SkeIngenius

Nom! Nom! Nom!

2010-09-10T15:11:00.000-04:00

As I was sitting at my makeshift felting table yesterday afternoon, I heard a most peculiar sound coming from behind me....It was an odd sound.a chewing sound...a chewing on wood sound...strange.

It took me a second to realize the only wood around just happened to be my spinning wheel. Gasp! Horror! Sheer panic! I turned around and saw Merlin chomping down on the footman.

In an act of near superhero speed I had that fuzzy little demon off the end of that thing and swiftly relocated before he could take another bite- me screeching all the while.

Scared the bejesus out of Boygenius. Merlin just thought it was funny(The kid ain't right.)

After inspecting the footman, I realized there wasn't much damage to report-just a few tooth holes, but no splintered wood. What kind of cat chews on a footman? Really. The kid ain't right.

Year in a Nutshell...

2010-09-01T17:32:00.001-04:00

In order to bring y'all up to speed, I thought I would give you the readers digest version of the last year. Here goes:

1.We added to our little family in the fuzzy little form of a second Siamese cat to keep ole furgenius company. He was a rescue kitten, swooped up and saved at a kill shelter by a Labrador retriever rescue, and located by us via Petfinder. He was named Merlin when we got him, and it fit so we kept it...but like ole furgenius, there have been many rounds of nicknaming that followed (because calling a cat "monkeyface" makes perfect sense). He has giant feet, and he is a terrible kleptomaniac. Lately, his favorites include whatever he can pull out of my purse, Boygenius' keys (which he hides under the bed), and books out of the bookshelves (which he pulls under the couch). I think he's trying to work his way though the whole set of penguin classics.

2. After many, many, months (like 15 months here people!) of being car-less, I am now happily back behind the wheel. This was due to a national auto repair chain (who shall remain nameless, lest the mere mention of the name send me into a apoplectic fit) ruining my car's engine while replacing a belt, breaking off a bolt, breaking a drill bit off trying to remove the bolt, and then refusing to repair the damage until made to by binding BBB arbitration. So yay! But I do have to admit that I miss busknitting.

3. I took another fine trip out of the country with my sister. This time it for 10 days to the sunny country of Costa Rica, and I didn't pick up my needles once during the 1000+ miles we rode on a bus.

4. I started wet-felting in earnest.

5. Wet-felting allowed me to make a scarf that looks like a giant strip of bacon. I still can't make up my mind is this is a good or a bad thing. I mean, who really needs a scarf that looks like a strip of bacon? Expect a tutorial in the semi-near future, so I'm saving the pics :)

6. I've had tendinitis in my elbow which has caused me to significantly slow up on my knitting since June. I did a little research online and I got this theraband flexbar to strengthen some muscles and take some pressure off the tendons. It seems to be doing good things for me, so you might want to give it a gander if you have similar issues. (*I'm just a happy customer, no ties to the company or anything & I'm certainly not a doctor so proceed at your own risk.*)

7. I am in the midst of planning the humdinger of all baby showers for my best friend (more details & eventual pics to follow). It's been loads of fun, and I can't wait to meet this little one!

I'm looking forward to showing you guys some of the things I've been working on. Good things are coming folks!

ZZZZZZZZZ.......

2010-08-30T20:07:00.000-04:00

Sorry y'all. Must have fallen asleep. I was out a lot longer than I meant to be..

Yep, its me. Back from the ether with a new resolve. I've got this spanky new background and a new resolve to get cranking on this here blog in a major way. I can''t say that the look is final yet-I could change my mind on it a half dozen times before we are through-but it certainly looks a lot better than the sorry one that occupied this space a while back.

For the benefit of the both the blog I have instituted a solid NO CHRISTMAS KNITTING policy for the year. Yessir. Not a single stitch will pass from my needles and into the hands of a friend or relative this year. It's going to be the ultimate experiment for me to see that I don't crack and try to slide some mittens in under the radar, and possibly a grand relief for relatives who were straining under the weight of the wool of years past. Should be interesting. Hope you stay tuned.

I'll be back on Wednesday with a "year in a nutshell" post that will bring you up to speed on just what has been keeping me hopping for the past year, as well as a few of the small pearls of wisdom I have gathered during that time. In the meantime, if anyone can tell me what the heck this is you will be my hero:

Love always,

Skeingenius

Explainations, Excuses, and General Information.

2009-11-02T09:27:00.003-05:00

Ah yes. In answer to Karen's question, the toilet-riding clowniness came from a carnival themed tailgate party at work. You can say that I took it a little bit too far, but I think it was just far enough....it brings a whole new meaning to casual Friday when you are making balloon animals and riding a toilet. Any excuse I can get to make a raging fool of myself in public, and I am totally there. It's a tragic flaw in my character, really. It comes from the long buried high school drama geek in me. I was the best drunken villager that I could be in Brigadoon, not a single line, but lots of enthusiastic dancing and faux drunken stumbling...but I digress.

So, whats shaking? The Christmas knitting is in full swing around these parts. I'm kind of at a loss though, because some of the members of my family sneak in here to keep tabs on me, and I'm hesitant to spoil any Christmas surprises by putting up pictures. How do ya'll handle this one? Whats a knit blogger to do between November and the new year when the fingers are flying and things need to stay secret? I'm still trying to figure that out. All I can say is that I started and finished 2 projects for assorted family members over the weekend, and now my hands are mush. I'm going to need to take a day to let em rest up for the next woolly battle.

Happy Monday!

And Now for Something Completely Random...

2009-10-22T15:06:00.005-04:00

In the million and fifty years since I last posted anything, the following things have occurred:

1. I have finished the hemlock ring, and cursed extensively as my blocking boards were not big enough to properly block it as tightly as I would like. But the blanket is beautiful and a crazy fast knit.

2. I have finished 2 pairs of Bella's Mittens-(one for me and one for boygenius who saw them and fell in love with big cabled mittens that vaguely resemble the coolest oven mitts ever).

3. I have lost my cell phone in a rain storm. Its lifeless carcass was found by a neighbor who decided it would be a smashing idea to sit it out on the front stoop of our apartment building so it could then be stolen by a random passerby. Note to phone thief: I shake my fist at you, random phone stealing stranger. You are made of suck.

4. Boygenius and I bought a new mattress and now for the first time in 7 years, I can sleep without feeling like random body parts were going to fall off in the morning. Yay for big people beds that my feet don't hang off of and yay for high thread count sheets! Yay for curling up in said bed and knitting my freaking brains out!

5. Boygenius and I have celebrated our 4 year wedding anniversary, and the 5th birthday of the diabolical Furgenius.

6. Oh yeah, and this happened:

Yes, thats me dressed up as a clown. And yes, I am riding a motorized toilet.

Don't ask.

Wowza for Weekends!

2009-08-30T16:29:00.007-04:00

Whats this? A actual photograph of knitting? I know, its shocking. The last thing you expect to find here on Skeingenius. Sometimes I have to throw in a wild card to keep you on your toes :)

Whats shakin' on this fine Sunday afternoon? I have to say that I've been a bit lazy today so far, a perfect end to an altogether fantastic weekend. Friday night was a night spent knitting with Furgenius plopped firmly in the lap, disk 3 of True Blood on DVD, and Boygenius off shooting xbox zombies at a friend's house. A great way to unwind from the stresses of the week for both of us in our own way.

Saturday morning I met my mother in law and sister in law for some fine morning coffee and some "farmers marketing". I love those ladies and talking and spending time with them is a great treat. My mother in law is an amazing knitter, and we have a great time "talking shop".

On my way home I got a wonderful surprise. My best friend, who lives an hour and a half away, called and said "whatcha doing? I wanna come down to see ya!" so I squealed with unrestrained joy, skipped the rest of the way home, and then proceeded to speed clean my sad and sorry apartment so it would be fit for company. Then I sat down with my knitting yet again, waiting for my girl to arrive. By that point the Hemlock Ring had grown to look like this:This blanket is growing pretty quickly, and I think I'm going to love the heck out of the finished object. Furgenius already loves it, most of the time if I set it down for more than a minute she climbs on top of it and makes herself at home.

Once Jaq arrived, we ran amok, went to bookstores, ate Indian food, and generally had a great time. Once we made it back to the apartment, a neighbor knocked on the door to ask for help since another neighbor's indoor cat had jumped out of a screen less 1st floor window. He was running loose and scared outside and generally wigging out. Boygenius and I had cat-sat for him in the past, so he knew us, and I grabbed him up and we got him back inside, but not without a little bloodshed.As you can see, he took a few little pieces out of the inside of my forearm (the weird shinyness is from the liquid bandage stuff that I used tospackle myself back together). Can't say I blame the kid for scratching me up, he was pretty frightened by the whole thing and all he wanted was to get back home. He's a good ole boy.

So here it is, Sunday afternoon. All I have left to accomplish is to figure out whats for dinner and to knit until my hands fall off. Possibly change out of my pajamas for a while before changing back into them. Perfection.

Granny Clampett and the disappearing dpns.

2009-08-27T13:51:00.008-04:00

Why is it that double pointed needles, especially ones larger than sock knitting diameters, have gotten so doggone difficult to find in most stores lately? Maybe this is not the case in actual local yarn stores, but in the general crafting variety that are all I can access by public transport at the moment all I seem to find are blank holes where needles used to be.

I must have bought the yarn to start Boygenius's gifty Hemlock Ring throw like 15 years ago last Tuesday, thinking that I would at some point wander across something pointy and possibly enough like a 10.5 DPN that I would eventually be able to start knitting. After maybe 3 months time I was still needleless. And for future reference, sharpening pencils on both ends only leads to frustration and graphite smudges on your yarn.

Eventually I gave up the good fight, realized the mission would likely continue on in an unsuccessful manner, so I did what any self respecting knitter who spends most of their workday at an internet connected computer would do: I ebayed the crap out of those needles. They showed up in the mail yesterday, much more quickly than I expected, which was so exciting that I didn't even turn fully evil when I realized that they had arrived a few hours before I knew it and Boygenius had accidentally buried them under a stack of junk mail without telling me I had a package.

When I finally found them, my fingers got immediately itchy for the knitting.

So my evening went a little like this: playing, but not quite watching the Flight of the Conchords on DVD in the bedroom while doing battle with the Emily Ocker circular cast on, which I couldn't quite get the hang of since I was 75% migraine addled with no concentration, and occasionally excusing myself from the knitting to barf, which made me feel much better. But it felt good to be knitting.

After an embarrassingly extended amount of time I finally gave up on that cast on out of frustration, crocheted a ring and started knitting into it. Also at some point during the night's knitting and multiple trips to the bathroom I lost my eyeglasses. I still haven't been able to find them, which means I am currently rocking my spare pair, which make me look like a younger version of Granny from The Beverly Hillbillies. (Did I mention that my headaches often make me stupid and I lose things?...anyway. )

Yeah, its foxy. Here's hoping I find my glasses soon. If I don't, at least I know what I can be for Halloween :)

My point, and I don't have one....

2009-08-25T21:53:00.004-04:00

Hey Ya'll.

Its your long missing purveyor of fiber-filled funk here. Yep, that right.Its me! The monster at the end of this blog (10 points to whoever gets that reference). Skeingenius is back and she's bad!

What may have inspired this return to the land of the internets? Not really sure really, unless you count the fact that I swear this keeps me honest and on my toes.

Speaking on honest and on my toes, I do have to admit that the same freaking bobbin of turquoise brown sheep handspun only just left the comfy confines of the Kromski last night, but I've made some progress on bobbin #2 this evening.

I've been knitting baby sweaters for folks because it seems that an epidemic of pregnancy has befallen my fine circle of friends, and I've been spending my days wondering when the phone will ring to tell me that another one has done gotten herself up the stick :)

So, this means that I'm on baby surprise sweater #58794 (or # 3 if you are counting actual finished objects) but they are pretty fun knitting and an exercise in trusting the pattern designer since I looked at the pattern and thought to myself that there is not a snowball's chance in Zimbabwe that it would ever begin to work out. But, as life has proven time and again, there are tons of people out there who are way smarter than me.

Now, I have paid 'ole EZ the highest complement...I have actually laminated the pattern page from my book since I know that I'm going to be wearing this puppy out. People are literally going to have to work hard to avoid procreating so they can keep me from knitting like a million bluezillon of them. Not that I just won't knit a tons of them anyway.

Boygenius started grad school this week, and its been really great. It seems that in a hot second he will be certified to teach elementary school and art K-12. Yep, in just a year and a half, he is going to ready to rock a classroom of his own. I already have the best mental image of all 6 foot 7inches of bearded, redheaded Boygenius standing in the middle of a room full of young ins who barely reach his knees. Makes me happy every time.

I got the fall issue of interweave knits the other day, and I think I'm in love with about half of the woolies within. Thats a new personal record. I had started to lose the faith for a minute or two. The fall issue always tends to be my favorite anyhow.

Wowza, I'm thinking that I need to call it a night.I'm randomly babbling and my melatonin is kicking in. I think I might just be about to start snoring on my keyboard.

love,
SG

Things to be happy about.

2009-07-15T14:44:00.003-04:00

Time has been rolling right along, and luckily there have been no more "fecal surprises" left by the ever diabolical furgenius. This is something worth rejoicing about in my book. Other things worth rejoicing about?

A half spun bobbin of Sheep Shed Studio Brown Sheep mill ends on my Symphony, that will soon be fully spun....and the fact that over the course of it I realized that if I slow down on my maniacal treadling speed my singles get much more consistent (go figure)...

The fact that "The Intentional Spinner" book finally came in at the library where I had it held on reserve, so I can pick up that little slice of heaven on my way home from work this afternoon....

The fact that tomorrow is Boygenius's birthday and it gives me a great big reason to make him chocolate cookies that are as large as his head!

The fact that my MRI and other test results have come back clean, and that means that although I have migraines, I do have a functional, generally healthy and wool obsessed brain.

Ah, all good things.
Wishing you all good things too.

SG.

Whats that Smell?

2009-07-09T08:19:00.003-04:00

Yesterday afternoon I got back to the apartment after work, and as soon as I turned the key in the lock, I could smell a smell most foul. A strong smell. A potent and awe inspiringly bad smell.

In short, my apartment smelled like cat poo.

Being that we are very consistent poop scoops for her litter box, and ruling the box out as a source of the funk a "treasure hunt" of sorts was begun in order to ferret out the location of the errant smell.

Normally Furgenius is masterful in her use of the proper facilities, but there have been a few occasions when she has taken her potty habits off road for reasons of spite, or litter brand changes (Who in our household could ever forget the "Swheat Scoop" debacle of 2007?). The most notable of these events was when she was a tiny little kitten, and she tore a hole in the lining under out couch, climbed up in side it amongst the springs and proceeded to use the throne in a way befitting the queen she already knew she was. Yeah, she pooped inside our couch. Good Times!

I checked the bedroom....Nope.

I checked the bathroom....Nope.

I checked the living room....Nope.

I checked the kitchen....Nope.

The smell was strongest in the hall way, but I couldn't find anything on the carpet.

And that's when I saw it.

Furgenius had somehow managed to poop on the wall. Yep. That's not a typo. The cat actually somehow managed to poop on the wall in the hall way. The poo in question was a very average bit of defecation, but it was hanging on the wall like it was nailed up and hung there like a portrait or a souvenir.

The weirdest thing is that it was up higher on the wall than her kiester would allow unless she was doing some form of aerial acrobatics to put it there. It's a good 5 or 6 inches higher than she could normally manage. One good old fashioned scrubbing and wall-bleaching later, and I'm still seriously stumped by this one.

Life is full of surprises.

SG.

PS- Sorry about the delay on the Minimalist pics. I didn't finish seaming it till last night. Boygenius and I have been working on a logo for a blues band and we had some last minute photoshop clean up and typography to do before our deadline. I think its looking pretty swell. I'll try to get the client's approval so I can share it with you guys soon :)

Seams to Me....

2009-07-07T09:25:00.003-04:00

How many times have I sewed the seams and ripped them back out on the Minimalist Cardigan? Well, I am embarrassed to say that I have sewn up and then removed each seam at least twice, sometimes more. Apparently I need a course on remedial seaming, followed by a wicked beating if I ever think that knitting a sweater without adding some form of selvage is a good idea. I give you all full reign to track me down like a dog and whoop me if I ever do it again. Not my smoothest move ever, but I think I've learned my lesson.

The good news is that I am almost done with the thing. As I type this, I have only the back seam of the right shoulder left to sew up (tear out and then re-sew again, most likely) and then it will be forever cast into the glorious ranks of the finished object.

I am seriously surprised by how heavy this sweater is. Its got some impressive heft to it. When I tried it on mid-seaming, it seems that I chose wisely with the size I chose to knit, and it fits very nicely. The edges of the lapels roll in and blocking it didn't seem to slow it down, but it doesn't look bad that way, in fact I kind of like it. I'll post some pics as soon as I finish it, which should be a bit after I get home for the night. Woo hoo!

In other news, I have spent the last few days being poked and prodded by various doctors getting various tests to diagnose my busted up migraine melon. Yesterday I had a MRI, today I had a visual field test, and the word on the street at this point is that they are thinking that I have some problems with "some cranial nerve or nerves" that are either sparking the migraines or possible making me have additional migraine like symptoms. If anything, this process vaguely feels like progress, and has made for some decent waiting room knitting. Fingers crossed that I end up with some answers soon. This is wearing me out, but I'm still pretty hopeful.

Over the weekend I discovered the joys of knitting while listening to audio books. I hit up the library on Friday and got a copy of "The Fourth Bear "by Jasper Ffjord on CD. If you love books, and don't know Jasper's work, I highly recommend it...Especially his Thursday Next series of novels. They are smart, witty, and generally a lot of fun. I'm thinking I'll be back up at the library this afternoon to grab a few more titles on CD to keep me knitting through the week.

Hope y'all had a wonderful holiday weekend,

SG.

Speaking of Dancing Backwards in Heels...

2009-07-01T20:56:00.008-04:00

Alright, so I'm only speaking of heels...I got swept away by a serious bout of shoe lust. Me, girl who only owned one single pair of heels, which I wore to my wedding. I happened to be terribly bored, and window shopping on overstock, when I came across my dream shoes. Oxford Pumps. rich brown leather Frye Oxford pumps. I drooled. I hemmed and hawed. I obsessively stalked stock levels until my size was nearly gone. Then, since I managed to find myself with a little extra birthday scratch I ordered the bad boys.

One week of staring out the window for the UPS Man later, they arrived at my door. This afternoon, with fingers crossed, I took them out of the box and prayed that they would fit since I had never tried them on. I put em on, angels began singing a miraculous chorus.

Of course, I had to photograph them with some wool to give the non-shoe lovers something fun to look at too. The colors are a bit shot, mostly due to the fact that I spent so much of the afternoon walking around admiring them that I lost the daylight. I'm thinking I'm going to have to sew myself a nice bright green skirt to wear with these, along with my nearly finished minimalist cardigan.Oh, and speaking of ye old minimalist cardigan, here are those progress shots I promised ya..with a little help from Fur Genius. She missed you guys :)Here is what the sweater looked like for the 2 seconds that it was on the carpet before Furgenius realized it was there. I didn't even have time to straighten out the lapels. Its still unblocked and rolling under.As you can see, it takes Furgenius mere moments to infiltrate the knitting and make it her own. She is surveying the perimeter for would be wool thieves. Very reassuring. All that security work is tiring. Furgenius is all tucked in under the first sleeve for a nap.

I'm hoping that she will let me have it back sometime soon...I've got about 7 more inches left to knit on this one.

I'd best get going. Got big plans...I need to do some cleaning and ooogle my shoes for a while longer before I go to sleep for the night. These suckers are going to inspire a million sewing projects, I can feel it!

SG.

Third Time is the Charm.

2009-06-30T09:13:00.003-04:00

After a history of much hemming and hawing, knitting and frogging, and throwing up of my hands in frustration, I have restarted and made significant progress on my arch nemesis, the minimalist cardigan.

As you may know if you have seen the pattern, the minimalist is not a difficult sweater in most senses of the word. It's a little ribbing, followed by miles and miles of moss stitch. We are not talking about dancing backwards in high heels here..(OK, in my case walking forwards in heels is hard enough, but that's just another of many sources of comedy in my life).

The tragedy of the situation is now I realize why my previous attempts were so terribly flawed.

Freaking dull pointed bamboo needles.

Oh, how I curse those freaking dull pointed bamboo needles. Give me sharp! Give me pointy! Give me more coffee! (caught that huh? OK, so I'm thirsty and I'm trying to figure out if anyone is paying attention. If you are, then its cream , no sugar. Thanks!)

Also, it took me way to long to realize that when you knit moss stitch, and the number of stitches is odd then all you have to remember is to knit the opposite stitch on the front (IE-knit all the purls and purl all the knits) and on the back, you just do the same thing (knit your knits and purl your purls). I was trying to use my row counter and keep track of what row I was on in the repeat and all that jazz, which was slowing me down significantly.

Yeah, I feel kinda dumb for not doing a bit more pattern analysis before I got trucking on it, but the difference in my speed after I stopped worrying about the rows was amazing. Like so amazing, that I now am on the first sleeve after knitting the back and both front panels. On previous attempts I only made it part of the way up the back before I would screw up the pattern or split the yarn with the dull needle point and make things messy and have to frog and frog and frog.

The KP options needles are totally making this a joy, and at this rate, I may just be polishing this off in the next week or two depending on how much time I have to roll on it. Pretty darned excited about it too. Since this will be my second sweater I have ever knit, and the first with a distinct stitch pattern, the seaming should be a pretty interesting lesson in itself. I'll be posting some progress pics over the course of the next day or two.

Have a good Tuesday Ya'll!

An Open Letter to my Knitting.

2009-06-29T21:17:00.004-04:00

My Darling Knitting,

Sometimes I feel like we could use a little time apart. Some space. Distance, You know, to realize just how good we have it when we are together. Even with a love so strong, I sometimes need to take a step back. It's not you, darling. It's me. I keep telling myself that its not actually cheating...That we were on a break, and I was free to see other crafts. There. I said it. Oh knitting, will you ever forgive me? Its true.

I made curtains for the bathroom...and I liked it!

Love,
Skeingenius.

Are you Sure This Doesn't Look Like a Couch?

2009-06-29T21:10:00.002-04:00

I'm just sayin'. Maybe its more like a Cowl-ch. (hah! I kill me.)

Run Away!

2009-06-29T09:01:00.003-04:00

I've been a really bad blogger as of late. Well, its been more like I've been a nonexistent blogger as of late. You see, I have this tendency to withdraw whenever things take a turn for the not-so good...it lets me re-group and hopefully come out stronger. Since we are all friends here, I'll let you in on the details.

Ever since I was 16 years old, I have had some crazy migraine headaches. They seriously mess with my vision, balance, sense of smell, and pretty much any other thing that they could possibly mess with, and since then I have experienced a phenomenon known as visual snow (which means that the view that I have of the world always looks like a staticky television. Not fun, but you get used to it).

Over the last few months, these headaches have changed. My symptoms have gotten pretty crazy, and they are happening more often than not. I can't remember the last time I didn't have the headache. So, I did what most would people do. I went to the doctor. She became convinced that I have Multiple Sclerosis, summarily freaked me out, and sent me off to the eye doctor to see what was going on in my eyeballs.

It took a loooong time for me to get into the eye doctor, several weeks in fact, and during that time, I was getting more and more anxious regarding the possible outcome. Well, once I went to that appointment, the eye doc ruled out MS (YAY!!!!) but couldn't really do much more than that. So, I'm going to be looking at another round of tests to make sure that I'm still just having sucky migraines and not dealing with something scarier. I truly think that my migraine pattern has just changed, and that my symptoms could just be twisted in with some inner ear thing that's making me dizzier than normal and that everything will be OK in the long run, but the whole thing has been a bit more debilitating that I like to admit, and I was getting pretty depressed about the whole thing. I've been working through it, and definitely knitting through it!

Good news is that I'm perking back up and trying to keep it on the sunny side, ya know? So, here's to all things good and woolly. Next post will be back to good ole fashioned knitting content-with a little bit of sewing thrown in there (I've been cheating on my knitting a bit with my sewing machine. Shhh! Don't tell!) Thanks for hanging in there with me folks!

SG

Shes Like a Rainbow Chickadee...Did You Know They Make Those?

2009-06-02T11:00:00.001-04:00

So, since I couldn't show you my finished 70's sofa chickadee cowl ( it remains uncompleted purse knitting as we speak) I thought I would show you the pretty finished chickadee cowl that I made out of hand spun Crown Mountain Farms in "Shes' Like a Rainbow". If you haven't experienced the beauty that is crown mountain farms fiber, and you are a spinner, you need to go like, 10 minutes ago to the website and buy yourself a present.

I made this over the course of the Sunday before Memorial day so I could take it and give it to Momgenius on Monday while I was off work. She loves woolly neck things. It turned out to be a hair shorter than she normally likes, but I ran out of yarn. She took it like a champ.

I loves me a FO.

I also love spending the quality time with Momgenius and Dadgenius. Why, I think I would hang out with them for fun, even if they hadn't spawned me. That's saying something.

A loooong time ago, I used to blog.

2009-06-01T20:27:00.004-04:00

So, I have to say that I suck. I've truly been a sadly unmotivated non-blogging sack of skin. Yeah, not really sure what happened there.

It could possibly have something to do with the fact that I'm accidentally knitting a couch from the 70's. I mean, look at this thing!

If you tell me that it doesn't belong on some shag carpet, and you'll be lying to me to spare my feelings.

So what the everloving wombat snot is that? You might be asking (fill in your favorite non-profanity expletive if you aren't feeling "wombat snot"...I promise that I won't get upset).

Well, its a chickadee cowl. It just so happens that a chickadee cowl, when knitted from my hand spun crosspatch yarn looks like it climbed over the wall at goodwill to find a better home. Who knew?

Is it wrong if that makes me love it even more?

I love the pattern and I think I'm going to be forced to knit a giant pile of them. If you haven't knit one of these bad boys you totally need to stick it in your Rav queue right now. I'll wait.

Its the most perfectly simple, lovely pattern especially for breaking up a freaky pooling yarn.

I missed you guys! As for Peru stories, I've made up my mind that I'm going to break that giant hunk of goodness into a series of weekly posts. I know I've said it before, but keep your eyes peeled. They are going to be snuck in between pictures of frantic knitting. 'Cause, I got the fever baby!

Checking in...

2009-05-16T12:43:00.003-04:00

Hey Y'all. Long time no see. I made my way back from Peru on Monday night at around 9pm, and I must say that I've been in a bit of a hibernation phase since I got home. There were just so many amazing things to see and process that I was plumb wore out..but in the best possible way. This was one heck of a trip.

I just wanted to stop in and say "hey! I'm not dead." and to tell ya that there are quite a few stories coming your way.

love and kisses,
SG

On the Way Home.

2009-05-11T21:07:00.000-04:00

I think at this point I will be on a plane winging my way on home, excited about spending some quality time with Boygenius and Furgenius.

Get ready to see a glut of photographic evidence of the trip coming soon. I've missed you guys!
Love,
SG.

Why I Never Have to Do Laundry Again.

2009-05-05T21:15:00.000-04:00

Furgenius owns the laundry pile now. It is her not so secret base of operations for her plans for world domination. She's going to get to it... right after she finishes her nap.

Don't worry. It will be a long time coming.

Right now...

2009-05-02T22:00:00.001-04:00

Right now, I'm guessing that I'm hanging out on a bench in some random airport lobby.
Except I'm in Peru... Waiting for another flight... to take me to a boat.. to take me even further into the wilderness. How rad is that? I squee with joy.

(and I'm sure its getting me some pretty odd looks right about now).

While I'm Away

2009-05-01T12:37:00.000-04:00

Hey there.

I thought about the prospect of long term blog blackout while I'm off in the jungles of Peru, but I'm not having it. Fear not. I'm going to schedule some random posts to keep you company while I'm gone. Furgenius wanted to take over, but she hasn't mastered the art of touch typing yet. It would also get in the way of all those long standing plans for world domination.

For the 10 day stretch from Saturday till Tuesday you can expect to see a post or 5 popping up at random...and boy do I mean random!

So keep your seat belts on folks. It might be a bumpy ride.

How Do You Decide Where to Stop?

2009-04-30T10:17:00.005-04:00

I'm trucking right along on this garter triangle, and at this point it is almost to full shawl size but I have yet to join the last ball of yarn. If I actually go to the end of this un joined ball of yarn, then I think you might possibly be able to fit a stadium full of people under this thing, so the question remains:

If you are going to pick an arbitrary point to stop knitting something, how do you choose?

Do you prefer time limits? Like the rational: "I'll stop this at the end of the day today"

Size requirements on un-sized projects? "When this thing is big enough to cover half the refrigerator it should be perfect?"

Lunar Cycles? "I'll knit until the full moon hits and I turn into a werewolf again. Can't knit lace with claws."

Or the ever popular: "I'll knit this till the yarn I ordered on the internet shows up. That yarn is on a slow boat from China so I can go a few more repeats."

These are the things I think about.

Thats some tricky stuff.

2009-04-30T08:30:00.002-04:00

Have you ever tried to photograph a triangle shawl in progress? Could you get it to look like something other than a pile of yarn barf without taking it off the needles? Not me.

Here are the best of the beauty shots of the garter stitch shawl from yesterday. Consider them the before shots like one of those extreme makeover style tv shows. Eventually the thing will be free of the needles, blocked and hopefully far more attractive than the puddle of yarn you will now witness.

See? Thats totally a puddle of yarn. I can't even tell what that is and I was the one who took the photo. All bow before my superior photographic abilities!

Oh, now check this next one out. You can almost tell that its knitting. Yep, and see? there are some random yarn overs that make it look all fancy on the edge there. That's good stuff. Yes, I think I am almost seeing knitting here.
And finally, we have the more distant blob shot. Still looks like a puddle of yarn in a sea of mustard. The extreme blocking glamour shots will be available just in time for May sweeps. Gotta keep the ratings up. Otherwise we might get canceled. That would be tragic.

The Eternal Question.

2009-04-30T00:08:00.006-04:00

Why is it so darn satisfying to stick pins in a Princess's face?

I think I enjoyed it just a little too much. I might feel a bit guilty pinning things to Spiderman, but when the time comes to block some massive lace I think I'll get over it :)

I finally got off my duff and soaked and blocked the long edge border of the Lacy Hug Me Tight. Barring unforeseen circumstances or blocking tragedies, I'm going to be sewing this little lady up tomorrow afternoon and ticking off another finished object for 2009. Yee Haw!

Handspun Garter Stitch Shawls are Like the Crack Rock.

2009-04-29T09:52:00.006-04:00

Garter stitch shawls are like the new knitters crack rock. They are the kryptonite to my Superman, and the poprocks in my coca cola. and I admit that I am fully addicted and powerless to stop. They are my new(est) secret weakness.

Yes, I started another one. I promised myself that I wouldn't start any new projects until after I got back from Peru, but I just couldn't wait. It was the ball winding that was my downfall. I decided to use the gap of non-knitting time to wind up balls of hand spun from skeins so they would be ready to go when I got back and dagnabit! My fingers got itchy, I started to sweat...and like 5 minutes later I was a fallen knitter. I cast on that puppy and there was no looking back.

But its sooooo pretty! Rustic and happy. And warm. Did I mention that I'm sure it will be warm?

I said to myself : "Self, ( you have to call yourself something when its gets all "third person" up in your head, and sometimes I don't think I know myself well enough to be on a first name basis) You gots to have some sort of project going so you have something to keep you busy at break time at work. And good heavens! What would happen if you didn't have bus knitting?It would get really ugly really fast."

Oh, and the yarn is fantastic. It's that CJ Kopek Creations"Scotch" 70/30 alpaca merino blend that Sistagenius got me for Christmas and I blogged about a million years ago (or back in January). Pics to come later, as usual.

love and kisses,
Skeingenius

The Stamp of Approval

2009-04-27T21:08:00.003-04:00

After a record 3 days on the needles, I finished, over dyed, and blocked the rebound shawl. Not to mention handed it over to its most lovely and deserving recipient (and no, it wasn't Furgenius, although she obviously is a fan). The picture still doesn't do the colors justice, its a series of much richer blues greens, and purples than this shows. I really need to figure out the whole white balance thing on the camera on of these days.

Princess Spiderman

2009-04-24T13:17:00.004-04:00

Yesterday afternoon I took a little trip to my friendly local discount store, and while I was wandering I noticed that they are selling those foam interlocking blocks that would be perfection for blocking for the bargain basement price of $9.99.

Oh,you can bet your sweet bippy that I got all drooly just thinking about the possibilities. I had been eyeballing the ones that knit picks sell for 19.99 a set. Boy Howdy do I love a good bargain!

As with most bargains, this one does have a trade off. Unlike the pretty, pristine white blocks that kp sells (Oh plain white blocks how I love you), these blocks come emblazoned with either Spiderman or an assortment of Disney Princesses. I would rather have the kp version, but I can't justify spending another 10 bucks on something that will be squirreled away most of the time, hiding in a bag that I will eventually sew to hold them.

Now, the truly sad thing is that I held off on buying a set because I couldn't decide if Spiderman or the Disney Princesses would be a better fit. Dorky I know.

The problem was this, although I liked the less visually obnoxious princess tiles better aesthetically (even though they are still pretty terrible), nostalgia was playing a part with the consideration of Spiderman, since as a small child I wanted to be either Spiderman or Pat Benetar when I grew up. Sadly, I ended up being a secretary instead. Them are the breaks.

Alright, I want to know who would go with the princesses and who would go with Spiderman?Who would buy both and make a Princess Spiderman combo platter?

Guard Duty

2009-04-23T21:11:00.003-04:00

This is Viktor. Viktor is the skeleton who guards ugly knitting in my house. I took a nap this afternoon, and when I woke up he was propped in the corner holding some sort of vigil for it. Kept mumbling something about "you'll frog that bastard over my dead body.."
Unfortunately, he was good enough at guard duty that he didn't allow me to get close enough to pin it out so you can see it in all its fug glory- the colors are also taking some sort of dive to the 1970's, so they aren't quite true to life. But you get the gist. I realize that its the yellow that bugs me the most. I'm still thinking blue over dye. Once Viktor lets me have it back :)

Confessions: Can you Keep a Secret?

2009-04-23T09:11:00.005-04:00

Shh! Don't tell, but I'm totally cheating on my Over the Forest socks and the Lacy Hug me Tight.

After the total meltdown of bind off on the OTF socks the other night I needed a comfort project...a rebound project really, since its sole purpose is to wipe away the residual anxiety left by my tumultuous relationship with the socks.

It's a simple garter and stockinette triangle shawl that I'm knitting out of some of my hand spun Crown Mountain Farms super wash Merino in the Shes like a Rainbow colorway plied with some oatmeal colored BFL that I had hanging around. I plan on knitting on it until the yarn runs out, and I'm alternating the garter and stockinette at random whenever the urge hits.

There is only one problem.

As much as I'm loving the mindlessness of the project, the free flowing stitches and the fantastic rhythm of it all.. It's amazingly soft and it will be snuggly warm, but...

The darn thing is homely. It's fugly. Hit in the face with the ugly stick bad. The horror of it all. It looks like what would happen if a My Little Pony threw up a rainbow-and some hay-and a fifth of Jack Daniels.

It's the yarn really. There is nobody to blame but me, since I'm the one who spun it.

The fiber was gorgeous, the dye job is superb. I just hate! hate! hate! the way it looks when its knitted up. Some folks may like the looks of it, but it is so against my aesthetic that I cringe when I look at it. (I'll post pics when I get back around my camera so you can judge for yourself)

This sucker is a prime candidate for some over dying love. I'm thinking dark blue. Hopefully dark blue will mask the horror. Please, please, please let it mask the horror!

Back later with photo evidence of the crime scene.
love,
Skeingenius.

Dear Over the Forest Socks,

2009-04-22T08:05:00.003-04:00

Dear Over the Forest Socks,

We have been together for while now, and for the most part its been a good relationship. I know its hard when you get near the end of things, but that is no reason to be petty and spiteful. Things were going along swimmingly between us until last night, then it all seemed to fall apart.

Oh, you are not alone in the blame dear socks. I have my fair share. I'm the one who thought it might be a good idea to try the picot bind off, which made you look stumpy and not so cute. It ended badly. There were tears (OK, maybe not tears, but some seriously creative use of expletives) and the inevitable edging frogging and hopeful attempts to salvage what we once had. All I can do is promise to try not to do anything stupid for the rest of our time together.

Hopefully we can pull this thing back onto the tracks.

Love always,

Skeingenius

When the Knitting gets Tough, The Tough Make Bagels?

2009-04-21T09:50:00.003-04:00

Yesterday afternoon was certifiably lovely. Warm, sunshiny, knock-you-off-your-feet style lovely. Just the way you want your spring days.

Birds were chirping, squirrels were doing well, whatever it is that the squirrels do, and I randomly saw a guy swinging a boston terrier from a tennis ball on the end of a fishing rod (of all the days not to have my camera!). Must have been one heck of a strong line-that dog must have weighed 15 pounds easily, but I still say furgenius could take him in a fight :)

Since it was so nice, I dawdled on the way home, walking to the grocery store and getting the supplies to make homemade bagels because it seemed like a good idea at the time.

Guess what? It was a good idea. Best idea all day (with the possible exception of the sneaky Christmas Hemlock Ring). If you have never had homemade bagels you are totally missing out. They are slap your momma good. (the recipe I used is found here: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/homemade-bagels-recipe/index.html )
I toasted some onion and sesame seeds to put on the top, and I brushed beaten egg on the tops of them so they would be all golden and spiffy.

After the bagels were done, and I was luxuriating in carb-addled glory, I oddly felt no urge to knit so Boygenius and I cracked into a 20 pack of old spaghetti westerns on DVD that we bought at Half Price Books and we had a mini movie marathon.

So it seems that the knitting marathon will resume this afternoon, and hopefully I will have at least one FO to show off in the very near future.

Oh, and if you are curious as to why there are no pics of the bagel-stravaganza I just have to tell you that its better left to the imagination. If I showed you the pictures of what those bad boys looked like when they came out of the oven you would be cursing my very existence. Seeing the bagels would make you think about how freaking amazing they smell, and that just wouldn't be a very nice thing to do. I'm looking out for you here. Do yourself a favor and make some of these. Report back. I want details!

39 Inches of Funk.

2009-04-20T12:16:00.003-04:00

In the seemingly never ending quest to complete the lace border for the Lacy Hug Me Tight I spent a good portion of the weekend picking it up, knitting a few repeats, and setting it back down again. I had a hardcore case of the "dear Lord, please let me finish one of these knitting projects!-any knitting project will do!" itis, which also led me to knitting miles of Over the Forest socks when I wasn't slogging away on the 'ole huggy.

Basically all that this back and forth got me was 2 projects that are very nearly at the end, but with no actual crossing of the finish line. If I had stuck with one I would have surely been done.

Good news on the massive lace edging knitting was that upon the last measurement, I finally got beyond the Bermuda knitting triangle of 32" and I am now the proud owner of 39" instead ( of unstretched/unblocked length...) Bad news is that its starting to look a little dicey because I am almost out of my last ball of yarn. Fingers crossed that they still have a hank of the correct dye lot squirreled away somewhere.

I continue to remain on my best behaviour as the Webs anniversary sale continues...I haven't made any new stash building purchases, even though I am mad with wanting the Cascade Ecowool to make Brooklyn Tweed's Hemlock Ring blanket. Yep. I'm on a yarn diet. I will only buy what I need to complete projects that are currently on the needles and no more.

I keep telling myself that I need to do major stash busting instead, and I'm sure that I have enough stashed fiber that I could spin for it instead of buying yarn anyway. What a fun project to spin! I'll keep you posted if and when this one gets started. It probably won't gain momentum till after I get back from Peru. I should be good and hold off on the knitting on it till I make a dent in the christmas knitting (Since it is purely a "yay pretty!" project for Boygenius and myself) but spinning up the yarn and knowing that its there for the knitting will be nifty.

Or... (and this is one masterful stroke of rationalization) I could totally cheat and make it a Christmas present for Boygenius...then it would be Christmas knitting.

Oh, I like it! If only I used my powers for good instead of evil.

So I like Fungus. Got a Problem With That?

2009-04-16T20:32:00.005-04:00

Boygenius and I just got back from our kind of random sometimes nightly walk, which happens if the weather smiles upon us, and while we were walking we happened upon these happy little mushrooms growing out of a tree. They are so sweet, like something out of a fairytale.

Is it weird that seeing them makes me want to knit a gaggle of lawn gnomes? OK...Don't answer that. I know its weird :) But it begs the answering of the larger, more important question...

What would you call a large grouping of gnomes?

I mean, there are schools of fish, a murder of crows, and a (fill in the blank) of lawn gnomes. Anybody venture a guess? I almost just want to end the post there...Not really a graceful way to segue from gnomes to the knitting, but here goes:

On to the actual knitting content!

After what seems like endless lace knitting, I am still about half way done with the long piece of edging that goes around the main body opening of this. It's like the song that never ends. I know I keep happily knitting repeats, and I should be making mad progress... but it always seems to measure 32". Its freaky twilight zone knitting at its best because although it never seems to grow, I still like knitting it. I'd say thats a first. Most of the time I would be cursing like only the daughter of a truck driver can.

Something clicked in my brain, and now lacy goodness makes all the sense in the world. Don't believe me? Just look at my newly lace stacked queue on Ravelry. If I actually get started on these projects I could literally be knitting lace for the rest of my natural born life.

Well, I'm off to get my geek on: I'll keep on keeping on with the lacy border and some Netflix episodes of Firefly on DVD.

And I'm guessing that when I measure the lace when I'm done tonight what do you wanna bet that its gonna be 32" :)

Melty brain.

2009-04-15T17:48:00.003-04:00

As I type this, dinner is a bubbling (um, some sort of random lentil concoction), Boygenius is on his way home from work, and I have a double feature of Netflix goodness. Glory be. Add a little vino, and the night should rate.

Sorry for the blackout, but the swirl of activity and recent drama sucked me under. Family style holiday celebrations (great), good knitting progress (also great), and then I narrowly avoided a round of layoffs at work (great that I didn't get axed, but terrible for all the folks who did). So, that's the catch up in a nutshell.

I'm still facing a nasty case of the stress induced melty brain so I can't really think of too much to blog but I promise to be back soon (with pictures!). Oh yes.

The Uneventful Yarnlust Filled Post.

2009-04-07T08:19:00.003-04:00

The rest of yesterday was blissfully uneventful. No drama, no more cat sabotage, and I even managed to get a bit of work done on the border for my Lacy Hug Me Tight....and there was only a wee bit of frogging because I didn't like the looks of the join that I made when I started up on a new ball of yarn....It was self imposed frogging, because I could have left it as it was but it would have angered the knitting gods since I tried to start the ball in the middle of a row. It was not my most shining moment of knitting brilliance, but it was a quick enough fix and the results looked so much better!

My coffee coated merino wool from yesterday morning dried out, but it is now fated to become a felting project since I couldn't pull it back from the abyss. The good news is that there is enough in quantity that I should be able to make something really cool out of it as soon as I figure out what the something should be. Even if it just ends up a bluezillion cat toys for donation to the humane society it won't be going to waste.

I've been itchy to buy more yarn so I have it all set for my next project after the Lacy Hug Me Tight, but I'm totally trying to resist the temptation lest I become a yarn floozy of epic magnitude. I really need to do a bit o the stash busting before I get all crazy with adding more to the stack. Spinning adds enough to it already! I think Webs smells my weakness and schedules yarn sales accordingly :)

Must...Knit...Projects from the stash! I need to be strong. For the love of all things woolly-I have sweater quantities people! And yet, I think the only thing that is keeping me from major yarn splurge is the thought that I need to save all my extra scratch for the trip to Peru in May. The days pass quickly and the count down is on!

Well, I guess I should do some actual work so I should split. Hopefully I can shoot some progress pics and post em either tonight or tomorrow. Evidence of the knitting is always good. Catch you on the flip side.

Good Morning, Sunshine!

2009-04-06T07:39:00.004-04:00

I woke up at 4:30 this morning to a series of nasty surprises. First, the lovely and talented furgenius decided that she wanted to practice her high dive act, jumping from the highest point on her climbing tower onto my unsuspecting, soundly sleeping form.

As she landed on me, she managed to slice a pretty decent sized gash on my forearm which bled prolifically, dripping on the sheets before I could get the lights on to see the extent of the damage. (helpful laundry hint: hydrogen peroxide does wonders in removing blood stains.) So I bandaged myself up, stripped and remade the bed, and spot treated the sheets for the wash. (how Boygenius slept through the whole ordeal I will never know...especially the stripping and remaking of the bed since he happened to be in it.)

Since I normally get up at 6am for work I figured that I might as well stay awake and do a little knitting and spinning. I take a shower, put on a pot of coffee, and just sit down to spin when I hear the unmistakable sound of Furgenius tossing her cookies on the bedroom carpet. No sweat, I go get supplies and I clean it up (helpful cat yak tip: hydrogen peroxide works wonders to get cat vomit out of the carpet...but only if you have light colored carpet of course).

I sit down to spin yet again.

Again, I am greeted by the unmistakable sound of furgenius tossing her cookies under the dining room table. Fun times!

By this point, my coffee is ready, so I grab a cup and sit down to spin yet again. I take a sip and set the cup down on a small table to the right of the wheel and I get to spinning. Just as I find myself getting in the zone, Furgenius takes it upon herself to zip across the room, and take a flying Evel Keneviel style jump on to the table, knocking my full cup of bold Sumatran coffee into my hatbox full of prepped spinning fiber and all over the living room carpet.

(helpful hint: hydrogen peroxide does not remove coffee from prepped merino wool. Don't even try it. )

I got most of the coffee out of the carpet, but I think the wool just may have seen better days. I rinsed it out and put it up on a rack to dry. Fingers crossed that it might still be spin able, but I can always felt it if it refuses to be spun so it shouldn't be a total loss.

All of this goodness happened before I left for work this morning at 7am. Yup, it looks like its going to be one heck of a Monday:) Some days I really shouldn't get out of bed.

Educated Old Zombie Monkey Knitting. Now with Quotes and Sammiches.

2009-04-03T08:20:00.004-04:00

Ah Friday, glorious Friday. It seems as though this past week has flown by in a blur, and I can't really say where its gone. I'm thinking that I can't tell you what happened because I have been on a crazy insomnia jag and my brain has been reduced to rubble. Yup, color me zombified.

I've done the math, and I'm thinking that force behind the insomnia might have a bit to do with all the various injections and meds that I'm having to take for the trip to Peru, because I was all shiny, fine, and as normal as I tend to be before them, then after..boy howdy! I've talked to m y sister and shes having a few of the same issues so we both feel better in knowing that its some flukey medicine thing.

Boygenius and I have been having random guests over to dinner in our newly spit-shined nifty clean apartment and its been loads of fun. Last night was especially fun because one of boygenius' friends came over. He has never been to our place before and the two of them were supposed to go out for tea, but they decided to stay in and eat the vegan mouffletta sandwhich I had made. Boygenius' brother requested it the night before, and it's a great sammich...but only if you love olives and eggplant.

We learned the hard way that the friend of boygenius loves neither. Trying to be polite, he attempted to power though it like a trooper, but after seeing the look on his face after he took a few bites I stole his plate back made him some pasta Alfredo instead. He stayed for a few hours of great conversation. He is one of those folks who is such a smartypants that you can't help but take away something wonderful from any interaction that you have with the guy, and it forces you to up your game to keep up with him in the best possible way. I love that.

Great amounts of progress have been made on the quest for boygenius to start grad school this summer, and yesterday we got the financial aid packet in the mail. The good news is that we will be able to take out enough in student loans to cover it, the bad news is that they won't be available until he is already a semester into the program so we are going to be doing a bit of scrambling and creative financing to scrounge up the scratch needed to get him started. Yard sales and plasma banks here I come!....I'm thinking it might take me too long to find a black market kidney buyer at this stage in the game so its out of the question :) At least there is still the possibility that he may get a scholarship or an assistant ship. They haven't begun that application process yet so I'm going to be crossing the fingers and toes. (Any positive thoughts you can send our way on that would be greatly appreciated.)

Got some big weekend plans of what I like to call "the Worlds Longest Nap" if I can possibly ever fall asleep again, and running around to various antique stores to drool over antique spinning gear and hopefully random displays of antique monkeys. A trip to the library will also be in order because I have the Mason Dixon Knitting Outside the Lines book reserved. I need to more fully oogle the pattern "Margaret" because how freaking cool is it to be able to knit quotes on your work? Knitting and writing at the same time? I'm all tingly inside. Makes me fight the urge to pop over to the sale at webs to buy the yarn right now. It might even be enough to reinstate my mojo!

Wahooey!

PS- I also have to say this is my favorite post title ever. Have a good weekend cats and kittens.

Not a Single Stitch

2009-04-01T13:15:00.004-04:00

I haven't knit one single blessed stitch since Sunday. Yep, not even one. I've been carrying around my over the forest socks and the lacy hug me tight in my tote bag everywhere, but I'm just not feeling it. I've momentarily lost my mojo, and I think I'm OK with it for now.

Since I haven't been knitting obsessively, I declared soap scum the enemy and scrubbed the ever loving out of the shower, dusted things I forgot even existed, and even managed to do a load of laundry or two. The place almost looks like its livable again.

Furgenius loves the lack of clutter-unless you count the 4 paper bags that we currently have on the floor in the living room because she runs from bag to bag like shes playing some sort of goofy version of kitty kickball, sliding onto them and eyeballing whoever is around to make sure shes still "safe" and just begging you to chase her.

Come to think of it, I guess we will never be truly clutter free. Its a little like having a toddler. Toys end up all over the floor, and for some strange reason, she doesn't ever seem to put them away. I blame it on the lack of opposeable thumbs. That can ruin even the best laid plans and home learnin'. She also sucks at math.

Happy Wednesday.

Slow and Steady Wins the Race (but only if you use lifelines)

2009-03-29T11:53:00.007-04:00

Here it is...its photographic proof that I finished 12 full inches of lace trip for one of the armholes. It is truly the first time that a lace edging and I have done battle and I have not come away totally bruised and bloodied. Yeah, I had to frog this edging 3 different times before I stopped being cocky and started moving a lifeline to the end each time I finished a full repeat of the 12 row pattern. But I'm so happy with the way it turned out, and for folks who have never tackled lace, its a good little project. Yay! Pretty! Since I don't consider the tiny lace panel in the over the forest socks to be lace with a capitol "L", so for some reason, it just doesn't inspire the same kind of excitement in me....those babies have been seeing a tiny bit of progress, but I'll save that for another post.Now, I only have 7 inches left on the second sleeve edging before I start the marathon of lace knitting for the trim that circles the main body opening. I think that one is about 60 inches all told.

I've gotta get going...the lace is calling my name. (well, lace and some coffee. Boy, I love me some Sunday afternoons!)

Progress = not hulking out of the knitting.

2009-03-27T09:55:00.003-04:00

Yesterday I managed to finish the ribbing and seam up the major body piece of the Lacy Hug Me Tight. I'm awfully glad that I put safety pins on the sides at the recommended measurements before I seamed the sides up, because otherwise I would have been hulking out of the arm holes with my massive guns. err...or maybe just cutting off the circulation to my tiny little wimpy guns, but whatever :) Same difference.

Now, its on to figuring out just how to make the lace pattern work and make sense to my wonky lefty style of knitting. I know I need to alter the stiches in some way, but I haven't figured it out just yet...I tried the first repeat three different times last night, and I kept ending up with an extra stitch so I'm obviously making a mistake (or twelve) somewhere. I'm sure I'll get it if I fiddle with it enough. Plus, if I don't get it exactly right, as long as it looks good I'm not going to sweat it. Pretty will win over perfect.

Boy howdy I'm glad its Friday! I'm totally ready for the weekend. I'm thinking the marathon of lace knitting will commence. I'll also pull out the old digital camera so I can post a few pics of the joys and horrors of me attempting to knit this trim. Whee!

The Novelty Wore Off.

2009-03-25T09:15:00.003-04:00

Yesterday Karen's comment about de stashing novelty yarn got my gears turning...What do you do with those random skeins of sadly unloved novelty yarns that are wasting away in the stash? How can you work with them and not make it look like you skinned your favorite Muppet so you could knit with its pelt?

Its a question for the ages.

Don't get me wrong, I love me some crazy Muppety colors (and Muppets in general for that matter) but when it comes to the items that I wear, or will display in my home the color palette tends to be a bit more muted, and the people around me aren't reproducing quickly enough to keep up with the amount of kid sweaters and accessories that it would require to deplete the stash.

Most novelty yarns are all crazy in texture, which could lend its self nicely to rugs, and the colors could be muted enough by holding them together with other strands of yarn or possibly strips of fabric. Yeah! a good old fashioned rag rug with sneaky hidden novelty yarn...I think I'm going to have to start digging through the fabric scraps to see what I have.

If you are interested in possibly doing this for yourself, the blog "Little House in the Suburbs" has a darn fine tutorial on it posted here:

http://www.littlehouseinthesuburbs.com/2008/11/secrets-of-no-sew-rag-rug.html

You should totally check it out. I think this just might be the next big project after I finish the hug me tight and my over the forest socks. It could look mighty fine in my kitchen I do believe.
and it means that all those poor Muppets will not have died in vain.

Self Control?

2009-03-24T14:25:00.004-04:00

While on the quest for a gift for a friend for her birthday, I stumbled upon a major deal at one of my favorite places to buy yarn...20% off all the yarn you could fit on one of those reusable shopping bags. Gah!!!!!

Boy, the stash building impulse was crazy strong. I ran through all of the rationalizations that normally let me buy yarn...See if any of these sound familiar:

"Gee, but if I bought the yarn to make this project for (fill in assorted
family member) for (insert holiday here) then I would be saving
us money in the long run..."

"But this may be the last time I ever find (fill in the name of a most luscious
yarn) in (fill in the name of a most luscious colorway) in a big enough quantity
to make (most awesome thing found on Ravelry in the last 72 hours) at such an amazingly low price".

Yep. It turns into your own personal Mad Libs of yarn justification. Just insert your favorite wooley words and you can almost talk yourself into any yarn purchase if you think even the smallest bit like I do. It's a truly amazing phenomenon.

With much gnashing of teeth and wringing of hands, I managed to leave the store with only what I came in for, a gift for my dear friend. Its a rare thing, but I still managed it. Ah, one small victory over the stash building impulse. The never ending battle.

What do you stash and why? What keeps you from stashing? How do you justify it either way?

Knitting with Subtitles.

2009-03-23T09:30:00.003-04:00

Life lesson #56,720.

Do not try to knit and watch a foreign movie with subtitles at the same time. It will end badly. Just how badly depends directly on how cool the movie is. It's some sort of complex inverse mathematical relationship that totally eludes me.

It all started when we checked the mail on Friday night and saw that the Netflix gods had bestowed on us a little gem of a vampire movie from Sweden called "Let the Right One In". Boygenius and I had heard great things about it, and we had missed it when it was in the little art house theater near our apartment a few months back so we were pretty excited when it showed up. Boygenius loves a good horror flick, and I do to a point-but I have to be in the mood for it and it can't just be your typical slasher film...there has to be some substance there. This one promised substance, and a good bit of a departure from the normal vampire film.

It would have been great, if I hadn't tried to knit while watching. I was thinking that I would be able to do a little blind 2x2 ribbing on the ole hug me tight while the movie was in progress, and it was not the best idea ever. Apparently I can watch a movie and knit, or read subtitles while watching a movie, but I can't do all three at the same time.

In the end, I ripped out the bulk of the 3 inches that I finished during the movie because I screwed up very early on and didn't catch my mistake. I also missed enough of the movie because of the knitting that I ended up having to watch it again to understand fully what was happening and to pick up on the subtlety of it all.

In the end, I learned that never again will I knit with subtitles. As for the movie, it was a good little film. As boygenius aptly described it, it was an epic tale, simply told and worth a look if you can handle the subtitles and you are after a good vampire film.

Just don't knit while you watch it :)

Sunshiny Day

2009-03-20T12:21:00.003-04:00

I spent most of the day yesterday at various bus stops. In order to get to a 3pm appointment to get shots for various Peruvian diseases I would much rather avoid, I had to leave work before 1pm in order to make the various bus transfers required to get me to the travel clinic on time.

Now, I'm a seriously big fan of anything that keeps me from having to be squirrelled away in the basement at work and out in the sunshine on a decent spring day. This was a pretty good turn of events, and since my wrist seems to be on the mend I decided that I'd risk it and try to do a little random knitting in public. Double whammy of goodness!

I pulled out the ole Lace Hug Me Tight, the body of which is perfect bus knitting due to the unending 2x2 ribbing which can be picked up and put down at the instant that your bus shows up and the needles aren't so small that they caused too much stress on the wrist. I made a good amount of progress, and I'm now at the very end of the first skein of yarn. Once down, three to go!

I got a lot of random folks passing by who stopped and wanted to talk knitting. I love knitters in the wild, and I also love that knitters have no trouble stopping anyone else they see knitting to strike up conversation. In a day in age when folks are so distant and don't seem to want to connect with others, its nice to know that knitting can still be a thread that binds even random strangers. I'm very thankful for that.

Buried Treasure

2009-03-18T20:16:00.003-04:00

What does a girl do when she has a skein of cascade 220 that she doesn't know what to do with? Well, if you are me, you knit a nifty new hat during a big old fatty snow storm, knit just up to the bind off, then you pack it away forget it exists. Since I haven't been too much in the knitting way due to the bum wrist I went a diggin' in my stash so I could get in my daily dose of wool fondling.

Buried deep, I found this forgotten hat. I bound it off, and slapped it on my head.

Its like the knitting fairy came and left me a present. A finished knitting project, just when it felt like I had lost all knitting mojo. Nice!

I'm still trying to figure out if I think its too small for my head, but right now I'll just bask in the afterglow of the unexpected FO.

Step right up!

2009-03-16T08:37:00.003-04:00

I've got another confession to make. I was trying to be good, and rest my wrist. I promise I was, but I couldn't do it. The woolly temptation was too strong. I've got a monkey on my back. It's the only way that I can explain the fact that I spent a portion of this weekend with 2 butter knives taped to my wrist.

Yep, I said butter knives. I was trying to see if I could successfully knit if I stabilized my wrist to keep it from moving while I knit. I wanted to see if I would work before I dropped a twenty on one of those fancy wrist braces so I "MacGyvered" the ever loving out of it.

My wrist was on lock down. It wouldn't budge in its stainless steel prison, however, the rest of me was stretching into positions previously only known to cast members of Cirque du Solei. and I managed to eek out a few oddly misshapen, badly tensioned rows. Glorious, oddly misshapen, badly tensioned rows. I'm thinking if I keep it up, I'll be able to take this act on the road.

Ladies and Gentlemen! Step right up!...see the amazing Skeingenius and her
fantastic knitting contortions! Watch her needles fly as she bends herself into unbelievable
positions in order to keep from bending her wrist!

...yeah, I'm so gonna run away and join the Circus.

Parts keep falling off...maybe I should make new ones.

2009-03-12T09:39:00.004-04:00

So I think I've been knitting a bit too much lately. For some unfathomable reason, whenever I try to lift or hold anything with my right hand it starts twitching like its hooked to a live wire. It's a bit odd, considering that I'm a lefty. When I think about what I actually do with my right hand, the issue seems to come into focus.

You see, I am a left handed backwards continental knitter, who holds the work and the tension on my yarn with my right hand...I squeeze the yarn between my index and middle finger for tension while I flick my wrist back and forth to work the stitches. I'm thinking something about this combination, added to the excessive amount of 2x2 ribbing in the Lace Hug me Tight pattern are a little more than my wrist can handle at the moment.

Who knows...Maybe it isn't knitting related at all. It could be some goofy typing or general secretarial issue. Maybe I'm typing or mousing wrong...you know, because being a secretary means living a life of danger!

So, what is one to do? Do I just give it a break for a bit? Do I try to change my hold for tension? Do I get a brace or something to train myself not to flick my wrist?

Has anyone out there in the peanut gallery had to adjust their style of knitting to compensate for an injury or overwork? What did you do? Did it work?

If I am forced to take a short knitting sabbatical, then I am determined to use the time wisely. Pattern design, methinks...or possibly spiffing up around the blog a bit (yeah, a header and maybe a little design work wouldn't kill me, and it would spiff the place up a bit.) Its about time to get some fresh blood up into this mug. Something fun. What would you like to see?

NOOOOOOO!

2009-03-09T09:17:00.004-04:00

LAN Peru does not let people knit aboard their planes, nor carry knitting needles in unchecked luggage. This means no knitting!

(please excuse the sniffling as I weep quietly to myself for a moment.)

OK. Back to business.

So, this no knitting means I'm down, but not entirely out. I 'll still be able to take some knitting in my checked luggage, which might still allow me to be able to make the following statement at some point in the future:

"What, this old thing? I knit this in a lodge in the Amazon Jungle."

Which is much more impressive than saying:

"What this old thing? I knit this on a bus in Louisville, Kentucky."

$.25, $.50. $.75 a dollar!

2009-03-08T13:15:00.007-04:00

(*ignore that little hole. I already fixed it :) *)
Since I have zero will power I went ahead and went yarn shopping Friday. Instead of the alpaca I was hoping for, I came home with 4 skeins of creamy white Elsbeth Lavold Silky Wool to start the Hug me Tight.

There wasn't enough DK weight alpaca loveliness in any quantity large enough for me to get going on the project right away in store, so I made due with what I could find. That being said, I'm pretty happy with the choice. Looks like I'll have to find some alpaca sock yarn so I can knit with alpaca on the plane :)

So I started knitting like a fiend as soon as I got home with the yarn. Miles and miles of 2x2 ribbing! And since I left quite a bit of yarn at the end for sewing up the finished product, it was getting in the way and I was fighting with how it kept tangling up with my working yarn. A quick nighttime trip to the grocery store...Enter some frozen egg rolls and this cheap solution:
If you can't recognize this right away, it is one of the capsules that toys come out of in those funky grocery store lobby vending machines. So, for a whopping price of $.50 cents I have a very practical solution that is light weight and keeps the tail yarn wrangled. It will probably be helpful in some forms of color work as well(once I start knitting with color, anyway).

Why did this little piece of magic cost$.50 instead of the $.25 cents it should have? Because I got big green plastic glow in the dark dice with my first quarter. Now, they rest in the furry little paws of the Furgenius, who thinks its an excellent addition to her toy box. It wasn't a total loss.

Well, best get back to the ribbing. I've got miles to go before I'm done. (or, 18 more inches to be precise).

Yep, still antsy.

2009-03-06T14:51:00.002-05:00

I had big plans to knit over my lunch break but it didn't happen. I was foiled, like the worst comic book super villain.

Don't you hate it when work gets in the way of your knitting? I know I do.

Although its true that I have the socks to work on, (and they are calling my name big and bad) I think I'm still going to have to stop at a yarn shop on the way home. This is my last skein of sock yarn. I've also been eyeballing the DK weight alpaca that I want to get for that lace hug me tight that I talked about a few posts back.

If I bust my tail I can totally get that bad boy started & finished before I leave for Peru. I can't think of anything more fitting and generally awesome to wear on the the plane than something made of alpaca. In my super rationalizing brain, I could even say that I was talking the alpaca back home for a visit. Yeah, so I would totally be doing the yarn a favor...doing it for the yarn.(yeah, I know its crazy talk.) Now my rational brain knows this is a totally BS argument. My yarn craving "Gee, it just happens to be payday" brain says "Who cares that its a BS argument! BUY THE YARN!!!!".

So, just to sum up the day so far...I have posted causing mental images of Johnny Depp in melting butter (No need to thank me...just a gift for you loyal readers out there. If the Depp does not do it for you, please feel free to substitute him with your celebrity of choice.) and tried to rationalize yarn purchase with the argument that I would be taking it home for a visit.

Wow. Sometimes I baffle even myself.

The Butter is Calling.

2009-03-06T08:03:00.003-05:00

I'm antsy. You know, itchy. Like I just can't sit still and be happy about it. I've been trying to pin the exact reasoning behind this, and like a rock-it struck me.

Besides stripping those foxy-fine batts the other night, I haven't done anything fiber related all week. Not cool. You see, I've been terribly wrapped up in other things. I've been doing research for the trip, working late, picking up some extra admin work to work on at home on top of that, and just generally zoning out for the five minutes I have left before I sleep. As you guessed, there has been no happy fiber time in there. So, I'm not so happy.

I have the lonely bag full of half knit Over the Forest socks sitting here on my desk, and its calling to me. "Knit me Skeingenius! You know that you want to..." (For some reason, these particular socks are so desirable that when they call to me they have a voice like melting butter...with Johnny Depp in it).

Must...resist...till...lunch break.

Early Prep for Peru

2009-03-05T09:43:00.002-05:00

Now that the newness has worn off the idea of this trip to Peru, its time to start getting down to taking care of the details. You know, the small stuff. Stuff that you might just want to consider for a moment when you are wandering through foreign lands.

Tiny, minute details.

Like the fact that I don't speak Spanish. Neither does my sister. Yeah, so that high school french I took instead of Spanish will really come in handy (that was such a great call. Best...decision...ever. )

I realize that this could be more than a bit of an issue, especially when you don't want to be the quintessential "stupid American tourist" who expects everyone to bend to your will So, I've got some handy dandy "teach yourself Spanish" stuff out of the library. I have 2 months to learn, so I think I should be at least passable to get through the basics if I put my mind to it...I think I'm good with language and from scanning the books I can make out most meanings if I think about things. My biggest challenge will be being able to speak when spoken to. Answering folks will be the trouble...unless everyone is up for a good game of charades :)

Who doesn't love charades?

Plotting.

2009-03-03T21:24:00.003-05:00

While I was off in the living room, stripping these fabulous merino batts into a ready to spin form...a giant furgenius was in dreamland plotting her next attempts at world domination.

Rest assured that Boygenius is on the phone to alert the proper authorities.

Over the Forest Socks

2009-02-28T12:22:00.009-05:00

Since I didn't have much to show you when I started up the most recent pair of socks I've been knitting I wanted to wait until you could actually tell what I was knitting before I posted some pics. So here they are:
Here is the proof that I love me some socks and I loves me some monkey. I also felt the need to throw a 'lil bit-o-lace onto this kool aid dyed madness since we last talked. Is it worth the wait to see if unnecessary monkeys and random lace patterns will fall haphazardly in the the photos of knitting? I say yes! (and hope you agree.)

Ah, and we end our photo tour of the socks with the generic, non-monkey inhabited shot of the socks as they are in their natural habitat. Please exit to the left, and watch your step as the tram comes to a complete stop. And as always, thanks for visiting Skeingenius :)

I'm not Ginger.

2009-02-26T07:54:00.004-05:00

Well folks, I did it.

I managed to knit the 40 or so miles of sock required to cover Boygenius' feet. And oddly enough, I never had to bust into the back up ball of yarn in order to do it. The 40 mile marathon of socks was completed from one magical, seemingly unending ball of Lana Grossa meilenweit fantasy. Boy do I love me some magical unending yarn!

Since I'm not one to leave my needles cold and naked for long, I started trying to do the whole magic loop 2 socks on one circ at the same time, which to begin with is like dancing backwards in high heels when you first start...and let me tell ya, I'm no Ginger Rodgers. I'm terrible at high heels, and no good at dancing (although I have this theory that if you are enthusiastic about any goofy move you make you can sell the idea that it was done on purpose and everyone else will buy it as "actual dancing" Since I'm not short on enthusiasm, so this is how I rationalize occasionally shaking my rump in public and not just in my living room). Ah, I'm babbling. Must get back to the knitting...

Once I got past the increases for the toes, then the knitting settled down and became much more manageable but I was worried for a second (or five). I felt like I had needle tips and cord poking out every which way until the work got long and heavy enough to tame the wily circ, and then it's been relatively smooth sailing.

I'm thinking about trying a different kind of heel with these bad boys, not just the same 'ole short tow heel that's been in all of my previous socks. Maybe a flap and gusset or something. I've got a ways to knit to get there, so there is time to decide and get some advice....

So my question for all you crazy sock knitters out there is "What is your favorite heel for a toe up sock? What is your least favorite?" or, if you aren't a sock knitter tell me what you loooooove to knit the most and why. I can't wait to hear from y'all.

I totally lied. That is not all!

2009-02-23T22:28:00.003-05:00

So, I got some majorly exciting news today.

In May, I will be going to the Amazonian jungles of Peru with the amazing Sista-genius!

Not only is this a once in a life time opportunity, but I'll get to experience it with my sister. I don't really know if I could be any more excited about anything...
Yep. Not humanly possible.

Better start planning some plane knitting. Its going to be one heck of a flight!

So who wanted to place a bet?

2009-02-23T22:20:00.001-05:00

Alright....

forget the Oscars...its the moment you have truly all been waiting for. The answer to the magic question.

No. I did not barf on the bus ride home.

(that is all)

toodlles!

You Spin Me Right Round Baby, Right Round.

2009-02-19T08:44:00.003-05:00

For the past few days, I have been hard at work holding down my bed. I've been trying to stop the world from spinning. Well, not literally- but for most intents and purposes.

Why is the world spinning? (you know, besides that whole "earth rotates around the sun" business that seems so daggone important? ) The answer my friends is a particularly nasty case of vertigo, which I discovered in a very unflattering way. Namely, I got off the bus on Monday afternoon, yakked my brains out and almost fainted. Yep, there's one to write home about.
After a few minutes on the ground, I realized that the world was still going places, and I was still a ways away from home, so I walked the rest of the way home bobbing around like a drunken sailor on leave.

When Boygenius got home, he noticed that all was not well, and he took me to the urgent treatment center, where they decided that I had a sinus infection that ended up in an ear infection, that in turn led to fluid on my ear, and poof! Vertigo. It ain't just for Hitchcock anymore.

Two days of bed rest and multiple handfuls of various antibiotics and decongestants and I seem to be on the mend. I came to work today, and its still a little bit spotty. I run into lots of things (which isn't too far off a normal day) and I'm moving a bit slower, but It's much better than sitting at home staring at the ceiling-especially if its going to be moving anyway :)

The big adventure will be the bus ride home. It will be a test of my iron will and cast iron stomach. Fingers crossed that I don't embarrass myself on this one. Otherwise I'll never be prom queen! (I'd say the ship sailed on that one back in 1996, but who knows...)

Wish me luck.

Miles of Sock.

2009-02-12T11:43:00.002-05:00

For the past week, I have been knitting with great speed and dedication but I haven't finished a daggone thing. Why? you might ask. Well, its pretty daggone simple.

Boygenius has gargantuan feet.

At this very point in time, I have pulled sock 1 off onto stitch holders-this is so I can continue to knit until the yarn I ordered online for additional height makes it way to me. This sock, this uncompleted sock...(which is not even remotely close to being mid shin on him) measures in at a whopping 22 inches long unstretched. I'd estimate that it could use another 5-7 inches in length before it will be at the right height for him, and I also estimate that if I slid one of these socks on my own foot, that I could almost wear it as a pair of pants. Or, even better- a funny red and orange striped mermaid tail. You know, its never too early to start thinking about Halloween.

And so, I knit on. Here's hoping that the ball of yarn I ordered rolls up in time that I can finish these socks for Valentines Day. Not likely, but I'm still hopeful.

I hit the library a day or two back and I picked up a new round of knitting books. I've been eyeballing the "Lacy Hug Me Tight" by Tracey Ullman and Mel Clark from the book "Knit 2 Together". Its looking like a solid Christmas knitting option for some of the ladies in the family, and I'd like one myself. Now, all I have to decide is if I want to spin the yarn for it myself or buy something to make it out of. I've still got a pound of corriedale just waiting to be spun, so it might be a good option, its fluffy, a nice off white that could be easily dyed for the more colorful ladies in the family....

Well, ten minutes left of my lunch break, and I must get back to my miles of sock.
Later taters!

Tutorial: Make your own Beaded Stitch Markers!

2009-02-06T22:47:00.015-05:00

Hey Y'all.
Its Friday night, and I'm feeling froggy. Do ya know what that means?

Me neither. But as a result of the froggy madness I'm posting a tutorial for the nifty beaded stitch markers that I decided to make tonight.

Here goes:

Supplies:

Gather 1 knitting needle (larger than the size of needle that you want to use the marker on..I'd say by 2 or 12 sizes, you know, I'm very scientific with this stuff.) I used a size 13 because it was what I had handy and it should make markers that work with everything up to like a size 8 or larger circs.
A pair of your favorite trusty wire cutting needle nosed pliers or general wire cutting dohickamajobbers.
one spool of non tarnishing wire. I used 20 gauge wire, and I think its perfect.
various beads with tiny holes that will fit snugly on the wire.
Glue if you are feeling as froggy as I am or you are very anxious about them lasting till the end of time.

My gathered supplies looked like this:

Furgenius inspected the materials to make sure they were up to snuff.

So, first things first.
Grab your needle and your wire, and wrap the needle with the wire three times. Any more than 3 can make it less fun to cut. You can tell from some of the photos that I learned this lesson firsthand.

Remove this coil or wire from the needle and grab your needle nosed pliers/ wire cutters.

Guess what you do next...Yep. You cut the wrapped wire with your wire cutter. You are such a good guesser!

Now, take one of the individual loops that you cut ( you can see that the ends are slightly separated from one another. If they aren't, then push them apart. It works best if you separate them by pushing up and down on the ends instead of out on the sides..It makes for a more circular finished product...)

Now, slip the bead on one end of the wire circle. Add a drop of glue if you are looking for permanence. Put the other end of the wire in the other hole of the bead. The bead should not slide.

Now, enjoy your handiwork and repeat as many times as you like.

Enjoy the sparkly shininess and have a great weekend!

2009-02-06T10:19:00.005-05:00

I started working on Boygenius' Blazing Saddles socks again yesterday and they are just flying off the needles since I started up on them again. It had been a little while, since I managed to slip on a patch of ice and slightly sprain my left wrist, but now that its on the mend, I'm back in action.

My only regret about my fall is that nobody was around to see it. I'm of the strict opinion that it kinda makes a slip or a fall more worthwhile if there is somebody around to witness it. At least at that point, its good for comic value. I've long past being ashamed of my klutzy nature. Now I just think of it as a public service. Performance art? Maybe street theater? Yeah, I know I'm stretching it.

Anyway...back to socks! So, Since I am just going to have to put the heartbreak of not having enough yarn to knit these completely out of the same yarn, I've decided that I'm just going to knit these pups till the yarn runs out, and pray that I can find a solid orange yarn to complete the cuffs out of. Boygenius Lurves him some orange. Fingers crossed that I find some this weekend.

This pair is the first that I've worked up using the full on magic loop method and not just 2 circs, and I'm really loving how quickly it goes.

I was trying to figure out which of the Knitpicks circs I like best, the Harmony wood or the nickle, and at this point, I have to say that its nickle all the way for me. I do love the wood, but I feel like nickle will last longer for me in the long run since they have one less join since you have to deal with ( where the wood meets the metal on the Harmony needles and the join to the cable as opposed to just the cable join).

I'm also a raging cheapskate, and the interchangeable nickle set is quite a bit cheaper than the wood... I think we have a winner! Once I save up enough scratch, they will be mine, oh yes!

Well cats and kittens, Enjoy your weekend. You've earned it.

We've got the Power!

2009-02-04T10:27:00.003-05:00

Sorry for the total lack of blog as of late. I have a pretty good excuse though...We had one of the worst ice storms and most extensive power outtages of recent (or heck, even long term) memory and we, like so many others were without electric for a good portion of the last week. The city looked like a warzone, with trees just decimated, and coated in an inch thick blanket of ice and snow on top of it.

No electric= no Internet!

No Internet= no blog!

Crikey! No electric also meant no heat, so we ended up packing up the furgenius and heading to crash at the in-laws. A good time was had by all. Well, except for maybe furgenius, who is not the biggest fan of relocation, but all in all she handled it pretty well.

Also, No electric= no work. That was pretty spiffy.

In the expanses of electric less time, I even got Boygenius knitting a bit. He's mastered the cast on, and tearing up some knit stitch. Boy, I loves me a knittin' man! Its been too freaking cute. You know its love when you care enough to share your stash :)

Also, during this period of time, I learned a very important life lesson.
Never try to knit socks for Boygenius's genius-sized feet using discontinued yarn that you only have a limited supply of. It ain't gonna end well. Somebody is going to cry.

2009-01-20T13:41:00.002-05:00

Happy Inauguration Day Y'all!

In the spirit of all things political, I am now going to make excuses to explain why my promises have come to nothing and what I plan to do about it in order to keep your support...

The tutorial I have promised you is running a bit later than anticipated, mostly due to the fact that Furgenius has staked a claim on the box, softhearted Boygenius won't let me steal it back, and I have yet to snag a replacement from work. If all else fails, I'll buy a pack of those folding file boxes tonight so I can get this show on the road!

Never fear, it will come. Its as inevitable as the 3 am " feed me" pimp slap that Furgenius hits me with every morning (You saw from the pictures, girlfriend does NOT want to miss a meal-even if she could stand to miss a few).

And since I've been suck a slacker, I will give you another big hint while you wait...Muikat was right on the money. (cue the music and celebratory balloon drop!) Yep...The tutorial is for a totally cheap homemade light box for photographing most of your woolly goodness in the best possible way.

Wahooey!

I've got an assistant.

2009-01-17T10:56:00.005-05:00

Last night I was working on spinning up a bit of hand dyed "Swashbucklin' Love" Masham, and it turns out that Furgenius is terribly interested in learning how to spin. She jumped up in my lap and made herself at home.

I swear I'm going to come home one day to find her treadling and drafting away. This also goes to show you that no lap is off limits to the furgenius, And let me tell ya, when you have a 14 pound Siamese on your legs as you try to treadle with a fast ratio, you get one heck of a workout. Doesn't make it too easy to draft though.

Have a good weekend!

BRRRRRRR!!!!!!!

2009-01-16T09:46:00.002-05:00

Its freaking cold.

Not only is it freaking cold, but its freaking cold with no snow, which in my opinion is not entirely fair...If its going to be this bone rattlin cold, I want some snow to show for it. Big snow.

I'm at work, and I've got so many irrational layers of clothes on, I could give Little Edie Beale a run for her money in the eccentric wardrobe competition.

Yes, I am wearing 4 shirts 2 pairs of pants and a few pairs of socks (one of the pairs is handknit).

Now, I just want that snow.

3am Wake Up Call.

2009-01-13T08:40:00.008-05:00

I can now safely say that my self-imposed waiting period for avoiding mechanical failures has passed, and I think we are safely through to the other side of the tunnel. Good stuff.

In between waiting for various repair people to come to the house this past weekend, I managed to get a few things done. I cleaned like a maniac, then I spun and plied up a bunch of "Scotch" 30/70 merino alpaca blend from cjkopeccreations on etsy. It spun up to a fine fingering weight, almost lace weight. Not too sure at this point if it will end up being knit into the socks I had planned for Boygenius, or if it will find another purpose. Of course, I could always double it up as I knit or buy 4 more ounces to spin and cable them...Right now its still drying, so I can't tell just how much it will bloom.

Furgenius woke me up at the insanely early hour of 3am for chow. She had been feeling poorly lately, (she has IBS, and has periodic flare ups) and shes hasn't been eating enough. I can look past the early morning wake up call and just be happy that shes excited about chowing down.

Another fun part of a Furgenius with IBS is trying to get her to take a prednisone pill. Giving cats pills is never fun, but I have a circus act for a cat. She hides pills under her tongue for literally up to 5 minutes at a time, only to spit it out on the carpet as soon as you think that she has finally swallowed. Even if you look in her mouth to make sure its swallowed, she is still hiding the doggone thing. You have to search the perimeter of the carpet to find the soggy pill remnants. The kid has gumption. I'll give her that.

The early morning wake up call gave me the opportunity to enjoy the calm and to do some more early morning spinning before work. Now, I'm not normally a "get up early before work and ease into your day" kind of girl...I'm more often the "get out of bed ten minutes before you have to leave, throw on what you can find and get to work" kind of girl. It was strangely enjoyable to be up drinking coffee and spinning while most of the city was still sleeping. It gave me time to ease into the day instead of starting it like I've been shot out of a canon. Its also nice to feel like you have accomplished something before you step out the front door for the day.

Speaking of accomplishments, I'm in the process of circling the wagons and gathering materials for a not necessarily knitting or spinning related tutorial that should be posted in a day or two. Till then, I'll provide you with this little hint...One of the things in this photo was brought home especially for use in the creation of this marvelous gem of a thing.

The other one has her butt on it.

Once more, with feeling.

2009-01-09T08:40:00.003-05:00

I came home yesterday to a brand spanking new fridge. Yep a shiny new hotpoint that is now holding a grand total of 3 heads of romaine lettuce, a bell pepper, a jar of olives, my mondo hi-gungo jar of yeast from Costco, a squeeze bottle of mustard, and 4 cans of red bull. More fun grocery store action will happen tonight to get back to full operating quantities. So yay!

Now, I know that you must be asking yourself what major appliance or life-comfort system was the next to give up its tenuous hold on operation? Who was the next to die in this installment of what kind of year is this shaking up to be?

The answer is the furnace. ( I wouldn't blame you if you totally don't believe me that another thing would bite it in such a short amount of time, but its true!)

That's right. The furnace decided to go belly up last night. This time maintenance was there in a flash, checked it out, realized that they needed an honest to god HVAC tech to come check it out and do repairs, and told us that someone would be out to fix it this morning. We borrowed a little space heater from Boygenius's mom so we could keep out tootsies toasty till it was time to snuggle in for the night.

After this cavalcade of mechanical failure, and the assumption that this kind of thing comes in threes, I'm hoping that this furnace thing will complete the cycle.

So, hopefully this will be the last post about this kind of thing for a while. I'm totally dreaming of the days of getting back to knitting and spinning goodness!

Yep, it will start right after that nap I was supposed to have yesterday :)

Stick a fork in it....

2009-01-08T11:48:00.005-05:00

After the heater incident, I was in no big hurry to get home yesterday afternoon after work, so I got off the bus early and walked to the library. I was super excited when I realized that they had the Elizabeth Zimmerman/ Meg Swanson Knitters Glossary DVD...like super happy hoppy up and downy excited because it totally falls in line with my "learn 2 new techniques a month" resolution , so I checked it out along with a random arm load of other books.

A night full of knitting instructional video, some good food, and maybe a glass of wine was just what the doctor ordered. Realizing that I needed to hit the grocery if I wanted the actual good food I promised myself, and remembering that I had seen a great looking recipe for grilled portabella mushrooms in one of the books I hit the grocery next. I lugged my 4 bags of groceries home, balancing them on what few library books would not fit in my ginormously over sized purse.

Halfway through putting the groceries away I realized that our refrigerator was dead.

Stone cold dead.

Obviously, my luck with inanimate objects has been terribly lacking lately. Good news is that nothing for my portabellas needed refrigeration if I started right away, so dinner was saved. Once Boygenius got home, he took what little refrigerator stuff that could be salvaged over to his mom's house for storage.

When I tried to report the issue, apartment maintenance would not answer the phone (This bugs me since I work for a maintenance department and you *always* answer the phone). I left a message. I cleaned the remaining carnage from the fridge, cooked up the shrooms, and finally sat down to relax in front of some fine knitting instruction with a glass of wine.

As I was watching, I knit the most beautiful short row heel of my life on the first of my "feet like a rainbow socks". I mean, it was so fine I wanted to make sweet, sweet, love to it. But our love was fleeting.

In keeping with the last 24 hours of luck, I had to frog it because the sock would no longer fit around the widest circumference of my foot and I needed to add additional stitches. Even worse, I was so mentally whooped that I forgot to photograph the heel in all of its glory before I ripped it out. I'll admit that the wine may have had a little something to do with my forgetfulness...but as for the heel, you will just have to take my word for it. It was glorious!!!!!

As for the fridge-I called the management company again this morning, and they are sending someone out to replace it. It should be there before I get home from work. Wahoo!

I've got big plans for the evening too: they include transferring our 10 tons of magnets onto the new fridge, napping, then watching whatever the Netflix fairy decided to drop in my mailbox. Zimmermania can start again tommorrow since I refuse to do anything productive tonight. Not a blessed thing.

May the knitting resume tommorrow!

Burnin Down the House

2009-01-07T09:51:00.003-05:00

Today got started off on an interesting note....or rather, it got started off to a peculiar smell.

A really bad, hot buttered donkey butt kind of smell.

A smell so horrid, that it woke me out of a dead sleep at 4am. (If anything can wake my sorry sleepy self out of a dead sleep, I know that its big time.)

What was that horrible smell?

Burning plastic. It seems that sometime over the course of the night, the thermostat must have gone out in our quartz space heater, and the doggone thing did not kick off when it got to temperature. In fact, it didn't kick off at all. It started to melt and catch fire.

Once I realized what the problem was I unplugged the thing, extinguished it, and woke up Boygenius.

I've read all the warning labels, and I know about the dangers of leaving heaters unattended, but we were stupid. Very, very, stupid, and very lucky. Even more lucky when I realized that the smoke alarms in the apartment did not go off. Not a single blessed one, even when the smoke was thick enough that it stung my eyes. Things could have been much worse than they were if I had not woken up to the stank.

Our apartment is not blessed with good ventilation on a good day, let alone when its filled with noxious smoke. We opened every window, turned on the ceiling fans, exhaust fans, and air purifiers to try to remove the smell. Not a single casualty besides the heater itself.

Yep, that's how Boygenius, Furgenius, and I spent the last few hours of the night huddled up on the living room floor with the windows thrown open in 25 degree weather, just pretty darn thankful that we are lucky enough that things worked out as well as they did in the face of our epic stupidity.

Be careful out there kids. Learn from my dumb. Or even better, read some of the space heater safety tips from the US Consumer Product Safety Commission.

http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/pubs/463.html

Pardon me Miss, but there is a squirrel in my Lazy Susan.

2009-01-06T16:58:00.004-05:00

Yes, you read the title correctly. The title of this post is actually taken from the word for word dialog that I had this morning with one of the residents at the school where I work.

He called to tell me that there was in fact a squirrel in his kitchen, hanging out in the lazy susan, and he had no earthly idea how it happened to get in there. He also needed our help to get it out.

Yessir. No problem Sir! We will get right on that one.

Some days its totally worth getting out of bed to go to work. Today was one of those days.

Time of ya life.

2009-01-03T21:15:00.007-05:00

Ah, 2009. It seems like we just rang in the new century like a second ago, and now its already 2009!

Bear with me here....I've got a little theory about time speeding up as you age because the length of time any thing "feels like" it takes is in proportion to how much time you have already spent breathing, knitting, and sleeping and such. Make no sense? What it boils down to is that things seem to take forever when you are a kid, because technically, since you haven't been around that long it really does take a large portion of your time. Summer feels like forever because you have only had five or six or twelve of em. By the time you roll around to 30, a summer can pass in a blink, and by the time you are 50 I'm sure its like less than half a blink.

You might be asking yourself "How does all this tie into the stuff that belongs in a knitting blog?" Yeah, I'm not really sure on that one myself. (sometimes I babble randomly. Shocking, I know.)

In honor of the new year, I'm going to document the rules that I want my knitting to live by this year, so here goes:

1. If a sweater is torturing me to the point of insanity -frog the bastard!!! (I'm talking to you, Minimalist Cardigan) There is only so much knitting time, and my knitting should not be a fight to the death. I'm all for challenges, but some things are not meant to be. I need to let some things go to the great frog pond in the sky and not feel all guilty and twitchy about it.

2. I should get measurements of the feet of all sock loving relatives now, ages before the holidays so by the time they receive them, I have had both ample time to knit them, and they have had ample time to forget that I am a freak who measures feet at family gatherings.

3. I need to work my way through the backlog of stash that lives in my bedroom dresser even if the handspun is calling my name. My clothes are stacked all over God's green country since the yarn has taken over the drawers. Its getting out of hand and if I don't keep my stash comfortable it might stage a coup and take over the whole apartment.

4. Now that I am comfortable with the basics, its totally time to get all fancy. I want to teach myself all kinds of new techniques. Initially, I thought I would do one per week... I know myself a little better than that. One new technique twice a month feels do-able. Hopefully these learning adventures will make good blog.

5. I want to be a better photographer. Since Boygenius gifted me with the camera of my dreams I have been fiddlin with more bells and whistles than I knew existed. Here are a few of my preliminary test photos of non yarn related Christmas Splendor:

I'm such a sucker for Christmas kitsch. I'm totally powerless against it. And these mice just wanted to come live at my house and I couldn't refuse. I mean, look at em!

I also have a special place in my heart for the sock monkey in the background of the top pic.

Boy genius scared the ever loving bejesus out of Tim Robbins with that sock monkey. I sewed the monkey for Boygenius when we were dating, and he took it to Los Angeles on vacation with him so he could photograph it at the landmarks around town. While he was in front of Mann's Chinese Theater he spotted Tim Robbins so he tried to get him to pose with the monkey for a photo. Before Boygenius could hand over the monkey, Tim took off. He was severely weirded out.

Can't say that I can't see where 'ole Tim was coming from. I'd be a bit freaked if a 6'8" dude was trying to shove a sock monkey in my face for no apparent reason. Good times.

And, since we are talking about things I'm powerless against, I thought I would throw in this totally non-staged, just as it is pic of my urping fiber stash that lives in the living room.

Now I'm distracted by all the cute, the random story babbling, and the fiber is making my hands all itchy to spin some more....Um, what was I talking about again?

Oh yeah, 2009 knitting. and picture taking. I know that I'm no Brooklyn tweed, but the day will come where I will make some foxy-fine pics of some knitting to be proud of.

6. Finally finish the designing, knitting, and finishing work on my epic Seaside Sweater (with the cool beach stone buttons).

And now, since I am seriously sleepy and distracted, I'm going to tuck in for the night. But before I go, I want to ask you: What are your knitting goals for the year?

We Have Lured Yet Another to The Dark Side!

2008-12-29T11:12:00.003-05:00

Did everybody have a happy holiday? I did. The fat man in red jammies squoze himself into the chimney and left me lots of fun spinning and knitting loot. (This is impressive considering I live in an apartment with no fireplace ). Yeah, it was just good 'ole fashioned fun.

Boygenius, (realizing how badly knitting blogs without pictures suck,) took it upon himself to buy me a nifty new Sony Cybershot camera for Christmas so I can share pictures of my woolly misadventures. I've been so busy that I haven't had time to install the software on my computer, but I've been taking pics like crazy, so prepare yourself for the coming onslaught of images soon to be headed your way.

On Christmas day, I did manage to tackle my mother and force her to try on her momma socky socks before she headed back to the farm. I think they may have been a might too snug, but she says they fit her perfectly. No way I was going to be able to let her out of my sight until I knew if they fit, or if I was going to be knitting a do over in short order. I'm thinking about knitting her another pair for her birthday in March.

My M.O.A. Sharon was head over heels about the puppy fluff spinning certificate and collection kit. It seems that they have a box full of fluff from their previous malamute who passed away a while back, and they had been saving it with little hope or knowledge to what could be done with it. Now, it will have a new lease on life. I just hope I can do it justice :)

In non-Christmas news, I have to pass along the fact that I've been lucky enough to witness the birth of a new knitter. My dear friend Christine, has now fallen to the dark side. Welcome to the club, lady! After a wee bit of instruction at a knit night, she took an instructional book, needles and yarn home and the next time I saw her, she had whipped out a very impressive scarf. She had taught herself to bind off and everything!

Rock on with your bad self Christine!

If you are related to me, totally ignore this post.

2008-12-22T12:42:00.003-05:00

That's right. If you are a member of my family, this is totally the point of no return, and you should run away swiftly. We are talking about Christmas spoilers here!

I'm waiting...I'm serious folks. No, you really need to roll.

Whew! I thought they would never leave. So now that its just us chickens, I can tell you about my masterful plot for the gift that keeps on giving. (If you just happen to like fuzzy things and you really, really, really, love your dog.)

So, last night I get a call from the lovely and talented G-ma Genius, who in this blog shall be forever known as "the Betty". The woman is a seamstress of massive skills, and oh god! the baked goods! The jam! The woman is BIG TIME talented...And sweet...And wonderful. Not even fair really :)

...So I was talking to the Betty, and she informs me that "my mean old aunt Sharon" (who is neither mean, nor old, but is truly my aunt) is going to be at the house for Christmas.

(*My mean old aunt ended up with that nickname a million years ago after convincing me that she was the wicked witch of the West from the Wizard of Oz, come to the house in full "flesh colored" makeup as a disguise so she wouldn't be recognized-She looks enough like her that its not much of a stretch for a 5 year old with an extremely overactive imagination).

M.O.A. Sharon is amazing. She's one of my favorite people on the planet, and this means that I need to come up with a most excellent gift and times-a-wasting!

So, the brainstorming started. There is not enough time left to knit something of the high degree of quality and intricacy that she deserves (Hemlock Ring Blanket, I'm talking to you.), and I am still fresh out of car so I can't really go procure a gift outside of my walking radius. Walking radius gifts would leave me the options of the local grocery store (Merry Christmas. I hope you enjoy your can of baked beans!) or possibly Big Lots. So, the gifting thoughts turned to what I can do with what I have here in the apartment. Hmmm.....

Then it hit me.

Girlfriend has a huge Malamute dog.

She LOOOVES said malamute dog.

Malamute dogs have nifty soft undercoats.

Hey! I can do a little blending and spin fibers from nifty soft Malamute undercoat and make a nifty soft something for the M.O.A Sharon.

How does one package such a gift for a satisfactory gifting experience you may ask? Good Question. Since I don't actually possess any of the doggie down, This is what I did.

I grabbed a nice little lingerie sized box, a "dog hair collection receptacle" (which is also known as a gallon sized zip lock bag for some strange reason), a pre-paid self-addressed mailer so the collected hair filled zip lock can be mailed to me for spinning at no cost to the giftee, and I made a little gift certificate explaining the madness of the whole thing.

What do you think? Is it madness? Or a stroke of eggnog induced brilliance? Who wants to wear some puppy hair? Tell the truth!

Mittens, Socks, and Puppy Butts.

2008-12-19T08:11:00.005-05:00

So, in my itchy fingered rush to find a project to replace the gifty one that required the notoriously absent needles, I started not just one, but 2 new projects on the same day.

I'm rocking along on mitten number one in some red lambs pride that was lurking in my stash since the dawn of time (or really about 2 years ago if I try to scale down the melodrama.) and so far it is going pretty well. I'm winging it as usual.

As for project number 2, I started a sock that I didn't think would be a sock at the time, but rather the beginning of a mitten out of my "shes like a rainbow" hand spun. So once I realized that (duh) fingering weight merino does not make the most roasty toasty mittens on the planet, it morphed its self into a toe up sock. Is it odd that this thing would fit both my hand and my foot? If anything, it makes me realize that if I don't want to wip out a sock less foot to try on my sock knitting progress, then I can just put the bad boy on my hand and if it fits like a mitten should then I know that its pretty close to good. Not sure if this is a consistent thing for most folks, or if its just me. Who knows? But I'm also going to use the ole foot fits from your inside elbow to wrist trick to make sure its long enough when I'm knitting as well.

Anybody have any fun measuring tips that they would like to share?

I do know that the fun of watching a hand painted, hand spun skein of yarn turn into a sock has a lure stronger than coffee for me (and that's saying something folks...I can drink some coffee for realz.) It totally appeals to me.

kinda like this appeals to me:

Who doesn't love 'ole wrinkly dogs and puppy butts?

I'm still waiting...

2008-12-16T14:28:00.002-05:00

Alright. Now I'm getting miffed.

After what feels like a million years of waiting, I still have not been able to get my new circular needles. Weep!! Sob!! Sigh!! General breast beating and howling....

Gah! If I had known it would take this long to get to a location that sells needles...I could have mail ordered em faster! No fair! whine, whine, whine! Pout! pout!

Am I as obnoxious as I feel right about now? Yeah? I thought so.

So, since I am forever cursed to never own the wondrous size 8 - 16" circular needles, I must ignore the project that I planned on doing. So its time to regroup.

I'm thinking mittens. Like without a pattern, straight from scratch mittens.

That's right. Mittens. Why you may ask?

The simple answer? Because my hands are cold.

Ah, but if I don't knit mittens I can do mean and horrid things to boygenius for keeping me from my precious new needles... like maybe sneaking up behind him and putting my icy cold hands on his neck!!!

Ha! That'll learn him. You don't stand between a girl and her needle purchases. Its just not right!

Lets hope for boygenius' sake that I get these mittens rolling now. I also need to get them going for your sake, dear reader. That way you aren't forced to look at any more of my excessive punctuation. Exclamation points for everyone!!!!

I get spiteful and excessively punctuational when I have to wait.

If I concentrate hard enough, I can knit through a tree

2008-12-12T09:05:00.005-05:00

I've been fiending to start a new knitting project for the past few days, and after much consideration, I decided that what I want to make most is a warm fuzzy for someone who shall remain nameless (in case they take a peek at the blog between now and Christmas).

I picked out the pattern, the prefect yarn, and I must have wound like a billion yards of lace weight alpaca by hand on my "fancy" nostepin which bears a striking resemblance to an empty toilet paper tube for some reason...oh right. because it is an empty toilet paper tube.

(Santa...if you are reading this, please bring me a shiny new ball winder with that ton of Crown Mountain Farms fiber I asked for a few posts back. Hand winding is for the birds!)

I dug through the lot of my needles, only to find it sadly lacking. I don't own a 16" size 8 circular needle. I don't have anything that could even try to be a size 8 circular needle. Even if I wished and concentrated really hard.

(Random, mostly unrelated side story about concentration: When I was in middle school there was a kid named Justin who believed that if he concentrated hard enough he could run through a tree...needless to say, he was not very successful. It didn't stop him from trying though. He just thought he wasn't concentrating hard enough to be successful, and he kept on trying. To keep hurling yourself at a brain-rattling immovable object...I mean, that's dedication and some serious self confidence...albeit incredibly misguided. Of course the brain rattling could have had something to do with the repeated tries...Last I heard he was in the Army.)

Wow! How's that for random. I'm off the map today folks.

Since I'm still car less (42 days and counting as of this post), and the nearest knitting supply store is farther from my home than I can walk or bus, I'm dependant on the kindness of Boygenius to take me to buy one. Problem is, he doesn't get home in time to get me there before they close during the week. He did make sure that we had some really great Cuban food for dinner last night to take my mind off that fact.

At least today is Friday, and soon the needle will be mine...oh yes, It will be mine! (cue maniacal laughter and gratuitous hand gestures).

Well, since random seems to be more interesting than the lack of needles, lets go with a bit more of it..

When I was little, I wanted to be Spiderman when I grew up-Obviously I was overlooking the fact that I was neither spider nor man, but I had high hopes for myself. Dream big.

I'm a lefty, but I had a teacher in elementary school who made me write right handed for a time, but I started to stutter. Once I left her class and went back to being a leftie, the stutter went away.

Ever time I look at my spinning wheel I grin like an idiot.

I once helped a cow deliver a calf in the middle of my driveway.

I really want to run a marathon at some point in my life.

The first time I say boygenius he was coming into our 20th century art history class. I took one look at him, said "That one's Mine" and like 6 years later, we were married.

Well, I'm figuring thats enough random for now. Have a great weekend!

The Wabi Sabi of Knitting

2008-12-10T13:15:00.004-05:00

During my early days as a knitter, my perfectionist streak was very, very strong. Its seemed that I didn't have it in me to allow a less than perfect finished product. Countless scarves, dishcloths, hats, and tons and tons of lace were systematically frogged for the sin of having a minor error in the stitching...and when I say minor, it could have been something as simple as one misplaced stitch that would be completely looked over by anyone who didn't know it was there. I think it has to do with the nature of learning...when you are trying to teach yourself a new skill, it seems like the only way that you can measure your progress is to have a perfect knitted object before you, because if it isn't perfect, how can you tell if you are doing it right?

One of the ways that I measure my progress as a knitter is to measure how willing I am to allow minor imperfections to stay in my work. Its like I don't feel like I need to make everything exactly perfect anymore, and I don't have to prove that I'm a perfect knitter-which is a huge step for me.

And you know what? My knitting is better for it. Without the stress of trying to be perfect, my finished pieces have been turning out much better. I enjoy the process more, and the work benefits from that.

I think learning to spin was a major part of this transition as well...it helped me learn to let go a little. Someone very wise told me "you hold your fiber with the amount of stress you want to have in your life" and I think the concept totally applies to knitting in a broader sense. Things are as perfect or imperfect as you want them or will allow them to be. Any you know what?

That's just perfect to me.

When all else fails...puppies!

2008-12-09T10:38:00.004-05:00

Eeek!

I got nothing to blog about. I mean, absolutely nothing outside of the fact that I have nothing to blog about to blog about. Yessir, not a dogonne thing. So what does one do when faced with such a situation?

Well, if you are me, then you post a picture of puppies.

Not just any puppies. Puppies that are so adorably wrinkly that you have no choice but to sigh uncontrollably with the puppy love that ensues. So here for your daily cute explosion are Annie the bloodhound and her 4 squooshy balls of love. Enjoy.

Fibery Dreams

2008-12-05T08:28:00.003-05:00

With my newly plied, washed, and whacked "Shes' like a Rainbow" hanging safely on my shower rod to dry, my mind is drifting off to visions of other fun, fibery things.

I woke up late this morning, ten minutes before I was supposed to be at work to be precise, running out the door without my self-promised project to start up today, but its OK, it gives me more of a chance to go back to obsessing over the stitch patterns for the seaside sweater that is still dancing in the back or my brain...or to start thinking about how maybe I should try knitting some mittens since its 32 degrees today and I don't have any.

Sounds reasonable huh? The Christmas knitter in me is saying that I should focus on gifty knits instead, but who can knit gifty knits when their hands fall off due to frostbite? Take that! gifty knitter! Bow before my superior ability to rationalize mittens!

If I had to have slept in, at least I accidentally slept in because I was in the midst of sweet, sweet, fibery dreams. With all of the spinning I have done over the past few days, its only natural that I got to dreaming about it... From the time I first started working, I would always have nights after particularly stressful workdays where I would continue working well after I had fallen asleep. I would shelve books and art supplies, count inventory, or in the worst case scenario, work an endless stream of fast food drive thru window orders then wake up to find that I had to go back and do it all again.

Its so nice when its actually something that you enjoy doing instead of something you dread! I'll spin or knit all night long with a smile on my face. I certainly wake up rip-roaring and ready for the day. Nothing like going around with a little extra pep in your step on a fine Friday morning.

I've got O.R.C syndrome.

2008-12-04T09:23:00.004-05:00

Yes, I have fallen prey to ORC syndrome. That's obsessive Ravelry Checking syndrome, for those uninitiated. It snuck up on me fast, and turned into a full blown compulsion in a short space of time. I have an excuse, you see...

I'm currently in the process of being added as a designer on Ravelry, so it only makes sense that I obsessively check my account every five minutes to see if they have sent me an approval. I'm finding out that yes, the process may take the week+ that they advertise it to take. I can understand why, but that doesn't make it any easier...

*sigh* I'm so impatient! It's like I'm waiting for Christmas morning :)

Anyhoo...as soon as I get the approvals and such, I'm going to put frankensweater up as a free Rav download. If you want a pdf before then, please feel free to hit me up and I'll email it forth.

I'm sooooo bored today! At least the obsessive Rav checking is giving me something to do...I'm terribly antsy, since I woke up in a semi-agitated state that sometimes happens before I end up with a killer migraine. I'm being super careful about what I eat and drink so it wont push my head over the edge into "Migraine Hell" territory. (ah, the illusion of control!) And, as always, I have the Excedrin at the ready.

I came to work without a project to keep me company, and I haven't started any new knitting since I finished momma sockey, got the crown mountain crack, and started spinning my brains out.... Boygenius is cracking jokes about being a spinning wheel widower since I've finished 3 bobbins full in the last 3 days, and I'll be ready to ply it tonight, so I'll still be hanging out in front of the wheel. I've really been in the zone, and I'm really excited to see what it looks like as a three ply.

Then I'll have to start thinking about what it wants to be when it grows up...I'm already giddy!

I love the mailman.

2008-12-02T10:45:00.003-05:00

Yesterday I got a very special delivery...a big ole box full of crown mountain farms hand dyed super wash merino fiber. I mean, I'm sitting here drooling all over my desk just thinking about it because its just so darned tasty!

I was good, and I only ordered 2- 8 ounce bumps of fiber, the first in the "Shes Like a Rainbow" colorway, and the other in "San Francisco". It was my first order from them, and had I known how wonderful the fiber was, I don't think I would have been able to restrain myself.

Hello Santa? Its me. Skeingenius.... Please send me all the CMF that you can fit in your sleigh. I've been good I promise. Besides, I can't be bad if I have so much fluff to spin. It 'll keep me out of trouble:)

The box showed up while I was at work, and I was literally hopping up and down at the bus stop waiting to go home (yep...I till don't have my car back after a month of waiting. grr....but fibery goodness can take the edge off even the worst car-related angst.)

After I got back to the homestead and oiled up my polish dream-machine, I just sat there, petting the pretty fiber for a bit till I could make up my mind which to spin first. After a coin flip or two, I got pre-drafting on the "She's Like a Rainbow". It was all buttery. I had the best of intentions, I wanted to finish more of the mill ends that I was spinning previously, but man! I love this stuff!!!! The call was too strong, and I was quickly spinning away.

I'd never spun super wash before, and I had anticipated that it would be a more difficult spin. I'd say that I got through about 3.5 ounces of the bump before I called it a night. When I woke up this morning I was totally itching to get spinning on more. (only 5 more hours and counting till I'll be back in the thick of the spin). Its like crack I tell ya.

Heres the link so you and go buy your own. (or buy some for me. You know you want to)

http://www.crownmountainfarms.com/html/animal-fiber/sw-merino.html

Nice Shoes!

2008-12-01T12:29:00.003-05:00

As I sit here, reveling in the fact that I have completed the momma sockey socks, (hellz yeah!) I thought I might share a little tale of something that happened while boygenius and I were a shopping at a local purveyor of yarn and general crafting supplies that is in no way knitting related...(since I finished the socks last night, I have no more tales of knitting inspired tragedy to tell quite yet...)

Saturday, we decided to go to this store in order to pick up some oil painting supplies for boygenius. He is currently embracing his inner Picasso, and beginning to paint for the first time. It 's extremely exciting!

As we were standing in line to pay for our massive haul of paint stuff, the woman in front of us in line turns to me smiling, and says in her sweetest voice (ok, so that's an assumption, since I don't know her from Adam) "Hey! I used to have Earth shoes."

(So I'm guessing its pretty obvious at this point that I wear earth shoes...they are comfy, I have wonky feet, they last forever, and I'm not exactly known for my stellar fashion sense. Most of the time I don't match or even consider matching, so I just tie em on and go.)

So, then instead of taking the moment to bond with me over our collective good choices in footwear, she follows up with:

"Yep, I had ones just like that. Its a good thing that they started making cute ones after they put out those though. They would have gone out of business!!!"

I stood there for a moment, with boygenius snickering under his breath. By the time the cashier had finished checking her out, boygenius was in a full blown state of quiet, but uncontrollable laughter.

Yep. This is how I ended up having my shoes insulted by a random stranger while minding my own business on the day after black Friday.

OK, so I do admit that they are ugly...in a "so ugly you can't help but love em " kind of way. Here's a link so you can see for yourself:

http://zapp.me/7334602

So could this be some form of cosmic wardrobe assistance? Message from the personal shopper in the sky? I think its time to throw this footwear question out to the peanut gallery. So you tell tell me... too fug for words? Middlin'? Or fine enough to keep my feet cozy? Whatcha think?

Don't stop, knit it! knit it!

2008-11-25T17:44:00.005-05:00

So, I have to say... I have a wee bit 'o the gifters paranoia at the moment. I'm hauling tail to get the momma sockey socks done for "she who gave me the sacred gift of life" for Christmas . As I get closer to the finish line I get even more paranoid that the doggone things won't fit her. Even though all of my measurements tell me that they will be fine...

I have this sort of freakish tendency. Its just like back in the day in art school where I would spend weeks working on a project, only to decide it wasn't good enough at the last minute and try to pull something else that was new and even more magnificent out of my bum to replace it in lest than 24 hours. Not a good plan. So, at the moment, I'm trying to tell myself, that I did everything a good knitter can do without the foot in front of me...

Maybe its all due to the fact that I have gargantuan orangutan feet...I mean, I can actually write with them-it ain't pretty, but it works in a pinch. Hey...maybe I should try to teach myself to knit with my feet.... fun times at the yarn store *lol) ...anyway...Don't tell me that you aren't considering how foot knitting would work right now. You can't fool me.

Um yeah, back to my original derailed train of thought...So when I knit socks that fit tiny little Cinderella tootsies I don't know what to do. It just seems so tiny and wrong.

must....fight....the...urge...to..knit a billion more pairs of socks in alternate sizes close to the momma sockeys just so one will fit!

Must believe that they will fit!

Must fight urge to wait until the woman falls into a turkey and stuffing induced food coma on Thanksgiving and sneak them on her feet when she is unawares! No good can come if it.

If I don't catch you all again before Turkey day, Gobble Gobble y'all! Make it a good one.

Free Pattern: Frankensweater!

2008-11-24T12:31:00.005-05:00

Hey Ya'll.

Thanks to a request from one of the fine folks on Ravelry, I have put togeather a pattern for Frankensweater free for your knitting pleasure. It may horrify a tech editor or two, since its my first written pattern, but I'm excited to throw it out there for all to see. If anyone needs any clarification, just let me know and I'll help you as best I can. Well, here it is:

FRANKENSWEATER: THE PATTERN.

Materials:
4 skeins of Paton’s Divine in Soft earth
Size 13 needles straight or circular
Size 6 circular needle
Needle for attaching the pieces together

Frankensweater consists of a total of 5 pieces, 1 large rectangle turned sideways for the main body of the sweater, 2 pieces that create the shoulders and sleeves that are picked up and knit once the main body and shoulder pieces are sewn together. My rough counts are for a 34” bust size, but it is easy to resize this pattern by adding additional stitches to the shoulder increases to match up with the width of the rectangle.

MAIN BODY:

cast on 50 stitches on size 13 needles (cast on more if you would like a longer sweater).
knit 68 rows (or until you have a large enough rectangle to wrap around your torso (from bust line down). My rectangle measures: 24 in long, and 38 in wide. Bind off rectangle, and set aside.

SHOULDER PIECES

Right Side:

Cast on 30 (this will make be the bottom of the back of the shoulder where it attaches to the rectangle.)
K 13 rows
On the next 10 rows, Decrease 1 stitch at the beginning of the row, knit the row (until 20 stitches remain))
K 3 rows
On the next 10 rows, increase 1 stitch per row at the beginning of the row, knit the row. (You will end up with 30 stitches) .

Left Side:

Cast on 30 (this will make be the bottom of the back of the shoulder where it attaches to the rectangle.)
K 13 rows
On the next 10 rows, knit to last stitch, make a k2tog decrease (until 20 stitches remain))
K 3 rows
On the next 10 rows, knit to 1 stitch before end of row, M1 increase. (You will end up with 30 stitches) .

Wet block pieces, pin so edges are straight, allow to dry. Using the sewing needle, sew the bottoms of the shoulder pieces to the body rectangle, aligning the edges so they make a smooth line. Sew the 2 shoulder pieces together at the back, paying special attention to keep the “v”shape (made by decreases in shoulder pieces ) come together to maintain heart shape.

SLEEVES:

Using size 6 circular needle, pick up stitches around the sleeve opening. Knit 3 rows, and then reverse direction of your knitting for 5 rows to make raised ridge detail. Change direction once again, and ktbl (knit through the back loop) until you have a sleeve length that makes you giddy. Bind off loosely. Repeat on other sleeve.

Re-block the edges if you like. Or don’t if you are lazy like me…Like I said before, any questions, concerns, or tech edits, please feel free to hit me up in the comments or pm me on Ravelry… I’m optimystik1.

Wear it in good health!

Inspiration shows up when you least expect it...(pt. 2)

2008-11-13T12:13:00.003-05:00

For the past few weeks I have been wracking my poor addled brain for THE PERFECT STITCH PATTERNS for the seaside sweater I'm designing.

In typical fashion, I'm simply biting off more than I can chew. With all of the elements that I'm looking to include it could make for the busiest, most deplorable mess of a sweater known to mankind.

First, lets look at the pros: I've already got the buttons for it (Thanks again to MADEFORFUN at etsy. The beach stone button set she put together for me is just what I was looking for!) , so its a great starting point. I'm thinking that I will go from the button band I originally planned on to the twined cables on either side (unless that gets a bit busy...then the cables will be the first bit that I drop) and then I want to go into a linen stitch to suggest the sandy beach.

Egads! Time for the cons: The one stitch dictionary that I do have doesn't have anything remotely resembling what I'm looking for to transition from linen stitch to something remotely resembling the motion of the waves, so its going to be a hardcore mess of swatching transitions to see what works and whats even possible. Then, there is the small matter of weather or not to make a subtle color transition as the patterns change...for some reason, I think that would be tremendously cool, but ummmm....how to make it happen? Knit to that point and then try to dye and set the color? Dip dye the finished sweater? I'm not so good at estimating my yarn yardages to dye prior to knitting, so its not really an option for me. I guess I could knit the waves first and try to transition to linen. It might be a bit easier to do it that way if I make the transition over a few rows...

Oh, here's an idea...I could make the "coast line" curve from the bottom to the top area, and over onto the sleeves-making the equivalent of a yoke out of the linen and having the waves work all over the back and down the arms. if the line of the waves is done properly, it will be really flattering. I think I'm liking it so far!

Swatch. swatch. swatch. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I can get it to work out.

But I Don't Wanna Take It Off...

2008-11-12T13:05:00.004-05:00

Well, its Wednesday, and yes,as you may have guessed I am sitting here wrapped in the feather and fan shawl ( Which is currently clashing terribly with my outfit). Outfit be damned! But at least it is keeping me warm, and wearing it is allowing me to pet it as much as humanly possible so its all good.

What is it about new finished objects that makes you want to wear them as much as possible for as long as possible? Is this just me? Who here hasn't gotten all kinds of crazed at the prospect of having to take the ole hand knit socks off long enough to take a shower? ...even though you know they will be there all warm and waiting for you when you get out? Who hasn't cursed the fact that you had to wash a hand knit and then atmospheric conditions seemed to mock you with the length of time it took for it to air dry? Come on kids, I know you have a tale to tell. I can't be the only knit nutball in town.

What is your best "but I don't want to take it off!" knit story? Gimmee.

Wahooo! Finally a Photo (or 2).

2008-11-11T10:12:00.006-05:00

Rarer than a unicorn, more fantastic than....uh, lots of stuff (if you aren't counting the artistry of the photos themselves) I am actually posting pictures of a finished object!

(Disclaimer: These were shot in a basement on a 10 minute break with an unfamiliar camera, no props, or anything beyond bad florescent lights and an office chair.)

So, without further adieu...

And, the most unflatteringly angled art house shot I could muster:

I look all semi-put out/smirky-pouty in that one....And really,who doesn't want to look up someone else's nose?

These are the best 2 shots of the bunch. Time to rock some remedial photo classes methinks.

6 feet of fun

2008-11-10T16:59:00.003-05:00

Sorry for the blog blackout, but alas, I was one sick monkey. Wednesday I got hit with a heck of a nasty, snot farm of a head cold and I ended up spending the bulk of the week lying on the couch reading trashy grocery store paperbacks. I managed to get myself upright and off to work today though, since I am finally back to being almost a human again. If anything, I was grateful just to see daylight and someplace other than my apartment.

During my 4 days of illness imposed solitude I did finally manage to finish my feather and fan shawl...still no pics as the computer at work had its batteries depleted in my absence. Hopefully tomorrow. The shawl is literally as tall as I am, which made for 6 feet of knitted goodness. Upon the final bind off, furgenius took the opportunity to plop on it and kneed it like she was baking bread. (I'm going to take that as a fuzzy little compliment). Not to toot my own horn, but I tell you that I'm in love. I mean, this thing is good. Ron Burgundy heiney compliment good. I want to be friends with it :)

I can wrap it around myself like a bluezillion times, its completely free of itch, and it looks pretty darn snazzy with my new winter coat, which I totally did not expect. Ah, I love it when the knitting works out. It's a beautiful thing....but it almost wasn't.

See, I just happen to be a "premature quitter" knitter on things of this magnitude. If it wasn't for the kind cheer leading of boygenius, I may have never have ended up with something this perfect in length. I would have called it a day at 5 feet maybe, and missed out on the perfection that is 6 feet. Yeah, the end of a project just may be the knitting kryptonite to my Super knitter. I get to the end and become terribly weak, but hey, I'm working on it. They say the first step is admitting you have a problem....

Next up, some socks for the mom genius for Christmas. Woo!!! I can almost smell my needles smoking already!

Till next time...

The Home Stretch

2008-11-04T11:00:00.004-05:00

I'm finally closing in on the finish line on my hand spun feather and fan shawl, and it makes me realize just how terribly impatient I can get. I have to grit my teeth and press on. I have the compulsion to call it a day when I get this close to the end, and I'm not quite sure what that's all about...

Unless unforeseen circumstances arise, I'm thinking I can have it finished this evening- (and when I say finished, I mean to an actual length that it should be instead of the "Crap! Can't you be finished already!" length it would be if I just stopped when I originally felt like it).

Once I'm done I'll see if I can't swindle a pic on the digital camera from work so you can see what it looks like (fingers crossed).

On notes other than knitting, I have been in a state of transportational turmoil as of late, when a "simple car repair" has ended up with my car being towed to a second shop and having the entire engine removed to attempt to fix the damage wrought by the first "repair".

No fun, but its just a minor annoyance that has garnered a new level of respect for Boy Genius, since he has been the bad cop to my good one, and he has taken care of the situation swimmingly by organizing all of this junk..and believe me, there was a bunch to take care of. I should get more of an update on how messed up things truly are a bit later on today (fingers and toes crossed for good measure).

So have you all gotten out there to vote? Do your civic duty kids. Besides, you can knit while you wait in line. What a great reason to knit in public!

Happy election day!

Inspiration shows up when you least expect it...

2008-10-29T10:29:00.003-04:00

I was surfing Etsy, as I am prone to do, and I came across these nifty beach stone buttons in madeforfun's shop. (http://http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5594789) All of a sudden, my brain started rolling with ideas for a cardigan inspired by the coast.

Boy genius and I used to live in Charleston, SC. and since we came back to Kentucky I truly miss being near to the ocean. Since I'm stuck in a place that has a good amount of sweater weather, why not make a sweater than celebrates the place where you are least likely to need to wear one? Convoluted logic? I think so. But I'm working with what I have here :)

Now, first things first. I'm thinking about the things that would best symbolize the things that I love about Charleston and the beach. For one, Charleston is where Boygenius and I lived when we were first married, so I'm thinking a twined cable (with 2 different textures in it) would be a nice representative pattern, possibly running the length of the sleeves or on the sides of the button bands. I think its also going to be important to find the right pattern to exemplify the texture of the windblown and water worked sand on the coast. Maybe something that shows the rolling of the waves?

I'm totally brainstorming here...so thanks for coming along for the ride :)

Wow...and color! Now here's where it gets interesting. Maybe I should go with an earthy, sandy sort of shade to reinforce the texture, but then possibly flowing into more watery tones? Nothing too overt. Or, maybe the color should stay consistent, but the pattern of the knitting should flow from the beachy texture to the rolling waves from the top to the bottom.

I've got lots to think about, that's for sure! Time to bust out the sketch book and the stitch books when I get home before I loose all momentum.

For those of you who design your own knits...heck your own anything....What does your creative process look like? How do you go from idea to finished object? Do you start with a detailed idea or do you just wing it? I want details folks...Inquiring minds want to know!

Baby, I got a crockpot full of funk!

2008-10-28T12:24:00.004-04:00

Once upon a time, there was a girl who thought that it would be a great idea to wash a half pound of angora goat floof in her crock pot. It boiled and bubbled (with the help of a little Dawn), and generally made like all good cauldrons in fairy tales do, but the girl did not count on one little thing...

The girl did not count on the fact that hot, soapy goat floof smells like the darkest pits of Hades. Hot, soapy Hades. Who knew that Hades was hot and soapy? I'm thinking some folks may have already guessed the "smells like goat" part...

Due to many moons spent shovelling poo at a vet's office, the smell was tolerable to the girl, but boy, it wrecked Prince Charming!

Yeah, it seems that Boygenius does not tolerate the smell of hot, soapy goat. Good thing to know. Especially when he wants to eat dinner. Go figure.

I'm going to file this experience in the "things to keep in mind when processing fleece" file (cross referenced in the "things to do when normally princelike Boygenius is not being charming" file ).

I'll be finishing the final rinse on the fleece tonight. Wish me luck, and lets hope that Boygenius can handle the stank. I've got a clothespin at the ready in case he needs to plug his nose...

Then I will have pretty fluff to spin as we live happily ever after.

Who wants a one eared alpaca?

2008-10-23T13:49:00.003-04:00

Gee Whiz its been a while! It seems like a million years since I last posted. Like all good vacations, it seems like it lasted dog years. Now I'm back desk jockeying and dreaming of more fibery goodness.

So here goes the in a nutshell vacation recap:

I spent a day or two knitting the ever-lovin' out of ye olde feather and fan shawl. I made big time headway, but I didn't quite get there. I'd say that I have about 30% of it left to go, but I'm loving the way it looks-and talk about a forgiving pattern! It's beautiful, easy to knit, and if you screw it up, ya can't even tell. I'm going to keep cracking on it every night, with a self imposed rule of completing at least 2 repeats of the pattern per night till its done.

I made my way to the library (again), and checked out a boatload of books (again). Tons and tons, and I read almost every darn one of them. Boygenius and I hit nearly every antique store in town. We went to a winery-with a petting zoo ( Why not get slightly sloshed and then go feed some goats?Sounded like a great idea at the time) ! We went to Indianapolis to visit the Children's Museum, which had a very cool comic book and cartoon exhibit going on. I lost a few days to a migraine, so we couldn't leave town like we had planned, but it was still a great vacation and a nice anniversary.

On Saturday, I hit up the Southern Indiana Fiber Festival and walked away with a fantastic stash of goodies- I was a good girl, (even though I went alone and I could have done quite bit more damage had I chosen to) and I kept the spending down to a respectable level ($78.00 or so) which was pretty impressive when you have folks saying things to you like "Hey Lady! Wanna Buy an alpaca? I mean, he only has one ear, but that doesn't effect the fiber....I'll sell her to ya cheap!"

Like alpacas aren't cute enough already, and I'm such a sucker for misfits. Ah, if it wasn't for the fact that Boygenius' keen senses would pick up something as tiny as the one eared alpaca in the apartment I totally would have gone for it. dagnabit!

So, since the seed of one eared alpaca had driven itself into my brain, I spent last night spinning on some of the heathery green merino/alpaca blend. Visions of fun wintry fingerless mitts are dancing about, which is good because I don't think I'll have much more yardage than I'll need to complete them after I've finished spinning.

Well cats and kittens, I should get rolling on. Got to finish a big old stack of paperwork before the day is through. Talk to ya soon!

TGIF!

2008-10-10T09:04:00.004-04:00

Ah Friday, glorious Friday! Every Friday is good, but this one is super special-mostly because its the last day before I have a week off on vacation.

Am I going anywhere? Am I doing anything exciting? Well, Wednesday is my 3 year wedding anniversary with boygenius and we are toying with the idea of blowing town for a day or something but nothing has been set in stone. I'm thinking maybe just pointing the car in a direction and letting 'er fly.If nothing else, I have a bunch of fiber that I have prepped and ready for spinning-the heathery green merino/ alpaca blend I told ya about in the last post. I also have plans to finish the feather and fan shawl that I started out of my hand spun bfl because I can't start another project until this one is off the needles. ...I mean, a girl has to get going on the Christmas knitting for realz!

I did manage to check a little more temptation out of the library yesterday afternoon...2 Japanese cookbooks and Elizabeth Zimmerman's Knitting Workshop. I'm hoping to get around to trying the baby surprise jacket sometime soon since its such a great way to use up all the pretty pretty hand spun that I'm cranking out. And, people are going to keep mating and having babies, so its always a great thing to have on hand for a gift.

In the mean time, I'm all about trying to figure out just which japanese recipes I need to try out in the next few days. Truth be told, I know very little (read: next to nothing) about Japanese cuisine, but it all looked so fantastic that I'm all about giving a few of them a shot. I'm a sucker for a good cookbook :) I had some Yaki Onigiri a few weeks back when Boygenius and I were out to dinner with freinds. Yaki Onigiri is a really tasty grilled rice ball-it doesn't sound that impressive, but I liked it so much I've been craving them ever since. I think that meal sparked the interest in what japanese food I could make at home that could be so simple and savory. (Look for the book "Let's Cook Japanese Food" by Amy Kaneko for what looks to be a good Yaki Onigiri recipe).

Is this seat taken?

2008-10-06T08:13:00.005-04:00

Alright, I admit it. I got to the store and I wussed out. I mean, there were nearly a million billion blue-zillion people in there, and it had the makings of bad high school cafeteria flashbacks. Knitting folks are decidedly nicer than your average high schooler, but I still wussed.

I was having one of those rare "full geekdom" days where you couldn't pry the small talk out of me with the jaws of life. It probably would have gone something like: The weather? Huh? Nice cashmere ya got there....What? unhhhh.....nice stitchwork. ummmmm...

Oh well. Some days I'm just not meant to be social. But I'll try again next time.

The good news is that the trip was not a total loss. I managed to score some bombyx silk top, some heathery green merino alpaca blend and some foxy-fine dark brown baby alpaca. I just want to squish it. Then I mosey-ed on home to finish spinning and plying the last of my BFL and hang out with the boy genius.

Saturday I rocked the house like a woman on fire. Boy genius started his new work schedule, where he works on Saturdays and I decided to get some much needed errands run.

Wedding present for next weekend? Check. Return those library books? Check. Cooking second rate Indian food from a not so hot recipe? Check. Most exciting, I bought a bed frame! Our old one died circa 2001, and we never took the time to replace it till now.

(Yes, I do in fact get excited about bed frames. You can see why I geek in public).

Ah, you should have seen the salesman's face when I told him I needed to fit that frame in my Corolla. Pure poetry. But we did manage to shoehorn that sucker in there, and after a little bit of wrestling with the box spring and mattress I got the thing assembled and in place completely solo (*unless you count helpful suggestions from fur genius, who was telling me that the best plan of attack was to plop on it and take a nap).

After the bed was done, I hung the piece of framed wrought iron that we use as a headboard, a wreath and a nifty antique scale on the walls, and I generally cleared all household flat surfaces of their respective piles of crap. Ah, it was glorious! I can now declare our apartment to feel like home, and not just some two bit motel.

The bedroom actually feels so nice that I spent a good amount of celebratory knitting time on the bed admiring all of my hard work. I love it when a plan comes together.

On Sunday, I washed and whacked the BFL that I finished while boy genius ran errands. I'm pretty satisfied with the way it turned out. I'm getting far more consistent with my spinning and plying, making progress every time I sit at the wheel. It feels really good. So now I can be happy spinning in a cozy apartment that feels like home.

Now, if only I could figure out how to run sheep at an apartment complex my life would be complete.

Getting back on the horse

2008-10-03T14:21:00.003-04:00

Today I'm finally feeling up to showing my face (and not as much of my bum) in public, so I'm toying with the idea of going to knit night at my local purveyor of fine yarns and woolly goods this evening. Boy genius just started his new work schedule, so he's working till 7 pm and on his own for dinner (Cocoa Pebbles anyone?).

I've been in a nesting/hibernating phase of late, which I attribute to the first nip of fall in the air, and the tendency to want to stay in and knit an spin something woolly and wonderful to snuggle. Or, it might possibly be the stack of library books that I have been burying myself under since the urge to read has been hitting me-mostly fiction, but I've been checking out some spinning guides and informational knitting books....but then again, it could be a simple as the fact that I am slowly turning into a feral, pale, hobbit of a woman from sitting in this basement at work all day.

(I'm voting hobbit. I can feel my feet growing already.)

Time to go have some fun with my fellow fiber heads before I forget what its like to act like a normal girl who doesn't spend days accidentally flashing her panties at coworkers. Yup, its time to get back on the horse! Time to go and knit fibery things in the company of strangers! Time to buy more fluff so I can make more fibery things that I can knit in the compant of strangers! Time to make friends and influence people while buying and knitting fibery things in the company of stangers while riding a horse with a hobbit! (Don't worry, I'm confused too.)

Time to shut up and drive to the yarn store. Have a great weekend!

Isn't that just a kick in the seat?

2008-09-24T09:13:00.003-04:00

Ah, yesterday.

It seems as though it was just a day ago or something-Yeah, its that fresh in my mind. ( I know that you are amazed by the powers of my long term memory. How could you not be? ummmm....) Alright...I admit it, I'm stalling. It's kind of embarrasing.

This is one of those stories that you don't realize is a story until the whole thing is over and you find yourself staring at the punchline. And in this case it was literal. I could stare at it, which I did, sitting on the edge of the bathtub as the tub filled for a bath after a full day's wanderings. I my pants up from the floor to put them in the hamper, and I realized that when I picked them up, my hand had gone right through the back of the seat.

The realization dawned....

I stared, horrified.

Yep...I likely spent the whole day running around at work, going to the library, walking to the grocery store flashing my nice pink panties to the world. The fabric on the bum had given up the ghost and worn clean through with no warning. No sound, no breeze, no nothing. They didn't even have the beginnings of a hole before. It was like they had a spiteful little mind of their own.

Yeah, nothing says "I'm a competent professional" to campus administration like running around with your bloomers showing. Its the true show of a high caliber staffer.

I love shopping with me arse flapping in the wind.....especially when you have to walk a quarter of a mile across some of the most heavily trafficked streets in the city to get there. Its just incredibly liberating.

Who really needs to talk in the library when your bum is saying everything for you. You can shelve that with one of the classics!

Ah, how I will always treasure the memory of the day...Damn my long term memory :)

Shake the funk with a kick to the head.

2008-09-23T11:04:00.005-04:00

Power was finally restored to the Campus where I work late last night. Its been a long time without power for our students and their families, but they have been patient and understanding, which is greatly appreciated and I have to say that I was impressed by the way they came togeather to help one another out.

Since the power was out, and most of my work requires that I be sitting in front of a computer screen by an electric powere phone system I was lucky enough to get a week's worth of paid time off due to the outtages. Early in the week I took it as an opportunity to work on a couple of recipes, one for a simple and amazing rosemary yeast bread and another for the worlds most perfect chocolate chip cookies. (here's a hint....if you sprinkle a little sea salt on the top of your chocolate chip cookies before you bake them, you get that perfect salty/sweetness that takes them over the edge of pure bliss. It's not even fair!)

All in all it was an odd week, one where I felt all lost and wandery. I'm not really certain of the reason behind it. For all intents and purposes, I should have been living it up with all that free time to spend as I wanted to, but instead I didn't have much motivation. I felt like I was moving far more strongly by obligation than by desire. Ah, the pointless funk.

I did get quite a bit of spinning and plying done before I lost my spunk though....oh, I would say I ended up with about 600 yards of barber-poled 2 ply BFL by the time I was done. Its still waiting for a good soak and set because I have another bobbin in the works and I want to soak the entire batch as a single unit so it may bloom more evenly. I'm pretty satisfied with the way it looks thus far. It should be enough for a lovely shawl once its all said and done.

Hopefully I'll get my mojo back soon. I hate being all blaheity. It just isn't me. Besides, I have some serious fun times to look forward to! This weekend, my best friend ( girl genius extraordinaire) is having a gathering in Cincinnati for her 27th birthday, so I will be moseying on up to take part in the celebration. The following day is boygenius's company picnic which is taking place at a vineyard in Indiana. Again, good times. So, hopefully the clouds will lift quickly with this much sun on the horizon. On to brigheter things :)

On Saturday Boygenius and I did a bit more of the nesting, and we went and purchased a rug for our living room. Yeah, nothing quite says "you are a grown up" like buying a rug....I mean, just how many youngin's get pumped about the purchase of floor coverings? (yep...I see those crazy teens in the mall drooling over shag rugs and Berber all the time *lol) It's one other those fancy looking Persian style rugs that just happened to posses nearly every random color that has been running loose in our decor up to this point.

We are really pretty happy with it, but the furgenius is in full blown "running off and getting married in Vegas" in love with the thing. Shes been rolling around on it almost non-stop since we brought it into the house and spread it out. I can't quite tell if shes digging the texture, or if she is just trying to imprint every single fiber with her scent...but its almost like shes doing somersaults on it. Its truly a sight to behold. She does laps though the house, just so she can come to a sudden, screeching halt on it and plop down on her ample kitty gut, rolls over on her back, grabs her back feet with her front feet and kicks herself in the head while wobbling around like a weeble.

Good Times.

Ike Leftovers

2008-09-16T22:00:00.003-04:00

The blog has been silent for the past few days, which is nothing unusual, the difference this time is the reason behind the silence.

The remnants of hurricane Ike slammed into our area hard, leaving 170,000 people without power as I type . Boygenius and I were lucky - we managed to keep our power, but most of the folks we know have not fared as well. They have damage to their homes, automobiles, and lost quite a few old trees. Folks were literally getting into fist fights in the parking lots at local gas stations. Not the best side of human nature, especially in a time of challenges. The good news is that they seem to be a minority. For the most part, people have been assisting their neighbors and trying to pull together as a community.

The school where I work is also without power, and our facilities department has been working hard to make sure that the campus has been cleared of debris an that folks are safe and as comfortable as can be expected. Good work by a bunch of great guys. For my part, I typed some informational bulletins for students by gas powered generator and we got out as much info as we had. I also kept the generator powered coffee pots a' brewing to keep folks going :)

Power is on in some areas in the community, (perhaps 30 percent) and some stores and restaurants are back in business. This greatly helps out the power-less and keeps things from being a lot more hectic than they would be otherwise...I think it would be a whole different situation if this were not the case.

After seeing what we received here, I can only imagine what the pour folks in Galveston have been facing. My thoughts are prayers are with them with hopes for safe and speedy reconstruction efforts. Godspeed.

I want to take a moment to make a heartfelt request to anybody who might happen to read this. If you don't already have a kit put together for an emergency situation, please do so. You never know what is going to happen and it always pays to be prepared. This storm took many by surprise, and they were without many of the items that they need to make it even a few days without power. Don't let it happen to you.

Also: make sure you throw a spare ball of yarn or two in there as well. I keep yarn in my emergency kit right under the flashlights and emergency radio. Nothing helps keep your mind off trouble like a good 'ole ball of fluff! I'm just saying.

Stay safe y'all.