Pomatomus is...

In a word...



Thrilling!

I think I never really liked knitting socks because I wasn't knitting something patterned. Plain socks are very nice to have, but knitting these lace pattern socks is sheer joy! I'm simple, what can I say? The picture was taken after one complete pattern repeat plus 3 rows into the second. Thank goodness this yarn is resiliant! I started over 3 times (just like the embossed leaves pattern). I started out with the dpns from KnitPicks and they were great, but my hands just were NOT used to dpns and I gave up and put the thing on a circular. I knew these socks were supposed to have a lot of stretch and I figured I'd use a size smaller needle. Mistake. I tried the thing on after taking this picture and barely got it over my heel!! So I've switched needles to the next size up and the knitting is much easier!! I had a hell of a time with the ktbl's with those tiny needles! When I look at the sock, I can tell the gauge difference, but I'm not sweating it. I'm making these socks for sheer enjoyment and wear, they don't have to be perfect. This one will never slide down my leg at least!!
I'm at the end of the second repeat now (its going so fast!!) and I think I can get through the third and maybe the first part of the heel flap by bedtime.
In other yarn news...this:


became this:

and will soon be reincarnated into Backyard Leaves.

Needles!!!

Figures....the day after I call and complain about a late package, it comes. It CAME!! My new needles are here!!! Yipee!! Now the only question is to knit them with circulars or dpns.
All the waiting was forcing me to look at my WIP's and the lists of things to knit by Christmas. I currently have only one Christmas gift to knit and it was going to be this:



Now, I've decided to frog what little progress has been made there and make this instead:



I think it will be a) more enjoyable to knit b) quicker to finish and c) more usable for its recipient. I could be wrong, we'll see.

No mail = no knitting

Baby Bog July 24
Originally uploaded by samuraisqurl

I was stunned when I failed to receive any KnitPicks package in the mail over the weekend. Devastating as this was, I was in a cranky mood all weekend except for Friday cuz that was Maya's 7th birthday. Her party will actually be this Saturday, but of course we had a little pizza party with presents on Fri.
So I didn't really pick up the needles and work on anything all weekend even though I carried around my new knitting bag (with 2 to 3 projects in it) everywhere we went. I did try and continue on my Pomatomus sock, but it is hard doing tbl with blunt needles! I screwed up the pattern repeat and frogged the WHOLE thing. I'm doing my best trying to sit tight and wait for those KnitPicks needles to arrive. After calling customer service (today was the 15th day) we discovered that it had a postal number, but was nowhere to be found! She (regrettably I didn't catch her name) is shipping me a whole new set! This makes me happy even though it means more waiting. In the mean time...I've plotted out the socks to make out of the 4 skeins of Bearfoot: Pomatomus, Leyburn, Bells and Whistles and Flickering Flame socks. I can barely wait!! Must. Knit. Socks.

In other news, the joy and excitement I felt at the discovery that Mrs. Stephanie Pearl-McPhee will be coming to Atlanta can only be matched by one other thing....
Meeting this man




Mr. James Marsters (aka Spike from Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
Plans were made a year ago to make a family trip to the DragonCon Convention in Atlanta and although I faithfully checked many times, never saw his name on the roster. Lo and behold, as we checked on Saturday (looking for Darth Vader pictures for Maya) I saw his name on the confirmed guest list. The edges of my vision may have gotten black and I may have jumped up so fast that a child flew off my lap. I have had a crush on this dude for a while now. Also, Brent Spiner will be there, Q, the Ghosthunter guys....I could go on but I'm getting too excited again. 4 days of Sci-Fi fun. Now just to figure out how to ask Mr. Marsters to hold my sock while I take a picture.....without him calling security....

Letting sleeping dogs lie.....

Well, its been a long day here at Chez elderly pets. I dropped Roxie off at the vets at 8am (hello 7am! Haven't seen you in a while!) and 10.5 hours later, picked her up again. She is an older dog. How old? I'm not sure. All I know is she that she aint no spring chicken. She had a total of six, yes 6, teeth pulled. So when we picked her up, she was swollen, stoned and her eyes seemed to be pointed in two different directions. The first people she recognized were Maya and Aaron and she smiled in her silly doggie way as much as she could with a swollen doggie mouth. Since getting home she has successfully manuevered her way around the kitchen table twice and walked on her own to the fireplace.




Roxie has been a part of our family for about 4 to 5 years now. We (the vet and I) guestimate her age to be between 10 and 13 years. She is a sweet and smart dog. She is a shephard and does love to try and herd people when they come into the home. If you are wondering why I'm blogging about a dog on my knitting blog (or not?) I just want to say that, I feel, as a dog owner and a lifeform on this planet, that dog fighting is unacceptable. It is not a "sport". Roxie's value in our home is immeasurable. She loves us and we her. I am astonished that the NFL hasn't taken more of a stand with this Vick indictment. I know Michael Vick is "innocent until proven guilty" and that is how it should be. But the NFL needs to be a little more vocal about the standard of character of its players. Children across the country (and world) look up to these men. They need to at least be able to show that they value life. All life.

Back to Bags

After yesterday's pity party post, I decided to take a picture of my knitting area.



Yes its a disorganized mess.



Wow!! Look at all that yarn! And thats just the stuff thats in the living room. Awesome. Go me!
Sometimes I think about putting some of the wool away, but I can never bring myself to do it. I keep thinking that I'll start all these projects soon. Instead of starting them, I just add more projects (and yarn) to the list. This is why I need to get organized. I've only gotten nerdy enough to get a binder and put my WIP's in plastic protectors. But after looking at these photos I think I may need something more. Like maybe an intervention!

Speaking of more.....one of my long awaited packages did come in the mail today!!!!

Yipee!!!!



A Namaste Everyday knitting bag in Brick Red.

Oh isn't it beautiful?

I took a picture of the inside to show ALL the (many) pockets but it was too dark. This sucker is much bigger than I'd imagined it. I think I could fit a sweater plus another WIP in there!! I am soooooo excited to start using it I can hardly stand it.


I usually don't splurge on purses. Nope, not even the $69 I spent on this one. But I was perusing the knittinghelpforum one day and there was a thread about knitting bags. I'd come very close to buying a green mountain knitting bag before, but they were too pricey and I didn't really like any of the handles. Anyway, I started looking at all the bags and then at the online stores. This evolved into handbag shopping in general and I figured I'd spend just as much on a nice big handbag at a department store so I might as well get the one I liked best. This one.

Now all I need are my knitpicks needles and I'll be set. Set for socks that is! I found an absolutely awesome sock pattern from Pepperknits. They are the Leyburn socks. A skein of the Bearfoot would work perfectly with this pattern I think. But right now I'm going to go play with my new bag!

Waiting and bogging

I've been waiting and watching for the mailman for the past 5 days now and its starting to get on my nerves. I was SURE that one of my two expected packages would come Saturday. Nothing. I was so disappointed that I grabbed some old Cotton Ease and cast on 120sts. I decided to make a Baby Bog Jacket (from EZ's Knitting Around) the rest of my current projects be damned. The area next to the loveseat in our living room looks like a knitting explosion. I have bags of bags of yarn. Lots of yarn. New yarn. Old yarn. Needles, notebooks and patterns stacked. I'm getting disgusted with myself and now....? Waiting for more knitting packages. Somebody Stop Me!!!
Ahem.

Here is a picture of some of the projects that reside in the knitting pile.



At the top is the Baby Bog, the darker purple is the beginning of a Kimono Shawl and the lighter purple is a mostly done shrug; pattern from Fitted Knits. I should have been working on the shrug because it needs to be done for Maya before school starts and I'm soooo close to finishing it. There is really no excuse. I just want to knit more socks. Those Embossed Leaves socks were so much fun that all the other WIP's are really just languishing. The Pomatomus cuff I knitted is just sitting there on the shelf driving me batty. I'm so excited to get those darn Knitpicks DPN's its ridiculous. Hopefully today will be the day they come...

breaking it to me gently...

I swear I know how to add. I was even pretty decent at pre-calculus in high school. Sadly, all that hard work has not amounted to much in the "real world". I was so excited to find the Gems yesterday that I completely overlooked the fact that the yardage between it and the required yarn for Tatami is VERY different. Sigh. Hundreds of yards of difference in fact.

Oh well. I'll stick with what I got previously. It was a shock though, when I realized my mistake. Duh! Its still beautiful and still residing in a place of honour on the dining room table for all to see. Maybe it can tell me what it wants to be sooner rather than later. I was really looking forward to knitting it up.
Anyway, I started some new socks and they're not the ones I'd originally planned on.
Pomatomus:

And notice the LARGE print chart underneath. Yes thats me and my tech skills in action. I somehow managed to print that baby in jumbo size and laughed for about 20 minutes afterward. I didn't think anything else of it till we were sitting in the waiting room at the dentists office this morning and the guy next to me did a double take when I whipped it and my yarn out.
So far so good. Reading ahead has been a bit confusing so I stopped. Since I'm knitting it on circs I'm a bit stumped by her stitch switching (say that 3 times fast) on the needles. I guess I'll jump that hurdle when I reach it. The yarn is sooooo nice but I'm having a hard time with the needles. Addi turbos just aren't good enough for sock knitting anymore. I need those Knit Picks needles; so sharp and slick...... and they didn't get here today. Hopefully tommorow. I'm putting these socks down until then. The needles are killing my hands and eyes.

I'm tired and sleepy and its a rainy day. I'm gonna have to drag my carcass out of the house to make it to Kung Fu tonite. This week: nunchaku spins.

Yarn Haul #3....

Where are #1 and #2?
I’ve been getting antsy about my KnitPicks order. I want my sock needles!! I”ve got lots of projects going on but none are getting knit.
Must. Knit. More. Socks.
The LYS had a huge sale today to celebrate their anniversery. Wooooooot! Every yarn in the store was on sale. There were door prizes too, but I didn’t win any. I was only there for maybe an hour, but managed to get away with some great stuff. Stuff with a purpose. Stuff I can use NOW. You know you done good when the ladies ringing up your order are ooohing and aaahing over your skeins.



The seven remaining skeins of Louet Gems Merino in a dark blue. I think I’m going to go for Tatami with this.



3 Gorgeous skeins of Bearfoot. Hello socks!!



And some yarn for Christmas stockings


It was a great sale and lots of people were there. I really like this yarn store for many reasons.

The staff is always nice and laid back. The layout is good (they have a wool “room”). They are always changing/adding things so everytime you go there is something new to see. She’s got a great selection of patterns and books too.

So I got another yarn fix. This will have to do as an anniversery present (is the 10th year wool?) seeing as I got a Namaste knitting bag and more needles and books coming any day in the mail.

Hello there...

2007 is already half over!! Time does go by faster every year. Anyhoo...I know I haven’t bothered posting here in a while, which is a shame because there has been lots going on and great knitting being knit too. I actually feel more serious about knitting lately. Whether or not that will stick I don’t know. I guess I’ve hit some milestone and just feel like I understand more about yarn and needles and gauge and drape and fibers etc etc. Yes, its been four years and finally, its all starting to sink in. I’ve been buying lots of yarn lately with specific projects in mind. I’ve finished a few too. I dug out an old binder and some plastic sheets and organized my queue by putting all WIP’s in my binder with notes and stuff. I bought the Knit Picks needles set (more on the way) and that helped me get organized all by itself. The only downside to this is, I am running out of storage room for all the yarn.
I’ve already got some Christmas knitting lined up. The only problem is I KNOW I’ll want to add more the closer December comes. I really would love to knit something for Mom and Dad, but what? They are hard to shop and knit for!!

Here is one recent FO which was one of the most exciting and satisfying knits I’ve done ever



Embossed Leaves Socks designed by Mona Schmidt
Interweave Knits winter 2005
KPM 2 skeins green


I had a bit of trouble beginning the chart. Stupid here thought “oh yes, you work even rows from left to right on charts.” That is only if you are knitting back and forth – not in the round! Oiy.

After that little set back it was smooth sailing.
I was a little intimidated by the cast on (it was different, change is scary) but it was quite easy. And I love the garter st edges on the heel and the toe is beautiful. Whenever I look at handknit socks, I usually end up critical of the way the toe looks. Too pointy, to round, to triangular....
This one is beautiful.


I’ve bought some more sock yarn (although not from lack of supply in the stash) and have already found another pretty pattern to knit which is also designed by Miss. Schmidt: Bells and Whistles. Its in the Holiday 2006 issue. I’ll be using this.


Besides socks, I have lots of other stuff planned.
Clementine Shawl is started.
Kids cardigan for Maya.
Aran Sweater for Aaron (ha ha).
Kimono style sweater for me (or two).
Shrug for Maya which is almost done.
Necktie for Mike.

That last one is a real problem for me. He picked out a couple of skeins of Wick in a Easter/sprintime colorway (?? Don’t ask, he did mens fashions for a while) and wants me to make him a neck tie.

Here are the problems:
#1. While I have no problem with the idea of a handknit necktie, there is nothing appealing about it to me.
#2. Wick? In a yellow/blue colorway? What hell were we thinking?
#3. There are many respectable necktie patterns that exist out there on the internets alone, but how am I going to knit this thing? Does it need a backing? How do I keep it from curling? How will the larger gauge (I was thinking fingering or sock weight yarn) lend itself to different stitch patterns? And, how will I keep it from looking ridiculous?

I guess its the idea that I will probably spend much time planning, knitting and finishing only to have something silly looking at the end of it all. Just a little skeptical..
He really is disappointed that I haven’t even started yet, and I keep buying more yarn and starting other projects...
I probably should really try and get on this.

One thing is for sure: it aint gonna be pretty