Alright, I haven't posted in a while, it's true. But I was trying to spare all of you from what surely would have been a long, boring, depressing, whine about how sucky I feel. I'm not in the glowing-pregnancy stage yet, it's still more the how-many-symptoms-can-I-have-at-once stage. So far I'm up to first plus second, and a few third thrown in!
BUT, some good things have happened recently that I thought I could come up with a whole post without too much complaining. Here goes:
1. The Yarn Harlot came to Virginia! And I went, along with some of my friends! (These pictures are stolen from Paula because I didn't take a camera - thanks, Paula!):
a bunch of yarn harlots!
That's Chelsea, Paula, Stephanie, me, and Lara. We had a great time knitting and hanging out while waiting for the talk, and then while waiting for the signings. I met some knitters (like Jodi and blogless Jane) who recognized me from my blog - thanks for saying hi! Stephanie was hilarious, and I was crying from laughter (and crying from happiness, too - damn hormones).
Happy knitbuddies!
Stephanie asked how many of us in the audience felt like we had more friends due to knitting, and I know I raised my hand! I finished up that hat during Stephanie's talk and donated it to the hat lady.
I had eaten a snack before going, and again after getting there (a very tasty marshmallow rice krispy treat!), but I still wound up feeling dizzy from lack of food when we were waiting for our autographs. I had to go sit down while my lovely friends saved me a spot in line. It's times like these that I wish it was a little more obvious that I was preggers, like a nice belly - I still just look a little chubby (in a hey-you-might-want-to-lay-off-the-ice-cream sort of way). While none of the other knitters in line said anything (or even looked at me funny) when I rejoined the line, I still felt guilty.
2. Out of town friends. Knitty Meetup on Wednesday was like homecoming, with two of our former participants, Chelsea and Amy, who sadly moved out of the area, came back to the DC area and hung out with us! It was also probably our biggest gathering ever - we welcomed old and (relatively) new folks alike.
3. I made my hotel reservations for Rhinebeck! I think Dan and I are driving up on Friday. Then he's going to explore something on Saturday while I pal around with some knit buds, and join me at the festival on Sunday. I'm trying to finish up my Cardigan for Arwen to wear (only half of one sleeve left to knit, then the seaming!) and I'm trying to spin up some of the fiber I bought last year so that I won't feel so guilty about buying some more!
4. My hair and nails are growing better than ever before in my life. This is one of the few positive side effects of pregnancy that I've experienced so far... energy, please come back soon! Oops, slipped into whine there for a bit. Guess it's time to sign off!
Well, this summer has just been flying by, ne c'est pas? How about a quick recap of what's been going on chez snargle...
1. We finished the portico - caulk, paint, the whole 9 yards.
Welcome!
It took us several evenings after work and the better part of another weekend, but it's so worth it! There's still the ghost outline above the portico, and we need to pressure wash and Dremel it some more, but that can wait for another weekend!
2. Tubing on the Shenandoah
Aaaahhh...
What a relaxing way to spend the day! We went flatwater tubing in the morning, whitewater tubing in the afternoon, and then camped out in a treehouse! It was a great weekend with Jenna and Reid and some other friends.
3. 4th of July
Living just outside of DC, it's tempting to try and avoid the 4th of July craziness. Then again, there's nowhere better to celebrate the 4th than in the Nation's Capital! So, once again, we went downtown. In the morning, we did something we haven't done before - the reading of the Declaration of Independence on the steps of the National Archives. There were two WWII veterans and some historial reenactors to portray Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin and John Adams. It was great - it's really emotional to hear the words detailing all of the reasons for the very revolutionary decisions to declare our independence. It also made me want to watch "1776" - one of my favorite musicals - which I managed to find at the library the next day. "There's still nothing in it about deep sea fishing rights!"
After a couple of hours at home, we went back down to the Mall for the fireworks. I love fireworks!
Boom!
Boom!
4. Live Earth
It's Al!
I'm sure you heard something about the Live Earth concerts on 7/7/07. The US concert was in New York. What you may not have heard was that there was also a small concert here in DC on the Mall - a suprise event that was only planned a day in advance. Well, there was a concert planned for the day, featuring Native American bands on the grounds of the National Museum of the American Indian. They just added a few special guests - Al Gore, Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood. The venue and the seating would have been perfect for the expected turnout for the Native American bands, but it was a bit overwhelmed by the crowd there to see Al. We had a terrible view of the stage (if you weren't in the front row, you couldn't see at all) but we were able to hear. It was a memory!
We left the concert after the first band and walked over to the Folklife Festival. Lots of great fiber-related things, in addition to the great food and other interesting exhibits. There were some amazing skeins of silk and looms in the Mekong Delta area - this was one of my favorites:
That's skill!
5. the beach
Dan and I headed over to Delaware to hit the beach for a day trip. Well, I stayed on the beach while Dan hit the waves - getting a kitesurfing fix for the first time this summer.
Check him out!
6. Knitting
And finally, lest you think I haven't been knitting... here's what I've been working on.
First, the Doubly Scottish Socks:
Och, laddie! It's a sock!
I cast these on while in Scotland, and the pattern is Spey Valley (the valley down the middle of Scotland) from Nancy Bush's Knitting on the Road, so these are the doubly Scottish socks. They're Trekking Bamboo on US 1's. I'm a bit farther along than this photo - almost ready to turn the heel.
Next, Coachella.
Blue blob
There's the two armholes and some waist decreases... I'm working on the hip increases now. It's cotton - K1C2 2nd time cotton - that I bought in Alaska. Recycled cotton from industrial scraps (textile waste) - pretty cool. I've tried it on, and the cowl neck is going to be far, far too low (there are similar "problem" pictures on a couple of other blogs I've seen), so I've resigned myself to wearing a tank under it. I've even got the perfect racerback tank. If you're thinking about knitting one of the larger sizes, you might want to cast on fewer stitches and gradually increase to get the correct number of stitches at the bust...
And finally, Mystery Stole 3.
Lace!
Yes, I got sucked in, too. I actually signed up just before Stephanie's post, after having seen so many people signed up on ravelry. I got some Malabrigo laceweight and some size 8 beads at a local store, and the next thing I knew I was knitting lace. This is my progress on July 12th... I'm now through Chart A and getting ready to start B. A minimum of ripping back (loving the lifelines, and especially how easily I can put them in with my KnitPicks options needles! You thread the crochet thread through the hole in the Options needles, then just pass the stitches over it).
And that's it! The first few months of summer in a nutshell. More Scotland pictures to be uploaded to flickr when I get a chance. Another update soon!
Greetings from the Great White North! Actually, it's not all that white - I think spring has sprung here in Alaska, the sun is shining, the temperatures are lovely - all in all, it's been gorgeous!
I've been here for just over 2 days, but I've been busy! Four yarn stores, enough fibery goodness purchased to make my not being at MS$W a good thing :)
But I only have photos of one thing to show you now - I saw caribou!
Fuzzy spring caribou!
Courtesy of a little side visit to Denali National Park. More (fiber-related) to come!
A random list for Monday...
1. Maryland Sheep & Wool is only two weeks away! Sadly, I won't be there. Everybody fondle some yarn and roving for me, okay? I have (another) work trip that is taking me to Alaska! Hopefully that will be fun... wonder if I can see a moose!
2. You remember the Sweetheart Baby Sweater? Doesn't it look cuter like this?
Now that's a sweater!
Meet Lily. Doesn't she look great in pink? And she has great handknit booties, too (made by another crafty friend of their parents). She was born just a week after her shower (they had it just in time!), and was four weeks old when we met her and took this photo. The sweater is adorable, and will hopefully continue to fit her for a while yet, with the sleeves rolled down :).
3. Arwen progress.
No hoodie!
As I mentioned before, I knew that I didn't want to make this into a hoodie and I had grand plans for the collar. Well, guess what - it worked! This book has instructions for making a mitered corner in a cable pattern, I tried it, and it worked! I continued the cable band for several inches (until running out of yarn as a matter of fact) separately from the rest of the body. Then I improvised some neck shaping, and I'm pretty happy with it! I sewed them together to get a better idea of what it's going to look like. It puckers a bit, so I think I'm going to rip it out and try sewing it again, but I think it will work out. I'm sure a good blocking will help, too.
4. Spring has sprung here in my yard. Some Project Spectrum appropriate azaleas:
Pink and Green!
We've been doing some planting - new azaleas, rhododendrons, and a cherry fruit tree! I can't wait to have some fruit! And our blueberry bushes (planted as tiny little twigs when we first moved in) actually have their first flowers on them - maybe we'll get some berries there, too.
5. Spoiling my cats. I love my kittens, but this may be the ultimate - when Cleo was sitting on my lap the other day, I was surfing the web. I found a link to something on You Tube, one thing led to another, and...
What's that?
Searching for "hamster" on You Tube found some very Cleo-approved videos! She liked it when they made noise, and when they ran away. One ran away from the camera, and she actually looked behind the laptop screen, just in case it went back there... What can I say, they're spoiled cats!
6. Virginia Tech. I don't really know what to say. Several of my colleagues went or taught there, so it's been on our minds a lot this week. Crazy world.
So even though I travel a bit (more right now than usual), it still sometimes surprises me that I can be posting to my blog one night, and then less than 24 hours later, be looking at this.
look familiar?
And even better than doing the tourist thing (cable cars! Haight/Ashbury! Pier 39! Chowder in a sourdough bread bowl! Lombard Street!), was visiting my favorite yarn store, Artfibers. I also made a brief trip across the Bay Bridge to check out a new store, Article Pract. And I couldn't help picking up a few things (vacation yarn doesn't count against the Knit From Your Stash, right? Right?)...
Just a few things. With the SF skyline
From Article Pract, I picked up that huge hank of green laceweight for a super-secret project (mom, this could mean you!), and the latest issues of Knitscene (love the shawl-collared sweater, and the Kenobi Jacket is pretty cool, too) and Rebecca (more on that in a moment).
From Artfibers, there's some tussah silk roving to spin (Artfibers is branching into spinning fibers! Could it get any better???), a skein of Valparaiso - 50% alpaca 50% merino (bought for something for Dan - I was thinking fingerless gloves, but he's thinking a hat). I picked up my sweater's worth of yarn out of Hana, a 100% silk fingering weight yarn that is super soft. I pondered the color options for quite some time and finally went for the raspberry. Then I looked through my new Rebecca mag, and found this:
Isn't it pretty?
I'm going to make myself finish the first piece of Arwen before casting on, but after that all bets are off!
More on my travels (although no more yarn) next time.
Eleven days. How has it been 11 days since my last post? I have no idea... and no real post to make. So, let's go for a list of what I've been working on...
1. Arwen. I've just cast on for the sleeve (the front and sleeves are knit as one piece). And I think I have my neck solution figured out... almost to the point where I'll have to try it out! Pictures to come at some point.
2. Spinning.
Irises
Distance view
I think it has the colors of irises... which hopefully we will soon have in our yard.
3. Garden Update (seemed like a good segue). Right now, the some of the daffodils are out, and the tulips that we bought in Amsterdam (on our layover coming home from Tanzania) have their big leaves out - can't wait to see the blooms!
Today we went to the garden center and bought a few more plants for the yard. Some azaleas to fill in a holes, two (more) hydrangea, a pieris (Lily of the Valley shrub), and - the one I'm the most excited about - a Cherry tree! Hopefully we'll have some real cherry fruit to eat in a couple of years! Dan dug most of the holes, but I managed to get a lot of dirt under my fingernails filling them in. I never seem to be able to find one of the 6,000 pairs of garden gloves that I swear I own.
4. Dyeing. Yes, there's been more dyeing, all roving. What can I say - I find it very theraputic. I'm definitely working beyond my capacity to spin, so I'm looking into selling some - probably on etsy. More information to come, of course!
5. Touristing and hanging out with my girls. I spent last weekend in Williamsburg, Virginia, with some of my oldest friends (like before elementary school friends). We shopped, drank wine, learned about Colonial life, and ate fabulous dessert. And, visited a LYS - The Knitting Sisters, a fabulous store with a great selection, a friendly proprietor who was knitting some Fetching mitts, and a great sale nook! I may have accidentally fallen off of my KFYS wagon, but I dare you to resist Rowan Denim at 50% off.
6. Planning our vacation. We're going to Scotland! We're spending a week in Oban with Dan's parents and brother. Oban is on the west coast and is the main ferry terminal to the various islands off the coast. We've got our eyes on one particular island trip (puffins!), plus a few other islands, a pub crawl (free t-shirt! Woo!), and many other things... probably lots more things to do than time, in fact. But if you have anything to recommend (particularly yarn or wool sources!), please let me know!
Sorry, that's all I've got... more later!
We're going to a Super Bowl party this evening - go Colts! I spent most of my formative years living just outside of Indianapolis, and I remember when they moved there from Baltimore. My first professional football game was to see the Colts with my friend Kathy and her dad, back when the stadium was called the Hoosier Dome. Most of the time I lived in the Midwest, the Colts were known as the Dolts because they were truly terrible. It's nice to see them finally having a good year. However, this will make watching the game much more stressful than most Super Bowls, where I could care less...
Since it's Super Bowl Sunday, it was also the Springwater Fiber Workshop annual early morning sale! The sale starts at 7 AM, with (marked) yarns at 60% off the regular price. At 8 AM, the sale goes to 50% off, and at 9 AM and for the rest of the day it's 40%. However, if you got there at 9 AM there probably wasn't very much left. I was there at about 7:20 and I think most of the good yarns were already gone. It was much like the Running of the Brides at Filene's Basement - people were spread out all over the floor sorting through bags full of yarn. I think the prevailing philosophy was "grab first, decide later." However, I wasn't particularly shopping for yarn (although some of the bags that went out the door looked lovely, especially at 60% off!), thanks to Knit From Your Stash. But then I was standing next to a table when someone dropped off a reject that they'd decided not to take, and that's how I wound up bringing this home:
It followed me home! Can I keep it?
That's 14 skeins of Adrienne Vittadini Dianna, a supersoft cotton/acrylic blend. And a bag of 100% lyocell, a cellulose-based fiber derived from wood, to try to spin with - I bought a shirt recently that was lyocell and it's super soft and lovely. And also "the eco friendly cotton alternative." And fairly cheap.
So that's all the yarn damage I did... and I'll play my KFYS "Get out of Jail Free Card." Now, the book table was another story... other people were surrounded by yarn, I filled my arms with books and then sat down to sort them. I did put some back, but I still managed to make it home with these:
Some light reading material!
I'm a sucker for European pattern magazines - always have been, always will be. This is a pretty good representation - Anny Blatt, Bouton D'or, Phildar, Filati, Dale, Rowan, and Adrienne Vittadini. Plus a book on designing your own knitwear by Becky's go-to reference Montse Stanley (who I'd always assumed was a man, based on the name Montse, until I saw her bookjacket photo). The first paragraph is a well-written rant about how knitters are encouraged to blindly follow patterns and not think for themselves. I love it!
Oh, but that's not all... if you're lacking for pattern inspiration, just let me know. I can probably help you out. See, these came home with me too:
They were a steal of a deal!
Mostly Vogue Knitting International, dating back to 1992, although mostly from the late 90's - early 00's. At $0.75 each I just couldn't pass them up. I love going back through magazines and seeing what new things catch my eye. I really need to sit down with these and some post-its...
I always buy back issues of magazines if I can find them cheaply, so it didn't suprise me that there were a few duplicates to ones I already had. Actually, I'm suprised there weren't more. Anyway, these 4 were already in my collection:
We're twins!
That's (clockwise from upper right) Winter 94/95, Spring/Summer 00, Fall 99, and Fall 93. And they can be yours if you want them. Just leave me a comment or send me an e-mail and I'll send them your way!
Alright, off to the party... Go Colts!
I don't understand how most folks blog all the time. With photos and all - some of them even taken in natural light! I am trying to be a better blogger in 2007, but it's already been 4 days. Where does the time go? I have all of these great posts in my head, with photos and everything, but no time to actually make them happen. Maybe this weekend...
But here are a few pictures to tide you over... I'm spinning!
Spinning!
Close-up
This is 50g of Fleece Artist roving that I bought at Stitches East. It's 50% merino 50% tussah silk - hence the halo, shine and the buttery softness. I tried not to spin it too much to keep it soft and fuzzy, and I think I did OK. It's 2 ply. I plied from the inside and outside of a center-pull ball, which was a complete nightmare. Tons of tangles, fuzzies, and general chaos. But it was finally done.
Also, here is Linus with the back of the Ballet Wrap Cardigan:
Hello, human.
Doesn't he look pleased? However, BWC is now on hold. I did some math (ew!) and realized that I will most definitely run out of yarn. Plus, I'm not too in love with the fabric from knitting on size 10.5's. I think I'm going to try again with at least 11's - provided that I can find more of the yarn. Otherwise, it's off to find a new pattern.
OK, and one more, just so I'm not leaving anyone out:
Sacked. Out.
Cleo managed to make a little hammock with the blankie and the couch cushions, and then sacked out. She was even snoring. So cute!
That wasn't much of a post I know, but stick around - coming soon to a blog near you (OK, this blog):
- The crafty gifts from Christmas 2006
- The knitting from stash plans for 2007
- Yarn dyeing! Lots of yarn dyeing! (hopefully this weekend). Roving dyeing, too!
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! Hope you all have had a fabulous weekend with family and/or friends.
Dan and I are on the giant circle (driving) tour of the Midwest. By the end of this week, we'll have had 3 turkey dinners - with all the fixins! Better watch our waistlines ;)
Mom and I did some consumerism this morning on Black Friday - gotta get those Christmas presents at a deal!
I'm also working on several different crafty presents, but they're all secrets, so I can't share anything... what a bummer. However, I do have some pictures of my haul from Stitches East to share - next time. Now, it's time to get some rest before our next Thanksgiving dinner!
Just really, really tired. The past two weeks have been completely grueling - I averaged about 4 hours of sleep a night. Fun, but hard work.
I had almost no time to knit, and my Picovoli looks almost identical to the picture below.
Not much to report, just wanted to check in. More of an update to come soon...
Oh, and I haven't checked bloglines in like a month, so sorry that I haven't commented on all of your fabulous FO's, sympathized with your troubles, and congratulated you on big life events. I'll do my best to get around to them all...
This should give you a summary of how things are here at Chez Snargle:
Recently, the independent variable (TV time) has been very small - in fact, near 0. Thus, due to the near-linear relationship between TV time and knitting time, the dependent variable (knitting time) has also decreased to near-zero. Ergo, no progress pictures.
I have been crafting. Here is a photo of everything I sent out in the Sea Swap on craftster.org.
There are coral-esque earrings made from seed beads (online how-to here), an ocean-themed collage (closeup here) with a photo that I took of an orca in Alaska a few years ago, a stencilled and reconstructed t-shirt, and a knitted Nautie. Yes, knitting! Can you stand it? He's from some of the Kool-Aid dyed yarn that I did ages and ages ago.
Cute, isn't he?
If you're curious about everything else that was sent and received in the swap, you can visit the gallery here.
And my assertion that I haven't been knitting much is true, but I do have something to show you. Next time :)
A knitting look back at 2005 with a list that I found at Pink Monkey Jenna's
1. New Technique: First completed pair of socks. First time knitting with beads. Both accomplished in April.
2. Favorite Finished Object: A tie between the Dreamcatcher Medallion Cardigan and the Kyoto asymetrical cabled sweater. These are my first two FO's that I actually wear to work as part of my regular clothes - not just to "show them off."
3. Favorite Knit Along: Favorite that I signed up for but didn't actually participate in - the Fry-Up. Favorite that I actually managed to accomplish - Sockapalooza and SockapalTwoza!
4. Favorite Shop: ArtFibers handsdown. I managed to get there once in 2005 (thanks to a work training class). Now their catalog is online so I can order anytime but it's just not the same as visiting and getting to pet everything.
5. Favorite Tool: My favorite motivational tool is Fiber Festivals! 2005 was the year of superfun meetings and shopping - Maryland in May and Rhinebeck in October. Nothing makes me more excited about knitting (and blogging) than spending the weekend with some fabulous knitbloggers in barns full of wool and sheep.
6. Most used Tool: Denise interchangeable needles. To the point where I practically won't knit something if it's on Size 4's (since the Denise set starts at 5).
A look ahead at 2006:
Some things I've been thinking about knitting...
All of the contest runner-ups.
Tubey (actually the yarn from Miney or Moe above might morph into Tubey depending on how the gauge proposition goes)
Audrey
finishing Bed & Breakfast
finishing the Chai cardigan
more accessories - legwarmers, wristwarmers, thrummed mittens, mittens to match Coronet, more socks!
and I know there are more I can't remember right now. Lots to look forward to in 2006!
P.S. I am loving all the de-lurking! Keep the comments coming!
So when we last left our snargle heroine, she was Gotham-bound. Well, we made it (and back again) and I have pictures to prove it. (I'm loving the three-day holiday weekend, btw, and might eventually get around to posting the pictures from it... but for now, a flashback to last weekend)
First we went to the top of the Empire State Building where we got a good view of the city.
Then I managed to convince Dan and his brother to indulge me in a tiny yarn crawl (only a few blocks from the Empire State and Koreatown, where we ate lunch). First up was School Products where I fondled the cashmeres and silks. Then we went to Habu (only a few blocks away!) where Dan had a great time:
Can't you tell?
Again with the yarn fondling and generally enjoying all of the exotic yarns. After the yarn stores we had enough time to head to MoMA to catch the Pixar exhibit along with some of the art, and our closest brush with a celebrity yet - Uma Thurman was looking at a Klimt painting about 2 feet away from Dan. She is gorgeous and tall and I barely looked at her because I was trying to be cool. Now I wish I'd stared for just a few seconds!
We spent the evening at The Woman in White (the newest Andrew Lloyd Weber show on Broadway), thanks to the TKTS half-price booth. My review: meh. Not recommended, but an entertaining way to spend the evening.
On Sunday, we met with some friends, did a driving tour of Manhattan (um, and Brooklyn, thanks to being in the wrong lane at the wrong time), and then visited Liberty State Park in Jersey for a fabulous view of Manhattan, Ellis Island, and the back side of the Statue of Liberty.
A is for Apple... Big Apple
What a great weekend in NYC! Pictures of the yarn haul soon...
And it's National DeLurker Week (or it might have been last week - I'm not sure). Leave me a comment, would you?
We interrupt this knitting blog to bring you an important announcement.
One of my (actually Dan's) best-loved Christmas gifts this year was the DVD's of Season 1 and Season 2 of Arrested Development. If you haven't checked this show out, you really should must. I think I got most of my family hooked on it - we watched most of Season 1 (not all in a row), and by the fifth or sixth show they would all come into the living room when the theme music started. It's the best least-watched Emmy-winning comedy on television.
Two episodes were on tonight (one new, one old) and they were excellent. If you haven't heard, the show is under threat of cancellation - Fox reduced its order from 22 episodes to only 15. The new show poked fun at everything that shows under threat of cancellation do - celebrity guest stars with little to no role except to be in the promos, a live final 5 mintues, and they're even making jabs in the dialogue. They also linked to this website - SaveOurBluths.com (which is actually from when they were threatening to take it off the air after the second season, but still has good info).
I'm doing my part to try and save the show by lending out my DVD's to friends (if you know me IRL I'd be happy to lend it to you as soon as I get them back!) and posting here. If you have netflix, give the first disk of Season 1 a try - if you like it, you can go back for the second and then join me in trying to persuade Fox that they would be making a huge mistake by giving up on this show.
Now back to your regularly scheduled (ok, intermittently scheduled) knitting blog.
Well, the title tells you what you're gonna get - no suprises here chez Snargle. But I wanted to make sure that you know I'm alive and still knitting, just not taking any pictures of it (holidays and all).
Actually, I can talk about one of my quasi-holiday presents because the recipient doesn't read this blog. In fact, the recipient is still in utero and won't be reading for a few years, but his baby shower is on the 23rd and I'm knitting a present. I don't have pictures of that actual sweater (it's at home in DC), but I'm making another version of the Baby Suprise in a thinner yarn. Pattern from Knitting for Baby, one of my all-time favorite knitting books. I'm not sure on the sizing, but since babies start small and grow I'm figuring it will fit him at some point.
So I said that the sweater was at home in DC, which implies that I am not. I am in fact in San Diego, where it is sunny and warm. I am at a mega conference (I think close to 3000 people) with some of my favorite people from throughout my career, so I'm having a great time. I'm just trying to decide if it's OK to knit during presentations. You and I both know that I can listen to the talk while knitting (and in fact there's a greater likelihood that I'll stay away if I knit!), but I'm afraid others will think it's rude or just not professional. I could really make some progress on projects if I did, though...
The Bahamas sure was fun. Seeing our two friends get married and hanging out with all of the other friends who came for the event was fun, too. Now I'm further south in the Caribbean at a work meeting for the rest of the week.
I just wanted to send a quick note to let you know that I haven't forgotten about you, that I've knitted the heel and about 2.5" of the Ruby Slipper sock, and remind you (if you haven't already) to vote in the contest - voting ends Sunday.
Have a great week!
Dexter (Dan's autononmous robot car) made it into the Grand Challenge! Go Team Ensco!!!
You can follow the race online on Saturday if you're a big geek. If you're an even bigger geek, I'll see you there! Dan's guys are all in bright yellow (and I do mean bright), so you can't miss them.
One website had them listed as "long shots" that suprised everyone by performing well enough in the later rounds of the qualifying event to get included. I just think they're the underdog. And everyone loves to root for the underdog, right? Dan's been working very hard on this for a while now, so this is very much a validation of all of his efforts. I'm totally proud of my guy. Hooray!!!!
(and if he wins the $2Mil, I've been promised that there's yarn in it for me. Just sayin....)
A quick rundown...
- Lots of craziness at work lately - hurricanes and the ordinary full schedule. Yesterday I was at work for 12 hours. The day before that only 10. I'm trying to prepare for a meeting next week and it's been rough.
- Speaking of that meeting next week, it's in Seattle. I don't think I'll have much time, but does anyone have yarn shop recommendations? The only days I might possibly have free is Sunday afternoon or Monday morning...
- After my meeting I'm flying to Las Vegas for the DARPA Grand Challenge. Dan's team is currently participating in the Qualifying event, and not doing too badly. They've had their first run and are making tweaks before their second run. Here's hoping they'll get into the race! (20 of the 43 teams make it)
- Last weekend I went to the National Book Festival on the Mall. I got to meet one of my favorite authors, Diana Gabaldon:
Making it even better, her latest book was on sale a few days early! (It went on sale for the rest of the country on Tuesday).
I also got a book signed by a person who's walked on the moon. Astronaut was my career goal for a significant portion of my childhood, so this was especially cool for me. We didn't get to hear many of the talks because we spent most of our time in line for autographs, but still had a great day. The weather was absolutely perfect - overcast but not raining and not too cold.
- I'm going to Rhinebeck in only two weeks! Who else is going? Cara's posted meetup details for Saturday.
- And lest you think that I haven't been knitting, I have proof to the contrary. First, the Kyoto sweater (on the website you'll find Kyoto under Silk). Cleo's been helping:
It's been stalled for a few days because I ran out of yarn and had to order another ball. It arrived today, so this should hopefully be an FO soon. Now the only question is whether I write it up and try to get it published. This yarn is awesome - I love it!
I made a lot of progress on the stripey socks while standing in line at the book fest. The foot is almost done - soon I'll be starting the toe!
And I've resurrected some U-UFO's. Remember the BPT from long, long ago? (Um, maybe not if you haven't been reading the blog for long - it's been a while. This is the most recent picture I can find of it, from July 13, 2004.) Anyway, it's been stalled with everything done except one sleeve for almost a year. I've done a few more cable repeats on that sleeve - the end is definitely in sight.
Finally, I've picked up the Clapotis again. This will probably be my plane knitting for my Seattle trip, so I hope to have it done soon.
Having a bunch of UFO's is one way to have a bunch of FO's all at the same time!
More later... maybe from Seattle!
OK, so I've been MIA for a while. Our home computer still isn't fixed, laptop is still being monopolized for the robot car, I don't feel comfortable blogging at work - blah, blah, blah. I'm still surfing blogs and commenting when I can, and everyday I think of something and think "I'll have to blog about that!" Sometimes I even take pictures...
Since my last entry I cast on for a WIP that is now blocking and practically a FO. I'll hopefully have pictures next time.
I went to a design your own shrug class taught by Teva Durham and with classmate Jenna - had a fabulous time and came home with plenty of ideas. Unfortunately, ideas are all that I came home with because I knit a swatch, ripped it out, cast on for the shrug, ripped it out, knit another swatch, ripped it out, knit ANOTHER swatch, kept it, but still haven't cast on for the actual shrug. I love the yarn I bought, though - Silky Wool in a bright pink (no. 26 on the linked page).
I've attended a Meet-up, a Mid-Meetup Meetup, and even a Mid-Mid-Meetup-Meetup Movie Night! Xanadu and The Legend of Billie Jean plus knitting, plus great company - it does not get more exciting than that, people! Seriously, if you are in the DC/Maryland area, sign up for that list and find out when our meetings are and then show up - what are you waiting for? :)
I've even worked on my SockapalTwoza socks. I'm doing the River Rapids socks in the green Socks that Rock yarn I picked up at MDS&W (all the way on the right). I'm two repeats down, one to go before starting the heel, and they're looking pretty good.
Also in that time I visited San Francisco for a work training class. Which was only a few blocks from Artfibers (how fortuitous!), and also the city where Elizabeth lives! We got to hang out two nights while I was in town, and she was an excellent hostess, taking me to two yarn stores, Kinokinuya in search of Japanese crafting magazine goodness, and even a local stitch & bitch at a bar! (beer + knitting = fun!) Don't we look like we're having a good time?
While in Artfibers, I mighta sorta kinda bought something. Just a little bit. And also at the bookstore. I'll have to take some pictures of the haul and post them here - just try not to be too horrified, OK? OK.
Hello! How ya been! Long time no blog, eh? Well I have a small explanation - our main computer died. Hopfully not for long, although the first diagnosis (dead CMOS battery) was ruled out, and now we're going for a new motherboard. But that requires my computer specialist (aka Dan) to be home.
Actually, I haven't talked much about Dan this summer... He's participating on a team that's been selected as a semi-finalist for the DARPA Grand Challenge, a race of autonomous (robot) cars across the desert. The race isn't until October, but he's pretty much tied up between now and then - at least 2 nights a week and every weekend is spent in the Virginia countryside. That means a lot of alone time for me, which I'm alternately enjoying and annoyed by. There's a lot that's not getting done around the house because I can't (or don't feel like) doing it by myself. On the other hand, I'm doing a lot of knitting (yay!) and hanging out with my girlfriends. And Dan is having the time of his life on this project that he's really excited about.
OK, that was a bit of a detour. Anyway, I've been slow with getting the Panama pics up and organized because of this lack of computer. I'll work on those, because I really do want to share them.
I didn't knit very much on our vacation, but I did get a few rows (including the heel) done on the striped socks and started my Sockapal2za socks. Here they both are in front of the Bridge of the Americas, which is the bridge where Highway 1 (the Central American highway) crosses the Panama Canal.
(Click to make bigger)
And the most recent project (which has consumed most of my time since being back) is the Dreamcatcher Medallion Cardigan from Teva Durham's Loop-d-Loop. My goal is to finish it before Saturday to wear it to the Teva Durham class I'm taking at Stitch DC. I'm up to the armholes... pictures tomorrow (maybe!). I'm also making it from Artfiber's Suedish... and I'm going to Artfibers in two weeks, so I want to have it finished to show them as well. Extra motiviation!
Didja miss me? Unlike previous absences, there's no dramatic story or explanation this time... just a certain blog-ennui I guess. To make up for it, here's a fabulous entry for you - pictures, words and more. Unfortunately, no FO's. I've finished things, I just don't have pictures. That will have to wait...
[First - a sidebar to everyone googling "Sarah W." and winding up here. That happens to be my name, but I'm not the contestant on The Bachelor, as I'm sure you figured out from the photo up there. Sorry to disappoint you. However, if you like knitting and crafts, please feel free to look around!]
OK, remember way back when there was this Sheep & Wool Festival in Maryland? And I went to it and I bought things? And then I promised to show what I'd purchased on the blog? Yeah, I barely remember that too. Why is it that a month seems like such a long freaking time? Anyway... promises kept! The haul:
[General purchases on left; sock yarn on right; click for bigger pics]
The first picture has the "general" purchases. From left - the red and black are both from Brooks Fiber Farm. The black was wound up and the tail off to the side was already leading to a WIP by the time these photos were taken (which I'm quite proud of!). Here's a sneak peek progress photo of that WIP (anyone recognize the stitch markers?)... it's actually finished now (I wore it to a wedding last weekend), but FO photos are still not completed. Continuing around clockwise, there is some roving to make thrummy thrum thrums this winter, the pattern for orca mittens (I couldn't resist), and then some yarn from the bargain bin (50% off!) to play with - Soy Silk, Bamboo (possibly enough for a striped Honeymoon or something similar), and Rowan Plaid for a pair of mittens.
The second photo is the sock yarn haul (note: not all yarn is pictured; I bought enough for at least one pair from each). I did especially well at the bargain bin with several kinds of Regia... (and enabled several other bloggers to benefit as well!). I have enough of the plain red Silja and blue Regia on the top left for a baby sweater a la Devan. Then there are three more striped Regia, the orange is from Spirit Trail (the last two skeins were mine!), and the two on the right are Socks That Rock - Blarney Stone and Beryl (I think).
Speaking of socks, I know that Second Sock Syndrome is a well-documented phenomenon (that is, the reluctance to cast on and knit a second or mate sock once you've finished the first one of the pair). However, I seem to have a new, mutated form. You see, long ago, prior to the first Sockapalooza, I began my first real pair of socks - a practice pair in Blue Regia cotton. I finished the first one, then knit the pair of socks for my partner. Upon returning home from Sheep & Wool, I was burning to cast on and start knitting one of my new sock yarns... I knew that my Addi's were still in the bag with the first sock and the waiting ball of yarn. In true harloty fashion, I decided to just steal the needles and figured I'd get around to finishing the other blue sock someday. Until I went to the sock bag and grabbed the needles, and found...
this. A mostly completed sock. Which I had somehow entirely forgotten about. Seriously, how is that possible? I had a sock that was 75% done, and all it needed was a little cuff. Needless to say, I wasn't able to steal the needles, but it turned out for the best, because a few movies and some cuff-knitting later, and I have a pair of blue socks. And the Addis are now free and waiting for the next pair to be cast on guilt-free (well, it's not the needles that would be guilty, it's me, but you know what I mean)...
And a quick thank-you to Christine, my partner in Pinku's pink hair accessory swap. I got this great selection
all the way from Japan. The cherries have already been worn to work, as a perfect partner to my cherry shirt. Thanks, Christine!
Alrighty, then. I think that's all of the knitty news that I have without more photos. Next time, my new WIP... not yet cast on, but it's going to be from Loop-d-Loop (yay!).
It's a before-work post! When I should already be at work! (Dan's having car issues and I'm waiting for him to resolve them before leaving him stranded)
No pictures, just a few updates.
First, the Chai cardi is progressing quite nicely. In fact, it's now a vest, which is how it will probably stay for MDS&W. The sides and shoulders are seamed up, and because of the pretty selvedge I did around the armholes it doesn't look half bad as a vest. I still need to do the neckband and I-cord ties, but that shouldn't be too bad. I also think I should clarify that the below picture of the yarn (see previous entry) was taken without flash, just natural sunlight - it really is that luminous.
Speaking of MDS&W - it's in 4 days!!!!! That's T-4!!!! WOOT! I'm getting quite excited, especially since some of my girls are coming to stay with me. Hooray for the internet and knit blogs! What will I buy at S&W? I honestly haven't thought that much about it. Now that I'm borrowing (uh-huh) my mom's spinning wheel, I might have to get some more fiber and then try to get the hang of it. (Disregard the fiber I've already purchased for just that purpose, please)
Also, sock yarn. Now that I've finished off my first pair of socks I should get some more going. (Disregard the sock yarn I have already in the stash, please)
I should definitely get to buy things if I want them, though - I've been vary good at resisting temptation prior to this Festival. It seems to be getting harder the closer I get to it, but I only have three more days to get through. Right now Merino Stretch at elann is calling my name - I love, love, love the sample pattern in it too (cabled zipper jacket yum).
And, no thanks to a few other bloggers, I found the wonder that is yesasia.com for ordering Japanese craft pattern books - English interface and free shipping if your order is over $39. I have a wishlist with tons of books on it already - thanks to amazon.co.jp and google translator and a few free hours of web time. (For the record, I currently only have one japanese knitting book - the I Love Knitting that Mariko has, ISBN 4-408-62691-0, thanks to Molly, my Secret Pal 3)
Dan's back - time to go to work!
Several bad things:
- riding the elevator downstairs to get lunch at 3:30 PM since it's the first chance you've had to eat all day
- sharing that elevator with people who are leaving for the day to go home
(this has happened to me several times in the past few weeks)
- blog comment spammers (die spammers die!)
- not having enough time or energy to knit, let alone blog about it
- having a project that has a due date and is for someone else (*cough* Sockapalooza *cough*) but being led astray by an instant gratification project
- feeling guilty about said transgression
- having to cheat on the Sockapalooza sock further to churn out a baby hat for a shower on Sunday
- office politics and dealing with unpleasant people in general
- flooding basements (don't worry, all of the yarn is upstairs)
OK, enough negativity. Now for the positive...
You know what is awesome?
- playing fetch with your cat
- ordering knitting patterns online and having them arrive in two days (from Nevada no less!)
- exhausting yourself putting together a meeting might be bad, but getting to see many of your good friends and colleagues will be awesome (and how I'll spend the next four days)
- Other bloggers (and more, plus maybe) coming to visit for MDS&W!
- The Yarn Harlot signing books at MDS&W!
- Matching totebags to identify yourself as a knitblogger at MDS&W! (Here's how to order one)
- Blog comments from real, live people and friends (hint, hint)
So, long time no blog, eh? Sorry - another work emergency had me out of town for the past week. I'm sure you've seen it on the news. Heck, you might have seen ME on the news (I was on the national news on Monday morning). I'm not really sure how much I want to blend work and my blog at this point, so I'm not going to link to it, but I was in the Florida Keys and I'm a marine biologist. There you go - try a google news search if it doesn't help. E-mail me if you want more details.
So, what have I done in the meantime? Not much knitting, truthfully. Another 4 rows on Clapotis, and I'm working on the cuff of my Sockapalooza sock. The first one. Sorry, sock pal - these aren't going to make it to you by March 15th. I'm going to dedicate all knitting time to these socks until they're done, but it will still be a little bit of time. Pictures to come when I finish sock 1.
Right now I'm trying to clean up all of the blog comment spam - there is a particular level of Hell for spammers, right? Although that link to the headache drugs was looking attractive the other day... ;)
Hope everyone else has been doing well!
First of all,
Yippee! Snow Day! I love snow, especially when I don't have to go out in it and can snay snuggled up warm and cozy at home.
As you can see, I'm back from my work trip. It actually wound up being much quicker than I expected. We finished up with this in only a day, and I was home on Tuesday. Then I went to work and Meetup on Wednesday! It snowed and roads were a bit sketchy, so it was a very small group, but Lara and Paula and I had a great time, just the 3 of us. Then I stayed home on Thursday! Yippee! (Check out the fine print at the bottom - as a DC area Fed, Inauguration Day was a day off.) What did I do with my free day? I ran some errands, surfed some blogs, and spent most of it playing one of my Christmas presents - Zoo Tycoon 2. Which I am now going to start calling Crack 2, because it is that addictive. (I've been playing most of today, too).
Now I'm working on 2 projects - Banff and my sock. I'm trying to fight off the urge to start a hat or scarf, but I kinda need something so that might win out too. Mostly it's just a lazy day at home, yippee!
I have the thrift store sweater story ready to go, but I think it deserves its own post. And I want to keep you coming back to the blog to read more. Yep, I'm cruel like that. ;)
Work emergency has sprung up, requiring me to be out of town for a few days. I'm going to try to make a lot of progress on Banff, and start my first sock, and have pictures to show you when I return. And the much-promised thrift store sweater saga. Until then, I hope this will tide you over:
Cute kittens... Awww.
Where has the time gone? Am I stuck in a vortex where the time-space continuum has sped up without warning? Oh no, it's just the holidays. I guess this happens every year.
Not that I'm the most diligent blogger, but sheesh - three weeks! It doesn't feel like that long, I swear!
I have been knitting in the meantime, and I have pictures to prove it! Remember that craft fair I was prattling on about earlier? Well, if not, the short version is that it's at my office and it's this Friday (Dec. 10th). I've been busy knitting Inventory with a capital I, and here are the fruits of my labor:
Scarves.
Felted Bags.
Somehow it doesn't seem like much, laid out like that. But it's been an awful lot of time and effort. You're knitters, you understand. I'm hoping I can get another scarf done between now and then. Lest you think that this will be the sparsest booth ever, I should let you know that this is a group effort. There's at least twice that many scarves, crocheted snowflake ornaments/coasters, votive candle holders, wine charms, and handmade cards. I'm sure our table will look fabulous. I only hope we sell things. I'm suffering from pricing uncertainty. If you've done a craft fair lately with novelty scarves and felted bags, would you mind sending me an e-mail (or leave a comment) and letting me know what you charged and how well the price went over? I'd truly appreciate it.
That's not all that's been going on in my knitterly world. I also went to a lecture/book-signing by the very cool Debbie Stoller (author of Stitch N'Bitch Nation). Met up with Natalie, which was fun. The best part for me was the show and tell from Stich N' Bitch, when Debbie modeled my Alien Illusion Scarf for everyone to ooh and aah (which they actually did - kinda weird). Other people had the To Dye For sweater, a Go-Everywhere cardigan, and even a Princess Snowball cat bed. One neat thing was just people-watching - seeing the cross-section of "today's knitters." Old and young, punk and traditional, predominately female. Pretty cool.
It was also a trunk show, which meant that we all got to touch some of the sample garments from the book. Which was very, very cool and led me to consider a purchase that I wouldn't have normally made. On Saturday, Christmas shopping found me at Aylin's Woolgatherer (and not just shopping for me, I swear!). But after feeling the angora scarf from the SnB book, and then finding it on sale in the Sale Nook, I broke down and bought this. That's 200 yds (100 grams) of 100% fluffy bunny fur. For what it cost, I'm considering buying a bunny and spinning my own. We'll see. There's also a very cool yarn that's a nylon shell around a cottony core - kind of like when you stuff pantyhose to make crafty dolls or animals or whatever. It's really soft, and there's a sweater's worth for about $14. Can't beat that!
I still have some more craft fair knitting to do, then it's the final push to Christmas. Unfortunately, I won't really be able to show pictures of the presents because all of the recipients read this blog... maybe I'll do little sneak peeks.
Oh, and go say hi to my Secret Pal from Secret Pal 3 (the one I sent things too) - Rachelle. She's really cool, and her daughters are extremely sweet. I'm not sure who my pal is yet, I'll post when I know!