Kung Fu Knitting

Pattern: Striped Stocking Cap

2012-01-08T13:56:00.000-05:00

Years ago I had a BF that really wanted a stocking cap to sleep in. Yes, sleep in. Isn't that odd? I couldn't find a pattern that I liked on the Internetz. They were all so long and I didn't want to get strangled while I was sleeping, so I went about experimenting. I came up with an easy and fast pattern that used up odds and ends of bulky yarn and made a fun hat. See picture for fun factor.

After so long I'm writing this hat up for several reasons. One is that people always ask about it when I wear it. ".Where did I get that hat? ... Oh, you made it?" Then "Is there a pattern?" Now I can direct them here. Another is that this is my tried and true winter hat. It's the hat I leave at school and wear during recess outside in Ithaca that keeps my ears from falling off (last winter that was nearly every day). Another fantastic reason to share this pattern is that this hat fits on my head no matter what I do to my hair AND covers my ears. Bun? Stretch - NO problem. Pony tail? Slips right over and bounces back into place. Hair down? Hat heaven. It also never comes off. The cold wind blowing over the hills around Ithaca has nothing on this stocking hat. It's warm, it's snuggly and stays on your head regardless of hairstyle or weather.

What You Need:

Odds and ends of bulky weight yarn totaling 95 grams (including pompom) in a combination that pleases you. I used 3 colors of left-over Lamb's Pride Bulky. The yarn that I had the most of (light purple) became the main color.
1 set of US13 DPNs (or hat sized circular). Possibly size 11s as well. Brittanys are easy to find and a joy to knit with.
Stitch markers if you wish to use them. I'll put directions for these in parentheses.
Tapestry needle for weaving in ends
Gauge is 2.5 stitch and 4 rows make 1 inch in stockinette in the round.

Tip
To get rid of the jog when changing colors, simply slip the first stitch as if to purl and knit as indicated in the pattern directions for the rest of the round. This makes an even color join when knitting in the round. Easy, and works like a charm.

Stripy Stocking Hat

Cast on 51 stitches with size 13 needle in the main color (MC). Divide stitches evenly over needles - 17 per needle (If using a circular needle place a marker at the join). Knit 5 rounds. If you're looking for a tighter fit you may want to switch to size 11 needles after the caston to knit this first section of MC (this is my preference when knitting with Baby Grande Alpaca).

Switch to contrasting color 1 (CC1) and knit for 4 rounds.
Switch to MC and knit for 5 rounds.
Switch to contrasting color 2 (CC2) and knit 4 rounds.
Switch to MC and knit 5 rounds.

Switch to CC1 and knit 2 rounds. [If using a circular needle set up with markers on this last row: K17 place marker (PM), K17 PM, K17 and you come to the end of the round with a marker already there. If not, place one now. ]

Begin Gradual Decrease of Hat Circumference

DPNs: All decreasing rounds follow this pattern: Knit until last 3 stitches on needle, K2Tog, Knit 1.

Circular: All decreasing rounds follow this pattern: Knit until last 3 stitches before marker, K2Tog, Knit 1. Why do it this way? Knitting one stitch after the decrease on the third K2Tog makes for a nice join when you slip the first stitch in a color change.

Still in CC1

Round (R) 1: decrease (48 stitches)

R2: knit all stitches.

Change to MC

R3: decrease (45 stitches)

R4: knit all stitches.

R5: decrease (42 stitches)

R6: knit all stitches.

R7: decrease (39 stitches)

Change to CC2

R8: knit all stitches.

R9: decrease ( 36 stitches)

R10: knit all stitches.

R11: decrease (33 stitches)

Change to MC

R12: knit all stitches.

R13: decrease (30 stitches)

R14:knit all stitches.

R15: decrease (27 stitches)

R16: knit all stitches.

Change to CC1

R17: decrease (24 stitches)

R18: knit all stitches.

R19: decrease (21 stitches)

R20: knit all stitches.

Change to MC

R21: decrease (18 stitches)

R22: knit all stitches.

R23: decrease (15 stitches)

R24: knit all stitches.

R25: decrease (12 stitches)

Change to CC2

R26: knit all stitches.

R27: decrease (9 stitches)

Still in CC2 Put down the 4th DPN. Take the third needle (the one you just finished knitting) and K2Tog on 1st needle. Divide the remaining 8 stitches evenly onto needles 1 and 3 from needle 2. (if using circular needle K2Tog and separate the remaining 8 stitches evenly onto two needle points for Kitchener stitch.)

Kitchener the remaining 8 stitches together. (I'm a Kitchener fiend and so I like to do it at every available opportunity. It just looks so nice. You should try it, too, especially if you haven't before. This is the PERFECT opportunity to practice: the pompom will cover up any imperfections that might crop up into your work.

Kitchener tutorial on Knitty.com: http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEsummer04/FEATtheresasum04.html

Kitchener tutorial on Knit Picks http://www.knitpicks.com/tutorials/Kitchener_Stitch__D41.html

Pull yarn through last loop and weave in ends.

Make one foofy pompom to sew onto end.

Orange Bandana Cowl

2012-01-07T13:44:00.002-05:00

I saw this Bandana Cowl Pattern On Ravelry and thought it would be an excellent accessory. At first glance it seems like it might be a boring knit, but there's a ton of short rows hidden in this cowl. I've been wanting to revisit this technique for ages. I dug into my stash to see if I could come up with a doable yarn. I've had two balls of Cleckheaton Merino yarn for forever and I haven’t had any ideas what to do with it. I always thought it would make a nice hat,but I think this turned out better.

Yarn: Cleckheaton Merino Supreme (washable), 2 balls
Needle: US 9 hat sized circular

The short row tutorial linked in the pattern is awesome. I’ll never be confused over picking up a wrapped stitch again. :-)

As I knit the fabric felt a little tight and I was worried that it wouldn't drape or fold.

Mods: I did short rows until there were 9 stitches left between the wrapped stitches. I’m trying to make sure I have enough yarn to complete. I knit 4 decreasing rounds but left off the last two knit rounds as I’m thought I might run out of yarn.

I bound off with a regular purl 2 slip one over, but it’s very loose and so the top just curls right over! Hopefully blocking can fix this.

Reflection on the knit: I got a little unhappy with this knit about half-way through when I noticed how pointy the end was (there seems to be lots of mods for this on Ravelry). Then looking at it as I knit I wondered about the final product. It didn’t seem like it would look nice on. Surprisingly - and even with the curled over top edge - it looks great on and I think I can give it away as a gift.

Dry-Erase LOLCat Posters By My Students

2012-01-05T21:22:00.001-05:00

I in your basket you has no food.

(ha ha ha)

(Do I has solo)

(I is guilty)

Welcome Prizners

Gifted

2012-01-03T17:30:00.001-05:00

I love that the sweater my friend is wearing is the EXACT color as the cowl.

Wurm Cowl

2012-01-01T15:44:00.000-05:00

Gift for a friend. I bought the yarn ( Knit Picks Capra) a while ago with this person in mind. She loves yellow and she loves soft. I've been looking for a pattern but nothing really inspired me until I saw a cowl made from the Wurm pattern. Visible on Ravelry here. The colorway of Frank Ochre is close to mine and I thought, "Wow, that looks warm and so very Yellow. D would love that!" Caston! Four days and 16 hours later (slow poke knitter that I am) it's done and just as warm and lovely as I thought it would be. Now to gift it and take a picture with the recipient!

Yarn: Nearly 3 skeins of Knit Picks Capra in Honey
Needles: US 7, bamboo circulars

Caston: 200 st - I didn't even think of doing something fancy, just a longtail here.
Castoff: I Put a littile more thought into this and did a stretchy lace castoff.

I knit 8 repeats of the pattern suggested by CatReading (5 Purl, 4 knit rounds beginning and ending with 3 round of garter.)

Finished dimensions:
L: 25"
W: ~5"

Season 2 in Photos: Part 2

2011-12-31T16:59:00.000-05:00

Scrap!

Vs. Philly Independence Dolls

Empire Skate Showdown 2 MVP for the SufferJets!!!!

ESS2

@ESS2

ESS 2: vs. Assault City

ESS2: vs. Wall Street Traitors

Season 2 in Photos: Part 1

2011-12-31T16:21:00.000-05:00

Vs. Rideau Valley

Vs. Roc City

At RollerCon

Vs. Buffalo

Vs. Pittsburg

Ithaca Festival Parade

Vs. Wall Street Traitors

Vs. CNYRD

By Lauren Comley

Vs. Les Sexpos

Vs. Pioneer Valley

Catching Up; June

2010-07-06T12:39:00.005-04:00

SufferJets vs. Utica Roller Girls: my birthday bout!

Photos by Jennifer Hamm and Lauren Comly

Catching Up: May

2010-07-05T22:05:00.004-04:00

Photos by Keith Thompson :-)

Catching Up: April

2010-07-05T21:57:00.003-04:00

Photos by Keith Thompson

Catching up: March

2010-07-05T21:49:00.002-04:00

Different fall, same leg...

2010-02-13T13:09:00.003-05:00

I was jamming during a scrimmage on 2/4 and got knocked down several times. I fell on the same place on my leg that I bruised before. It wasn't healed yet. The impact pretty much dead-legged. You can see the result.

That night I woke up sobbing because any little thing that touched the area that surprisingly has no coloration made my skin burn and sting. It hurt so badly and was (is still) swollen about an inch puffier than the rest of my thigh. Luckily the next day that same area went numb. I still can't feel jack on that lump, but the rest is still tetchy.

I really need to lower my toe-stops

2010-01-23T15:47:00.003-05:00

My new skates slid out from under me when I was skating backwards and rolled onto my toe-stops. It hurt!

Skating that night was so worth it though. I haven't scrimmaged since the bout in November. The last few times we have scrimmaged I haven't been able to because on X-mas eve I sprained the medial collateral ligament (MCL) in my right knee. It had nothing to do with derby, but it got me down because tryouts for my team are coming up soon. I want to make sure I get rostered.

In any case, my knee is healing well. I've been doing rigorous physical therapy beginning this week. I taped it up on Thursday and went for it. I felt scrappy. This is always how I like to feel when I skate derby. I skater better in this mind frame. It was just at the end of practice skating backwards for fun when I had my little accident.

Retro Cloche Hat

2010-01-18T14:53:00.016-05:00

I was out shopping and couldn't help but stop into one of the local knitting shops that carries Malabrigo. I ended up with a skein of worsted in cypress, which though it looks black, in the sun light (and under the flash) takes on a deep green, varigated coloring. I also purchased a skein of Malabrigo Twist in red. I think I am going to make a hat out of that one, too.

I wanted to make another cloche because this is definitely my new favorite style of hat. I think it's suited to my face. Plus, I needed a plain, black hat that covered my ears. Living in the Ithaca, I now think that all hats should do this. Otherwise it's just too cold for my little earsies.

I searched Ravelry for a cloche hat pattern that met my gauge needs, and I finally came up with the Retro Cloche Stash Hat. It looked quite whimsical and comfy, not quite my vision of a cloche, but nice anyway. I was a little frustrated with the pictures on Ravelry as most just showed the back of the hat. While this is definitely a great design feature for this pattern I think the most important aspect about choosing a hat pattern is how it will potentially look on my head. Thanks to those of you who showed your face pic with the hat!

Most of the details on how I knit this pattern up are on my Ravelry page, here. I will say here that this hat definitely needs the ribbon to hold it on. Without it a strong breeze would lift the hat off my head.

On another note this is the first time I have ever had to go shopping for hat trimmings. I had a very Austen moment the other day as I realized this. I did, indeed, feel a little like a Bennet perusing the ribbons in Merryton. I'm not satisfied with the one I have. I'd like to get a two+ inch dark green, velvet ribbon. I'll have to wait until I find a fancy ribbon shop close by.

Yarn: Malabrigo Worsted in Cypress

Needles: #8 straights and #7 hat sized circulars

Thoughts: To have faith in what I am doing, to be thankful for what I have.

Belated Summer Knitting

2009-12-28T14:09:00.002-05:00

Another Side Slip Cloche from Boutique Knits. One of my best friends was visiting NYC and bought two skeins of Karabella Soft Tweed yarn at School Supplies. I had that yarn for months but nothing inspired me to knit it up. Then before I left to visit her in Israel, I was looking through Boutique Knits and I knew it would be a perfect match.

I wanted the hat to be "Made in Israel" so I cast on at the airport and knit throug

hout the plane trip and while I was traveling. I really wanted to take on FO photo on the promenade over looking the old city by her house, bu

t it didn't work out that way. I ended up finishing the hat in Israeli airspace on the journey home. I didn't end up sending it until way later.

Yarn: Karabella Soft Tweed - absolutely wonderful to knit.

Needles:

trusty #7 hat size circulars, #8 and #7 DPNs to finish.

Thoughts: Love for my friend Michelle while knitting.

Jamming

2009-11-18T14:38:00.002-05:00

My first big bout as a skater for Ithaca (finally I've recovered from tearing the cartilage in my knee!). We played up in Rochester. There were about 1000 people there. I was mostly supposed to play back blocker or outside and jam a few times, but one of the main jammers broke her nose in the middle of the first half. So I subbed in for her.

It was surreal hearing the commentators talking about me as I skated. I had a good time, but my legs were utterly exhausted at the end of the bout. I got knocked down so many times. Getting back up and sprinting back to the pack really wore me down. Wouldn't trade the experience for anything, though.

I love how in this picture it's really evident that we are playing as a team: Rage is taking care of Roc City's back blocker for me and Thunder Vittles is watching that no one is coming after me as I skate by. :-)

Making the float 2

2009-05-27T18:35:00.001-04:00

Homemade Goodness

2009-05-25T21:46:00.003-04:00

My first kim chee made with cabbage, cucumber, carrot, scallions and broccoli. It turned out yummy and even though I knew it was supposed to bubble, I was very surprised by the amount of bubbling when I first opened it.

Contrail Shadow

2009-05-18T20:29:00.001-04:00

A contrail shadow imaged from my car.

Sideways Grande Hat in Malabrigo Worsted

2009-04-12T13:01:00.006-04:00

Another hat from Boutique Knits by Laura Irwin. I love the look of this hat in the book, but not so much on me. The twist I tried and hated. I replaced it with a cable picked up from the crown and sewn underneath. I might chuck the whole twist Idea and opt for buttons.

I'm very pleased with the way the Malabrigo worsted knit up. The feel, look and texture are perfect. Baby Grande Alpaca would have been soft. However I was afraid of shedding, stretching and loss of stitch definition. Plus it was in my stash and waiting to be knit into a hat.

4 by 4 by 4 by 4

2009-01-10T13:16:00.006-05:00

I was tagged by Cayli! My challenge is to:

Go to my 4th picture folder
Post my the fourth picture in that folder
Tell 4 things about that photo
And tag 4 other people

So I will do just that:

This is a photo of a corona or halo around the moon. It was incredible that night.

I took it with my digital and did not have a tripod. I was lucky that it was not blurrier.

Now I know how to use an old rangefinder that I got when my grandmother passed on. If I had been able to use it that night I would have taken a better photo.

I've always been fascinated by the night sky, but one of my favorite sites, Atmospheric Optics, has inspired me and made me aware that there is so much more to see.

If you read this, consider yourself tagged!

Cloches are Cool.

2008-12-29T15:54:00.013-05:00

Since graduating this December I have had time to think about knitting again. While I was waiting to get my car towed in the middle of a snow storm I took shelter in a yarn store (was that lucky or what?). I was tempted into buying Boutique Knitting by Laura Irwin because of the photo on the front cover. I love cloche hats and I have always wanted to knit one. When I saw this book I knew I wanted to knit this one.

I chose some random black yarn from scraps at home (Plymouth baby alpaca) and cast on. While I was knitting the ruffled band I also had a vision of hearts for this hat. So I found some Noro Kojaku that I was gifted a while ago and it seemed suitable. The result is a faux isle rainbow heart cloche.

It looks better on. Front:

Side:

Other side:

With the black yarn it's hard to see the ribbing on the band especially the top-most rib. It just melts in, but I suppose that's one of the hazards of using black yarn in an area that is supposed to show texture. Or maybe it has to do with the way I am wearing it.

Winter

2008-12-27T22:49:00.002-05:00

A holiday project

2008-01-03T21:44:00.000-05:00

I made these chainmail earrings for a holiday gift exchange at work. I was pretty pleased by the overall results.

As for knitting, I have been working on finishing a big project. Soon I shall have some results to share. :-)

Wishing everyone peace and happiness in the new year.

Far away...

2007-11-30T00:18:00.000-05:00

Censored by email

Not even a phonecall
not one word spoken
yet those words still hang in the air.

.....the girl you will always physically adore.
(not more)

It was everything else that mattered.

2007-11-24T23:23:00.001-05:00

After a very long break, I have some knitting to share with the world. I made this scarf for my father. He lost the cashmere one I made for him a Christmas ago and wanted a replacement. I kept the same color scheme. Brown goes with both black and navy blue and this is important as my father is a very "Brooks Brothers" sort of fellow.

Orginally I wanted to make the phyllotaxis scarf from Knitting Nature, but it just didn't knit up quite right. I figured you really can't go wrong with basket weave for a guy, so I settled on that. My dad is a big guy and likes a long scarf so even though I bought 600 yards of natural, unbranded, alpaca yarn I still needed more hence the different colored ends. I was so lucky to find a great match in merino.

The next picture is a close up.

Life is so much different than in May, the date of my last posting. I'm in grad school for a masters in teaching. I enjoy my program for the most part and am learning a lot, but I am tres busy. I also have a long commute three days per week. I wish I were riding the bus instead of driving. I would get so much knitting done. And it would be a good way to relax.

Life is so much fuller in some ways with endless papers and lesson plan, but also so much emptier.

On a lighter note I saw the most amazing concert recently: Vieux Farke Toure and Tinariwen. Both bands were incredible live: jamming, rythmic, melodic. A totally different sound than I had ever heard before, yet completely appealing and left me feeling joyful.

Check out this clip:

Momo looks like ....

2007-05-15T07:56:00.000-04:00

"Momo looks like she's picking her nose"

A new meme! And pretty cute. Consider yourself tagged. Go to Google and write "yourname looks like" and pick the best result from the first page to post.

Miriam worked out a little nicer: "Miriam looks like she's channeling Snow White"

Golden Gloves

2007-04-15T14:59:00.000-04:00

So let me just start out by saying that I didn't win my match at the Syracuse Golden Gloves, but I did have a good time, a good fight and learned a great deal.

We left Ithaca before noon on friday. There were 11 fighters plus coaches riding up together in a van from GIAC. It was crowded, but fun. The guys and gals from my gym are good natured and easy going so sitting hip to hip was not uncomfortable at all.

When we arrived at the fairgrounds in Syracuse, we were able to weigh in right away. After the numbers were recorded the organizers looked to find matches in your weight and experience class (coaches kind of RSVP their fighters). It turned out that I didn't have one which really bummed me out, but with the weigh ins over there was something really important to catch up on: Eating.

We all went out to lunch and then came back to the fairgrounds. If you were matched up, you had to see the doctor. It turned out that while I was gone someone my weight had registered. So I was sent to have my BP taken and have the doctor check my breathing. Basically it's a you're alive test.

Then you have to wait and wait. But you can see here that one of our fighters, Aaron "The Educator" King, is wasting no time setting up his lesson plans getting ready to school some fighters that day. On the right is Jalal - who didn't get to fight on Friday, but who looks to be taking some serious notes.

So you continue to wait until the officials draw all the fights. Sometimes there are an uneven number of fighters in a weight and experience class, so some people get a bye until the championship match on Saturday. But it took a really long time as there were two rings and nearly fourty fights to match.

At 5:30 the lists were all made up. I was set to fight the 6th bought in Ring 1. I got changed shortly after that. I had black shoes, knee-highs, trunks, and tank. I thought a little black fishnet would spice things up, so I put on some stockings for flavor.

And guess who showed up? Gals from Stitch'N Bitch!!!! It was an awesome suprise. Especially since no one from my family or any of my close friends sans one had even called to wish me well. So it really made my day.

Before the fight you get called to the glove table and the color of gloves you wear determines your corner. I had red ones and so I had the red corner.

I warmed up with GiGi, one of the coaches down at our gym. He held mitts for me and got me moving around and warm. By the time my match came around I was ready to go. My coach had told me that he didn't want me moving towards her at all. I was supposed to keep my opponent outside on the end of my jab. Then I was supposed to time it and hit her with my left. Because I was taller than her this strategy would preserve my reach and height advantage.

The first round I did a good job of moving around the ring and keeping my opponent off guard. I had never had anyone press me into a corner before or against the ropes, but I was able to spin out to keep from getting caught up. I needed to work my jab harder during this round but I think it was pretty good overall. My corner told me that I needed to work double jabs and stick it with my left.

During the second round my opponent really put on some heat and came at me like crazy. I got popped in the nose pretty hard and started to bleed like mad. And things started to go south after that. She overwhelmed me with superman punches and I lost my head. For me that means I start to lean back and my chin is up way too high making a nice target. But through all the blood, the fight went the distance. I had two standing 8 counts in that last round which kind of sucks.

Anyway, I learned a lot in this fight. Through the first two rounds I could totally see what I needed to do, but was having some problems executing it. She kept ducking down and I should have been able to pop her with left right there. But that's life and I've got a lot of stuff to practice now. I'll see what will happen next as we might have fights in May.

Hopefully I will be posting more pictures of other fights and the finals soon. :-)

I Spy Handknits

2007-04-07T16:44:00.000-04:00

Welcome to "I Spy Handknits" on Kung Fu Knitting.

I love seeing people walking around in their hand knits and thought this would be a good space to document it. My real intention is to get pictures and stories from random people in my community, but let me tell you, sometimes I feel a little bit freaky walking up to complete strangers and asking them about their sweaters and such. So my first featured hand knit comes from someone that I know. Meet the talented husband of one of my lovely coworkers.

Not only was this garter stitch scarf handknit, but it's also handspun! How cool is that? And check out the great jacket!

You should also check out his site, King Turtle. Oliver is a talented Ukulele artiste who was recently featured on NPR's Whad'ya Know show. He is also one of four finalists in their Whad'ya Idol contest! Good luck!

Pattern: Ice Princess Panta

2007-03-26T12:41:00.000-04:00

For a long time now I have been wanting for make something to match the fingerless mitts I made with Cayli's gorgeous home-grown, hand-dyed, handspun that she gifted me with the holiday season before last. I had some left over still but wasn't sure about the yardage. However, I had a vision of making a head band, as I find them cute and convenient for a gal that wears her hair up in the winter. And they hardly take any yarn.

Originally I wanted to make a headband like the cabled panta I made before, but the gauge was all wrong. So I improvised something late the Saturday night. And here it is:

I love the subtle blue striping and the feel is OMG soft. Cayli's yarn is truly amazing and was such a pleasure to knit up.

Ice Princess Panta

Yarn: Heavy worsted Handspun <50g

Needles: US 8 and a cable needle or DPN

Gauge: not critical, but a row gauge of 5 rows/inch with make a nice fitting panta 18 inches in circumfrence.

Special Stitches:

FC (front cross) = Slip 2 stitches from left needle onto a cable needle (CN) and hold to the front. Knit 2 stitches from left hand needle. Knit the 2 slipped stitches from CN.
SFC (single front cross) = Slip 2 k stitches onto CN and hold to the front. Purl the purl st from left needle. Knit 2 slipped sts from CN.
SBC (single back cross) = Slip 1 p st from left hand needle onto CN and hold in back. Knit 2 k sts from left needle. P the p st from CN.
pfb (purl front back) = purl into the front of the stitch and leave on left hand needle. Purl into the back of the same stitch and slide both off to right needle.
p2tog (purl 2 together) = purl 2 stitches from left hand needle together at on time, ie. pretend that two purl stitches are one and purl them.

Caston 12 stitches. (You could also use a provisional caston and later kitchener these stitches to ending stitches together.)

Set up row: Wrong Side - p1, k1, p1, k1, p4, k1, p1, k1, p1

Row 1 k1, p1, k1, p1, k4, p1, k1, p1, k1
Row 2 and all even rows - knit the k sts and purl the p sts
Row 3 p1, FC, p1, k1, p1, k1
Row 5 k1, p1, k1, p into the front and back of next st (pfb), k4, pfb, k1, p1, k1
Row 7 k1, p1, k1, p2, k4, p2, k1, p1, k1
Row 9 k1, p1, k1, p2, FC, p2, k1, p1, k1
Row 11 k1, p1, k1, p2, k4, p2, k1, p1, k1
Row 13 k1, p1, k1, pfb, p1, k4, pfb, p1, k1, p1, k1
Row 15 k1, p1, k1, p3, FC, p3, k1, p1, k1
Row 17 k1, p1, k1, p3, k4, p3, k1, p1, k1
Row 19 k1, p1, k1, pfb, p2, k4, p2, pfb, k1, p1, k1
Row 21 k1, p1, k1, p4, FC, p4, k1, p1, k1
Row 23 k1, p1, k1, p3, SBC, SFC, p3, k1, p1, k1
Row 25 k1, p1, k1, p2, SBC, p2, SFC, p2, k1, p1, k1
Row 27 k1, p1, k1, p2, k2, p4, k2, p2, k1, p1, k1
Row 29 k1, p1, k1, p2, SFC, p2, SBC, p2, k1, p1, k1
Row 31 k1, p1, k1, p3, SFC, SBC, p3, k1, p1, k1
Row 33 k1, p1, k1, p4, FC, p4, k1, p1, k1
Row 35 k1, p1, k1, p4, k4, p4, k1, p1, k1
Row 37 k1, p1, k1, p4, k4, p4, k1, p1, k1
Row 39 k1, p1, k1, p4, FC, p4, k1, p1, k1
Row 41 k1, p1, k1, p3, SBC, SFC, p3, k1, p1, k1
Row 43 k1, p1, k1, p2, SBC, p2, SFC, p2, k1, p1, k1
Row 45 k1, p1, k1, p1, SBC, p4, SFC, p1, k1, p1, k1
Row 47 k1, p1, k1, p1, k2, p6, k2, p1, k1, p1, k1
Row 49 k1, p1, k1, p1, SFC, p4, SBC, p1, k1, p1, k1
Row 51 k1, p1, k1, p2, SFC, p2, SBC, p2, k1, p1, k1
Row 53 k1, p1, k1, p3, SFC, SBC, p3, k1, p1, k1
Row 55 k1, p1, k1, p4, FC, p4, k1, p1, k1
Row 57 k1, p1, k1, p4, k4, p4, k1, p1, k1
Row 59 k1, p1, k1, p4, k4, p4, k1, p1, k1
Row 61 k1, p1, k1, p4, SC, p4, k1, p1, k1
Row 63 k1, p1, k1, p3, SBC, SFC, p3, k1, p1, k1
Row 65 k1, p1, k1, p2, SBC, p2, SFC, p2, k1, p1, k1
Row 67 k1, p1, k1, p2, k2, p4, k2, p2, k1, p1, k1
Row 69 k1, p1, k1, P2, SFC, p2, SBC, p2, k1, p1, k1
Row 71 k1, p1, k1, p3, SFC, SBC, p3, k1, p1, k1
Row 73 k1, p1, k1, p4, FC, p4, k1, p1, k1
Row 75 k1, p1, k1, p2tog, p2, k4, p2, p2tog, k1, p1, k1
Row 77 k1, p1, k1, p3, k4, p3, k1, p1, k1
Row 79 k1, p1, k1, p3, FC, p3, k1, p1, k1
Row 81 k1, p1, k1, p2tog, p1, k4, p1, p2tog, k1, p1, k1
Row 83 k1, p1, k1, p2, k4, p2, k1, p1, k1
Row 85 k1, p1, k1, p2, FC, p2, k1, p1, k1
Row 87 k1, p1, k1, p2, k4, p2, k1, p1, k1
Row 89 k1, p1, k1, p2tog, k4, p2tog, k1, p1, k1
Row 91 k1, p1, k1, p1, FC, p1, k1, p1, k1
Row 93 k1, p1, k1, p1, k4, p1, k1, p1, k1

This project was brought to you by the color blue.

Pattern: Your Everyday Winter Hat

2007-03-25T21:54:00.000-04:00

I found my old knitting notebook! Hurray! I thought I had lost it, lost it and not just misplaced it, lost it.

This is the first hat I ever knit. Can you believe that although I was queen of socks, I was very intimidated by hat-land. I knew I had to get it over quickly so I found a hat pattern with a bulky gauge. I knit it partway up and I couldn't finish because it was so unspeakably ugly. So I was stuck with these ginormously, large DPN's. what's a gal to do? I decided to knit my own hat based upon my sock experience and this is what I came up with.

It's simple, right? Rolled brim, stockinette, standard crown shaping. But it's economical, ever so warm, and stays on super well. And it knits up in a flash!

Your Everyday Winter Hat

by Miriam Mack

Yarn: Lamb's Pride Bulky
Needles: Size 11 and 13 DPNs
Gauge: 2.5 st/inch

Cast on 51 Stitches on size 13 DPNs. Join in the round without twisting and knit first 4 rounds with size 11 DPNS (stay with 13's if your head is largish). Knit next 20 rounds with US13 DPN for a total of 24 rounds.

Decreasing:

Row 1 Knit to last 2 stitches on needle, k2tog. Repeat for next two needles.
Row 2 knit

Repeat rows 1 and 2 two more times (42 Stitches remain)

Row 7 Knit 5, k2tog across entire round (36 sts)
Row 8 Knit
Row 9 Knit 4, k2tog across entire round (30 sts)
Row 10 Knit
Row 11 Knit 3, k2tog across entire round (24 sts)
Row 12 knit
Row 14 Knit 2, k2tog across entire round (18 sts)
Row 15 Knit 1, k2tog across entire round (12 sts)

At this point you can either k2tog across the entire round (6 sts), fasten off and pull end through the remaining loops or do like I did: Slip 3 sts from needle 2 to both needle 1 and 3 and kitchener them together.

I have gotten a few compliments on this hat, but this is the best one. I gave one to my brother for x-mas a couple of years ago, and after leaving my house with it on, he never really took it off that winter. Not only did he wear it everyday, he told me that his wife tried to steal it, too. Here he is with it on. Too cute!

And don't let him know about this. He'd kill me. He's such a smarty-pants. He'sabout to graduate law school and move to California where, sadly, he won't have as much need for woolen hats.

Something's Blocking!

2007-03-25T16:27:00.000-04:00

All of a sudden I am knitting! Knitting like I used to knit. And I am not sure why.

There are several things going on in my life right now that might be facilitating more knitting getting done. One is that I have been quite sick lately and have set aside some time to myself, to use all to myself; no training, no school work, no dieting. And second, one of my lovely friends brought over a bunch of television for me to watch: Lost, Reno 911, Weeds. So for the last couple of days, I have had time to knit and television to watch. That's a fabulous combination for me knitting-wise.

But there is another idea that I have. It's a bit more psychological. I haven't written much personal stuff on my blog lately, but there has been a lot of destruction in my life lately. There have also been some (hopefully!) final endings, and some space given to people who need to give more rather than take more in a friendship with me. So, amidst all this tearing down, perhaps I have a need to build a little, to create a little, to balance the scales a bit. What'cha think?

And I'd like to give a big thanks to Holly at Hollyarns for sending my such a sweet St. Patrick's Day card. It really made my day at a time when my match just got cancelled and I got some terrible news. Thanks!!!

FO: Droplet Hat with mods

2007-03-23T22:10:00.000-04:00

After I sewed up my Droplet hat from Knitting Nature (Why didn't I knit it in the round?), I decided that what it needed were some earflaps. You see, to make a hat truly functionable for our lovely winter weather here in Ithaca, the ears must be protected. And eventhough I have a pea-sized head, my row gauge was a little smaller than the pattern called for and I felt that the hat was just too short. So this is how it turned out:

Overall, I have to say that knitting this hat was pretty fun once I got past that first bobble row that seemed to go on forever. The no-turn bobble technique that Nora Gaughan introduced in this pattern is quite handy, if you don't mind slipping stitches. I especially liked the way she did the decreases on the crown as they are invisible and preserve the overall pattern so nicely.

Earflap Modifications:

The earflaps are centered below the 6th bobble on the bottom bobble row from either side of the back seam. (If this placement seems odd for you I would put on the hat with the seam centered in back and then mark the places above your ears with bulky yarn scraps.)

Going from right to left I picked up and knit 15 stitches on the wrong side and just slightly above the caston edge so that there would be a nice, decorative line running across the top of each flap.

R1 (right side) K2, p11, K2
R2 knit all stitches
R3 K2, p5, make bobble (MB), p5, k2
R4 Knit
R5 K2, p11, k2
R6 Knit
R7 K2, p3, mb, p3, mb, p3, k2
R8 Knit
R9 K2, p11, k2
R10 knit
R11 K2, p2tog, p3, mb, p3, p2tog, k2
R12 Knit
R13 K2, p2tog, p to last 4 stitches, p2tog, k2
R14 Knit
R15 K2, p2tog, p to last 4 stitches, p2tog, k2
R16 Knit
R17 K2, p2tog, p to last 4 stitches, p2tog, k2
R18 K2, slip 2 stitches as if to knit, k1, pass slipped stitches over knit stitch, k2
R19 K1, p3tog, k1

Knit 3 remaining stitches as I-cord for 12 inches or desired length for earflap ties. Finish with a bobble: K1, mb, slip first knit stitch over bobble stitch, slip bobble stitch onto left hand needle, k2tog, cut yarn and pull through remaining loop. Weave in ends.

On this last bobble I did a modified version of Nora Gaughan's by using a yarn over instead of kfb. So I actually had 6 bobble stitches: yo, k, yo, k, yo, k; slip back to left, purl, slip back to left, knit, p5sso. I think it's only fitting to end the droplet hat with a droplet of sorts. :-)

Bad News.

2007-03-14T07:43:00.000-04:00

The gal I was going to box has pulled out.

Getting ready to get it on!

2007-03-11T22:05:00.000-04:00

This weekend I was in Buffalo watching some of the guys from my gym fight. I was also there just in case. Yes, to see if someone would show up for me. I had to weigh in, get checked out by a doctor and get my boxing passbook.

It's a Nifty little guy don'tcha think? I unfortunately weighed in over what I should have been and this has been really distressing me for the last week. Because, believe me, when I say I should've been losing weight, I should've been losing weight. Crazy diet + two daily workouts = weightloss right? Not necessarily if you're a gal! Doh, water weight from hell... Finally I think it's gone, because on my scale I was weighing in 4lbs lighter today!!!!!

Yes, indeed, I might make weight!

Totorini

2007-02-24T22:06:00.000-05:00

We watched My Neighbor Totoro this week at my SAP. (Guess whose idea?) And along with this glorious movie was an art project.

The kids are usually nuts over making puffball animals: Chicks, jubjubs, alien space monkeys. This time we made various creatures and totoros! O Totoro, Chu Totoro and Chibi Totoro. You might also notice a soot sprite or two and a few Pokemons. And let's not forget the lone tamagotchi (If you can find all of these I will be highly impressed!)

School Age Handpaints

2007-02-20T21:34:00.000-05:00

Isn't that just gorgeous? This was my art project today in my school age program. We ordered some Bare WOTA from Knit Picks, picked up some bargain koolaid from Aldis and let them at it, all smocked up of course. Unfortunately I forgot my real camera, otherwise I would have taken some rockin' photos of the process.

One of the things that I enjoyed most about this project was watching the different learning paths that students embarked on for their dying. You see I didn't really tell them how to do it. I showed them an example and let them work independently, helping when needed and explanations of different techniques at the appropriate times.

It was pretty neat to watch the iterative process that some of the older students went through in their dying. One experimented with mixing right there in her saran wrap and came up with a skein that she called messy wheat. Then she just dropped the dyes in discrete areas, carefully mixing certain spaces. Another young gal experimented with over dying in her first skein and then long single color repeats in her second making sure that no over dying occurred. Then these two got together and shared their knowledge and made a few collaborative works. Some of the younger students saw their methods and relied on imitation for inspiration for their creations and experimented with negative space and the like for their unique touches.

On a more practical note, this was the first time I did the microwave method, and my only complaint is that I think there are a few tricks to the whole saran-wrap thing that people have been keeping off the 'net.

Basically, you have to be a saran-wrap rustler. I am a complete imbecile with the stuff and can barely get it out of the box and onto a surface or rim without major mishaps occurring along the way. But to put down a 4 foot long piece and then wrap the skein up later so that "things" aren't touching requires quite a bit of saran-skill. And I didn't read anything about this.

Our Fix: We discovered that rolling the edges over the yarn on each side of our skeins worked best. I also used extra pieces of plastic wrap on the ends for added coverage.

It's All Official!

2007-02-18T13:13:00.000-05:00

So the date of my upcoming fight has been fluid, to say the least. A number of things have to come together in order for the evening to take place. You have to schedule the venue, the doctors, and the officials. All of which have been mismatched at some point during the last month.

But you know it's got to be official when flyers are being posted:

I only have to weigh in 10 pounds lighter. (5 by my scale at home. I wish this were the accurate one). Arrggh!!!

But there is another official event - FO: Droplet Hat

The Droplet Hat from Knitting Nature is complete!!! This one is made from leftover Aracunia Nature Wool. My gauge was dead on - for stitches per inch. Unfortunately, My row gauge was a little off. So the hat is shorter than I would like to wear. So it's not quite complete.

See those pink strands of yarn? Those are going to be the center of the earflaps that I am going to knit. I'm just trying to decide if I should knit those flaps in seed stitch or with a line of bobbles on a purl back ground. What do you think?

I'm also considering putting a pompom on top.

After my discovery of the row gauge debacle I did a little searching on the 'net for finished droplet hats. Of the ones I found, most looked a little too short, so if you were planning to knit this pattern up, I would recommend adding in a few extra rows.

For what are stars but asterisks. To point a human life? -Emily Dickinson, poet (1830-1886)

2007-02-14T11:40:00.000-05:00

I am so lucky to have gotten at least a little bit of Valentines Love! Look at the card that thoughtful Holly sent. It was so unexpected and sweet. Thanks, so much.

And inbetween all the working out and such, a little knitting has been getting done. And I have the proof.

Actually this guy is getting sewn up at the moment.

Can you believe it? I am going to be posting an FO soon! Perhaps I am gaining back some knitting momentum. (To be honest, I think I am gaining back a lot of life momentum at the moment).

I've also started a shawlette from the Basil Zephyr that Annie sent me for the one skein exchange. Everytime I look at this yarn I see the flower petal shawl from Elann. So that is what it will become. t won't be anywhere as big as the one pictured on the site, but I think it will be very wearable with the right dresses and such. The pattern is not complicated in the least, but it is lovely. So, all in all, this will be some mindless but relaxing knitting that I am hoping will produce a nice FO.

My work life at the school age program has been going really well. Yesterday I had about 12 kids in my knitting and crochet enrichment group. It's exciting to see how far some of them have come. I have three 4th grade gals that can knit and crochet. Yesterday one learned how to make icord, one worked on mastering single crochet and the other worked on the twirly whirly scarf that she started. I have another 5th grade gal that has just taken off with crochet. She's a real DIYer and her first project that she self started was a bag for her tamagotchi. She freeform-crocheted the whole thing, unventing a lot of techniques along the way. It was amazing to watch.

I was also in charge of art last Friday and came up with a project that turned out nicely. My boss has 65,000 CDs that she needs to do something with. So we used them in multimedia artworks. Above is a piece that I made with one of the Kindergarteners. She made her own amazing painting as well. Some of the petit artistes made fun little sculptures with CDs using the hotglue gun (one of the best inventions of the last century!). And we also made door and window hangings with fishing line. Tres fun.

Now I am going to try to get around to everyone's blog!

Stone Mountain

2007-02-08T20:44:00.000-05:00

I've been saving this post for a while and seeing that I don't really have any knitting content to present at the moment, I decided to show something more than a little quirky from my Atlanta trip. Stone Mountain

The South is such a hospitable place. I found the people in Atlanta to be quite nice for the most part, though I didn't hear many, "y'alls" about. But of course, that wouldn't do at a place like Stone Mountain. It's a veritable shrine to Southern history. Witness the flagstones of the Succession:

Or better yet, the portraits of the generals. Can you name them all? (Mouseover for the answers.) You could take a cablecar to the top. It's barely visible in the picture.

Now of course, a little place like this couldn't exist without a fake little shop town, replete with live blacksmith and black coffin for posing in. Not to mention cotton candy at most every corner and holiday music piped throughout (there was no escape).

The streets should also have names befitting the history of the park:

Apparently at night, there is a laser show that beams the face of Martin Luther King over the confederate generals. Imagine that? When we were there, there was only going to be an evening holiday show. Darn!

It was a beautiful place. The mountain itself was gorgeous and I really wished I could have hiked it. There are some cool igneous structures and I imagine that the view from the top is marvelous.

Fight Life = Boring Life

2007-02-04T21:55:00.000-05:00

I've been missing the blogosphere. I haven't really been able to post or read much lately, so please excuse my recent silence if you've noticed that I have been MIA in the comment zone lately.

Actually, I've been training for my upcoming fight (March 3rd)and starting back with school. My days now go something like this: wake up at 5, work out at 5:30, finish at 7, get ready for work, go to Job #1, go to Job #2, work out at 5:30, come home, shower, eat, shoot it's 8:30, go to bed/go out/do homework. Pretty boring.

But I have been getting in some sparring. I did 9 rounds last week and hopefully I can get in just as many more in weeks to come.

It was a little embarassing because I am so rusty. On Tuesday I sparred with one of the girl fighters from my gym and I got clocked pretty nicely in the chin. My jaw was a little sore for the next few days, but on Wednesday and Thursday I got hit quite a bit more.

There's a former professional boxer who is coming down to spar with us gals now. How cool is that? She's taller than I am which is something completely different and good for me to experience. She has longer arms than I do so I am having to change my overall strategy. She boxes at a level above me, but not too much so I am always being challenged and schooled when I am failing myself (I did have a little headache this weekend). It's a great experience and I am lucky for it.

But, I rested up this weekend and only worked out a little bit - just to work off some frustrations more than for fitness. You know, there was some drama, a bunch of disappointment and a car accident, but I am dearly going to miss the sleepy, warm-in-bed mornings. Brrr, it's so cold out. I don't want to think of venturing out in 1 degree weather tomorrow.

Hopefully I will have more knitting content soon. I have been working on a hat from Knitting Nature (God, I love this book. Thanks again, Annie!). And it's coming along nicely. I also recently saw, My Neighbor Totoro, and have fallen in love with that movie. I hope to knit a Totoro hat at some point and wax a little poetic about the whole thing. I have so many question and thoughts about it. Ah, thank you, Jon.

I should be finishing my homework. :doh:

Cheers for now!

Monday is Meme Day

2007-01-22T07:32:00.000-05:00

Deee-lovely Holly over at Hollyarns tagged me the other day with the 5 Little-Known Things About Me Meme.

5 Things You Probably Didn't Know about Me

1. I never dot my i's when writing in cursive.

2. I have a rock collection, mostly ones that I have collected.

3. I have a certain set of books that I reread most every year: Emma, Pride and Prejudice, Enders Game, Harry Potter 1 and 4, Far from the Madding Crowd, Jude the Obscure, Return of the Native, The Desert Smells Like Rain, Red Mars, Neuromancer, All Quiet on the Western Front, Animal Dreams.

4. I own more than 10 coats.

5. Out of all the patterns in all the knitting books I own, I have only knit one pair of fingerless mitts. (Well, I knitted a kitty hat from the original S'N B, but my gauge was totally different and so I had to completely redo the pattern. So I don't think this counts.)

Who should I tag? Well if you want to participate, then consider yourself it!

Dove Bar Wisdom

2007-01-21T17:27:00.000-05:00

Lately there seems to be a running theme in my life: the idea of presence. It's manifest itself in a couple of ways (you know if you've read my blog entries recently), but the most recent was from the wrapper of a Dove chocolate piece that one of the barristas randomly gave me at the coffee shop during last week's Stitch'N Bitch:

Your presence is often the best present.

How crazy is that? But it came at a time when I was kind of wondering about something and acted as a sort of reinforcement; a little present from the universe at large (if you believe in that kind of thing).

And speaking of Stitch'N Bitch, one of our lovely members has been bringing along her holiday presents for the benefit of all the group:

This action shot depicts 667 yards of fingering weight merino/silk being wound for me! Yes!!!!

What shall it be? I want it to be something lacey, but hadn't really given it serious thought because the thought of winding it made me shudder. I'd like to make a shawl, but don't quite have enough yardage. I Do have more than enough for a shawlette, like the swallowtail that everyone has knit. But, I'm a little reluctant because the whole set up of the shawl is almost exactly that of the flower basket shawl that I already knit. Maybe I should head off and do something a bit different. Hmmm...

And speaking of heading off and doing something different, I start my first day of school tomorrow; well only one class. It's not the grad program that I am applying to, but it's one of the prerequisites I should take, a developmental psychology class dealing with infants and children.

And it was just so cool to suddenly remember that I was going to need a notebook. And then to remember that I should really find a binder. And then that I would need a book bag and a nice pen to boot! Oh - and that I should really look up what room it was going to be held in and directions to the place, and what book I would need - and you can see I have forgotten a little bit about being a student. ;-)

Where did the year of the sweater go?

2007-01-07T19:49:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year to all y'all!

I'm betting that most bloggers have already done some sort of review of the year by now. I've been hedging a little bit on this one. I didn't get a lot of knitting done in 2006. And much of the year was filled with strife, hurt and difficulty for me. So I am really not going go over it again. Except I want say that many of you in blogland and the knitworld have been great friends and sources of light for me. I can't thank you enough.

And there have been some wonderful friends here in Ithaca as well. You know who you are. Thanks for the hugs and calls and all the moral support.

Good bye, 2006!

So the plan for this year: things are going to get better in 2007 (repeat to self 100 times daily for month of January).

No, it's true: things are looking up. For one, I had a great interview for graduate school before leaving for Atlanta. Most likely you'll find me back in school come the Fall of 2007. Second, I should be having my first fight this February. (I think it's the real deal this time!). Third, I'm working on getting a better morning job so I can get to a better place financially and mentally. And last, I plan to take a class this Spring at the local community college.

I'm also heading into 2007 armed with much more knowledge and experience on some fronts. I have a goal (be a first grade teacher), I have a path to reach that goal (It's been started already!), I have more relationship experience (2, maybe 3 have ended this year), I am more myself than I have been for years (And I know it), I like myself (It's been a long journey but it's true), and I have more peace (Actually I've had enough to share lately).

One of the greatest gifts that has been given to me this year is the idea of enjoying the moment. I want to feel and experience all the beauty that I can, feel it all. It's dangerous but worth it because I will always have those wonderful memories. No one can take away the world's best tasting pancakes that I made with a friend this summer. No one can take away the fun times in Atlanta that I had recently. These are mine forever.

I think that if I can keep on feeling life deeply then it may just open me up to more, perhaps even more profound feelings, in the future.

But anyway, this is a knitblog....

Knitwise, I don't want to put any pressure on myself. I just want to finish the projects I have laying around and use my wonderful One Skein yarns that Annie sent. Maybe a shawl. That's the whole plan and that's enough, I think.

But I can't really knit at the moment. I've hurt my hand again, different knuckle this time. It happened eventhough I was wearing my wraps, 3 sponges for padding and my gloves. Coach says I'm just hitting really had and we'll have to rest it for a while.

My secret name?

2006-12-26T20:45:00.000-05:00

Well it's my Hobbit name!

May Overhill of Nobottle

I bet you'd like one, too

I found this quote yesterday:

The only gift is a portion of thyself.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson, writer and philosopher (1803-1882)

It's rather apropos for this time of the year, don't you think? But I'd ammend it to say, "The best gift is a portion of thyself." When someone is really there with you, when they give of their time, when they obviously have done something for you that took a lot of thought and energy or when they have truly shared a part of who they are with you, it makes life so sweet and meaningful. And that is truly a gift.

New Shale Sock

2006-12-24T21:33:00.000-05:00

I finished 1, countem 1, freaking sock this year. (But boy has it been stinky year!) So let me show it off in its unblocked glory:

This little guy has been sitting around for some time now just waiting for a toe. I finished it the other night at Stitch'N Bitch, and I have to say that I'm a little proud of this sock. I really like the way my yarn turned out with my pattern. There are a couple of variations I'd like to try, meaning that my interest is still piqued. So hopefully the second won't take another year to knit.

Flower Bud Hat

2006-12-23T10:37:00.000-05:00

I made this one for my mom for her birthday. It's not quite how I envisioned it when I started, but I think that particular vision would be great for a child's hat. This one is whimsical enough for an adult, don'tcha think?

Details: US 7, 16" circular needle, Knit Pick's WOTA and Andean Silk (left over KSH and Merino Sock! for the flower, WOTA for the felted leaf). Picot hem that was knitted together as I knit the hat up from the bottom. It looks a little shinier in the picture than in real life ( I adjusted to color so that it showed more true to life).

Reason #561 Why I Love My SAP Job

2006-12-20T23:44:00.000-05:00

Just when I am feeling the worst and am looking for something positive to cheer me up, the kids at work seem to pick up on it. (they are so amazing!) Today was one of those days but I ended up playing, I Love You! It's a tag game we made up, but you run around hugging the players while saying I love you when you catch them.

How nice is that? Everyone you are playing with wants you to hug them. In fact, although they are running away from you, in reality they are all vying for your affection. :sigh: It's so simple, real and practically artless. I mean there's really only one level of duplicity involved and it's all mutually agreed upon.

Not only was I treated to this lovely game, but there was just what I needed: much close and quiet story reading. I mean remember when you were little, what was one of the most reassuring, comforting activities? I remember lying in bed with my father and all my siblings and having him read or tell us wonderful stories. I remember feeling so secure, so warm and safe. It was lovely.

So today I was reading a book to a great little kindergartener on a mat and all these cute little K's and first graders joined us. We all kind of cuddled up together and shared a lovely tale, and communal sense of comfort. Just what I wanted for Christmas. So I am writing it here so I will remember.

I also thought today about part of a poem that Walt Whitman wrote:

There was a child went forth every day,
And the first object he looked upon and received with wonder or
pity or love or dread, that object he became,
And that object became part of him for the day or a certain part of
the day....or for many years or stretching cycles of years.

What ever part of me stays with any of the children I care for or teach, I hope it's like the one of my father I describe above. You can never know how your actions, reactions or inactions effect those around you, children in particular. Or how long they will carry that word, that hug or small gift with them. What if one squeeze here and one bandaid there made the real difference between a day of misery and one that could be tolerable. And what if I am the only person available for this child to play makebelieve or who has time to read to him.

Each one is such a precious little wonder because they can be anything, do anything. They can see beyond and not be afraid of not knowing because they don't know so much as it is, but are so open to learn and experience.

But afterall, this is a knit blog or it was. Anyway I have actually finished a few items lately. I was inspired to make only one gift this year. Something so small and useful. A soapsock! Sounds so granny, don't you think? But just the other day I was wishing for something just like this. Thanks to I'm Knitting As Fast As I Can for the pattern.

Atlanta

2006-12-08T20:15:00.000-05:00

Though it was December, it was still fall in Atlanta.

The sterility of winter hadn't set in. The air was still warm, a little humid and fragrant, almost sweet. Flowers lingered on vines across chainlink fences in alley ways and sidewalk cracks. Some trees still had leaves, but many were busy turning.

A few days were quite warm (70's!), and on others, the skies were bright and blue, the sunshine being so much more intense in Atlanta.

There are lots of interesting little neighborhoods to explore In Atlanta, and in some of the artsier ones, people have taken it upon themselves to transmogrify street signs into petite billboards.

It's a different sort of place that produces "I love you" graffiti, don'tcha think?

Or better yet, contains buildings with quotes from Noam Chomsky and Arundhati Roy spray painted on their sides: "Everyone is worried about stopping terrorism. There is a simple solution. Stop participating in it."

Of course, this wasn't really my vision of the South. Nor did Atlanta live up to my companion's vision of it as a city chock-full of redheads and short, plump, mustachiod men.

It will live on in my memory as a place where bars could very well have skull facades.

Where new buildings tend to have quirky details.

Where older, industrial spaces have been given new, artier looks.

Where restaurants in said renovated industrial spaces may have just been made over by a better version of trading spaces.

This is a light fixture from the Floataway Cafe.
I particularly enjoyed the long shear curtains that informally partitioned off the restaurant and seemed to float on a breeze that you never felt.

And as a land-locked city with a rockin' aquarium.

Whale Sharks! Can you believe it? They also had beluga whales. And the most amazing penguin exhibit I've seen yet.

A bunch of jelly fish, a coral reef (the entrance to that was spectacular!)

And some crazy spider crabs!

Fabulous Atlanta!

Song of Myself

2006-12-07T08:34:00.000-05:00

Everything that I hold dear, I hold it all for you.

The light warming my back as I knit in the sun. The smell of a passerby's perfume. (what scent was that?) The laugh I hear across the room. A hand brushed lightly across a knee.

The breeze that just lifted my scarf so gently, it flowed over her skin and his and hers. Around the corners and through the city until I know that it touched you, too.

It touched everyone. (as did the sun)

And I felt you sigh with me.

I recently discovered Walt Whitman and I am simply taken by his work. I can't imagine how I had never read anything of his before. And it's such happenstance that I even came across it.

Someone left a bunch of National Geographics in a local laundrymat and I happened to pick one up and start paging through it last week. I came upon an article about Walt Whitman and was drawn in by his lovely and evocative words. Key exerpts were paired with photos and a short story of his life. After reading and rereading portions of Song of Myself and other poems, I wanted to run out and buy a book of his work, but for reasons beyond my control I had to wait a few days.

So I ended up purchasing Leaves of Grass about five days later and had much time to read it. And when I say much time, I mean real, spacious, I-could-be-doing-anything-I-wanted-to time. You see I got to have a wonderful little vacation in Atlanta last week. Just Me, my lovely friend and Whitman.

So as I explored and strolled and hustled around Atlanta I always had Walt close at hand. I could sit down at any moment and open him up and be thrilled by his connection to the world. And know that I knew it all already, but needed him to point it out again. And I did pull him out frequently and let him take me to a higher level of mindfulness, sending shivers up my spine as I ascended.

But enough of Walt. I want to tell you about Atlanta.

The Last Skein

2006-11-29T08:33:00.000-05:00

As I mentioned earlier, I owe several exchange posts to partners. One is Annie over at Knittibell. She was a great secret pal and I appreciate all the thought and effort that went into her packages.

So colorful!

And can you believe it? Knitting Nature! This is one of the most awesome books I have seen in a while. And look at the little black sheep tape measure

Here is the one skein item: a pair of fingerless mitts made from Artfibers Kurasawa and a leftover skein! The pattern is from Knitty. Aren't they lovely? The yarn is so soft,too.

And look how well they fit! I wear them almost everyday now that it is cooler. Thanks so much, Annie!

She also sent me an extra skein of kidsilk haze! How cool is that?

Wish me luck today. I have an interview for a grad school program I'd like to get into and then I am off on vacation, my first in 11 months!

Boxing, Knitting, Job Search Blues

2006-11-04T09:38:00.000-05:00

The past two months haven't been a good ones here in kung fu knitting land.

I think I have been depressed. Well, I know that I have been. I mean, about two months ago I stopped doing a lot of stuff that I normally do, like blog and knit and read. And I had a few days where I was barely able to keep it together. I mean I was on the verge of crumbling into a little heap. Yes, a little heap of sad-Miriness.

I thank my sister and Ms. Missy for getting me through there. I'm no longer in danger of heapness, small nor large. In fact, I feel more balanced than I have for a long while.

I'm not exactly sure what brought on this bout of melancholy. I was under a lot of stress to try to find another job that fits my schedule so that I can keep my School Age Program job. I have one now that fits the bill for the time being. So that's a little better, but I really think I was suffering from some sort of post-trauma depression.

I mean it felt so good to get out of my old relationship. I felt more like myself than I had for a long time. I felt relief and a weird eleation. But I never really had a period of grief. So I think I just experienced this a month ago. I felt the loss of it all, my old life, my twenties, my security. I don't want all that back, but I did feel the change to the core of my being.

Couple this along with the fact that my hand had an injury that wasn't going away, was pretty painful, and was keeping me from boxing hard. I kept taking weeks off of boxing with that hand, but it wasn't helping. Eventually I got it x-rayed and there wasn't anything seriously wrong. Just a bad contusion. Now I wear two large sponges on my hand with my wraps and this has seemed to help keep me from getting injured further. Now it's just my skin that's coming off! (hard hitter that I am)

And, then I have been sick with two colds, a UTI and another cold in the last three or four weeks.

So for two months I have been MIA. I haven't really been knitting and this has wreaked havok with the exchanges that I joined earlier in the summer. My poor partners. Not only do I owe them blog posts for their wonderful packages, in some cases, it's been hard for me to finish my end of the exchange. So let me begin by showing the great scarf I received in the funky scarf exchange brought to the 'net by Bev and Scout:

Isn't it wonderful? My partner Maricell used a bunch of different yarns that she knitted into strips and pieced together. For the colors, she took inspiration from Botticelli's Birth of Venus, the painting I used as an example of art that I liked. The ends of the scarf terminate in fingers of different lengths. It looks fabulous with my black peacoat and I have got a lot of compliments on it. And she designed it herself! Such a great gift.

Thank you Maricell!

More exchange gift posts to come.

First Day of School

2006-09-06T21:56:00.000-04:00

Sometimes things happen to let you know that you've made the right decision.

Today was my first day back working in my after school program. I was having fun with the kids on the back playgound and they asked if we could go for a walk. I said wouldn't it be even cooler if we went to the falls? So we asked the-coolest-boss-ever if we could take our little jaunt and she said, "I love impromptu activities!" Cool or what?

So off we went:

(This would be the same place that I lost my shoe! Ahem!)

I took half of the kids right up to falls. They got all misted. We looked at the fossil ripples in the exposed gorge walls. We threw a bunch of rocks. We headed back down stream with all of our shoes.

While walking back one of the really sweet second grade boys said to me: This place is great! (then he punched his hand up towards the sky and said) It's the best day of my entire life!

I suppose that he's only 7, but I helped him have his best day ever.

I couldn't have don't that behind a desk.

When I grow up

2006-09-02T19:22:00.000-04:00

At different points in my life, I've thought that I had it figured out. But I've never been that satisfied with what I have been doing. My last stint as a temp has really crystalized this for me. I just cannot sit at a desk all day or work in a lab all day. It's not me and I shouldn't fight it.

I'm playful and fun, active and structured. I like to explore the world and share it with other people. I'm creative and imagintive. I love little kids.

I was really happy working at the school age program last year even through all the crap that happened. In fact, the staff, the kids, and the activities that went on there were the shining moments during my break up, excluding the wonderful support I got here, of course.

All this summer I have missed people calling me Momo, I haven't had a good game of head hunter and no one has given me a spontaneous hug, a just because moment of innocent affection.

So I have made two decisions.

The first is that I am going to return to my old job. It's only part time so I am going to have to find something for my other hours to survive. It kind of puts me in a bad position as I could have had the job that I was temping at and had health insurance, money to buy a new car, free tuition after a year at Cornell etc. I was planning to get my certification there for secondary science education. Now I won't have any security. But if I can find another job that works with this one, I'll have my happiness, right?

The second one is that I have decided to go back to school to become an elementary school teacher. It's too late to start this semester, but I think I will be able to start in the Spring and this will work well with my part time job. I can get loans and my work has some money available for me, too (at least that's what my boss told me!). The state school near here is pretty cheap (compared to Cornell) and has a great elementary education program.

When I taught high school science I just wasn't as happy as I could have been. In fact, I don't think I was very happy at all. I don't think it was the teaching part. It's really frustrating trying to teach science to that age. I really feel motivated to do this, so I think that it's the right thing (or at least as close to the right thing as possible) now. I need to get crackin'!!!

On another note, my Yarn Aboard II package made it to Holly!. Hurray!

Bad date-o-rama:

2006-08-26T22:05:00.000-04:00

Or 10 ways to get your ass kicked to the curb

10. You never ask any personal questions, so that by the fourth date you have no idea that I have a graduate degree or what fields I studied in college.

9. You call me right after I text you. If I didn't call you, then it means that I couldn't.

8. You invite me to dinner then later ask me to cook you dinner.

7. I ask you for a later date time, then you stipulate an even later one. You then proceed to show up earlier than I asked you to, nevermind the time you wanted.

6. You show up dressed down and early.

5. You show up unwashed and early.

4. I look like a hot, foxy momma and you don't say a damn thing about it!

3. By the way, you're moving out of town in a couple of weeks???

2. Yes, there is a thing called dinner conversation. It's interactive and generally themes build upon each other in a stimulating fashion.

1. You try to school me on rocks. If you hadn't committed numero diez you'd know that, yes, indeed, I do know a little about granite.

:slaps forehead:

Yarn Aboard!

2006-08-23T06:51:00.000-04:00

Look who arrived!

Look what was inside!

Artyarns Ultramerino - pretty like violets

Thanks Bev!. I can't believe that you were my partner. It's such a small world here. I loved the Cool and Sunny socks you made out of this yarn. I hope mine turn out as nice.

Bev also sent along a CD with some great tunes, chocolate, a nice textured sock pattern, and a cool postcard.

Thanks!

Now I have all the stuff to send along for my partner except the postcard! Look out Yarn Aboarders!

Thank You, Cayli!

2006-08-15T14:43:00.000-04:00

Cayli was my first swap partner on the KR Gift Elf Exchange. I had a great experience swapping with her.

And over the months we have continued to communicate through each others blogs. I feel very lucky to have met her.

Even luckier this week! Look at the suprise that came in the mail!

All wrapped up so pretty!

With a lovely card.

A gorgeous handspun, handdyed yarn. With a personalized skein label. When I look at it it's telling me that it might like to be a pair of socks with a simple stitch pattern. I think it would be lovely. The colors are beautiful together.

Cayli, you rock! This is such an awesome gift. Thanks for being one of the people that's been part of making my life better and better.

Thanks so much!!!

Didja Know I Box!

2006-08-14T12:49:00.000-04:00

Here's the proof! The top picture is me in the ring with my trainer. He's got focus mitts on that he's having me hit. (they are new and really hard, ouch!) Basically, he tells me which combinations and such to throw and he throws them at me, too. It's a really intense workout with force meeting force.

The second one is me on the heavy bag. I usually go for 3 or 4 rounds on it before getting into the ring. This particular bag is pretty heavy. And having worked on it and with my trainer that day really cut up my knuckles eventhough I'm all wrapped up inside my gloves.

My friend that was visiting came into the ring, and did some rounds, too. You were so cute, Mushy!

Eye Candy Friday II

2006-08-11T13:01:00.000-04:00

I have a wonderful friend visiting me from out of town this week so I haven't had much time to blog or comment. Sorry y'all for being a blog lurker. I'm having a lot of fun though. :-)

One Skein August

2006-08-08T09:56:00.000-04:00

For some reason knitting has been a little stressful for me lately. So I decided to relax and crochet my one skein secret pal project. There's just something about crocheting that's really soothing for me, especially long rows of SC. It's just rhythmic and repetative in a nice, tranquil way.

I'm using Lisa Souza Sock! Merino in Garnet. The colors are really subtle. It's rather like sunshine dapples. I'm loving the way it's looking.

If you're into swapping and scarves, here's one you might enjoy and is still open: Funky Scarf Swap Thanks, Cayli for posting about it!

Yesterday I did 8 rounds in the ring! It was a personal best for me. When I took off my gloves and unwrapped my hands there was skin peeling off two of my knuckles - gross but kinda burly!

I've also been learning this crazy punch combination: jab, cross, jab, cross, hook, cross, step to right, jab, jab, cross, low hook, hook, cross. My trainer calls it the Willie Monroe waltz.

Eye Candy Friday

2006-08-04T22:09:00.000-04:00

More Eye Candy

Yarn Aboard!

2006-08-04T09:30:00.000-04:00

YAEP (Yet Another Exchange Post)

I recently joined Yarn Aboard II exchange hosted by the lovely Amanda of ClothesKnit. This exchange is a little different from the norm. There are several boxes that will be sent from one person to the next until they come back to the original sender. You can only keep the box for 5 days and then you must mail it along to your Yarn Aboard pal downstream.

I joined the sock yarn exchange so I bet you can guess what's in the picture. (If not, I'll tell you later) It's the yarn my pal requested. The colors are a bit unusual, but I think they look great together. I hope my pal thinks so, too. They are amongst her favorites.

I just have to gather together some goodies to pop in along with the yarn. You don't know when the box will come, so you have to be prepared. As a matter of fact, I am auditioning some chocolates right now!

Happiness

2006-08-03T10:47:00.000-04:00

You know I was just thinking the other day about how happy I am. Really, my life is about 3000 times better without my Ex-Faux-SO in it. There's no one there constantantly picking on me, putting me down, stressing me out, ignoring me or any of that crap. I've stopped being afraid. I'm so much more relaxed. I enjoy everything more fully. And I can feel the pleasure of it down into my toes. It's an awakening happening in my mind and spirit and body.

(Ever read The Awakening by Kate Chopin?)

Of course my new, carefree life has also brought me some other problems, but for the most part I have been sailing along and experiencing things as they happen. And doing a good job getting over the rough patches I think. Sometimes I do get a little lonely, but being a little lonely is an order of magnitude better than being miserable, right? And plus, most of the time I feel pretty happy.

But I am not sure that just sailing along is good enough. I think I need to find out what is it that I really want. I could never figure this out before, I think mostly because I was under the influence of my ex and he really kept me in a state of confusion and smallness. I didn't really know what happiness was with him. I had to shutdown and contain everything to peacefully exist.

But, you know, I can feel it all now. And I feel like this is what I should be focusing on: Keeping and increasing the happiness in my life.

July One Skein Suprise Package...

2006-07-31T18:24:00.000-04:00

Last week my One skein pal sent me another wonderful package. I just have to say to my pal that you've really nailed my yarn tastes! Look at the beautiul Artfibers Tsuki she got for me. It's a lovely dark teal that changes color in different lights. It's so soft. I've been rubbing it on my neck....It will make a lovely scarf. And speaking of which she also sent me this great pattern for making a drop stitch scarf.

My One Skein Pal was also kind enought to slip in some goodies. A great CD, as you can see. There are some songs that I know and love and others are by artists that I'm really glad to be introduced to. Thanks! My thoughtful pal also sent a nice foot cream to go with the hand cream she sent last time. (Ahem, it's a good thing, too. My feet need some TLC). And look at this book. She says it's a nice easy read that one of her secret pals sent to her. How neat is that!

Thank you my one skein friend!

I still knit!

2006-07-26T18:38:00.000-04:00

Dog Sitting!

2006-07-23T11:56:00.000-04:00

Isn't she a doll?

The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

2006-07-17T20:03:00.000-04:00

I have always identified with other redheads. We're a bit rare and we need people to look up to and to emulate. We need to be understood in all of our redheadedness. When I was a child there was one in particular that I had an affinity with.

You might be able to guess from the title but I will let following picture remind you of reading time with your elementary school librarian.

Yes, Alexander and I had a few things in common. We were both a bit grumpy as children. We both hated lima beens, my pajamas sucked and I never seemed to get the right colored sneakers.

But as a child you're really not in control of all that stuff. Your job is basically to learn how to react to all of that stuff in the best way possible. Learning how to deal is one of the greatest life lessons.

But when you're thirty-something, you call the shots. You make the decisions and you really have no one else to blame for any stupidity going on in your life. *sigh* I just don't know what got into me today.

Did I really need to go running at 2:30 PM on the hottest day of the year? Ummm, no! Should I have done laundry instead of a much needed project? No! Should I have mailed off a bill that I could have paid at the grocery store? Again, you know the answer. There's some other stuff I am leaving out, too, because it's just TMI to blog about, but you get the picture.

And to top it all off, my computer has been compromised. I am not sure how. I have tried a couple of things to figure it out, but I haven't come up with anything yet. The program that seems to be the culprit is under arrest. Hopefully I will be able to suss something out with a little bit of vigilance and time. Ahrg!

But what I really want to get at is that when you are of a certain age, your destiny is in your own hands. Sure I followed some stupid lines of reasoning earlier today, but I have the power to change all that. And, in fact, I did. I didn't feel like boxing. I felt really small today, really unbalanced and unfocused. It seemed like a bad idea to do anything that required my attention. But you know what? Making myself go was a blessing. It really brought about all that was missing in me today. It brought out the feeling/passion and the focus and bigness that I need to be myself. Thank you, D, for being there and being a great coach.

The Delightfulness of pureknits!

2006-07-14T10:51:00.000-04:00

pureknits

I thought about ordering yarn from pureknits for quite some time. I mean they stock handpainted cashmere sock yarn and Yarntini yumminess, who wouldn't want to shop there? So last Sunday I managed to rein myself in while purchasing some neat-o yarn for experimentation.

There were two yarns that I had been thinking about buying. The first was the worsted Malabrigo which pureknits began carrying recently. The second was the banana silk yarn. I have a crocheted hat pattern from Stitch Diva Studios that turned out beautifully in this yarn (look at their customer gallery). It would make a great gift.

So shipping is ultra-fast with these folks. My package was shipped on Monday and delivered on Wednesday. The packaging was A+ splendid. The yarn skeins were put up in individual plastic bags tied with lovely ribbons.

I couldn't believe that I also received a hand written note about my yarns and a personal comment on my location. Tres nice, don't you think?

Then, of course, there is the yarn. The Malabrigo is simply amazing! So soft and vibrantly colored. I need more of this yarn! I'm hungry for it! I mean a sweater knitted from this yarn would be the ultimate in lovely softness.

The banana silk is great, too. The sheen is incredible, but this is definitely a yarn for a fun hat or purse.

Great service, great products. I would shop there again in a heartbeat.

You know yesterday was my blogiversary here on blogger. I wanted to post about it but some stuff came up and I didn't have time. However, I would still like to make a little celebration. So I think that the first person to comment on this entry should get something fun from my stash. I want to give away my most favorite sock yarn because goodness like Liza Souza Sock! should be shared. Send me your email and the skein shall be yours!

Oh and as an aside, I had to look up the spelling for blogiverary and came upon an interesting set of blogging related definitions here. Some of them are pretty funny.

Okay, I have so much stuff to do today. Off to the real world.

The Lone Shoe: Or Continuing Adventures in Dateland

2006-07-11T11:00:00.000-04:00

What would you think about a girl that came home from a "date" with only one shoe?

Would you suspect that she accidently slipped off the edge of a creek bank and was nearly submersed in the rushing waters coming off the falls she visited late at night - but managed somehow to save her cellphone?

Probably not, but it could happen.

Stitch Marker Swap II

2006-07-08T13:43:00.000-04:00

I always seem to get so lucky in swaps! My latest treasures are some lovely stitch markers from Holly at Hollyarns Handpainted Yarn. Aren't they cute! I love the way she wrapped the tops up. Very original! They will be great for lace!!!

I'm also actually doing some knitting of my own as I alluded to the other day. The Noni bag is coming along brilliantly. I think it will be a stunner, but my poor swap partner has had to wait so long! She'll get some other goodies, too, for being such a good sport!

New Me!

2006-07-06T15:36:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was an absolutely fabulous day. To start out, I woke up and felt wonderful. I got a nice 2 mile run in and did my errands. Later I got a call from a guy that I saw earlier this week. He invited me to go sailing.

I skipped boxing, but it was so worth it. Sailing is just about the coolest thing I have done here in Ithaca. It's a small, fast boat. When it takes off, one side will be leaning into the water and so you have to use your body weight to keep it from capsizing. So I was in this harness that you could attach to the boat and I had to stand on the side and lean out over the water. Very fun.

Later my Stitch'N bitch friend cut my hair. She did a lovely job. I've got lots of layers now and so much more curl. My hair feels and looks fabulous. I was walking around town today feeling like a princess, so light and airy. Thanks, L!!!Plus I went to the our Stitch'N Bitch last night and got some more time in on my exchange project.

Ah, if only everyday were so lovely!

J Is The Letter For Today

2006-07-02T21:27:00.000-04:00

I've had a pretty great weekend and it had a lot to do with my friend J here in Ithaca. J's the kind of person that just seems to enjoy himself at every moment. He's smart and serious and all that, and yet he can be quite silly. He likes to say, ma-nam-a-namp. At fun times, like Yoda, he does speak....I mean who else will start an impromptu game of hide and seek in Borders with me? Or sing songs from Grease with me on the phone when we both don't really know the words? And he's just so into whatever it is that he's into that it's contagious. He's a great guy. Thanks J, for making me smile today and everytime I see you.

To another J in Ithaca, I just want to reiterate what a class act that I think you are.

To J in SP, I miss you! Someone's coming down this week to the gym to spar with me. It's like a fight-date. I can't wait to see how I'll do.

New Project

2006-07-01T15:21:00.000-04:00

We did a lot of spin art at my program. I rescued some and wanted to make something with it all. I think it will look nice in the end.

Project Spectrum June

2006-06-30T10:47:00.000-04:00

In an end-of-the-month effort to keep up with Project Spectrum, I rummaged through my photos and came up with a few in blue.

Sugar and spice and everything nice, that's what cables are made of. and these were made with Pleasure. Ah, such a soft and pleasant yarn. Darn you, Berocco for getting rid of it. It kept my brother nice and toasty this winter though.

A Beautiful day fishing on the lake. It was a fluke day for April in CNY. I remember needing to put on sunscreen, feeling the sun shine on my back and feeling the relaxation of that warmth right to the end's of my toes.

And of course I give you an Arizona sky. Can you see the "little fluffy clouds?"

Burton: "What were the skies like when you were young?"
Jones: "They went on forever – They - When I - We lived in Arizona, and the skies always had little fluffy clouds in 'em, and they were long, clear, and there were lots of stars, at night. And when it would rain, they would all turn - They were beautiful, the most beautiful skies as a matter of fact. Um, the sunsets were purple and red and yellow and on fire, and the clouds would catch the colors everywhere. That's uh, neat cause I used to look at them all the time, when I was little. You don't see that. You might still see it in the desert."

(if you have no idea what I am talking about, it's a "techno" song from the 90's by Orb)

I also have to include one of my favorite plants evah! Hello, Mr. Sauguaro. This guy is more than 50 years old (he has arms). One of the great things about these cacti is that they have so much personality. If you're walking around in the desert forest like I was here, you'll see that some look like they are waving at you. Some look like they are running away from you. Some are posing and looking a little petulant. It's great.

Ah, so long June. I'm glad you're over. I'm looking forward to July, August and the rest of my going-to-be-wonderful life.

The Awesomeness of One Skein Secret Pal-dom!

2006-06-29T16:34:00.000-04:00

I have a great One Skein Secret Pal that rocks! Seriously, take a look at my suprises.

Isn't my one skein phenomenal? My pal got the exact yarn that I wanted to try! The much talked about and much praised Jagger Spun Zephyr. It so soft and it's a lovely, lovely color (Not captured very well by this amature photographer on a cloudy day. It should be almost the color of the candles in the photo below). I'm just itching to knit it up!

And then there were great goodies. The hand creme is just amazing. The candles smell scrumptious and I can't wait to try the soap. Plus a great pattern for the yarn. How complete is that?

Thank you secret pal! I appreciate all the thought you put into my gift. It's truly wonderful.

Dating Fauxpas No. 2

2006-06-29T12:26:00.000-04:00

A. Being a creampuff. Seriously, I was a real pushover with the the ex. I think that a lot of it had to do with the fact that he was so much older than I was when I met him. But I think this has carried over to the here and now because it was established for so long in my other relationship. That's something that I'll need to be vigilant about.

It's so bizarre because I don't think of myself as being a creampuff at all. In other areas of my life I am so tough. Not many people could deal with being an inner city high school teacher, living in another country, etc, etc. I have no problems standing up for other people. It's becoming obvious that I need to work on that for myself though.

B. Letting people mess with your head. See 2A.

Wonderful Bev!

2006-06-28T07:47:00.000-04:00

It's nice to know that there are people out there that I have who have sent me positive energy and good thoughts during my recent tough times. It's really unbelievable though that there would be someone out there that I have never even met in person that would send me a care package. I am truly touched by your generousity and heart, Bev.

It's a little hard to see in the photo, but she sent me a set of glorious sandalwood candles with chinese dragons imprinted on them. I love how apropos they are for my situation. I need inner quiet, strength and wisdom.

And she sent me this lovely book, Morehouse Farm Merino Knits. It's got some really nice classic designs in it. I am particularly enchanted with the Rabbit-Proof Scarf (I loved the movie as well) and Erin's Tunic. Definitely two things that I would love to make and wear for this coming winter.

Thank you, Bev, your kindness is outstanding!

As for my recent dating adventures:

I was so gaga over the guy that I recently met and wrote about. I thought that he was just as infatuated with me, too, but I don't think that is the case. It's too bad really because he was awesome. I wish I had met him a few months into the future.

You know, having been in a long term relationship for quite some time, I am used to saying what I feel, but I realize that that's not such a good thing on the dating scene: Hello dating fauxpas no. 1! Anyway, I feel like I just want to go out there and have some fun, but there are some rules that I need to learn. Ahem!

And J if you're out there, I just want to apologize again. What I did was really thoughtless. Sorry.

Crazy Week, Crazy Dates

2006-06-24T16:10:00.000-04:00

Let's start with last Friday, shall we? The evening began with my work's end of the year party. We went to Just A Taste and I started off with a flight of red wines (more than samples of 5 different wines). We had a lovely dinner and I ate some of my favorite food in Ithaca. And I had more wine.

After wine and tapas we were ready to hit the bars. Fortunately there are many to choose from on the commons in Ithaca. So we hit up the first one for shots (a concoction that my boss created), went across the street for more drinks, then on to the last bar of the evening where I had two double vodka drinks (that my boss also created).

Yes, I have the worlds coolest boss. And my coworkers are delightful. It's always a great time when we hang out. It's so sad that so many are leaving Ithaca.

I got home past 1 AM and that was bad news because I had to get up at 5:30 to catch my ride to Utica. Two of our boys from the gym were supposed to fight (I think as qualifiers for the Empire Games). But only one fought, but that was fine because it it was a glorious fight. Every round was great action.

And our fighter won. W is an amazingly skilled and fast boxer. It was so great to go to an old fashioned boxing gym and the story behind the fight would make a great movie (the trainers were arch-enemies). And let's not mention all the beautiful fighters that showed up.

Anyway, on the way back we went to the Boxing Hall of Fame. There were some cool things there including casts of many fighters hands, bills, and tickets.

As I told you in the previous post, last Sunday I went on my first internet date. I had a great time with that guy. I mean, we spent like 7 hours together on our first date together, but I just didn't think I was feeling it. You know the right chemistry. But I decided to try it again and it was pretty much the same.

Well, you remember the bike guy I wrote about, don't you? Well he had helped me out when I picked up my bike, too. And let's just say that he had been on my brain for a while. I decided I should ask him out, but when I went to the bike shop he wasn't there.

So all this is a prelude to the fact that one night I was on my internet dating site and decided that I should be much more proactive about the whole process. So I started searching for guys. I found a couple cute interesting prospects and emailed one on them. But I was sitting there thinking, why can't the bike guy be on here? Click next page, he pops up just right there. It seems like fate, so of course I emailed him and we set up a "date."

But a little later I get an email, a funny, interesting and affable email from another guy who sends me his phone number. For some reason I put it into my phone right away. And for some reason I send him mine in my next email (I never give out my phone number!).

Later on I get a call from this guy. And we talked for a little bit and he ended up coming over. (he called me on accident. We were going to go for a drink but we ended up at his house where we talked for hours and then he drove me home. I got to my house at about 1:30, but didn't get home until 3:00 AM. Fill in the blanks!

Trouble in exchange-land

2006-06-18T09:52:00.000-04:00

It turns out that the pattern that my LYS gave me for the circular felted tote was wrong and wrong. The first time it had to do with the intructions for the ends of rows. The second time had to do with the number of skeins needed. Oh, yes. As I was knitting along, I started to feel that awful, itching feeling you get when you look down at your skein and know you are going to run out of yarn. I wasn't even halfway done, but my yarn was more than half gone.

So I went back to my LYS and sure enough the udpated pattern that they found for me says that it takes two skeins. No wonder I didn't find any of these felted purses in blogland! The owner had another skein of Kathleen on hand in my colorway, but the tones were too different for my taste. I didn't want the front and back to look too disparate. So...I had to come up with something else.

The moment I had walked through the door, I had seen a bunch of Noni Bag Patterns blatantly lounging about on the coffee table. Having admired these from a far on the 'net, I set about looking at the construction of these purses. And of course I bought one pattern (really I wanted about 4 of them). So I give you Tote Exchange Project II: The Sassy Baguette!

I bought Karaoke to knit it with. Beautiful, no? But I should have read the pattern more carefully. The designer wants you to use two strands of 220 held together (on size 11 needles!). I don't want to do this with the karaoke. I would have to make sure they were starting at just the same place in their color striping and this would drive me crazy.

So I think I am going to make the largest version of the bag, but with a single a strand on US 10 needles. I also had the thought of alternating stripes of Karaoke and some other yarn I have. Hmmmm.... I am still undecided.....

So now what do I do with this large and lovely ball of Schaefer Kathleen? I was thinking maybe a scarf. Maybe My So Called Scarf? But the fabric might be just too thick with this wool. Any ideas?

I have had a pretty interesting weekend so far. On Friday night we had our end of the year party for work and though my intentions were noble, I ended up staying out way too late and drinking too much. That made it hard to get up the next morning at 5:30 to catch my ride to Utica where I went to see one of our guys from the boxing gym fight. And, wow, was that ever cool! And last night my friend from knitting had a going away party. It's so sad that she's leaving, but she's doing something great for herself. Today was supposed to be a rest day, but I have a date. Cha, cha, cha! So I won't get as much stuff done around the house as I'd like to have done.

Happy Birthday To Me

2006-06-14T09:48:00.000-04:00

Monday was my birthday (nevermind my age) and I treated myself to a couple of things.

I bought a beautiful handmade market basket from my local coop. It was made by a cooperative in Gana and each basket is different in size shape and pattern. It works great for shopping with it's wide circumfrence and open top. It holds flowers and carrots with long greens easily. It seems to be really sturdy and you can reshape it by wetting it rather like a felted item. I love the colors and patterns on it. It also holds my boxing gear quite nicely, at least until I finish my boxing bag.

I bought some birthday-yarn, too. I mean, what kind of knitter would I be otherwise? (eventhough I haven't knit much lately. It's in my blood and you can't escape that). Here it is: it's an undyed, 5+ ounce skein of fingering (?) merino/silk. It's soft and lovely and I want to knit a nice lace something or other in it. A shawl? A top? Something purely for me. Meanwhile, I will be in the corner petting it.

Speaking of knitting, I just have to start the toe of my self-striping sock. I'm not sure what kind of toe I want, though. Probably I will go with the standard, (I almost always do), but it's fun to contemplate other possibilities at least.

:sigh: I miss my old photoogenic porch. I am still not sure how I want to take pictures in my new place. I might try to the roof. Yes, I have roof access!

Oh, hey and once upon a time, Mothlady of the incredible Lillehammer sweater asked me what kind of camera I use. And I totally forgot to answer, but I'll tell ya now that it's a cheapie one I picked up from Chez Target for $80.00 a couple of years ago: Vivitar Vivicam 3705 3.3 mp. This little guy doesn't have optical zoom which drives me crazy and most of my pictures with any distance don't turn out. But it takes nice close ups. But still, I can't focus it. My next one will have optical zoom that's for sure.

Blogger is being stubborn and won't let me upload more pictures, like the one of the entire basket. Ugh!

Newest Stash Addition

2006-06-11T11:09:00.000-04:00

Sock! in South Pacific by Lisa Souza

Last fall I bought a skein of Sock! from Lisa Souza Yarn and loved it. Since then I have been deeply in love with the South Pacific colorway (isn't it glorious). I didn't want to buy anymore yarn until I used what I had, but I have tried to make the shade garden skein into a scarf on no less than 3 occassions.The last iteration was to be a Mother's Day present and I started and frogged it about 4 times. It holds up well I must say. It's a lovely colorway, but I think it's telling me that it wants to be socks not a scarf.

Anyway, I am so happy to have this lovely skein. I think it will just be a gazing skein for a while (as opposed to a touching skein or a working skein). I love it just the way it is, sitting on the window sill in the sun.

This is a bad yarn buying sign, I think. Help! I must be falling into the knitter's abyss....the overflowing abyss of yarn stashdom.

Anyway.........

(here comes the personal issue stuff)

On other fronts, my life has been hell for the last two weeks. A bunch of stuff happened with my Faux-SO. Now I am out of the house and in my own apartment. It's a lovely space with lots of windows and light and I feel that I can start to get my head together. In fact, I feel leaps and bounds better than just 4 days ago.

Time to heal.

Time to return to world.

Time to start living.

It's kind of fun to walk around and feel free. I see a cute guy and I think, hey there's a cute guy, and I remember that I can look. And so I do and then I think, wow, I could do something about this because he's looking at me, too. Hmmm, yep I am free. Should I do something? Ah, probably not, I am still so tender, but wouldn't it be fun? Cha, cha, cha!

I mean yesterday I was taking my bike to get a tune up and the mechanic there had the most amazing eyes and I let myself be mesmerized by them. And we were both just kind of standing there through the motions but lost in something else.

It was an amazing interaction. Why are bike mechanics always so cute?

Cashmere Crocheted Casual/Underscarf Scarf

2006-05-29T11:24:00.000-04:00

I made this little scarf lickety-split last weekend. It's left over fingering weight cashmere in Nutmeg that I got from Colourmart Cashmere. Some people haven't like their yarn, but I have to say that it softens and fluffs up beautifully when washed. I mean, I crocheted this on a USK hook. The bloom is incredible. People who use cashmere frequently also claim that you can put it in the washer (maybe dryer, too)!

If you are interested, the formula for this scarf goes like this: Chain 130, SC 8 rows or caston with the SC foundation and SC 7 rows. The border is made by chaining 5 stitches and SC into second stitch all the way around the edge of scarf. Weave in ends. Tada!

If you use a yarn that will not bloom like this, it will look much lacier.

Warning: Don't read the following if my personal entries have been TMI lately for you.

Soap opera time: Faux-SO is coming back from his trip sooner because he wants to help me get everything settled. When I first found out about everything I freaked out and asked him to do this, but he thought it was a stupid idea. Now he thinks he should because he feels so bad. He's a rogue and he knows it.

It's troublesome because it's been difficult contacting people about rentals with the holiday weekend and all. The perfect scenario would be me finding a place and moving out the day he comes back. Otherwise, it will be really uncomfortable staying in the same house as he and if he is staying with his real-girlfriend and I have to be in contact with him I might spontaneously combust. Aye, yaye, yaye! I'm over him but that's too much too soon.

My Life As A Soap Opera, Part IV

2006-05-27T11:52:00.000-04:00

Several things have happened this week to make my life exceedingly painful and yet better in the long run.

*I found out that Faux-SO has been having an affair with a woman that he worked with for at least 6 months.*

I'm not going to detail it all here, but let me just tell you, he is a Dog. Everything that has been coming out of his mouth for the last who-knows-how-long has been a lie. (yet another big fat liar in my life)

So many things make sense now.

FO: Cable Top Buttonhole Bag

2006-05-20T10:27:00.000-04:00

I am glad to finally have a new FO to post about. It's my cable top buttonhole bag for Project Spectrum April.

Yarn: Plymouth Galway (3 skeins), scraps of accent yarn
Needles: US 10.5 24 inch circular
Pattern: Original

I had a vision of this bag in my mind as I was knitting it and it did't quite pan out the way I had hoped (hmm it looks a lot like the before picture!), but that's the fun of felting (especially untested patterns). I'm quite suprised really, I thought the cable top was going to shrink a lot more given the orientation of the stitches. Anyway, this experiement has given me the material to make a better bag pattern for the next one.

One of the things that you rarely here of when felting, especially bags, is the problem of the fabric felting too fast. I usually expect to run two complete washes with every project, but when I pulled this little bag out of the cold rinse it had already felted *too* much. Incredible. I've felted with Galway before and new it was a Champion Felter, but this was ridiculous. The second problem was uneven felting. I fixed this as best as I could during blocking. The third little irritation is the flaring about the buttonhole. My caston was too stretchy there and I knew it. So I SCed around it to tighten it up but it wasn't enough really.

Anyway, I think the next iteration of this bag will have two cables at the top with the buttonhole between them. This will ameliorate the flaring issue. There will be more crocheted accents on the body fabric, as well as some different shaping to get the effect that I am looking for.

Isn't the Kitty button cute? It's hand carved from applewood by a local artisan.

Presents, projects and prospects

2006-05-18T18:07:00.000-04:00

Okay so with Faux-SO gone to Italy and me being on vacation with no where to go to, I have been getting a lot of stuff done. I crossed off every bullet on my weekly todo list this Wednesday, and I have been knitting quite a bit.

One of the chores I got done was sending off something quite overdue.

Presents

So I showed you this little guy in the last post, but what I didn't tell you (and what I hate to admit) is that this scarf is a Christmas present. I couldn't get the yarn for it until April. I crocheted it up lickety split, but it's still getting sent out in May. Lucky for me I had a card I made lying around that matched perfectly. Spring, yet somber. It has that congragilartory yet too bad it's so darn late aire about it. There's one benefit of making a living doing arts and crafts ;-)

Project Spectrum Bag

Basically this bag has been done for a week, but I didn't quite know how to end it. Well last night after sn'b, the ending came to me. And voila!

I felted it today, but will comment on it a little later. There have been some "complications."

Prospects

I am in the One Skein Exchange. This is where you send your secret pal one skein of yarn in June and July and in August you send an item that you knitted from one skein of yarn. This is my skein for the knitted item. It's a glorious teal, a peacock to die for, an ultralovely blue-green dream. And as soon as I saw it, I had a vision of what it will be. There is a lovely lace that will show off this yarn, but I have it as a shawl pattern. And this yarn needs to be a lovely, long, lace scarf.

No problem, right, I should be able to just look at the repeat and go for it. I've already sat at my computer for a good hour staring at the chart trying to suss this puppy out. Why is figuring this repeat out so difficult? I don't know. It will be worth it though.

Back to knitting....

2006-05-15T15:17:00.000-04:00

Is this or is this not the biggest ball of yarn that you've ever laid eyes upon? Okay, you might have seen larger, but I certainly haven't. It's quite a glorious bit of yarnage if I must say so. It's a bit of Schaefer heaven chiamata Kathleen and it's so nice and spongy, soft. The colors are fabulous, too eventhough it's not showing up well in this picture. And the smell of it is unique. It smells a little vinegary or something to that effect, but it's really pleasant as it's an actual smell that I associate with one of my LYSs.

Really I shouldn't be buying new yarns, especially not for felting (I am still working on that Very Large Bag and another one, too. I'm ridiculous, aren't I?). I mean I need to be saving money for moving and living on my own. But I bought this lovely yarn for a knitting exchange that I am in. It's the Tote Exchange, brought to us by the people who did the international scarf exchange this past winter. And if you saw the results of that, I think you would have joined as well. Just gorgeous items were exchanged.

Anyway, I was going to make a really cute bag called the B4 Bag. (Isn't it fun?) But while I was in my LYS I saw the Felted Circular Tote (from Knit'N Style Feb 2006) hanging there in all it's glory. I remember almost buying this mag when it came out because that pattern was so cool. Anyway, my LYS provided me with the pattern and now I am starting this lovely piece of work. I'm really choosing sophisticated over fun here with this pattern and I hope that's going to be okay with my partner.

It's actually a bit of a challenge as there is something wrong with the directions and there is no errata posted for this pattern. Moreover, I haven't seen many knitted up on the web (actually none when I googled it). It's a cool pattern, though. It's all about the short rows. You knit up both halves of the purse, then join them together as you knit an i-cord around. How cool is that?

Now I just need to find a lovely button. I am thinking about something from Teyani's site. I love the Raku buttons, especially the extra large Ginkgo. But then again, I am a gingko fanatic. What do you think? The pine rose is lovely and so is the Kiss. Ah, decisions.

You know I was moping around, thinking that although I have been doing a ton of knitting, that I hadn't really completed anything in what felt like months. Well I was wrong. I totally forgot about the two twirly whirly scarves that I crocheted. The basic black one on the left is crocheted from Plymouth Baby Alpaca Grande and is soft like no other yarn save cashmere could ever hope to be. It's gift for someone in my family. The one on the right was also supposed to be for that same person. I bought the suri merino yarn as a substitue for the baby alpaca grande because my LYS was all out. Of course, as soon as I was almost finished with the frilly one, they get the Baby back in stock. So now I don't know what to do with it exactly.

So like I said, I have been knitting a lot. I think pretty soon you are going to see a slew of FO's batted in. I mean, look how close I am to finishing this bag! I just need to decide how I want to finish it, do a little crocheting, buy some beads and toss it in the washer.

I guess I am a little behind as this is my Project Spectrum bag for April! :doh!:

And I also started some socks with the yarn that I dyed. I think they look pretty snazzy. What do you think? I wanted to use a pattern that highlighted their self-stipingness. I could have done Jaywalkers, I suppose, but I think this works pretty well, too. I just need to decide what sort of heel to put on this guy. I'm tempted to go short row as I would like to practice that one.

And I wanted to say thanks to everyone that has been sending me kind thoughts and energy. It was really appreciated. I am trying to get back in the saddle, but I seem to keep tripping just as I put my foot into the stirrup. My faux-SO hasn't been fairing too well either. Not sleeping, not eating. He feels all alone. So he up and decided to catch a plane to Italy tomorrow so that he can do some thinking in peace. I hope he gets some, but I don't think it helps me at all. It's just prolonging the breakup. Ah, that's life I guess.

I also wanted to say that I am sorry to have been MIA on y'alls blogs lately. I haven't been able to concentrate very well. So I have a lot of blog reading to catch up on. I'll be seeing you soon.

Bacio!

Up and Down

2006-04-30T08:35:00.000-04:00

This past week was rather hard to sit down and blog about. It was all over the map and I was super busy.

There were some things that were really nice. I got my second set of stitch markers from Angela and a cool card that she made. Aren't they cute? They will be fantastic once I start up my mom's lace scarf again. I didn't have any small markers before and these will be useful for my next and hopefully last version of the darn thing.

At work we suprised the kids on Thursday by having a prom. All the staff dressed up for a formal, but with a tacky twist to keep it amusing. It was a complete secret so when the kids came and saw us they were nearly hysterical. For arts and crafts I had them make fake flower coursages and ties. For snack we added a prom punch and we opened up the gym for a dance/play party. It was really cute. Afterwards we went out to the local tavern still all dressed up and had great time knocking a few back.

I wanted to find a poofy sleeved, poofy skirted, foofy dress with a big bow on it somewhere. Deb's from Napolean Dynamite would have been perfect. But the Salvation Army thrift shop was clean out of 80's prom dresses. So I ended up wearing a bridesmaid dress I had from a wedding which was a little too tasteful for the event. So I tried to tone it up a with some plastic ice from the dollar store orange gloves and a ginourmous orange lilly for my hair.

Knitting was nice this week, too. We had a Sip and Stitch at a winery just up the road yesterday. The turnout wasn't high as it was rather last minute -my fault- but it was so relaxing and gorgeous. The winery has a back porch that catches all the afternoon sunshine and it was a warm and lovely day yesterday. We just sat there, sipped and knit. Ah, lazy, lovely Sundays.

And just to up my knitting content a little bit I have a photo of one of my UFO's. It's a bag that I was working on for my gift elf last holiday season, but it just wouldn't turn out right. The body felted beautifully, but the strap was a nightmare. I did major surgery on it several times, but it just wouldn't come together. So I got it out the other day to see if there was something I could do with it. What I ended up doing was cutting out the strap and cutting off the top. I'm still a little clueless about what to do, but I feel like something will come to me soon.

We've got another suprise planned for the kids this week which means I've got to get off bum and get another costume together!

Kung Fu Orphan

2006-04-21T07:49:00.000-04:00

Dedicated kung fu student seeks teacher.

For a while now I haven't had a kung fu class to go to. The last straw for me came when my teacher came over to help my partner and I in a drill and after showing how to do it on me proceeded to then turn my arm over and force me to the ground with a joint manipulation. My shoulder got wrenched in the process. This was my shoulder that had been giving me problems for months. So much so that for a month or so not too long ago I did everything with my arm tied to my side at my teachers behest. So he knew what delicate should joints I had and just did what he did because... who knows why? If it was uncounscious, then maybe it was just some unconscious need to dominate me and show who's the man or whatever. If it was conscious, then I guess it was some conscious need to dominate or control me. What ever the case, I don't need to geet hurt to satisfy the ego of my kung fu teacher. He's also a psychopathic liar so....

So I haven't been going to a class, but as you have seen I have been doing a little practice in the park. When I first went out there, I had the feeling that this was the way it's supposed to be. Under the sun toes in the grass, there is a real connection to the earth; more chi in the out of doors. So it's quite satisfying. Now my friend comes, too, and we practice together. Some people give us queer looks but that's okay. :-)

Boxing has been really difficult this lately. The coach at my gym was out of town for a week and there were the golden gloves before that so there hasn't been training for about a week and a half. Coming back this this Tuesday, I have been really sore since then and the workouts have been crazy intense. The trainer says that I have really improved though. Woohoo!

And something came in the mail for me. It's a vintage crocheted shawl that my great friend in Israel sent me (along with other goodies). How timely is this piece? It makes a great comparison to the cover of interweave Crochet, don't you think so?

This week in pictures

2006-04-14T18:06:00.000-04:00

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

This weekend?

Project Spectrum - Orange is for April

2006-04-10T11:28:00.000-04:00

Here's a shot of my PS project for April. I've got the top done and joined. I need to pick up the stitches for the body now and knit away. There are a few techinical problems that I may have to deal with, but I think I am just fretting for no reason. It's just that the last bag that I knit on the fly didn't turn out. I'm a little more cautious now.

Yesterday I spent part of the day with my friend M in the park practicing Kung Fu. It was really fun. The sun was out, but it wasn't warm so I kept my hooded sweatshirt on, hood up and tied with sunglasses. No, I don't think I quite looked like the unibomber, but I wanted a badass look. Afterall, it's not easy to spar with M, even slowly because I feel like a munchkin. He has about 5 inches and 100 pounds on me. I mean come on, look at this:

what did that tree ever do to him?

J/K! He's a sweet, sweet person and fellow knitter. Check out his work on the Ithaca Stitch'N Bitch blog.

And in case you're wondering which character on the Muppets you have an affinity for, I offer you this test which I found on Lainie's blog today:

You Are Animal

A complete lunatic, you're operating on 100% animal instincts.
You thrive on uncontrolled energy, and you're downright scary.
But you sure can beat a good drum.
"Kill! Kill!"

The Muppet Personality Test

Consolation Prize

2006-04-08T15:30:00.000-04:00

Okay, so my ride never showed up for Syracuse. All my plans were shot today and I was mildly pissed off. You know, I really wanted to go. I wanted to support my team, take a look at all the hot boxing guys. Um yeah, I said it. Fighters have the best bodies on earth. Normally that's not my deal, but knowing what goes into it makes me appreciate it a lot more.

So no boxing, no knitting on the ride, no scoping out hot guys. What's a gal to do? She just sobs a couple of times and heads on over to her LYS for her consolation prize.

But she gets her first consolation prize on the way.

At the yarn shop she ends up with this for her work on project spectrum. Actually, I had a nice time perusing the lace knitting books, squishing yarn and all the normal comforting activities afforded at a LYS. It was a good soothing place to go after disappointment. Plus, while I was wandering around, the perfect felting project came to me. So keep on the look out! Barbara Walker is going to earn her keep and I think I will get this one done lickety split.

And I decided that the last consolation for the day shall be buying yarn for a new project. Tell me folks, I have two patterns that I want to knit. The yarn for each is sitting in my shopping basket at Knit Picks and Elann. Which should I Knit?

We have project Picovili by Grumperina. I love the way this turned out for April. If I chose this one I will knit it in the cloud color of Shine. Yes it's pretty much the same color as the Grumperina's but I really like it and it will look good on me. I just really love the shaping in this pattern. It's so flattering. Pro = flattering fit Con = miles o'stockinette

Second is project high neck lace top from Holiday Vogue 2005. I love most of the victoriana patterns in this issue, but this one really stands out to me for it's combination of texture and lovely lace. I could definitely see myself wearing this and I would love to knit it eventhough it does require seeming. The hard part has been finding a yarn that I like, but I decided that Quechua at Elann would do the trick probably in either parchment or charcoal. Pro = Interesting pattern Con = Vogue instruction suck the big one and I will have to seem it

Watcha think? Which project will console me more? ;-)

Skeined up

2006-04-08T10:06:00.000-04:00

This week turned into a really busy one. Not a lot of knitting accomplished. Today I am heading up to Syracuse to watch the guys and gals from my gym compete in the Golden Gloves. I have never been to a boxing match before, woohoo!

Vintage Rose and Hydrangea

2006-04-03T11:56:00.000-04:00

I started last night with the color your own fingering skein from Knit Picks and some koolaid.

The plan was to make self striping yarn in a less cotton-candy-kiddy-colorway than koolaid dying usually turns out.

Overdying takes care of the unwanted cotton-candy effect and helps to make a very tangled mess. Ahem! (you really don't want to know how long I spent untangling it all)

Here's the skein drip-drying in the shower. As I was winding it, the colors reminded me of a vintage scarf that I love. It's cream with lovely roses on it. I also thought of hydrangeas. So that's what I cam calling it. I had to use a flash for this photo so some of the colors aren't representative. Hopefully it will be dry soon and I can take a nice skeined-up shot.

On the crochet front, I have finished two projects and one is almost complete. Here is a shot of the one I did last weekend. It's a hybrid of a scarf that I have been wanting to make and a twirly whirly scarf that just came off the hook. I made it out of Peaches'n Cream. So the cost was less than $3 and it really only used a pinch of the second skein. It's great for spring.

Transition to April: Project Spectrum - and - Kung fu in the Park

2006-04-01T10:21:00.001-05:00

So I was poking around on some blogs the other day and clicked a link to Lolly's Project Spectrum page. I had heard about this project but didn't really know what it was about, just that there was some "thing" for red going around the knitblogosphere. In any event, I enjoyed reading some of Lolly's views on art and the rest of the day I noticed all the red around me. Since I am all for activities that increase my awareness of my environment, I decided that I would join in.

I wanted to start out with a transition from last month's colors of red and pink into this month's colors of yellow and orange.

I wanted to start out by looking back at photos that I aleady had to see how those two colors played a roll in their composition.

I wanted this experience to help make me mindful of yellow and orange in my present environment so that the next set of pictures might be about what I see today.

We have had a pretty glorious week here in Ithaca and it seemed to answer my prayer for a little warm weather. I am finally feeling well eventhough I haven't sounded really well, and I was able to start exercising again. In fact, I was in the park yesterday with my friend doing kung fu. It was awesome to feel the sun on my back and the breeze coming off the lake. We did a little bit of forms and then combat. And then we took some silly pictures.

Flower Basket Shawl

2006-03-27T11:12:00.000-05:00

Before:

After:

FO: Flower Basket Shawl, by Evelyn Clark from Interweave Knits Fall 2004

Yarn: Aracunia Nature Wool

Needles: US 9

Notes: The lace pattern was really fun. Most of the mistakes that I made came from forgetting to pass the slipped stitch in the double decrease. Checking at the end of each row saved my a lot of frustration once I figured out my lace knitting weakness.

Lesson learned: In the future I will pin my project out every so often just to check for undetected errors. I found one in my shawl while blocking it. I've fixed it, but I'd rather not have any other nastly little suprises like that again.

My big photos of the shawl didn't turn out so I'll have to post one a little later. Maybe a shawl action shot.

Swap!

2006-03-24T20:35:00.000-05:00

It's a lovely thing to be expecting something in the mail. If it's a suprise, you may have some vague expectations of what your package contains, but for me it's the anticipation that's the real thrill. And if it's a swap, on top of all this you have a warm feeling inside knowing that it was made especially for you.

I've recently been involved in a stitch marker swap hosted by Lain over at While you were sleeping and I got my first set today from Robyn. I love the colors that she chose for the marker beads. The greens and olives go so well together. I can't wait to use them. I have been thinking about making another clapotis for my mother for mother's day, and I think this just decided it for me. Robyn's markers will work wonderfully for this project and the yarn.

Thanks so much, Robyn. I feel lucky that you were my swap partner!! And thanks to Lain who did a great job of organizing everything. Can't wait to see my next set. :)

All about the shawl

2006-03-21T10:06:00.000-05:00

So I got the new yarn for Eris and swatched it out, but it's not going to work. I'd have to knit it really tight to get the correct gauge and I don't want to do that. It just wouldn't be doing the yarn justice.

This new bag of Jaeger Shetland Aran has a little bit different feel than I remember. It's rather more like the samples cards of Beaver Slide yarn that I bought recently, in that it has a spongy feeling to it. So I dug out another old ball of it and sure enough it also has the same texture. Funny thing is, I used Shetland Aran to make the Celtic Cap and had the right gauge for Eris.

Okay, so what to do?

Knit something else, of course! Perhaps something that you have been thinking about knitting for a long time, something that you just bought yarn for because the yarn spoke to you in the store.

The Flower basket Shawl, by Evelyn Clark. The picture is not so grand as I took it with my mobile but you get the idea. Right now, I am working on the sixth lace repeat and I'm still on my first skein of yarn. I'm using Aracunia Nature Wool so the put up is large, but I am thinking I won't have to break out the third skein. It's been a great knit so far. I can't wait to try blocking my first real shawl. :)

I've been sick for almost two weeks now and I haven't been doing any martial arts. I went to the doctor last Monday and I thought for sure they would say I had strep, but with the lack of fever they sent me packing. So it's been dragging on and on and now I have another cold. I tried to go to baxing on Saturday, but got sent home. Winter needs to end here so that I can sit in the sunshine and reclaim my health.

March, Pomatomus, Felting

2006-03-12T09:46:00.000-05:00

Thanks!

For all the positive comments. It means a lot to me. Things are still confusing and messed up. But I am working on getting out of the mire. :-) So thanks again. Just to prove it, I have been doing some knitting and I can feel my mind coming out of it's numbness (if that makes any sense). Little ideas have been popping up, little fixes for this and that knitting problem, urges to design a pair of socks, etc. So I know that I am on the mend emotionally, at least for now. We'll see what the coming weeks bring.

March WIPs

It's March and I'm going to complete the Pomatomus socks that I started in January, gosh darn it! I've sworn it to myself. And here is some evidence that I am working on them. Actually they are further along than that. I'm on the gusset at the moment. I really like working with the Mountain Colors Bearfoot. The yarn feels great to knit with and the colors are just amazing. As I knit along, each new color brings to mind a different part of a juniper tree. And somehow I feel that I am becoming acquainted all over again with these trees, glorious Juniperus.

This is another project for March. I'm making a topdown button hole bag to carry my boxing gear. I mean why else would anyone knit a big ole bag like that? ;) Anyway, it's a stash busting scrap bag. I'm using all of my left over yarn (that I know felts well) and a couple of new skeins to knit it up. I think I will end up having to buy more yarn because this thing is ginormous. And it's going to have to grow to be gimungous if it will ever felt into a BIG bag.

I'm excited about getting to the bottom. Not because I will be all but finished, but because I am knitting this bag as an experiment in shaping. Can shaping really be exciting? Sometimes it feels like knit magic. Anyway, I think I made the button holes a bit too large and will have to got back with a crochet hook and fix it up a little bit. I was planning on using some crochet anyway as reinforcement and decoration so this is no big deal. Where ever you are I have to say, "Thank you Minda for teaching me to crochet!!!!!!"

I'm also crocheting two scarves. One is a simple twirly whirly in black Suri Merino from Plymouth. The other is going to be more complicated. One of my LYS's got in some Rowan Calmer and I had to go and touch it (well let's just say that I knew I was going to buy some but I tricked myself into going there with noble intentions). You see I had never seen this yarn in person before and was quite curious about its fame. Once I thought of it I though of a project for it. Needless to say, I came home with two skeins in a beautiful blue to make this scarf. I have the pattern book and there are lots of interesting things in it. Some day I will do a show and tell.

Oh and wasn't this supposed to be the year of the sweater?

I've decided that knitting Eris in Andean Silk was torture and deserving of it's own little level in hell. The Andean Silk just needs to be made into something else because I wasn't enjoying the knit. So all my Andean Silk is currently single, free and looking for just the right project. Not sure what that will be yet...If anyone has some ideas, then drop me a line please because I would really like to enjoy this soft and silky yarn.

Meanwhile, I have been a very busy little ebay shopper. I bought a pack of Jaeger Shetland Aran in Aqua from Jannette's Rare Yarns. I swear she's got to be one of the best yarn sellers out there. I've only bought a couple of items from her, but they have come lightening-fast. Really, you know you're getting A+ service when your package from overseas arrives days before those ordered from inside your country.

Anyway, I think this will be the new yarn I will use for Eris. After I got the Andean Silk I discovered Jaeger Shetland Aran and would have rather of had it anyway. So maybe my wish is coming true in a round about way. One of my favorite blog authoresses out there knit a lovely Eris out of this yarn in forest green.

And.....

I have been working on some other interesting projects lately, but they're suprises, so I can't post pictures just yet......;..;

Ice Princess Mitts with pattern

2006-03-05T16:07:00.000-05:00

I want to thank everyone that has posted encouraging comments on my blog and spoken to me in person. It's been really heart warming. Thank you. The last couple of weeks have been a roller coaster ride and I am still very confused about how I feel and what's going on with my relationship. I have a feeling that it's not going to end well and so I know that change is coming. I've discovered that I think that I am all right with that and that I might end up happier than I am now. It's scary, but it just might be true. So right now I am just trying to take comfort in the small things and enjoy what I can until things are more settled.

In an effort to get on with regular life, I have been trying work out of my knitting doldrums and finally finished a piece this week at my stitch'n bitch. Really these should have taken me a week and not a month to complete, but better late than never.

So, this winter I bought a season pass to the ice skating rink. It's outdoor and it can be quite cold. I can't stand to skate in a coat but without one I was so cold. So as a compromise I started wearing a vest but my arms were frozen even with gloves (another thing I hate wearing when skating).

So I decided to make something that would keep my arms warm, but that I could still wear gloves under for the added warmth. It had to be something girly, afterall it was for figure skating and it had to come from my stash ( I am admitting that I have one now). Thus the idea of the Ice Princess Mitts were born. Luckily I had some angora sitting around and the perfect yarn from my KR gift elf, Cayli.

Supplies

For main yarn use a heavy worsted or worsted weight yarn that any ice princess would deign to wear. I used hand dyed and spun yarn gifted to me from a very talented fiber artist.
Yarn for froufrou trim, be it white worsted angora like I used or funfur, etc.
Set of US8 DPNs
Tapestry needle to weave in ends.

Pattern

Beginning: Cast on 30 stitches of main yarn, dividing them evenly over 3 needles. Join for knitting in the round being careful not to twist the stitches, blah, blah, blah...
Arm: Knit in K1, P1 rib for 7 inches or desired length.
Thumbhole: Knit 6 rows back and forth continuing in K1, P1 ribbing. Join for knitting in the round again. Knit 2 more rounds in pattern.
Froufrou: Join angora (double it up for the best effect) and knit 1 round of ribbing with both yarns. Fasten off main yarn. Knit 7 more rounds with angora or what ever you find to be pleasing. Cast off loosely.
Finishing: Weave in ends with tapestry needle and wash and block to fluff up angora. Mine ended up being 10 inches long.

feeling like a milion dollars, not a million dollar baby

2006-02-25T18:43:00.000-05:00

Ah poor blog. I haven't been keeping up very well. It's not because I have been too busy. I just haven't had the heart to write. I don't want to TMI anyone, but my personal life (read 9 year relationship) is falling apart. I have been very upset and haven't had the heart to really knit either. Sometimes when I am unhappy I turn to knitting. Sometimes I feel paralyzed. This has been about paralysis.

Not only has my knitting suffered, but the other half of my blog, Kung Fu, has been kaput lately, too. I love kung fu. I love learning it, practicing, sparring, weapons. It rocks. And the people at my school are awesome. I really don't think I could meet funnier, more interesting people with fantabulous personalities in Ithaca. But things have been happening that have upset the equanimity of the kwoon.

There was a couple that both attended, but their relationship is now over. During the time that the gal was thinking about breaking up with her other half, she spent most of her time with my kung fu teacher. Whether or not anything happened then is moot because they are now officially seeing each other and she's got poorly concealed hickies all over her neck. You can imagine how the guy feels. And how this creates a bunch of tension in a formerly tight-knit group. Not to mention the fact that I am not getting any teaching time. Most of the time my teacher devotes to individuals has been devoted to one individual. Take a wild guess who....

So home life has sucked, knitting is nonexistant and kung fu has sucked. It's all so depressing and I don't think I could really continue to function on my normal level if it were not for boxing. Dear, lovely boxing. Everytime I come home from the gym I feel like a million dollars. I am happy. I feel like I have made progress. I feel like I have shed the grief that followed me around all day. My toes are actually lighter, I swear.

And really all that I have done is shadow boxed and hit a heavy bag. Granted, I hit it as hard as I can for as long as I can. And when I get to hit focus mitts with the boxing trainer I really find my physical limit. He pushes you there, and keeps extending it. And I love hitting the speed bag, the rythmic sound it makes, the trance-like state that you can find yourself in. It's a one-ness with the little bag. It's all so simple and so good and so very therapeutic.

And the people there are so kind. Mostly it's guys training there and I felt a little intimidated at first. But now I can't think of another place that I have been to lately where strangers will just walk up to you and help you. Explain how to do what your doing better. It's just so nice, especially since I am a gal.

It's the people, the activities, the training. I am really glad that I found boxing when I did. I wouldn't be having any million dollar moments in my life otherwise right now.

Oh yeah, and did I mention that I lost 10 pounds?