Archive for the 'just chit chat' Category
We like to sit in the shade together…
Tuesday, May 6th, 2008
Saturday night we went on our first real date night without Mazie. We went to dinner AND a movie. We saw Forgetting Sarah Marshall, which was actually funny! We’ve been out to eat without our baby, but not out for a whole evening. It was almost 5 hours. My mom babysat, and as we were leaving, she said my dad was stopping at the Greek to pick up sandwiches and he was coming over, too. For a brief moment, I wanted to say, “NO BOYS!” …but managed to keep it to myself.
Grandpas are always welcome!
Sunday we did some stuff in the yard. I bought a couple of rose bushes to put in, and Nate dug the hole. When I asked him to dig a hole for each plant, I pictured just a little 10″ hole, the size of each pot. But what I got was a very impressive kidney-shaped bed with a berm on one side. Very nice. Very 3 or 4 hours’ worth of digging. Mazie and I sat inside for a while, then had to go see what Daddy was up to!
We got out our lounge chairs and Mazie watched Daddy and I knit my sock.
Mazie fell asleep.
My sock:
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Results!
Tuesday, April 29th, 2008
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Oh Arg. (My yarn just might be jacked up.)
Monday, April 28th, 2008
OK, This is like the good old days when I first started blogging and would do 2 or 3 posts a day…it’s 11:20. PM!
I’m up (more insomnia) and thinking crafty. My striping yarn experiment has gone awry and I’m a little jacked up about it.
I wound that merino into a center-pull ball, and then decided it was too fine for socks. SO…I got out a hank of Fisherman’s Wool that I’ve been hoarding for just such an emergency. You’re a knitter, you know that there ARE emergencies that require undyed hanks of yarn needing to be hoarded. All kinds of yarns are hoarded for some emergency or another…
ANYWAY…I did my calculations and skeined the yarn, walking around and around these two chairs in the back yard (in the dark, mind you)…and ended up short. I calculated for 2-3-2 row stripes, but I ended up with 1-2-3 somehow. ugh. Oh well. Right? It should still work. At least it wasn’t like 1-2-2.3786 or something.
So, I *wanted* to use cake dye for this, I really like how the browns and oranges can get all rusty-autumn. WELL, I couldn’t FIND my Cake dyes. So I had to use KoolAid packs. I’ll take pics in the daylight, but this yarn looks electric. I was going for subtle, so I used straight blue and straight green, then mixed the blue and the green for the mid-tone, thinking that they’d harmonize. And now I don’t know if my greens are different enough to really show up as stripes.
And I have to WAIT until it’s DRY to know for SURE!
Ok. I’m going to bed now.
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Uh oh…here we go (Full-on sock addict now.)
Sunday, April 27th, 2008
So, ok. If you’ve been reading this blog for a few years, you know that I tend to have waves of obsession. I mean, I get reeeeeally into something for a while, get all the gear, figure out how to dissect it and remake it from every possible angle.
And, fair readers, I think we have another obsession in the making. I really thought I’d been there and back already, didn’t need to Do Socks any more, but there’s just something about teeny tiny needles, teeny tiny yarn, and then all of the leeeetle accessories, small batches of hand-dyed yarns, and the rabid sock-knitting communities. It’s all so perfectly set up for people with even the slightest tendency to obsess.
I know I’m a good 2 years late for the real bandwagon here. I’m like the guy who comes along after the parade, cleaning up after the bandwagon. So, you’ll have seen all of my oohs and aahs before, many many times, I’m sure.
HowEVer…I’m going to write about it like you haven’t. Otherwise, every sentence will start with, “Ok, you guys probably already KNOW this, BUT…” or, “Somebody stop me if you’ve heard about this…” And that kind of self-depreciating attitude is just too hard to keep up. So I’m just going to pretend this is all new…to everyone.
In response to the TWO people who asked for a pattern for the socks I made last time, I’ve written a pattern and am just waiting on the digitized cable charts. So that’ll be up soon. (BTW: the Cleo pattern is with the graphic designer whose laptop had to be rushed to the apple store for emergency surgery) I don’t know if that Glampyre sock yarn is available any more, but any sock yarn will work (you probably already KNOW that…) < -- see? Annoying.
OK, so here I start talking about stuff that people have already figured out many many times…
I’m going crazy with lust for self-striping sock yarn.
I mean, I am really losing sleep over it.
I think I’ve read all of the blog posts, googled all the images and how-tos, and I’m almost ready to try it for myself.
I’ve got a GORGEOUS hank of Morehouse Merino Laceweight (8 sts / inch) that their GORGEOUS rep gave me at the last TNNA. (She’s a redhead, and we think we may actually know each other from our past lives in NYC in the mid-late 90s…but that’s another story…) At ANY rate…There’s 880 yards, which will make TWO pair of big-footed socks.
(OH! Another aside: when you see the INSOMNIA sock pattern, you’re going to laugh because I wrote it for my big feet. The short-row heel starts at 8.5 inches and the foot length…10 inches. BUT…as you know…you just plug in your own measurements. I just thought it’d be fun to have my own size 11 foot be the ‘model’ for that one.)
So, what I’m gonna do is wind the gorgeous merino hank into a ball or 2, wind THAT around my two metal patio chairs, mark off my stripes, and then just try dyeing it. I’ll let you know what happens.
Oh yeah, I’m past the heel on my first “Jaded” sock:
Do you ever, while you knit socks, notice that your yarn stops flowing over the needle as smoothly? My metal needles (and this happens when I knit big, too) seem to get sort of dirty and sticky…not like glue sticky, but just that the yarn seems to stop flowing across them as nicely. I’m pretty sure it’s not that my hands are filthy…I wash my hands 100s of times a day with a new baby in the house.
I keep a jeweler’s cloth in my sewing bag, and use that to periodically wipe off my needles. Something about it is a lot better than just plain flannel or t-shirt. Whatever they put on it to clean jewelry works great for cleaning Addis, too.
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My newest OCD habit…
Thursday, April 24th, 2008
Socks.
I’ve been through a sock phase once already in my life. Around my 2nd year of grad school, I stumbled on an eBay deal too good to pass up. It was a baker’s dozen weird colors of opal sock yarn. You know those auctions…the ones where, yes, you CAN buy 13 sleins of sock yarn for an unbeatable price…but they’re all strange in some way. These were all different speckled ones. Here’s a pic of one pair of socks from that batch.
I started with the more normal skeins first. Gradually, I’ve traded most of them away.
Recently, through the influence of Jo and Jo’s toe-up sock class at KITH, I’ve started thinking about socks again.
I have a lot of sock yarn around. That just happens when you blog and knit and shop on Etsy…you end up with loads and loads of yarn of all flavors. One day I’ll show you my yarn stash…but this is about my SOCKS.
Here are the finished Happy Feet (yarn purchased at MisKnits.)
Just very simple toe-ups, short row (holey) heel.
And HERE I present the reason I’ve been so haggard the last two days:
(mama e ceyeber fiber…custom glampyre colorway)
I obsessively knit this pair of socks in two evenings. One Wednesday night and the other on Thursday. I just made them up as I went along. I love toe-ups, because you can just PLAY and it’s not over till you run out of yarn.
This is going to be my next pair (toe-up or course!):
(dome hill jaded)
This sock-knitting thing has the potential to get really out of hand!
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Thursday…the mail.
Thursday, April 17th, 2008
I’ve got MAIL to share with you! But first, doesn’t this look like fun? I’ve never been on a knitting retreat, but I’ve wanted to go on one ever since I first heard about Knitting Camp. The workshops sound really good, and how cozy will it be to be in the Canadian Rockies in November!? I mean, look at this place!
So the first piece of mail is from my friend Cindy. She’s a technical illustrator / knitter, and has made some really pretty notecards:
They come in a pack of 4 and each one has a knit swatch on the front, with the stitch pattern on the back. Neat idea!
The next cool thing from this week’s mail is a hank of sari silk from Darn Good Yarn. This isn’t the thick, ropy stuff that we saw when this kind of yarn first came out. THIS sari silk is soft, and a nice weight for a scarf or jacket. I haven’t had a chance to swatch it yet, but when I do, I’ll show you how it knits up.
It’s fun to get to see new and different yarny things…I’m sort of isolated out here in the desert.
SO…let’s see, what’s going on….
Today was a day off from teaching (I teach MWF) so I hung around the house with Mazie garding homeworks and quizzes, working on my lecture for tomorrow. Also trying to get some knitting in…
I finished the taxes!
I had all the receipts spread out around me, two laptops going, kitties helping, Mom holding Mazie…and Nate outside smoking cigarettes. But we did it!
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KITH stuff-that-I-bought
Wednesday, April 9th, 2008
Well…I had to break down and look for short row heel instructions. I found these by misocrafty (aided by Yahaira’s photos) and so far so good. I was trying to do the short rows every-other round, with a whole knit round in between, and I could tell it was *almost* right…
SO. Here’s my KITH Vendor Market haul…
There’s a t-shirt from MisKnits, the hugest single hank of yarn I’ve ever seen from Bonkers, the two light purple hanks are Textiles a Mano, there are two orangey-copper thick-and-thin hanks from Two Windows, several Evil Duckie DPN keepers from Wants and Kneeds, several sets of Girley Purls stitch markers, a Girley Purls bag, some Happy Feet, and a hank of Dome Hill Yarns sock yarn…and a couple of HiyaHiya 9″ circs and an addi lace needle that I bought from The Studio for my SOCKS.
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Practice Saturday!
Thursday, April 3rd, 2008
Woah…I started this on Saturday and am just getting a chance to post it! AND…Edited to ADD…my friend Marjorie ran a marathon and we got to see her cross the finish line!
She ran the Battan Memorial Death March Marathon and finished in the top 10% of her division! Go Marjorie!
So LAST weekend, we got together to wind yarn, and THIS weekend, my fearless Knitting Group is getting together to test out my FOUR Knitting in the Heartland classes. A brave bunch of ladies, no?
I want to make sure that all the questions are answered, and the handouts and examples are just perfect.
I’m really looking forward to next weekend! Mom and Mazie are both coming with me, and the Japel grandparents are meeting us there…so if you’re going, you’ll likely meet our whole posse at some point! (Except Nate, who’s going to be enjoying a quiet weekend in his painting studio!)
Miss Mazie has had a great last few nights. She’s starting to handle her farts better. For a while there, every time she farted, she would scream. Now she’s starting to realize that it’s just a part of life. Poor baby. She still has a hard time transitioning into the sleep zone, but we’re working on it.
We’ve also been trying to head the crying off at the pass by making sure we go for looooooong evening walks. Last night, we went out at 6:30 and stayed out until about 9. We stopped for dinner halfway, and just walked and walked and she forgot that she usually has a big fit right then. I was the same way. I guess I still am. I love to stay up late and sleep in. Or, I *used* to…now I’ll go to sleep any chance I get!
Oh Man, the other day Nate asked me, “Are you nervous about traveling with her?” At first I thought he meant Mom…then I realized…I’m taking a 2.5 month old baby on a plane. On FOUR planes. Eek.
Posted in Uncategorized, just chit chat | 2 Comments »
Happy Easter!
Sunday, March 23rd, 2008
Mazie’s wearing a dress that her G’ma Japel gave her…that SHE wore as a little girl! How neat is that?! It fits her perfectly. I wasn’t sure whether I should get Mazie an Easter Basket this year, since she’s too little to have any idea what’s going on. As you can tell, we decided to go ahead. It’s her first Easter!
On another note…Oh Man! I love spring break!
I taught on Wednesday last week, and then we had Friday off. Wednesday was their mid-term exam, so I’ve got LOTS of grading to do, but nothing to prepare for a few days. School doesn’t start again until the 31st.
I’m hoping to finalize all of my class materials for Knitting in the Heartland, get the exams all graded, and finish up my SWTC patterns. Lofty goals, I know, but Mom will (hopefully) help me with Mazie so that I can have a few hours every day to accomplish stuff.
Yesterday, my friends Becky and Marjorie came over for a yarn-winding party.
It really does make a tedious job more tolerable to have other people around. They’re both working on Vivian Hoxbro shadow knitting kits. Marjorie’s making the shawl and Becky’s doing the vest. *I* want to shadow knit!
Did I tell you that I finished my Sanpoku? I’ve worn it a few times to teach, and I really like it. It’s a nice thing to grab when it’s a little cool, but I don’t need a whole sweater. It’s pretty much fronts and sleeves, with a little strip across the back. I’ll see if I can get a pic. I feel like I’ve already written this, but the Comfort is a great yarn! (I made the largest size and went up to a 9 for the needle.)
I want to get a new camera. I’ve got the Canon PowerShot SD 600, and I’d like to move up to a 35 mm digital. Any suggestions? Ideally, I’d like a gently used one to start out with.
Posted in just chit chat, baby | 5 Comments »
We go for walks
Friday, March 21st, 2008
Lately, we’ve been doing a LOT of walking. We get up, change diaper, eat, get dressed, get the stroller out, and go for a walk. We usually go for about an hour at a time. Some days we go out in the morning, then when Grandma comes over in the afternoon, we go out again.
On days that I teach, we walk down to the coffee shop for lunch after my class.
It’s only a few blocks, so we’ve figured out a very round-about route through the neighborhood to get there and back. We also found a back way to the fabric store!
Yesterday we walked all the way to the used bookstore to find Mazie some books. I’ve been telling her stories at bedtime, but I can’t remember how they all end. I know generally how The Three Bears goes…I need to refresh my memory on some other ones.
I found a couple of really interesting Fairy Tale books. I liked to read Fairy Tales well into my 20s…Maybe Mazie will enjoy them, too. Here’s the older one, from the 20s:
