PHOTOS!

Okay, I need to send my camera in to Canon, but I bought a card reader, so I can show you the pictures I took before, and the newer ones (of lesser quality) taken with my camera-phone.

Here are the two main patterns I'm using:


And here are the scarves at various states of progress:

Great news on the knitting front, Sad news on the picture front

So my camera went comatose on me. I'm trying to find my warrentee information, as it's been less than 6 months since I got it, but for now I'm just sad and a little pissed. Battery is fully charged, but there is absolutely no response when you (try to)turn it on

And I had such great photos to share!!!

I'm working on two scarves right now, and both of them are shaping up to be quite beautiful! One is alpaca and silk and the other is pure baby alpaca. One is a deep wine red, and the other is called "Grass" and is a crisp, pale yellowish-green.

The red scarf has a seed stitch border, then a pair of paired lattice panels, then a center "X" and "O" cable worked in threes running up the center (three downs then three ups which form and "O" in the middle, then three downs forming and "X" in the center)

The green scarf has a broad moss stitch border and a spiral and latticework center panel

I have great pictures that I took before my camera died. I'd love to share them with you. Boo.

Buttons

While home for Thanksgiving I spied my grandmother's button box and asked if I could go through it and pick out some for myself. She said I could and I stayed up until 1AM sorting buttons by color and materials (plastic, shell, metal).

My mom was proud to share her button stash as well and pulled out a rusty tin full of buttons the next day and sorted them with me.

So now I'm sinking further into knitting nerd-dom with a button stash. I photographed some of the more interesting ones last night.



These two were my favorite buttons. They are metal with a shell insert. Unfortunately the metal is pretty rusty, but I think I can get the majority of it off and then seal it and it should be fine.



More Buttons



These were my second favorite...so unique










A landscape of buttons is a beautiful thing













I'm ready for future cardigans and shrugs now.

Thou art mine enemy.

Knit Picks, generous as thou may be, thou has diverted my knitting plans. How couldst thou split mine order and send half now instead of delaying the shipment, in its whole, for sake of those back ordered items? Why dost thou taunt me so? How canst I receive bulky weight alpaca/silk blends and NOT begin knitting them? Speakest thou...HOW?

It was an accident

I didn't mean to go to WalMart and buy more yarn while thinking of all the babies being born...And that shopping list is shabby evidence, I mean, I certainly didn't get the bulb for my headlight that was at the top of the list, so who's to say the list had any resemblence of my premeditations at all?

So this little guy who started springing to life from my crochet hook and knitting needles will have to just live with the fact that he was an accident and know that I love him just as much as if I had planned him.
(Please ignore the oddness of his eyes, they are mearly templates of what I want to make for him. He'll be getting cute, brightly colored arms and ears soon too!)




Oh and those sketches...I'm sure those came later too.

Knit Picks...friend or foe

They offer amazing prices, allowing me to buy almost twice as much as I might otherwise...and I'm not sure that's a good thing. I think that cost is one of the things that keeps me from knitting 24-7 and delving too deep into obsession.

Thankfully I ordered some things that were out of stock, so I can have a couple of weeks to anticipate them coming in and keep my pace a bit more restrained.
______________________

My co-worker mentioned today that my productivity had increased, and she couldn't believe how much I was getting done...procrastination= mother of all motivators for doing things that were much further down the list than the object of procrastination.--> Term paper= very clean bathroom, and clean dishes, Cleaning out the garage= finally organizing your books by subject and author, Novel to write= 2 completed knitting projects, 3 more started, cleaned out files, windexed windows and vacuumed floors at work.
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Oh, so new projects that I'm looking at include:
Cropped Bolero Vest--although I'm still not sure how this could require 468 yards of BULKY weight wool...maybe they're hiding more in the back--maybe the back is entirely ribbed or something. Weird.


Next thought? Something fuzzy. I'm thinking of a bolero like the one sweaterbabe has up and that Linda just made (see her's in her blog-on my list), or the Grecian Plait sweater from Knitty, or the Spiderweb Capelet from SnB, or maybe just lacy, fuzzy scarves. Good times.

Back to novel writing.

My novel suffers, my knitting soars

Procrastinating and knitting go very well together.

I finished my altered Tivoli/Picovoli Tee. More projects have been begun.



Okay, so my notes on the project...

*first off I should note that the gauge on this yarn was different than on the first so duplication with other yarns may differ.

Yarn: Lion Brand Microspun in Lavender
Pattern: Altered Tivoli Tee from MagKnits (Link on left)
Needles: US4 until the last 3inches of waist increases and then US5


I made a few changes based on how the first Tivoli/Pico attempt fit me...I cast on the same number of stitches but allotted more to the shoulder and fewer to the front and back. I didn't join and knit back and forth until the keyhole was the depth I wanted and did a garter rib for 4 rows along the edge (if I were to do it again I would have included increases in this, as it is slightly bigger than the stockinette that follows.)

The thinking on the alteration of the number of stitches for the neckline was that the last one felt too wide across the front and back and draped a bit, and I figured I would end up with the right number of stiches but a narrower width after the increases if I swapped the strap length for the panel width. I ended up doing a few more rounds of increases (until I had almost as many stitches to the front panel as in the original pattern) and it worked out alright, but I did end up with slightly wider arm hole openings (I tacked the sleeves down a bit when binding off though so it didn't change much).

When I got to the straight stitch portion after the waist decreases I did two repeats of a fir cone pattern (basically a round of YO,K1,YO,K3,SL1,K2Tog,PSSO,K3 then a round of K and then the same combo with the pattern shifted over 1/2 way ) and then quit switching between the two stich patterns to create vertical columns (which hide the increases I did better than the fir cones would have). I increased the needle size by one towards the end as well. I did garter rib for 4 rows around the bottom to match the top.

With the extra increase rounds at the top the cap sleeves were wider than on the original and came further over my shoulder. To make them fit better as a cap sleeve I left them live until I finished and then I knit across, picking up 3 stitches of the bottom of the armhole on each side and then reversed and bound off about 12 stitches of the base and then did * K2tog, K1* bind offs until I was about 12 stiches from the other end binding those off regularly.

I'm very happy with how it turned out, and only wish I had made it in a better yarn (this was just supposed to be a test run and I had the Microspun in my "this didn't work like I wanted it to" stash)

Experiments

I'm loving the Reader's Digest Knitting and Crocheting Patterns Book I got and have been trying out samples of a few of the patterns. I've added a band of Fir Cones to the straight middle section of my second Tivoli/Picovoli Tee and am trying to decide what I'm going to do when I get to the point that I need to do increases. It wouldn't be an easy pattern to add into, so I'm thinking of adding gussets, or of just continuing the pattern in sections (like across the front & back and adding in at the sides)...We'll see.

Today I'm going to try to keep my knitting in the car so that I can actually get some work done on my novel. Wish me luck.

Knitting, Writing, and Reading

So last night, while procrastinating from my novel writing I picked up my size 13s and some novelty yarns and started a knittin'. I finished off the novelty yarn I was using about 1/2 way through a scarf, so I'll have to go shopping if I want to finish it.

I haven't been working on my second Tivoli/Picovoli Tee for a while, but I have update pictures I can post later, as it's more than 1/2 way done now and looking to be a good learning experience for me. (Making up how to make cap sleeves should be interesting.)



And today...arriving at work I found the book I ordered on Amazon a week or so ago and spent several hours pouring over the patterns. It's the "The Ultimate Sourcebook of Knitting and Chrochet Stitches" by the Publishers of Reader's Digest. Lots of great patterns and techniques. I'm thinking of using the Fir Cone pattern or the Flickering Flame to make a Shawl/Scarf/Wrap thing for my mom out of a nice laceweight alpaca yarn I got from Knit Picks! I'm just going to compare the patterns to the Birch/Kiri pattern everyone has been working on to figure out the gauge I want to do it at.

But knitting really IS supposed to be put on the back burner while I novel this month! (I have a feeling it will be my best source of procrastination from novelling though)

Oh, so if you want to check out my novel go to The Life and Imminent Death of Simon Frank

Make new knits/but keep the old...

So I've begun a new/old project. I'm doing a variation of the Picovoli Tee. I'm adding garter ribbing, a slit front, and a shorter span across the front and back of the shirt, and some short row shaping. I'm also considering adding some cap sleeves, or if I have enough yarn, 3/4 length sleeves. I have to knit fast because November is fast approaching and soon NaNoWriMo begins and my feverish knitting pace will be replaced by a feverish writing pace.

So you can look forward to pictures of knits being replaced by excerpts of my writing.

Updates of the "new" picovoli tee to come as soon as its photographable.

YAY!

Guess what I finished already? Yup...one beautiful Picovoli T! And I love it! I can't wait to do another. I think I'll be using up some of my stash on this one!

And here are the pics (yes, I'm at work, and yes, I cut my head off on purpose...I have a cold and after a long day of work it shows.)


Yarn: Knit Picks Shine
Pattern: Piovoli/Tivoli (I did not do Picot edging)by Grumperina- on MagKnits (see Links)
Needles: Bamboo Size 4s, 19" & 29" circs
Completion time: Wednesday to Monday!
Alterations: Continued Waist increases in back until bottom edge to accomodate the booty.

Picovoli moves FAST!!!

Pictures from Day 3





I finished the waist decreases on Day 3...this thing is so speedy I'm thinking I might have to make a couple more. I'm absolutely loving it, and already thinking of how I might easily alter it to suit me even better (although honestly I love the way it fits right now.)

So exciting, I should have a finished shirt in just another day or two (or maybe today if I get the time to knit at work) YAY!

Picovoli

soon to be

I started on Wednesday afternoon, and I'm already almost halfway done! Woohoo!

Mmmm....Ball winding

I admit: up until this point I've thought of knitting as a hobby, and something that I might eventually tire of and quit (although probably to return to from time to time). Last night I learned how wrong I was. After Stich-n-Bitch, my tuesday night knitting group, I begged a favor of one of my fellow knitters and returned to their place to wind down some skeins of yarn into balls. Not having a swift and ball winder I had plenty of skeins waiting, and had been delaying several projects while waiting to do this.

I arrived and emptied out a large lingerie bag full of yarn (mostly Cascade 220, and some laceweight alpaca from KnitPicks). I started with a lovely blue/green Cascade on one ball winder while Rachel started on the alpaca on a second ball winder. Winding big hanks of yarn into perfect, amazing center pull balls is incredible! When I pulled off the first ball and looked at it I gasped and got goosebumps. It was like the wonderment one feels when they look at a newborn. My friend looked at me and went "Oh yeah, SHE's a knitter"

Yeah, so I'm definitely a knitter, and I'll definitely be getting my own ball winder and swift at some point. And now I can use all my beautiful perfect balls to make beautiful (if not exactly perfect) knitted objects. Ahhhh....good times.

Humanity

Okay, nothing to do with knitting today, mostly because I haven't picked up my needles in two weeks.

But every now and then I read something that I want to keep and read again and remember better. I found something like that today.

An extract from the diary of Lieutenant Colonel Mervin Willett Gonin DSO who was among the first British soldiers to liberate Bergen-Belsen in 1945.

Camp

I can give no adequate description of the Horror Camp in which my men and myself were to spend the next month of our lives. It was just a barren wilderness, as bare as a chicken run. Corpses lay everywhere, some in huge piles, sometimes they lay singly or in pairs where they had fallen. It took a little time to get used to seeing men women and childen collapse as you walked by them and to restrain oneself from going to their assistance. One had to get used early to the idea that the individual just did not count. One knew that five hundred a day were dying and that five hundred a day were going on dying for weeks before anything we could do would have the slightest effect. It was, however, not easy to watch a child choking to death from diptheria when you knew a tracheotomy and nursing would save it, one saw women drowning in their own vomit because they were too weak to turn over, and men eating worms as they clutched a half loaf of bread purely because they had to eat worms to live and now could scarcely tell the difference. Piles of corpses, naked and obscene, with a woman too weak to stand proping herself against them as she cooked the food we had given her over an open fire; men and women crouching down just anywhere in the open relieving themselves of the dysentary which was scouring their bowels, a woman standing stark naked washing herself with some issue soap in water from a tank in which the remains of a child floated. It was shortly after the British Red Cross arrived, though it may have no connection, that a very large quantity of lipstick arrived. This was not at all what we men wanted, we were screaming for hundreds and thousands of other things and I don't know who asked for lipstick. I wish so much that I could discover who did it, it was the action of genius, sheer unadulterated brilliance. I believe nothing did more for these internees than the lipstick. Women lay in bed with no sheets and no nightie but with scarlet red lips, you saw them wandering about with nothing but a blanket over their shoulders, but with scarlet red lips. I saw a woman dead on the post mortem table and clutched in her hand was a piece of lipstick. At last someone had done something to make them individuals again, they were someone, no longer merely the number tatooed on the arm. At last they could take an interest in their appearance. That lipstick started to give them back their humanity

Source: Imperial War museum

And as much as it's a touching story and kind of gives insight into humanity, somehow it also just gives me that determination to really be an individual, to focus on who I am outside of society, and outside of what everyone sees me as.

Works in Progress

So I received a lovely package of yarns from Knit Picks, and am getting ready to start the Picovoli Tee from Mag Knits, and a lacy Alpaca scarf or two. In the meantime I'm working on finishing a little fluffy yellow thing for a friend's baby-to-be (Jill Waltman-Brown). It is shaping up to be baby chick like, but it may have a few odd suprises as well. I haven't taken any pictures of it, but I will soon. I need to finish right away, as baby Brown will be here soon.

I'm busy working on all the stuff for the Windy City Lindy Exchange which will be going on next weekend, and don't have much time for anything else right now, but should be back to my normal life in a week and a half.

Revised Asana

I actually love it so much I'm thinking about revising the pattern and making another one.

Please excuse the middle of the night hair and mirror smudging . :)

The death of Asana

I completed all the fasteners and got the straps positioned on Asana last night. At that point I looked at it and decided I would never wear it. It just didn't fit me right. The back, right where the top band connected was buckling, the center band didn't really do much, and the lowest band was just too low and would constantly either be showing my underwear or the top of my pants above it. The sides in the back didn't come far enough around and made me look pudgy. I looked at the possibility of putting another fabric in the back--something strechy that would cover the hole, and decided I should take off the center tabs and see what that looked like. I took off the tabs and determined NOTHING would make this shirt work on me, and I would have to pretty much re-do the entire thing if I wanted this pattern to work.

SO...all is not lost. I took off the center tabs and began playing with the remaining I-shaped fabric. My bottom band was a lot longer and more loosely knit than my top band, and ties quite nicely into a knot, and the garter ribbing of the top band is really quite nice and has an interesting drape. I ended up making the piece into a kind of halter with a draping neckline. Think something like this, but not quite as low cut or tight. It's actually quite flattering on me that way, but the open back is pretty revealing, and I might wear a tank under it most of the time.

I actually like the fit of my "new" piece so much I'm thinking of ways to improve it, and purposefully make a pattern for it.
I'm planning on wearing it tonight, I'll post some pics later.

So as Asana nears completion I needed a new project to start... And I've found one! I think it is always a good sign when you see that a few dozen people have all done the project and you've seen them, and they've had fantastic results. The Picovoli seems to have a high success rate (as shown here) I can't wait to get started and bought some yarn from Knit Picks last night in a lovely turquoise-->

Now I know it looks a lot like the yarn I used for Asana, but it IS darker, and besides, that color looks great on me :)

While shopping I also picked up some laceweight alpaca and am hoping to make a lacy shrug that will be suprisingly warm (if it lives up to alpaca reputation). ...I'm excited to be wearing llama fur, and am thinking I might let my mom borrow something made in alpaca to see if it bothers her (she's allergic to sheep's wool, but most people say she should be fine with alpaca). If she's alpaca tolerant I might be able to make her something that's actually warm and not just decorative this winter.

In Asana news: I've bought the ribbon for the straps and some small snaps that will accompany flat pant hooks in helping keep the back closed and somewhat neat looking. I'd probably be finishing it up today at work except I brought everything else I needed and forgot the yarn (d'oh). Plan to see finished pictures within the week.

Asana near completion

All the pieces are finished and just need assembling and for me to decide about straps...I'm thinking of doing an attached I-Cord that would tie behind my back, but I'm also going to check out some fabric stores to see if I might find some nice matching tape to make my straps out of.

Here are all the pieces

A detail of the cable cast-on edge


Detail of top panel of garter rib

Too busy to knit?

Okay, So I've been busy doing other things and haven't had a huge urge to knit away in garter rib to finish the Asana top. I did however start to crochet a very, very soft, light yellow animal-like form for a friend's soon-to-be baby. It started off as a bear until I realized that there was no way my friend would expect anything that traditional out of me anyhow, and so it will be a weird, round deally with little stump feet and pointy arms and some sort of a head (I haven't gotten that far yet). I think it will be cute and a looking a little like Pom Pom (character-www.homestarrunner.com)

In other news...

I just returned from a wonderful weekend of dancing and fun in Montreal. I was actually so prolific with my photo-taking that I've already filled my flickr account for the month. Photos can be seen here. My own personal theme for the weekend's photoshoot was "Grrr" and I made a host of unsuspecting friends play along. It's my favorite collection of pictures ever, and I'm thinking of doing a few more similar photo series. There are more pictures that I took in Montreal, but they'll probably wait until the beginning of next month to be posted.

One of my favorites things about travelling to Lindy Exchanges (see here for definition) is meeting people. Some whom I have met through forums and other online pages, and some with whom I am housed, and others who I meet during the course of the weekend. This weekend I met a bunch of people who I had conversed with on the Canadian lindyhopper's board (where I post regularly)--including not only some of the Canadians who post there, but some of the Australians as well, and I met a LOT of americans who were attending the exchange, and I was housed with a group of diverse people including an attendee from Korea, and one from Paris.

I don't often get to use my French (despite all of the classes I took up through my junior year of college), so it was really kind of interesting for me to pick up after all these years and try to force out my thoughts in the little vocabulary I can still reach in my brain. I could listen to people speaking and understand about 1/4 of what they said (more if they spoke slowly TO me, and I wasn't just listening in) and the majority of the time I could say 80% of what I wanted to in some manner before running across words that I just couldn't remember or never knew. What I found really exciting was that when I asked Sylvain (our Parisian roomie) about my accent, and whether I sounded American when I spoke French he told me he thought I had no real accent at all! I don't completely believe him, but it was Such a compliment!!! ...He also tried to convince me that I should move to Paris, that I could easily find a job there, and that I could "Practice your French all day, and I will introduce you to French men, so you can practice your French all night." :) LOL
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My crochet work did accompany me to Montreal, though it almost got left on the plane....okay, it DID get left on the plane, but a guy from across the aisle caught up with me on the walkway and got it back to me. The only work I got done with it was a small amount in O'Hare before leaving, and then it was neglected for the rest of the trip.
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The other thing I've been up to lately is looking for a new job. The longer I stay at this one, the more aware I am of how MUCH I need to leave it. I don't enjoy it as much as I used to, even though I'm at the top of my game and selling as much as ever. I also have growing problems with my boss, and find some of the things he does incredibly hypocritical and unethical. He controls scheduling and I've been working with an employee who not only creates more work for me, but will actually close the store and leave for hours at a time. If this is what the company is willing to put up with, I don't want to be a part of it. Plus they say you should leave while still at the highest point in your current company, and I don't think I'll be able to move up right now, and am getting frustrated enough to want to move DOWN and not be management any more. Hopefully the right opportunity will come along soon, and I'll recognize it when it does.
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Still "in progress"

I'm still garter ribbing away at my ASANA. I'm almost finished with the upper part and then have to do the two tabs for the center back. It should be done in the next week or two and then I have to make some real decisions about straps and closures. Yuck.

I need a side project.

Felted Buttonhole Bag

I finally uploaded a few pictures of the buttonhole bag I finished in March. The pattern for the bag can be found on Mason-Dixon Knitting (see links list)

Passing

Today my Beloved Grandfather passed away. I can't possibly explain what amazingly noble soul he was and how much warmth, love, generosity and goodness he brought to this world.

Internet at home, such a priviledge

I finally got Netzero to work on my home computer now that I have OSX. Yay!!!

I've been without home internet for about a year and a half and am so excited to be able to waste more time online and find last minute directions. I just wish I didn't have to work tomorrow so I could stay up late and be an internet bum. Shame.

But at least now I'll be able to blog from home AND work.

Brickish- the knitting series

When life gives you:

synthic acrylics that are really scratchy in bright crafty colors... make ugly kitch cozies for things and people that don't need or want cozies. (I'm thinking of making one for the Mini Webber Grill that looks wrong sitting in our kitchen)

5 lbs of Chunky weight wool that is rough and won't felt ...experiment with hair dyes. (I never did have the courage to actually use that fire engine red on my actual head anyhow)

wool yarn that falls apart...felt.

More on Bricks

I'm thinking of coming up with words like "blockonade" to describe the result of life giving you more than lemons. Any suggestions?

When life gives you ___________ ...make ____________.

When life throws you bricks....

So when life throws you bricks...(lets just say, for rhetorical accuracy, with a series of loud slamming and crashes at 8:10 AM on a sunday through the second of your two glass front doors)... does one build a wall or some equally cheery, optimisitic drivel equivalent to lemondade? Or does one simply enjoy the basic goodness of using power tools and drilling into your beautiful wood surround glass door and slapping up masonite and two by fours that you had cleverly kept stacked along the living room wall for the past two years?

Yeah well I'm allergic to lemonade anyhow.

I must admit to feeling a bit vunerable and scared at how close we came to having our apartment broken into with us still there (though this actually didn't dawn on me until later in the day, but somewhere between drill bits, hammers and 2x4s I left behind those feelings for a bit of attitude that said, "go ahead, try something...I've got a chainsaw just waiting to be used"

I was thinking that the companies that do emergency board up services should also have a "rent a guard dog" service for people who were just broken into. I think I wouldn't mind a pacing mutt with a loud bark..just for a few nights until I have a real door again.

Asana

So I've reached about the 1/2 way point on Asana. I'm pretty happy with how easy it is, but a little worried about what the finished product will look like. I'm not overly fond of the look for the K3Tog, and the cotton yarn seems to show tension differences over any individual stitch a lot more than I'm used to. I'm worried these will still show up after blocking. I'm also concerned that I haven't figured out what I'm going to do for fasteners yet. I don't like the idea of using Velcro because of the likeliness of snags, but with such a stretchy fabric there aren't a lot of options. Got any ideas?

Thoughts on getting older....

So I was reading a forum today and came across an old thread on "what age do you see yourself marrying at (if at all)" and read an answer I gave responding to a couple of other posters who wrote:

QUOTE 1: If the person you are contemplating marrying is perfect for you now,then DON'T get married. The only thing you can be absolutely sure of is, that person will not be the same 20 years from now, and neither will you. You will end up wondering happened to perfection. If you are the type of person who doesn't adjust easily,then don't marry,and don't marry someone who doesn't adjust easily.

QUOTE 2: I like to believe that people generally become better persons as they age, and that if a marriage collapses later on, it's from a lack of foresight (or insight) in the early stages of the relationship.

My response:
I still like that movie quote that said something like "we both fell out of love with each other at various points, just neither of us at the same time" Although it is probably happiest when both people are working together, sometimes it's just a matter of faith and belief in the relationship to survive. I don't think you can ever forsee the future or fully prepare for every situation, but you can choose someone that is going to believe in your relationship as much as you do. And hopefully when hard times come or when one of you lacks faith, the other person is strong enough to carry on believing and the dynamic of your relationship allows the relationship to continue on.

I added my newest thought (which is most likely influenced by the birthday I just had)

I've tried on enough pair of pants that I don't believe in the perfect fit. I do believe in the flattering fit, the comfortable fit, the adjustable fit (it works with a few alterations or a belt), the fit that was perfect 3 years ago but isn't so much right now, the pair that are just so wild and crazy and fun that it doesn't matter how they fit, and the favorite pair that may not fit perfect but are just amazing anyhow.

I've also learned that when you finally find a pair that you think fit well and try to memorize all of the descriptors that make them fit well and try to find more the same size and style, none of the ones you find (if any) will fit the same. And even the pairs that I've loved have, over time, had to be re-stiched along certain seams, patched up in places or adjusted to fit a changing figure.

I always figured I would marry in my mid twenties. I'm past that now. I wouldn't say I'm looking for "the perfect fit"--I'm looking for the Right fit.

It's my Birthday!!!

I love birthdays. Every year I think "it's not that big of a deal, birthdays are for the young" and every year I get excited, giddy and anxious the week of my birthday. They say people usually die within a few months of their birthday and theorize that it is because people anticipate and look forward towards the "milestone" of a birthday and that afterwards there is less to look forward to. I just wonder if the same would be true for people who knew this statistic. Would they be depressed by their forthcoming doom and die BEFORE their birthday?

Yeah, sometimes I think about death a little more than most. I remember thinking that being an honor student in highschool somehow increased my worth because they would memorialize "the honor student" who died an early death more on the news than some depressed loser kid who died and never made headlines.

But back to the birthday. Every year I make a little more money I spend a little more on my birthday present to myself and gifts to other people (not proportional though, but hey, they didn't EARN it). So this year I got a digital camera, but I didn't stop there....

You see, I couldn't decide between two items that I really wanted and "needed" I really wanted a digital camera to take pictures of my knitting, of my artwork, and to get back into photography--I had been really into it for a while, but found I took rolls more photos than I ever took to get developed.

In addition, for three years I had been eyeing the same miter saw, but always dispelled the idea of buying it because of its cost. At the same time I had several times wanted to do some sort of art project but felt like I couldn't because I didn't have the necessary tools.

So I found that digital cameras had finally gotten to the size, quality, ease of use, and price that I found reasonable and wanted to buy one. The price for the one I decided on was the same as the saw I had been "saving up for" for three years.

Solution:

I bought both.

Here's my new saw:

New Digital camera

So now that I've got my new digital camera I can run around like a mad-woman photographing everything and sharing it with the world. So of course the first thing to share would be my most recent FO, my summer shawl. (Note: I still haven't blocked it)

So here goes:

The Ultra Close Up



The Overall



The Pattern



The Matador



My Grandfather

Earlier today my mom wrote emails to most of the extended family (6 kids, 17 grandchildren:

>Dear Family,
>
>I am preparing a PowerPoint presentation of pictures to be used at the funeral home and as a keepsake. I have been scanning lots of pictures. Now I would like your input. I want to include more than pictures and history. I would like to include his loved one's remembrance of the person he was, his qualities that we will always remember and love. I would like each of his children to have a slide that expresses this and as many of the grandkids or in-laws as are interested. As the presentation moves quickly, please use just a few words. Please list several choices incase we all choose the same one. Please pass on to others in the family.
>
>Example: My Dad:
>
> 1. Always humble.
> 2. Encouraged excellence
> 3. Helpful
> 4. Generous
>
>Please let me know as soon as possible. Suggestions for a picture to associate with your qualities are welcome. Otherwise the words will probably have flowers from their garden in the background.
>
>Thanks
>
>Julie

First of all this is really difficult because my grandfather is still alive, but in hospice care and degrading quickly. It is hard to have to remember someone who is gone but still living.

I'm not good at single word answers, and have too many wonderful memories of my grandfather (who lived in the same town as us and taught me many things including how to drive and how to make a hair stand on end-an inside joke of sorts) ...here were my wordy answers, though there could be so much more:

My Grandfather:

-A patient teacher
-the best "hair standing on end-er" ever
-Knew how to swallow a fork
-Wonderful Storyteller
-The Waffle Master
-Always kept the cookie jar filled
-Ear wiggler
-Built the best playground any kid could want
-Listener
-Volunteer
-Generous with his time
-Knew how to be Gentleman
-Exemplar for service to humanity
-Enjoyed a good pecan pie

I can't do anymore without crying.
Valerie

New Camera

So I purchased the CannonSD400 today, and it should be arriving in 4-10 days!! Yay! I will hopefully get it just in time to take pictures at my birthday party on the 18th. I can't wait to add pictures to my blog and have images to play with on my computer (now that I have a G4 with the latest Adobe Photoshop on it)

Finished Shawl

I finished my shawl today, and am just waiting to get home, weave in the ends and block it so that it's ready for SNB on tuesday. Yay!!!

I also finally selected a camera--a Canon SD400 to purchase so that I may share photos of my beautiful FO and WIPs with my blog. My parents have offered to help pay for the camera as part of my birthday present.

Projects

I'm working on shawl and have about 2 balls of yarn left (why was it the first 3 were done in 2 weeks and the last 3 are taking ages??) Asana is slow going, as I dread picking it up to do boring rows of garter stitch. I'm looking forward to seeing it finished though, so I think once progress becomes apparent (think stockinette) I'll gain a bit of speed.

In other news I "graduated" from the physical therapist who told me that although I won't have anymore appointments I need to keep doing exercises because "unlike humans" I have a freakishly long spine that needs extra support to keep it in line. [insert whip sound here]

Busy

This once a week posting is pretty pitiful, but then, trying to catch up with all the crap at work is pretty pitiful too. Here's some teaser highlights from the past few weeks, I'll add more later:

>Dancing, dining, and travelling in San Francisco and Oakland
>Yoga stretch with Beth "yeah...it's gonna hurt...we'll stay like this for about 3 minutes" Aucoin
>Bubble tea in Oakland Chinatown
>Really great sketches from OldeEnglish.com at 3AM
>Amazing Indian food from Rotti in San Francisco
>Improv Games at Dave's house where I become "Bob the exterminator"
>Getting 12"-15" chopped off my hair in Santa Rosa
>Driving over the Golden Gate bridge costs $5
>SF MOMA
>Writing my cousin's college paper for her with her boyfriend
>Leaving my cell phone in Santa Rosa
>Missing 2 Flights
>Flying into New York without contact with the person I was staying with.
>West Coast Swing, Tango, Lindy and more constantly for 2 weeks!
>Jazz Legend Dawn Hampton "Shakin' it" for a dancer's auction
>Brooklyn Art Museum
>The Bollywood Birthday Song
>Knitting in 3 airports, several trains, 4 cities, and Central Park.
>Seeing Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra
>Dancing in front of Lincoln Center
>Shopping in the Fashion District
>Sparkly shoes at the best price in town.
>Cheesecake from Maxie's
>Recognition of my superior shopping abilities "Hey you, with the shoes"

Last Day

Well, today is the last day of my vacation, and I'm going to be sad to go home. I'll have to write up on what I've done, but it's been a wonderfully fun and relaxing time hanging with friends and eating lots of good food.

It has been a bit crazy, with leaving my cell phone in San Francisco, not being able to contact people, and with the absurdity of speed with which plans change in NY. But all in all I've got all my lazy, crazy and fun vacation needs out of me, and theoretically I should be able to go back to work now.

More to come...

Okay, Vacation review (updated 6/1):

I slept about two hours the night before leaving on vacation, but left at what I considered a good time. Instead, I missed my flight to SanFrancisco and spent the day hanging out in the airport in Chicago. I was totally suprised when the woman at the ticket counter told me I missed my flight as I thought it was at 7:30 and it was actually at 7:00. So...I was totally distraught and the woman waved the $50 charge for ticket change and instead of going home, sleeping and hauling my crap around town two more times, I waited 10 hours for the next flight. I got to San Francisco and took a couple of trains and a bus to the house of the person I was staying with. After getting there the person I was staying with and another of his guests started talking about whether we should rent a car. Of course they determine that the other guest isn't old enough to drive a rental and that really we should get the car from the airport I just came from, entailing a trip back to the airport at around 9:30 that night (I got in around 7). That wasn't all that fun; it also meant missing a large portion of the evening dance, as we didn't get there (someplace in Oakland) until about 10:45. In between though we DID have some marvelous seitan Philly cheese steaks. YUM.

I had fun dancing that night and had Dave's roomie Paulo pimping me out as my dance agent--telling me who I should dance with and introducing me to people. I asked Steven Mitchell (Dance Legend) all on my own and had a decent dance with him. By the end of the dance I was pretty tired and ready to get some sleep before the next day's classes. So of course we went to a "late night" dance that ran until around 4AM. I didn't really like the DJing and wound up dancing with Beth, Haley and ....drumroll....Solomon (the only guy I danced with that late night). I turned down quite a few sleezy looking guys though before passing out on a sofa in the entryway.

I woke up a bit late the next morning and after ditching some bad directions found my way to the classes in Oakland I got there in time to watch the end of the second class and go out to lunch with a group of people. We went off to Oakland's Chinatown and hunted down some vegetarian food and bubble tea. We laid out on the lawn eating and enjoying it for an hour or so. I love the sunshine and stayed a little longer than most.

Afternoon classes included hiphop and tango: both really great classes with amazing instructors. I then hopped on the freeway to sit in traffic on my way back to SanFrancisco. I got there around 7 and we talked for a while about where we would go to eat. We kept talking and not deciding.I was exhausted and just wanted a nap. I was told I couldn't sleep that we had to go instead. I really just wanted 15 minutes of sleep. Finally we went to a sushi place (have I mentioned I don't eat sushi?) yeah.

The owner of the sushi place is friends with Dave and we got a special table normally reserved for family. She might have enjoyed our company a bit much, as our food seemed to take longer than anyone elses' and we didn't leave for ages. I was a bit hazy by the end and exhaustion was really overcoming me. I asked if I could go sleep in the car and was told it wasn't a good neighborhood to do so in. It was around 10:30 when we got back to Dave's place. At this point I was happy that I could sleep on the way to Oakland, but instead Dave decided to leave to pick up a friend of Haley's and I was forced to drive the rental PT Cruiser with 2 other people to Oakland. Thankfully I had my Muppets CD to keep me awake. We "Mnuh Mnuh-ed" our way across the bay bridge and to the dance. We didn't get there until 11 something and the amazing band we had all paid $25 in advance to see only had one more set.

Dancing has some amazing chemistry in me that manages to keep me upright despite my tiredness. Caffine helps too. I danced some really great dances with Jeff Watanabe and with Dave (of NY) and even danced with the former Chicagoan Brian that evening. I spent energy I didn't know I had.

(more tomorrow)
(Added 6/3)
Okay, so after the evening dance was (of course) another late night dance. At this point I declared myself incapable of driving safely. At this point Dave informed me that Haley's car was screwed up and couldn't idle w/out stepping on the gas. This meant having to stop while still holding down the gas and Dave worried that Haley couldn't handle it (but apparently he could). They tried to convince me to drive. I tried to convince them to leave her car and come back for it later. Finally they decided to let her try to drive her car while we followed. We made it to the evening dance, I went and paid my $10 and went back out to the car and slept for 2 hours.

I came back in about an hour before the dance ended, danced a few songs and then crashed on a couch. They woke me up when they were closing. I reluctantly agreed to drive back to SF. We made it back and I crashed.

I missed the morning class the next morning and then took a Zen movement class, a Tango class, a slides class and a "get noticed" class (the last two with Sylvia and Jason, some of my favorite instructors.) I was all set to dash back to SF to pick up the crew when I got a call saying they all had rides and I could stay. I went out to dinner at a little Mexican place with my roommate and two friends who had moved from Chicago to Berkley a couple of years earlier.

While eating dinner my legs started to cramp up. My calves were cramping and my quads started forming charlie horses and I would occassionally just stiffen up and have to flex my foot and massage my muscles for a minute or so. When we got back to the dance I tried stretching but could not stretch enough to loosen the muscles. Finally I located my friend Beth --who happens to be an amazing Iyengar yoga instructor. She stretched me out for 3 excruciating minutes until my legs melted. Once my legs were put straight again I was golden and danced the rest of the night with no cramping (unfortunately Beth couldn't provide extra energy and all the strength that was depleated, but everything has its limits).

There was no "late night" dance on Sunday, but oddly I was awake enough at Midnight to tell Dave that I was no where near sleep, and instead we stayed up until about 4 AM watching videos on Olde English cracking up laughing.

As part of our rental cost split agreement I had agreed to drive Brian (Dave's other houseguest) to the Oakland airport on Monday. From there I planned on meeting up with my cousin Adina and doing something.

Update

I'm having fun, but I'm very tired. I thought I'd update with what I wrote while at the airport the other day.

"I'm sitting in the airport reading. Why? because my 7:30 flight was actually at 7am and I've missed it. Next flight=2:15. (7 hours of beautiful, hard-chair filled hours)

After atbout 50 pages or so I get bored with reading, pull out my CD player and WIP bag.

I start work on my ASANA and pop in a CD. Suddenly, I'm beeming. A surreally sublime sense of rebelliousness passes over me as I rock out to The Doors and knit in a very public place with no one walking by having any idea.

I imagine what they think when they see me, what they imagine me listening to. I'm certain none of them would guess correctly.

I look around. No one really notice me, but I'm quite certain I'm the happiest person in a 100 ft radius."

I'll write more when I have time, and sleep on my side.

10 hours

Until my flight leaves for SanFrancisco.

I'm really getting into reading this book, and wishing that there were some way for me to knit and read at the same time. In January and February I tore through knitting and books simultaneously as I made frequent visits to the Books-on-Tape section of my local library. Unfortunately this is a new book, and I'm fairly certain it's not out on tape yet, and I haven't the funds to pay a professional actor to read it to me.

I'm so excited!!!! I can't wait to be in San Francisco!!! I'm far too into exclamation points!!!

My First Knit-a-long

I joined the Asana KAL today. It's my first knit-a-long, and I'm feeling a bit like a joiner. I'm totally against trends, hate fads, never was into sororities or being popular, and always liked that what I create (paint, sculpt, knit, cook, etc.) is my own and no one else has one quite like it; so I'm not "excited" per se by a knit-a-long. I am looking forward to asking questions that people can actually answer and one day showing pictures of a finished project that makes sense and doesn't make people say "that's nice...what is it?"

I started reading the book "I'm Not the New Me" by Wendy McLure (a fellow Chicago blogger @ www.poundy.com) and am cracking up at her awesome sense of humor. I also thought it was cool that she works for Bust Magazine--the same place as Debbie Stroller of Stitch n'Bitch fame. Check out imnotthenewme.com for more info, and let me know if you like the book!


Oh, and I'll be in San Francisco in 30 some hours!!! Yipee

:)

two days until vacation!!! *picture me bouncing up in down in my seat with all the excitement and overanxious anticipation of an 8 year old who's waiting in an hour long line at Disney World*...*and imagine that 8 year old also has to go pee (it adds to the drama)*

Asana in Azure

Yoga Bag was finished, (all but the strap) and when I seamed it up and put my yoga mat in it, I found it was too big, and I wasn't happy with it. I ripped the entire thing out. That's my first big project ripped. But it was a quick project, and I'm fine with re-doing it. It was a good "do a swatch" lesson.


I've started my Asana yoga top from the most recent Knitty. I'm using a mercerized cotton (with a bit of sheen) in a beautiful blue that seems something like a light azure/turquoise/cyan color. I love it! The color alone makes me happy.

I'm a little concerned about sizing as the garter rib they use is pretty stretchy and my fabric seems to be happy at anywhere from 15-20 stiches/4" (Yes, I swatched) I'm guessing that since it is cotton it will loosen up more, and I should be okay with the fact that my 160 stitches looks like 33 inches instead of 42. At the worst I would just use some kind of hook at the ends of the tabs (which are supposed to overlap and velcro together). I'm a little iffy on the velcro as it is, as I have a hard time imagining it being invisible, and would hate for my top to have that "tossed together" look.

I'll be visiting with friends with digital cameras, so I might even be able to post progress pics while I'm on vacation.

3 Days until Vacation!!!!!!!! YAY!

I love mail!

I just rec'd my Cascade 220 from WEBS and the blue/green color I got is GORGEOUS and is perfect with the 10ply heavyweight Chuckanut Bay yarn I have for felting as well. Now I just have to decide on a project. I'm trying to decide between slippers and a purse. I'd easily just say purse (as it's a bit warm for slippers now) but I have one felted slipper pattern and 5 or more felted purse patterns and don't like having to jump from one choice into 5 choices.

Does anyone have good Felt-For-Summer patterns?

My Yoga Mat bag is 3/4 finished and my Feather Lace shawl is 1/2 done, and both were started within the past week and a half! Zoom! I love how quickly lace builds up!

In other news...

I'm super excited about my upcoming vacation to SF and NY. I'm just scared all my knitting projects will be over and I'll have to come up with new ones for the trip. *mock gasp of horror*

I'm also considering introducing knitting terminology into my daily vocabulary.

"How are you feeling today?"

"Oh, I don't know, a bit drop stitchy." ( I'm losing it/A bit spaced out)

"Chunky...with slubs"(It's a bad hair day, a bad face day, and I think I might have gained 10lbs at lunch)

"Mohairish"(Please Don't disturb me, or I'll leave a trail of shit everywhere )

"I feel like ripping a sweater and knitting a cozy"(I've lost all sanity and I'm joining a cult)

"I've had worsted days, but today's a bit lacy."(Everything is a bit harder today, and I might as well be knitting laceweight with toothpicks)

What do you think?...yeah, me too...but it would be fun.

Projects, I've got projects...

Okay, since I haven't posted in a while I should probably update. I've bought about $80 of yarn in the past week, and I don't really know why...okay at least 3/4 of the cost was for specific projects, and the rest was impulse "i might need this" buying.

I started on the "Cozy" wrap from Knitty, with a lovely Merino/Silk/Cotton/Acrylic blend that has interesting flecks of color and slubs in it. Unfortunately I realized far too late into it, that my knitting was 25" wide and the pattern is 18.75, so my 8 skeins of yarn are not going to produce 67.5 inches of length. It looks like it will be about 25" x 50", which is not an appealing proportion for me.

I'm going to try to head back to the yarn store tomorrow to see if there are any skeins left, but since I got it off the 25% off table I'm not entirely optimistic (plus I fear going anyplace I might end up buying more yarn right now). If I can't find more I plan on finding some complementary yarn for some sort of fringe on both ends of the wrap.


I wanted to do the new ASANA patern from Knitty, but haven't been able to find the yarn yet, and ended up buying a bunch of Peaches and Cream cotton at Walmart the other day and deciding to knit the Yoga Mat Bag from SnB Nation with it. I'm pretty excited by the bright Orange and yellow tones with my Lavander Mat; it looks really electric.

I bought a 1 pound cone of Peaches & Cream in White as well, because it was only $5.65 and it looked so clean and fresh I felt I had to make something with it. I'd be tempted to try a ASANA-like pattern with it if it weren't my first project and I hadn't heard so many horror stories about working with 100% Cotton.

I'm looking for some rapid satisfaction projects too, and when my Cascade 220 comes in from WEBS I'll probably crank out some felted slippers and a bag. I bought some more Chuckanut Bay 10ply from the sale table at the LYS and can't wait to felt with it again (It did even better than Cascade on my last project)

I'm still looking for friends with digital cameras in Chicago so I can post all my pictures, until I splurge on my own (I'm just too picky to get a cheap one). But hopefully I'll soon be showing off like all the cool kids on the web (I'm envying Fluffa's and Rock Chick's FO lately)

My expensive little obsession

Why did WEBS (www.yarn.com) have to have such a great sale on Cascade 220 the same day as I'm paying $500+ for car repairs? Did they know of my desire to do more felting and that I couldn't pass up $4.70/ skein??? Evil, evil websites. Cruel torturous websites. Demanding brainwashing websites.

So...um... 8 skeins later...

Maybe this is why I had to transfer money from savings today?

___________________

In lighter news my Clapotis was a big hit at SnB, and I got to show it off and even do a little twirl. Should I leave out the fact that it was soooo comfy I wound up sleeping with it around my shoulders last night? too late, it's already out there.

So I needed something to do at SnB last night so I started working on a lace pattern. I got to the 6th row and was still doing alright, so maybe I WILL be able to do lace (despite my fears of it), although I'm not sure the wool blend yarn I started with is the best choice for lacework, so perhaps some other (more expensive) yarn will step forward to tell me it is the best choice for lacework.

Clapotis FINISHED!!!

Finally finished my clapotis, just need to weave in the ends and I can wear it in all its fabulousness tomorrow to SnB! (I don't care if it turns out to be 90 degrees!)

Almost done

My clapotis is down to about 50 stitchs on the needles, with one more stich being dropped each row. I keep wrapping it about me to see what it will look like finished. The mohair has a beautiful drape and the colors are really lovely. I'm hoping it will be finished by or at SnB on Tuesday.

Yummy Silk

I am so in love with the recycled silk sari yarn I "won" on ebay. It is gorgeous!!! I decided I had to make something with it right away, and without any patterns that seemed worthy I decided I could use an amazing, multicolored belt.

I decided to crochet the belt so that it wouldn't stretch as much as if knit, and quickly whipped it up last night. I put it on and decided it was gorgeous, but needed something to balance out the bright splash of color, so I started playing with it and wound up wrapping it around my neck (french scarf style) and loved having the bright colors up near my face so much that I wore all black today and have my lovely "tie" on right now.

I might just make a choker out of the same technique so I can still wear the one I've made as a belt and have a little "coordination" (said in my best Boomerang voice)

update

Clapotis past the 1/2 point, felted purse on it's way to Hawaii, silk sari yarn on it's way to me.