Knitting the Blues

Ten on Tuesday

Ten Words People Would Use to Describe Me.

1. Short
2. Knits
3. Obsessive
4. Perfectionist
5. Mum
6. Talented
7. Blue
8. Opinionated
9. Tea-drinker
10. Hot*

Fifty-eight.  *It is 94 degrees here today after all!

YouTube Saturday

I know, it has been a couple of  weeks since a YouTube Saturday, and I really wanted to get my act together and get one done for today, but the best I can come up with, well, no.  The truth is, after I saw this, just yesterday, on Jessica's blog, I had to steal it from her and share it here.  I love it!

Since most of you probably already saw it I guess I'll find something else to share. Hmmmmm...... I got nothin'. This song is my current earworm. Not bad as far as earworms go.

Fifty-seven. I've been a busy bee lately. Not much time for posting, which is ironic now that I have so much to share. I'm working on it. Have a great weekend!

Finishing Friday

Knitting can fix almost anything, right?  You would think that to be the truth, the way knitters immediately search the stash and start knitting for almost every occasion.  It nearly always the first thing I think of, and while it may not cure cancer or take away the sorrow of a loss, those stitches, with prayers and good intentions worked in, surely bring warmth and consolation to a hurting heart, mind or body.  So we knitters, we knit.  I knit a prayer shawl for my mom.

• Pattern:  Wool Peddler's Shawl, Folk Shawls, Cheryl Oberle.
• Yarn:  Woolen Rabbit Opulence in Chiquitita.
• Needles:  Addi Lace size 6.
• Cast On:  March 15, 2009
• Bound Off:  March 28, 2009.  (And yes Margene, it was blocked the day before Easter, just as I predicted.)

 

Lace is photogenic, is it not? 

The good news is that my mom is a few weeks post radiation and chemo, and while she is currently suffering a bout of bronchitis, her recent PET scans show that the treatments have done their jobs and she is free of cancer.  Yay!  Now we prepare for her surgery.  One foot in front of the other...

Speaking of knitting for loving care, it is tempting to cast on for any number of afghan blocks and shawls and things for Kay Gardiner after the loss of her husband, Pete.  We just want to do that, don't we?  Afghans for Afghans is a group that was mentioned in the post about Pete, so I went over to see what they needed, dug into my stash of scraps and single skeins and got to work.  I'm not doing a lot, but a couple of pairs of baby socks and some childrens' mittens are short work and I'm knitting my prayers and intentions for the Gardiner family into them.  Won't you join me and make a pair or two?

Fifty-six. 

My Hands Are Always Cold!

Year round you can see me sitting on my hands to warm them up, running them under warm water or holding them over a grill or fire.  (To tell the truth, that is pretty accurate, except when I am trying to knit while tanning.  Then they turn into a sweaty mess that won't pass yarn through them.)  I've decided that a wardrobe of fingerless mitts and gloves will go a long way to keeping my wrists and knuckles warm no matter the season.  Added bonus?  It's a great stash-buster!

In the beginning on my Darn Pretty Needles size 1.  I am loving these things more and more, no matter the extra anxiety they bring to my life.

• Pattern:  Fishtail Wristwarmers by Alexandra Brinck, a free Ravely download. (Go download it, you know you wanna!)
• Yarn:  Koigu KPPPM, long languishing in the stash, now has a purpose in life!
• Needles:  Darn Pretty Ones!  size 1
• Cast On:  April 7, 2009
• Bound Off:  April 19, 2009

You can't see from the photos because it is nearly impossible to get the focus right when you are using the timer to get the photos, but these babies reach to almost half-way to my elbow.  That is a lot longer than I am used to, sure to be useful during the cooler days when I have a t-shirt on and my bones are chilled.  Plus, I have only a teensy bit of that skein of yarn left.  Yay!

The destashing is sort of viral.  It takes over the soul and the more I unload lovingly sell away, the more I want to let go of, either by selling or knitting.  I keep adding things to my destash page and some people have had luck making me offers for things still sitting in my stash.  It can't hurt to ask, can it? 

So, of the five knits most recently added as finished to my Ravelry project page, all have been from the stash.  I wish I could say that I have not added to the stash at all, but my additions have been modest and called for.  I am still stashing Elann den-m-nit for the Picnic Afghan, so more of that has been added, mostly thanks to ravelry trades or purchases.  Of course, as soon as I started stashing for it Elann ran out of one of the colors.  I have been able to make that up on Ravelry, so I only need more of the ecru.  That is the good of Ravelry.  Of course, there is the bad as well.  When I saw this (raverly link), I knew I had to have a small shawl in the same yarn and the second I found where I could purchase it, I burned the phone lines (cell towers?) to get it.  I've been pretty good about the impulse buying, but couldn't help myself with that one.

Exactly what it will be I am not sure of yet, though you can bet I've wasted many minutes searching for just the right thing.  I think I have it narrowed down......

Fifty-five.  We won't speak of this stash addition, I hate it when Elann sells those whole bags for cheap-o money!  And you wouldn't think I had a use for that yarn, would you.  But, I might....  (I just love dot.dot.dot.  I'll bet you couldn't tell.....)

Finish AND Frog It Friday?Again With The Frogging of the Sock.Or-Must I always knit three socks to get two?

That seems to be my lot in life.  Start a sock.  Knit awhile. Find Fault. Rip.  Some, all, a little, a lot.  Reknit.  The reknitting almost always involves a heel turn.  Or two.  Good thing I am so totally charmed to bits every time I turn a heel or toe.  I know I say it all the time, it is like a little bit of knitting magic to me, the turning of the heels and toes.  It never fails to entertain and delight me.  So I guess, loving that few minutes of knitting so much, it makes me happy to repeat it over and over again.  I love to knit, right?  This just means I get to do more.

• Pattern:  Waving Lace Socks by Evelyn Clark, published in Favorite Socks and IK Spring, 2004
• Yarn:  SOCK! by Lisa Souza in Slate
• Needles:  sizes 1 and 0
• Cast On:  March 18, 2009
• Bound Off:  April 7, 2009

I know it sounds like a lot of drama, but really it is just me being pragmatic.  I do want to actually wear the socks, after all.  Against the urgings of my inner voice I used the needles called for to start this sock.  "But you always knit socks on zeros," my inner voice said.  "With fewer stitches and not usually in a stretchy lace pattern," my inner voice croned.  (I just had a major deja vu.  It didn't end well, I hope it isn't for real.  I'll let you know, meanwhile, I'm hitting save just in case.  There.)  I cast on for the sock on size 1s anyway and after turning the first heel decided that the ankle looked a little big for my dainty little ankles and tried it on.  There is one thing I can't stand, baggy sock ankles and this sock was a little baggy.  I thought maybe I could live with it at first and kept knitting.  I remembered I had another lacy pair of socks and figured they must be baggy as well, so I tried them on.  Not baggy.  So I ripped back to a pattern repeat or two of the lace and switched to the 0s I should have been on all along.

 

These are the first socks I have knit with my brand-spankin' new Darn Pretty Needles and I love them.  They are pointy little things though, and my fingers suffered a bit until I began remembering not to stab my finger pads with them.  Getting used to the shorter length was a bit of a challenge, but I have grown fond of that as well.  Have I lost stitches off the end?  Being used to eight inch needles, you betcha!  The one thing I am having trouble adjusting to is the anxiety associated with these purty things.  I tend to have a bit of a death grip on my needles, especially when rounding the corners between needles.  I haven't snapped one yet (there-I've suitably jinxed myself) and I am on a second project using them.  Fingers crossed.  The thing that strikes terror into my heart?  Sitting on them.  Or somebody else sitting on them.  While I am pretty sure the pointy needles would put up a good fight, I am hyper-vigilant about it, but it worries me so much that I am constantly checking them when I put my knitting down, in my bag, carry it around....  Surely this is having an effect on my normally low blood pressure. 

I'm also not so sure this was the best pairing of yarn and project.  The yarn, which looked much more tonal in the ball, is really kinda stripey and distracting for the lace and you really don't see it.  I'm tempted to knit them again, but I guess I don't like them enough to do it right away, if ever.  And it may have been the needles, but I found the yarn very splitty and not enjoyable to knit.  I did purchase this a while ago, so LS may be using a different yarn for her SOCK! these days, I'd be interested to hear of others who have knit with it. 

Usually my favorite pair of socks is the pair I have just finished, but this pair, while getting its turn in the wearing rotation, has not jumped to the top of the list.  I like them.  Not love.

Fifty-four. Yay for Finishing Friday!

Unintentional FOs

Just got home from Boston's Symphony Hall.  The high school wind ensemble, of which Erin is a member, was invited to perform there and the concert was this evening.  It was fabulous.  While they always sound good, putting that group of talented kids into a venue that is acoustically superior and they sound awesome.  What an opportunity for them, and for the audience, and a well deserved honor for their director.  Congratulations to all of them.

The destashing continues, some of it by me actually knitting up the yarn.  I had about half a skein of this Felted Tweed in the stash, leftover from ornaments I had knit on a plane in December, 2007.  I needed to reproduce a sweater to figure out the recipe (which I never did-this one is just oh so slightly different and I can't figure out why, but it works), so I grabbed the leftovers and set to knitting one.  Then I started a second to use as a demo-in-progress, and then since I had only .2 ounces left and the weight of a finished ornament was .2 ounces and these knit up in two blinks of an eye, I decided to just finish off the yarn.  Now I just need to decide if they will get monograms or not.  Either way, I mark the yarn used up and the project finished.

Pattern:  My Own, Harry Potter Ornaments
Yarn:  Rowan Felted Tweed
Needles:  size 5
Cast On:  April 13, 2009
Bound Off:  April 15, 2009

And for Laurie, Lucia and Manise:

WHEW!  Just made it, not an inch left in the stash!

Fifty-three.  Are you wondering?  I got seven little HP ornaments out of one ball of Felted Tweed.  Not bad for little gifts or gift tags.  Go get a ball and start knitting! 

Ten On Tuesday

Ten Signs You Are Getting Older.  Heh.  Some of those can't be, in polite company, spoken of here.

1. Period?  What period?
2. What did I come upstairs for?
3. (goes back down stairs) Oh, now I remember. (runs back up)  Wait.  What....?
4. Only my hairdresser knows for sure....
5. There is hardly a radio station on the radio that I can listen to.
6. Can I really refer to two of my children as adults?  I mean, they can legally drink.
7. Hell, there's nothing I can't do at my age.  As long as I get my 7.5 hours of sleep and plenty of nutritious food first and my joints aren't hurting too much and, wait, what did I just say I could do?
8. People go out after 8:00? 
9. No, I'm okay.  It just takes a few minutes of moving around before I can stand straight after sitting for any amount of time.
10. Isn't the retouch tool in the photo editing software the best thing EVER!?

Fifty-two.  Those aren't wrinkles, those are frown laugh lines.

So.Much.Stuff.

But I'll be doling it out in little bits.  I missed a Ten On Tuesday, although I did write the post, but was boring the heck out of myself and decided not to spread the wealth of boredom on that one.  The highlights of foods I don't like?  Twinkies.  And some people actually deep fry them and then eat them.  As if they aren't disgusting enough on their own.  I just broke a rule that I have tried to teach my kids, never to say that something other people like is disgusting or put it down.  You must just say, "I don't prefer that."  Much nicer.  And then there is this little story:

Soda. Okay, I really hate soda.  As a kid I would drink birch beer on the Atlantic City Boardwalk while vacationing (my mom's family lived down there and I was born there), and root beer the few times we would fast food, which was confined to the rare occasions of travel and a couple of times per year when my parents would go out.  My father would either go for the pick up or if we were in the car with him, we would have to wait (pre-drive-thru) and then we would eat in the car.  He didn't like special orders so even though I wanted a cheeseburger and root beer, he would only order four hamburgers, four small fries and four cokes.  I hated coke.  I never drink soda now.  Or anything fizzy actually.  I just cannot stand that bubbly feeling in my chest.

See?  BOring.

After that I planned on posting every day.  I have socks, a shawl, a sweater (don't get too excited, it's a toddler sweater) all finished and a serious case of startitis.  I don't feel like writing any of those posts now so this is what you get.

Did you have a nice Easter?  Or Sunday?  Whichever it was for you?  We did.  I went to church, which I had no intention of doing, but Meg was here and getting ready which was just the nudge I needed.  I'm so glad I didn't miss church, Easter isn't the same unless I go.  We sang the standard Easter fare, but not the most fun hymn and we were bummed.  So we sang it around the house all morning and we rock it out with more dramatic effect than those people.  We were not as cute as these three though:

YouTube Sunday.

Among others, we did sing this one, as did almost every church-going Christian in America.  I have to say, we sounded a lot better.  In our own minds.

Alrighty then. I know what you are all really wondering. "What the heck did she wear to Easter Sunday Service?!" That is the important thing on Easter right? Clothing is one of the things that was keeping me from going. I had nothing I felt like wearing and really wanted to wear jeans. I compromised and wore my Indigo Ripples Skirt, out of denim yarn and digging around for a shawl to throw over my white blouse I rediscoverd a long ago knitted Shapely Shawlette. Just the ticket!

The perfect size and shape for the day. I made this shawl a lot of years ago, maybe eight or nine, something like that. I kinda love it and can't figure out why I haven't worn it in years. I love the pin I have holding it together:

Cute, right? This is me trying to take a picture of myself:

Never the best idea, but we bloggers persist in doing it, don't we?

Fifty-two.  Even Meagan is complaining about the absence of a new post around here.  Happy Meg?

YouTube Saturday

First, I am still destashing! Fiber and yarn is on my Ravelry trade/sell page, go take a look. You know you wanna. Claudia would be so proud of me, I even put more than half my Koigu stash up. Now THAT was hard. Every package that goes out though? I'm breathing easier.

Second, my email server is down.  Have you tried to email me today and had no luck?  Well, then you are out of luck.  You could message me on Ravelry, I'm hangin' out today doin' stuff.  With knitting needles.  And my sewing machine.  Possibly a spinning wheel.  Probably a spindle.  And teapots.  Maybe chocolate.  Wait, this already sounds overwhelming.  I am not one of those people that gets a lot done in a day.  The problem is, well.  I have this list of things that I want to work on, so I start with the sock and decide I will knit to the heel turn.  But then I get there and decide, what the heck, turn the heel and then it will be all set for you to take along someplace and not have to think about (like after something like 30ish pairs of socks with short row heels and toes-meaning 120 short row turns, but then add in the socks I've ripped back to re-do for some reason, usually adding up to an extra turn or two per pair-well, like after all of that I have to actually think about turning a heel, I don't.), and before you know it hours pass, I have a finished sock, but no sewing, spinning, whatever else is done.  It is the same way with food.  Oh, I'll just have two squares of this chocolate, one handful of sweet potato chips, two oatcakes......  I should get a safe with a timer, take the two squares of chocolate and lock the rest up so I can't open the safe and get to it for 24 hours.  That is what I need.  Forced self-control.  Forced discipline.  Someone who will set me up with a schedule and timers and make me stick to it.  This blog post?  Three quick lines and some video.  Yeah, that happened.

Anywho-moving along to YOUTUBE SATURDAY!

WARNING:  If a new show hits a television near you and I start to watch it in its first season and like it, you can bet it will be cancelled.  If you really like a show, pay me to wait for the first season on dvd, it has a better chance of lasting.  I can't remember a show that I have watched from the beginning (oops, one just came to me, but I'm keeping it to myself so I don't jinx it), I usually jump on the bandwagon after everyone else is talking about it and I have no clue what they are saying.  This year's show?  Life on Mars.  I really liked that show.  Or maybe I really liked Jason O'Mara.  Either way, gone.  I have to admit, as they were winding down to the finale I didn't much like the sci-fi thing, but I guess when you are told you have a few episodes to wrap it up you do what you have to.  One of the best things about that show, the thing after Jason O'Mara that is, was the music.  All that great 70's music, but not just the ones you hear all the time, so really good deep cut type music.  Here are some for instances: 

Oh, remember the Midnight Special?

Fifty-one. See what I mean?! This was going to be a quick little post. A couple of lines and a video. Then, all the linking and searching and....geez. I'm quitting this now.

The Thing Is, The More You Let Go......

The easier it is to let go.  Funny, that.  It seems when I decide that stuff is overwhelming my life and I need to let some of it go, it is really difficult at the beginning.  As I go through things and think that I really must keep this or that and come up with my small pile of things to destash or giveaway or whatever, I start to see the things that I thought I couldn't possibly do without in a different light.  Then I let more go.  And more.  Watch my stash, it might dwindle to nothing.  My family should be on notice:  If you want it, nail it down!

So, some yarn for the destash.  Feel free to make me an offer on anything in my Ravelry stash.  I might say no, but if you tempt me well enough.....

1. Classic Elite Yarns Montera.  10 skeins. Color 3826, Andes Lavender.  I didn't do too well in the photo editing, so if you want a closer representation of what the color is, click on the color card for 2004 here.  $48. includes shipping in US.  SOLD
   
2. Classic Elite Yarns Montera.  5 skeins.  Color 3888, Magenta.  $24. inclucing shipping in US.  SOLD
   
3. Claudia Hand Painted Yarns Fingering.  3 skeins of Caribbean Blue.  $28, including shipping in US.  SOLD
   
4. Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Worsted.  5 skeins.  Color M-77 Blue Magic.  $25, including shipping in US.  SOLD
   <
5. Jaggerspun Zephyr 2/18 laceweight.  2 balls.  Ebony. $14, including shipping in US.  SOLD
   
6. Gedifra Fashion Trend Stripe.  10 skeins.  Color 4663 lot 8360, striping white and blues.  $28.00 including shipping in US.  SOLD
   
7. Katia Alpaca Andes.  12 Balls.  Tannish brown (color is very slightly browner that I could get in photo) 66605, lot 73.  $42.00 including shipping in US.  PENDING.
   
8. Lorna's Laces Helen's Lace.  The color is Icehouse.  $42.00 including shipping in US. PENDING.
   
9. Lorna's Laces Heaven.  The color is Tahoe.  $44.00 including shipping in US.
   
10. Furryarns MaineStream Hand-painted Zephyr.  2 skeins in Mediterranean. $20.00 including shipping in US.  PENDING
    

You know you want some. Email me.

Fifty. That isn't to say that some of this stuff wasn't hard to let go of. Letting go is hard.