Beginnings

Hey Flan,

I hope your Christmas went well and that your plans for New Year's are all in place. We're going to have a fondue party tonight. These are the exact same plans we made for last New Year's. However, tonight will be fundamentally different than last year in several ways. First of all, I will not have food poisoning and will not be very very ill.

2007 pretty much sucked. I'm hoping to chalk it up to "life experience" and, after tonight, never ever think of it again. Thankfully, we have some good looking plans for 2008.

1. I plan on applying to Graduate School! After hauling myself out of bed extremely early I began the process. Turns out my complete ignorance of GPA- overall, the last two years and within major- means that I have to order myself a transcript so that I can do math before continuing on. I also picked a date to take the GRE (Feb 1, in case you're interested). Fun stuff ahead.

2. I found the most wonderful book. It's a 52 week plan for going on walks almost every day. I love this author and am very excited. You know how much I love a plan. I figure I might as well give this a go and see how the next year turns out. Last year resulted in me having to purchase clothes in a larger size than I ever have before, so a new plan seems to be in order.

3. Moving! You were there for the last (traumatic) move. Somehow, moving always seems to be exceptionally bad- sleep deprivation combined with totally too much stuff and not enough places to put them combined with a deadline... However, this move could be different. The date arbitrarily chosen by me is July 31. The calendar is marked and the countdown (147 work days) will begin tomorrow. We may not choose to move, but we have a date in case we'd like to.

4. Knitting. This is going to be the year of me. While my own made up rules do not say that I have to knit for myself, I won't accept any commissions I don't want and will be selfish when it comes to general projects. I suppose those things should be self evident when considering a hobby, but I'm re-imposing them for a year.

Some random news:
EZ got me through Christmas. I worked on the February sweater whilst the family was here and finished it a couple of nights ago. Granted, it needs some buttons but all the knitting, seaming and end weaving is done. I love her and I love this pattern. The Hubby thinks the sweater is so cute he won't let me give it away. I kind of agree.

I have a grand total of ONE project on the needles! Can you even believe it?? If I resist the urge to cast on a million things I will have Naked Needles by almost the beginning of '08.

Happy New Year's!

Merry Christmas To ALL

and to All a good night.

Merry Christmas from the Southern half of America.

Love,
Kathleen

Ho Ho Ho...

Hey Flan,

I'm done with work for the day and don't have to return until next Thursday. That's Christmas present enough and if nothing else is under the tree I'll be happy.

So I've wrapped some gifties in anticipation. I've told The Hubby that two of them are for him. While I put tags on all the packages I have not yet written on the tags, so there are no distinguishing marks other than the tags themselves. The Hubby is getting quite excited and would really really like to rattle his gifts. He says that I will forget whose is whose. I told him to have more faith in my memory and that Christmas Eve is the day they will receive names. He told me I was mean.

Oh, Kathleen's Quote of the Day (as uttered by Kathleen at work): "Every Christmas Needs a Grinch and Today I'm IT."

I did not throttle or otherwise bodily injure the person whose presence brought forth this utterance, but all the same it's probably best that I do not have to clock in for another 6 days.

I'm all out of knitting!! I don't know how that happened! That is NOT to say that I'm out of yarn. Just current WIPS. I need something that's exciting but not too exciting- portable but not socks... I was thinking about possibly a hat for The Hubby, but I'm just not sure. I think I'm going to have to go stash shopping.

Off to watch Love Actually and finish painting my toes before making a cake. The Parents arrive tomorrow night and I am elated. Now if only I can get to all 4 grocery stores, whilst managing to clean the car, go to the bank, pick up some gifts while dropping off the cake, purchase The Grandmother's gift, print some photos, have my hair cut, finish cleaning the house, clean the other car and make dinner all before remembering to meet The Parents at the airport on time everything will be hunky dory.

Christmas Knitting Finished

Kathleen-
Grandpa's socks are safely off in the mail. This picture was taken immediately after casting off, and pre-blocking. I wove in ends on the plane, and blocked these in my hotel in Seattle. I didn't get another chance to take a picture before I sent them along. They're beautiful and cushy, and I'm pretty sure they'll fit well.To review, the green is Smooshy in Blue Lagoon, and the heels and toes are Louet Gems Pearl in Caribou.

As this was my only Christmas knitting this year, I'm now done, and I'm working on two things:

Jeanie. I'm just past the first dropped stitch row, and I'm loving this pattern and fabric.
This is also Smooshy, in the color Nightwatch. That bit of green you see at the bottom is my provisional cast on, which I did with one of my ends from finishing Grandpa's Socks, which was all I had on the plane.

Also found on the camera: a picture of our Christmas tree.
I'm just starting the Embossed Leaves Sock (also in Smooshy, this time in Visual Purple. I think I'm in love with this yarn.) Nothing to show yet, as all I've done is cast on.

I Could Blog

Kathleen-
I could blog about the lovely job we did decorating our Christmas tree, which makes me smile every time I walk in our front door,

or

I could blog about casting off for Grandpa's sock #2 last night,

or

I could blog about swatching for Mike's hat,

or

I could blog about my new knitting project that's all for me.

But. The pictures documenting all of these things are on either the camera or one of our house computers....and I'm in Seattle.

Hmm. So. In order of mention:

We decorated the Christmas tree, and bought our ornament for the year. I love it. It literally puts a smile on my face every time I walk into the room.

I cast off Grandpa's sock last night, and wove in all the ends on the plane this morning. All ready to go, and quite handsome, if I do say so myself. :)

I seem to have forgotten how much yarn it takes to float across the back while swatching in the round. Swatch attempt #1 got ripped on the plane.

I started Jeanie! I had a serious mental block on the setup row, and I can already read the knitting well enough on row 5 to be able to only glance at the pattern for each row.

Calm Before the Storm

Kathleen-
Warning: long, picture heavy post to follow.

I believe we've now reached the calm before the storm in my job. After a chaotic late Nov/Early Dec, we've now got a touch of downtime before craziness starts again in the New Year. I'm off to Seattle at the end of this week for 4 days for work- anything I shouldn't miss in my downtime in the evenings? Several people got the dates of my Seattle trip mixes up, and therefore called me during last week's flooding to make sure I was ok. I was completly confused until I figured out that they thought I was in the NW!

I've been VERY focused on Grandpa's Socks. Current progress:

That would be sock #1 done! And sock #2 only needs 2 repeats of the pattern and couple inches of ribbing to be done. I'm beginning to think this is going to happen on time. In the past week, I've knit on these socks at home, at work during lunch, on the bus, in the car (as a passenger!), at knit night, while bowling, while playing board games, at a really excellent concert, and at a party. They've been quite promiscuous about being knit in public.

Here's a closeup of the texture- the color is inaccurate in both the pictures, as we're officially experiencing "dreary" weather.

Friday Mike and I picked out a Christmas tree. It turns out I have an interesting relationship with the size of our living room, but it worked out. We'll be decorating it tonight:
Friday I also experienced credit card slippage at Borealis:
That would be 3 skeins of Smooshy in Nightwatch for Jeanie from the new Knitty: I'm hoping to cast on before heading for Seattle (as soon as Grandpa's Socks are done). Here's a closeup of the shade:
I also ended up with one more skein of Smooshy for socks for me, this one in Deep Seaflower.

Today once I finish cleaning up the living room and start dinner, I'm planning on working a bit on the following secret project... not knitting, blocking!

And last, but certainly not least. I won a contest on Shelly's blog, and the prize was a copy of the Knitter's Book of Yarn, which is fabulous! I've already read most of it since it arrived yesterday, and its chock full on interesting information about yarn.

Made it to the Weekend

Hey Flan,

I hope things are going well. I was felled yesterday by a massive migraine followed by another massive migraine. Instead of calling it a migraine I chose to name it a "tension headache"- much different ring, don't you think? If you have a migraine you have to sleep it off, but if you have a tension headache you just do all your errands whilst trying to ignore the pain that is your head.

Friday's Accomplishments:
1. Picked up The Hubby's vehicle from the repair people. This means we each have cars to drive.
2. MAILED the FINISHED gifties to the people taking them to The Sister. I honestly did not think I was going to meet that deadline. Massive relief.
3. Had the tires on my car rotated. Fiercely ignored the tire people who wanted to do $135 of superfluous stuff to my car. Wanted to ask why on earth they were looking at the state of my windshield wipers and then JUDGING that state when all I asked them to do was to fiddle with the tires.
4. Made hugely significant progress on The Mommy's gifties.
5. Took a nap.

At this moment I am exceedingly happy I am no longer at work and am looking forward to a relaxed night of movies and knitting. Hope yours is equally nice.

Random Wednesday

Hey Flan,

I hope things are going well in the midst of the massive piles of work you have.

We're having a cold snap here. It's in the 60s in the day but the 30s at night. Our floors are chilly, so out come the felted slippers I made all those years ago.

The Pacific Northwest had a crazy major storm. There was extensive flooding on both sides of the mountains. Here's a photo from the Seattle Times. This is not my hometown, but one over the mountains where I've been. It's stunning what mother nature can do.

On a slightly happier note, I've found the most adorable gift to give any child under the age of 5:

This cutie can be found at over with the fabulous people at LLBean. I think it's so adorable I'm considering getting knocked up just so that I have an excuse to buy it.

I do have knitting news to report. The Sock Marathon is almost over!! I have approximately 3 inches to go and it will be done done DONE!! During Knit Night last night I was very disciplined and knit on the remaining sock for about an hour. After I just couldn't stand looking at the sock anymore I switched to a super secret project on size 6s (such a relief after 1.5s) and was very happy.

Today the goal is to get to the ribbing. Tomorrow the ribbing and blocking if it's warm.

Productive (?) Weekend

Hey Flan,

Way to go on the Plo Bloggy Thing. It certainly was nice to hear from you every day.

This weekend is mostly a blur, much like many of my weekends sadly. However, the Christmas bug has bitten and I actually did some shopping. I am very proud of myself that I waited until December 1 for the non yarn purchases.

I purchased a Birthday Gift for The Hubby whose birthday is inconveniently two weeks before Christmas. I also purchased gifties for a friend and some stocking stuffers. I purchased The Hubby's Christmas giftie as well. Today, I purchased The SIL's giftie and had a delightful brainstorm so far as her stocking is involved. Additionally, I made headway on developing a circular needle case. I made one last week but it is so flawed I'll probably rip it all out- way less fun with sewing than with knitting.

The Sister's socks are finished and are drying on sock blockers (graciously lent by Gracie). The other pair is going well. The first sock is done and the second heel got turned tonight (!). I found out the couriers don't leave the country until Dec 15 which seems to be a very very long time from now.

Wow, this is turning out to be really really boring. I'd apologize but I'm way too tired.

Oh yeah, my ultra fun idea! Guess whose birthday is on Mardi Gras this year? MIKEY'S!! Y'all should come down!! We get time off work and I make good gumbo. Also, it'll be 75 and Sunny here whilst it is -75 and icky there...

Back from NC

Kathleen-
Less than 36 hours in NC, one very successful wedding, and some knitting too! Although I had work to do on the planes, I knit quite a bit in the airports.

I'm currently at this point in Grandpa's socks. Two heels turned, remaining yarn split in half, and I've commenced knitting up the first leg, and it's going fast! These are still the priority, since the dreaded date of Dec 25th is fast approaching.

The morning of the wedding, Mom and I had some extra time in Asheville, and we went exploring, and found a truly excellent LYS: Purl's Yarn Emporium. This is a little gem of a store in downtown, where the yarn was organized by color, which is quite a sensory experience! Not one to turn down souvenir yarn, I ended up with 2 skeins of Malabrigo Worsted in Azul Profundo.

The skeins are actually slated for different uses. I'm planning on using 1 skein to line Mike's snowflake hat, and to knit it at an extremely tight gauge (goal: virtually windproof, and super soft). The other skein I think I'll turn into a really soft wristwarmers for me!

Day 30 (The End!)

Kathleen-
Well, NaBloPoMo has taught me several lessons.
a. Not doing this again next year!
b. Can't write a good post every day, or even every week when I'm writing every day.
c. November is not a good month for this in my life.

I'm off shortly to catch a plane to NC for a wedding, and though I'm taking some work, I have hope that I'll be able to knit (hard to work in the airport waiting areas), though I'll need to work on the plane. I'll be in NC for significantly less than 36 hours, which is a bit crazy, but there you go.

I'll not have e-mail or internet while I'm gone, but I'll be back Sunday, maybe even with pictures!

Day 29

Kathleen-
Another exhausting day at work, and hosting Game Night tonight means I have little to report. I do have pictures of the new yarn I bought for Mike's hat though (when all else fails, post yarn pictures).
I knitted at game night, but I'll be ripping out most of my progress. I'll have a bit of time to knit at the airport tomorrow (of to NC for my Aunt's wedding.....)

Day 28

Kathleen-
I'm exhausted, and had a rough day topped off by hitting my head hard enough on the shelf in my office to draw blood.

Therefore...
Random Fact #5.
Although I've successfully combined patterns (see my coronet with shedir top shaping), and modified patterns (adding length to pretty much everything), but if I succeed with this hat pattern for Mike, it might well be the first pattern I've made up from scratch (though with much in the way of inspiration credits!)

Off to nurse my headache....

Day 27

Kathleen-
I have yarn! (New yarn I mean). I took the smooshy (still one of my favorite yarns ever) to Borealis tonight to buy white yarn for the snowflake hat, and was browsing around. I looked at the white with the smooshy, and decided that the blue was too light...so then I browsed myself over to the Auracania Ranco in Color 106. And it came home with me....

Random Fact #4.
Although I'm still super sensitive to scratchiness, I've slowly worked up my tolerance to wearing 100% wool. Now I wear wool sweaters all the time.....though only of nice soft merino!

Day 26

Kathleen-
Lovely to chat tonight!

I missed my random fact yesterday, so today you get two in lieu of actual knitting content (sock #2's heel is partially turned!).

Random Fact #2
I'm well known in various restaurants and bars in the Twin Cities for knitting in their establishments. So much so that I regularly get "you're the one who knits!" when we sit down. Usually I knit socks, though other knitting has been known to creep in. (Mittens, scarves, baby sweaters, and occasionally even adult sweaters)

Random Fact #3
I seem to have a little love affair with patterns by Jenna. You may know this, given that I've now knit two Shedirs, an Eris, and I'm in the process of knitting a Rogue. But I also pretty much love everything she has designed with cables on it. Incidentally, I'm considering another Eris in a different yarn.

I'm writing my amalgamation pattern for a hat for Mike. I'm drawing inspiration from the BrooklynTweed Red Light Special, as well as a bunch of other hat patterns found on Ravelry.

Day 25

Kathleen-
Can I put in a plug for the always lovely Smooshy sock yarn from Dream in Color? I buy mine in Borealis, and its what I'm using for Grandpa's socks. I think if his feet weren't so big around, I'd have no worries about getting a full pair of socks out of them. Certainly I think I could get a pair for myself easily out of the (450 yard!) skeins. And its machine wash and dryable (though they suggest taking it out of the dryer before totally dry).

I buy mine at my much adored Borealis Yarns, and I would of course be happy to enable you with some with some color guidance (try that top link).

Last night I pulled out the last repeat of Grandpa's socks (stupid mistake), but tonight I think maybe I'll get to turning the heel on sock #2!

Today I spent time browsing Ravelry with Mike trying to get a handle on what he wants for a hat. You see, he's decided that a new hat would be a helpful thing to have. Of course we already did Christmas presents, but I think this might end up being an early Birthday present. So far we've established that it will be two color with snowflakes on the brim, and will have a double layer over the ears. I'll be searching for the perfect yarn (I'm actually thinking of using Smooshy in Summer Sky as the blue, and then find a white.....)

Mirror, Mirror, On the Wall...

... what sock yarn has the most yardage of them all??

Hey Flan,

This year the Xmas gifting is coming out in a different manner than it has ever before. Usually it's The Brother I have problems brainstorming for. This year I found something perfect, and then another thing that'd be perfect and another and another. However, for The SIL it's becoming extremely difficult.

My delightful SIL is very tall. Taller I think than even You (though I'm not sure). She shops at stores where the inseam of the pant come up to my armpit. The Brother suggested that I shop at one of these stores as they have socks and stockings that fit her. In a truly cruel twist of fate, they don't list those products on their website.

Also, you know what the word "sock" does to a knitter. They make my brand new ultra fantastic Harmony needles just quiver with excitement (seriously, anyone who knits on dpns NEEDS some of these and if you don't usually do dpns you will). This also makes the knitter take a deep breath when she realizes that her needles are possessed and quivering with excitement.

This leads us back to the original reason for her shopping at the specialty stores- big feet. Big feet mean more yardage, more yardage means the type of yarn needed must be chosen carefully so as to not run short (the problem to begin with). When pressed to knit socks I do so toe up and a short row heel. Depending on whether or not it's varigated yarn I will do a short row toe as well. Man I love short rows.

How to choose the yarn? The beloved Aryarn is beautiful but driving me crazy with all the extra twists and it has less yardage than others. Lorna's is always beautiful, can be purchased at my most beloved yarn store and picked up by The Mommy, has 215 yds/ skein and can be machine washed but not machine dried. Louet Gems can be machine washed and dried, but has 185 yds/skein. Regia silk has 22o yds/ball can be machine washed and dried (allegedly) but is hard to find.

What to do? How to you choose?

P.S. Hi Flan's Mom!

Day 24

Kathleen-
It really turns out that I can't write a good post every day, or even a good post once a week when I'm posting every day. I have nothing to report. I spent a good part of today working, and the rest running around with Mom. No knitting to report, though we once again visited Borealis.

I'm about to go traumatize the occupants of a divey little karaoke bar with my knitting, but thought I'd better post first in case we were out late.

In honor of this, I think for the last few days of NaBloPoMo I'll post one random fact per day.

Today's random fact:
Though I seem to frequent karaoke bars, I NEVER sing karaoke. Too many karaoke kings and queens among our friends. :)

Day 23

Kathleen-
In the squeaking in under the wire category...as I type it's 11:48 pm.

I spent all day today discovering fiber tools in antique stores, none of which we bought. A bunch of old spinning wheels, a swift, carders for spinning, a flax comb for making linen, and a needle sizer, all old and interesting (and out of my personal price range).

In other news, I'm just about to start the heel of sock #2, and Mom and I went to Borealis today, and are probably headed back tomorrow. Need to get all her yarn shopping in since she lacks a LYS.

Day 22

Kathleen-
Happy Thanksgiving!

We're back from a raucous Thanksgiving gathering with Mike's family (it's a patented family tradition. If there are 11 people at the table, there are at least 13 conversations going on). Our requested contribution was rolls and JAM. The last said with the proper emphasis by Mike's Grandma. I'm one to follow directions in these things, so this morning I baked rolls, and I took a selection of jams to Thanksgiving. Blueberry, Peach, Raspberry, Strawberry, and Grape Jelly.

An enormous quantity of food was eaten, and a good time was had by all, complete with much discussion of hockey, and a tour of his Aunt's workshop for her fleecewear business.

I'm off to work on my gusset increases on Grandpa's socks. Mom and I are planning on going antiqueing in Stillwater tomorrow, along with a bit of yarn shopping (imagine that!).

Day 21

Kathleen-
Mom and I are having a quiet evening at home watching old episodes of CSI and knitting on the socks. Did I mention this? As I'm racing to knit socks for Grandpa, Mom is knitting socks for Grandma.

Best of luck on your bug bitten foot, the emphatically speedy knitting, and the cooking for your most favorite holiday of the year! I'm making rolls and bringing jam to Mike's family's Thanksgiving, which, if all goes according to the norm, will involve a lot of discussion of hockey.

Happy Turkey Day! I'll be feverishly knitting on the sock!

Bug Bitten Bottom of Foot (Day 1)

Hey Flan,

Firstly, Welcome to MN to Flan's MOM! I remember the first time I met your mom and I didn't know her name, which turns out to be the same as The Sister's name, so I just called her "Flan's Mom" for awhile. The first time I met your mom was at Parent's weekend. We were in the dorm and you were looking for something in your room which was messy, so we turned her around to look into my room which was clean and she could imagine that's what yours looked like.

This morning I managed to get a bug bite on the bottom of my foot. Whilst sleeping nonetheless. I had stuck a foot out of the covers and apparently it was good because I now have a big bug bite which was SO super fun to stand on all day at work. Today I really really wanted to tell the patrons that I could either be nice to them or deal with their icky-sticky return items, but not both. My boss said it wasn't an either/or situation. I still beg to differ.

It turns out that one of The Sister's bags was stolen. At first I thought the situation was much more dire than it is, but it still sucks. Her predicament spurned me into knitterly action and fully convinced me that I can knit 2.3 socks in 10 days. Who knows- it could happen.

I decided to give myself an extension on The Mommy's sweater. I might have been on schedule if I hadn't screwed up the back so royally. Turns out those knitting voices that say it will all be alright are much more powerful than I had thought.

My MOST favorite holiday of the entire year is coming up Thursday. I'm just as excited as usual. This year I'm making stuffing and an apple almond tart to contribute. I'll post the recipes in the next couple of days- or whenever I have a minute from all that sock knitting I'll be doing.

Day 20- Flight Status Edition

Kathleen-
I just got back from knit night, and I'm sitting on the couch checking the flight status of Mom's flight approximately every 30 seconds. Mom arrives tonight and stays through Sunday, and we're doing Thanksgiving with Mike's extended family this year, it should lead to some good stories!

Knit Night was a banner laughing time tonight. I don't even know what we were so amused about, but we were laughing and laughing and laughing. Naturally, I worked on Grandpa's Socks. Almost to the gusset on sock #2. Just one more repeat to go.

Oops! Her flight is in. I'm off to the airport!

Day 19

Kathleen-
I'm squeaking in under the line with a brief post for the day. But the excitement of the day is that we spent all evening cleaning in preparation for my Mom arriving tomorrow night for Turkey Day.

I knit exactly 2 rounds on Grandpa's socks today, so its not even worth picturing.

So that's my quick useless post for the night. I said I'd blog every day...not that the blogging would be up to my usual standards.

Day 18 (Geeky Post)

Kathleen-
We spent all day playing a game called Here I Stand, which is about the Protestant Reformation in Europe. (Told you it was geeky). This would be a giant board game with about 8 billion pieces, and very complicated conditions on everything.

And for the first time in the history of me playing big complicated games, I managed to win! Much celebrating ensued.

And I knit on Grandpa's sock #2. A lot. However, no pictures, as I still haven't replaced the batteries in the camera.

Day 17

Kathleen-
A sweater? I want to see this mythical sweater (which I'm sure is beautiful and fits very well indeed).

Today....what the heck happened to today?

Oh right. IKEA. So have I mentioned our recent houseguest? Our friend W has been staying in our guest room most of the week as he waited to sign his lease. Having signed his lease, he went to Ikea.com to order furniture for delivery. And then discovered that the delivery fees were, to say the least, prohibitive. So he enlisted our help (and Mike's large car) for a quick run to Ikea.

Quick and Ikea should almost never exist in the same sentence. By the time we finished the top floor, it was noon, so we ate lunch. Then on to the bottom floor...which took another hour plus. You see, he's starting from scratch, and I was supervising the shopping, and saying things like "laundry basket" "bathmat" "plates and cups." So then we loaded up Mike's car and another car, delivered stuff to the new apartment, and got the bed put together and the kitchen stuff dealt with. The rest we left to him

I think in the end he has the basics, and can be pretty happy with his studio apartment. But it took a long time, and pretty well killed our day.

Finished a Sweater...

... still don't know if I like it.

Hey Flan,

You sound like you had a nice trip. Also, lovely Christmas gift!

The Grandfather's Socks are looking very nice.

So tonight I finished a sweater for me. The first thing expressly for me in awhile. I had it all seamed a couple of weeks ago, but between yesterday and today managed to get the final edge ribbing on it. The pattern was written by a Swede and modeled by a Swede. I think the fashion industry uses so many Swedish models because everything must look good on them. In case there was any doubt- I am definitely not Swedish.

I just don't know that I like this sweater very much. I'll take some pics and you can vote. So far the final product is balled up on a chair somewhere. THIS uncertainty is why I knit for others. Somehow I know what will fit them and how to choose what colors to pick. For myself I have no idea and so the things that I try come out like crap.

Anyway, I am exhausted and The Mommy is convinced that everything looks better in the morning. Maybe the theory of beauty sleep isn't a fallacy after all and both the sweater and I will look better tomorrow.

Day 16

Kathleen-
I'm alive (and back home, hooray!). I also even have pictures. During my travels in Southern MN and WI this week, I was faithful to Grandpa's socks, which means:
Sock #1 is complete to the ankle. I'll start knitting up the leg as soon as I get sock 2 to the same spot.
Sock 2 is cast on, past the toe, and in the first repeat of the textured pattern.

I even have evidence:
You'll note that there's only one ball of yarn. This is because I wasn't smart enough to divide the yarn in half at the beginning. Thus sock #1 being on hold until I get to the same point on sock #2.

But that's not the real excitement in our house today. The real excitement is that Mike and I came up with mutual Christmas presents for the year, and decided to get them early. They arrived yesterday.

Behold, my extremely cute ipod nano. (Mike has the same model, but in silver instead instead of blue.) Sorry for the blurry picture, the camera ran out of battery right after I took it.

Day 15

Kathleen-
I've been felled by a headache (luckily, not till I finished my meetings for the day). So not much of a post today....I'm off to try and sleep my way out of the headache.

Short summary of the day: lots of driving and getting lost, being early and finding a cute yarn store, starting sock #2.

Day 14

Kathleen-
The answer to your question last post is that I pretty much have 3-4 sets of all my sock size needles (1, 2.5, 2, 3, and 4)...and I bet that's the norm for sock knitters.

Today I turned the heel of Grandpa's sock. Twice. The first time I managed to forget to start the contrast color at the usual place, which I could have lived with....but then I realized I'd somehow gotten it off center. So that was ripped out, and now I have a successfully turned heel.

And that, sadly, is the entirety of my post today. Sorry. Hopefully more tomorrow.

Day 13 (Laura Ingalls Wilder Edition)

Kathleen-
I hit the road for my Southern Minnesota travel at 6:15 am today, and was treated to a spectacular sunrise driving south. I spent an enormous amount of today driving through really rural areas of Southern Minnesota and Wisconsin, both of which were extremely scenic (albeit in a bleak late fall fashion).

Driving between my 1st and 2nd appointments, I spent part of my time on the Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Highway, and was inspired for this entry. I've been writing it in my head as I drive all day.

I started reading the Little House series the summer before 1st grade. I vividly remember my 1st grade teacher having to intervene with the school librarian because the librarian- a woman who was supposed to fill us all with a love of reading- maintained that I couldn't possibly be reading well enough to be reading Laura Ingalls Wilder. I know I read through the whole series for the first time beginning the summer before 1st grade and finishing the following summer. I then reread all the books at least one additional time, and many of the books separately throughout Elementary School.

She lived through an amazing 90 years. She was born in Wisconsin when it was still pioneer territory, and lived until 1957, living through the development of the car and the airplane. Can you imagine? I was thinking about timing- it's remarkable to me that a woman who my parents could have met as children experienced Minnesota as a pioneer.

I guess time is relative after all.

No knitting content (or pictures) today. Better luck tomorrow!

Although Laura Ingalls Wilder isn't completely responsible for my (sometimes obsessive) love of reading, I think she provided an important impetus. And clearly, I'm not the only one. Did you know her books have never been out of print? That's quite an achievement.

Day 12

Kathleen-
I envy you the Veterans Day holiday! Mike, of course, didn't work either, but I had to work, and I'm headed into travel (Southern Minnesota) for the rest of the week. The only fun thing about working today is that I wore one of my new and very cute Ann Taylor sweaters to work, and got compliments.

Last night we went pub-quizzing, and though we didn't win, we did quite well, and I even managed to make progress on Grandpa's socks.

I forgot to say! On Saturday, having to work the morning was somewhat mitigated by the arrival of a package on my doorstep. My long awaited Ravelry t-shirt had arrived! I'm wearing it at the moment (black, "I swatched Ravelry" with a swatch grid on it), and it makes me laugh every time I look down. A lot of people ended up with shirts that were either too small or seemed to small to them (because they're more fitted shirts than many people are used to wearing), so I'm counting myself lucky that I like the fit!

I'll be blogging from hotels the next few nights, so wish me luck on the internet connections!

Too Big AND Too Small

Hey Flan,

Firstly, to all the Vetrans past and present, Thank You for your sacrifice.

Being a city employee I have today off. I will probably spend today cleaning my house, baking and ripping out a large amount of knitting.

Saturday night I finally finished the back of The Mommy's Sweater. I had thought it was too big early on (there are always warning signs) but decided I was alright. Fool me. After I finished it was looking absolutely mammoth. Like I could have wrapped it around her, me, and the odd elephant and we would have all had room to spare. I broke down and emailed her to please send me some actual numbers to work from.

Turns out I'd made it a size too big. Ironically, with all the shortening I'd done to accomodate our genetically shrunken torsos I'd also made it too short. Woe is me. I have not yet ripped it out but it's on the agenda for today.

BIG FAVOR: Can you count the number of dpns you have and tell me if you have more than 2 sets per size for sock needles? (Also, anyone else reading that knits on dpns I would really appreciate that as well). I'm trying to design a needle case. I- the non-sock knitter- has 2 sets (the mm sizes, so the US 1.5 & 2.5 as well) for each size. So someone who knits socks often would probably have more. HOWEVER, they probably have WIPS, so those needles wouldn't be in a case. I spent many hours slogging over a calculator before switching to Excel in an effort to figure out how many needles people have and how many slots to make. Being as neurotic as I am, I want the slots to be the correct size so the needles don't just go sliding around.

The basic question is: do you think you have an average of 2 sets of dpns per size or 3?

Day 11

Kathleen-
I've decided to start naming my posts this month for the day of the month they happen on, at least when I'm uninspired. Better that then the terrible puns you'd get otherwise.

Yesterday was the kind of rainy gloomy fall day that makes you want to make soup, and even though today was sunny and lovely, the feeling pervaded, so beef stew was the order of the day, along with homemade rolls.

Other than that, I bought cute clothes at Ann Taylor....worked out..and that was pretty much the extent of my day.

Day 10?

Kathleen-
The dance show last night was fabulous. Funny, creative, and thought provoking. As promised, I knit on my Kermit socks during the show, and ended up accomplishing a couple of inches of ribbing on sock #1. Sock #2 is pretty much ready to have the heel turned.

But I'm going to behave! I'm back to knitting on Grandpa's socks!

Like Norma said today, "We said we'd post every day. We didn't say they'd be great posts."

I had to work this morning, so after a few errands, I think the rest of today will be about relaxing.

Dilemma of the Week

Kathleen-
Last night I only knit.....maybe 10 rows. Therefore, I have a dilemma. Cast on for the next toe for Grandpa's socks and try and knit that at the dance show tonight (dark brown yarn, fiddly increases)? Try to finish the gusset increases on Sock #1 (fiddly increases, counting)? Or to pick up a no thinking knitting project, thus breaking my Only Grandpa's Socks rule?

I think we all know the answer here.

I'll be knitting on the socks fondly dubbed the Kermit socks from that green and yellow and brown sock yarn you gave me. Since they're almost done, I'm basically knitting stockinette with maybe an inch of ribbing (or till the yarn runs out.)

Never fear though...I'll give a good measure of time to Grandpa's Socks this weekend...one way or another!

The Dreaded Deadline

Kathleen-
Oh, that dreaded December 25th deadline...you had to mention it. didn't you!

Today I drove all over south-central Minnesota for work, and though I had knitting in case I was early to my appointments, today was apparently my day for getting lost, so no knitting was accomplished.

Currently my solution to the problem of the dreaded deadline (and lets keep in mind that I'm only knitting one Christmas gift this year) is to only allow myself to do the deadline knitting till I'm done.

Therefore, at least till I finish Sock #1, there is no Rogue, and there is no Henry. Only Grandpa's socks.

Last night I cheated and spun for a couple hours while I watched the Country Music Awards. (Yes, I watched. They were pretty good entertainment. Lots of performances. It of course helps that I like a lot of country music.) As Vicki at Knitorious said today, I can be a little bit country and a little bit rock 'n roll.

Is it SO Bad?

Hi Flan,

Snow?! I am so very jealous. It'll be 60 here today. The Mommy was wondering what to pack when they come at Christmas and mentioned a lovely wool suit she thought she might bring. I emailed her the forecast. She's re-thinking her wardrobe.

So with the looming knitter's deadline of December 25, how does the knitting get triaged? How do you decide what you are going to knit first? What is most important? Can you decide what is most important and what do you do after that?

The gifties for The Sister and The GF must be to the nice people who will fly them across the world (these gifties should get frequent flier miles) and that deadline is Dec 8. Oh Lawd. THEN there is a sweater per month. The first two went rather well, now the third one is in progress, but there are so very many pieces; back, 2 fronts, 2 sleeves, each with provisional cast ons, beads and facings- not to mention the putting all of them together. Nearly every line is charted, so there is none of that "knit in st st for 20gabillion inches" that there was in the previous two.

Other than those 3 projects, the real problem is that I'd much rather be playing with alpaca. I'm trying to hold off on letting myself do the "fun" projects until I'm done with the "gifts with deadlines" projects. The real kicker is that I keep thinking of MORE things to do, i.e. hat for The Hubby's stocking. After working in the mental health field for a couple of years there is no professional I know that will diagnose a "knitting nut", so I think I'm ok- for now.

Good luck w/ your projects.

I Remembered

Kathleen-
I was getting my sandwich for Knit Night last night, and it occured to me what I had meant to blog about: SNOW.

It snowed (flurries, no sticking) on Monday as I was walking to lunch with Eily. Not heavy big flakes, more like little frozen pellets, but snow nonetheless.

Guess its time to really get going on winter accessories.

Last night at Knit Night we had the novel presence of a knitting man (who was lovely and funny), and it didn't curb our conversation one bit! He's married to one of our regulars, and though a relatively new knitter, has jumped in with gusto.

I spent much of the night bemoaning the very large feet of all the men I knit for, but I did manage to get to the gusset increase point for Grandpa's socks (I was a solid inch away and didn't know it till I measured).

I just reserved tickets for a dance show this weekend that some friends are putting on, so I need to either turn the heel first, or start the second sock so that I have knitting in the dark knitting for the show!

What to say.....

Kathleen-

Do you ever think "I should blog about that!" and when you sit down in front of the computer, you can't think of what that was? I'm having one of those days.

The excitement of the day is that we've joined a gym. After arguing with one chain about their silly household policies, I decided to join the YWCA. It has a lovely (small) pool, workout machines, and apparently really good fitness classes. So I'm excited. Excited enough that I'm considering working out before work (which means getting up at what I consider a ridiculous hour).

Getting up really early has the added benefit that its unlikely to mess with my knitting time.

Tonight, of course, is Knit Night, so I'll be off with the Knit Night Ladies working on the gusset of Grandpa's socks and hopefully some on Henry.

(Hey, this blogging every day thing is kind of hard).

Hodge Podge

Kathleen-
Ack! I'm sorry to hear about your Dad's injury...I hope he's doing better and not lifting anything, and that he's being a good patient for your Mom's sake!

Yesterday involved a lot of digging and gardening. After I posted I went and bought a big bunch of pretty bulbs, and planted them out front, and pulled a ton of weeds (how do the weeds get out of control so fast?!)

After all that, I didn't knit much...a bit on Henry, and a bit more on the socks for Grandpa. I'm succumbing to the group opinion and keeping the toe/hell brown. Actually, the further I get with the green, the more I like it. I'll be measuring tonight...I think I'm almost to the gusset increases for the first sock!

There was, however, no progress on Rogue. I just couldn't face the thinking required.....

There was a bit of progress on a super secret knitting project, but being super-secret, I'm not going to spill the beans!

Slothful Sunday

Hi Flan,

I'm loving the toe color. The colors together are vaguely Mac-ish and the idea of orangey toes and heels makes me smile, though I do love a brown/blue combo...

I FINISHED THE ROTTING PUMPKIN SWEATER! It's washed and is drying in the sun. The fact that it's sunny and warm enough to dry a sweater outside in November is very freaky, but I do live at the bottom of the country, so there you go.

Henry is turning out very well. I'm sort of tempted to make one myself.

I discovered a new favorite book. The new one is "The Yarn Girl's Guide to Knits for all Seasons". There are more sweaters in here that I want to make than in any other book EVER. I completely love it. PLUS a lot of the ones I want to do are for ME. How fortuitous is that?? I just love it and think everyone should run out and get one- even if you get it from your library like I did.

I'm off to work on The Mommy's Sweater, the designated sweater for November. So far I'm working on the back and have managed to apply beads with the crochet hook method and executed a very nice provisional cast on hem if I do say so myself. I'm trying to decide if it's too big or alright and how much to shorten it.

Oh, one more thing. The Father hurt himself badly on his last fishing trip. He decided to singlehandedly launch his boat instead of using the trailer to back it into the water. Apparently, he does not think that he is over 60 and was acting accordingly. He strained his back and passed out on top of the boat. Thankfully, he did not pass out in the water or it could have been much much worse. Naturally, he and the doofuses he was with proceeded with their fishing trip and he navigated class 4 rapids with an injured back. He's now home and on strict instructions to lift nothing more than a coffee cup for the next 6 weeks and is on bedrest, pain killer and physical therapy. If you have any extra good karma/ thoughts I'm sure he'd appreciate them and I hope he's learned his lesson. Oy.

Gardening

Kathleen-
Given the gorgeous weather today, I'm off to work on my garden, putting the beds down for the winter. I'm about to run to the gardening store in hopes of buying some daffodils and crocus to brighten up the spring, and then I have things to cut back and weeds to pull.

Luckily, today is sunny and gorgeous, the perfect fall day to work outside.

After that, I'll be parking myself on the couch to work on Grandpa's socks and maybe a bit on Henry. Today may also be the day I rip back the right side of Rogue in order to mirror the neck cables. Might as well do that with natural light! There's also a strong possibility of apple pie....

With the Daylight Savings Time switch, I was excited by the morning sun today....but I know I'm going to pay for that tonight.

Have a lovely Sunday.

And seriously, to the approximately 5 readers of this blog, I'd love an opinion on the toe color of the socks. Here's a reminder picture:


What do you think? Would something more blue or green do better?

Gorgeous Fall Weather

Kathleen-
Today is a gorgeous Minnesota Fall day. Fall has been a bit strange this year, but the tree in our backyard has been changing:

as has the ivy on the back of the house.

In celebration of the weather, Mike and I headed to the Como Zoo and Conservatory, where we enjoyed a picnic lunch from Nelson's (YUMM) and visited the animals. Since you moved away, they've opened a really cool rain forest exhibit with tropical plants, birds, snakes, and a sloth. I spotted him just as we were about to leave:
and then he woke up:
Then we had to visit the big cats (some of my favorite exhibits). There were mountain lions, tigers, lions, and leopards. The only pictures that turned out were of the lions:

and the tiger:

And as promised, I have actual knitting progress. I've worked some on Henry:

and a closeup shot of the texture on the front:
and the back:
and then I've been diligent about knitting on the socks for Grandpa. Here's my problem. The knit night ladies were adamant about the brown as the best choice for the contrast toes and heels. At the time I agreed....but now that I've knit a few inches, I'm not so sure.
What do you think? I'm considering a different blue/green shade...

Amusing Anecdote

Kathleen-
Taking a lunch break from my crazy day today to fulfill my NaBloPoMo obligations with an anecdote.

Mike and I were flying out of MSP airport for AZ, and having arrived at the airport at 5am, were on our way to fetch food for Mike (who as you know, is dangerous without breakfast). As we passed through the central shopping area, we saw a group of flight attendants taking a picture in front of the infamous mens bathroom where Larry Craig was arrested.

At 5 am.

At that point, all you can do is laugh.

Back tomorrow, with actual knitting progress to report!

NaBloPoMo

Kathleen-
So years ago, when I was first reading blogs, I started hearing about this thing called NaNoWriMo, (National Novel Writing Month) where participants try to write a 50,000 word novel in the course of a month (in this case, November). I don't know where I started reading about it, but I know that Rachael of Yarn-A-Go-Go has done it.

It turns out that bloggers are on the bandwagon with NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month), where they pledge to blog, every single day, for a month. So I'm going to try it. No promises that I'll make it - after all, this month includes another business trip and the chaos that is Thanksgiving - but I'm going to try.

So today is my first post for NaBloPoMo. And I don't have a heck of a lot to report. We're gearing up for another crazy day at work tomorrow, so that's occupying most of my brain.

Knitting? Imagine yesterday's picture of the sock toe with a few more stitches added on. I'm done with the contrast toe and ready to start knitting the pattern...but that happened at 10:30 last night, and I decided that attempting to start the pattern at that point was a terrible idea.

I've been contemplating last year, and how we tried to end the year with empty needles. Though I make no such promise this year, I'm hoping to finish a few projects by New Years.

1. Socks for Grandpa (Christmas gift!)
2. Rogue. I love this, and want to be able to wear it as a cuddly sweater in January!
3. Henry. My neck is cold, and I can't wait to wear this to warm up.
   

Other than that, I'm not going to worry about some of my longer term projects that are still on the needles.

So that's post number 1, only 29 to go!

With Pictures!

Kathleen-
Pictures from AZ:

The scenery:

Mike and I at the wedding:

Mom's new puppy:

He doesn't much like having his picture taken, so fully half my photos looked like this:
But he's pretty cute:
And since this is still a knitting blog, here's the yarn I bought for socks for Grandpa:
And the beginning of the toe (in contrast color picked out by the Knit Night ladies:

Wedding Report and Socks for Granpa

Kathleen-
We're safely home from Arizona, where I met my mother's new puppy, did quite a bit of work, and attended a lovely wedding. Pictures of all of these things when we unpack and I manage to get the camera and the cord that connects it to the computer in the same location.

Last week at Knit Night I was on a mission to accommodate a special request. You see, my mother had called me about the dreaded Christmas knitting. She's knitting socks for my grandmother, and it turns out that my grandfather would like a pair too. Nice warm wool ones for cold Michigan winters. And when someone so charmingly requests a hand-knitted item, and you know how much they'll appreciate it, what knitter could turn them down?

Mom assigned my grandparents to measure their feet, and in my mail appeared the vital stats....which leads to the question: why do all the people (except you) that I've knit socks for have such enormous feet?

So at Borealis on Tuesday I searched the sock yarn with enabling provided by the full cast of characters at Knit Night. I finally decided on Dream in Color Smooshy, which is truly Smooshy and has a lovely hand. I picked out a skein in beautiful shades of green and brown (color name to be added once I'm home with the ballband). The lovely ladies of Borealis wound it up for me, and then I was off.

Once home I scoured my books. Nothing jumped out at me in Favorite Socks. Likewise in Socks, Socks, Socks. Nor in Folk Socks. But then I opened my copy of Knitting Vintage Socks (one of my used finds at Powell's on my Oregon trip). And there was a treasure trove of patterns appropriate for a gentleman who is a bit conservative in his dress.

I cast on in Arizona and knit most of a foot, but promptly ripped my progress out when I returned home, deciding that the yarn and the pattern were not a match. But now I know what I want to knit: the Gentleman's Fancy Socks, though I need to buy a contrast color for the heels and toes. I'm modifying to knit toe-up to use all my yarn, but I'm looking forward to the simple yet attractive and stretchy pattern! Pictures once I cast on tonight at Knit Night!

Finally Fall

Hey Flan,

It seems the weather has finally decided it is fall. I'm so excited. Fall here is defined as "lower than 80". The night lows are in the 50s, day highs in the mid to upper 60s (low 70s predicted for tomorrow). There was a lady at the library yesterday wearing lined winter boots. She made me laugh.

Let's see.... Knitting... I finished The Sister's first Xmas Sock! It took 3 weeks. I emailed The Sister and she said the gifts would need to be to the people delivering them by the first week of December- 6 weeks from now. At the rate of 3 weeks per sock that leaves me one sock short of a pair. I might have to start knitting them at more times than just lunch. I started the first sock of the other pair so as to not get bored (as well as to fully commit to two pair) and am loving the colors. So far so good.

I seamed my sweater! The last part is picking up sts all around the outside and putting on the ribbing. I tried it on post seaming and am having a confidence crisis. I'm not sure I like it very much. This is the gamble with knitting and this time I think the knitting gods may have won. I am trying to reserve total judgement until after it is actually complete and has been washed.

Sadly, the sweater for me was not the designated October sweater. The Dad's Sweater had that prize and I have until Wednesday to knit 1.75 sleeves in order to stay on schedule. It could happen, especially since sleeves get delightfully smaller as you go along, but unless I make some serious progress this weekend it will be unlikely. Fingers crossed.

Hope you're enjoying AZ.

Super Secret Projects

Kathleen-
Like you, but apparently unlike the rest of knit-blog land, I was not at Rhinebeck this weekend....but I was wishing we were there enjoying the sheepy goodness.

Instead, I worked, hung out with lots of people who were in town for a wedding, and spent lots of time playing with fiber.

• Inspired by all the SOAR posts, I managed to get quite a bit of spinning done.
  
• Inspired by the crisp weather, I knit a bunch on both fronts of Rogue before discovering a potential problem. You see, Rogue is perfectly symmetrical...but the cables on either side of the neck are not mirrored...they twist in the same direction. So I'm deciding how much this bugs me, and thinking about re-charting the cables. My thought is to re-chart only the neck sides, but not the cables at the top of the hood. Just so that when the hood is back, the cables that fall on either side of my neck are mirror images of each other.
  
• Inspired by upcoming holiday deadlines, I worked on some super secret projects.
  
• Inspired by my chilly neck, I knit more on Henry.

Despite all of this, I have a total of 0 pictures. I know, bad blogger! But until today, our day after day of rainy weather got in the way of any decent photos. Hopefully tonight! In a last ditch effort to stretch my Oregon pictures as far as they can go, here's a lovely Hippo:



Mike and I are off to AZ on Thursday for a combination business trip/friend's wedding, and I'll be taking knitting...but also a ton of work!

Book Reports

Hey Flan,

Thank goodness for Lime & Violet. It's so nice to have crazy knitters to listen to whilst seaming a sweater. Once it's finished I'm going to take pictures and show it off like there's no tomorrow.

Anyway, on to some book reports! One of the absolute best part of working at The Library is that I get to see all of the new knitting books that come in. PLUS, the ladies who have lunch when I do are impresesd by the knitting and I think may be ordering more knitting books so that I'll be inspired to knit something for them. They've also dropped several hints about how cold their offices are...

This is the first book. Knitting Classic Style by Veronik Avery. Now usually I am very impressed by her designs but do not actually lust after them. This book is different. There are TWO sweaters that I MUST have. Naturally, these are both knit on size 3s. I am completely insane, but these are so very pretty that I absolutely have to have them. Pg 26 has a cable cardi that is fabulous and I really must have it. It's the perfect cardi I've been searching for forever. Also, Pg 116 has this sweather thingy that I really really do not like, but the under top is so fantastic I cannot tell you. It's also on 3s, but out of cotton. SUCH lust.

This book, Folk Style by Mags Kandis. Most of the time going through this book I mostly said, "hmmm...." There is only one pattern that mildly interested me. Scarily enough, it's also a Veronik Avery. There's a hat on Pg 119 that I might be interested in, even though it's on size 2s. There are mittens but I don't think they coordinate enough. If you don't mind embellishment on your garments you will probably like this book. I usually feel that I don't want crap on my knitting, so this one is going back to The Library soon.

Last book for the day is The Best of Interweave Knits ed. by Ann Budd. Here we inadvertantly continue with Veronik Avery. Flan- you must have the sweater on pg 9. It would look fantastic on you and it's very pretty. I think you'd also enjoy the one on pg 49. Short sleeved and sassy. I do kind of wonder how they determined what the best is. Even though most of these patterns are nice, I probably wouldn't have chosen the majority for the ultimate prize of BEST. I do, however, think I'll be making the Icarus from the front photo. Thankfully, I already own that issue of the magazine, so I don't have to buy the book.

Enough literary-ness for the day. I'm off to vaccum the floor of the second bedroom. Apparently it bugs The Hubby. We need The Hubby focused. Ironically, large piles of dirty clothes and dishes do not bug him. No one said he was logical.

No New Yarn?

Kathleen-
Remarkably enough, I spent a week in Oregon (a place with, by all accounts, great yarn stores) and didn't manage to visit a single one. At the very end of my trip, I tried to squeeze in a visit to one, but arrived just a minute after it closed. Probably good for my budget, even if I didn't get to fondle any pretty yarn.

For spending a week away, I didn't really accomplish that much knitting. I made some progress on Henry (but no new pics), and on the plane on the way back I finished the back of Rogue and worked some on both fronts. I'm almost done with the fronts section, but that leaves the hood and sleeves to still be completed. However, after a week of cool and rainy weather there, and then coming back to cool and rainy weather here, I'm inspired to finish Rogue and be able to cuddle up in it!

Incidentally, I have freakishly long arms to go with your unusually short ones. The reason I wear 3/4 sleeves so much on store bought sweaters? They actually look like the right length on me. Store bought sweaters with theoretically full length sleeves ALWAYS look like bracelet length or shorter on me: sometimes a cute look, but not all the time. Thus, I added 2 inches to the length of my sleeves for Eris, and I'll be adding at least an inch to Rogue's sleeves as well.

We have another crazy week at work this week, so I'll sign off with a few last pictures from the Oregon Zoo:

Unusually Short Arms

Hey Flan,

I love the pictures of Portland. I'm trying to convince The Hubby to move across the river from Portland (WA having no property tax means we might actually be able to afford purchase something at some point in our lives. OR on the other hand has property tax, but no sales tax, so we'll be shopping there).

So I think I may have unusually short arms. I've been working on a sweater. Not The Rotting Pumpkin per se- this one is actually for me. And I am freaking out. There is a good, solid reason that I knit for others. You can GIVE IT AWAY when you are done. It doesn't matter if it fits THEM because THEY own it and it's out of YOUR house and mind forever.

Knitting something that is intended for ME means that I have to try and measure articles of clothing, as well as myself, and try and choose the closest approximation from the pattern. The pattern is Swedish. Apparently every single drop of my Finnish heritage (both of The Dad's parents were full blooded Finns thankyouverymuch) has either completely deserted me or everyone over in Sweden took all the long arm genes and left absolutely none for their neighbors.

I started making the size L. This seemed about right. However, about 2 inches in it was coming out really really big. I then remembered that a gigantor busom was included in my genetic package and that the chest measurements apply to everyone except myself. I ripped out and cast on in the smaller size.

The back came out pretty well. I then started on an arm. I figured that I would probably want to shorten them because I prefer 3/4 sleeves (yes, this is a completely new preference. Somehow working at the library means I detest anything covering the wrists- I can't explain it). So I knit a sleeve, shortening it by SIX cm.

I was pretty happy with this sleeve.

I knit one front. This is sort of a shrug/ sweater combo thing, so the fronts went quickly. However, upon finishing the sleeve it's looking disturbingly long.

I took a sweatshirt and compared arm lengths to the finished (shorter) sleeve. Yup, it's a full length sleeve. IF I flip the ribbing up it might be alright. However, this pattern has you cast on a bunch of sts for the ribbing, then decrease at the end of the ribbing so that the beginning of the stockinette has far fewer sts than the ribbing so it's really not that tight.

What to do??

Lions and Tigers and Bears.....Oh My.

Kathleen-
Having finished up my work for the day relatively early, today I made my way to the Oregon Zoo. It turns out that the zoo on a slightly drizzly weekday afternoon is an excellent traveling alone occupation. I took a camera, and just walked and took pictures. And it turns out that walking around the zoo alone is one of those things you can do alone and not feel strange. :)


Two hours at the zoo, followed by two hours at Powells (terrible picture below, but the place is amazing...and I even bought knitting books).