Too Much Excitement

Today I:

• had cereal and white tea for breakfast
• am having two bean and rice burritos for lunch
• am drinking a lot of black coffee
• think maybe I should buy some soy milk to bring to work
• am drowning in a flood of project ideas

I really need to calm down, but I don't know if that's possible. Do you think success with the Knitting Olympics is linked to a build-up of excitement prior to the event? That may be, in which case, I'm on track.

Where I'm not on track is with picking the project. I know, I know, I've been going on and on about this, but it's all that's one my mind. (That and a pattern for the variegated Jawoll sock yarn.) Here are more pictures to illustrate to you the depths of my dilemma.

(Left)"Lara" from Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk. I have this book. I don't have the yarn, but whateveh (as they say in Boston), I can substitute either black wool or some rusty-brown alpaca I was saving for the next picture.

(Right) "Fern" from Rowan #36. I like this pattern but I worry about the bagginess of it; I saw it worked up on one blog, and it looked like a sack with a ruffled tie in front. While I'm not in peek physical shape, one could hardly call me zoftig. There is real danger here.
(Left)"Paula" from Debbie Bliss Silk Alpaca. Same substitution as as "Lara". This is kind of an alternate "Fern" in my mind.

(Right) "Nina" from Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk. This pattern was why I bought the book. I could do this up in "coal" KnitPicks Wool of the Andes - I have a ton of it - but I haven't done the math, so I'm not 100% that I really have enough yarn.

I have a lot of recycled yarn I could use as well, but I'm not certain how much. My boyfriend/ partner/ whatnot is going to make me a yarn meter (Board with two nails in it, 3' apart. So high tech!) so that I can get my stash all sorted out, but frogging a sweater into skeins as training doesn't sound like a wise move to me. I'd rather knit on my FLAK sweater and, hell, anything else that comes my way lately. That's the particular (and fortunate, depending on your viewpoint) form of my current indecisiveness - tons of projects, and actually doing them. I'm even tempted to cut Mandarin class tonight, which is a terrible thing to do.

I wonder if I can knit in class?

Last night, I:

• had tater tots for dinner
• watched Harry Potter and the Secret Chamber - twice (knitting painkiller)
• drank 1 1/2 beers

The Idiocy Continues

I made a lot of FLAK progress tonight. See?

Half an inch, you say? What's so impressive about that?

Well, look at the photo from the last post and you'll see something else has been changed.
That's right! I flipped around the wrong saddle before, and tonight I frogged the entire back (3/4", oh boy!) and fixed it. Then I knit about 14 rows of the pattern.

Hopefully things will go a bit smoother with this sweater from here on out. My plan is to get the armhole length before the Knitting Olympics. Now that I am making more progress getting stitches on the needles, versus getting them off the needles, this may actually happen. This whole fix-it process took me a movie and a half (with distractions) so I have a pretty good idea of my speed with these cables now. (Read: slow)

Knitting Rate

I was thinking quite a bit about this today, what with a timed, endurance knit coming up. It occurs to me that if I get a relative idea of my Realistic Knitting Rate - that is, how fast I knit a basic stitch like stockinette in the context of my typical knitting environment, my apartment - I'll be better able to choose a Knitting Olympics project that fits me. So, taking into consideration trips to the bathroom, coffee refills, breaks to stir dinner, acknowledge the presence of my boyfriend/partner/whatnot, and deflect the various, imaginative attentions of my cat, I do about 20s a minute. (I base this upon my cable-knitting speed, which is about 10s a minute. I noticed it close to tripled on the "knit as set" rows.)

The verdict: I am definitely not making "Fleur" for the Knitting Olympics. It's fingering weight, and would take me an hour an inch on the back side. I'm not even going to calculate how long the entire cardigan would take - I'll just save this project for a time when I can, well, overlook how much time it will take. Plus, I don't know where to get the beads.

I could make a worsted weight or even DK weight sweater, provided it's not too fiddly, and I don't screw up too much.

Isn't that good to know?

FLAK

Today I:

• had black tea and cereal with soy milk for breakfast
• had a bag of Fritos for Second Breakfast
• am eating microwave tofu lasagna for lunch
• am guzzling black coffee
• wish I could somehow be paid to knit... leisurely

FLAK

Sunday morning I put some sleeves on BBB's cardigan and then devoted myself to my neglected FLAK knitting. Here you see my diligent knitting assistant guarding my knitting diary, a bag of Bear stuffing, my coffee, instructions for a different knitalong (one I am not even in - long story) and one of my FLAK shoulder saddles.

For those of you coming late to this blog who are not In The Know, I'm using "chocolate" colored Wool of the Andes from KnitPicks on US #6 straight needles. I did the cable swatch with US #6 dpns, and the danger of randomly dropping cable stitches off the ends freaked me out so much that I had to go and and buy straight needles. I haven't decided if I am going to make this sweater entirely flat - it begins flat, then joins in the round, apparently - we'll just have to wait and see what my emotional tension levels are by the time I really have to address this question.

I bought this sock yarn at Windsor Button with the straight needles. Obviously, I don't have enough sock yarn, since I am continually buying more. (1200g is not enough!) I am very excited about this yarn. I am almost tempted to make it my Knitting Olympics project... assuming I can make anything my Knitting Olympics project for more than 30 minutes altogether.

Urgh. Let's move on.

FLAK Back

I got as far as an inch in to the back of the FLAK sweater yesterday before I realized I had one of the saddles backwards. Do you see those live stitches, tied up on yarn? They have to face the neck. I had one facing outwards.

There may be some of you out there who would say that this is not a big deal, no one would notice if the braid isn't exactly mirrored on the shoulders. Ha! I laugh at your optimism.

I dropped all the stitches on that saddle, reattatched it properly, and began picking up the pattern with the loose yarn ends. This was actually going fine for a while until I noticed that I had developed a twist between the "new" and "old" section of the pattern. Okay, I can deal. I untwisted it and fixed it. Then I was almost done and I realized I had and extra moss stitch at the join. Urgh. Where'd that come from? I dropped it, looked at the slack yarn that blocking would not fix, and frogged the entire back.

The above photo was where I was around 10 pm last night. My waves are mirrored, even my braids. I really don't care if my horseshoes hang down or up, just as long as they're recognizably horseshoes. I know there are some of you out there (hopefully not the same people with such a laissez faire attitude about cabling symmetry) who have substituted cables and filler stitch, but I'm not one of them. This is, to be frank, my first adult sweater, and I don't really feel like pushing the envelope that far.

Last night, I;

• had miso soup for dinner with half a beer
• watched The Mothman Prophecies, The Interpreter, Danny Deckchair, and Dark Shadows (revival)
• had tater tots for lunch

Blue Bobbi

Yesterday I:

• had hashbrowns and a tofu dog for breakfast with coffee
• had a seitan "cheese steak" with domestic feta, broccoli sprouts, and kalamata olives with a beer for dinner
• had a cheese panini for lunch with a soy latte
• worked obsessively on Bobbi Bear

Bobbi Bear

Pattern: Baby Bobbi Bear by Blue Sky Alpacas

Size: One

Yarn: less than one ball Blue Cotton Ease and a ball of brown Sugar n' Cream for a sweater

Modifications: Since I wasn't using the specified yarn I used US #7 dpns to get a good fabric density. To keep things in proportion when the pattern called for a knitting a specific length I substituted the number of rows I that would have been worked in the original gauge. For instance, the original gauge was 4 sts and 5 rows = 1", so when the pattern called for knitting 3", I knit 15 rows (5 x 3).

Comments: I said I was going to pace myself with this project, but apparently I meant "fast pace". The Cotton Ease was pleasant to work with, and the pattern pretty logical. Still, I managed to goof up at least 3 times. Fortunately, I have a past of goofing up and have fix-it skills that, alas, outshine my knitting skills, so I was not delayed too long by this.

The instructions give no indication that I noticed when it should be stuffed, so I stuffed it as I went. This was quite inconvenient, esp. when it came to making the arms. Also, embroidering cotton is, to put it briefly, hell. I suggest doing it before stuffing the head, rather than after, like I did.

The sweater was worked up on US #7 dpns using the brown Sugar n' Cream. The back fits well, but the front overlaps too much. I'm going to cut the edges of the button flap an make the corrections, but not today. I think I've seen enough of this bear for a little while.

Bears and Banana French Toast

Today I:

• had leftover banana French toast for breakfast with a cup of black tea
• had a bag of chips (courtesy of the OKC) for Second Breakfast
• am having mushroom potstickers and coffee for lunch
• am almost tempted to make this sweater

Re-Picking the Knitting Olympics Project

I've been cruising through free knitting pattern websites today, looking at countless sweaters, cardigans, and summer tops. I feel a little drunk on all the choices (good, bad, terribly wrong), but I think I've settled on two courses of action. I will either:

1. buy pattern #kps221 and knit it up using some "coal" Wool of the Andes I just happen to have (20 balls)
2. or buy this yarn from Elann in black and hope it arrives in time for me to start training for "Fleur" again.

Opinions more than welcome. In fact, quite desired. It may be insane of me to want to make a cardigan out of fingering weight yarn in 16 days. It may also be that Option #1 is not such a hot idea, either. I'm not objective right now, so I couldn't really say. Go ahead and talk me down.

Blue and Brown Baby Bobbi Bear Begun!

That's right! After a couple false starts last night, I have settled on a needle size and have almost finished Bobbi's body. As you can no doubt vividly see, Bobbi is of the blue persuasion. I didn't have any cotton yarn, but Jeannette saved the day by generously donating a ball of the infamous, discontinued Electric Blue Cotton Ease. ("Electric Blue" may not, in actuality, be name of the color, but I think it will suffice for now.)I would never wear this color, but I don't seem to mind knitting in it, esp. when I already have a brown cardigan planned for it sporting a cute little blue star button I found at Windsor Button. You can see it in the bottom right of the photo. (A Bobbi Bear sweater was Jeannette's idea; I shamelessly lifted it.)

I'm trying to pace myself with this project, but it isn't easy. Cotton is so soft, the pattern so simple, the yarn so blue, I can barely help myself. I came home from the South Street Diner last night around midnight and knitted a couple more rows, it's that good. Which reminds me...

People of Boston, why do you hate me?

Why were you holding out on me about this diner? Didn't you know I've been going all the way to Davis Square for diner food? That I've really been feeling the lack of a midnight haunt? Just thinking about having lived in Boston for a year without knowing this place existed has me feeling queasy. All this time, I have been staying in, going to bed early, going to Bova's for eclairs at 2 am, even embarking on pointless walks along the harbor in the rain to fulfill my nocturnal urges. All the while, this 24 hour diner has been a fifteen minute walk from my apartment.

Life here is never going to be the same.

Last night, I:

• had banana French Toast with a vanilla frappe
• ate hashbrowns and a tofu dog for diner
• had a fat brownie, courtesy of the OKC

There's good news, and there's bad news

Today I:

• had a cup of soy yogurt and black tea for breakfast
• am eating toffee, courtesy of the OKC
• am bemoaning my fate

The Good News

I called my mom last night. She's a realtor, so it's not uncommon for her to answer the phone in her car, but it just so happens that I somehow almost always call during her evening commute when she's about to enter a tunnel. Then we get suddenly disconnected. Sometimes she calls back, sometimes she doesn't. I managed to glean from her before she entered the next tunnel that she 1) got the Bed Socks, 2) is stunned that I made them by hand, and 3) hasn't tried them on because she is afraid her size 10 1/2 feet will ruin them.

I think she may have heard me when I said I made the socks EXTRA BIG, but I can't be sure. She was already descending into Central California Tunnel Hell.

So she likes them. Perhaps a little too much to wear them. This is good and bad, wouldn't you say? Maybe if I make her a second pair as back up (her birthday is April) she'll feel it isn't too much of a risk to put one of the pairs on. What do you think? I must admit this is an obstacle I hadn't quite anticipated.

Also, I finished my FLAK swatch last night and blocked it. I am already behind on this knitalong (some people are on the back of the sweater already!) so I didn't go the full 24 rows, more like 14. I don't think it makes a real difference. My stitches per inch is dead on. I haven't bothered with counting the rows per inch. I can work that out later if it's a problem. The important thing is I can start the sweater now with something like a clear conscience, if not downright brazenness.

The Bad News

At the S'nB last night I "trained" for the Knitting Olympics by knitting up a swatch of the "coal" Merino Style from KnitPicks for "Fleur". I used US #3 needles, and it was pretty dense. I was under the impression that this yarn was DK weight, but I blocked it last night and measured it this morning right after the FLAK swatch. The gauge for "Fleur" is 28s = 10 cm/4 inches.

My swatch is 24s = 10 cm/4 inches!

Argh!

The fabric is already as dense as I can tolerate, so that's that. I have no yarn for "Fleur". Nothing. Zip. Nada. I am (to use a time-honored cliche) up Shit Creek.

One of the criteria I gave myself for the Knitting Olympics was that I would work from the stash. Buying buttons, zippers, toggles or whatnot is perfectly acceptable, but not the yarn. Not even one ball if I fall short of the required amount. The only DK weight yarn I have in my stash is off-white and I refuse to make anything out of it that doesn't require at least a few cables or bobbles. This can only mean one thing: I have to choose a different pattern and yarn.

Simple enough, eh? Of course not.

I have already nixed the possibility of using cables, bobbles, or complex stitches when they comprise the majority of a pattern, unless it's socks. I could do socks, but I really want a sweater. I need a sweater. I will not be complete without a new handknit sweater, ASAP. (I think that may be the entire reason I am participating in the Knitting Olympics, come to think of it.)

Simple sweater it must be. I have yarn for that. I have, in fact, A WHOLE LOT of yarn for that, in worsted weight. Perhaps if I chose the yarn, the pattern will automatically follow without much fuss or whining.

Yeah, right.

Edit: Worse News. I am an idiot. 28s = 10 cm/4 imches is not DK weight; it's fingering weight. Ah, well. I still don't have the yarn, since I don't want to make it in green.

Last night, I:

• had a cheese panini for dinner with a coffee at S'nB
• drank half a beer
• was foolishly optimistic

I am so busy, I don't even know it

Today I:

• had a cup of soy yogurt and black tea with rice milk for breakfast
• am having mushroom potstickers for lunch
• am posting a gratuitous cat photo (Isn't he cute? This is his Dr. Jekyll side.)

Ever feel like you are knitting in circles? Not just making a hat or something, but just not getting anywhere? I've been feeling like that lately. I have all this yarn and plans and whatnot, and very little to show for it.

I'm not even at the half-way mark yet with anything I have cast on, except for another pair of aquamarine Lamb's Pride Super wash socks. I am have the back done for a raglan cardigan from Campus Hand Knits, and I've started both sleeves. I'm swatching for FLAK, and I'm going to make "Fleur" from Rowan Vintage Style for the Knitting Olympics. I'm perpetually knitting and ripping out a wristwarmer. I have several socks cast on, and the Fugly socks stuffed in a basket out of sight in the hope that I will forget about it.

I'm blaming the holidays for this. There is valuable knitting time lost during the holidays, when people think you are supposed to be talking to them, watching the kids unwrap their presents, eating, for goodness sakes! Not to mention the travel nausea. Really, let's not talk about that and what it does to the desire to knit, much less live.

The holidays are also the time of Massive Quanities of Small Projects Which You Will Never See Again. In the past three months, I have knit 8 hats, 1 pair of wristwarmers, 1 pair of fingerless gloves, 5 scarves, 2 flower brooches, 2 pairs of socks and a washcloth. I kept the washcloth, a hat, and a scarf. Sure, there's satisfaction in making the small objects, and even a little bit (sometimes) in giving them away, esp. if you can see the person's reaction to it, but most of my family lives 2000 miles away. I have to eek out my satisfaction in a job well done via email or over the phone. (Which reminds me: My mom still hasn't said anything about her socks, not even "They came in the mail yesterday." Urgh. Maybe I'll call her Mother's Day and ask what happened.)

Maybe twenty small objects in three months sounds like a lot of FOs to have knit, and you think I should be satisfied, but twenty FOs should be seriously cluttering my apartment, let me tell you. What's actually cluttering my apartment - aside from books, mail, and clothes - is WIPs and WII. (Works In Imagination, i.e. yarn stashed for future projects) At the rate I'm going, I'll need a private supernatural workforce to get this stuff knitted up any time soon. Which is not a bad idea, really. Maybe if I put out a bowl of milk the elves will come. Do you think they prefer soy or rice milk?

Last night, I:

• ate a leftover eggplant parmesan sub for dinner with a beer
• went to Chinese class
• worked on my FLAK cable swatch
  

It Lives!

Today I:

• had a cup of soy yogurt and black tea for breakfast (not necessarily in the same cup!)
• had two bean and rice burritos and a bag of Fritos for lunch
• am being moderate about the coffee
• wish I had as much time to knit as Jeannette

After much fretting and diligence my hard work has finally paid off. No, I haven't gotten a raise, or been awarded some kind of medal. I have simply managed to keep my houseplants from dying this winter.

When I came to the East Coast I thought I had a green thumb. Trying to grow anything in that toxic waste they call soil in Philadelphia and the incident of the Fern Who Got Too Much Water soon disabused me of this idea. How was I supposed to know that Coastal California was a gardener's dream? I thought you really did just drop a peach pit and have a tree grow. Doesn't that happen everywhere?

Apparently not. Growing plants in my apartment is no small feat. My houseplants have been languishing on my wide windowsills and I, spoiled Californian, have been at a loss about what to do. Too much water? Not enough? Cat harrassment? Nope. When all your windows face brick walls less than ten feet away, rising two floors above you, you're lucky if you don't start feeling as if you are the Birdman of Alcatraz. The problem is sunlight. I went down to the hardware store and got myself a 60 watt plant light.

I've had my houseplants on life support for about a month now, and I am pleased to announce that my rubber plant is growing again. It wasn't easy. I had to turn the lamp on every day, and shut it off every night. I had to chastise my boyfriend/partner/whatnot repeatedly until he stopped shutting all the blinds the moment I left the room. This, and the low winter sun, are to blame for my plant's health to begin with. He now understands that the plants and I do not appreciate this, and that the light is not meant to substitute for natural light, but to supplement it. Nobody is peeking in at him anyway. We face a brick wall!

My African Violet is still alive, but it isn't blooming. It's edges are dry, despite the dish of damp alabaster gravel I have under it to hydrate it. (I recently discovered my cat may have something to do with this. He gets very excited when I water the gravel, and just last week I caught him licking the rocks as if they were the only viable source of water in the house. Literally trying to get water from a stone! I shooed him away and he went to his water bowl, his second choice. Have I told you my cat is nuts?)

And my bonsai, the one in a species that's supposed to be impossible to kill?

Well, let's not talk about that.

Last night, I:

• did laundry while eating an eggplant parmensan sub and drinking an Italian beer
• had a handful of raw cashews
• ate instant vegetable/barley soup for lunch, a soy yogurt, and a bag of Fritos
• finished reading Mary Stewart's This Rough Magic
  

I Guess This Is New England

Today I:

• had weird flavored coffee for breakfast
• didn't have weird flavored cereal for breakfast... at least, not after the second bite
• have a laundry date
• trudged to work through the snow

It's snowing again. Again. Just as I had been lulled into thinking, however irrationally, that spring had come three months early. That's the Californian in me. I'm utterly convinced that winters should remain mild, lots of rain and mud and the occasional 60 degree F day with bright, overcast skies. Perfect for a beach picnic with some merlot, a wedge of brie and a fresh bagette. Right? I could go for that now. But there's the little issue of all this snow.

Maybe I should look at the bright side of this. Walking to and from work is great exercise, esp. when it is through about 4+ inches of snow in a gale, right? And it builds character, or so I have been told.
And I'm equipped. All this knitting has been for a reason, it isn't just compulsive industriousness. I now have an alpaca scarf, a cloche-style hat, and I would have the Voodoos, too, if my apartment hadn't swallowed them this weekend. (I can't really blame it. They are irresistible. But it is annoying. Those Voodoos weren't even technically mine.) Add the snow boots, long wool peacoat and the unseen, ever valuable long underwear I wear eight months out the year out here and you have one toasty commuter. A bit like a slightly damp powdered donut at the final destination, but still pretty much dry inside and good to go if left by the heater a little while. I suppose there are worse things to be.

Last night, I:

• had lobster ravioli with bread and a Heifeweizen at the Green Dragon
• read some more of This Rough Magic
• rediscovered my childhood knack of making two chairs into a comfortable settee

Soap Progress

Today I:

• had hash browns and a tofu dog for breakfast
• drank a cup of... er... yesterday's coffee
• had yet more coffee (made today)
• drank a cup of miso soup
• watched Groundhog Day while carving

Soap Hand

Pure castile soap is very different than Ivory. Rather than being too soft and inclined to mushiness like with the Kitty carving, castile is hard and brittle. There have been blow-outs, fissures, and hand cramps.

I'm at the half-way point with this hand. I wanted to post it as is just in case I don't finish it tonight. Who knows? I might do something else, like, say... knit.

Hmm. That sounds good. Give my other hand a chance to be cramped.

Bad Blog?

Today I:

• had half an eggplant sub and a soy latte for lunch
• drank coffee for breakfast
• pretty much fell out of bed knitting
• knit all day while watching Danny Deckchair, Dark Shadows (revival), and Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart at the River Styx
• ripped it all out an hour ago
• had a seitan "cheese steak" for dinner with a Hefeweizen
• considered blog quality

Some time between relocating heat pumps and archiving a ream of tatty construction documents, I write this blog. I have an hour lunch break, but I don't like leaving the office. I work in a mostly industrial neighborhood, so the lunch options are not only limited, but severely overcrowded. And then there's the weather. East Coast weather is not my friend. There's heat waves and snow and sometimes they're two weeks apart. Egh.

So I bag a lunch and I sit at my computer, trying to think of something interesting to write, drinking coffee that comes from a machine that makes robotic whirring noises and fending off architects under the false impression that just because I'm present, I'm available. Quality isn't usually at the forefront of my mind when I'm posting so much as just being able to press Publish without my computer crashing or having a hitherto unheard of deadline suddenly drop into my lap.

Notice how I used the word "hitherto"? That's because I'm at home right now. I have a little space to think - literally. It's about 250 sq. ft., and I call it my apartment. Most people call it an efficiency studio. It's packed with yarn and books and my boyfriend/partner/whatnot, practically to the ceiling. I am a packrat. Every day is a struggle to hold back the flow of clutter. My mom's parents had so much clutter that they had to erect retaining walls in their living room. I'm not quite at that point yet, but I am considering using my textbooks as furniture again. Somewhere in all this stuff is my mind, my direction. My focus. What was I saying?

Oh, yeah. I was going to say something profound about blog quality.

Today I am haunted by the thought that I am merely cluttering the Internet with yet another self-aggrandizing, poorly written blog. I am pathetic with html code. My font is too big and don't know how to fix it. I can barely organize my sidebar, and yet I still want a second one. I can't decide on a banner illustration, so I just haven't drawn one. Taking attractive photos for my blog is a low priority - I'm lucky if the photo isn't blurry and it has enough light. This is partially a product of my apartment, aka The Cave, but it's also laziness. This really shines through in the way I write my posts. Consistency in theme? Never. Completed thoughts? Only by accident. Structure? Just a tool to desperately reign in the chaos.

Why do I bother? Well, I'm a hybrid of interoversion and sociability. I have a desire for Show and Tell, but in person I have no real forum. Maybe because when other people are meeting people, I am knitting, or writing. I take books to parties. You get the idea. Years can pass without acquantainces knowing what I do when I'm at home because it just doesn't come up. I think I still have some old friends who don't know I draw. Or knit.

What was my point, anyway? Oh, yeah. Keep reading me. I may be scatterbrained, but I've got lots of stuff to show you and I'll probably get better. Everything has a learning curve and I tend to go whole hog on anything that really interests me. For instance, I spent all today designing a wristawrmer on US #4 dpns, only to rip it all out. I already cast it on again. One thing about going whole hog is that in my case it often involves a lot of pigheadedness. Believe it or not, but this is what gets me anywhere. It certainly isn't patience.

Last night, I:

• made seitan "cheese steaks" with my boyfriend/partner/whatnot
• had a couple beers
• picked out a new bar of soap to carve

no witty title today

Today I:

• had a cup of O'Soy! peach yogurt and coffee for breakfast
• had a banana for Second Breakfast
• am eating pesto potato gnocchi with sauteed mushrooms and an apple for lunch
• am hung over from just one beer, I am so tough
• took a vitamin
• took an Advil

Yesterday I got my FLAK yarn in the mail, the chocolate-colored Wool of the Andes that I keep mistakenly referring to as "chocolate-covered." Hopefully 14 balls is enough for a small Aran sweater. I swatched the filler stitches last night and I'm ready to roll with the cable swatch, finally. I was originally going to use that natural white worsted weight Orchard Yarn my Grandma sent me, but upon swatching it to gauge I discovered that "worsted" is a lie: it's really more like DK. Fine. I have a lot of DK patterns, more than is good for me, actually.

Knitting Olympics

Speaking of DW weight, I chose my Knitting Olympics project: "Fleur" from Rowan's Vintage Style book. I've been wanting to make this sweater for a while. I already have the yarn: 6 balls of "coal" Merino Style from KnitPicks. I hope six is enough. I'm a 34" chest so it probably will be. My hope is this sweater is simple enough and small enough to be possible.

Next weekend I'm going to swatch for it.

Must. Have. Wristwarmers.

I still haven't mailed the X-mas presents I knitted for Sibling #1 and her kids yet because I am having a difficult time letting go of the Voodoo wristwarmers. They're not perfect - I would do the thumb gusset differently, and the yarn kind of itches - but they are surprisingly addictive. Esp. when I'm on the computer. Maybe it's '80's nostalgia, I don't know, but I'm going to make myself a pair, except... totally different.

It'll be a 2-part knitting project, Part 1 being knitting Sibling #1 a pair of wristwarmers that incorporate the structural features I want changed out of that red Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk I have lying around, begging to be used. Part 2 is when I make a pair for myself, incorporating aesthetic changes. I have some black alpaca that was going to be a hat that I don't need. I'm sure it won't mind.

Last night, I:

• watched The Legend of Bagger Vance
• knitted on my aquamarine socks some
• had pesto gnocchi with mushrooms for dinner with a Harpoon IPA
• followed my cat around the apartment, cleaning up after his pukey hairballs

The Contenders

Today I:

• had a bit of toast for breakfast
• had a banana for Second Breakfast
• just ate two bean and rice burritos
• skipped out on a free pizza lunch
• am being a very good girl

I've been thinking about the Knitting Olympics. It certainly is a good opportunity to gauge one's abilities (and just how much balls and/or bluster one may have about knitting projects.) I think, for the sake of sanity, that I will try to underestimate myself.

This means I will not:

1. attempt a project translated from another language that has more than one page of charts;
2. attempt to knit my FLAK cardigan;
3. use needles smaller than US #1;
4. attempt a project I do not already have the necessary supplies for. (To avoid the Waiting Stress.)

However, in the interest of, well, keeping it interesting, I will not:

1. attempt small projects like plain hats, scarves, mittens, wristwarmers, or bulky socks, since I know I could easily knit them from start to end in one drunken weekend.

What does this leave me with?

Well, why don't we take a look at The Stash and see?

Top Drawer

Mostly WIPs and FOs and a skein of Blue Surf Malabrigo yarn, apparently. That's going to be a hat, so let's move on.

Second Drawer
I seem to have acquired some sock yarn. Socks are a possibility. I could make a pattern from Knitting Vintage Socks or something. Never mind I have four pairs of socks on the needles right now.

Yikes! This is where my boyfriend/partner/whatnot (aka Joe) comes home, aborting my pictures. For all our sakes, I think it would be best if he doesn't get a realistic idea of just how much yarn I really have. I mean, he knows I have two of these plastic drawer units, but seeing balls of yarn tidily tucked away behind semi-transparent drawer fronts is very different from seeing them paraded out, one by one, to cover every available flat surface in sight. So, act natural, and move on. (Even though I know you can see those two skeins of red Catalina alpaca in my drawer. Ignore it. It's a scarf. Really. And that other alpaca, in black, that's gloves.)

But come to think of it, I could make gloves. I've been having problems making a pair that fits right, so that could be the answer.

Of course, I have a lot of sweater yarn, too. Hmm.

More on that later.

Last night, I:

• had tater tots and a tofu dog for dinner
• chugged some rice milk
• got a blog button tutorial after S'nB from The Bitter Knitter
• had a bag of chips and a coffee with soy milk
• wound a ball of Vesper yarn

Today I:

• had a raspberry soy smoothie and a cup of coffee for breakfast
• am drinking coffee with cream
• walked away from a free lunch presentation to eat my burritos
• wonder what the hell is wrong with me about that
• am still a disgruntled worker

Black Alpaca Basketweave Scarf

Pattern: my own, whoop-de-doo.

Yarn: I'm fairly certain this is Blue Sky Alpaca Chunky (I lost the label); 2 whole skeins

Edit: It's Catalina Chunky (100g/109 yds. ea. skein)

Size: one size

This was just a 3s/3r basketweave, over and over again. I mostly knit this up at S'nB meetings because it required very little attention while still being very pleasant. (Ahh, alpaca!) I think tonight I'm going to start a pair of alpaca wristwarmers so that I won't be carrying my niece's around with me everywhere.

Learning to Paint
Every now and then I try to learn to oil paint. This has been happening for about 6 or 7 years now, without much result. (My bouts of painting are usually very brief and filled with scowling and drop cloths.) I was actually getting somewhere with a couple paintings... and then I lost them.
I did this still life study in orange and blue about two years ago when I was taking beginning painting classes in the evenings. I was in school for architecture, so I eventually stopped going after about three nights because I lacked the energy needed for any level of enthusiasm. (This happens a lot when I'm in school.)

I think it's an okay study. I'm posting it so that you can see the approximate level of my oil painting skills. This way, when/if I post the painting I started MLK Day, you, my faithful reader, will be able to say, "Oh, man, that painting is really terrible compared to her earlier stuff!" or possibly, "Wow! She's gotten so much better!", etc.

Last night, I:

• had tater tots for dinner with a Harpoon Ale
• started reading Mary Stewart's This Rough Magic
• cast on another pair of aquamarine Lamb's Pride Super Wash socks
• discovered I work with one of the women from my Mandarin class (I thought she looked familiar!)
• discovered I am so rusty that I will have to work hard to stay ahead of the beginners in the class

The Language Challenge

Today I:

• had bowl of cereal with rice milk and coffee for breakfast
• skipped the usual banana arbitrarily
• had two bean and rice burritos for lunch
• am drinking coffee with cream again

I'm having a little bit of a problem today. Look at this picture and tell me if you can guess what it is.The top book is my latest textbook, and the two bottom books are the knitting magazine's Kasumi sent me from Japan. I found them on my chair when I came in to work this morning, along with threats to do this to my cubicle. (I'm very disappointed to say it was all bark, no bite.)

The problem, obviously, is that I study Chinese and these knitting magazines are in Japanese. These are not unexpected factors, but seeing it all together like this, on what to me is functionally a Monday, may require another cup of coffee. (Jeannette has raised the question of the Knitting Olympics. Perhaps my contribution should be the knitting of a Japanese pattern?)

A peek inside

Last night, I:

• finished my black alpaca scarf
• ate a package of bacon
• drank two Harpoon Ales
• did laundry
• finished reading Ellery Queen's The Halfway House
• ate a bag of Kettle chips and had entirely too much coffee
  
  

sketching the day away

I am so inspired by not being at work today that I am cranking out the art, good and bad.

I'm not going to show you the bad, which was a painting I started earlier. It is truly awful. But maybe nine more layers will fix it so that it'll be blogworthy. We'll see.

In an attempt to perk myself up after the oil painting mishap I sketched some body parts. It didn't go as badly as I thought it would. I fully expected to be depressed by the realization that I drew much better in high school than I do now. I did draw better in high school, but apparently drawing is like riding a bicycle and I didn't turn out total crap. Noses are always very awkward, so the one I drew is, as well - hardly surprising. The thumb is huge because it was where I started. All in all, I think I can live with it.

Voodoo Revised

Today I:

• am taking the MLK holiday, whether or not it is given
• haven't had breakfast yet...or even coffee
• learned that if you don't open your oil paints for a year, you need pliers
• don't have pliers
• am experiencing artistic angst

I thought today would be an ideal day to get going on some artistic endeavors outside of soap - like that learning to oil paint thing I keep nagging myself about - but until my boyfriend/partner/whatnot comes home during lunch with some pliers, I may have to resort to another medium. Argh.

Voodoos
Pattern: Voodoo wrist warmers from Knitty, with modifications

Size: Small (40 stitch cast on)

Yarn: black Lamb's Pride Super Wash on Us #5 dpns

Modifications: After making one, I was dissatisfied with the fit around the thumb so I decided to add a thumb gusset. The Bitter Knitter asked me about the thumb gusset, so I've included below a rather poor description of what I did for her benefit.

What I did:

• ripped it back until it was only 5" long
• (k2, p2) 3 times, then k1, twisted m1, k1, p2, *k2, p2, repeat from* until end of row
• increased by 1 every row to the right of the twisted m1 for eleven more rows, alternating between p and k m1's (if that makes any sense - I don't know how to phrase it!)
• knit one row as set (52 stitches on needles now)
• (k2, p2) 3 times, then k1, cast off 12, k1, *k2, p2, repeat from* until end of row (40 stitches on needles now)
• (k2, p2) 3 times, then k1, pass over cast off stitches to k1, p2, *k2, p2, repeat from* until end of row
• work ten rows as set
• cast off.

This makes a decent V-rib pattern, but it's not perfect. The first twisted m1 on my Voodoos gapes, and I don't like how the knit rows stagger instead of meeting up exactly. Also, instead of just skipping over the cast off stitches, I would increase by one and take it out after about three or four rows because the yarn between the two knitted stitches were stretching when I wore the wristwarmers last night. It didn't make them uncomfortable - the fit was actually quite good - but the look bothered me.

Formerly, I thought wristwarmers were really silly, but walking around yesterday in the 15 degree F weather convinced me of their value. No more trying to pull my sweater sleeves over my knuckles when my hands are in my pockets! I'm converted, esp. by how fast they were to make.

Today I:

• had tater tots and coffee for breakfast
• ate dinner at a Chinese restaurant in Coolidge Corner where they did not speak Mandarin to each other
• was too hungry and cold to be vexed by this
• wore the wristwarmers I made for my niece
• realized I need to make myself a pair
• finished off the carton of green tea soy ice cream
• was astonished by the number of people curious about a soap cat

Really. I had 35 hits on a Saturday, which is just about my total for the work week. I'm so aghast I'm surprised I'm mentioning it, or the fact that I like the attention enough to point out that there will be a soap hand up sometime next weekend, hint hint. Thankfully, I was planning to do that anyway.

So that this post won't just be about that, here's cartoon I drew about six years ago, when I had a lot of time and creativity floating around in my life:

You should be able to click on it for an enlargement.

I doodled quite bit back then, and cartoons were often the result. Nothing much came of it except a couple appearances in a now defunct local scenester magazine and one 'zine called The Usual. Nothing much came of it basically because I wasn't very motivated. I printed less than twenty copies of The Usual. Nevertheless, something uncanny happened with it. I was living in rural California at the time and one of my acquaintances moved to New York and wrote me that she was sitting in a coffeehouse, picked up her coffee, and saw one of my cartoons staring up at her. It really threw her for a loop, as it did me.

Last night, I:

• had fresh cheese-filled pasta with pesto for dinner
• washed it down with two Old Brown Dog Ales
• saw Psycho and The Children of the Corn for the first time

Kitty!

Today I:

• had a soy latte and a bit of a stale croissant for breakfast
• started reworking the wristwarmers
• am feeling pretty smug

I carved this out a bar of Ivory soap this afternoon with a Swiss army knife. It's a bit crude - Ivory soap is really soft, so it's difficult to develop details - but I think the general shape came out OK. Practice, practice!

I'm considering taking it to the next level and buying a bit of soapstone.

Last night, I:

• had dinner at The Middle East in Cambridge
• watched a couple DVDs while Joe was out seeing avant guard violin music
• finished the thumb gusset on the wrist warmers, only to rip it out this afternoon

Today I:

• had cereal and coffee for breakfast
• am having a cup of noodles, a banana, and a bag of chips for lunch
• got a sudden headache when I looked at this sweater
• wish I had studied Japanese

Japanese and Mandarin have absolutely nothing in common - they are in different language families - except a couple thousand characters that are sometimes pronounced similarly. (The Chinese pronunciation dominating, which is why I heard someone say "child" in what sounded like Mandarin in a Japanese movie once. But the line gets drawn there.)

If I took up Japanese right now I would definitely have an edge over other native English speakers because I have studied written Chinese. I would know some Japanese characters by default, but the meaning might not be the same because of the time that has passed since it was adopted into Japanese. I really wish I could learn both languages, but where am I going to find the time? I have only just managed to wedge Mandarin back into my schedule, which is no small matter.

That Darn Bohemian Lifestyle

I got a letter last night that really confused and bewildered me. It was from my school's financial aid department, those people that hate me. They readjusted my financial aid for Spring 2005 based on what a workhorse I am. Wow, thanks. I have no idea whether this means I owe money or am owed money now - either way, it's a pickle, because I'm not going back. Really. They can't make me.

There was a brief, flickering moment in the midst of all that confusion when I thought it was a Spring 2006 award letter and that they were trying to lure me back. I considered it, and the answer, even faced with five digits of aid, was: "Hell no!"

I have decided that office work is fundamentally unhealthy. I sit for over nine hours a day in front of a computer, staring at a glowing screen, my fingers constantly diddling a mouse and keyboard. My knees always ache, I think I'm getting carpal tunnel syndrome (the knitting probably doesn't help) and I'm gaining weight so fast I don't even recognize myself undressed anymore. I walk 25 minutes to and from work every day, something which is probably just barely holding back the floodgates of obesity and ill-health. Add to it the occupational stress, and beer gut that immediately follows. Ugh. I am a mess, and it will only get worse if I go on this way.

I'm thinking:

Cabinetmaking.

I think I made some sort of surly remark to my last studio instructor about how I should have just been a cabinetmaker instead, but maybe I wasn't just talking out of my ass on three hours of sleep. Maybe I was onto something.

Last night, I:

• chose between knitting and dinner (Knitting won)
• knit a Voodoo wrist warmer
• decided it needs a thumb gusset
• drank a bottle of mineral water
• watched Family Man

It's Mine! Mine! Bwah haha!

Today I:

• went to work
• had a bowl of cereal and cup of coffee first
• am having a slice of brushetta pizza and a bag of Kettle chips for lunch
• am a greedy knitter

Right before S'nB last night I finished this hat.

I've made seven hats in the past three months, and it's starting to feel a bit ridiculous. I need to move on. Seven socks, maybe. Seven mittens. I could hold my head up about that. But hats? Oy.

Well, at least it's not seven scarves.

Edit: I've actually made eight hats.

Pattern: "Gala" from Rowan #36... again. It's nice pattern, even though I keep changing it.

Size: one size

Yarn: Black Lion Brand Homespun, sewn together with a strand of black Lamb's Pride Super Wash.

Modifications: I did a provisional cast-on for the band and instead of overlapping the ends, I sewed it closed with the kitchener stitch using some Lamb's Pride Super Wash. I put the button over the seam, instead of to the side.

The pattern calls for two strands of yarn (one of them Kid Silk Haze, I believe) - neither of which include synthetics like Lion Brand Homespun, yet oddly enough, it works out pretty well, even if I do say so myself. I liked my wine colored Homespun "Gala" so much I decided to make myself a black one - to match most of my clothes - and I bought a knifty black horn button for an arm and a leg at Windsor Button as garnish. (The button is what makes or breaks this hat.) I was all set to make it up for myself sometime, but then I remembered how I needed to make something black for one of my nieces, so I made the hat for her instead.

Or did I?

I haven't decided. Last night I considered 1) cutting the button off and hastily substituting something I wanted less, 2) in the event that I don't have a button to use, sending the hat to her, sans any button at all, 3) toughening up and sending her the hat as is, with the intention of making myself an exact replica with the remaining yarn, or 4) making her a pair of Voodoo wrist warmers while pretending there never was a hat in the first place.

Don't wrist warmers sound good? I could use a pair, myself.

Oh no.

Last night, I:

• had a bag of chips, two pieces of Terroni, and the leftover vegan mac & cheese with soybeans for dinner.
• finished yet another Ellery Queen mystery
• debated starting another one (I've only read four this week. Is that too many?)
• nearly finished my black alpaca basketweave scarf. Nearly!

Today I:

• took a sick day
• had cereal and coffee for breakfast
• had vegan mac & cheese with soybeans for lunch
• drank more coffee
• thought about things

The things I'm thinking about, to be a bit more specific, are about school. I have pretty much decided I'm not going back to my former school situation; nobody should have to work full-time while taking four night classes, esp. if they major in architecture, aka The Life Drain. I also have an artistic temperament, so it's a wonder I haven't really flipped out yet.

Well, maybe dropping out would be considered flipping out to some, but I call it Exploring New Venues.

There are a lot of venues.

Aquamarine Socks

They really are aquamarine, don't trust this photo.

Pattern: The Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns

Size: about woman's 8-8 1/2, which is unfortunate, since I am a 7 1/2

Yarn: Lamb's Pride Super Wash in Aquamarine (Color SW155)

Modifications: I used the Dutch Heel instructions from Knitting Vintage Socks instead of the one prescribed.

The Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns' idea of leg shaping is going up a needle size, and then half way to the ankle, switching over the correct size, which is what foiled me. My gauge was horribly off. Technically, I could wear these socks, but I hate not having a perfectly snug heel, esp. when it's a Dutch Heel. It's rather unfortunate, since these socks were my reward project for finishing the Bed Socks for my mom. The aquamarine is beautiful and the yarn is fuzzy-soft and machine washable and drat! I'm mailing them to Sibling #1, who has slightly bigger feet than me and is probably the only one of my five sisters who would wear aquamarine socks. Lucky her.

Saturday's Thrifting Booty

I meant to post this earlier in the week, but one thing happened after another, crowding any such a scheme totally out.

Don't you want to know how much the above cost me? I'm dying to tell you. Including the three paperbacks bought and a large green bowl, rounded up to the nearest dollar, it was (drum roll):

$24

Tee hee!

Last night, I:

• maybe had dinner. Did I?
• had a bowl of cream of broccoli soup for lunch, and a coffee
• knit, knit, knit
• emailed the death notice of my current educational track to my relatives

Chinese, Again!

Beijing Mandarin, to be precise.

For those of you who don't know, I am a hopeless asiaphile. It could be argued that this is a result of having Asian-descent relatives, or even that Chinese-Japanese guy I dated after high school - personally, I don't know. (I think I dated that nut job because he was half Asian, not the other way around.)
Maybe I should blame the Japanese Tea Master that taught my high school advanced art class for a semester. And that damn tea ceremony he did for us. Hard to say. But my asiaphilia manifests itself in an interesting, inconsistant manner.

For instance,

• I have four books on bonsai
• one dead bonsai
• two books on Chinese pottery
• various dishes and items the color of green tea ice cream
• I know that "chocolate meat", at a Fillippino party, is actually pig's blood
• and I study Mandarin.

That's right: I studied Beijing Mandarin for a year and a half. I scribbled characters for hours upon hours, peered myopically at palm-sized flash cards and muttered "QuAR? quAr? QUAar?" to myself while I waited in lines. I sometimes dream in remedial Mandarin. (Since I know only about 500 words, it's not usually a very interesting dream.)

Yet, I haven't written a character in a year - it's getting difficult to read Chinese menus.

This, of course, can't go on.

I'm starting another class tonight.

Gotta go, I'll be late!

F.O.

Today I:

• had cereal and coffee for breakfast
• had a banana for Second Breakfast
• am eating leftover pizza with white sauce, ricotta dollops, artichoke hearts, olives, basil, and mushrooms for lunch (it's rough)

Pink Ribbed Beanie

Pattern: My own.

Size: Small (20" circumference)

Yarn: Cascade 220 knit up with US #7 dpns

I am not really happy with this hat, for two reasons. #1 is the crown. I was too intellectually lazy this weekend to think of a clever way to decrease it, and it's pretty obvious. #2 is that while Cascade 220 is very nice yarn, it was uncomfortable to knit. This may be because I was using US #7s right after using US #5s for days.

I made a mitten with the remaining yarn, but I'm not going to show a picture of it just yet, since I am going to frog it down to the cuff and start it over. Why the fuss? you may wonder. Well, it's my first mitten.

This weekend, I:

• had a lot of pizza
• tried to make vegan nachos
• knitted in circles, almost literally
• organized my apartment some
• wished I had a trust fund
  

Pink, Pink, and ... More Pink!

Today I:

• had the usual cereal with some real coffee (for a change!)
• ate most of a banana
• am having potato gnocchi with sauteed portabella mushrooms, garlic, and red onions with marinara sauce for lunch
• had another cup of coffee, black
• wonder if all this pink will make me crazy, or hopelessly infantile

Pink Seaman's Hat for Sibling #5

Pattern: Needlebeetle's Seaman's Cap

Size: Medium

Yarn: Plymouth Yarn Encore Worsted (75% acrylic, 25% wool) Color 029

Modifications: Totally unintentional, for the most part. I forgot to bring my US #6 dpns to S'nB last Weds. so I knitted the crown on US #5 dpns instead. I also added an extra row before decreasing to have a slightly deeper crown.

Three Seaman's Caps down, only one to go! (I hope!)

Another Pink Thing

So I opted for the "what strikes my fancy as I cast on" pattern for this hat, which turns out to be a 20" circumference ribbed beanie. (This hat is for a nine year old girl.) I haven't thought very much about how I will decrease it - aside from the intervals - so you'll be just as surprised as me at the crown of this hat when it's done. Sudden cables? Twists? Little purled valleys? There's no guessing; we'll just have to wait and see!

For both of these hats I used machine washable yarns. One goes to a kid and the other to what some people might consider a kid - a fifteen year old girl. Neither of them will be likely to carefully wash these items in wool detergent and gently squeeze them between towels before laying them out to dry. Which is unfortunate, because I have leftover yarn to finally make this pig, (scroll up to see it) or at least the idea of it. I'll have to live without a felted version, is all. Oh, how I suffer.

I don't know which of the yarns I'm going to use. The Plymouth yarn has a nice, smooth fuzziness about it in stockinette, but the Cascade yarn is probably of an overall better quality... and less likely to show dirt.

Hmm... I could always do both and give one away, right?

Last night, I:

• had potato gnocchi with sauteed portabella mushrooms, garlic, and... well, you know. I had lunch for dinner. (Or is that dinner for lunch?)
• chugged some OJ
• watched The Corporation

What Deadline?

Today I:

• had an apple and coffee for breakfast (Out of soy milk!)
• am having two bean and rice burritos and a banana for lunch
• am not especially indulging in coffee
• am freezing
• scored some walnuts from the OKC

I'm slowly making progress in my Xmas projects. (Yes, I have no shame, but I'm persistent!) I have a little bit of an excuse in that my cat Jameson runs interference. He does not even remotely understand why I could spend any amount of time not completely focused upon him.

This photo was taken last night after the S'nB. See me diligently knitting away at Sibling #5's pink Seaman's Cap? See the new, ultra-humane, living fur stole I'm sporting, all the while?

It's a wonder I get anything done.

I'm supposed to make a hat for one of my nieces out of this pink yarn. I haven't even settled on a pattern; I keep vacillating between a 2nd Edition of the Cabled Beanie I made for Kasumi, a simple roll-brim hat, or I don't know, whatever strikes my fancy when I cast on.

Magic Stripes, Take Two.

Remember the fugly Lion Bran Magic Stripe socks I was making with Wendy's Toe-Up Sock pattern? Remember how I hated it? The yarn, the pattern, everything? Well, here it is, cuff-down now. I'm almost to the heel flap and I must say I am feeling much more warm and fuzzy inside about it this time.

The colorway (Lumber Jack Black) is still pretty bad, I admit that, but I'm determined to finish these socks. Because I'm stubborn. I will make these socks, and I will wear them!

Red Alpaca Scarf for Sibling #1

I haven't started this project yet, but I'm itching to. I have two skeins of deep red Catalina Baby Alpaca for it, but I can't decide between a simple rib sequence or the Irish Hiking Scarf pattern.

Last night, I:

• had leftover eggplant parmesan sub for dinner
• drank a coffee with soy milk at S'nB
• ate a bag of Kettle Chips
• saw a sweater on a co-worker that I really, really want to knit
• had a cup of tea