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!