Being included is fun.

I just wanted to take a moment to say: I GOT MY RAVELRY INVITE!!

Ok. So, this means that I will be furiously fixing up my page, uploading (and taking) more pictures, obsessively looking through everyone’s stuff… I am so excited. I can take pictures of my (pitiful) stash yarn! Also, I doubt I will be getting anything else productive done today.

Related to productivity, my Juno progress has stalled. Remember how I mentioned that I don’t particularly enjoy cabling? Well, I like cabling even less when using 100% wool (grippy) yarn that likes to break. Yeah. So, the collar is about 1/3 done, and I can’t take it anymore. Of course, I have a bunch of other projects in the works, but I decided to cast on again for my sister’s birthday socks. As an interesting side note, my sister’s birthday was May 25th. I have had yarn earmarked for her since last year, and I cast on the Conwy socks from Knitting on the Road. Before I got my ravelry invite, I was going to write an ode to Nancy Bush, author of such beloved books as Knitting Vintage Socks, and Knitting on the Road, but that will wait til tomorrow.

ETA: Holy shit, my stash is puny and picked over compared to everyone else’s.  I must go buy more yarn!

What a 3 day weekend gets you.

Generally, a 3 day weekend means lots of rest and relaxation, right? Well, not so for me. Saturday, we played Buffy all day. Sunday, we drove to Virginia to witness my Aunt’s wedding (awesome food!). Monday, we spent all day playing D&D. I jealously guard my weekends, and become irritated when they are all filled with “stuff,” instead of “sitting around.” I’m weird like that. However, all that time doing stuff also meant that I had lots of time to knit, because most of the stuff was condusive to knitting. I completed one sockapalooza sock, and both sleeves for Juno done and sewn in. I’m making the final push on the collar of Juno, too, and I suspect it will be done by the end of the week.

The sock has a problem, however. It looks pretty good, I think, but I completed it without measuring it first, which (of course), meant that it ended up being an inch too small. My sock pal’s feet measure 10 inches, and the sock measures 9 inches. It is currently sitting on the coffee table in time out, thinking about what it did. I am going to try to block it larger, and then coerse one of my friends who has size 9 feet to try it on. If that fails…well, I don’t want to talk about it. That’s what I get for not measuring. Ugh.

A very whiny list.

I’m in a whiny mood this morning.  Bear with me.

1. It’s hot out, and my car doesn’t have air conditioning.
2. I just got a raise, and I also just got paid today, but all of my raise money has to go to get my air conditioning fixed, instead of buying things (clothes, shoes, yarn).
3. My eyes are itchy because of the allergies.
4. The post office misdelivered my package from Target, which contained a $15 wedding veil.  I know it’s only $15, but I still want it!  I was looking forward to finding out if it was actually worthwhile, since most veils cost way, way too much due to Stupid Wedding Markup.
5. I’m crampy.
6. We have to drive to Chincoteague Island this Sunday for my Aunt’s wedding, which will take a bajillion four hours.

Now, for a list of good things that are directly related to the whining.

1. I got a raise!  I can actually afford to get my air conditioning fixed.  I don’t have to bring a sweat-free change of clothes whenever I ride in the car for longer than 15 minutes.
2. Because I’m going to the car repair place from work, I got to bring my knitting to work with  me.
3. I will have lots of time to knit this three day weekend: at the repair place, to/from the wedding, at our D&D game on Monday…
4. I don’t really care that much about my veil, and it gives me something to bitch about that isn’t really that meaningful.
5. It’s Friday.
6. I get to go see the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie tonight. Mmm, manflesh.

See, I feel much better.  I suspect I will be able to get at least one sockapalooza sock done, and possibly two.  Then I will start on the secret sock knitting portion for my pal.

I’m hooked.

I think I can understand one of the reason that people enjoy these knit-a-longs and other related internet knitting groups. They give us validation, and positive praise about our work. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m a lurker. I mean, I lurk like it’s my job, like I’m being paid a million bucks an hour to do it. Before I joined sockapalooza, I posted 6 times total in my various forums, one of which I’ve belonged to for over 2 years. This week, I’ve posted on both forums, and to the Sockapalooza Pligg twice. Seriously, people, soon the rain of fire will begin, closely followed by the horsemen of the apocalypse. And the most interesting thing is, I like it! I wasn’t sure what to do about my sock, and had serious doubts about my pattern choice with the yarn. So, I posted to the pligg with my sock question, and people responded. Not only did they provide me helpful feedback, but they also praised my sock. Unasked, these kind people who didn’t even know me told me my sock was nice, and helped me make up my mind.

I’m hooked. I’ve been commenting on other people blogs (a little), giving my opinion about their socks. The reinforcement I recieve by being a part of these communities has really surprised me, given my antisocial tendencies. No longer do I have to flail around helplessly with some knitting problem: I can ask people!  I want to join more things.

And! The heel of my sockapalooza sock is done! Damn are anklets fast. More on that tomorrow.

An anklet? The uncertainty continues.

Here is my dilemma. As suggested by my wise sockapalooza comrades, I decided to forge ahead with the twisted flower pattern and hopefully find some way to shorten it. Since I’m the sort of person who likes to fly by the seat of their pants, I just went ahead and started the pattern. No swatching for me! Here we see one repeat completed (the green sock). One repeat is 3 inches. Next to the green sock is a completed anklet (from Lace Style), and the leg of that sock measures 4 inches. So, this is a problem. If I complete another full repeat of the twisted flower pattern, the leg of my sock will be 6 inches, which I would say is too long. Or is it? Maybe 6 inches is already short enough. Who knows?

My current plan is to only do 1 or 2 of the “leaves” instead of 3 as written in the pattern, then go straight to the cable part. I don’t see any way to shorten the cable part, anyway. Each leaf measures roughly a half inch. Fingers crossed that it will work out.

Sometimes I think I overanalyze/obsess about these sorts of things.

Birthday socks!

In lieu of a real post, here are some pictures of the birthday sock I completed. They were gifted to their recipient on Friday evening (only a week and a half after the actual birthday!).

Specs:
Pattern: Gentleman’s Fancy Sock (I think), from Knitting Vintage Socks
Yarn: Koigu, semi solid purple (all ball bands have been lost), 2 and a half skeins.

I’m very pleased with these socks, and with Koigu in general. This is the first time I’ve used Koigu, and was pleasantly surprised. I liked the squishyness and stitch definition most of all.  I hope the giftee is pleased.

ETA: Hot damn!  Look at those awesome photography skills!  Must be the obscenely expensive camera that has made my pictures appear to be all nice-looking.

Uncertainty makes me knit faster.

The season finale of CSI: Las Vegas (AKA the best TV show in the entire universe) is on tonight. I’m all aflutter, because I’ve been hearing that Sara Sidle may die. I am heavily invested in this show, and don’t want the Sara/Grissom relationship to go away. Yes, I am lame. I am so lame that I have already decided what knitting to do while watching tonight, so as to utilize the TV/knitting blend as best as I can. I always knit while I watch TV, and I’ve been known to knit through movies I find sucky (Ghost Rider, anyone?). When there’s a show on that requires more of my attention, like Heroes or CSI, I choose a WIP that doesn’t require much attention. For example, I am on the sleeves of Juno currently, so that’s what I’ll be working on tonight. I expect I’ll be able to get a good deal of them done, too. I generally do two sleeves at once; I would have quite a few vests or one-armed sweaters otherwise.

On other fronts, I’m trying to figure out a pattern for my Sockapalooza pal. I’m torn. I don’t know if I should email her, asking what sorts of pattern she prefers, or just go with what I think will work. She prefers shorter socks, which I have less experience with. I have a few patterns in mind. There’s Simply Lovely Lace socks, from Interweave Knits Spring 2006 (I’ve made these before, and they rock), or a basic lace pattern stolen from a stitch dictionary (I’m thinking sheaves of wheat), or Cookie A’s twisted flower socks. Now, I really would like to finish try a pair of these, but there are a few problems. One, cable patterns tend to annoy me. Two, these are full length socks, and I’m not sure how I would shorten them. If I could shorten them to a length of, say, 5 or 6 inches, they would be perfect. I already own the pattern, so I should just take a look at it to see if it would be easy to shorten.  I know that pattern would be quite awesome with the yarn I’ve chosen.  Still, I’m not sure.

Knitting list.

Here’s a cheap entry. Far too busy to make full entry. But, look at all the stuff I’ve tried! It makes me feel better about my knitting ability/level. Bold for stuff you’ve done, italics for stuff you plan to do one day, and normal for stuff you’re not planning on doing.

Afghan/Blanket (baby)
I-cord
Garter stitch
Knitting with metal wire
Shawl
Stockinette stitch
Socks: top-down
Socks: toe-up
Knitting with camel yarn
Mittens: Cuff-up
Mittens: Tip-down
Hat
Knitting with silk
Moebius band knitting
Participating in a KAL (sort of?)
Sweater
Drop stitch patterns
Knitting with recycled/secondhand yarn
Slip stitch patterns
Knitting with banana fiber yarn
Domino knitting (modular knitting)
Twisted stitch patterns
Knitting with bamboo yarn
Two end knitting
Charity knitting
Knitting with soy yarn
Cardigan
Toy/doll clothing
Knitting with circular needles
Knitting with your own handspun yarn
Slippers
Graffiti knitting (knitting items on, or to be left on the street)
Continental Knitting
Designing knitted garments
Cable stitch patterns (incl. Aran)
Lace patterns
Publishing a knitting book
Scarf
American/English knitting (as opposed to continental)
Knitting to make money
Button holes
Knitting with alpaca (sneeze!)
Fair Isle knitting
Norwegian knitting
Dying with plant colors
Knitting items for a wedding (working on my wedding shawl right now!)
Household items (dishcloths, washcloths, tea cozies…)
Knitting socks (or other small tubular items) on two circulars
Olympic knitting
Knitting with someone else’s handspun yarn

Knitting with DPNs
Holiday related knitting
Teaching a male how to knit (my fiancé)
Bobbles
Knitting for a living
Knitting with cotton
Knitting smocking
Dying yarn
Steeks
Knitting art
Fulling/felting
Knitting with wool
Textured knitting
Kitchener BO
Purses/bags
Knitting with beads
Swatching
Long Tail CO
Entrelac
Knitting and purling backwards
Machine knitting
Knitting with self-patterning/self-striping/variegating yarn
Stuffed toys
Baby items
Knitting with cashmere
Darning
Jewelry
Knitting with synthetic yarn
Writing a pattern
Gloves
Intarsia (never again)
Knitting with linen
Knitting for preemies
Tubular CO
Freeform knitting

Short rows
Cuffs/fingerless mitts/arm warmers
Pillows
Knitting a pattern from an online knitting magazine
Rug
Knitting on a loom
Thrummed knitting
Knitting a gift
Knitting for pets
Shrug/bolero/poncho
Knitting with dog/cat hair
Hair accessories
Knitting in public

Guess who’s awesome?

The Loopy Ewe, that’s who! I ordered this stuff earlier this week, and it arrived today! And, to top it off, the cute Sockapalooza gift is a notebook for sock notes! I’m quite pleased with my sock yarn decision, too; the FA Sea Wool is so soft and shiny. I’m pleased with the color I chose, too (moss). Kitten included for scale.  I think it suits my sock pal’s profession. Now I have to pick a pattern.

Excursions to the city.

It’s May, and yet it’s going to be 84 today. Currently my car does not have air conditioning. Knowing this, I went into the city early (11:00 AM) to avoid traffic and attempt to not drown in my own sweat. I went to Loop, got the extra yarn and a new Interweave Knits, and bought a number of things that I don’t need at Whole Foods. Am I the only one who buys the mostbizarre things at Whole Foods? It’s as if the second I cross the threshold, I am filled with the urge to buy weird organic foods and vegan cheese. (not that there’s anything wrong with that, but it’s not really my thing) I bought some carbonated juice drink that was made from passionfruit by farmers in China. Of course, it takes like ass. But, I did get strawberries and a flourless chocolate cake.

The (horribly belated) birthday socks are finished. I will post pictures of them after their recipiant gets them. In the meantime, here’s an obligiatory cute kitten picture.