Likely Yarns: Tales of Knitting and Other Likely Pursuits

The List

So, this list has been floating around for a while, so I've decided it's my turn to show my literary ignorance. I have bolded the ones which I have read -- considered italicising the ones I tried really, really hard to read but simply can't (life is too short to read books you're not enjoying and/or learning something from). Ones which I have read and/or re-read as an adult are underlined.

1984 by George Orwell

The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

Catch-22 by Joseph Heller

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

Ulysses by James Joyce

Animal Farm by George Orwell

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky

Les Miserables by Victor Hugo

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

East of Eden by John Steinbeck

A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess

Life of Pi by Yann Martel

Lord of the Flies by William Golding

Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner

The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown

Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden

Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut

The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce

The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov

His Dark Materials by Phillip Pullman

The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis

Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

The Stand by Stephen King

A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway

Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

Tess of the D’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy

The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway

The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand

Watership Down by Richard Adams

Dracula by Bram Stoker

Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham

Moby Dick by Herman Melville

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey

The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers

On the Road by Jack Kerouac

The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoevsky

Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov

Dune by Frank Herbert

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver

Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling

Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery

Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak

The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera

Gravity’s Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

The Trial by Franz Kafka

I, Claudius by Robert Graves

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon

Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole

The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway

To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf

Vanity Fair by William Thackeray

Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

The Stranger by Albert Camus (in both English and French)

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo

The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston LeRoux

For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway

Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy

Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Persuasion by Jane Austen

Light in August by William Faulkner

Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger

Call of the Wild by Jack London

Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe

The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka

The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco

The Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean M. Auel

As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner

Hmmm, 55 -- more than half the list isn't half bad, right? Guess that makes it only 45% bad.

How did Faulkner rate 3 places on the list?! I can tell you that I will probably never read the two Faulkners that I haven't yet. And there are a couple of other titles here I've tried and simply can't (Lolita, A Confederacy of Dunces and Life of Pi). But do I get extra credit for the one that I read in both French and English?

My takeaway is that I need to read more Russian and American classics (big surprise there -- I was, after all an English major in the purest sense of the word).

So, because Sandy misses being in school so much (though M and I have embarked on the four-year odyssey known as Education for Ministry), she's vowing here, publicly, to be better. Starting with the books on this list which I haven't read or haven't read since high school, then moving on to the books on this list which I haven't read yet. [Just because I was on the committee which put together the list doesn't mean I've read them all.]

So far, I've re-read Brave New World and wondered the whole time: 1) how you can teach/explain a lot of that book to adolescents (I have few memories of the book from my high school days, and here publicly admit I probably never even finished it); and 2) why it's considered such a classic. I mean, the story is an interesting look at an attempt at utopian society and an intriguing morality play, but the language is rather pedestrian, and it really seems to lack any structure or true arc of narrative. Maybe it's just me.

Of course, the next book I picked up to re-read was 1984. The only thing I remember vividly about this book from high school is the rats. Now that I have finished it, I can say that the rats weren't nearly as vivid this time around. No, what's really vivid for me this time around is the fear. I don't want my blog to become a political one (one of the reasons I have not written lately is that all I can think of to write about is politics -- knitting is slow right now, and work is absorbing me), so that's it.

Next, something that doesn't touch that nerve (I've had enough of totalitarianism for now between BNW, 1984 and the Olympics). Don't know what's next -- well, except that I've got to read the creation stories from Genesis for our next EfM class Monday night.

And just cause, y'know, it ain't fair to have all those words without some pictures:

I wish I could be so relaxed.

Really, I'm Not Dead Yet

Oh, so much I wanted to write and show and say, but the time, she just slipped by. At least I HAVE been knitting, and can even show some of it off.

Pattern: Diamond Lace Anklets from Kollage Yarns. Pattern is not available yet as this was a sample knit which turned into a complete re-working of the pattern. Poor Anastasia did NOT think it would be so involved when she sent it.
Yarn: Kollage Yarns Luscious in Magenta, 2 skeins
Mods: Parts of the pattern had to be completely re-written to make the sock come out correctly. Don't know if this was a writing issue or an editing/copying issue. Anyhoo, it seems to work now.

Anastasia originally sent this one to me as a re-knit of the sample to correct some issues with the original. What she didn't know is that somewhere, either in the writing of the pattern or the creation of the commercial version of the pattern, things got a little confused. This might explain the issues with the original sample. Anyway, I found and fixed the errors, and now the pattern should be workable.

And this, folks, is why you test knit patterns.

The first of my interpretation of Waving Lace socks is done. You may recall (I know, it's been a while) that I am basically using the lace pattern from the Waving Lace Socks from Favorite Socks, but I'm making it toe-up with a gusset heel, and I'm leaving off the lace pattern at the cuff. I just finished it with a 6x2 rib (following the K/P pattern of the lace), then one row of K1P1 and a sewn bind off (nice and stretchy). Second sock has about half a foot.

The largest knitting project is one I can't share, sorry. I can tell you, however, that it's something I thought I would NEVER knit: a pair of pants. No, not (anyone who knows me would laugh) for me. It's a test/sample knit for another designer. Lots and lots of stockinette in the round with an occassional increase or decrease has made for very good Olympic and politics (one of my favorite spectator sports) knitting. But those are done now (just the elastic to sew into the waistband), and that leaves me with no knitting to do for anyone else.

Can you say, it's time to think about Christmas? There are a couple of things I want to knit/finish for myself. I've pulled the Lace Scarf out of hibernation for when I need a break from all that stockinette on big needles; and I will shortly pull the Kimono Jacket out of hibernation to finish for winter wear.

Then there's the little bag. I have been nearly obsessed with making the largest size of Three for the Road since I got my hands on the book to make my Entrelac Bag for the TdF KAL. This one shouldn't take too long (and I'll get to practice sewing a zipper by hand).

Then, really, I need to think about Christmas. Actually, some of that has already been done (and not blogged, since my family are the most ardent readers of my blog), but there's always more.

Call It Olympics Lag

Between staying up until all hours watching Olympic coverage, the un-Tucson-like humidity with can make it tough to sleep, and still having to do all my normal Sandy-stuff during the day, I'm exhausted. As exciting as this all is (yay, Michael Phelps, Dara Torres, Natalie Coughlin, etc!), part of me will be very, very glad when I can get back to a normal schedule.

And I don't really even have any knitting to show for it. Oh, I've been knitting, but it is all secret (shhhhh) right now.

I can show off this, however:

It's my version of a the Waving Lace Sock from Favorite Socks (rav links). Except, of course, that it's toe-up, with a gusset heel, and a smaller foot, and I may or may not put the lace at the top of the sock. So, basically, I'm making a toe-up sock with the waving lace lace pattern on it.

And it's already giving me ideas, both for the second sock and for another project. Stay tuned.

And because I like the look of a slip-stitch heel with a gusset (and because I really have nothing else to share -- pitiful -- not even cute pics of the animals):

Oh, the yarn? It's Lang Jawoll Colors #58.

Last Night, This Morning, Tomorrow, Late Next Tuesday?

Whenever it was that the US Men pulled off that astounding win in the 4x100 relay (at least whenever it was broadcast here in the SW) -- M and I were watching from bed, and jumped and shrieked so loudly that the cat ran for the hills. Poor thing -- perhaps rabid sports fans should not be allowed to have pets who startle easily.

Time has become weird here of late. What with the time difference between here and China AND the fact that the "live" broadcasts are actually still delayed 2 hours out here in the Wild West, I am left with this feeling of not really knowing when things are happening. But whenever it was, that relay has to have been the most spectacular thing I've ever witnessed (sports-wise); and it almost makes up for the long faces of 8 years ago (one of which was Jason Lezak's) as the Aussies celebrated their victory in "our race."

Smash the Americans, indeed. BTW, perhaps lost in all the excitement is the fact that Alain Bernard's world record in the 100 meter free also fell during the first leg of the relay.

But, there has been knitting here at the casa.

Pattern: Sort of my own concoction, loosely based on the Cookie A.'s Monkey and Los Monos Locos. Toe-up 60-stitch stockinette foot with seven repeats of the Monkey stitch pattern on the leg.
Yarn: Regia Ringel Color #5048
Needle: Knit Picks 32" Harmony circ 2.5mm

I've already told most of this sock's story: I needed a project to work on, so I just knit a sock foot; when I got to the leg, I asked for suggestions and got the Monkey. I love it. I love the way the stitch pattern makes the stripes of the yarn undulate. And then I did a knitted bind off. I do believe this will become my standard toe-up bind off from now on. Yeah, it's a bit slow and fiddly, but I love the result.

It's been a whole weekend, you didn't think I'd have just one pair of socks finished to show for it, did you?

Pattern: Wendy Johnson's Southwestern Socks (pdf link) (Rav link)
Yarn: Brunswick La Laine "Mt Everest" (guess how long that's been marinating in the stash -- I don't even remember when Brunswick ceased to be)
Needle: Inox nickel plated 32" 2.75mm (US2)

Why did I ever knit socks with sock yarn?! It's been in the back of my mind to knit a pair of socks with this ball of yarn for a while, and Saturday -- after finishing the Crazy Monkeys -- I picked it up along with Wendy's pattern (which I've had since it was published). By bedtime Saturday night, I had a pair of socks. How cool is that? Okay, I admit to spending most of the day Saturday watching Olympic action, so there was a lot of knitting time, but still. Gotta love the break provided by a sport weight sock.

My new socks, however, are being knit from sock weight yarn. No pics yet, but I've started a pair of Waving Lace Socks (Rav link) from Favorite Socks. I'm knitting them toe-up, however, and will figger out that gusset and heel flap math thing if it kills me -- stay tuned.

In other knitting news, I've started a Secret Sample:

It is going fairly quickly, but reveal will have to wait a while.

And now, I leave you with the cats, doing what they do best:

He's not dead, really, just very hot and very, very trusting

I don't know how this can be comfortable, but since he spends an awful lot of time like this, I guess it is.

The Queen would like you to know that there needs to be more of her in the world (and less of the boys, if that's possible).

K-man with just a small portion of his latest string art creation which stretches through the living room, dining room, family room, and kitchen (don't worry, it was leftover from the Southwestern Socks, and I let him have it) -- oh, and don't let her tell you otherwise, the Queen helped with this arts and crafts project.

Been Away Too Long

As much as I love unexpected time off (snow days, boiler died days, police are running drills in the Bunker parking lot days...), the past few days have been a bit much. The online tool which is a necessary component of my "day job" went down sometime last Thursday evening, had to be rebuilt, and just came back online yesterday afternoon. For anyone who's counting, that's nearly a week without being able to work. (Not to mention a week of not getting paid.)

Friday was nice -- we got a lot of work done around the house and spent a lazy afternoon knitting and weaving. Monday was also kinda nice -- got the rest of the cleaning done and spent some time reading. By Tuesday, it was getting really old. I actually read an entire book on Tuesday. Wednesday, well, Wednesday is the day I head in to church to do some proofreading/editing work and have lunch with M, so it wasn't so bad. Today, I can finally go back to work. Hooray!

So, if I've had all this time off, why haven't I blogged? Well, you know how they say if you want something done, find a busy person? You know how sometimes when you only have one or two things on your to do list, it's hard to get motivated to do them? You know that feeling of uselessness that comes with not being able to work? All my excuses for not blogging the past couple of days.

And I don't even have pictures of scads of knitting I've completed while I couldn't work. Nope, I've turned the heel and done about two repeats of the monkey pattern on the second Crazy Monkey sock, and I wove a whole three inches of the scarf I'm making from the Lorna's Laces rainbow sock yarn.

Oh, but I can confess that the scarf won't look like the picture I posted of the warp on the warping board for the simple reason that I was an idiot.

I diligently tied the ends of the warp and tied the choke ties, and stupidly forgot to secure the cross (weavers will know what this means). Basically, it means that once I had the warp off the board, I had little hope of ever keeping the order of the threads straight. Oh well, it's still colorful and I think I'm going to like it. I believe the tencel in the weft is red purple, but don't quote me on that (I need to get a colorbook from WEBS).

And, yes, I'm using the reclaimed yarn unwashed. I'm hoping that the tension on the loom will pull out the curlies as I weave (in these pictures, I've relaxed the tension on the warp since I'm not actively weaving on it) and that what's left will add a little texture. And if not, oh well, I've come to believe this yarn is doomed anyway. But it is curly:

And, of course, in the way of the world, I got the yarn and pattern for one new sample project -- and the pattern and contract for another -- yesterday. Why couldn't this stuff have arrived when I was temporarily furloughed from my day job?!

And finally, since I got my new desk chair, the Queen has laid claim to the old one:

She especially likes to get it spinning. Don't know what she'll do when it goes out tomorrow morning for the Boys & Girls Club to collect.

Crazy Monkeys of a Sort

Well, I found something to do with the legs of the brightly striped socks. When I asked over at Plurk, Obstiknit recommended Los Monos Locos. I love the Monkey, so I decided that would be a good idea. I do believe it was in fact a great idea. The monkey stitch pattern is so easy and so easy to memorize (and fast). And I absolutely love the way it makes the stripes undulate. Good choice, very good choice.

Oh, notice anything interesting about the stripes on the socks? No? Perhaps a different pic will help:

See that? When I reclaimed this yarn from my first failed project, I had finished a whole sock with ball #1, so when I wound the yarn back into a ball directly from the sock, I wound up with the end of the ball in the center, so it's backwards. I realized this about two stripes into the toe on the second sock, but I didn't really feel like re-winding that whole ball to make them match. So, they're a little more crazy than just a normal pair of monos locos.

We had a pretty good weekend here. Saturday, we bought me a new desk chair (the thrift store find I had been using was not cutting the mustard now that I'm sitting at my desk 5+ hours a day). So, we went shopping and found a comfy (and surprisingly affordable) chair rated for more intensive use (who knew chairs were rated in hours per day). Here is the Queen modeling said chair:

Yes, it is red ("ruby" actually), and I kinda like the red.

We also bought a laptop cart. This will give me the freedom to move out of the office when it gets stuffy in here or I just need a change of scenery. It will also allow me to park my computer next to the exercise bike and pedal while I work (not hard, just enough to keep blood flowing to my extremities). Since we can't afford (nor do we have the room for) a treadmill workstation, this is the next best thing.

On Sunday, we went to Shlomo & Vito's for lunch (wish I could find a website, but they don't appear to have one). One of the things most Tucson transplants from anywhere in the Northeast will say they miss the most is the food. Despite being full of restaurants, Tucson has no really good Italian food, no decent seafood, and a sad lack of good deli-style food. Shlomo & Vito's is a real NY style deli, with real treats like tongue, pastrami, corned beef, knishes, and fried chicken livers. YUM! It tasted like home (or at least like NYC). And the cheesecake! Just imagine 1/6 of a cheesecake that is 3" thick! We'll be eating that for days. The place is pricey, but it will probably be on our "treat" list (along with the Native New Yorker which just opened very close to us -- haven't yet had their wings, but their meatballs are to die for).

In more knitting news: M is conquering lace. After a couple of false starts, she has made quite a bit of progress on Branching Out. Can I admit here that sometimes I envy her for learning to knit as an adult? I've been knitting so long that very little intimidates me or provides excessive challenge (except poorly written patterns or bad design). She, on the other hand, has this joy of discovery at a time in her life when she can appreciate and remember it.

My Favorite Breakfast

This is my interpretation of something we first had in a little bakery in Atlanta, somewhere nearby Centennial Park. This version of the recipe makes enough to serve us breakfast for nearly a week. Food safety people would probably not recommend keeping it in the fridge that long, so feel free to cut in half.

Swiss Oatmeal (that's what they called it)

4 cups water
4 cups rolled oats
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup each slivered almonds, chopped walnuts, raisins and dried cranberries (feel free to substitute your favorite nuts and/or dried fruit)
1 cup milk of your choice (we use plain soy milk)
3 cups lowfat plain yogurt
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
2 crisp apples (yellow delicious and Granny Smith work well), cut into small bite-size chunks
bananas, berries, other fresh and/or frozen fruit (optional)

Bring water, salt and brown sugar to a boil in a large saucepan. Lower heat and add 3 cups of the oats. Cook over medium/low heat until thickened but not quite "done" consistency. Remove from heat and pour into large mixing bowl/tupperware/something to store it in the fridge in. Stir in nuts, dried fruit, milk, yogurt, cinnamon, and the other 1 cup of oats. Cover and refrigerate until cold.

Remove from the refrigerator and assess consistency. If necessary, add more milk or yogurt to thin to eating consistency. Stir in chopped apples and return to refrigerator.

Serve cold, garnishing with sliced banana and/or other fresh or frozen fruit as desired.

Yum!

Has This Ever Happened to You?

You're happily knitting along in stockinette stitch and suddenly you break into entrelac? (apologies to Meg Swansen)

I have this sock foot:

Started this yesterday afternoon because I needed something to knit while I worked -- figured I could figure out what to do with the leg when I got there. Well, I'm there, and I'm seeking something to do with it.

The first thing that came to me was entrelac (seems to be a theme in my life lately), and that sent me to an article I knew I'd seen in one of that pile of old Knitter's -- one where Meg Swansen discussed how to work out the decreases when going from stockinette to entrelac. And that's where the above butchered line comes from. [Original quote: "If you have ever been knitting along happily in stockinette stitch, and suddenly broken into entrelac, you will have seen how -- without changing the number of stitches -- the entrelac section puffs out like a mushroom cap." (Knitter's #27, Summer 1992)]

I've pretty much thrown out the entrelac idea for now, though. I'm now looking through stitch dictionaries for some lacy ribbing or something to do to it. Stay tuned.

And, get this, I may have finally come up with something to do with that Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock rainbow colorway that might keep the rainbow. Remember the scarf I just wove out of sock yarn? Well, what if I used the Lorna's Laces as a warp? Here's the warp on the warping board:

Right now the plan is to use some tencel in amethyst (I believe) for the weft. That should allow the striping of the warp to show with just a purple cast to it. We'll see what happens.

Fortunately, I just got a reprieve from work for the rest of the day, so I'm off to figure out at least one of these two puzzles (and maybe even get some reading done).

Holy Finished Projects, Batman

Pattern: Bloody Mary Socks by Sandra Park
Yarn: SW Trading Company TOFUtsies #725
Needle: Knit Picks Harmony 32" 2.5mm
Mods: Um, I stopped reading the pattern, so I don't know.

Love the way the very simple slip-stitch rib pattern and the pseudo-striping of the TOFUtsies play off each other. And I love the colors. The pattern is simple and easy to memorize.

Pattern: Plain weave with a sett of 15 epi; 5" width in reed; weave until you run out of yarn.
Yarn: Regia 4-ply Mini Ringel #5220 (WEBS had on closeout AGES ago)

I've had this ball of sock yarn for a very long time and had finally accepted that I didn't want to knit socks with it. It was likely destined for de-stash when I couldn't sleep the other night and started wondering what would happen if I wove with it. Did some quick mental arithmetic and realized that there was enough here for a scarf (albeit a narrow one). So, I wound a warp and wove it up. It was a really quick project (fastest I've ever gotten through 100 grams of sock yarn), and I like the finished project (which looks sort of plaid to me).

I did have to keep the warp fairly loose in the loom and beat it pretty tight to compensate for the stretchiness of a 25% nylon sock yarn, but it worked, and I'm especially proud of the very even selvedges (which always work out better when I don't think about them).

In the future (yes, there's more sock yarn I'm not likely to make socks from in the closet) I would loosen the sett to 12 epi which would probably allow me to make a slightly wider scarf with no loss in length.

Another photo to show the interesting pattern (and those even selvedges):

And just because he can't help but be cute, K-man:

The Good, The Bad, and ... Well, It Was the 80s

So, we've been going through the old issues of Knitter's that a friend gave us, and it's been great. We've got them all the way back to the premiere issue, and I have to say I love how classic it all started out (not to mention the legendary caliber of the contributors). Very different from the magazine as it exists today.

The Good

The premiere issue (Guernseys anyone?) and Issue 9 which was all about shawls (and includes some fabulous patterns -- there goes the Rav queue). So far, these are my favorites (though we've really only scratched the surface).

The Bad

Not really the patterns so much, but the styling. And that 'stache -- makes Jason Giambi look, well, he still looks like a 70s porn star to be perfectly honest -- is there anyone else out there who simply cannot look at the TV when he's batting?

The 80s

Get a load of the linebacker look on her. Oh goodness -- I'm having Joan Collins flashbacks.

But enough snarkiness, there has been a tiny amount of fiberwork happening around here in amongst all the gawking at bad 80s styles.

What do you get when you weave with self-striping sock yarn? Something that very much resembles plaid. I'm kinda liking it, though it has taken me a few inches to get the hang of weaving with something so stretchy. I'm especially proud of my hemstitching prowess:

And there has been knitting:

Bloody Mary sock #1 done. I really like the way the yarn and the simple slip-stitch rib pattern work together. And the colors are fabulous.

And then there's the cat
This is K-man's new favorite hang out spot:

Honest, he does have cat beds and cat shelves and climbing things and even some cardboard boxes that are his size. He prefers tiny boxes and now this cut down paper bag.

Blast from the Past

So I got a phone call last week from a church member and friend who is in the process of moving. She said she had some old knitting magazines and would I like to look at them. Well, sure. So she brought them to church yesterday.

What a hoot! This is about 15 years worth of Knitter's from the mid-80s to late 90s. My my, how knitting and fashion have changed over those years. We have only scratched the surface of the pile, but I am looking forward to spending time with these gems this week.

In other news, this crept out from the corner of the loom room yesterday.

For some reason, I got bit by the weaving bug over the weekend. Right now, I'm in the process of warping the loom with some self-striping sock yarn I stopped thinking I'd ever really make socks out of. I hope it'll make an interesting scarf. We'll see, though, since the sock yarn is a little stretchier than anything I've ever woven with before. Will keep you posted on the progress.

The loom? It's a 12-shaft 15 3/4" Leclerc Voyageur. I love it, especially since I can actually move it into the family room and watch TV with M while I weave -- can't do that with the 32" loom. It is actually the only thing which suffered damage in our move to Tucson -- it has a crack in a non-structural part (if you go to the Flickr image, I've put a note on it).

Changing the subject completely, yesterday we had lunch with a friend from college who was in Tucson visiting her sister. This reunion (and possibly a new church member) made possibly at least in part by this blog and Ravelry. Interesting how the Internets can do things like that.

Now off to work (and nurse my cycling withdrawal)....

Drive By Saturday

Just a quickie before the big guys finish the time trial.

I frogged the Seaweed Sock because, indeed, the yarn was obscuring the pattern. Instead, I decided to apply that yarn to Sandra's Bloody Mary Socks, a much better match.

And oh so fast knitting. Easy to do as I work.

Remember the crocheted purse M made me? Well, she decided to make one for herself, too:

I just love the fabric she chose to line it (fabric actually came before the yarn selection):

And now I must go watch the end of the time trials. I leave you with K-man, who hasn't a care in the world:

Into Paris Early

The Market Squares Bag is done.

Despite the false start with the fugly socks, I still managed to finish my TdF KAL project ahead of schedule. Hooray. AND I love the finished product -- though I'm still not sure of its final fate.

Pattern: Market Squares bag from Bags: a Knitter's Dozen by XRX
Yarn: An assortment of Bartlett Yarns 2-ply
Needle: Webs Interchangeable Bamboo #10 and Webs Hard Bamboo DP #10

Eventually, I would like to line this bag as there is a small hole at the bottom where the stitches were drawn together to finish it. Other than that, there is nothing I don't like about this bag. I love the way the colors worked out: bright, but not too bright, just cheerful. As I've said, I'm not sure I'll keep the bag, but for now, it'll hang on the office doorknob where I can admire it and remind myself that I DID IT. Entrelac isn't scary, in fact, it's kinda fun.

Just to keep the FO theme going:

Pattern: Spring Forward from Knitty
Yarn: Plymouth Sockotta #816
Needle: Knit Picks Harmony 1.5mm
Mods: Um, I decreased the foot down to 63 stitches (basically, I decreased the three stitches you move to make a 30-stitch heel flap), then just skipped one decrease as I started the toe to even up the stitches. I actually contemplated doing these toe-up, and I probably will at some point, but I finally chose to follow the top-down pattern.

Up next:

It's Wendy's Seaweed Sock in TOFUtsies #725. We'll see if the pseudo-striping of the yarn and the stitch pattern clash or complement.

And now for an obligatory cat story:

Tuesday, I noticed a small lizard on the screen to the slider in our kitchen. I tried and tried to get K-man to notice the lizard, too, but he was oblivious. A little while later, after I'd returned to the office to get some work done, I heard a crash in the kitchen -- K-man had finally noticed the lizard. I don't think that cat has moved very far from the door except to eat and use the litter box since:

Random Wednesday

Hmm, what's come my way this week?

Our Mission is to Obfuscate

Ran across this mission statement from some company:

[Company name removed to protect the guilty] is dedicated to providing a results-oriented team atmosphere based upon professionalism, honesty, integrity, respect, and commitment to excellence. We pride ourselves in providing high quality customer service with a winning attitude.

I don't know about you, but I won a few rounds of buzzword bingo with that one.

Who Decides What Discipline is Allowed?

Okay, beating your kids is not okay, but this recent ruling in Canada may go a little far.

If you deny your children access to TV or withhold their allowance, can they take you to court? And win?

How Many Can You Get?

This one is especially for those from the US. Test your knowledge of the states. I highly recommend doing the one WITH outlines -- the other is just frightening (and I did fairly well in geography in school).

Just In Case Gas Prices Have You Down

Rent an oil rig of your very own. Well, these people will sell or rent you a new or used rig and even supply a crew to run it.

For Special Occassions

Someecards has e-cards for those with a slightly warped sense of humor. For instance:

Let the Sun Shine In

So, the landscapers came yesterday and chopped the vines (can they still be vines if some of the trunks are over 1.5" thick?) and took out the rest of the lattice (what hadn't been brought down by the storm and already broken up and toted off by us).

With nothing to block it right now, there is sooo much light in our kitchen and family room. In the morning, this is nice; by afternoon when the sun is beating on the windows, it won't be so nice. New trellis (or perhaps some kind of outdoor roller shades) this weekend. It's so strange to have all that trellis and vegetation gone -- even that cats are staring out the windows wondering what happened.

We Have Felting

I said we needed cozies for the new aluminum tumblers, and M delivered. This is the first one to felt down to the correct size; the others are still in process.

And lookee here:

Getting oh so close (sorta like my George in today's TdF stage, bummer) to the finish. It just came out of the washer and got itself stretched over a popcorn tin (per the instructions) for drying. Let's see how long said drying takes. I will probably wind up lining this bag eventually as there is a small hole at the bottom where the stitches were drawn up and tied off. I do like it. I like how the colors muted somewhat in the felting. Still don't know what this bag's eventual fate is going to be. Stay tuned.

And Yet More Entrelac

This is the garterlac dishcloth from Criminy Jickets that I started mostly to get my head around the entrelac concept after the failure of the fugly socks. It's a lot of work for a dishcloth, but it served its purpose, and I highly recommend the pattern for anyone who just wants a non-threatening way to get a handle on entrelac technique.

Flowers

It occurs to me I never really shared the plant that my favorite desert flower grows on. This is the desert bird of paradise plant, showing off one of my favorite things about the monsoon -- we get spring round two. After the first monsoon rains come and wet down the desert, things start to bloom all over again. Take this lovely for instance:

All that blooming has happened since Sunday.

And Some Loot (all the way from Down Under)

This package arrived yesterday from Meg, the Queen of the TdF KAL. It's my prize for being a randomly chosen member of the winning team in our first team competition. If you haven't met Ribby Man, the Team Rabobank um, mascot, you've got to check him out.

Anyhoo, this is Cleckheaton's new book, She Knits, and yarn to make the knee socks on the cover. Yeah, Meg (the greatest of greats among race directors) pointed out that knee socks might not be the best in Tucson, but don't worry, Meg, none of this will go to waste. I do have friends in cooler climes.

And One Final Observation

I have to say one of the most amusing things about watching the live coverage of Le Tour on Versus (which I can do because we're way out here in the west where it's over by 8:30am most mornings) is listening to Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen do promos for World Extreme Cagefighting. It's priceless.