30 June 2006

Disinterested?

I feel like I've run out of witty banter and interesting stories...um, yeah, like I had any of that to begin with. Anyway, I'm bored at work and I took another one of those quizzes....interesting, really!

I didn't go to the SnB last night. I had to work late, and after reading Dixie's blog I think she was sitting there without the benefit of the group. I'm waiting for word on who showed up. I wish she'd buzzed me, I would have come to the coffee shop after I left the office. I would have been a bit late, but there nonetheless.

I'm still working on Tooraj's blanket. I told him that it's still not big enough for him and Lester to cuddle under together and he told me that if I wanted to stop it was fine, Lester can buy his own blanket. :)

The sock on the magic loop is still on the magic loop. I'm still on the gusset...I need to put markers in before I screw it up....tonight maybe. The Gentlemen's sock is languishing as are the Lady E, Variation on a Frill, and a plethora of other WIPs. I'm also waiting for a delivery from Knit Picks. This may be the last of the yarn buying cause once school starts it will be a tight budget. Well, I've stock piled for my schooling so I'm good.

Well, here are the results of my most recent test:

The Keys to Your Heart

You are attracted to obedience and warmth.

In love, you feel the most alive when things are straight-forward, and you're told that you're loved.

You'd like to your lover to think you are stylish and alluring.

You would be forced to break up with someone who was ruthless, cold-blooded, and sarcastic.

Your ideal relationship is lasting. You want a relationship that looks to the future... one you can grow with.

Your risk of cheating is zero. You care about society and morality. You would never break a commitment.

You think of marriage as something precious. You'll treasure marriage and treat it as sacred.

In this moment, you think of love as something you thirst for. You'll do anything for love, but you won't fall for it easily.

I've gone back to my regular

28 June 2006

A Guru, not a Goddess?

Too bad, although this does seem pretty true...







What Kind of Knitter Are You?




You appear to be a Knitting Guru. You love knitting and do it all the time. While finishing a piece is the plan, you still love the process, and can't imagine a day going by without giving some time to your yarn. Packing for vacation involves leaving ample space for the stash and supplies. It can be hard to tell where the yarn ends and you begin.http://marniemaclean.com
Take this quiz!








Quizilla |
Join

| Make A Quiz | More Quizzes | Grab Code



These colors are horrible, but I don't know how to fix them, sorry.....
Who comes up with these things? I'm obviously not very busy at work!

26 June 2006

The end of an era...

Well, yesterday was the last Sunday Stitch-n-Bitch gathering I'll be attending for a long long while unless something goes wrong with the funding for school. Ironically, I got there late and the one person who showed up left before I arrived. I did call to tell her I would be late, but her husband answered and said she forgot her cell phone home. **sigh** Oh well. So, I sat with my friend from NY, in the heat and knitted in silence for about an hour while she read. We'd had a bit of a tiff in the car on the way there, but I think she felt bad because we were late and the one person who showed left. No matter, can't change any of it. But that's that, no more Sunday Atwater/Silverlake meetings for me for a long long while.

In other news....I "learned" how to do the magic loop method for making socks. I am so excited about this. I'm doing a really simple pattern. It's a Regia yarn I got dirt cheap at A Major Knit Work a little while ago. I originally cast on 56 stitches using a size 2 needle, but it was way too small. So, after I was sure I was comfortable with the process I frogged it and started again with 64 stitches. I did an inch of a 2x2 rib, and the body of the sock is 6x2 rib. I'm REALLY happy with it, and it's soooooo portable! I'm thinking there are patterns you probably can't do with the magic loop, like the Jaywalkers with the per needle increases, but I still like it.

I also gave away my black Odessa and the French Market Bag. It wasn't my intention to give away the French Market, but I mentioned that I didn't really like it and the person took it. It's okay, I'll just make myself another. Hopefully, this one will come out better than the first. The Odessa was way too big, it came down to my eyelids, so I have to find another ball of black Cashsoft dk to redo it.

Work is slow, my sinuses are a mess, I'm not sleeping well, I've been up since 4:45am to take my friend to the airport...I just want to go to bed!!!!

19 June 2006

Knitting in a Circle

Things have been quiet around here. I'm dedicated to completing the round afghan for Tooraj & Lester. So, all I'm doing is knitting in a circle. I'm over 600 stitches now. I switched the 30" cord for the 40" cord, so now I've got over 90 inches of cord on this Denise needle. It's large enough to cover me, but not enuf for the two of them to cuddle under. I'm at the end of my third skein, and if by the end of the fourth it doesn't look much bigger I'm stopping there. I just need to find a nice border that works for it. Pictures would be pointless. I'll be sure to snap one before I send it off.

It's funny how the excitement of a new projects kind of wanes after you (I) start it. I was all excited about the Jaywalkers, and now that I've got them started I don't have any urge to pick them up. It's almost the same for the navy blue socks, but not so much so. These I want to finish, but they're on pause until the round red madness is done. I've got the yarn for five or six other new and exciting projects, but I think I'll hold off on starting them so I can stretch my excitement out over a few months, and not just have a bunch of WIPs looking up at me thru their plastic prisons accusingly....did I ever tell you I started this shawl? Black Microspun, Witch's Brew beads, so soft and pretty. I came across it while cleaning this weekend, and it's staring made me feel real guilty. :)

Oh, and I was cleaning cause Maddie's coming to town. I'm going to try to drag her to SnB on Sunday....maybe Thursday too if she's up for it after her flight.

ttfn!

OMG!!! The mail just arrived and I got my 60" Addi Turbos I ordered on FRIDAY!!!! from Angelika's in Lakeside, Oregon. She was great on the phone. Her prices were pretty good and just one day for delivery! I'm soooo excited. Whoo hoo, maybe I'll get back to those Jaywalkers sooner than I thought....Magic Loop here I come!

13 June 2006

Nothing very interesting...

I'm still out here knitting. I've been working on this round blanket. It seems endless. I thought 3 skeins of the Simply Soft would give me the 6 feet I planned, but alas it was not meant to be. I think it might take 5 skeins to get the width I desire. I'm about half way thru the third skein and still only about 40 inches across....perfect baby blanket size, but not so good for two grown men to snuggle under. I'll keep going until the size is correct. They love me and it's worth it.

I have two socks in process. The Gentleman's Sock from Knitting Vintage Socks. I've been enthralled with them since Grumperina made them in black. I couldn't get my hands on the black yarn that she used, and decided on the navy blue Lang Jawoll (I think that's how you spell it). I don't have pictures, I don't think I can take a picture as nice as hers and the detail won't show...so why bother.

I also started a pair of Jaywalkers. I'm using the very first sock yarn I bought. I got it in NY last December. I can't remember if I ever posted about it, but I loved it. It's Regia, and varigated in shades of grey. So pretty. I had a pause when she handed me the size one Crystal Palace needles, but I talked myself off the ledge and started the sock on the LIRR! It was wonderful, working with the tiny needles, creating A SOCK!



But there were some difficulties, the needles were split on the tips and snagging my beautiful yarn:



And Crystal Palace sent me replacements:



It was great! But I'd moved on to new yarn and other sock patterns. Then I got swept away with the Jaywalker fever of Daniella and Clare. So, I dug out my new Crystal Palace needles and got to work. To my chagrin, the replacements were in WORSE shape than the original set. **sigh** So much for Crystal Palace needles. So, now I've got 10-8 inch size 1 bamboo dpns, and not one good set in the bunch.

I did have a set of Clover dpns in the correct size and I began my Jaywalkers. I decided to do the larger size, but I think they're going to be too big. I'll wait until I have more than an inch and a half to pull it on and see. I won't trouble you with photos of it, there's not much to see.

And I do pick up the Lady E once in a while....she's not forgotten. I really have to pace myself because once school starts next month they'll be no yarn shopping for me!

02 June 2006

I'm still around

Well, I haven’t blogged lately, but I have been working (HARD), and still knitting. Time just eludes me when it comes to blogging/writing...

Now for my knitting news. I started my Lady Eleanor. It’s from Scarf Style. I think it was the piece that ultimately sold me on the book. If you rememberI went to The Little Knittery and got some Silk Garden one day. I was going to wait until I could devote all of my time to it, and then begin. Who was I kidding? I couldn’t stand it anymore, so one day I sat and began my Lady E. I LOVE IT! I love this yarn, although it does this weird twisting on itself thing because of the short rows, I think. It’s absolutely gorgeous. I started it, toted it around for a while and then had to put it down. Did I mention I love it!

Here is progress so far:



I put it down to start Tooraj & Lester’s blanket. If you remember waaaaaay back in maybe September last year I was going to whip out a couple of afghans? Well I didn’t whip anything. Both of the afghans are still sitting in my knitting bag, unfinished. But then I saw a woman at the Burbank gathering making a baby blanket, round, in a deep red, and my mind wandered to the bag of Autumn Red Simply Soft languishing under my bed, and I was inspired. So, I started, with a bit of difficulty, the pinwheel baby afghan. The start went so quickly that I decided it was the project that Tooraj & Lester (my gay boyfriends in NY) would be getting. This picture is the early stage. I’ve since order extra long cords for my Denise set, and have had to join the 52” and 30” cords to keep the knitting manageable. It’s about 40 inches across now, just 32 more inches to go. I think it’s only going to take 3 skeins of the Autumn Red, so I can finish the crochet one at some point in the future. I REALLY hope they like this yarn.







Other than that it’s been sock. Lots and lots of socks. I finally finished the Broadripples, just need to weave in the ends. I’m no more excited about them now than I was when I finished the first one. I am excited at the notion of doing the Jaywalkers now. Clare inspired me. I like, really like, Grumperina’s designs, but the idea of doing another sock like the Broadripples made me cringe. However, Clare is doing such a bang up job on them that I think I’m going to use that very first sock yarn I bought way back in December at The Yarn Connection in NY.

Not much else going on. Work is good, and I’m much happier here than I was in Pasadena. I’ve been stocking up on yarn for “projects” lately, cause once I start school there will be little money and time to go looking for yarn.