Winter

Preface: I'm feeling very negative lately, and wanting to kill the collective who thought it was a good idea to set up the Uni's new system the way it is, and whoever decided that we should only get paid once a bloody month, and whoever made deadlines when 3 different big things are due on the same day. So that's why I haven't been blogging regularly... I just don't like being negative on this blog. So in an attempt to better my mood, I'm about to wax poetic.

There are many things I dislike about this time of year, the slippery sidewalks, the bitter cold that seeps through 2 layers of socks, a wool coat, a sweater, a long sleeved shirt and an undershirt without a second thought and chills you to the bone so that the only solace to be found is in a hot bath. But it's easy to forget all of those things when I sit at a window with my nose pressed to the glass, watching the snow fall. I love how falling snow deadens all other sounds. I can sit in my bed and know that the snow is coming down because I can't hear the busy road outside of my window. I love the way the city lights will brighten the whole sky, even in the dead of night because they're reflecting off the drifting flakes. I love the way it blankets the baren and brown world under a glistening crust of tiny ice crystals.

I love sitting inside with a steaming cup of tea, just HOPING that it snows 3 feet in one night like it did 3 years ago so I can stay home and knit all day. There is an awesome but silent power in a snowstorm, inexorable. Someone could be freezing to death underneath it and it will just keep falling, cruel and unmoved. Not violent like a thunderstorm, heart stopping and then gone in a flash, it moves slowly, heavily, dragging on and on... covering the whole sky, not to be burned off by something so feeble as the sun.

I love it and I hate it at the same time. I resent the winter sky for not giving me enough of my precious sunshine, but I love the way snow covers the leafless trees. My favorite part about winter is hoarfrost. When fog has descended on the valley and then the cold right before sunrise makes the water condense on every twig and blade of grass and then the sun burns the fog off and the tree-lined streets of my city are turned into a glistening sugar-crystal wonderland for only a few minutes until the sun begins to melt the frost. It's times like those that the camera in my head clicks and I get a memory to keep with more depth than a photo could ever take. I feel the chill on my cheeks and the numb creeping into my toes. I hear the crackle of the ice just before it drops from the trees. Such a beautiful place, with the tree studded snow covered mountains as a backdrop. Those moments make me never want to leave.

M

All shawls all the time

I finished Teri's swap scarf while still digesting turkey on Thursday, and so Friday morning I started the full sized Seraphim.


The yarn is really interesting. It was the annonymous cone of wool blend* that I bought on e-bay and have gotten much use out of. I had dyed it with Berry Blue kool aid, and because of the man-made fiber content it dyed in a very mottley way. It's really pretty actually, but I look at it sometimes and think it's too gray, and sometimes I look at it and think it's too bright of a blue. Kind of depends on the light it's in.

All the crazy knitting was facilitated by the fact that I had NOTHING to do, and a really interesting book.

I went to my Uni library to check out "The History of Hand Knitting" by Richard Rutt and left with 5 books that caught my eye. This one sounded really interesting, and it hasn't disappointed. It's called "No Idle Hands: The Social History of American Knitting" I will do a review when I get done with it. It's sparking a lot of reflecting on my own knitting. There was a very odd moment where she was relating primary source quotes about knitting while reading and I just then realized that I was knitting and reading at the same time. Very strange, but I got alot of smiles this weekend because of this book.

I hope all Americans had a good time stuffing their faces. I'll probably have a turkey leftover recipe tomorrow for you all. :)

M

*for some reason I thought it was wool, but then I did a wool test on it with bleach, and found it's only about 40-50% natural fiber... which explains the mottled way it dyed. I kind of like it though.

*edit* And I forgot to add that I'm sorry my other pics are wacked out... that server seems to be failing and I'll hopefully get some new server space soon and move all the pics over there.

Help needed!!!

OK, here's what I need. Are any of you ordering from KnitPicks soon? Janine would like to knit Adamas, but KnitPicks won't ship to the UK. So... what we need is someone to buy a copy of Adamas in their next order and then we can mail it to Janine. I just barely got an order from them, or I would do it myself. Anybody? I know chances are pretty good that one of you is going to order from them soon. Let's be enablers! :)

M

Things for which to be Thankful.

I originally put "Things to be thankful for" as the title, but then it bugged me so much to have a hanging preposition that I had to change it.

So, in list form... here are some little things for which I am grateful.

1. The feel of alpaca yarn slipping through my fingers as I wind it into a ball.
2. Hot water running over my fingers when I wash my hands.
3. Being able to go to the refridgerator and have options of what to eat.
4. Bare feet on hardwood floors.
5. Snuggling into bed with 3 quilts on top of me.
6. Foot massages from C.
7. Black and White Photos.
8. Whoever decided to put Thanksgiving holiday on a Thursday, because there's no way Americans are coming back to work on a Friday after having a Thursday off.

Have a lovely break! If I have access to a photo cropping program, I may still post HNT tomorrow, but if not, I'll either see you all in text only over the weekend, or back in full force on Monday, hopefully with some FO's.

M

Admitting defeat

I admit it, I'm ridiculously crazy. It was absurd for me to think that I could keep my sanity and still make a million little mittens for my nieces and nephews, AND knit the IK piece (the yarn for which showed up yesterday), AND finish the other Christmas gifts I've got on deck, AND finish the scarf swap scarf. These mittens will eventually be graced with thumbs and go into a donation box for needy kids, because they sure as hell won't fit my nephew and his chubby hands.

So this morning I opened my mailbox (the stand alone kind with multiple boxes for all the tenants in a complex) and it was so frigidly cold that I couldn't get the damn thing closed again. I banged on it and nearly broke the door off before I conceded that it would just have to stay open. My anal-retentive mail man will just have to deal with it. Maybe he can close it himself.... stupid man who marks a change in zip code on my mail so hard that he tears the envelope. Stupid man.... *grrrr*

M

Today I need motivation....

.... so I'm going to post a list of knitting stuff I'd like to get around to.

Projects:

1. More lace shawls
2. Handpainting laceweight silk
3. My Sirdar Balmoral sweater
4. Some sort of ballet wrap cardigan
5. Any cardigans, I need more of those for the winter since I'm trying to keep the heating bill down.
6. Jaywalker socks
7. Tivoli Tee
8. Alpaca Wrist-warmers for myself. Again with the heating bill.

Techniques:

1. Turkish cast on and toe up socks.
2. Socks on 2 circulars.
3. Designing a sweater with short rows for the bust.
4. Designing a shawl with shortrows.

Yarns:

1. Karabella Aurora 8, or 4.
2. Socks that Rock sock yarn
3. Mountain Colors Barefoot sock yarn

I'm just afraid that I won't remember what these are after I finally finish with Christmas and IK knitting. The yarn for IK should be coming any time now, and I just got my order from KnitPicks with a bunch of yarn for Christmas presents. Must. Knit. Faster.

M

Preview of things to come :)

M

All Utahns Rejoice!

IKEA is coming!

Happy HNT

Hi! I'm alive! Mucinex is my friend. I've got some furious rants brewing and lots of thoughts going their way, but they will most likely be put into an editorial piece to be sent to my University's sad excuse for a newspaper. There's alot of issues with budget cuts and bad priority choices. They're willing to nail the Graduate Students who are bringing in funding instead of cutting the budget for the Football coach's Ego salary.

But here is my pic for Half Nekkid Thursday. I had better ones in mind, but I have felt nowhere NEAR pretty enough to take them. Nor has there been enough light. We finally go the sun breaking through today.


M

I've "LOST" it.. hehe *snort*

So I've been the round on the blogs. Seen people talk about LOST. And I, being the not-having-TV-chic that I am, thought "Oh, it must be like soap operas, really crappy, but once you watch, they've got you hooked and these people must be some sort of brainwashed TV zombies to be so addicted."

Well, here is my public apology. Because LORD ALMIGHTY! I went to my Brother in law's apartment after work yesterday and they were watching the first season on DVD. I thought "Eh, something to knit to." Oh no, my friends, this stuff is Crack oozing from your TV screen! The way they've paced each episode is sheer brilliance! It's designed to keep you freaking out and willing to hurt babies to see the next one. I nearly killed Celesta (my BIL's cat) when she ran off with one sock and made me miss a part while I fetched it back before she ate a hole through it.

I am *this close* to making friends with someone who DOES get TV just to watch it every week, but not until I see the episodes I've missed up to the present. Sheesh, like I really need another addiction.

Form of a List with Pictures

This entry will be in list form because I lack the coherancy to tie things together.


1. This is what is getting me through today. My sinuses have decided that there's no half-assed measures with this drainage stuff, so my nose-faucet is totally off or "HIGH powered wash" alternately. I'm fighting it off with a Vitamin C and Antioxidant overdose. (That's what the cranberry juice and pomegranate seeds are for. For an awesome post about Pomagranates, visit Lolly's blog! By the way, I'm drinking the Cranberry Juice straight out of the bottle.

2. As you probably notced in the first picture, I've finished Drew's socks. I planned on writing something interesting about the Afterthought heel, but I think that will have to wait for tomorrow when I feel more "with it"

Yarn: Meilenweit Multiringel
Needles: Size 1 Clover Takumi Bamboo Double Points
Pattern: My own including calf shaping, wedge toe, and afterthought heel. Size for Men's size 11 feet. Cuff and instep worked in K3P2 ribbing.
Gauge: 9 spi
Verdict: They're not for me, so I can't say they fit well... The yarn is not the softest, but I have a feeling it will soften upon washing and I think I'll give them a bath and a bit of a block before I send them off. They're for Christmas for my brother Andrew.

3. The red ball there is for the Plethora Of Mittens™ project. I've started a pair (as you can see, I'm working both of them at the same time so I don't have to write down the pattern), and I wound that centerpull this morning on a glue stick because I realized too late (after I'd already left for work) that I hadn't wound them off and I was out of knitting.

4. If you've ever thought of designing your own sweaters, read this post at spinningwheel.net. It talks about how to design a sweater that will actually flatter you and what to keep in mind. Ladies! Stop selling your body short! She wrote it with larger women in mind, but I think it could go for us smaller women just as easily. It's surely something I will think about before I design my own sweaters now.

M

In which the indecisive is forced to decide.

Gods. Why does it have to be like this?! *wails* Here's the backstory.



I am a Fantasy nut. And as you probably know if you read my 100 things list, I am a Robert Jordan and Wheel of Time nut especially. In fact, I'm a member of an online community in which I pretend I'm a member of a fictitious group from said fantasy novels. It's really certifiable, but here's the point. I posted on that group that I didn't have the money to buy the newest installment of the series, and could I please borrow someone else's copy since they've already read it (some of them twice). I got a response.... from a friend who just bought me a copy on amazon and had it shipped to me! He's a fabulous person and it's such a nice thing to do! I was really excited when it arrived. So now that I've managed to get through the 100 page prologue and first 4 chapters of Knife of Dreams (Book 11 in the series, in case you were wondering), I'm so hooked on it that I want to read every waking moment? Food? PSHAW! Who needs food? SLEEP? Nu-uh. I'd rather be reading! So this is where it becomes a problem.

Andrews socks are beginning to bother me. I know if I let them pine away while I read, I will NEVER want to finish them. And I need to finish them. I NEED to have another Christmas present done. The clock is ticking and time is running out. The Frenzy has truly begun, my friends. And no weekend will pass without some finished gift and/or some guilt about not having finished a gift.

I want to be READING! Not Knitting! Am I running a temperature? Am I going insane? Someone send chocolate!

M

Half Nekkid Thursday, Now with Full-color Pictures!

Well hello! Sorry I've been out of it lately. I've decided to blame it on new hormone levels (which seems to be a logical explaination, judging by when I feel the way I feel and my Ortho Evra cycle). Today is Half Nekkid Thursday, as you may have noticed in my sidebar, so since it's my first entry, I thought I'd post my favorite part of my body! :)


And since the sun decided to show it's face I finally have photographic proof of the stuff I've been talking about.


This is the first of Andrew's socks and the start of the mate. The heel isn't quite that shallow of an angle, it just folds over on itself a little bit. I'm still undecided about an afterhtought heel.... It certainly makes the stripes look lovely, but I still think I prefer my heel flap and turn method. I didn't like the yarn that much at first, but it's growing on me. Good thing since I have another sock to knit, eh?


This is the hank of Color Your Own sock yarn from KnitPicks that I split up and then dyed with Kool-Aid. I went for some interesting colors, and they all turned out a bit more pastelly than I would like, but hell, it's Kool-Aid, right? They'll turn into mittens for my nieces and nephews for Christmas shortly. I thought about casting on some today during lunch as a break from the sock. Happy Thursday! Woot!

M

Um...... no title

Why do I have such a hard time coming up with good subject lines?

Anyhow... I cannot seem to take any good pics because it's been rainy and snowy since Thursday, but I am just starting the toe decreases on the first of Drew's socks (I hope the second one doesn't take me as long as the first one), I've finished the knitting for a felted bag that probably won't turn out how I want it, but will be OK after some tweaking, and I split up a hank of Color Your Own Sock weight Wool from KnitPicks. I dyed it a bunch of funny colors to make mittens for my nieces and nephews for Christmas. I'll get a pick if I can another day. Gotta wait for the sun.

But since a blog entry without a pic makes me very sad, here's one from the weekend.


I bet most of you don't know that I arrange flowers in my spare time too. But I do. I made 2 of these for a friend's church meeting. They were meant to flank the podium.

Oh, and for those that asked, I think I responded to you all, but Icarus will be in the Summer 2006 issue of Interweave Knits, so not until June 2006, I think...

NARF!
M

Most fantastical weekend EVER!

So there were alot of shitty things about this weekend, I shall enumerate:

1. Wrist/Arm pain. Yes, I've been all but officially diagnosed with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. Bah! I bought a brace and I'm trying it out (switching between wrists) to see if it helps. If it does, I will but another and wear them at work and to sleep, so I can take them off in the evenings and knit fast (they slow me down).

2. The first snow. God I hate winter! Sure does make the mountains pretty though.

3. Bacterial Vaginosis pain and woes. I won't go into it, it's definitely TMI.

But then Sunday morning came.

I was just about to leave to go chat with some friends, like... hand-on-the-doorknob ready to leave, when the phone rang. I deliberated for a second on whether I should answer or not, and I decided, what the hell, my friends will probably be late anyway. So I went to the phone and it wasn't a number I recognized. So again I hesitated. But I answered it anyway because it's a Sunday morning, so why not give it a chance. And I'm so glad I did. Because it was Pam Allen. Yes, THAT Pam Allen!

Interweave Knits is going to publish Icarus! I got off the phone with Pam and started screaming. I woke C up, and he congratulated me and promptly fell back asleep. I was giddy all day! I just kept bursting into giggles. EEeeeehehehehehheheheh! I'm so excited!

M

Disclaimer for Post

Hi... I cannot be held responsible for this post. I am drugged up and feeling like I'm about to pass out. My ears inexplicably sound like they're stuffed with cotton AND have bells in them. How is that even possible? The focus in my eyes changes every time I blink them, and my head suddenly feels very heavy.

I AM knitting. And here's photographic proof:


This is Drew's sock, and the front of the felted bag, and the beginnings of the back/flap piece. Modifications have been made, since I kind of miscalculated the amount of yarn that I had... but I think in the end I will like it alot.

I'd better shut up now before I start talking about how my fingers are tingling, and my ears feel cold now. And rambling on about how I can't feel my toes... Maybe a partial sick day is in order.

M