appropriate music on my iPod; now I jut have to wait for tomorrow. 20 hours, 58 minutes and counting.

ETA: Woohoo, figured out how to post the buttons myself! My knitting blog has bling, yo.

Projects! Too Many Projects!

2006-02-06T19:13:00.000-05:00

Also, for posterity, Stuff I Am Knitting Right Now:

Lace Sampler scarf - I'm loving this project, as basically what I do is flip through various books (Including Folk Shawls, Lace Knitting and the Barbara Walker treasuries), and when I see an interesting pattern I knit it for a few inches. When I've had enough I do six rows of garter stitch and find something else. It's a nice project to pick up and put down whenever I feel like it. Not to mention that the Kid Seta I'm using (laceweight mohair/silk blend) is to die for. It looks beautiful so far--so light and airy and elegant.
The Neverending Shawl - so called because a friend asked to make it for a fried of hers um...a year ago? And I'm nowhere near finished? Bad me. Though that's partly because I've ripped it out about 10 times, trying to decide how to knit it. Flirted with a Faroese design, then with a centre-increase triangle, but both of those, combined wiht the requested use of moss stitch, were breaking my brain for some reason. So now I'm doing a simple point-to-edge triangle with YO increases and a garter stitch border.
And of course, as of Friday, the Pendant Bag - I'm doing this in a gorgeous, rich burgundy, with slightly darker beads. I've been eyeing a sample in my LYS for ages and when I was trying to think of something to do for the Knitting Olympics, I suddenly realized that beaded knitting was probably the one thing I wanted to learn/try but hadn't yet, but that could also had the chance of being completed in the time frame available. (I haven't done a sweater yet, but there's no way in hell I'm finishing one of those in two weeks--at least, nothing I'd like.)

I'd also like to start the Jaywalker socks with some variegated Regia I got in Toronto ages ago, but I think that's going to have to wait until after the Closing Ceremonies.

And the Blog Rises from the Ashes...Again.

2006-02-06T17:42:00.000-05:00

Okay, as you can see, it's been a very long time since I used this thing. But in a moment of insanity, I think I've decided to see if I can actually hack having a knitting blog.

Now needless to say, this blog probably won't be updated very often--not like some of those post-a-day bloggers, because a) I don't knit that fast and b) I don't have a digital camera, so it's not like I can swamp you with pretty, pretty pictures.

But I figured I should probably have some record of my knitting, so I know what I've done and when, and all the little lessons and frustrations incurred during projects.

That being said, at the moment I'm gearing up for the Knitting Olympics starting on Friday. I still have to send in my name, etc. for the big list o'knitters, as well as officially join Team Canada, and of course get all the little buttons and things. Providing I can actually figure out how to get them on the blog.

For the Olympics, I'm doing a teeny bead-knitted pendant bag. 1.25mm needles, #8 perle cotton, and billions of #10 size seed beads. Will be stringing those babies tonight during 24. Though I'm not sure that's exactly the wisest idea (those that watch the show will understand why).

Now I just have to check my work schedule and see if I can actually watch the Opening Ceremonies live.

ETA: Figures I'll be working until 5pm that day. Will have to cast on when I get home and watch the ceremonies on the Newsworld repeat at 7pm that night.

2003-05-28T23:01:00.000-04:00

Been a while, I know.

Have been working on a few things, and have a million more ideas for things I'd like to knit. The Harry Potter scarf isn't finished--was moving very slowly for a long while, till I decided to try using a large circular needle instead of DPNs. I usually don't have problems with using DPNs, no problems with laddering, but for some reason (maybe the size) this time I could hardly knit at all with them before my hand would start cramping, and ache. No idea why. And they were laddering like crazy, no matter what I tried. Like I said, I haven't had problems using all sizes of DPNs before. I like using them, particularly for socks, as for me it helps me see where the different parts of the sock are--intep, gusset&sole, where I need to make decreases, etc. Didn't really have any problems with the other HP scarves I did last year, except that I did so many of them that I started getting sore spots (the beginnings of calluses I think) on my hands, which was really painful and made it hard to knit. Whatever, the scarf's going along tickety-boo now that I've changed tactics. I'm using an approximation of the "Magic Loop" method as I can't order the book, and it's not carried anywhere here. Besides, my made-up version is working just fine.

Also still working on a pair of socks for a friend. Made one pair but they didn't fit properly, so am doing another pair. The first ones are now mine, which works out fine as I was going to knit an identical pair for me afterward, anyway. :-)

Got Alice Starmore's "Aran Knitting" on the weekend and have plans to use a couple of her designs for a pillow, once I figure out if the row gauge will work. Love her translated-Celtic-knotwork designs, but don't have the money or time to devote to making one of the sweaters.

Have started my internship, and just today sent out the press release for my knitting program. Am slightly nervous now, as this is the first time I've put together and delivered an educational program all by myself. It's a slightly scary thought, but I must dive in headfirst, I suppose. And at least it's not like running the museum workshops--I know how to do the things I'll be teaching, won't have to ask my boss to show me how to do them beforehand, and it's something I enjoy. And something I think there will be a fair amount of interest in, if the Junior Volunteers from last summer are any indication.

Oh, finished my Snapefic! Had a couple lovely reviews when I finished, one or two from long-time readers (which is nice--shows people *have* been following it), and the sister of one of my friends from class (who is a really neat person in her own right, not just a friend's sibling) wrote a review for every chapter as she read it. Was reading it from the beginning the other night and I realized that I'm actually very proud of it. It's the longest story that I've actually finished (60,000 words!!) and published, and I think I did a really good job in my depiction of the canon characters (particularly Snape) as well as my original character; I made her human, with faults (both those she recognises and doesn't), good points and bad points. This is saying something, as I usually read my stuff later and either cringe or laugh at it, only seeing all its faults. If anyone actually manages to come across this and wants to read my fic, just go to http://www.fanfiction.net/profile.php?userid=146606
That's my profile page, with a listing of my stories. I've got a pretty good CSI ficlet there as well. I'm planning to expand on that one, as well as write a second book for my Snapefic, but I'm taking a break for the moment. I still need to chart out my CSI fic, and I'm waiting until "Order of the Phoenix" comes out before doing much work on my Snapefic, as it seems pointless to start working, and then have some of my work contradicted by canon in only a month's time.

So taking a creative break, while I focus on my internship. The fics will still be there when I decide to pick them up again.

2003-02-16T20:08:00.000-05:00

Grr. Just had to resize the window and lost everything I'd been typing.

Anyway. As I was saying...

I've had a couple commissions in recent weeks--one of my classmates asked me for a Harry Potter scarf, and another has asked me to make her a couple pairs of socks. I started on the HP scarf on Friday, thought I only have a single colour stripe done. I was running around all yesterday, and have been trying out a couple stitch patterns today. Kind of thinking of making myself a sweater with Patons' Shetland Chunky--have some realy nice colours now that they've redone the line--and was thinking of doing a sweater with a simple repeating pattern. Not sure though--I've wondering if the stitch/pattern size of a chunky yarn will emphasize my somewhat chunky body type. :-) Must ask the ample knitters about that.

Speaking of chunky... One of my classmates has got me hooked on spinning. She gave me a small spindle and bag of roving and was showing my how to spin during class on Wednesday. I finished spinning the roving she'd given me that night (it's now a VERY slubby yarn!), and am now on the hunt for more. :-) I was thinking about approaching the curator of the living history museum I worked at last summer as I know they have a huge bag of raw wool, and a fair bit that's been washed. It's not of a great quality, but I don't want to buy nice quality and prettily dyed stuff till I have some tension control. I was thinking of making a deal with her: I card, spin and maybe dye the wool, and knit something for the house with it--was thinking of doing a shawl as those are always useful. I get practice, they get another (historically accurate!) addition to the costume collection.

I've also approached the curator about doing my internship there this summer, as well as a project idea. I'd like to design and give a children's program teaching knitting over the course of a few weeks. It's perfect for my course, as I'd have to design the program from scratch, and then I get a bit more experience with the education & interpretation part of Museum work. Besides, it gives me a good excuse to knit and look for knitting websites during work time. :-)

Anyway, that's me this week.

2002-12-22T00:05:00.000-05:00

Still thinking on RPG post. I know if Jo comes on she'll be nagging me about it, but I want to get this right--besides, now that I'm home I'm spending a lot less time on the computer--mainly becuase the rest of my family are on it as well, but also because there's more to do. I'm not as alone as I am in Ptbo. This afternoon, Mom and I went to Niagara-on-the-Lake. I finally found a winter hat that suits me and wasn't expensive, and got a few little things for stocking stuffers, as well as a couple of the GREAT chocolate chip cookies at Taylor's Bakery.

Am nearly finished the shawl Mom commissioned me to make for my aunt for Christmas. It's a pattern from the Nov. 1864 edition of "Godey's Lady's Book" and I've made two of these already. They're really nice triangular shawls done in a variegated and a solid yarn, the increases in the middle making the rows run parallel to the two digaonal edges of the shawl, and making "V"-shaped stripes of solid colour against a variegated background. I used a plied navy/dk. green/burgundy mix with a burgundy solid in a fluffy boucle yarn. All I have to do is cast off and put the fringe on. Will post a picture as soon as I find the pic of the shawl I did for Mom last Christmas with the same pattern and colours.

Rented the "Fellowship of the Ring" DVD ast night--too bad they didn't have the Extended Edition for rent, though considering we only got it for one night maybe it's just as well. Still haven't eard back from Amanda (thought I haven't checked my email yet today) so I'm not sure when we'l see TTT. If I don't hear from her soon I'll go see it with my brother or even on my own and then see it again with her.

Still have to work on my Snapefic!

2002-12-21T00:53:00.000-05:00

Ah, there they go. Anyway, welcome to my blog. Trying this out to see if it's more convenient than Evil Live Journal. Anyway, I'm a Harry Potter/knitting/fanfiction/Lord of the Rings/history nut, so expect posts on any and all of those things. Sometimes combining a few of those topics in one item.

CURRENT KNITTING PROJECT WISHLIST:

--"Shackleton" sweater (see the brown sweater worn by Kenneth Branagh in the movie of the same name for details. Mmmm, Branagh...)
--Hogwarts Uniform sweater (Gryffindor colours)
--patchwork/sampler afghan
--Candlelight lace shawl
--lace hose like those at the museum I work/volunteer at, Hutchison House
--SOCKS! LOTS AND LOTS OF SOCKS!

Damn, I wish I had money to do all that stuff. Am currently a university student so I obviously don't have a whole lotta money.

Must see Two Towers sometime VERY soon. Only reason I haven't gone yet is because a friend wanted to see it with me and am waiting to see if we can get together to see it (she's in Pickering, I'm in Peterborough/St.Catharines--a fair distance away. Haven't seen her in a while).

Am also kicking self for leaving copy of TTT (the book, duh) on the bus when I came home. Particularly as it's NOT MINE. Still haven't heard from Greyhound Customer service about it. Grr.

And HAVE TO FINISH SNAPEFIC. Almost done, just need to work on it. And write a post for RPG before friend kills me, though still have no idea where to start with next post.

Anyway, that's pretty much where I am at the moment.

2002-12-21T00:41:00.000-05:00

Hrm. Links not changing for some reason. Grr.

2002-12-21T00:28:00.000-05:00

First post! Yay!