holiday wrapup

Greetings! Hope everyone had a nice holiday!

Everyone liked the socks - Ash wore hers around the house from the time she opened them until she went to bed 8 hours later! This is a good sign, considering she is always barefoot at home. I finished D's Twinkle Toes on Saturday but forgot to take a pic of the completed pair. Oh well.

I gave my grandparents the crocheted 'sampler' afghan (yes, I do hook!) in the neutrals that was my spring project this past year, and the red/white/blue ripple went to my uncle. He's got long legs and was very happy with the extra long lap robe! Now I have requests for three more...eep! Lancer wants a baby blanket, so I started a pastel Rambling Rows on Christmas Day while watching the Bourne series - all three movies - at my brother's house. I have some time *cough*, as the baby's due in June. Sis-in-law wants one for the upstairs living room, which I have a feeling will be in cream or a very light sage, and I haven't nailed the pattern yet. L&R's will be another Rambling Rows, but in the medium size and in brown shades. She told me her accent was ORANGE! No no no. I refuse to make an orange afghan. Way too 70's for me.

Still working on the yellow and blue Jaywalkers for me. I have been instructed to wear them to the hockey game in Feb - my nephews (and their mom and dad) gave me a Blues 'Away' jersey (!!!!) and two tickets to the game on Feb 17. Jamboy is playing on the Scottrade Center ice before the Blues game, so I'll get to see the Mites as well as the Big Guys. LOL! Roo said the colors in the Jaywalkers were in 'Blues Colors' and that I must wear them to the games. So I must!

Yarn! I did get a ball before Christmas from Weaving Dept and yesterday's present from Dharmafey was in the mail :)

• A 150g (420m) ball of Opal 6-fach "Blues" superwash wool/nylon in color 2020 (blue, yellow, pink, aqua, black, white). It's supposed to be a sportweight, but it seems thin for that. It's a self-striping as pictured.
• A 100g ball of superwash merino/nylon sock yarn in the colorway Goblet of Fire (orange sherbet, light brown, tan, cream, lime green).

The little 'extra' that Carrie added in the Potter Covers shipment was a puzzle at first - but I guessed what they were. They are two tilted 'spikes' threaded onto a black elastic cord. The spikes are about three inches long. At first, I thought they were supposed to be dragon teeth, but they're HORNS! LOL!! They're tilted so that they lean forward on your head. Very funny!!! They'll help keep my halo in place. ;) I'm not certain about the pattern - I think I'll need to knit up a repeat or two to see if the 'scales' are supposed to be pointing up or pointing down. I'm liking the toe-up method at the moment.

The second half of the Jo Rowling interview is up on PotterCast - very interesting stuff!

I WANT HAVE TO GO TO THE THEME PARK.

Nuff said. Also, lots of new songs and stuff on the SwishandFilk site, and you should check out the Christmas Music Extravaganza on Lime & Violet's blog/site/podcast. The Fanboy Christmas II is an absolute laugh riot.

Not much else going on here - we're supposed to go see National Treasure 2 on Sunday, and then do something on NYE. PK says she's off work on NYD, but I may be heading out to see Roo or Jamboy play hockey in Chesterfield. No funky-tasting champagne this year!

Off to do paperwork - we've been having some trouble with one of the programs here, and we're stuck till it's fixed, so we've been doing catch-up on everything else. Yay!

Cheers!

d's twinkles and jkr

Here are some in-process pics for D's Twinkle Toes socks.

These are amethyst. Actually, they're the same purple color as the Big Blue pattern - but as you know, my camera phone apparently doesn't like that color. They look blue! They're not!! ack!

They are about size 8, because they are short on my size 11.5 feet. They look very narrow - it's the lace! They stretch a lot. I did add 4 stitches to either side - that's the ribbing line you see on the side - as the Cherry Tree Hill yarn was a lot thinner than the STR heavyweight that the pattern called for. I was almost 3 stitches smaller than gauge, and if I'd tried to take the needle size up to gauge, it would have been bad. It only took me three days to make the first one - and I had to rip and re-knit the entire heel because I missed a row in the lace pattern, which lost me about 6 hours - and I'm almost 3 inches into the second sock. Yay! Must have these done by Sunday.

On Pottercast news *ducks flying tomatoes*, the PC Trio managed to interview JK Rowling for this week's podcast. Wow. Part 2 is next week. What a great Christmas present!! And I can't wait for The Scottish Book. ;) You know it's got you hooked when you say "wow" at the same time as one of the interviewers...it was a 'wow' moment. Go listen.

I bought Cat Bordhi's New Pathways for Sock Knitters - Book One and my head is spinning. I'm going to have to try one of these mind-boggling patterns. They really are amazing.

Okay, that's all from me - minipost! lol

Cheers!

yarn and snow

Just a quickie - I managed to make it over to Knitty Couture on the way home in the snow last night and of course I got yarn:

• 2 50g balls of Interlacements Yarns "Tiny Toes" 100% superwash merino in Stained Glass (burgundy, chocolate brown, dark green, navy, dark yellow, wine)
• 4oz hank of Cherry Tree Hill "Supersock Solids" 100% superwash merino in Amethyst for D. She wasn't too - well, enthused about the light color of the other purple yarn I bought, and so this is PURPLE. The pic shows a very blue yarn, but trust me, it itsn't.

It snowed until about 2 I think (I was asleep) but we ended up with 8 inches of the white stuff! Take a look:

I took Plu for a walk, and ran into 2 other dog-walkers, over across the street in the field, so we let them all loose to chase around in the snow. He lasted about 5 minutes with Chloe and Francesco and then decided enough was enough and took off for home. At least I know he knows where he lives! He was waiting for me at the back gate. LOL!

Thi over at Knitty Couture has a Sunday knit-gather group - I told her I'd come on Sundays after the holidays. I didn't want to go out today because of the roads (would you believe the sun is shining brightly? oi.) and next week is Christmas at D & Co.'s house. I like that shop - and Thi (the owner) is really cheery. :) They have a newsletter out now - it's linked on her blog over at her website. I've got it linked in the sidebar.

PotterCast has a 'blog' contest going on - if you put the player/banner on your blog and then talk about the podcast IN your blog, you can win stuff. So, click on my banner! At the time of this post, they have the Fan Film Commentary for Order of the Phoenix up for download. I haven't had a chance to listen/watch it yet, but that's on the agenda in the next few days. I did post some thoughts about PotterCast #128 over on the Leaky Cauldron forum if anyone is interested.

I've managed to get sucked into the Back To The Future trilogy that's airing on HBO this afternoon - I loved the first one, didn't like the second one, and loved the third one. My mom's favorite line is from the end of the first movie: "Roads? Where we're going, we don't need roads." She likes Doc Brown! Great Scott! That's heavy. ;-)

I'm gonna go before I sit here and type lines from the movies. Cheers!!

sock pics!

Well, I finally got around to taking pictures. Yay! It's snowing like crazy outside, we're falling asleep here at work, and so here ya go. Eye candy except for the secret socks. I'll post those after the recipient gets them!

First off: Kesh's Socks

Blurry close up of Twinkle Toes stitches:

Next: Ash's Socks

Blurry close up of Zephyr stitch pattern:

Next up, PK's socks:

and a blurry heel and lace pattern:

Tada!!

I'm currently working on some Jaywalkers for myself out of the TeamFeet (Pinkwool) Oops colorway (yellow, dark blue, green inclusions) and so here's the leg so far:

Magic loop, cuff-down, yadda yadda.

Not much else going on here - I did manage to finally mail off the OMG scarf, so L will be getting that hopefully before the next blizzard ;-)

On the Cardinals front, Jim Edmonds was traded this morning to the Padres for a minor leaguer and cash. Ouch. We also lost Eckstein a few days ago to the Blue Jays. Can you say "reconstruction"? I thought so.

Back to work...cheers!!

2 more weeks

Less than 2 weeks to Christmas. Yikes!

I finished Kesh's socks - wow, that was fast. I actually did one sock start-to-finish in less than 24 hours. OKay, it was a short sock. Still! I like the pattern - I think I'm going to use the same pattern for D's socks, but hers will be full-sized socks. She likes the crew socks that you fold over but she doesn't fold 'em over - so she's a mid-calf-sock person. Works for me.

We went to Scottrade Center on Sunday to see Trans-Siberian Orchestra -it was awesome! We had some trouble getting there - the traffic was horrid, and there was no VIP parking for this event. We did get into the suite before it started (it started a little late) and got to eat a late lunch while they did welcomes and announcements. We were in the penthouse! The only thing we couldn't see after they raised the light framework/rig was the drums. It was an amazing show! They got started a little late - about 3:15 - and ran over more than a half hour. It finally ended about 5:45, and they had another show at 7! It was way cool with the light show, the snow (!!), the lasers, the fireworks, and the fireballs.

I totally forgot to bring any sock yarn to work with me today, and so I started a Kureopatora's Snake scarf with some Bernat Softee Chunky in Carnival that I had in my bag. I thought the color repeat was longer than it's turning out to be, but it'll still work. It's a little frenetic!

I am now on Ravelry! Yay! It's still in Beta, which means that if you don't have a Ravelry account, you can't see the site yet, but I'm here if you do have the access. I'll still be posting here - don't worry - but the blog is linked over there as well.

My thrill of the day was going to a short Q&A session (along with 90% of the corporate employees) with Paul Allen. For those of you who don't know, I work for Charter Communications, which is owned by Mr. Allen. It's just really ...well, odd to be in the same room with the guy who is the 6th richest man on the planet. We were standing room only, and so I was one person away from the door that they all came in for the presentation. Mostly, it was a rah-rah session - yesterday was the annual board meeting, which is why they were all in town - but it was still pretty cool.

I think that's all from me today. PK managed to give me a slight version of her cold, so I spent most of the day yesterday in bed with a stuffy nose and aches. Meh. I did manage to get up and catalog my DVDs - I have more than 90 movies! Ack! That wasn't counting the boxes of VHS tapes that are up in the storage room. Let's not think about those. Besides, I think they're buried under all the yarn.

Must...finish...Christmas...presents.

Cheers!

PS: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix DVD came out today - guess what's on the schedule for viewing tonight? Yep! Heee.

PPS: 2 new banners on the sidebar: Fight Evil: Knit Socks is a MySpace group for knitting socks for charity and the PotterCast podcast banner is for...well, PotterCast!! Check them out!

tgi....saturday

Almost to the end of another week. I'm so tired!! I even had a vacation day this week and I'm still pooped.

I finished up the sekret socks and started a pair for L here at work. I've discovered I've become a fiber snob. I had some worsted variegated acrylic (ducks) in a bright colorway for her, and it actually hurt my hands to knit with it. I'm going to have to find something else to use for her socks! I have several bright yellow-orange yarns that I've picked up lately in my search for a good Fawkes sock, so that may be an option. I also could not make socks out of this yarn and make bonafide slippers instead. *ponders this*

I started Kesh's socks - I was going to use the Jaywalker pattern, but since she wants short socks, I didn't like how the heel looked. Soooo....went with a pattern I found on the DIY site from Cookie A. called "Twinkle Toes". It's toe up, and I've not done toe-up for a very long time, so it's interesting. I did do a figure 8 cast-on too - that was new for me. I'm not going to carry the pattern up the leg, or, if I do, it'll just be one pattern repeat (6 rows). This will give me an opportunity to work on my short-row heels, too. Cookie A.'s socks rock. She has several sock patterns published in Knitty, so you should go there now and check them out :)

I did find some pretty purple-y yarn for D's socks at Kirkwood Knittery:

• 4oz (450yd! woot!) hank of Pagewood Farms superwash merino/nylon/bamboo in colorway Grape Juice (purple/pink shades)

I need to find out if she wants short socks or long socks. If she wants short ones, I may be able to squeeze a few pairs out of this one hank! Maybe some more "Breeze" socks...

My biggest squee this week was winning 4 tickets for the Trans-Siberian Orchestra concert on Sunday! *jumps up and down!* They're in the Charter executive suite! I called D and asked her what she was doing on Sunday...and when I asked if she wanted to go to see TSO, she shouted "YES!! Oh my god, YES!" into my ear. LOL! Since PK has to work *grumps* it looks like it'll be me, D, Kesh, and possibly Ash. Not sure if Ash will really like this...she's more into country right now. *rolls eyes* [Edit: PK's officially....'sick' tomorrow per her supervisor. heee! So the Fab Four will be me, D, PK, and Ash.]

Not much else happening here - we had a mini-snow/ice event earlier this week, and now it's really foggy and chilly outside. Looks like a good night to curl up on the sofa and knit and listen to wizard rock! ;-) Seriously, I've been listening to Amy's podcast and it's....well, let's just say I'm not into punk, but it's got enough non-punk to keep me listening. LOL! I can't get to her MySpace from work (erm, firewall) but you can get info on this music genre from Google or sites like WizardRock.org and the like. From what I understand, the Wizrocklopedia (say THAT 10 times fast. Yikes!) was mentioned in Entertainment Weekly and had a pic of Harry and the Potters. Check it out!

Okay, all done. Cheers!

welcome to december

OMG, less than 4 weeks to Christmas.

Got your attention? Heheheh.

Well, Mom and J got married on Friday, and I sang and all was good. I'm ignoring the fact that I was nervous enough not to eat anything all day, and had a glass of wine upon arriving at the house. It was a very nice wedding, but I think we scared the best man's wife later at dinner - about the time that my aunt drank the champagne out of the bottle. ;-) She was...getting into the spirit of things a wee bit. LOL! Besides, it was almost empty. At least that's what she told me...

I went to Knitty Couture again on Saturday, and even though I said I wasn't gonna buy any more Jitterbug, well - you know how I get.

• A 110g hank of Colinette "Jitterbug" 100% superwash merino in colorway Vatican Pie (reds, semi-solid)
• 2 50g hanks of Interlacements Yarns "Tiny Toes" 100% superwash merino in colorway Turkish Carpet #207 (amethyst, wine, olive, yellow-brown, navy). It's darker than the picture on the link.
• A 100g hank of 100% merino from KnittyKnitter on Etsy in coloway Flamin' Hot! (red, pink, yellow, orange) - this will probably be another pair of "Fawkes" ;)

We went to see August Rush on Sunday - I don't go to the movies much, you know, but this was a must see. Very good. Need the soundtrack. Unfortunately, Borders' was sold out. Seems that I wasn't the only one who needed the soundtrack! This one will be one that I'm going to need the DVD of, as well. The next 'movie date' will be for National Treasure 2: The Book of Secrets which opens on the 21st. We're planning on going to see it on the 30th, since that's when everyone is off work.

Missouri lost to Oklahoma on Saturday 38-17 in the Big 12 championship game. It wasn't a shocker, as Oklahoma was actually favored to win, but it knocked us out of contention for a title game. Ohio State and LSU are headed to that, while Missouri is going to play Arkansas in the Cotton Bowl. What irks me the most is that Kansas is going to the Orange Bowl. A team that we beat. Stupid BCS. I hope they get their butts kicked back to Lawrence. *mutter*

I think I'm done - not much else going on besides the fact that my big TV decided to flip out 2 weeks after I get cable back. Wouldn't you know it?? I'm watching digital cable on my little 13 inch TV. Oh, the torture! I may be getting Mom's old 35 inch TV later this week, but that means I'll need a bigger TV stand. Sigh.

Cheers!

PS: The newest MagKnits is up! Click on the link on the sidebar to see the new issue!

i'm ba-ack home

I'm home! Yay! And back to work. Boo!

Mom is all worried that I won't sing the (now) two songs on Friday with 'feeling'. This is my mom getting married and I won't sing with feeling?? I'm trying to decide who needs the Valium more - me or her! She e-mailed me back - she's nervous.

The trip home was uneventful - the pooch calmed down after we crossed over into Iowa and was fine until about Wentzville. That was much better than the last long trip, where he was a quaking mass of fur in the back seat for the last 2 hours of the drive.

I saw 5 trucks with gigantic wind turbine blades loaded on them - 2 blades per truck - going the other direction from me on I-29 and I-70. I passed a wind farm in northern MO right off the highway, and I'm guessing that's where they were headed. The blades are HUGE. The open end was nearly the size of the semi tractor. Yay for wind power! I looked up wind farms in MO, and I think the one I passed was the Cow Branch Farm in Atchison County, which is under construction. According to the site, those blades I saw were 140 feet long. 14 stories!! Wow! None of the at least 6 visible turbines were in operation, which was unusual, since I thought it was a fairly breezy day. I didn't manage to get a pic of them since the towers weren't visible from the southbound lanes except for a glimpse right at the highway exit. I could see them in the rear-view mirror a few more miles south on the interstate, however. I'll look for them again when I go back up to visit Sue!

I bought yarn in Omaha (shocked are you? I didn't think so) and discovered that a yarn store is apparently closed. I got to meet Joe the Enabler from Personal Threads and bought some Koigu for the first time. We tried to see if Touche was open, but a. the phone number is disco'd, and b. we didn't see it on Maple. Alas. We did visit String of Purls on Sunday, and the owner was very cheerful! Sue complained that she bought more yarn that I did. Wasn't my fault! LOL! Sel made a comment about 'self-enabling' that I agree with. ;-) I told L that I was very good on the way home - there's a yarn shop right off the highway in Columbia that even had highway billboards telling me that I needed to stop. I resisted!! I'll have to go visit them on another trip. Maybe February or something.

Here's the haul from the weekend:

1. 100g ball of Schaefer Yarns "Anne" in an un-named colorway (forest green, magenta, olive, purple, brown). It feels yummy - 60% merino superwash, 25% mohair, 15% nylon. Sue says it's My Color.
2. 2 50g hanks of Koigu "KPPPM" in Crisp, Clear Colors #P852-139 (yellow, olive, orange, blue, purple, wine, grey), 100% merino.
3. 2 50g hanks of Koigu "KPPPM" in Country Sligo #P537-3 (green, yellows, tan, brown, olive), also 100% merino. Froggy colors!

I finished the first super sekret sock last night, and immediately cast on the second. The Jaywalker pattern is pretty cool! I think I'll be making Keshia's froggy (not the Koigu) socks in this pattern - she wants anklets, and the yarn is DK weight (I think), so I'll have plenty. Maybe enough left over for a lace pair. We'll see. I thought it was rather funny that every time I pulled out the sock in the presence of other knitters, they knew exactly what pattern it was. Go Jaywalkers!

Sue showed me the Grafton needles she picked up, and told me she likes the Knit Picks ones too. I'll have to check those out - I've been really concentrating on the socks now, so we'll see. Maybe as a Christmas present to myself.

Still no yarn for the Big Blue yet! Nancy's gonna call Brown Sheep again and see what the holdup is. Too bad it's only 500 miles WEST of Omaha. I jokingly asked Sue how far it was and she gave me a horrified look - "It's almost to Wyoming!" Now, that would be a nice destination....all that yarn! squee!

Last but certainly not least *drumroll* the Big 12-ruling Missouri Tigers are #1 in the country! woot!!! They are playing Oklahoma on Saturday for the Big 12 championship - and when, yes WHEN they win they'll probably be playing West Virginia for the NATIONAL TITLE. Missouri hasn't been ranked #1 in the country since 1960! Forty-seven fricking years! I can't tell you how exciting this is. Just...wow.

Okay, I've blathered enough. Cheers!

oops

Well, phooey. I knew I'd forget SOMEthing.

I forgot the OMG I-need-a-scarf scarf. Wah! Remembered it on the way back to the hotel room for the night. Alas.

Look! Plu has his own bed this time:

Awww. He did pretty well on the trip, too....after we're reached Kansas City. Oi!

Missouri beat Kansas tonight at Arrowhead in KC....36 to 28. The nail in the coffin was the safety in the Kansas endzone leaving 17 seconds on the clock. The poor KU QB had a fist-sized hunk of turf stuck to his helmet after the play, and the Mizzou fans were losing their miiinds. I'm sure there will be a ton of partying in both KC and Columbia tonight!!

Teh Sue has deemed that we must go to Mimi's Cafe for brunch tomorrow, so I must leave you with this short post :)

Cheers!

PS: I now remember how much I despise dial-up. Zzzzzzzzzzz....

a funny HP related comic strip

I found this on another blog, and the strip's author's site has archives back to 2002, so.....here's the link! They did a week's worth of comics on HP:

Unshelved

Heee!

I still have a little organizing to do *cough* before I hit the road this afternoon, but I may be posting from Omaha. Cheers!

the giant bowl of kisses

I wasn't kidding about The Bowl of Hershey's Kisses. You can see it here on Sheri's blog!!

Click me for the Loopy Ewe Blog with The Bowl

Yes, that is a red sofa behind it, and Yes, the coffee table is very close to the sofa, so No, this is not a trick of the camera. It really is that big.

Getting ready to make the trip to Teh Sue, so I'll be gone for a few days. Happy knitting!

bad girl update

Well, one of my errands was running over to Loopy Ewe for an item for Teh Sue, and I just could NOT leave there without yarn. *drool* *waves to Susan and computer elf who stayed and waited for me!*

• One 4oz hank of Scarlet Fleece superwash merino/nylon in colorway Easter Basket (brown-black, rust, oranges, gold).

Le sigh. There was a good thing....their stash is bigger than mine! lolol! And look! They're on the big sign now, too:

Amongst all the title companies and the Sleep Institute.

They also have the biggest bowl of Hershey's Kisses on the coffee table I have ever seen!

Okay, back to work for real this time. I think we (the SRT) have the building to ourselves. It 'feels' like it does on Saturday, when we're the only 4 people in the building. It doesn't help that it was getting dark at 3:30 and that it is chilly and rainy outside. Sounds like a good night for hot chocolate, a book, and a blanket. Or - in my case - hot chocolate, Pluto, my knitting, and an audiobook!

Cheers! :)

new yarn review & a link

Sorry, was going to post last night and got wrapped up in a project. Anyway, here's the info on the Potter Covers yarn:

• 100 g hank of superwash merino/nylon/bamboo (60/10/30) sock yarn in the colorway Prisoner of Azkaban (lime green/light purple-blue, grey, peach, yellow cream)

It's very sooooooffftttt. The pattern is "Sirius Black", and it has two main features: his Azkaban ID (that's what was tattooed on his chest, btw) on the leg and the foot...is a paw! With pads on the bottom! Very cute. I may have to do this pattern again with a light solid, or maybe a contrast for the details. *ponders*

I can't wait to get my hands on the last three. I think I've said that before - but I loved the covers for OotP, HBP, and DH.

The podcast I mentioned yesterday - well, it slipped my mind to look up the URL, so I googled it. It's a Podshow 'cast, and the temporary site is here. There are some 'keepers' in the first group - I'm marathoning these, and I'm only up to Episode 12b, I think. The second half of the "Musicals" postings. I did skip the slash ep - just sooo not in the mood for Snape/Harry or Draco/Harry. Ick.

I finished PK's second sock, and now am pondering wristlets with the remaining yarn. I also need to send Wooly Treasures a shot of Ash's socks, as that was the yarn I used. If you buy yarn over Etsy or online, do you send pics of the finished product back to the dyer? I'm curious if other people do that....

Got to run errands during lunchtime, so have a nice Thanksgiving!

news and news

It's been a couple of days, and I have news from here and there. Good and bad, but that's the way of news.

First the bad news.

My mom has been living with J since I was 21, and I'm near 40 now. Well, about 2 weeks ago, Mom called and told me that J has been diagnosed with stage 4 throat cancer. Yes, this is and isn't a shock - he's been a smoker for about 60 years, and he's been having trouble with his voice for several months, but yeah, it's a shock.

Needless to say, the holidays this year are going to be nuts. And, to add to the mayhem, Mom and J are getting married on the 30th. As in 10 days. Mom has asked me to sing at the ceremony, and I have no clue what to sing. Help! It might also help if I could sleep for more than two hours at a time. Humph.

Okay, that's enough bad news.

The good news!

I have cable television again. Yay! I had to go get the DVR because they didn't have them until last Friday, so I went to Commons and picked it up. I love it! I can watch Knitty Gritty and Good Eats now that I can record them while I'm at work! squee! I am such a geek.

I finished listening to my marathon of Filkcast - Potterstyle on Saturday, and no-one had guessed the "Name That Filk!" for September (I did) so it rolled over to October. I figured that SOMEone would have guessed it by the time I'd listened to the October 'cast, but I e-mailed the answer in anyway. No, I'm not going to tell you what the answer is - you'll have to listen to find out.

Imagine my surprise when I got an e-mail back that said "Congrats! You won!"!!

*is still in shock, and waits until the laughter and pointing dies down*

I told you I was a geek. It's just been uber-confirmed. ;-) The prize is a guest host spot on the next podcast. Wow. So. I think we're going to try to record on the 27th, as that's the day after I get back from Teh Sue's. Like I told Delana in my voicemail to her, I've been a filker since...um...what, 1991ish? I was a performer of Star Trek filk and other various genres, playing and singing at conventions until dawn. This is going to be very cool!!

I have finished Ash's Zephyr socks, and am on the last half of the foot of the second sock of PK's ankle socks. Unfortunately, I realised that I hadn't crossed the cables correctly on the second half of the lace pattern (the pattern is Breeze from Knitty, btw) and so all the cables cross the same way. Meh. I don't want to go back and re-work the first sock, so she'll have to live with right-twisted cables. Who's gonna know besides me and thee? I rest my case. I'll try to take pics (yeah, you've heard that before) and post them for your entertainment.

The weather looks like it's going to co-operate on Saturday's drive up to Omaha - the thing is going to be TRAFFIC. OMG. The number three team in the country (that would be the MISSOURI TIGERS! WOOT!!!!! GO TIGERS!!!) and the number two team in the country (that would be the Kansas Jayhawks...boooooooo!!!!) are going to be playing at a neutral site (that would be Arrowhead Stadium, in Kansas City) at 7 PM Central time (that would be about the time that I'll be DRIVING past said stadium on the way to Omaha). It's going to be mass mayhem. I HAVE to find my tiger tail for my car. It's very exciting! I think the last time that the Tigers were ranked in the top 5 in the US was like, 1969. I know they haven't been in the top 10 since 1981. *bounce*

I'm listening to Lime & Violet (actually Carin & Violet, happy drunken birthday, Lime!) and they're talking about knitting audiobooks, which are cool. I think I might need to see if I can find them. They're called "Knitting Out Loud". I think they're Stitch 'N Bitch Handbook, America Knits, and Knitting Memories. Violet was gushing about it on podcast #48, and I agree with Carin - Jim Dale does a very good job of reading audiobooks. :) Speaking of enablers, Sue has informed me that she will NOT be forbidding me from buying yarn. L thinks I'm crazy. *g* Guess what? I AM crazy.

I was also very good this past weekend - I didn't buy ANY yarn. I did, however, get my newest Potter Covers yarn in the mail! Unfortunately, it's at home, and has not been properly petted and drooled over, as I was in the middle of washing windows (hey, it was 75F, and my windows were filthy). I'll review it when I get home from work. The pattern is interesting-looking - very Sirius Black.

Oh, one more HP quickie - I was wandering around iTunes and ran across a 'cast that plays HP vids and mostly pimps other HP podcasts. I'll link it on the 'yarn review' post, as it's at home, too.

Okay, that's enough news for now.

sock pattern ponderings

Hi all :)

Just a short post (yeah, I've said that before, and it turned into War and Peace, so shoot me) due to some musings about sock patterns for the latest yarns....

I've decided that the Fireplace Embers yarn reminds me of the Gryffindor common room. I really have no idea why, it just does. Yes, L will be thwaking me again, but oh well! I've been thinking about a good lace or cable pattern to use for for this yarn, and I'm leaning toward a chevron lace out of the Vogue Dictionary of Knitting Stitches. A book that I've checked out of the library often enough to tell me that I need to BUY it. Um, yeah. Anyway, I'll need to decide if I want to make it an allover lace or a panel. *stretches the brain*

No idea what pattern for the Harry yarn yet. I'd posted earlier that I was considering the "Lombard Street" pattern for the Ron Weasley colorway, but that might be better for the Woodland/Harry instead. I'll have to go thru my sock pattern stack again, methinks.

The unnamed Somoko yarn needs a good fir-cone pattern to carry on the old-forest theme, I believe. Maybe I'll take it with me next weekend on my trip to the far frozen north. I mean, um, Nebraska. teehee. Let's hope for driving weather! Perhaps they'll have some idears.

Speaking of L, since she will be away from home as of next Tuesday (Wednesday?), I'll be hand-delivering the omg-I-need-a-scarf! scarf when I visit Teh Sue and L Thanksgiving weekend. I will promise not to buy yarn in Omaha. Unless someone twists my arm. Which I know she won't ;-)

I've been listening to back podcasts of Filkcast - Potterstyle which have been pretty good - most of the filks I've heard so far have been different than the ones that were on the SwishandFilk site. I can't get to the Filkcast homepage (it's on MySpace, and that's a no-no here) but you should be able to - here's an alternate site if you need it. The podcast is not as polished as it could be, but it's okay.

I'm stalling - the prize for the department winning the Halloween contest is a buffet, and they're running late. It was supposed to start at about 2:30, which is way past lunchtime for most of the department, so everyone is starving.



Cheers!

knitty couture

Hi! Well, I went to the new shop in town and *dramatic sigh* bought yarn. Surprised? I didn't think so.

The new acquisitions:

1. 2 50gram balls of Interlacements 100% superwash merino "Tiny Toes" in Fireplace Embers (chocolate brown, tan, red, orange-gold, ash grey)*
2. 2 50 gram balls of Interlacements 100% superwash merino "Tiny Toes" in Woodland (dark green, olive, golden brown, chocolate brown, black)* - I think this is my Harry yarn. Yay!
3. A ball of Fleece Artist "Somoko" (65% merino, 20% kid [mohair?], 10% nylon, 5% silk) in an unnamed colorway which somehow reminded me of the huge old-growth trees just north of Vancouver, BC. Hard to describe. Dark olive to deep forest green, chocolate brown to golden-tan, and indigo-ish blues. Very rich colors, and very yummy feeling.
4. A hank of 100% superwash merino from Sunshine Yarns in colorway Chinese Fireball (reds, black, greys). Hi Dani! Hope you liked Alaska!! :)

The asterisks are due to the fact that for some odd reason, the links first show that the security certificate for the window is not valid. It's alright, there's nothing bad about the site. Really. Go look.

I did take a look at the Chairman of the Board but I liked the Woodland better. I still want to go to Loopy Ewe and check out Easter Basket. If it's not too bright, I may have to have that one, too.

Knitty Couture is a small shop, lots of yarn on the walls! and lots of hand-dyed stuff. Yum. It looks like they carry mostly natural fibers - very little that I saw in the way of anything else. I think they had every shade of Cascade 220 on the market! I've got them linked over on the sidebar, and they have Sundays hours but are closed on Mondays.

Okay, I'm done for now - L keeps thwacking me for making her click on yarn links (I am NOT controlling the mouse!) and so I must go.

Cheers!!

flash update *sneezes*

Just an update, not much happening here. Besides my allergies, that is. ACHOO!

I got my swift in from krebsbach4 on Etsy. Wow. Instead of taking an hour for me to wind a ball of sock yarn, it takes me about 10 minutes. YAY. She only has ONE LEFT, so if it's gone by the time you click on the above link, you may be able to e-mail her and ask if she's going to be selling more. It's really nice!

I've been wandering around The Loopy Ewe site today, and now I want to go LOOK. She JUST moved into an office space like 2 miles from where I work, and I reeeally want to go look. Maybe I'll e-mail and see when drop-in hours are in effect ;) Like I need more yarn. LOL I *am* going to Knitty Couture on Sunday, tho.

With luck I'll have the omg-I-need-a-scarf scarf finished by the end of the evening tonight - I actually don't have to go do anything after work, and I'm almost afraid to start recording Chapter 27 as it is a huge chapter. I don't like to break chapters up, even tho there's more than one section, because I like to be consistant. Ergo the planned re-recording of Chapters 1-5. I've become a bit more comfortable with the recording part of this project, and so that needs to be re-done.

Like I said, this is a quickie, so...cheers!

PS: If you go to visit Loopy Ewe from my blog, it's good for me! Maybe not good for your credit card, but good for me. ;-) Go. Register. Shop.

i was a baaaad girl

Well, PK backed out of the drive/ride on Sunday, and this meant only one thing: Open House! wheee! I was very very (very) bad. But Oh! I so had an excuse!

Weaving Department at Myers House was open on Sunday for the annual Open House (I asked - it's usually the Sunday after the St. Louis Weaving Guild's Annual Sale), and both the Barn and the main House were open. They were *packed*. At 12:30, you nearly couldn't move in the Barn - they had everything at 60% off (the Barn is the discounted stuff) and a bin full of $1 balls. Can you say "feeding frenzy"? Hehe. I snagged quite a bit for scarves! I escaped upstairs into the House and bought yarn for a Wonderful Wallaby for A (Encore Colorspun, in Sky), some nice mohair for a scarf, and then discovered a new yarn.

Nancy just got Classic Elite Yarns "Alpaca Sox" in on Saturday.

Me loooves this yarn. 60% Alpaca, 20% merino wool, and 20% nylon. Yum-ee. I bought 2 colorways - Pebbles and what they call Hot Pink. My Pebbles is very true to the colors on the link, but the Hot Pink is darker - it's a lot closer to a light burgundy than a magenta. You can see the difference in the color card off the CEY site (linked above). It's a lot closer to Gryffindor colors than what that link shows! *grins and ducks from L's thwacking*

I also bought Sensational Knitted Socks and More Sensational Knitted Socks since I've heard from several sources that these were the sock books to have. I can practice my short row toes and heels!

Lots of good times, food and yarn were had by all, and everyone was exhausted by the end of the day. Phew!

We have a new yarn shop in town! *plays fanfare* I haven't been there yet, since they are closed on Mondays, but I'm planning on going to 'look' *cough* on Sunday. It's called Knitty Couture, and they have all kinds of sock yarn. *fans self* I think I may have found my 'Harry' yarn. The official colorway name is Chairman of the Board and the yarn is "Tiny Toes" by Interlacements Yarns. I'll need to really see it to be sure, but I think that's it. There's another colorway in the same yarn - Taiga - that is starting to try to get my attention, as is Tapestry. This is bad. Very very bad. And that's just ONE of the yarns they carry.

I'm gonna be in so much trouble. LOL!

Recorded up to um...oh yeah, Chapter 27 - The Seeker. L-at-work wanted me to keep the chapter name for 26 intact, so that chapter is entitled "The Very Late, Really Long Chapter from Hell". And it was. Oi. I've started editing again - I'd stopped, and was only recording for a while there. I have about 9 chapters to edit, and have decided to re-record Chapters 1-4, maybe 5. I changed headsets around that time, and the first chapter sounds terribly muffled to me now.

I'm finally getting my cable back (pauses for the hysterical laughter echoing across the planet since I WORK for a cable company and didn't HAVE cable) - okay now? - next Monday. I'll have to wait for a DVR, since they're out of them till the 16th, but I want one, what with the stuff coming up on TV and the fact that I work till 8PM. Must...see...ABC Family...version....of....HPSS.....

Still waiting for the yarn to come in for the Big Blue - not like I don't have any OTHER projects going, you know ;-)

No pics from S yet from Halloween - I think we're waiting for Daddy to put them online.

Okay, that's all from me for now.

Cheers!

mini-update

Well, I took the plunge and bought the Chinese Fireball. I hope it's housebroken ;-)

Actually, the story that I'm narrating has a Chinese Fireball in it - and it is being ridden by Draco Malfoy. I think the name of the dragon is Mordor, but I could be wrong. I'm not up to that part of the story yet; I recorded the four parts of Chapter 20 last night, and have 24 more 'chapters' to go. Oi!

No idea what pattern I'm going to use for the Fireball, but I'll think about it. Possibly the Monkey socks by Cookie - altho I'm thinking of that for the Rusty Bucket colorway too. We'll see.

I'm almost finished with a friend's "omg-I-need-a-scarf" scarf - see what happens when you mention something like that in a chat room containing knitters?? Hehehe.

Tomorrow is my LYS's open house - unfortunately, it's also the day that PK and I were going to take a leisurely drive down old Route 66 to Rolla. The leaves are changing, it's going to be almost 70F tomorrow, and this will probably be the last weekend that the weather will cooperate before going downhill. PK's going to take the bike, and I'll be in the car with the windows down! I'm guessing we won't be back in time for the open house. Alas. St. Louis people, go enjoy it for me!

That's all for right now - it's lunchtime!

Cheers!

more yarny goodness

Okay, I'm home, hiding from the trick-or-treaters. Just kidding. The condo complex I live in doesn't allow trick-or-treaters, or any other door-to-door anything besides mail. Personally, I think that's a load of paranoia, but whatever.

Yarn!

Now, I didn't buy all this yarn this week - in fact, only half is from the last 2 weeks. I ran across a few balls that I've had in the stash for a while, and forgot about. Go fig.

1. A cake of worsted weight 100% superwash Suffolk wool in Watermelon (red, green, white, black spots, self-striping) from FreshIsleFibers (gift from Sue last year! Ack.)
2. A ball of Colinette "Jitterbug" in colorway Alizerine (powder blue, violet, bright fuschia) - these are destined to be PK's socks. She likens the colors to 'nuclear purple'.
3. A ball of Fortissima Colori "Socka Color" (wool/polymide) in Stars and Stripes (red, white, blue with white spots). It amuses me that the color ID is "1776" ;-)
4. A mystery ball of yarn from Sue - I think she said it was Cherry Tree Hill, but I'm not sure. It looks an awful lot like the same base yarn as the next yarn I'm going to list. Colors are grapy purple, deep rose, dark mossy green and some grey/white. The fact that Cherry Tree Hill is owned by a Potter also amuses me. ;-D
5. 100 grams of Claudia Handpainted 100% merino in colorway Midnight (deep purple to nearly black, dark to light blues). These, I have decided, will be the Firenze socks. The sample on her website is a lot brighter than the yarn I have in my hands - mine is a lot deeper and more purple.
6. A ball of superwash/nylon of J. Knits "Superwash Me - Sock" in colorway Houston (orange, pink, rose, yellow) which are destined to be the "Fawkes" socks that I mentioned earlier.
7. A ball of 100% superwash merino of Dyeabolical Yarns "Alter Ego" in Hidden Tiger (orange, yellow, gold, black). Go Tigers! Woot!
8. A hank of 100% superwash merino from Sunshine Yarns in colorway Hungarian Horntail Dragon (chocolate brown, greys, white, tan) PLUS!! A half-skein of 100% superwash merino from Sunshine in colorway Hedwig (cream, grey, black, goldish-bronze spots) that I had tagged as a fav - and now I need another half skein! I'm thinking that the Chinese Fireball will be next in the shopping bag...

Phew. I'm done with the yarn update. For now. ;-)

PK said that A was aDORable in the Pirate costume. They were very happy with it - the temp really dropped off at sunset (that cold front that's making my ears pop probably helped a wee bit) and so he was nice and warm in his knitted outfit. Shar said she'd have pics to me, so I'll post 'em when I get 'em.

One last Halloween note - we won the departmental decorating contest at work! Yay! We had a bunch of people tramping thru 4 South to see what we'd put up - the second place was the Pirate's Cove down on 2 South. We won The Great Pumpkin and a buffet! Go SRT! Hee.

Cheers!

summary of yarn to patterns

I've been so busy with everything, I think I've started losing track of what patterns (that I haven't already started) are 'assigned' to what sock yarns, so here's a list compiled from posts and other meanderings

• Ravenclaw colorway - "Eagle's Flight"
• Dare to Enter the Forest - "Horcrux" (from SSKAL)
• Invisibility Cloak - "Aran Braid Socks For Teri"
• Sirius - Original pattern using Herringbone Eyelet pattern
• Ginny Weasley - "Cairi's Sweetheart"
• Dementor - possible "Jaywalker"
• Ronald Weasley - "Lombard Street"
• Mystery Baseball Socks - "Jaywalker" again
• Naked Flesh - "Campanula for a Cure"
• HPSS - "Hedwig" (included pattern) from Dharmafey
• Philosopher's Stone - No idea. Just petting yarn atm ;)
• Toscana - Possibly another "Horcrux"
• It's Not Easy Being Green - "Jaywalker"
• Rusty Bucket - Pondering gauntlets with this, now...
• HPCoS - "Heir of Slytherin" (included pattern)

I still have several skeins that I need to post about - they're sitting on the desk by the computer, but I haven't been home enough in front of the computer to talk about them. I had originally intended the Rusty Bucket to be used for the "Fawkes" pattern, but found a J. Knits down at Knitorious that was brighter, and I'll describe it better later.

Gotta run - this post has taken something like 2+ hours to put together, as work and lunch keeps intruding ;-)

end of month update

Hi all - miss me?

According to a friend of mine (and to paraphrase), 10 days is too long to go between posts. Heh. I've been playing catch-up a bit, and unfortunately, the 'yarn' section of the post will be another time, as the yarn I need to list is at home!

I finally finished The Pirate Costume. *ducks flying paper wads* Yes, I know it's October 30th. The sweater was finished on Saturday and the leggings were seamed during lunch today. I took the sweater over to S&J's last night, and it fits A *perfectly*. Plus, it appears that the leggings won't be too long - he's got a long torso and getting-longer legs, so that'll fit too. Phew. The only issue I see is that the crotch depth on the leggings is a bit long - I'm going to weave a tie thru the top ribbing to snug around his little waist. I thought for a while I was going to have to knit some suspenders, because it looked like the leggings were going to reach his armpits!!

I'll get S to send me some pics of A in the outfit so I can post them for you - it's cute!

I didn't post last week due to the fact that I feel like I lost a few days to a migraine. I did go into work on Thursday (when it was at its worst) and just felt like someone had hit me with a bludger over and around my right eye. It wasn't nearly as bad on Friday, but by then, I just couldn't bear to look at a computer screen for 9 hours, so I stayed home. I've never had a migraine before - I've had tension and sinus headaches, but never one that lasted for 3 days and wasn't affected by drugs, sleep or caffeine. Thankfully, I wasn't nauseated - to the contrary, I was hungry - but was very motion and light sensitive. For those of you who suffer from migraines, I'm sure mine was a 'mild' case, but I feel for you.

Still no word on yarn for the HP sweater - I'll be buttonholing Nancy (maybe tonight!) to see where the order is. Now that Teh Pirate is finished, I'd like to work on Big (Purple) Blue some. Yes, I have tons of socks to make, but I'm getting twitchy.

I've recorded a few more chapters of the HP fanfic audiobook, but now that I've taken a few days off, I'm concerned about what the earlier parts sound like compared to the recent ones! I've been trying to modulate between voices - the fic is set with the Trio at 18 just after the end of seventh year, and Ron in particular has a deeper voice. Harry's is a little lighter (but not much) and Ginny and Hermione's voices are different as well. I have to say, trying to express a Howler at 1 AM in one of the female voices is interesting (and No, I'm not telling you which female voice it is...you'll have to read it to find out). At least it's now a little too cool to have the windows open at night, so the neighbors don't think I'm having a row with my computer! lol

I think I'm starting to characterize the 'lesser' voices as well, and I'm having quality issues with the desktop. I'm going to have an objective person listen to the different tracks and let me know which machine to use for the recording (laptop vs. desktop). I really don't want to re-record 15+ hours, but if it comes to that....well, this is the first time I've done this. We'll see.

D-in-STL has now taken an interest in reading for audiobooks, and I thought I'd post some info here for it as well - there's a project underway to transform public domain works into audio format via the internet. The main site - which has free audiobooks, tips, volunteer forums, the works - is Librivox.org. Basically what you need to participate is a moderately good microphone, a goodly amount of space on a hard drive, some free time, and recording software. I use Audacity which has a mixer and an absolute ton of things I've never used. I did an experiment with the Noise Reducer yesterday, and got rid of a strong hum on an entire chapter section that hadn't been edited yet - it was really easy. The learning curve can be steep (as it usually is with open-source programs) but it's a very very nice little FREE program. From what I understand, quite a few podcasters also use Audacity to record their shows. Check it out. It's a good cause and it's fun.

The SRT department (that's us) here at Charter decorated for Halloween - we did a 'virus/id theft/spam' theme, complete with a 'quarantine' section and cubicles with different 'evil internet' themes. I'm the 'web pirate', so I have old VHS tapes and CD/DVDs scattered all over my cube. My two primary projects are DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) violations and password protection for users/subscribers, so me having a cubicle full of 'pirated' stuff was perfect. We'll find out tomorrow if we won the departmental competition - and then I can have my desk space back!

Well, baseball is finished for the year - and right now I think one of two things we here in St. Louis have to look forward to is maybe a good year for the Blues. They've done surprisingly well so far, but there's a loooong way to go. The Rockies got swept by the BoSox (boy does THAT sound familiar! 2004, anyone?) and so Boston is going apeshite at the moment - and Sel on her world tour is in Boston right now. What a zoo. Pro football here stinks as well - we're 0-8 (yes I said oh and eight) and the only reason we won't be losing a game this weekend is that we're on a BYE. Oi. The other bright spot is that the Missouri Tigers are ranked #9 in the country right now (woot!) and stand behind Kansas at the top of the Big 12. Yay! Go Tigers! And that is all for the sports segment of the news.

I think I'm all typed out - I'll post pics of Teh Pirate and the list of sock yarn that I managed to accrue in the past 2 weeks.

Cheers!

Edit: Sheesh, I just posted and forgot a squee - I got a comment a few days ago from one of the filkers on the SwishandFilk site (waves at ann!!!) - again, if you're interested in Potterfilk (and even if you aren't!) you should go visit this site. There are about 15 songs from there that I have a playlist on my mp3 player, and they are really good. Go!

oops, forgot one

I also picked up (from Kirkwood Knittery) a skein of Mountain Colors "Bearfoot" superwash wool/mohair/nylon in colorway Firestorm (red/orange/purple/teal/green) - forgot to mention that one :)

Not going to have the sweater seamed - got wrapped up in a project and won't have time, so I'll have to finish it at home. Meh. I need a time-turner!!

Back to letters and phone - do we really need to decorate for Halloween now? Just wondering.

knitting madly here

Well, it's been a week, and some, and just a short update today.

Not much on the knitting front - received a few hanks of sock yarn:

1. A hank of 100% superwash merino from Yarn Chef in colorway It's Not Easy Being Green (green shades) for Quiche's socks (she's frog-crazy), probably in the Jaywalker pattern
2. A hank of merino/nylon also from Yarn Chef in colorway Rusty Bucket (red/orange shades). I like the yarn but it's not as bright as I thought it was going to be - I'll be trying this with the "Fawkes" pattern
3. My October Potter Covers shipment - very nice colors based on Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (rose/tan/blue/cream) and the accompanying pattern called "Heir of Slytherin"

Teh Pirate Sweater is near completion - I'll have the sweater seams done by the end of the work day today, but the leggings are not finished. ACK. A is taller than I thought, so the leggings (when they are finished) will be long enough.

One of Ash's Zephyr socks is finished and needs to be blocked. I like the pattern!! I may consider it for the Sirius colorway yarn I got from GeminiKnits a few months ago. Like I said earlier, I'm forcing SSS to finish the pirate costume.

I'm still obsessing. I'm starting to think I need a 12-step program for my Potter addiction. I haven't knit a lot in the evenings for the past 2 weeks because of a project that I'm working on. Yes, I am insane.

The husband of one of the gals I work with is a truck driver. I have been wandering around one particular HP fic site (there was something that was revealed last night about a character - more in a bit) and came across one amazing fic that was written and posted prior to the release of OotP. Anyway. I formatted the story to 8.5" x 11" paper, printed the 750 page monster out (yes, I said I was insane) and had the gal here read it. Now her husband wants to read it - but he doesn't read. He listens to audiobooks while he drives.

You know where this is going?

I did some research for text-to-speech software, and couldn't find one that wasn't $100+ that could pronounce the words correctly.

I know you know where this is going, now.

Yes, I am reading the fic. Out loud. Onto my computer. The story has an prologue, 43 chapters, and an epilogue, and I read and edited Chapter Eleven last night. By my calculations, I'm about one-sixth of the way through or so, and it's already 10.5 hours and 575 MB. At the rate I'm going, it'll be about 58-62 hours long, and 3GB or so at the bitrate I'm recording.

*takes a deep breath* I told you I was insane.

I think I'll be offering the document and the audio files to the authors once it's finished. Which should be about, oh, Thanksgiving.

Actually, I should have a bit more time this weekend to record - last weekend PK and Ash and I went to Hermann to go to the craft fair and to eat brats! One problem - we went on Sunday and it was DEAD. I've always gone to Hermann on Saturdays, and it's a madhouse, but this year we went on Sunday and it was a ghost town. Next year - Saturday! With Teh Sue! Whee!

Speaking of Potter, I discovered a website with FILK. Some of the songs are really good - I recommend "Seven Books" and "I'm Going On". In fact, there are a couple of filk sites linked over on the sidebar - you should really check out Tom Smith's site and blog. I love his stuff, and he's really quirky. Go! Listen!

JK Rowling was in New York last night, doing a reading for Scholastic, I think, and was asked a question about Dumbledore's past - and she OUTTED him. That's right - Albus was gay. *hears people falling over in either shock or laughter* Why she waited until NOW to tell everyone is a mystery, but, oh, to pull a quote from the Chicago Tribune online article:

"Oh, my god," Rowling concluded with a laugh, "the fan fiction."

*is going to stay away from the slash sites*

Quickie sports: GO ROCKIES! Going to the World Series!!! SQUEEEE!!!!!!!!

Gee, I chattered longer than I thought I would.

Lunchtime! Cheers!!

sock and yarny update

*knit knit knit knit* Oh Hai.

I really haven't done much - I DID finish the ILG socks (and wore them all day Saturday) so I'm going to wash and block 'em before I photograph them. They're cool!! I also started Ash's Zephyr socks three times over Sunday and Monday due to:

1. Inability to follow graph (aka brain fart) and forgot to knit on the US3s that I went and bought just for these socks.
2. Restarted sock, got pattern down, knit three repeats of pattern, and then tried to try sock on. Wouldn't go over my heel. Apparently this pattern is for skinny people with skinny ankles! Ash isn't fat (like me) but she has big feet. *rrrrrip*
3. Rerestarted sock (adding another 9 st pattern repeat), and now have cuff and two repeats finished. The colors are not pooling as they were, and now seem to be spiraling haphazardly around the cuff. Which is kinda cool.

I'm up to Podcast #34 from L&V, and have decided that Violet and I must have been separated at birth. She's a sockknitter, has talked to boxes of rocks doing tech support over the phone, has an ancient dog named Shenzi who looks just like Pluto, and loves the Pacific NW. Yikes. Oh, and Lime & Violet are enablers. This is bad. Just thought you'd like to know.

I went to Kirkwood Knittery on Friday to get the abovementioned US3s (Addi Turbos [insert lightsaber sfx a la Brenda]) and a hank of Colinette "Jitterbug" in colorway Toscana (which looks way different online than it does in person) attached itself to me and demanded I take it home. It's very green!! Mine is a moss green/red/orange/blue/purpley/olive green colorway. I'm looking for a colorway that yells "HP" at me and I think I'm getting closer. The really sad thing is that I'm starting to think of colorways that I've not seen online - and that I may need to create myself. HELP! Someone stop me!

I need to complete the seaming of Teh Pirate Sweater since I told S&J that they didn't need to buy a costume for A. I'm going to force the Second Sock syndrome since I'm going to seam up the sweater when I'm done with Zephyr Sock #1. I'm not sure if the leggings will work - they are really long - so I'll have to wrap those up and check for sizing on A. Whee!

It's probably a good thing that the yarn isn't in yet for Teh Blue Sweater. Must do everything else first.

EDIT! Forgot my sports stuff:

• Rockies beat the Phillies, are going to play Arizona for the NLCS. Go Rockies!
• Cleveland beat the Yankees (does the happydance and raspberries Steinbrunner) and will be playing Boston for the ALCS. Go Tribe!
• Missouri creamed Nebraska in NCAAF 41-6 on Saturday. Next up: Oklahoma. Go Tigers! Ranked #11 in the country now! Woot!
• Stanford beat USC 24-23 in the last 48 seconds of the game on Saturday. I think Sue needs to be resuscitated. What a shock!!!

*knit knit knit knit*

Have a nice day! ;-)

sock pattern brainstorming

Yeah, I posted day before yesterday, and nothing much has changed - I'm still nuts, still knitting, etc.

I'm leaning toward doing Ash's socks in the pattern Zephyr Socks by Domesticat - I found this pattern via an old Lime & Violet podcast (#20, I think) and think it's cool! It was either that one or the Jigsaw Socks pattern I ran across a few weeks ago.

The super sekret baseball socks will look cool in the Jaywalker pattern - I think the colors will pop with the mostly stockinette stitch and the intended victim *cough* is always complaining about cold feet. :) Yet another pattern gleaned from the L&V gals. You rock!

On the baseball front - the Rockies won last night YAAAAAAAAAAY! They play the Phillies again tonight - did I mention they are IN Philly? No? They are. Which means they will maybe be able to take this round at home. The Rockies were 51-31 at home this year, so I'm hoping! Go Rockies!

The Cardinals parted ways with Walt Jocketty yesterday - that's a shock, but apparently there were some philosophical and personality differences between him and a few other members of the front office. It's a shame. He brought some great players to St. Louis, and I'm sad to see him go. There were some rumors earlier this year about Jocketty being courted by the Pirates organization as CEO, so we'll see what comes of it. LaRussa's not talking yet - so we don't know if he's leaving too. I know we had a disappointing year and all, but as they say, you can't win every year. (Someone needs to tell the damn Yankees.)

I'm coasting on the ILG socks - have about 1.5 hearts and the toe to go and those are finished. Now that I have patterns set for the Christmas socks (PK's are just going to be ribbed crew socks and so will LW's) I want to finish this pair!!

Cheers :)

Edit: 6PM Central - Colorado beat the Phillies this afternoon 10-5, and now lead the best-of-five series 2-0. They're headed back to Coors Field! Woot!

just a little update

It's been a week since I posted - nothing much new going on here. This is not the boring life you are looking for - move along, move along.

Well, the end of the month deadline for the I Love Gansey socks came and went, and I'm still not finished. WAH! I think I have two more heart repeats and then the toe. Sigh. The new pattern was posted yesterday - I'm not really interested in the new pattern (it's a diamond/argyle derivative) so the next socks will be either the HP PS/SS "Hedwig" from the sock subscription list, Ash's pink socks (need to find a pattern!), PK's hawt purple crew socks, or the sekret baseball socks. I reeeeally need to do the last 3 pairs since they're Christmas prezzies, and it's OCTOBER. Ack.

Still haven't heard from Nancy to see if my yarn is in yet....note to self! Call!

I've been good this week - no new yarn purchases, but a lot of yearning for socks - see Etsy sidebar. Le sigh.

The Cardinals finished the season with a sweep of the Pirates. Yay! Now it's time to say "GO ROCKIES!" Heee!

Back to work, and then off to get my grandparents' computer back online...cheers!

socks that rock omg

Hope everyone had a nice weekend (including those who stabbed themselves with steel dblpts - OWWW!! Rachel!) - I did, and the Pirate Fest has one more weekend! Come see us, STL people.

Just a couple things to post about - I bought a ball winder yesterday, and now I need a SWIFT. OMG. Don't try winding 400+ yards of yarn without one if you have any shred of sanity. I like the winder - it's just a simple Lacis - but geeeeeeh. It should NOT take an hour to wind a ball of yarn. I saw some tabletop versions on Etsy that I'm considering. Oi.

I got my Socks That Rock Silkie yarn today in the mail - oh, my god, I'm not sure I want these on my feet. I'm thinking the rest of my body will be insanely jealous. LW here at work wants a BLANKET made out of it. It's totally yummy. I linked to the Blue Moon Fiber site in an earlier post - the colors for Philosopher's Stone are grey, rust, blue (sky and deep), tan, and a foresty green. I may have to pet it for a few weeks.

I consolidated my sock yarns into one place - and I have unknitted socks to last me till MARCH. I use one of those pop-up hamper thingys to put yarn in, and it's HALF FULL. Yikes.

Almost to the heel on the ILG socks - I have 5 days to finish these, and it might be right down to the wire. I'll post when they're finished!

Oh, one last thing: I'm listening to the PotterCast #118 - I love this podcast except for the Scribby part - and recommend it to those who haven't disowned me yet for the Potter obsession. Go listen.

No NatureSpun yet! I'm pondering starting the second sleeve of Teh Blue (but still Purple) Sweater with the yarn I have. What do you think, Pinky? Pinky?

The Cardinals are out of the pennant race - but they did win the last home game. Thanks, Albert and Rick! Great 9th inning heroics :) We can forfet the rest of the games, right? Cuz it's not like we're gonna beat anyone. Okay, maybe the Pirates. Maybe.

Cheers!

updates and squeeeeeing

Ah, autumn, can you please arrive? I want some cooler weather!

Well, the pirate sweater didn't get finished last week *ducks* I know, I know, what about the Pirate Fest?? It's gonna be too bloody hot to wear a sweater over the next 2 weekends. *sigh* Oh, well, there's always Hallowe'en. The thing is about Hallowe'en in STL is that parents have to be able to do everything from waterproofing their children's costumes to making sure that a snowsuit will fit under them if needed. We have wacky weather the end of October!

Anyway, the pirate sweater has a front, a back and one arm all attached. I did knit the crew neck, and set in the first sleeve. The other arm and the side seams needed to be sewn, but I just had to work on something else before I went 'black yarn' nuts. The end of the month deadline is coming for the ILG socks, and I'm only about four inches into the second sock cuff. We've been a bit swamped at work doing projects, and lunchtime has been just that - lunch! Can't knit and eat a messy sandwich :)

I've been bad - again. (I know. This is new how?) PK is now telling me I need a 12 step program for my sock yarn addiction. I think she might be right! Yarn that has arrived or has been ordered:

1. my first HP Potter Covers subscription yarn arrived! squee!! Superwash merino/nylon in the colorway Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's Stone (purple/orange/med brown/white) - this subscription series is based on the Mary Grand-Pre artwork for the US covers.
2. Blue Moon Fiber Arts "Silkies Socks That Rock" - merino/silk blend in colorway Philosopher's Stone (green/white/dark tan/red/blue/purple). Hard to describe, click on the link to see it!

Oh, this last purchase? It's all Lime & Violet's fault. They were drooling over and going on and on about this yarn, so I had to go look.....and saw this colorway (and NAME of colorway) and had to get it. Their fault. They have a podcast - you should go listen. Oh, and um...it's not a kid safe podcast. LOL!

I got the Lion Brand fall/winter 2007 catalog on the mail today. Yes, the "Rambling Rows" afghan is on the cover! And they're selling the pattern! Don't get me wrong - it's a great pattern - but I'm just so surprised to see it being offered by LB. Oh, and Nancy? I was right - it IS in their new line of yarn, "Vanna's Choice". Thought it had to be!! :)

Speaking of podcasts, I'm still hooked on the Potter stuff (hears the groans all around) and have discovered PotterCast! They're the 'offical podcast of the Leaky Cauldron' (thank you, Rupert Grint, for the great intro!) and are up to ep #117. I think I'm in love with Steve Vander Ark's voice. Have I already said that? Mmmmmm. He's the guy responsible for the Harry Potter Lexicon (over in the links list on the right). The HP fanfic site that I've been wandering around in (The Sugar Quill) also has a podcast available off iTunes called the SQodcast - I've only listened to one ep of these gals so far, and they're wacky. LOL! Listen at your own peril.

Lastly but not leastly (??), on the baseball front, we're either a game or maybe two out of elimination, and we got creamed tonight by the Astros. I don't wanna talk about it. It's that awful. I think we're 10 or 11 games under .500. You know it's a bad game when, in the 7th inning, the radio announcer says that the "best thing that can happen in this game is the last out." Ouch ouch ouch. *goes to find chocolate to feel better*

Well, no pics today, I'm afraid. I'll post the ILG socks when I'm finished with them, tho.

Cheers!

pirate sweater

Well, it's Wednesday, and I have like, 2 nights to finish the pirate sweater. The weather forecast for this weekend is for low 70's and below, so if S&J&A&T go to the pirate fest, A'll be wearing this! I'm not going to manage to finish the leggings, however - those will have to be ready for Hallowe'en, instead.

Here's the 'crucified' shot of the sweater:




It's knit with Lion Brand Baby Soft, and there were about three dozen ends to weave in! Ugh. Tonight, join shoulders and knit neck. After I go find a button with a skull and crossed bones on it. Maybe just a skull? Eep!

I've been a bad girl and succumbed to Etsy again:

1. A ball of merino/nylon blend (75-25)which looks oh so rich (dark charcoal/ruby/dove grey/med dove grey) from Wooly Treasures
2. A ball of merino/nylon blend (75-25) in PINK (or should that be PANK?) shades for Ash. Everything's gotta be PINK! That's also from Wooly Treasures.

The Potter obsession is still hanging in there - I'm now doing what I said I wasn't going to do - read fanfic. I'm still a snob when it comes to fanfic, tho - if I read the first 3 paragraphs and don't like the style or tone, I move on. Guess I'm spoiled from reading selected authors in the SG1 fandom! (and you know who you are ;-) )

Anyway, enough for now. Letters to fold, people to guide thru computer issues, yadda yadda.

Cheers!

lazy(ish) sunday

Just a quickie - been knitting like crazy on the Pirate outfit, and now have a 'consignment' to do as well.

One of the guys at work wants an iPod cozy in Gryffindor colors, so I thought I'd make this one. I think the gold on the top and the burgundy on the bottom would be good. Should I put in another stripe or two? Hmmm. I want to make a Weasley Sweater Cozy for myself. LOL!

I finished listening to the Fry version of the HP audiobooks, and still like the Dale version better. I think I'm all Pottered out now - unless the fan art and the fanfic suck me in, but I'm dragging my heels. Don't...make...me!

The Cards lost again today, which puts them back under .500 and behind the Cubs and Brewers, who are apparently tied for first place in the Central. I didn't catch the game today, but after last night, I'm hoping we didn't have to put half the team on the DL. Yep, it's September! Everyone's beat up, and it's showing.

My real-life buddies (and me) are all taking it easy today, since this will be the last weekend for the next month that isn't booked. Next three weekends: Pirate Fest! Arrrrr.... (which translates into 'come see us, you land lubber!')

Cheers!

day ... pictures!

Yay! I have pictures of Teh Sweater! These pics still look blue to me, but are a closer color to the PURPLE that I'm using.

Full shot of sleeve:

Close up on sleeve:

Full shot of the back:

Closeup of decreases on back:

I finished the second sleeve of the Pirate Sweater, and will start the leggings tonight!

Ought to be a fun doggie-walk tonight - it's pouring outside. Whee. Well, we needed the rain, and thanks the good lord and green apples that it didn't do this over the weekend. Spirit of St. Louis Airport + County Fair + rain = MUD MUD MUD.

Cheers!

day...er, 35? 36? something!

Well, I finished the sweater back! *cheers*

I took the sleeve and the back up to my beleaguered LYS (Weaving Dept at Myers) and weighed the pieces to make sure we knew how much I needed to order. The back is 7.5 ounces and the sleeve is 5 ounces. That means that a women's size 48 (chest measurement 52") will be about 26 ounces of yarn, or about 8 skeins of yarn. That leaves me needing 2 more balls of yarn for the purple trial sweater, so we ordered more of that. Hopefully, we can get the same dye lot. *crosses fingers* I could start on the second sleeve, but I MUST work on the Pirate or else. I went ahead and ordered the blue yarn as well.

I will have photos up soon. I've been too busy to take pics at work, but my schedule has changed for this month, so I may be able to squeeze in a photo shoot this week.

I'm listening to the Stephen Fry version of the Potter books, and I think I like the Jim Dale version better. One of my chat buddies was complaining that the US versions of the books used too many 'Americanisms', and, as Harry & Co. are supposed to be British, he not supposed to talk like that. I've noticed about a dozen different changes in all 7 books between the US and UK versions. Is it noticeable? Um, Nope!! I have enjoyed listening to all 7 in order again now that we know how the story pans out. All the little details that JKR wrote in passing really pop out as they come up 'years' later. Can't wait till the encyclopedia comes out! Oh, and another chat buddy pointed me at this site which has some terrific sketchwork. Check it out!

I don't have too much to write tonight - it was a very busy weekend, as I worked out at the St. Louis County Fair and Airshow at the ren faire booth on Sunday and Monday. Lots of heat and dust, and my allergies decided to flare up after being relatively well-behaved all summer. It was a very cool show with the Blue Angels, and the fireworks on Sunday were nice.

That's all for now....cheers!

day 30, socks, and KIP

Greetings again :)

I ran across another HP-related sock pattern from a link on the Hogwarts Sock Swap Two that is really cool: Firenze the Centaur Socks !! I'd like to make these (of course) - and I think I'll use the Dark Knight yarn I have from Rachel! whoohoo! The centaurs watched the sky for portents, and the yarn I have in mind is yellow/blue/black - deep, rich colors that remind me of the night sky.

I've also put a link in the sidebar for Campanula for a Cure, which is a donor/KAL for the Walk for the Cure in Toronto. I've decided to use another one of Rachel's yarns for these, in the colorway Naked Flesh (red/pink/white).

I have a sock surprise in the works for a baseball friend of mine that I'll talk about at a later date ;-) Don't want her to find out about it just yet! I did order more yarn from Etsy:

1. A ball of 100% superwash merino in the colorway Dementor (black/silver/purple) from shelbyB
2. A ball of 100% superwash merico in the colorway Ronald Weasley (green/orange/brown/silver) also from Shelby's shop
3. A series of superwash merino/nylon blend yarn in 7 colorways - Potters Covers - from dharmafey on Etsy. This one is a subscription series.
4. The mystery yarn for the baseball project ;) More on that later this year.

I'm coveting the Fawkes colorway from Shelby as well, but will restrain myself! Amazing, I know.

On the sweater front, er, I mean back, I'm up to the end of the first repeat. I had issues with the increases and had to frog the same row about 4 times. It's going to take me a bit longer on the back per row - there are 142 sts across - but it's looking good. The sleeve took about 1-1/3 balls of the Nature Spun, and I just started on the third ball at the top of the first back repeat. The pattern is now memorized, but I'll need to sit down and write it out soonish.

Still need to photo the sleeve; one of my co-workers suggested that I use my cubicle wall to pin out the sleeve to take a pic of it. LOL! Think I will, at that.

I need to reinstall PCStitch, but I can't find the activation code I paid for! WOE! I like to use the program for knit design, as I can make the chart easily. I've used it for the SG gansey patterns, but now I can't open the pattern files to make changes :( It's an older version, and I'll need to see if I can find the receipt of payment for it.

I met some friends for dinner last night at a place called 'Sweet Tomatoes' that has salads, pasta, and soups. I got there early, as I left from work, and D and company had to run an errand before meeting me. I think it was 'funraiser' night, because there were about a hundred kids running all over the place. Since I had to wait for the rest of the group, I sat in the 'lobby' area and pulled out the red gansey sock to work on in the meantime. After about 5 minutes or so, I noticed that the light from the plate glass windows I had my back to seemed to be getting dimmer. It wasn't that it was getting dark - it was because there were seven kids all with their faces pressed against the glass watching me knit! It was way funny! I was just inside the door, so I had all sorts of people asking me about the sock. Right before my group arrived I had one lady actually sit down and ask me where the rest of my needles were, and how was I DOING that? I've been using the Magic Loop on socks for a little while now, and I think I convinced her to try it :) She told me she lived in U City, so I suggested that she go to Kirkwood Knittery or Knitorious for yarn and help. She was fascinated by the fact there was only one long circ, and no pointy ends all over the place. D & Co. arrived about then, so we got our food and went to sit down. The whole rest of the meal I had people smiling and nodding at me as they came by our table on their way out the door. All in all, it was a rather amusing evening. If you can, knit in public! It's fun! hee!

I think that's all for now - have a nice week!

day 26 and...socks

I'm being so very bad - I have a pirate sweater to work on and what do I do?

I started the "I Love Gansey" socks. *sigh*

It's a fun sock, tho - challenging pattern! I added a few stitches as well, since I have big fat feet and the cuff has mostly stockinette stitches, so won't stretch like ribbing. Here's a teaser:

I'll post a finished pic of these when they get done - they are the August/September pattern for the Six Sox Knitalong, so I have about 5 more weeks to finish. Considering I started these last night and I'm nearly done with the heel flap, I think I'll have them completed in time. *g*

I've finally finished the sleeve for the second time and it will be a much better fit. I discovered another error - this time, it was the printer that did me in. There was a row of the table that had been cut off that had me binding off 8 stitches on each side! No wonder it was far too long! I forgot to bring the digital camera (the good one) to work, so I can't take a pic of the sleeve till later.

I'm having a tussle with the fact that I've added 10 stitches to the front and back of the sweater to compensate for the cabling - now I have to determine how many to decrease so the neck won't gape. It'll get there! I've cast on the ribbing for the back, and then got distracted by the ILG sock.

I'm back to listening to the HP audiobooks again (yes, again) - this time, I'm 'reading' the Stephen Fry version. I noticed that in the very first book, the person who saved the day first was actually *Ron*, when they all met the troll in the girls' bathroom. Just on a whim, I looked up what certain names mean, and Ronald means "ruler's counsel" while Harry means "home ruler". After SS (or in the Fry version's case, PhilS), I think that Ron should be "ruler's champion" instead! Ron's got some great hidden strengths, I think. Yes, I am a geek.

I did finish the reformat of the desktop comp, and iTunes is the biggest PITA when it comes to restoring podcasts! Bleh!

That's all for now - been busy trying to mix computer geekiness and knitting, and so didn't have as much to talk about this week.

Cheers!

day 21 antics

Hello yet again.

You'll have to bear with me here, I'm in the middle of a deep scan on the computer, and may be reformatting here tomorrow night if I can't get the !#$%^& popups to go away. Yes, I do this for a living, and Yes, my computer is infected with at least one trojan, and Yes, I do know how to get rid of it, but there have been other issues with this computer and it's OS for a month or two now, and It's Time. The most painful part of a reformat is the re-installation of all my various programs. Meh.

Sweater update: I finished the first sleeve! Yay! It's 2 inches too long! Ack!

Rrrrip!

I took it back to the true 18"-from-beginning mark, and started the decreases again. It appears I took the sleeve out to a full 3 (or was it 4?) repeats before starting the decreases, which properly measured out was 19.5". This time, I started the decreases within the main moss diamond repeat. I know this will just add to the complication factor, but it won't have gorilla arms. By the length of the sleeve - and I know, it grows even longer when seamed - it would have been past my knuckles. Too long for an aran-type. I'll be decreasing a little more aggressively as well, I think - not as many 4-row decreases before starting the every-other-row decreases. It'll STILL have 35 every-other-row decreases, which means that the sleeve will still be in the neighborhood of 200 rows long, give or take 10 or so, but it will FIT.

This means I'm holding off on photographing it till I cast off again. Sorry, Rachel! I promise I'll be posting that blocked-out piece soon! If I can work on it this week, perhaps by Saturday.

I did not start another pair of socks (Yay me! Self-restraint is a virtue...) and I did manage to set Teh Pirate Sweater on the sofa to work on it....before I ripped the sleeve. I only have 3 weeks and a few days! must...work...on...sweater....

One last word - yes this is a quickie - the TV series Buck Rogers in the 25th Century is just as corny and full of skimpily-clad women as I remember it. D in KS sent me the "Complete Series" DVDs that I couldn't find at Wallyworld here (thanks D!!) and I've been having a lot of fun watching for old-school BSG props on the show as well as the totally implausible and sometimes totally illogical plots. I do still love Gil Girard, tho :)

Okay, that's all for now. Cheers!

day 19 and horcrux completed!

Been a few days - been a little busy here and there, and oh yeah, sleep!

I completed the Horcrux socks this morning, and here they are:

Yay! and Yes, I DO have big feet. They fit great! I think I'm going to make some wire-hanger blockers, tho, to wash and dry them on.

I've been working on the sweater sleeve for a while - I'm into the decreases now, and it looks like the arm will be a little long. That's okay, because the sweater needed a little hang space. It's not off-the-ends-of-the-fingers long, but enough to not expose your wrists when you bend your arm. I'm into the second ball of the purple, and nearly to the end of the 5th moss diamond repeat. I'll post a pic after I cast it off and block it. I think it looks GREAT! I'm really jazzed about this sweater.

I really need to work on Teh Pirate Sweater for my pseudo-nephew since the Pirate Fest is in 4 weeks! Ack! *tries to resist the urge to cast on another pair of socks* I really do want to start the 'I Love Gansey' socks from the Six Sox list, but...alas! So much yarn, so little time. Maybe I'll pack it along as my purse project ;-)

Not too long of a post today - gotta get back to work here and make my 'weekend' get here faster!

Cheers!