doviejay knits . . . and knits . . . and knits

Cleaning?

2009-11-06T11:16:00.003-06:00

I feel like I have finished cleaning something that was hanging over my head, which is ridiculous because all I've been doing is sorting my yarn. I have sorted and photographed my yarn and frogged lots of unloved projects I'm never going to finish.

There are still one or two balls of yarn elsewhere in this house, but the lion's share is done and I'm calling it. That crosses off the fourth goal on my Last Year's Goals list!

Don't forget to leave a comment on any post between now and my birthday, 11/11/09 for a chance to win a $26 gift certificate to Blue Moon Fiber Arts.

Finished Objects & Contest!

2009-11-03T10:03:00.007-06:00

I finished my sister's Sleep Socks! They're just delightfully soft and snuggly and I hope she really likes them. Now I just need her to Skype me back so I can get her new address!

Here they are, Classic Elite's Alpaca Sox in a pattern from the lovely Knitting Vintage Socks - Heeless Sleeping Socks. As you can see, I did put a heel in, my standard heel. I also knit the pattern inside out - it's supposed have the mostly purl side out, but I knit much faster than I purl so I reversed them.

I have another skein of this yarn so I'm thinking about making some for myself. They are awfully squishy.

In the meantime, I have started some socks for the sock class I'm teaching starting on Monday. I wasn't a big fan of the pattern they were using - it wanted you to cast on 64 for the large and be knit at 7 sts/inch. I really don't think that works for socks - I'm much more into about 9/inch. I think it makes a big difference for wearability and longevity. So anyway, I'm going to write up the pattern and give my students a choice.

I just picked up this yarn this weekend because I wanted something new to knit the socks but find myself completely in love with it. It's htNevele's Sock Yarn - she's an etsy seller, but she's also local to Madison and apparently goes to Guild. I love love love this colorway. It's called Coleus, which according to Wikipedia is a genus name for those colorful ferns like hostas. I actually despise hostas, but I think this is beautiful. I'm calling them the MacIntosh Socks because I think they look like MacIntosh apples.

I also have Leaving Patterns Behind on Sunday so I need to really get down to brass tacks and sketch out exactly what I'm going to say. I'm super excited about this class - I think it's going to be a great one.

Incidentally, if you're reading me in Madison, come on out to Lakeside on Thursday - we're having our 10th anniversary party. All yarn except for Cascade 220 is going to be 10% off and Susan B. Anderson is going to be signing her new book, Itty Bitty Toys in the Coffee Room. We will also have snacks. The sale is going to be from 6-8 and we will be closed from 5-6 to prepare.

And now, for the contest. My birthday is coming up - November 11th, the best birthday all year. I've also been blogging for just over a year now, so I thought it was time for a little contest (I do so love contests!) Leave a comment on any post between now and November 11th and I'll do a random number drawing to find one lucky person who will get a $26 gift certificate to Blue Moon Fiber Arts. Thanks for reading!

Finished Objects & Stash Enhancement

2009-11-01T17:06:00.004-06:00

***The stash enhancement is going at the bottom of the post. If you are in the Old Maiden Aunt Yarn Preview Club and don't want to see it, this is your spoiler alert!***

Am I knitting as much as ever and just not blogging? Yep.

In the last couple of weeks I've taken on some extra classes at the yarn store so I've been working my way through the patterns for the classes so I could teach them. I made a pair of mittens from Ann Norling and an Ann Norling hat out of some stash yarn. They're pretty delightful.

I made them with some Catalina Baby Alpaca I bought in Three Rivers on a vacation years and years ago with Jorah's parents. We found a tiny little yarn store and there were four skeins of butter soft baby alpaca mixed in with mountains of arcrylic yarn. I couldn't just leave them there so I spent all the money I got from selling textbooks back to rescue them!

I don't think I can wear the hat though . . . I'm super pale (my Scotch and German blood combine to make me the whitest person in all the land) and I need more color next to my face.

Speaking of color . . .

Meet bitter bug and strange rock n' rollers! They are just delightful and so soft. I sprang for the double membership so I got four beautiful huge skeins of yarn. I don't know if I want to go crazy and cast on Ulmus with these or wait to see what else I get. To be honest, my favorite base is the Merino/Cashmere/Nylon - should I wait to see if I dig those colors and do my Ulmus out of that?

This is an acdemic discussion of course. My top priorities are to finish my sister's socks and then get one sock done for the sock class I'm teaching starting a week from tomorrow. I'm also working on a Christmas stocking for Jorah (needlepoint, not knitting) and really want to have it finished for this, our third Christmas as a married couple. But needlepoint isn't knitting and I do so love to knit . . .

Oooooh, Look at the Pretties

2009-10-23T12:19:00.003-05:00

Just found a new blog I'm thinking about getting obsessed with! She's in Glasgow and is an amazing knitter and a great photographer! Check it out: fourth edition!

Finished Object - Ishbel!!

2009-10-17T17:59:00.005-05:00

Ishbel is finished!! And I totally and completely see why everyone LOVES it. It is delightful and now I want to make 8 or 10 of them. I have a friend at Lakeside who's made 4.

This is Ysolda Teague's famous pattern - there are over 3,500 projects on Ravelry right now. I added a couple of repeats of charts A and B because I wanted to use up all of my yarn. And yes, I'm due for a hair cut/color.

The yarn I bought three years ago at the Midwest Alpaca Festival. It is 100% alpaca in a beautiful subtle blue/brown/green. There wasn't a label with it when I bought it so I had no idea how much yardage I had.

I did Ishbel because you can repeat A and B as many times as you want and then finish it off. After every repeat I weighed it on a digital scale in grams (at the yarn store, I want one of my own!) and extrapolated how much yarn each repeat would take, so I could make it as long as possible.

I'm also working on some sleep socks for my sister who is in grad school in London right now. (I'm super jealous.) She's amazingly smart and in a really tough program, so I figured she could use some alpaca socks.

This is also helping me work through some of my Christmas knitting guilt. I decided that I wasn't going to knit Christmas presents for people this year (and Jeff keeps chanting "2000 and Mine!" at me) but I feel guiltly. So I'm knitting some Just Because socks for Sarah Beth.

First Sock Club!!

2009-10-04T23:06:00.003-05:00

I'm so excited!! I just signed up for my first sock club.

I guess this proves just how capricious I actually am - I have given up lusting after STR (though I still rather hope that my birthday in about a month consists almost entirely of STR) to lust after something new.

I have long had my eye on tigerlilith's blog - I became a fan in 2008 when she was doing her "Sweater a Month" challenge - and when we were in Scotland this summer Jorah and I went by her studio in West Kilbride and bought some yarn. I actually haven't knit anything with it yet - I've just been putting it in bowls and admiring it - but I can't wait. She's got a great color sense and I love her 2009 collection.

Anyway, she announced on her blog last week that she's going to do a 2010 preview club with sock yarn, and I have been agonizing over it for the last several days. Finally, after I found this pattern on Ravelry, I decided to go for it - a double international membership. The yarns are a surprise, but they're going to be dark, rich colors, which I am ALL about.

I'm not going to be buying any yarn any time soon, so I'm going to take the opportunity to knit up some of that yarn I acquired over the summer. I already (finally) finished the Cabbage Leaf Baby Blanket and I've resurrected the Wisconsin Heartwarmer. I've also got three pairs of socks going and an Ishbel. The only thing I'm planning on starting any time soon is the next Big Bad Baby Blanket in jungle colors for my boss's jungle baby, due January 3rd.

No more than three pairs of socks at a time!!!!

Cripping Jealousy

2009-09-29T12:44:00.004-05:00

Augh.

Did you see Friday's post on We Do Not Have a Knitting Problem? Did you see it?! I am full of jealousy. I greatly, greatly covet all three of those colorways. They are among my top ten most wanted on Blue Moon Fiber Arts right now. Also Rocktober. And Jonagold. And Autumn. And Fall On Tap. I'm all about the seasonal at this moment.

October: you are my favorite month.

Productive?

2009-09-21T19:57:00.007-05:00

I actually woke up this morning and couldn't get back to sleep - weird - and so I did something that felt productive (in the way that cataloging anime is productive).

I took pictures of all the yarn I've bought this summer and loaded it into Ravelry. I feel decadent!

I'll just hit the highlights for you, shall I?

From the genius tigerlilith at Old Maiden Aunt:

From Red Sock Yarn in Door County:

My very first Malabrigo - Malabrigo Sock- I've never been attracted to it before, but this was just lovely. It looks like the color of love to me, brown and red. Delicious. I'm going to knit myself some stockings.

From Spin in Sturgeon Bay:

Plymouth Happy Feet - going to become a baby blanket for my awesome boss who is expecting a jungle baby early next year.

And from Wisconsin Sheep and Wool (which was awesome):

This awesome sock yarn from Happy Hands.

And tons of Grandma's Blessing from Briar Rose in olive to make the Gap of Dunloe Cardigan of which I have been dreaming.

Lots of pictures. Sorry if there are too many pictures - they were just so pretty.

One of my Last Year's Goals is to put up yarn I don't want on Ravelry for trade and having started with all this yarn I'm definitely keeping, I'm hoping to put more up in the next week or so.

Yay for yarn!

Uh-oh

2009-09-17T00:30:00.004-05:00

The Christmas colorways are out on the Blue Moon Fiber Arts website. I was casually surfing and put $300 worth of sock yarn in my cart. Yeah. Can't push the buy button on that!

My Own Little World

2009-09-10T12:00:00.006-05:00

I know not too long ago I posted that I was going to post more, like I was doing in the spring, and then I fell off the face of the earth.

The truth is, while I have some things to post about, I haven't been knitting too much. I've alluded several times in the recent past to some health problems and sleep problems I've been dealing with, and they have been taking up most of my physical and mental energy. I'm hoping I'm going to be over this stuff pretty soon and able to get back to your normal obsessive knitting schedule, but until then let's just have a mismash blog entry.

I went to The Fold two weeks ago and it was everything I could hope for and more!! Jorah actually got more yarn than I did, but I came away with four skeins of STR Lightweight. It was very exciting.

The next weekend his folks had us up to Door County, which was about the most fun, relaxing vacation I can remember having ever. I slept a lot, it's true, but we also hung out, and Jorah and I drove around by ourselves on Saturday in the rain, finally landing in a sweet little yarn shop called Red Sock Yarn (where I bought some delicious looking Malabrigo Sock (my first Malabrigo, I haven't ever been attracted to it until now!), and on Sunday we took the ferry out to Washington Island.

Washington Island was beautiful - we went to the hotel and poked our heads in, and to Seiver' Fiber Arts Studio as well. Jeff got some Tuir on clearance (enough to make another sweater) and I got a book I loved when I was learning to weave at Oberlin - A Handweaver's Pattern Book.

On our way back to Madison on Monday we stopped at Spin in Sturgeon Bay, where I found some great stuff to make another Big Bad Baby Blanket (probably) for my boss, who knows she's having a baby, but doesn't know what kind, and is due on January 3rd. She's doing the nursery as a jungle, and I think this yarn is going to be perfect.

As far as knitting has gone, I finally finished the Dragon Socks! Work continues on the Lizard Ridge sample and the Big Bad Baby Blanket (slowly, slowly, I'm sleeping about 17 hours a day) but I'm just glad to have the Dragons done and out of my purse!

Now.

When we went up to Door County I sort of ran out of time to pack, so I just took three totes to the living room area and dumped in every single project I could find. I know for a fact that the socks I started for my brother were among them. FOR A FACT. They were sitting on the little end table, mocking me because I needed to rip back about 6 rows, and I distinctly remember thinking, 'maybe I'll fix these up there' and I packed them. Unsurprisingly, I didn't work on them while we were on vacation, and now I can't find them anywhere.

I've always been skeptical when people lose knitting, (how could you lose your knitting?) but now I have done it. Anyway, if you're up Door County and find a sock being made on 5 dpns from Midnight Derby Smooshy, and its about 6-8 rows into the heel flap, let me know, okay?

Castonitis

2009-08-18T23:14:00.004-05:00

After that bout of Knitting Ennui this summer I am surprised to find that I am suddenly stricken with Castonitis. As you know, this is a disease of knitting that can be extremely dangerous. Before you know it you can find yourself with 12 projects and no needles left, which can lead to panic attacks and feelings of despair when you think about how long it's going to take to finish everything.

Right now I'm still in the honeymoon stage of Castonitis, when you think all new projects and yarn are charming and say to yourself, "I can totally finish that before September!" In the last three weeks I have Cast On:

An Ann Norling Sweater that's going to be the model for the beginning sweater class that I'm teaching. It's been blocking for two days and is finally dry.
Ysolda's Ishbel - a delightfully charming shawl that is knitting up very quickly and begs me to work on it.
Some PerpenSOCKcular socks, which I ripped out after a few rows, not because I was frustrated, but for some unfathomable reason.

I have bought yarn for:

The PerpenSOCKculars, that yarn is wound back up and sitting on the coffee table telling me how pretty it is and how I should knit it RIGHT NOW.
A new earflap hat
A matching pair of mittens
A shaving kit bag (these are great, I'm going to write up a pattern for you!)
I also have 25$ in my Paypal account and am going to buy more sock yarn. I'm tempted to get Beached or ST-1 or ST-2 Socks that Rock, but a friend of mine also recommends Hazel Knits sock yarn. Or I could get some more Old Maiden Aunt.

I was already working on:

The Madison Heartwarmer (I saw working on, but really I haven't touched this since May.)
The Dragon Socks
Socks for my brother
The Cabbage Leaf Baby Blanket

I absolutely need to knit a Lizard Ridge sample so people know what the class is about, and I need to knit it as soon as possible. And it's been suggested at the shop that I knit a model of my Indian Corn Scarf out of RYC Wool Tweed for a fun rustic look.

See what I mean? Castonitis. I'm also starting to get twitchy about Christmas knitting, but I am trying to firmly make up my mind that there will be no Christmas knitting. The problem is that I know so many delightfully knitworthy people. But I don't have time to knit something for everyone.

The best cure for Castonitis I find, is the pleasure of finishing something, so with that in mind I really powered through to finish the Ann Norling Sweater. It's a great pattern with lots of options and I'm really going to enjoy teaching it. Please excuse the messy pictures, it's after dark here.

Tomorrow I start Lizard Ridge! Last time I got so I could do a square in a day, so let's hope for the same speed this time!

It Never Rains But It Pours

2009-08-13T18:25:00.008-05:00

It's been a pretty rotten summer. Jorah's been out of town since May and I've just had one health problem after another. I did have some pretty sweet vacations, but there have been issues at work because I missed so much time, and then I had to miss more time because I've been so sick. Things are starting to pull themselves back together, but I've been marveling a little at just how much can go wrong.

Things are starting to look up now though, and now that one good thing has happened (I got a promotion!) more good things are starting to follow. For one thing, look what came in the mail today:

And look what the first pattern is:

That's me! I'm Jennette Cross! That's my scarf! I'm in Knitcircus! Another short happy sentence!

And why haven't I been showing the blog knitting content? Because I've been speed-knitting the sweater for the Beginning Knitting: The Sweater class at Lakeside this fall. Yes, the fall class schedule came out and I am all over it! I'm probably going to get a few Scarf classes, which I do like to teach, but I'm glad to be mixing it up a little. Honestly, the sweater is almost finished, so I'm not going to bother photographing its pieces. The front and back are complete and I've just got about 5 inches or so left to do on the sleeves. I'll photo it after it's blocked.

Aside from the Sweater class I've got a class called Lizard Ridge, based on a beautiful afghan that was in the Fall 2006 Knitty. (Don't worry Knitty, participants have to go to knitty.com to download directions! Not like Knitty reads this blog!) Lizard Ridge is all about short rows and knitting backwards. Here's the one I knitted a few years ago for a friend's wedding:

And then in November, I'm teaching a class called Leaving Patterns Behind. It's going to be all about my way of approaching patterns, and how to alter them for size and yarn choice. The last part is going to be about writing patterns yourself. So folks, if you like the Bleeding Heart Raglan or the Henly Hoodie, come to Leaving Patterns Behind.

So you see, it never rains but it pours. Much of this summer has been about the bad, but now things are starting to look up, and oddly, just as bad things were happening one after the other, now good things are too. Example: Jorah returns on Saturday night!

Vacation Post #3

2009-08-08T23:46:00.007-05:00

The next morning we continued our tour of beautiful Western Ireland with the Dingle Peninsula.

This was my dad's favorite part of the Ireland tour, and it was completely stunning, but for some reason, I didn't get many photos. The problem, you see, is that I keep having to dig my camera (which is a bulky Nikon D50) in and out of my purse. I can't wear it around my neck like a self-respecting tourist, because three times the strap has given up and expensive digital camera has bounced on the pavement. So now I don't have a strap. I know they have some nice ones on Etsy, and I'd like to try one of those (hint: Christmas).

We took quite a large ferry across the River Shannon (it was extremely windy, cold, and fun) and then went to the Cliffs of Moher. That was just absolutely breathtaking. They are 700 feet tall and you can just see the first of the Aran Islands in the distance.

The view to the south:

To the north you see another Martello Tower:

Looking straight out to sea with the Aran Islands in the distance:

Here are some people enjoying their vacation & the wind:

A look a the waves crashing at the base of the cliffs - even though we were 700 feet up the wind brought us a little bit of surf sometimes:

The blue people, or, as they are better known, my beloved parents and sister:

After the Cliffs of Moher, we went to Doolin to set up camp (we spent two nights in Doolin at a ridiculous hotel). The first night was the birthdy of my much esteemed brother:

and so he had the honor of picking dinner. We went to a great pub, which we liked so much we went back the next night as well. Somehow this picture of my sister is the only one I took that night:

Doolin is supposed to be the capital of Irish music, and indeed, the first night we were there a great musician came in and played all manner of songs. We were just leaving when my family's favorite came up, "The Wild Rover" and so we stayed, and out sang and stomped the Irish. I know it's anglo-phile (or irisho-phile) of us, but it really is our song. My uncle and cousins learned it and sang it at mine and Jorah's wedding reception, there were words and signs and everything, and since then, we've adopted it.

I think that's enough with photos for now. Join us for Vacation Post #4, when I detail a much less fun ferry ride and find my first yarn of the trip!

August New Year

2009-08-04T21:44:00.004-05:00

It's August, which means . . . it's the new year! Yay! Hooray! Ticker Tape and Streamers!

Alright, now that that's over -

Seriously though, I do think of August as the new year because that is when I get a new planner. I'm very attached to my planners - in high school I made a dorked out custom binder called The Agenda of Champions - and take those little calendars very seriously. This has a bit of a different flavor this year though, because this year is likely to be our last year in Madison.

Yes, sadly (happily?) Jorah is supposed to graduate in the spring, and then we will officially be done with school. And Madison, at least for the present. It's a hard fact to face - I'm turning 26 this year, and I've lived here since I was 19. When we leave, I'll have lived here for 7 years - about a quarter of my life. We've been very happy here - and never happier than this last year in our own house on the Near East side.

In true New Years style, I've decided to come up with some Last Year's Goals - some of them are habits I want to get into, and some of them are one time kind of things I want to accomplish. I got this idea from a favorite blog of mine, my topography*. Because I'm going to be 26, I picked 26 Things to Do in the Last Year. I'm going to list them in the side bar to help remind myself.

Here they are:

1. tell people when they piss me off rather than get all angsty and hurt
2. ice skate at Tenney Park
3. submit patterns for publication
4. finish the Madison Heartwarmer using the weaving technique
5. go to the Farmer's Market whenever possible
6. get a tattoo
7. make steps to get this sleep thing sorted out
8. get back in the habit of going to the gym
9. put at least 1 pattern a month up on Ravelry
10. join/start a knitting group
11. try to get into Camp
12. get some healthy strategies for letting work go
13. update the blog frequently (at least 10 times a month) and use photos
14. go through the stash and list unloved yarn as trade on Ravelry
15. go through the house and take things to Goodwill every 3 months
16. put all music on the computer and then onto SB's old ipod
17. read NEW books, not just the same old favorites
18. no knitting patterns by other people until after dinner
19. walk the Lakeshore Path out to Picnic Point
20. go to Thursday music at the Terrace
21. go out on Lake Mendota on some form of boat
22. celebrate Jorah's graduation in style
23. visit The Fold
24. go to a Badger football game
25. don't let being nice mean I'm not tough with people who deserve it
26. call people I want to hang out with and ask to see them

Another thing I want to do at the end of this year is throw myself a graduation party. I may not have been in school, but working at Lakeside has taught me so much, and I'm wanting a little recognition too. I keep joking with Jorah that when he gets his Phd, I'm going to get my Masters in Popular Knitting from the Lakeside School of Retail. I say it jokingly, but I have considered fonts for the certificate I plan on making myself.

*(My Topography is great, by the way. She's a writer, artist, photographer, and 2nd grade teacher, and her kid is the most gorgeous kid on the internet.)

July Homework

2009-07-31T22:02:00.004-05:00

Just wanted to show the blog this cute picture of my July Harry Potter Knit and Crochet House Cup Homework.

Adorable, eh? They're called Korknisse, and though I saw the pattern online, I just made up my own rather than read the directions. I think they're hilarious. The goal is to make an advent calendar with the Felted Trees from Mason Dixon Knitting Outside the Lines, and then make a little forest where the Korknisse live. It's going to be great! Of course, I'm going to make many, many more Korknisse. I have tons of corks - one of the yarn store ladies saved her corks up for me for months and now I've got them coming out the ears.

As soon as I have time to knit them!

Vacation Post #2

2009-07-28T20:58:00.005-05:00

After Malahide we went to the Botanical Gardens, but I don't have any pictures because I was too tired to go in, so I sat on a bench outside and knit. I didn't know it at the time, but I was coming down with a killer sinus infection that would stick with me for several weeks.

Anyway, while I was knitting on that bench, little kids kept coming by and being fascinated. They were super cute, but my favorite was a little boy about 3 who came running up to me and said emphatically, "We HAVE to see the ducks!" I looked at him very seriously and said, "Well, that does sound important." His mom came up behind him and laughed and said "Oh, it is important." (Except picture those two with charming Irish accents.)

The next day we left Dublin and went to Kilkenny Castle, which wasn't my fave, but there was a really cool artist studio center thing across the street that had some great textiles. My sister got a truly gorgeous handwoven blanket made in Ireland from Irish wool - super jealous. I wanted to get a handwoven blanket myself, but didn't see anything nearly as nice the rest of the trip.

Our hotel that night was the Glasha Farmhouse. I was getting really sick by this point, and so unfortunately didn't see much of anything. I pretty much ate dinner and went to bed. The food was delicious though - the porrige we had for breakfast the next morning was amazing - one of the best things we had the whole two weeks.

We visited the Cobh (say it Cove) Heritage Center the next day, which was a nifty little museum. Cobh was a shipping town, (lots of the survivors of the Lusitania were put up here and it was also the Titanic's last port of call) and there was a great emigration museum about, essentially, Leaving Ireland Through the Ages. This is Annie Moore and her two brothers, the first family to be processed at Ellis Island. They left from Cobh & apparently there's an identical statue in New York.

Next was probably the eeriest thing we did. We went to Glengariff and took a boat ride to the Italian Gardens. I say it was eerie because you get on a little boat and putt out past a couple of small islands where (sad to say) mean-looking seals are chilling (we got this close!) and then you land and walk into this imaculately kept garden-island. There were all different kinds of garden there, of varying levels of formality and theme. The Italian Garden, of course,

But there was also a Temple looking out over the water at the mountains on the other shore.

The whole time we were there Jorah kept saying he felt like he was in World of Warcraft, and I kind of agreed with him. I don't WOW myself, but it definitely had that feeling of being too romantic that you get from video games - like no place could really be this beautiful. They even had their own Martello Tower for the Orcs to hide in!

Martello Towers were all over the coast - they were originally a part of the early warning system to watch for raiders. You could just go up inside this one to the roof. None of my roof pictures are that spectacular, but it was pretty breath-taking. There was a strong cold wind blowing that just invigorated me. The whole trip I kept saying over and over, "This is my favorite thing!" Going up in this Martello Tower was definitely one of my favorite things.

The next day was one of my favorite days in Ireland - I'm not surprised that it is the most popular day tour. The Ring of Kerry. Let's check the photographic evidence, shall we?

These are mostly taken in the Gap of Dunloe, where there's an little old road and you take a jaunting cart with a jerry (one horse cart with a driver) back to see the scenery. This was also really the only time that it was foggy or rainy the whole time we were out in Ireland and Scotland - for the most part it was all bright and sunny. And hot!

All these beautiful colors made me want to knit a sweater. It's in my head, this sweater, and I'm hoping to make it this fall, possibly out of Manos of Uruguay.

You can also see the picture of me petting a lamb. When we were coming back through customs we had to go through the Agricultural line, because I patted this sheep. The customs people were a little eye-rolly at us when we told them our only contact with animals was that I patted a sheep for five minutes in a parking lot. What can I say? Jorah and I are rule followers - we can't help it!

Anyway, even after the Gap of Dunloe there was lots more driving and getting out and taking pictures and honestly, it almost felt like a completely different planet. Everything was so ethereal and spectacular, it was hard to believe that we could all exist in the same place. I felt bad because at this point of the trip I was really quite sick and would no sooner get on the bus than I would pass out.

It was good to have sickness as an excuse though, because later that night we went to the Liam O'Conner Irish Show, which was utterly ridiculous. It was making my brain pound on the outside of my skull, (never a good sign) so Jorah and I left at halftime and walked back to the hotel. We were staying in Killarney at that point, and it was much more enjoyable to just walk and take in the evening. And then go to bed.

End of Knitting Ennui

2009-07-27T10:35:00.004-05:00

For the last couple of weeks I've been really bored with my knitting. Not exactly bored even, just not excited. I've been working on the same pair of socks and baby blanket for quite a long time now, and haven't really made much discernable progress. I was feeling like I wanted to Cast On something new, but couldn't decide what, even though I'm sort of flush with good yarn right now from the Ireland/Scotland trip.

I hate that feeling, not know what I want to knit. I have mentioned my obsessive personality - I don't do well without a project to occupy myself.

Then I went in to the yarn store this weekend. I have SEVERAL pretty sweet classes to teach this fall, (which I'm planning to post about in the next day or two). The bosslady and I were talking about my classes and the shop models I need to make so that people see what they're going to learn if they take my class. She loaded me up with about $150 worth of yarn and sent me home to get to work (that's more than one class).

As soon as I got home, did I start the shop models? Or did I cast on for a new pair of socks for my brother and finally decide what to make with that mystery alpaca I got several years ago at the Midwest Alpaca Fest?

So now I have four projects on the needles, with two more I need to cast on this week. Oh yeah, and the Heartwarmer has been stalled for several weeks too . . .

Ahhhh. That's better.

Vacation Post #1

2009-07-25T00:22:00.007-05:00

I keep thinking I'll blog when I knit something, but it just so happens that right now I'm awash in a sea of knitting indecision. All I've really got going are the Dragon Socks and the Cabbage Leaf Baby Blanket, which I've been working on for ages and you've completely already seen. So I'm going to write up the vacation instead!

The first day we got to Dublin and drove around a little before walking to a pub and having a Guinness. It's true what they say - Guinness in Ireland is completely different from US Guinness. I'm not much of a Guinness fan stateside, but it is delicious in Ireland. I had some Donegal Lamb Pie that first night too, and by the way, they are as delicious to eat as they are to knit with. We were pretty exhausted and turned in early-ish, but not too early - have to beat the time change!

The next day we started by going to the Boynne Valley. You pull up to a little Visitor Center and then take a little bus to Newgrange, Nowth, or Dowth, which are all sites of Passage Tombs. We went to Newgrange. Passage Tombs are pretty cool. Here are my two favorite boys walking down to the visitor center.

They might not even really be tombs, but they obviously had some kind of cerimonial purpose for the pre-Celts and people think that whoever they were, they worshiped the sun. The tombs are some of the oldest surviving man-made structures on Earth - 500 years older than the pyramids. When the Celts got here they thought the tombs were the entrances to Faerie and left the places assiduously alone. The Irish name Bru na Boinne, means, "The Otherworld at Boynne." (I was extremely happy about all of the Irish on road signs and waysides and museums. Everything has to be written in Irish too, and police and lawyers all have to speak fluent Irish because you have the right to demand your trial take place in Irish!)

The only entrance to Newgrange is a narrow, somewhat winding tunnel that slopes just slightly upward. Over the door on the outside is a little window box, which is exactly level with the floor in the center of the mound. On the morning of the winter solstice, the window box precisely lines up with the sun rising over the mountains on the other side of the valley, and the light creeps up the passage and touches the center of the room. Nowth and Dowth are lined up for the Equinoxes.

We were pretty near Drogheda, by the by, (I took a picture of the map) but didn't make it to the home of the Clarys. Father du Bricassard is a jackass, by the way. Also, it's not pronounced Dro-gee-da, it's DhroHEDa. So there.

Anyway, after Newgrange we went to Malahide Castle, which was really fun, and our first experience with the cafeterias in all of the historic places over there. NPS take note - I bet they make mad profit with their good variety of hot food in all of the parks.

I was extremely excited that the castle had a doorbell.

Malahide was cool, but the best part was the garden in the backyard. The family retired to Tasmania awhile ago, but spent most of the 20th century making a beautiful garden with specimens from all over the world. If you know my family, you know one of our favorite things to do is to wander around gardens and say, "What do you think this is? It looks like a . . . but I've never seen one this shape before . . . see if there's a sign . . ." We amuse ourselves.

My brother and sister and I also reenacted an old photo from our past. Of course, in that photo, we can reach all the way around the tree. (And we're like, 11, 9, and 8.)

Traveling Summer

2009-07-20T01:16:00.003-05:00

Whew.

Just got back from my friend's wedding in California, where I have been for the last week. It was completely beautiful and I had a blast, but I am glad to be home.

This summer has been pretty chaotic so far, but I'm feeling good now. Just one more month until Jorah is back, and no more traveling and living out of a suitcase or sitting in airports. My work schedule will normalize and I'll be able to knit and blog with regularity again.

And tomorrow I pick up the dogs!

Here they are chilling together in my office. They love that chair.

Can't Sleep Clowns Will Eat Me

2009-07-02T10:22:00.007-05:00

I'm sick as a dog and miserable as all get out, but I can't take a nap because I have a Dr.'s appointment in 45 minutes. After they sent me home from work this morning (thank the gods) I downloaded a bunch of vacation photos (I had to dump them onto Jorah's laptop while we were traveling because my memory card is itty-bitty - he's emailing them to me.) I have almost all of them.

Just to warn you, I am planning on writing up the vacation - I have lots of beautiful photos (although not much knitting content) and I want to be able to remember this vacation in the years to come, and I'm not really convinced that I have a rabid knitting following anyway which will be perturbed if we veer into vacation photos for awhile.

But until then, here's a teeny-weeny bit of knitting content - the bare minimum I did to not get kicked out of the Knit & Crochet House Cup. Divination's July assignment was to make something tea or coffee related, and so I present to you, The Mug Snug.

Isn't she lovely? This is my favorite mug, and I use her all the time, especially now, being so sick. Russian grannies the world over recommend chai s'myodum (tea with honey) for the sick, and I am all about it. I pretty much always have a pot on the stove making me some more.

As you can see, there is a built-in coaster as well. I have convinced myself that there's such a thing as scorching a table and that I need a coaster for hot drinks. I have always been scornful when I've seen patterns for these in books but the truth is, I realy like it. It really is nice and cosy. The only problem so far is that I was admiring the smooth way I picked up stitches to knit the bottom at one point, tipped the cup too far, and poured hot tea in my lap. Well, we can't all be smart.

Found Some Yarn!

2009-06-20T15:20:00.004-05:00

You would think, being in Ireland, that I would be up to my neck in the stuff. You would think that I would be sick of wool, that I would have enough wool to last me for the rest of my life.

The truth is, wool has been in somewhat short supply over here. It seems like the Irish want you to buy their already knit sweaters, not knit your own. This doesn't make a ton of sense to me, but then, I think everyone should knit everything. Everyone needs a thneed.

Also, were you aware that the sun, essentially never sets over here? It is literally birght as day here, and it's well after 9PM as I'm typing. I'm too exhausted to write much more tonight - it's been a pretty go-go-go vacation - but I wanted to post some pictures of the finished Henly Hoodie - literally finished 45 minutes before the cab came to go to the airport.

When it was first finished I was somewhat disappointed, but decided that I would wear if for two weeks on vacation, and if I still wasn't sure I would pull it apart. About a week in now, and I've decided I love it. I did buy buttons for it, but decided to 86 the buttons. I like it just the way it is.

In these pictures, by the way, I'm standing in front of the Passage Tomb at Newgrange, one of the oldest surviving man-made structures on Earth, 500 years older than the pyramids. I got to go inside. And can I get a whoop-whoop for Dream in Color yarns? Look at that Deep SeaFlower, especially in the above picture. They know their dyes.

I'll be telling you all about the wool that I bough on INISHMORE the largest of the ARAN ISLANDS when I get back. I might have bought 6,000 yards. Maybe.

Regularly scheduled blogging will resume 1st week of July when you will be treated to entry after entry of me desperately trying not to get kicked out of the HPKCHC.

Where Have I Been?

2009-06-09T21:40:00.005-05:00

It's been a long time since my last post, and the truth of why is that I am lame.

1) I have become utterly obsessed with Battlestar Galactica. Jorah and I like to buy dorky tv shows for special occasions. Our 2 year wedding anniversary was right after he left for New Mexico, and we celebrated by getting Battlestar Galactica. Let me just say that it is testing my loyalties in many ways. I love and adore Joss Whedon, and sincerely believed that there would never be anything better than Angel, Firefly, or Buffy (in that order) but I am LOVING this show. I'll be able to give a full verdict later this summer after the 2nd part of season 4 comes out. In the meantime, I have barely even checked my email.

2) All my knitting is boring. I haven't finished a single thing since the last post. I did fix all of the problems I was complaining about in May, but things are still fairly boring. Here's a WIP photo tour:

The Henly Hoodie. The truth is, I'm not crazy about the armseyes - there's something rotten in the state of Denmark. I need a sweater to wear in Ireland/Scotland though, so I'm finishing it - armseyes be damned. If I'm still unhappy with it, I'll pull it apart when I get home and reknit it - the Classy is to good to frak with. As you can see, I'm almost finished the hood. Then I just need to deal with the ends and put the buttons on.

The Stock Socks. These used to be my Mermaid socks, but they were too small. I decided I ought to come up with a basic sock recipe for myself for a plain old sock, and so these are it. They are my purse socks, and and they travel around with me.

The Cabbage Leaf Baby Blanket. I pulled back the whole thing not long ago all the way to the CO. I'm knitting it again, 20 sts narrower. I dig this blanket, although, as you can see, I still have not been able to take a decent picture of it.

And finally, because I've been going crazy knitting all this stockingnette, I started some Shur'tugals out of some Dream in Color Starry - Nightwatch. I'm pretty crazy about the Starry, and I don't usually like glitzy yarn. I have some in Romeo Blue too, and that is going to become - you guessed it - Viper Pilots!

I had so much fun knitting in May because I gave myself some deadlines. This month has been really hard though, because I'm leaving the country for two weeks. I have homework to do for the Harry Potter Knit and Crochet House Cup, and I don't know when I'm going to do it - whatever it is, I'm going to have to post it to the net pretty quick after I get back - homework is due by midnight on the 30th.

I also wrote up two patterns in May, and found that it gave me a lot of focus and structure. It's something I need to do more often. This guy thinks so too:

He likes to sleep under my desk while I type. This is him sleeping on one of my slippers. Since this picture was taken I've moved one of his beds under there. He's much more comfortable now.

Simon Tam Pattern

2009-05-27T11:01:00.005-05:00

The pattern for my Simon Tam is now available as a Free Ravelry Download!

I had some technical difficulties in the last few days, but the Ravelry Shopkeepers Group sorted me out. Thank goodness.

This is a great little pattern, if I do say so myself. Although there are only two of these on my project page, one I knit for Kate and the other for me, I have also made a pink one for my sister, a red one for my mom, a gray one for Jorah's grandmother, and a white one for my grandmother. I can make one in six hours, and it's one of my very favorite presents to give.

It's made by holding 2 strands together - Ultra Alpaca doubled for the cuff, and then one strand Ultra Alpaca, one strand Tilli Tomas Rock Star, which is a glorious beaded silk. It's knit on size 10 needles, so it knits up quite quickly - I can make one in less than six hours.

I haven't had this pattern test knit, (apologies) so I'm offering it free. If you find any errata, I hope you will leave a comment or email me right away so I can help. This is the first pattern I've written up for other people, and I want it to be good!

Mad Color Socks

2009-05-26T12:46:00.004-05:00

Mad Color Socks are finished! Nine pairs since the start of Sock Obsession 2009!

These are my homework for May Defense Against the Dark Arts for the Harry Potter Knit and Crochet House Cup. The assignment was to make something that would protect us, and so these are the Protego Socks. They will protect my feet from the cold, but they are also so bright and cheery that they will protect me from Dementors or the ill effects of proximity with Horcruxes.

In all honesty, I love these socks. I wanted to find a way to use this colorway and looked at some pictures of it knit up on Ravelry. I saw these from knitglit who writes Jumble of Wonderful and fell in love. I ordered some for myself and was off to the races. The colors are gorgeous and most correct in the second photo.

The pattern, Mad Color Weave, was also really fun to knit. If I do it again, and I predict that I may, I think I'll change the twisted rib on the side, although I don't know what I'd do differently. The yarn is of course, Spawn of Braun Socks that Rock Lightweight. It was a joy to knit with.

Humiliating (But Great) Geeker Freakout

2009-05-23T22:00:00.004-05:00

Today at the yarn store I was ringing up a lady's purchases, thinking that she had good taste, when she handed me her check.

I looked at the check. I looked at her. I looked at the check. I looked at her. Finally blurt out, "Are you the Patricia C. Wrede?"

PATRICIA C. WREDE CAME TO MY YARN STORE TODAY!!!!!

She was very nice. Her friend explained that they were in town for WisCon between effusive babblings of joy (from yours truly.) I told her that The Enchanted Forest Chronicles were my favorite books when I was a kid, and that I saved my money so that I could buy them all in hardcopy, I told her that I also loved Caught in Crystal and that when I was a kid I checked it out of the library over and over, that I had read her books to the kids in my After School Program last fall and then gone online and seen that she had written more books, but I hadn't found them in a bookstore yet.

I am sure that I came off like a complete crazy person and Patricia C. Wrede, if you're out there, I'm not usually like that. I'm usually really reserved and private, but you have to understand, you are the hero of my childhood. Reading those books made me want to be a writer. Reading about how amazing and awesome Cimorene was made me want to be that awesome and amazing. The female characters are great, and I wanted to be them! (Mendenbar also rocks.)

My sister's online handle is the name of one of the cats in Calling on Dragons, after I bought the hardbacks, I gave my brother the paperbacks and he read them over and over again, I have a sketchbook at home full of painstaking drawings my fifth grade self did of her characters. I have read these books literally dozens of times - anyone suggesting upwards of thirty times would not be accused of crazy talk - and they basically sparked my voracious love of reading as a child.

She's the first writer I read who played with the reader and had funny little references. I just remember how clever I thought she was when Cimorene posted that sign about "No Salesmen or Rescuers THIS MEANS YOU!" and how delighted I was by The Wicked Stepmothers' Traveling, Drinking, and Debating Society, Men's Auxilary. I wanted to learn Latin because of these books so I could conjugate Draconis with Cimorene, and this is where I learned the expression, "Rare as hen's teeth." I also learned that you never trust a wizard, but magicians are okay, that everybody gets lonely, even the King of the Enchanted Forest, and that gingerbread and apple cider almost always make people feel better.

I babbled like a monkey, but I just hope she took it in the spirit in which it was intended: utter delight and admiration. Honestly, I'd made such an ass of myself already, I only wish I remembered that I had my camera in my bag. I could have asked for a picture!

Who is the hero from your childhood it would render you incoherent to meet?