It's that time again

It's time for xmas knitting!

This year I have LOTS to make, and almost no time to spare. Right now I've got a 12 hour workday during the week, including my commute, which means I'm gone from 7:30 in the morning to 7:30 at night most weekdays (excluding today, because I'm off work) So, knitting time is a bit limited. But it's still mid-November and I am confident that I will somehow pull this off.

First, the biggest project. I am 1 skien into my dad's annual Christmas Sweater.

This year it's red and cable-y. The yarn is Knitpicks Telemark (as it is every year) in Garnet Heather. For the first time it's a sweater of my own design, rather than from a pattern. It's kind of unfortunate, because my dad's sweater is usually the only thing I knit from a pattern during the whole winter season, it's a big project and a chance to turn my mind off and just follow someone's instructions. But not this year.

Oh well, I guess I'll either be terribly proud of myself in a few weeks when it all comes together, or things will just be plain terrible. This is why I tried to start early.

I am also pretty happy to have my first (99%) completed project--i still have to weave in the two ends--it's Cathy's blue flame scarf, for my boyfriend's mother (my not-quite-MIL)

This is a lace pattern modified from the "Candlelight" pattern in The Encyclopedia of Knitting. I kind of want to keep it, but I will not, because I really don't know what I would get NQMIL. She and my NQFIL (not-quite-father-in-law) are notoriously hard to shop for. So I am making things that cannot be returnedd to the store.

But even if you could return this, would you?

I think not.

Nine months.....

...is long enough to have a baby; but that's NOT what I did. (dear god, no.) Nine months is a school year; but that's not what I did.

In the past nine months I was silent because I did nothing--almost nothing knitterly. My arm-thing (tendonitis to be precise) got out of control. And while I did many things--went to work, fell in love, sang karaoke, ate, slept, watched TV--I did not do much at all in the way of knitting. I've had weeks, just look at my Christmas posts, where I made as much as I have in the past nine months.

And then, last week I got The Shot. That's a story unto itself, and one which I will hopefully tell one of these days (you may have to remind me) but it means I can knit again. Maybe not quite at my old, breakneck pace. But I can knit socks and shawls and sweaters and my itching hands can finally quiet down.

I know it was rude to leave for so long, and I hope you'll all take me back. I have lots to share.

Tonight I have made for myself a chocolate cake

...with two layers and dark chocolate frosting.

I baked the two layers and let them cool completely in the oven so the tops wouldn't crack.
I turned each out onto a plate, and evened the top of the second layer, so it would fit with the first.


I frosted the entire thing with a crumb layer, which I let set before putting on the final layer. I was sure to use the flat side of the knife when making the swirls, so they wouldn't have the lines from the serrated knife edge.

I put it on my best china, and cleaned the frosting dabs off the plate. Then i took a picture, because i thought it a beautiful cake.

It is not birthday cake, or graduation cake, or celebration cake. It is not for Thanksgiving dinner or the Fourth of July cookout, or for anyone else but me to eat. Once in a while, it is lovely and right that we should make for ourselves something that has as much care put into it as if it were for someone else. I don't make myself cake often, but I make myself plenty of other foods, and usually i don't bother much with presentation. I cook "good enough" food, throw it on a plate, and scarf it down while watching a tv program, or checking on a website. Lots of people do this with their knitting, too. They make socks and scarves and baby blankets for everyone they know, then feel a bit guilty when picking up a long-ago started cardigan that they just loved.

So here's to sometimes saving the nicest things for only ourselves. Not to be selfish, but to remind ourselves that we are worth the niceties we reserve for others.

On Lunch

I'm on lunch, so there isn't much time for posting. But I wanted to show off a couple of things.

First a FO. The Celtic tote from IK Winter 2007.

I think the lighting in my new apartment is better than where I lived before.

Next, I've finally gotten my arm back in spinning condition again after an attack of the nasties (I'm beginning to think that plying yarn has a greater-than-normal effect on my bad arm. Perhaps because I keep trying to ply the bobbin of yarn in one sitting)

But, in small doses the spinning has returned. And i'm currently working on the "Fawkes" colorway that i dyed back at the end of last year.


It is just the proper thing to be doing in the midst of February, don't you think?

Now, back to work. Look sharp for our next edition when we shall discuss the return of The Bad Cat, and perhaps Pi Shawls.

Just a suggestion.

If you live in one of 22 super Tuesday states, you are a lucky individual. I encourage you to go to your polling place or caucus location and support the candidate of your choice, regardless of leaning or party.


Personally, I live in the politically irrelevant state of Indiana, but I'm happy to let you know that if I had a vote to count today, this is who I'd cast it for:



Not just for the singing. For the hope. It's not often in the jaded world of modern politics someone can talk so unremittingly about hope and the power of individual people to change an entrenched system while continuing to sound at all sincere. I think that's what I need now as a voter, and what we could surely use as a nation. So my vote, that I gave myself by virtue of having a blog, and a little voice on some corner of the internet, goes to Barack Obama. I hope you have a candidate you believe in just as much. And I hope you get involved, and when it is your time, that you cast your vote for him or her.

Things I have been working on

Yesterday was an exciting night for me. It was the first night I spent in my new apartment. And anyone who has moved into a new place, ever, in their whole lives will understand that I didn't get any sleep. New places have new sounds, and new cars driving by at new times, and new dogs barking, and new neighbors upstairs moving about at odd times, or maybe it's just the house shifting and I really shouldn't be commenting on the habits of my upstairs neighbor who seems a lovely sort of girl and has a really pretty coat, maybe i should ask her where she got it next time i see her. (I'm going to have to take a moment and apologize to all my English teachers ever for that sentence. Sorry. Let's continue...)

anyhoodle, I am tired, and all of me hurts from the moving which is not at all complete. But I just had to show off my new, still messy apartment to the internets in general because i am beyond pleased to finally have my own little home. it's been nice living with my mom last year, i'm certainly grateful for the free room and board she's offered me while i got back on my feet, but let us face it: living with one's mother is not the most liberating of experiences. This is particularly true when one has previously lived on one's own, as I did.

I now present you with a photo tour of "Things I Like About my Apartment"
Thing the first: My Kitchen

There was a time when I was known among my friends as quite the cook. Now that I have all my things out of storage and arranged just so, I am somewhat eager to see if this is still the case.

I even have my own little kitchen table at which I am sitting this very moment. See the computer. Imagine me in the chair, that's what's going on now. That mess of newspaper and boxes is even still there. (Thing the second I like: I don't have to clean up until i'm ready, because only i see the mess.)

The apartment I rented is a studio, a little back apartment in what was once a big ol' colonial house. It has some nice details from the old house like this:

A built in...oh, i don't even know what to call it, "place-of-storing-my-craft-stuff-and-displaying-pictures". Or "Thing I like: number 3." Yeah, that's better.

Next we have my own pictures on my own walls. Fourth think I like about my apartment.

And here are some books. Lots of books, most of which were in storage with my kitchen stuff until recently. They are thing the fifth that I like about my new apartment: Books.

I'll update you with slightly more presentable pictures soon shortly eventually someday

you say you want a resolution?

i'll be honest.

the holidays really aren't my time.

"oh dear!" everyone gasps, when i say such a thing. "surely...surely you love the holidays!"

i do not.

late november through early january is the time of year when the universe likes to try and end me. stop me. stomp me. hate me. make me hate back. and smack dab in the middle of all of it lies christmas. the hap-happiest seeeeeeason of all.

dear friends, i have suffered two broken hearts, two broken cars, a move, a lost job, and more than one family tragedy during previous decembers. i did not want a repeat, and so this year i put down my head and knit. i hoped that the universe would forget its vendetta against me. but it did not.

i won't go into too much detail. the most salient tragedy was the one that befell my computer, rendering me blogless from just before christmas to just after new years. there was car stuff, there was health stuff, there was personal stuff.

but in the middle were presents and family, and at the end of it all, was survival. and it won't be "the holidays" again for a long time. i'm really just now recovering.

this is not in the way of seeking pity or sympathy. we all have our good times and bad. and in a way it feels cleansing. i feel i pay in full on my karmic debts at the end of the year. if i could do that with my finances, well, i'd have a lot more yarn.

but it leaves me a bit behind the ties. only last week did i really raise up my head again and fall back into the new life in the new year. as it stands, i've been thinking about resolutions, and new starts, and things that we let define us.

without getting too involved or personal, or airing my dirty laundry on the world wide interwebs, i've been thinking that maybe after all the "ick" that comes at the end of the year, i need to look at things anew. i need to stop expecting the bad and start seeing the good.

what if knowing that this december was going to be wretched, helped to make it more wretched? what if expecting to be disappointed made it more painful when the disappointment came, and less pleasing if it didn't?

spinning and knitting returns soon, and my blog resolution is not to leave you so long with no word from me. but my real life resolution?

2008 is the year i'll expect better for myself.

after all, someone who can do this:

ought to expect good things.

Progress

So it took me another week to post. Broken computer, had to order a part, blah, blah, blah.

What you really came for was knitting. Let's take a tour:
Gift #1--Basic garter stitch scarf for my mom. Yarn is Classic Elite Desert. I have a ball and a half left. I thought maybe I have enough for mittens.

Next is a hat, done in a slipped stitch. This is my own handspun.

I was really surprised at how it turned out when I knitted it up. The yarn, when first spun and unplied seemed almost entirely blue. I navajo plied it, because I thought the blue would overwhelm the yellow and green if I plied them together double. The yarn really turned out well, and as you can see, the green and yellow really stood out--maybe even more than the blue.

I also have made considerable progress on the Cobblestone sweater.

It's still in pieces here, but I have since joined the yoke and started decreases. I'll try to have photos tomorrow. I'm snowed in, and I won't have anything to do but knit.


You should also look forward to finished pictures of these mittens. I finished the second one at work on Thursday, and all I have left to do is weave in all the ends, and block them to straighten out the colorwork a bit. Faire Isle is definitely not my strong suit, and the stitching is still a bit wonky.

However, my relative ineptitude has not stopped me from taking on some pretty complex colorwork. There's a picture of colorwork that I won't show you until it's complete and has been gifted, since the intended recipient sometimes drops by the blog. Don't want to give away too many surprises today.

Amusé

Quick post with a picture to satisfy your WIP curiosity.



More to follow. Late from lunch

This is not knitting.

But it's boots.



Hey look! Cute, new, on-sale winter boots! Yay! (Ignore that I didn't take pictures of anything I said I was going to, and all I have given you are poorly-lit pictures of boots.)



Hey! Me wearing the boots! Look! Don't worry about yarn. You didn't come here for that. You came for boots.

Quickie

I have no pictures. I'm sorry. Such are the travails of short winter days. Saturday should see a photo opportunity or two.

But, if you are a reader and a knitter, go now to the yoyoknits blog and have at her stash sale. She's selling off some of her yarn to help offset the cost of her little dog's surgery. While you're there, look at pictures of him. He's adorable. Just don't buy everything. I get paid tomorrow.

Aaaanyway. I'll be back Saturday with substantial progress on the cobblestone sweater, finished or nearly finished socks and scarves and an attempt at colorwork.

Evil

I have finally finished the main part of the knitting for the Sisyphus shrug (formerly the Kashmir thing) and on Friday afternoon I grafted the two sides together in the middle.

See it? See what's wrong? How it continues to mock me?

Here...maybe that's better.

I hate this shrug. A. Lot. When I die and go to hell, this shrug will be waiting there for me. I will knit on it all day and all night, and just when I think I am finished, it will fall into a heap of yarn at my feet and I will have to cast on again.

Knitting is still a little slower than I'd like, so there's not as much progress to show as one might hope. But I've got some (almost) finished socks, and a scarf that only needs to have the ends woven in. Look for a round of yule project updates which may or may not include photos of me burning this shrug so that it will no longer be able to haunt my dreams.

Oh, also...

Squeee!

We all know about Tuesdays..

And this week we return to our regularly scheduled spinning posts.

First, though, I had a couple of undyed batts. A package of food coloring and several hours later I had these:
This is "Fawkes" 4 oz. of lovely wool in peach, pink, red, orange, and a deep yellow.


I also bought 8 oz. of lovely, lovely alpaca from my LYS. I really wanted to dye it purple, but I know that when mixing colors, purple is pretty difficult to mix. Still, I took a chance, and the results were not entirely unsuccessful:

I decided to call this "Tanzanite." I wanted deeper colors, and more variation. Some places soaked up the red, and some took almost nothing but blue. But, overall, I think it's a passable bit of roving. Here, have a closer look:



As I started to spin the colors muted, and I began to worry there wouldn't be enough "oomph" to the finished yarn. So I spun up half the roving, wound it onto a seperate spool, and began the yarn for the second ply

With just a bit more "oomph" in it. I'd just like to go on record as saying that beads are really hard to spin into yarn. In fact, I kind of blame the beading action for my gimpy arm disaster of last week. So the spinning is still in time out. This Tuesday is going to have to be for knitting only.

Oh dear...

So. I'm sorry.

I'm sorry that I was gone so long. There was sickness, there was job stuff, there was bad weather that made it hard to take pictures. But really, I've just been so lazy about posting. It's my fault. I'm sorry.

To make up for it, I've documented my recent case of startitis. Two weeks ago I got a pretty bad kick of it and cast on a sweater, a sock, a scarf, and a bag. I have yarn for two more scarves, a hat, and a pair of mittens on order. I took a running start at my Yule knitting, and was on the fast track to a stellar holiday knit season. See, look at this scarf:


But then, disaster. I came down with a bad case of whatever the hell happened to my wrist this summer. It. Hurt. So. Bad. Dear knitters, I was laid out. I could barely make it through work (where I have to count out money, which hurt me constantly and all day in a way I will not describe in words) and when I got home could not knit on the everlasting bagstopper:



I could not knit on these socks:


I couldn't even knit on my Cobblestone Pullover, which I thought was lovely and so warm.


I couldn't even make any progress on the infamous Kashmir Thing--which I have renamed the Sisyphus shrug.

I was so close to done. I could taste triumph. But again, the stone has rolled down the hill and I am knitless.

But it's been a week, and I'm starting to get back to knitting. It's going slowly, and I'm still hurting a bit, but I will not be brought low. For I am a knitter, and I have gifts to make. I will prevail.

I will also post more often. Even if I won't be knitting as fast.

Back to the land of the living...

I have been ridiculously sick all week. There has been a very angry creature in my sinuses, and he has not wanted me to do anything but go to work and sleep. Regular blogging returns tomorrow, when I can begin to resume something of a normal Dayquil free schedule.

Here's a gratuitous fiber shot for your Sunday afternoon.

This is the finished roving from Smoky Mountain Fibers. It's about 145 yard of sport weight yarn. I navajo plied it to keep the color changes together, and I've got to say, I love navajo plying.

This yarn is also much, much more consistent than the watermelon I spun before. It's pretty amazing what a little practice can do.

A Pattern!

No Tuesdays are for Spinning today. But I will have finished handspun for you in short order. Today is Tuesdays are for Knitting With Hand Spun.

To go with my first hand spun project, I'm going to add another first: my first pattern. As I said a few posts back, this is a beginner pattern, and it's quite easy. It's a great one for people who want to stop knitting rectangles--scarves, dishcloths, blankets--(not that rectangular knitted objects are not lovely, but it's nice to have more options) and start knitting in the round. My first project in the round was a sweater It was purple and acrylic and we are never to speak of it again. I think this is a little bit more friendly. So here goes.

Basic Top-Down Hat

Start with a yarn you like. For hats, I enjoy using a worsted or bulky weight yarn, and needles that are one to two sizes smaller than what I would ordinarily use for the yarn I chose. This makes a thicker fabric, and that’s certainly what you want for a winter hat. You’ll also want a set of double-pointed needles and a 16” circular needle in whatever size you decided on.

For this particular hat, I used a hand spun yarn that ranged from worsted to bulky I got a gauge of 4 stitches and 5 rows per inch on size 8 needles. You might want to make a gauge swatch, but I don’t for this sort of thing. If the gauge is off, just add or subtract increases as necessary to make a hat that is properly head-sized.



Cast on 6 stitches and divide evenly onto 3 needles. Join to knit in the round being particularly careful not to twist (it’s easy with this few stitches)

Row 1, and every odd row: K all sts
Row 2: *K1 m1 * repeat to end of row. (12 sts)
Row 4: *K2 m1 * repeat to end of row. (18 sts)
Row 6: *K3 m1 * repeat to end of row. (24 sts)

Continue in this manner, increasing 6 sts every other row a total of 14 times. (84 sts) OR until the hat fits the head of its intended recipient.

Knit even for 3.5 inches. At this point the hat should measure 7 inches from the top (Cast on) edge (Knit more or fewer rows if you had to change the number of decrease rows worked to get a hat that is 7” from the top.)

Next row: *K2 p2* repeat to end of row.

Continue in 2x2 ribbing for 2”. Then, bind off all stitches very loosely. I used a size 11 needle for this.

When you have bound off all the stitches, weave in the ends at the top and bottom of the hat. If you have leftovers, as I did, you may want to make a little pom-pom and fix it on the top with the cast on end.

Put on the hat, and take a picture:



Ta Da!

For my next post look for that Smoky Mountain Fibers roving, Navajo plying, and a Monkey I got off my back.

New things!

So I'm still working on the written version of my top-down hat pattern. It's easy enough, but I never write down patterns, I just kind of make things up as I go. Therefore I need to get a couple more things together.

I want to say I'll have it tomorrow, but it's possible that's a dirty lie ant I won't post anything for another week. So, just know it'll most likely be in my next post, whenever that should happen to be.

In the meantime, I've got a new lace project:
This is the start of the Luna Moth Shawl. I've needed a new piece of lace ever since I frogged the MS3 (I have a thing about symmetry, the wing was too much), and I think this pattern will serve beautifully. This is the same yarn salvaged from my first, ill-fated knitalong--Jaagerspun Zephyr a silk/wool blend.

And so that we can have Tuesdays are for spinning again, I ordered some roving from Smoky Mountain Fibers. It came, kind of unexpectedly, but very pleasantly on Tuesday evening:

Shown here is my new roving in "Landscape"

Here, I think a close up is in order:


Gorgeous? Yes, I agree. I also got some plain, undyed roving, to try my hand at dyeing.


Look for more adventures with that in the next couple of weeks. I promise you it will be entertaining, either as I succeed by sheer luck, or fail by my own design.

Day off.

No pictures right now. Today was running-errands and sewing things for my step-siblings day. Tomorrow is back to work, and posting will resume when I get home.

Tonight is TV and spinning. I got new roving. Go look at it here.

Quick question: Fall premiers on the networks are this week, and some were last week. What's your favorite fall show?