Finally, I’m off of sleeve island!

Okay, it doesn’t look like much right now, but give me a chance. I did only just barely finish casting off about ten minutes ago. Lots of ends, curling on the bottom hem . . . yes, yes, all of that. But the important thing is that the knitting is done.

And that, hopefully, all the pieces will fit together properly. I completely winged the sleeve cap shaping. It might work, it might be completely wrong, but what can I say? It’s not like I could follow the pattern! Tomorrow I’ll weave in all the ends, and perhaps even sew in the sleeves, which will be challenging. There are, you see, no shoulder seams. Instructions state that you just pin the front and back edges together, sew in the sleeve, and then secure the shoulders with buttons. Which, of course, I still have to buy. And then, cross my fingers that it’s going to actually FIT.

The downside? Look at all the yarn I have leftover!

It’s one of the advantages, I suppose, to having such a drastically different, bigger, gauge–Fewer stitches, fewer rows equal less yardage. But three full skeins (and a fraction) left of the main color, and about one and a quarter of the contrast color. I’m not sure what I’ll do with it, though no doubt I’ll come up with something. I knew that there would be leftovers, mind you, because of the gauge issue, but for some reason surprised at how much is left.

Anyway, hurray, hurray, calloo, callay. The knitting is done! It’s not a FO yet, but it’s darn close. Two sleeve seams, (buy and) sew on some buttons, some blocking (that, please, will fix that hem roll on the bottom), a couple loops to hold the buttons together . . . Not only am I through the tunnel, but I see the parking lot approaching.

Or, rather, to keep my metaphors unmixed, not only am I off the island, but I can see the marina up ahead. There’s a pina colada over there, calling my name.

Oh, and my hair today? As I expected, bad curl issues this morning after I woke up. Remember, yesterday, I completely forgot to add gel to my hair–nothing to encourage the curls to stay together while sleeping. So, I did something I haven’t done in a long time. Years, even. I french-braided my hair this morning before going to work. It’s really kind of gratifying to know that I haven’t lost my knack. (And before you ask, taking the picture of the back of my head was harder than doing the actual braid.)

Tags: General, Hair, Knitting/Spinning by Deb
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Don’t ask me how, but somehow,when I got out of the shower tonight, I completely forgot to put gel, or styling product of any kind in my hair. Heaven only knows what it’s going to look like in the morning, after sleeping on it all night. It’s too late now to try to add anything. (The cardinal rule of curly hair is you don’t, ever, touch or brush the curls while the hair. It just breaks up the curl clusters and causes frizz. So the chance to add gel pretty much disappeared as soon as I opened the bathroom door.)

Oh well! On the plus side, I’ve finally started the sleeve cap on my USMP sleeves. I’ll have to do some math tomorrow, to calculate how to do the shaping for the top (since, again, completely different gauge for both rows and stitches). But still–it’s close. I’ve been pushing to get knitting done lately, though, because it’s really starting to bug me, having four active projects. I want it down to at least two again! But my hands are just a little sore from the extra hours of knitting over the long weekend. I barely spun last night at all, my left forefinger was so unhappy with that whole pinching thing.

Next, though, I need to find buttons for the sweater, and the only place I know of is the Ragshop–not exactly the most elegant of buttons. Anyone have any good, online suggestions?

Also on the plus side, I got this lovely new pair of shoes today. I love the color, and like them–not quite “old lady” shoes, but a nice, vintage kind of look. I admit, though, that they weren’t my first choice. That would have been these. Boy, that pair is just gorgeous! But there’s no way I can justify that price. But wouldn’t they look great with my Peacock shawl?

That shawl, incidentally? I finally got around to rewashing/reblocking it this weekend. You’ll remember that it was really too long. When I wore it to Tim and Betty’s wedding in August, it kept getting caught on the heel of my shoe, and its front corners touched the ground when I’d put it on in bare feet. I wasn’t sure how much I’d be able to alter the size by reblocking, but it was certainly worth the effort. I soaked it in its mesh bag in the washing machine, spun out the water, and then laid it out on the floor. I put blocking wires in the top edge and down the center to keep them straight, but otherwise, just laid it flat. No extra pins. No extra pulling. And it is a couple inches shorter. It’s still a large shawl, but at least it doesn’t look like it’s in so much danger anymore!

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Now, lastly, I’ve been tagged by Amy for a rather novel (ahem) meme:Take the first 5 novels from your bookshelf….then do the following:

1. Book 1 – take first sentence
2. Book 2 – the last sentence
3. Book 3 – second sentence on page 100
4. Book 4 – next to last sentence on page 150
5. Book 5 – Final sentence of the book.

Make the five sentences into a paragraph. Feel free to cheat and make it a better paragraph. Name the sources and then post.

So, here we go:

The drama unfolding in the field below seemed so improbable that it could have been nothing more than two groups of players preparing a performance—the duel that would bring down the curtain on the first act. It was hard to believe that when, on the first of May, everybody went away, even after they had got to the bottom of the hill and passed through the iron gates out into the village, they could still smell the acacias. Meanwhile, they watched in astonishment as the little knight tugged his sword out of the scabbard and began brandishing it violently, hopping up and down in rage. Lucinda could not keep the laughter from bubbling up. Walking away, I reached Lexington Avenue, turned south and—the yellow lights of Gramercy Park waiting at the end of the street—I walked on toward Number 19.

1. World Without End by Sean Russell
2. Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Armin
3. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by JK Rowling
4. The Alleluia Files by Sharon Shinn
5. Time and Again by Jack Finney

I didn’t actually take the first five novels–they would all have been the same author, and where’s the fun in that? But they are random books that I just grabbed by some of my favorite authors. (They’re on the bedroom bookcase–they have to be favorites.) All in all, the paragraph works remarkably well considering that three of these stories are Fantasy books in completely different worlds, one in early 20th century London, and one time travel book.

Tags: Family, General, Hair, Reading by Deb
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What can I say, today was the first day back to work after a long holiday weekend? Ick. A gray and misty day, too, though unusually warm–almost 60 degrees for the last week of November! And after being in the 20s over the weekend, too. Blah.

There’s really no knitting progress to show you since yesterday. I am finally at the sleeve cap of my Union Square Market Pullover sleeves. I’ll start doing that shaping tomorrow. It’s such a relief to have the end in sight! My KSH neck warmer is getting closer. It’s about a foot long, but needs to be at least half again as long to work properly, but the last few days, my knitting focus has been on those sleeves. Getting that sweater done is my number one knitting priority. I’ve barely touched my Berroco Suede bag the last few days, and the socks? Not at all since I got home from the movie on Friday (grin).

I’ve decided to return that very nifty, very cool convertible tablet computer I bought a few weeks ago. As much as I loved some of its tablet features, really, what I need is just your basic laptop. And the super-high resolution screen just was not the thing for my 39-year old eyes. Still, I did really like the whole digital ink thing, and using a pen was very nifty indeed, so I’m thinking about getting one of these or these. The new laptop is going to be several hundred dollars cheaper than the one I’m returning, so it would still be cheaper, but I’d have this extra little toy . . . Toys are good, right??

Oh, one funny thing–my parents went to visit my aunt and cousin over the weekend, and Mom was telling them (apparently) about my knitting and spinning, and mentioned that we’d gone to the sheep and wool festival in Rhinebeck. My cousin shook her head and said, “What?!?” “The Sheep and Wool Festival.” “Oh, Wool! I thought you said Wolf!” Now wouldn’t that be an interesting day’s entertainment? Sheep on one side of a fence, wolves on the other? It wouldn’t be boring, for sure!

  And of course, there’s always at least one reason to smile.

Besides, only four more days until the weekend….

Tags: Family, General, Knitting/Spinning by Deb
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I’m still stuck on Sleeve Island, but I think there’s SOME progress being made. At least I’m past the elbow–I’ve got about 14″ done and at 16″ I get to start shaping the shoulder. And since I’m doing both sleeves at once (the other one is dangling out of the picture), I’ve got both of them to this stage, so this is encouraging. It still feels painfully like I’m not making substantial progress, but clearly, I am. It just doesn’t feel convincing, and probably won’t until I at least get to start shaping the sleeve cap.

My friend Cindy came over today and gave me my birthday present. (There’s nothing like stretching it out for an extra three weeks!) A nice, large mug that says “No Outfit Is Complete Without Dog Hair,” (which is currently in the dishwasher, or I’d show you a photo), and unfortunately, a copy of a book I already have, Spinning Designer Yarn. I told her it was a good gift because it really is a great book, but, um . . . this, you see, is why people are afraid to buy books for me. I obviously don’t have every book that I could be interested in, but, um, I’ve got a lot of them. 2,702 at last count. It’s just not always safe to buy me books (grin). It was definitely a good try, though, because it’s a good book!

All in all, it’s been a nice, long weekend. Monday morning tomorrow is going to be hard.

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Jessalu‘s tagged me for a meme. (I can’t think WHY she thought I’d be interested in this one.)Earliest book you remember (read to you or by you): I can’t really say–I remember reading a very simple picture book with Mom when I was tiny and just piecing words together–one of the kind that has pictures of a lollipop-style tree and “Tree” printed in big letters underneath. What the title might have been . . . I can’t say. But I definitely remember the book–and the actual reading of it. And that Mom didn’t really believe that I was reading it–she thought I’d memorized it. I actually remember her showing me the newspaper to prove it . . . though that might have been a little later…Picture Book you would like to climb into: Harold’s Purple Crayon would be entertaining (though, boring after a while). Almost anything by Jan Brett because everything looks so lush.

Favorite series of books (then or now): Can’t name just one, sorry. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. JK Rowling’s Harry Potter. Elizabeth Peters’ Amelia Peabody. Anne McCaffrey’s Pern. Sharon Shinn’s Samaria. Jasper Fforde’s Thursday Next. Dorothy Dunnett’s Niccolo and Lymond series. Marion Zimmer Bradley’s Darkover. LM Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables. . . . And, how could I forget? The Liaden series by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller. Love them all.

Character you would most like to meet: Elizabeth Bennett, because she seems like a good friend. Ramses Emerson because he is one of my all time favorite characters, ever. Sara Crewe because she was such a good influence on me when I was little.

Last childhood book you re-read (for yourself or to someone): Harry Potter. Before that, Diana Wynne Jones’ “Dark Lord” books.

Tags: Friends, General, Knitting/Spinning, Reading by Deb
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Who says that Christmas Trees don’t have at least a little magic to them? I just turned a bunch of patterns into part of somebody’s house!

Thanks to all of you who bought a copy of my Tannenbaum pattern. As of today, I’d sold 49 copies, so I rounded it up to a $50 donation to Habitat for Humanity.

I guess, sometimes, money does grow on trees.

Subj: Habitat Online Donation Received (102529)

Thank you for your gift to Habitat for Humanity International. You also will be mailed a printed receipt for tax purposes. If you have requested gift notification cards, the cards will be sent in the near future.DONATION AMOUNT: 50.00

DONOR INFORMATION:
Deb Boyken
USA

Designated to: Where most needed

FOR INTERNAL USE:
Source Code: 02148
Origin Code: WS
Tracking: 102529

—————————————————–
Please print out this authorization and keep it
with your bank records.

Tags: General by Deb
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Well, the day after Thanksgiving. I’m still thankful for all sorts of things as well as just being generally full of things like turkey and pie. I started the day with my usual Digestion Day breakfast of a piece of pumpkin pie, and then we all had a relatively quiet day. I spent most of it reading on the couch with Chappy. It was too cold to go out for a walk (it never got out of the 20s today), and really, just relaxing was definitely appealing.

Oh. Not to mention that last week there was a bear on our street. An actual, brown bear. Apparently two boys out playing in their yard, diagonally across the street from us, saw it. The older one grabbed his baby sister and the three kids ran inside to tell their mother. I have no idea what actually happened to the bear–by the time the adults were able to get outside to look, it had disappeared somewhere, but . . . that’s a little worrying. Not because they’re viscious (since they’re usually not), but we live in a little suburban neighborhood. It’s one thing to have a deer wander through every now and again, but a bear? Actually ON the street? Hmm. Walking’s kind of overrated, don’t you think? (The other surprising thing is that, while this was happening, Mom and I were sitting in the living room, by the window, and we didn’t see a thing. Not a clue what was going on. Obviously, our spying skills need some work.)

Mom also watched Martha Stewart’s talk show this morning, because Carly Simon was a guest . . . though she’s been grumbling about MS’s interview style ever since. (“She’d ask a question, and then interrupt her answer, or change the subject!”) One interesting tidbit, though–apparently Sally Taylor, Carly’s daughter, who’s doing this tour (along with brother Ben) is a knitter. She was wearing a lovely dress that she’d knitted herself, in a week, while on tour. Apparently, knitting is the perfect activity during sound checks. Who knew!

At 3:00, though, we went to the movies to see Pride & Prejudice. I mentioned the other day that it’s one of my all-time favorite books. Well, they did a wonderful job with the movie (always a relief). I’m content with the plot points they had to condense, the characters they left out. (Really, did anybody miss Bingley’s other sister and her husband?) The scenery was gorgeous. There was rather more livestock wandering around than I remember ever being mentioned in the book, and I don’t recall quite so many rainstorms, but, well, dramatic effect, right? They did a good job, were true to the book where it mattered, the acting was good . . . glad I went. I think Chappy’s a little miffed with me, though–he’s not going to let me out of the house any more!

Not only that, but I clearly need to go to the movies more often. (Yes, this is twice in the last week, but do you know this is the first time I’ve been to the movies all year??) Look at the great sock-progress I’ve made! As of last Friday, both these socks were only toes. Now, the one on the left (which I worked on through the entire movie today) is ready for its heel, and the one on the right (which was about an inch longer, but needed to be torn back for some errors I made in the dark) is still pretty close to the heel. You wouldn’t think much of that, perhaps, except for the fact that they’ve been stuck at the third row past the toe since July. It took me four months to get them to this point. Four months, and an excuse to sit in one place for several hours without being able to see my hands, and therefore needing something simple and portable to work on.

I’ve also been reading my way through this new addition to my knitting library. There are some really helpful tips in here, along with a bunch of stuff I already knew, but that’s what you get when you buy a reference book, right?

The other reading I’ve been concentrating on the last couple days is volumes 5 and 6 of the Harry Potter series. Having just seen movie #4, and having listened to audio book #2 lately . . . I’ve been dying to re-read book #6–which I’m very proud to say I’ve managed to resist up until now. But with the Goblet of Fire movie fresh in my brain, I read Order of the Phoenix again (gnashing my teeth at Umbridge the whole time), and am just now finishing up the Half-Blood Prince.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got (sniffle) a funeral to attend…

(In the book, you understand, not a real one. Still kind of sad, though!)

Tags: Family, General, Knitting/Spinning, Reading by Deb
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Yes, many things to be thankful for, but really, I won’t bore you all with the details (grin). We had a lovely day. The food was delicious, if I do say so myself. Mom’s stomach wasn’t feeling its best and so I pretty much did the cooking (though my sister helped). My brother-in-law carved the turkey, which is a rare, rare thing in our house. We’ve never done the “carry the turkey to the table for the man of the house to carve,” thing. We’ve always just carved in the kitchen and carried the platter into the dining room. And none of the men in our family cook, so it was quite a shock, really, having one in the kitchen doing work. My goodness!

Anyway, everything was good. Everyone was in a good mood. My nephew got a little snow. Chappy got turkey dinner and is exhausted from all the entertaining. Mom’s feeling better.

Many things to be thankful for. Hope all of you can say the same.

Tags: Family by Deb
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Unusually for me, it’s after 10:00 and I just got home. My best friend is visiting from California and this was my one opportunity to see her before she heads back on Friday. We went out for dinner, and then hung out at Starbucks over coffee until they closed at 10:00. Really nice visit, but now I’m tired and not up to a full post.

I wanted to wish everyone (in the U.S. at least) a very happy Thanksgiving for tomorrow. I’m hoping the weather will cooperate so that my sister’s family can get down here from the Poconos tomorrow–they might get some snow.

And Mom’s saying her throat is scratchy, and she’s afraid she’s getting sick . . . but I think it’s overflow from the cheering at the Carly Simon concert last night, more than anything else. But hoping she’ll be well for tomorrow. (Oh, and Carly has a new DVD out from her concert on the Queen Mary–which will also be aired on PBS. You know, if any of you are fans. I know Mom would have wanted me to tell you–she’s already watched her copy.)

And, to share a couple links. First–go and congratulate Emma and Oliver, who are finally getting Oliver’s new wheelchair!

Then, go over and check out these adorable gingerbread man ornaments at Tammy’s Polka Dot Mittens.

Have a great day, everyone. Enjoy the turkey, if that’s what you’re having, and be well.

Now, I have to go make up with Chappy for deserting him for several hours tonight…. Whatever was I thinking??

Tags: Friends, General by Deb
6 Comments »

I know, I’m just wowing you with the great post titles lately, huh?

Thank you all for your compliments on my autumnal yarn. I’m really quite happy with it, too! The spinning could have been more technically proficient–it wasn’t near to balanced–but I don’t care. I love it anyway!

Chappy and I are on our own tonight. Mom and Dad are in the city at the Carly Simon concert. They left about 3:15 this afternoon to pick up their friends. They were all driving into New York together, getting supper, and then heading over to the concert–hopefully with plenty of time to spare so that Mom wouldn’t be stressed.

I’ve spent my evening profitably enough, getting ready for Thanksgiving on Thursday. I made a batch of cranberry-applesauce–my favorite. I always liked the jellied stuff from a can for the sake of the texture, but it wasn’t great for flavor. But I don’t like the texture of whole cranberries at all–too chewy, or something–so most alternative recipes just don’t do it for me. But this recipe, I love.

Take a bag of cranberries, put them in a pot with a little orange or cranberry juice–just enough to wet the bottom of the pan so things won’t stick and burn. Bring up to a boil, then cover, turn down the heat, and cook over medium-low heat until all the berries have popped and are soft. Turn out into a fine mesh strainer (or a food mill, if you’re lucky enough to have one) and press all the pulp through the mesh (be sure to scrape the bottom of the strainer to get as much of the pulp as possible). Discard what’s left in the strainer, and return the pot to the stove. Add sugar to taste–usually between 1/4 and 1/2 cup. And then I cheat a little and use a jar of apple sauce, rather than making my own. (Hey, I believe in doing things from scratch, but homemade applesauce tastes pretty much exactly like the stuff from the store, so I prefer to save my apple-peeling and -chopping for more important things.) Stir to blend, taste for sweetness. And that’s it. Chill until ready. It’s got a nice smooth texture, that all-important cranberry zing, and a gorgeous red color. Perfect.

I also made–or tried to make–little mini chocolate bundt cakes (since not everyone loves pumpkin pie–hard though I find that to believe). They baked fine but . . . didn’t want to come out of the pan. So I’m left with 6 bottoms and a pile of crumbs. Sigh. Sometimes, bundt pans just really don’t like me! Still . . . I sampled the crumbs (well, they were just sitting there), and they tasted yummy. On a plate with a little whipped cream or ice cream . . . who’ll really care that they don’t look perfect?

Tomorrow, I’ll make the pumpkin pies, and then all the advance stuff for Thanksgivng dinner will be done. Then we’ll just cross our fingers for the weather. It’s possible we’ll have some snow–and that my sister will get several inches. We agreed that if they get a fair amount of snow, that we’ll just postpone our family Thanksgiving until Friday. A little disappointing, if it happens, but since none of us were planning on going shopping on Friday, anyway, no problem. My only solid plan for the weekend is to go see Pride & Prejudice, which could be any of the days, so . . . flexible! I might be seeing Cindy on Sunday, too, which would be nice–I haven’t seen her since October, and she claims to have a birthday present waiting for me . . .

A couple cute links. Like, this site where you can time the speed it takes to type the alphabet. And how cool is this? A washing machine that doesn’t use water. Just a prototype, but so, so cool! That’s almost as nifty as the Scooba, which I would dearly love to have. Mopping floors and I do not get along. And do you exercise? You do? Are you sure? How about your eyes?

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Another fun little quiz

You Passed 8th Grade Science

Congratulations, you got 7/8 correct!

Could You Pass 8th Grade Science?

Tags: Baking, Family, General by Deb
3 Comments »

  Finally, I’ve got my orange and burgandy yarn done. You’ll remember, I started with singles in each color, which I barber-poled together, until I ended up with 4 and a half bobbins full of yarn. Which then sat around in my closet, waiting for me to get everything wound onto my niddy-noddy, soaked and washed to set the twist, hung to dry . . . but finally, today, the last of it is done, and I’ve got this lovely pile of yarn.

That’s about a pound of fiber, about 940 yards (if I counted correctly and remember the size of my niddy-noddy correctly. 470 turns around it, at any rate–give or take one or two I may have lost while counting). The wool is Corriedale, bought from the Blue Goose Glen store on Ebay. The red dye ran ever so slightly when I washed it, but nothing to worry about.

Despite the flaws–it’s not nearly as well-balanced as a yarn should be, though the drying-with-weights helped–I love the way this yarn came out. I love the tweedy color. I love the way the two colors compliment each other, and yet the orange isn’t as blindingly orange, the burgandy isn’t as sober a red. They get along swimmingly. I’m thrilled.

Now . . . whatever can I make with it??? (You know, once I’ve finished my current projects. Naked Stix, you know.)

  I haven’t been neglecting my other spinning, either. My lovely merino-silk blend from the Sheep Shed. This is another I’m adoring the color of. At first glance, it just looks gray–a nice, medium-dark gray. But in fact, under a brighter light, it’s got a whole lot of purple going on. I really like that a lot.

I’ve always been a fan of gray wool. I don’t know why, exactly. Maybe it was those Lothlorien cloaks during my impressionable days when I first read Lord of the Rings. (And, in fact, grey cloaks seem to be a very popular garment for fantasy heros–the villains wear black. Need I tell you that I made myself a gray wool cloak when I was in college? The warmest thing I have ever worn for going for walks across campus in the cold.) I love gray flannel trousers, too. There’s just something cozy about gray wool, to me. So the fact that this yarn looks primarily gray? Loving it.

Oh, I want to thank Susan for sending me a copy of Bark magazine. I have read it a couple of times, but don’t subscribe, so it’s a rare treat to get to see an issue. Thank you for thinking of me and Chappy!

And speaking of dogs, Chappy and I are just a wee bit jealous of Lizzie and Max, Shelley and Marley, for fun playdate they had this weekend. I keep pointing out to Chappy that it’s 5-6 hours in the car to get down there, but all he keeps saying is that HIS blogging friends got to play, so now he wants to, too. Obviously, he won’t remember how much he dislikes the car until he’s actually in the car.

Remember a couple days ago when I was complaining about the early, early start to the Christmas music? I’m not the only one. Don’t get me wrong, I love Christmas, love the music–but I really, really think the people at the radio stations could restrain themselves until after Thanksgiving. And I feel sorrier all the time for the people who don’t even celebrate this holiday and get stuck with all this over-blown hoop-la that gets worse every year.

My feeling is that it’s fine that Christmas is about gifts as much as it is about the religious connotations (like, you know, Christmas TREES or hats thereof). Really. And as much as we like to think that Christmas is really a religious holiday, its roots actually go back to the old, pagan, Winter Solstice days–the Christian Church just decided to “adopt” the winter celebration and turn it into a holy-day, since people were going to be reveling and whooping it up anyway. It’s really never been about the birth of Jesus.

I think that it’s gotten (and getting!) far too commercial, but really, it wouldn’t be the same without the gifts. I personally relish the chance to find something that my family members will love–it’s a chance to really show them how much I care about them, by getting them the perfect gift, that they wouldn’t get or make themselves. There’s something kind of nice about a holiday where you get to show the people you care about how much you care, how well you know them, rather than just sitting around eating (or whatever one does on other holidays). And let’s be honest, it’s fun to get gifts yourself, too . . . because really, who doesn’t love getting presents?

Tags: Finished Spinning, General, Knitting/Spinning by Deb
16 Comments »

  It was chilly this morning–only in the 20s when I got up this morning. (And, even so, my Dad went golfing today. Mom and I think he’s crazy.) Mom and I, on the other hand, went out for coffee.

I brought my Kid Silk Haze scarf, and she brought a magazine. The color of my yarn is pretty accurate in this picture–kind of caramel-yellow. It’s really lovely, and I’m remembering why I liked KSH so much the last time I used it (my Birch shawl last year). I do still think that it’s going to take far too long to turn this little bit of lace into a full-length scarf. I’ve been working on it for almost a week now and it’s only about 7″ long–to make a real scarf? Endless. So what I’m thinking it, I’ll only work it to about 18-24″, but with a keyhole knitted in at some point–so that it’s just long enough to wrap around my neck, pull the end through itself, and just keep my neck warm. It’ll look pretty and ruffly, and anyway, if I made it yards long for a regular scarf, the lacy ends would just get caught on things and break anyway, right??

Afterwards, when the yarn shop was open, we went over because I wanted to buy some Cascade 220 for the Perfect Sweater, except, I was wrong–they don’t carry that yarn. I did buy another skein of Suede for my knitting bag, though–I want it to be just a little bigger than the pattern calls for because then, of course, I’ll be able to carry more yarn!

  This afternoon, Mom and I went to the movies. Yep. To see Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. I think they did an admirable job condensing that enormous, complex book into a reasonable-length movie. (For that book, two and a half hours IS reasonable.) I enjoyed it, acknowledged the changes they had to make to the story to make it work for a film, and had a good time. I do wish the boys–especially the Weasley boys–would get haircuts, though.

  I also worked on my sock. One of the two I’ve had languishing on the needles since July. Before we left, I took one off the needle to wait at home (my purse isn’t big enough for two balls of yarn), and brought the other to work on at the theater. During the movie, in fact. When I left the house, this was barely a toe–all the length you see was done while watching the movie.

  Unfortunately, my knitting is less than perfect when I can’t see, and I dropped a few stitches. I’ll have to see what I can do to fix this–that’s at least two on the edge (at the turn), and one in the middle on each side. Interestingly, I was counting the stitches as I knitted and never actually had less than 22 per side. I’ll try dropping stitches down to the holes and picking things back up again–because it’s worth a try–but I think it’s more likely that I’ll have to actually tear back go the first dropped stitch. Everything looks fine up until that point . . . I suppose I may have gotten involved in the movie, or distracted or something . . .

  It’s a pity, because I was really pleased to be making so much progress on a project that’s been sorely neglected lately. Which brings me to my next point. Have you heard about the Naked Stix Knit-along? The idea is to get the projects ON your needles now done by 2006. Isn’t that a great idea??

Here are the projects I want to get done:

1. My Union Square Market Pullover. I’ve got the body done and the sleeves are at about my elbow.
2. My Suede knitting bag–probably at about the halfway point
3. My little KSH neck-warmer scarf (see above)
4. And yes, this poor, neglected pair of socks.

Tags: General, Knitting/Spinning by Deb
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Our first dog, Mustard. (Because she was a hot dog–we were children when we named her, you understand. Really, she went by “Muppy.”)

  My first spinning. (Well, there was one, lumpy glob of wool before this one, but this is the first that actualy counted.)

  First Grade

  My first book–as in the manuscript of. Obviously, I’d read countless books before I ever got to this point, but unfortunately have read countless since without getting it any further than this point, poor thing.

  My first laptop computer. (I suppose it did, technically, fit on one’s lap, but it weighed so much, really, why bother? It’s a monstrosity, circa 1989. I’d give you the tech specs, but really, you’d just laugh. Hey, I was just excited that it had a hard-drive.)

  My first sweater . . . really! A Lopi pattern, in Lopi wool, using both hands for color-work and knitted on circular needles. The whole thing was a revelation and took me 10 days. Count ‘em. TEN days.

  My first “real” ring, my birthstone.

  My first bedroom. (Thankfully, only two walls were wall-papered. It WAS the 70s, you know.)

  My first day of school. Luckily, Mom snapped this picture before the bus arrived–once it did, the only shot she got was my ankle in its purple sock as I ran onto the bus.

  My first pair of glasses. (Needed shortly after finishing that first sweater. A coincidence??)

  My first Christmas. Note my very excited big sister sitting in the background. I love that shot of her. (Oh, and may I introduce you to my Grandfather?)

Which brings me to another first for the day. First Christmas songs on the radio. I’ve been hearing them in the stores for a couple weeks now, but for the last 3/4 of an hour, they’ve been playing nothing but Christmas music on the radio. Some of them are songs I like quite a bit, and it has been a while since I heard them, but . . . it’s not even Thanksgiving yet! I’m sorry, that’s just wrong. (Added: Did you know there is a Society for the Preservation of Thanksgivng that addresses just this sort of thing? See Phyllis‘ blog entry for today.)

But hey, assembling all those “first” photos was fun. You should try it. Consider it a meme from me to you. And before you go, here’s one more for you

  First male dog in the family!

Tags: Chappy, Family, General, Katy, Jilly, Muppy, Knitting/Spinning by Deb
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I have, really, nothing new to show you. My sleeves are approaching my elbows. My bag is about 9″ long and about to start its fourth skein of yarn. My lacy scarf is all of about 4″ long and at this rate is going to be finished just in time for Spring. (Hmm, how long does a scarf really need to be, anyway?? Maybe I’ll just make it long enough to wrap around my neck and then add a button or something.)

I finished reading one book (The Good Earth, by Pearl Buck) and started another (Secret Lives by E.F. Benson). Watched Veronica Mars on television last night.

I finished going through the tutorials on my new Fujitsu Tablet computer . . . but here’s the thing. I’m not actually loving this computer. The tablet options–handwriting, speech-recognition, all that–they are indeed very cool. And in some ways, it’s one of the easiest ways I’ve seen to browse the internet, scroll through a long document, all that. But I bought a screen with a higher resolution (making everything smaller), which I think was a mistake (not the fault of the computer). Whenever I change the size of the DPI . . . it reverts back as soon as I reboot–which, ironically, you have to do to make the change go into effect. A nice little programming irony, there. The computer doesn’t wake up reliably after Stand-by (I had to unplug and it and pop out the battery twice yesterday because the system was frozen), which could be a fluke, but . . . . Anyway, I don’t know that the cool-factor outweighs the small inconveniences. I sent an e-mail to the company asking if an exchange is possible–’cause, it’s always good to know your options!

There was, however, this very cute cartoon in today’s paper. Mother Goose and Grimm.

(Funny, we’ve always called this p-mail.)

Oh, and so far, I’ve sold 40 copies of Tannenbaum. Wow! I’m just speechless. Is it wrong of me to hope for at least 10 more sales between now and next Friday so I’ll have at least a $50 donation to Habitat for Humanity?

Tags: General, Knitting/Spinning, Reading by Deb
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  Thank you, SP6! I got a belated birthday present from my secret pal today–thank you! I’m particularly liking the Tudor-ish hat, although it would probably look terrible on me. I like hats, and usually look good in them, but cloche-style hats usually look pretty dreadful–no brim plus the, um, fullness of my curls usually looks pretty comical. So I really don’t know how this hat would look on me, but I really rather like it.

  I’ve been spinning, too, on the lovely merino/silk I got at Rhinebeck. It’s going to take me about an age and a half to spin all 3 lbs of it. At the moment, I’ve only got two bobbins for my Woolee Winder, so I figure I’ll fill them up, ply those two singles together onto my one plying-size bobbin, and then move onto the next batch. By doing small stages like that, too (as opposed to spinning all the singles first, even assuming I had enough bobbins), I think I’ll feel like I’m making more progress, or something. I stupidly didn’t divide that first batch in half before I started, so am not entirely sure if I should fill this bobbin up completely to reach the halfway point of the first 8 oz . . . I suppose I could pull out my scale and weigh out 4 oz of the bump sitting on my desk which, even without an accurate pre-spinning weight, would at least be an approximation.

  Want a closer look? It’s really coming out quite lovely. For the picture, I put it right under the light, which really brings out the purple, but in more “normal” light, it looks like a medium-dark gray with just a hint of purple–really pretty.

I suppose at some point, I should start thinking about what kind of sweater I want to turn this into, but I think I’ll have a better idea once the first “batch” is complete.

Which reminds me–I still haven’t gotten all of that red/orange yarn wound off of my bobbins yet. I got through three of the five bobbins, but winding the niddy noddy made my left shoulder hurt. I still love the way the yarn came out, but I did a pretty lousy job balancing the twist. not that I care! It’s still gorgeous, but . . . yeah . . . pretty curly stuff! I really need to set the twist on the three skeins wound off.

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I got this from Jessalu:

You Passed 8th Grade Math

Congratulations, you got 9/10 correct!

Could You Pass 8th Grade Math?

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And, this one. I particularly liked the part about “buried in a book.” I mean really, does that remind you of anyone??

Your Personality Profile

You are dignified, spiritual, and wise. Always unsatisfied, you constantly try to better yourself. You are also a seeker of knowledge and often buried in books.You tend to be philosophical, looking for the big picture in life. You dream of inner peace for yourself, your friends, and the world. A good friend, you always give of yourself first.

The World’s Shortest Personality Test

Tags: General, Knitting/Spinning by Deb
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New computer, meet Old computer. Old computer, may I introduce my New computer?

Really, I’m not going to have much to say tonight–I’m busy getting used to my new computer. The screen is just a little smaller than my old one, but it’s a convertible tablet pc–meaning it can work, like this, as a regular laptop, or I can swing the screen around and fold it flat, and use it as a tablet pc with the nifty electronic pen that came with it. I’ve never used a tablet PC before, so, there’s a learning process there!

  I don’t want you to think I’ve been neglecting my knitting, though. I mentioned over the weekend that I was (cough) hoping to get this beautiful, mustardy-gold color felt hat Mom and I saw in Nordstroms? (And being conveniently blind to the hat box she carried out of the store?) Well, this Kid Silk Haze I bought in Montclair is a darn close match, and well, I figure it’s best to have a scarf ready to go . . . just in case!

And, please, don’t think that this looks similar to that infamous Copper Colored Zephyr in that Hyrna shawl, because it just doesn’t, all right? Maybe superficially in this picture, but really not at all in person. The yarn is more caramel-colored than copper, and the lace stitch doesn’t really look as much like the beginning of that shawl as it appears to in this picture. You’re just going to have to take my word for it.

  Now, before I go back to transferring files and learning the ins and outs of Windows XP Tablet edition, let me just say thank you to Lizzy B, who was nice enough to pick up these postcard souvenir books for me on her recent vacation. Wasn’t that nice of her??

Tags: General, Knitting/Spinning by Deb
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Let’s see. Manicure? Check. Pedicure? Check. Bubble bath? Check. Haircut? Check.

Sounds lovely and relaxing, huh?

Yeah, I think so, too, but in this case, I was the one doing all the work.

On the other hand, Chappy looks just gorgeous, with fresh, fluffy curls, a shiny coat, and no longer so ragged around the edges.

And look how relaxed he looks. All that blow-drying will do that to you. (In Chappy’s case, “blow-drying” means “Run around the house at top speed until dry.” He’s always just a little tired afterward.)

I want to thank everyone who’s bought a copy of my Tannenbaum pattern so far. My most recent count is 23 people, not including the two who asked if they could pay by check. I’m really flattered! Don’t forget–I’m donating $1 to Habitat for Humanity for every copy I sell between now and November 25th–just in case you were interested.

Sandy, here’s another sky picture I took on my way to work the other day around lunchtime. Even with the cloud cover, you can see all the way to the horizon in the east. It’s amazing the number of leaves that came down on Monday night. There were barely any down at Halloween, and now, there aren’t many left at all.

I haven’t gotten any knitting done yet today, at all. Sometimes it happens on a Sunday afternoon, but not this time! I did pull out that caramel-colored Kid Silk Haze I bought a couple weeks ago, though. I saw this beautiful felt hat in a mustardy-gold-yellow color yesterday that I hinted strongly would be wonderful for Christmas, and realized on the way home that that yarn color was just about a perfect match. I think it behooves me to knit it into some sort of lacy scarf . . . you know, just in case that hat shows up under the Christmas tree.

(See? Another reason to love autumn–it gives me a chance to ask for things I want as gifts, rather than having to buy them myself. But once December passes, it’s a loooong 10 months before we’re approaching my birthday again!)

So, no knitting (yet) today, but Mom and I did take Chappy for a nice, long, Sunday morning walk around the neighborhood (where he got to see three of his best friends, too). I baked some banana bread in my new Cathedral Bundt pan, too. Just a quiet day around the house–and that was nice, because it’s the house’s anniversary today–it was 30 years ago that we moved in–exactly one week after my ninth birthday. We moved out of our old house the day after–I still remember, I was allowed to unwrap all of my presents that year, but not to take the shrink wrap off things like my Mickey Mouse desk set because Mom had to pack them . . . (sigh). Kind of cruel timing for a nine year old, but then, I’d been home sick the day before (bad timing for a Mom trying to pack up a house!) and Mom did give me one of my toys a day early to keep me amused. “Perfection.” Anyone else remember that game? I can’t believe we’ve been here 30 years. Wow!

I also finished reading Pride & Prejudice for the umpteenth time yesterday. For three reasons. One, it’s been a while since I read it and since it is one of my favorites–as can be seen by the state of my copy. I do actually have a nice, hard-cover, “collectible” copy, but this is the one I always reach for. I’ve had it since college and, well, let’s just say I only have two other books in my library that are in similar condition. (Fellowship of the Ring and A Little Princess.) I take excellent care of my books, but when you pass the 15th or 20th reading of a paperback, there’s bound to be some wear and tear.

Second, because of the new movie, which I want to see, but don’t know when I’ll manage it. And three, because Pamela Aidan’s third Fitzwilliam Darcy book is due out soon, and it’s one of the best “sequels” to Austen’s book I’ve ever read. Well, it’s a trilogy of three books, telling the story from Darcy’s point of view, and really, they’re very well done.

Here’s something frightening, though–my father said at dinner that he’s never heard of Pride & Prejudice. Or Jane Austen. How is that possible??? It’s not like she’s a new author . . . I’m almost afraid to ask him if he’s heard of Dickens. Or Faulkner. F. Scott Fitzgerald? Thomas Hardy? Mark Twain??

Oh, and, a thank you to Lanie for the handmade envelope RAOK she sent me. They’re beautiful!

Tags: Family, General, Reading, Sky by Deb
9 Comments »

I don’t know why my “Buy Now” button for the Tannenbaum hat hasn’t been working . . . it’s bizarre, because I’ll get the HTML from PayPal, add it, save it, test it, and it will be working and then . . . a little while later, I’ll have an e-mail or a comment from somebody who’s tried to buy but it hasn’t worked. But it had been working, and it apparently worked for some people . . . it’s a mystery to me. I did find a link though that should at least continue to work and added that . . . we’ll hope! Meantime, I am flattered by all the compliments. I’m so glad you all like my hat so much!

Meanwhile, I am well and truly stuck on sleeve island. Oh, progress is being made, but it’s soooooo sloooooow. I’ve got about 7″ done for my Union Square Market Pullover sleeves, and still have more than twice that to go. Why DO sleeves always feel so endless? They’re looking nice, though. I made the “bell” of the sleeve smaller than the pattern called for because I thought it would make wearing them a little more practical. It’s pretty much a straight sleeve at this point, just with the short-row shaping for the cuff. (Which is reversed from one sleeve to the other, so you see the narrow part of the sleeve on the right, and the widest part of the sleeve on the left. It will make more sense when they’re finished… I hope!)

  Is it wrong for a knitter to buy her own socks? Because somehow, this felt wrong today. But so far–even though I like all three pair of socks I’ve handknit for myself until now, I’m still not entirely happy with the way any of them fit–too wide, or too long . . . my own fault. And, anyway, I clearly can’t knit this fast! And Nordstrom’s was having it’s Half-Yearly sale today, and I got great prices on these very basic, good to wear under boots, kind of socks.

Oh, and did somebody say . . . boots? My favorite winter footwear, but my basic, black leather boots that I’ve been wearing the last several years look . . . sad. I think it was time for new ones, and since riding boots seem to be popular this year (I’m not a cowboy boot kind of girl), it seemed a good time to buy myself a new pair of black boots. I even surprised myself–of the two I was deciding between, I actually picked the cheaper of the two . . . and they were on sale, too!

Which is good, because my new computer is on its way–it got held up in customs on its way from Japan, but is on route to Parsippany NJ right now. Hurray! I hope that means I’ll have it on Monday.

Oh, and I have found one negative thing to say about my Woolee Winder. Since I don’t have to stop spinning so often to adjust the feed on my bobbin, I’m getting a cramp in my left index finger from having to hold the twist for so long without a break. That’s just dreadful, isn’t it??

And, one last thing.

17 years ago today, we welcomed my brother-in-law into the family.

Happy anniversary, Patty and Mike!

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Because it’s going around and kind of cool, though really, I’ve never considered my putting myself last to be even a personality trait of mine, not to mention my greatest weakness!

Your Birthdate: November 6

You tend to be a the rock in relationships – people depend on you. Thoughtful and caring, you often put others needs first. You aren’t content to help those you know… you want to give to the world. An idealist, you strive for positive change and dream about how much better things could be.Your strength: Your intuition Your weakness: You put yourself last Your power color: Rose Your power symbol: Cloud Your power month: June

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

Tags: Family, General, Knitting/Spinning by Deb
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You’ve seen the pictures, you’ve heard the stories, and now, finally, we here at Chappysmom are proud to bring you Tannenbaum.

Yes, you heard me. At last, the Tannenbaum, Christmas Tree Hat pattern is available.

It all began when a girl saw a polar fleece hat on a tv show and was smitten, and wanted to make herself one. To knit one. But there was no pattern for such a hat anywhere. Pale imitations, yes, but not the fun, shapely hat she wanted.

And so she made her own. First, one in a solid color yarn with subtle beads for the ornaments–a mature, yet playful hat. Then one in variegated yarn, with bigger, multi-colored beads in different shapes.

And then, because she acknowledged that there are many people who don’t celebrate Christmas but that might like the hat anyway, she made one all in white, with tiny green “trees,” to make a snow-covered mountain, perfect for a tiny little skier. She made, in short, a forest. And now, so can you.

Knitted on circular needles, this hat uses a twisted-rib for the brim, for some character. Short-rows shape the branches, with beads for the “ornaments,” as the hat is shaped upward toward the point. Then it’s topped it off with a coordinating star. Playful, without being too cute. A fun little evergreen to wear for the winter.

MATERIALS

• Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock yarn [80% superwash wool, 20% nylon; 215 yd per 2 oz skein]; color: Pine; 1 skein

• 1 set US #1 (2.5mm) double-point needles

• 16 inch US #1 (2.5mm) circular needles (Or, longer, circular needles in US #1/2.5 mm, if you prefer another method for knitting small circumferences)

• 56 beads of your choice

• Small, steel crochet hook, small enough to fit through the hole of the bead

• A few yards of spare yarn for the star

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Tannenbaum.It’s not just a hat, it’s the start of your very own forest.All for the modest price of $5.00 for the pattern.Plus free membership in the Tannenbaum Knit-Along, if so desired*Please click here to buy
,

or you can buy the pattern on Ravelry, just click here

Thanks, everyone!

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Tags: Finished Knitting, Knitting/Spinning by Deb
25 Comments »

Knitting–let’s see. I’m stuck on Sleeve Island with my Union Square Market Pullover. Right now, the pair of them are about 5″ long–and it’s taken me over a week to get them that far. I have a feeling I’m going to be stranded here for a while . . . anyone got a pina colada?

My Suede bag is about 7″ long–growing slooooowly but surely.

I’m starting to think I’m never going to actually FINISH a project again! Nor have I had a chance to spin in the last three nights, and I’ve so wanted to! But there have been other things to get done–like getting my Christmas Tree Pattern ready to self-publish. I think I’ve got it–now I just have to finish setting up the Knit-Along. I’ve got a button for it, though! (It’s not too big, do you think??)

Now, this was an election week, and two of the interesting things that got voted in this week?

An 18-year old mayor in Michigan, a young man, still a senior in high school, who ran a write-in campaign to beat (by apparently 2 votes on the recount) the 51-year old incumbent. He’ll be working out of his bedroom after school . . . do you suppose, as Mayor, that he can get away with extra absences for his Senior year, if there’s a town emergency, or something? What a great way to pad his college applications, too. “So, tell me about your extracurricular activities.” “Well, I’m the Mayor….”

And then, the AKC (American Kennel Club) took one more step to recognizing my favorite breed of dog, the Boykin Spaniel. This is part of an interesting political upheaval in the Boykin Spaniel world–there’s the original group, the Boykin Spaniel Society, and then there’s the newer, but more forward-thinking Boykin Spaniel Club and Breeders Association of America. The BSS was the only breed registry around for years, but if you didn’t live in or near South Carolina, and weren’t interested in hunting trials (I don’t seem to you like a person interested in hunting, do I?) . . . which meant there wasn’t much that someone like me could do with my dog. I was frustrated with Katy, because I wanted to be able to try some of those cool AKC things like competitive obedience, or agility, but if your breed isn’t acknowledged, you can’t compete at an AKC event. The newer Boykin Spaniel group was apparently determined to get the breed into the AKC and so started its own registry group, sparking huge in-breed debates. In fact, they’ve got a button on their site devoted to the Lawsuit that was just settled (coincidentally) on Chappy’s birthday. Who knew dog-lovers could be so acrimonious?

But anyway, I’m not about to run out and start trying to train Chappy to properly retrieve a dumbbell or anything, but as a non-hunting, Northern Boykin owner, I’m thrilled to hear that the breed is one step closer to AKC recognition. I acknowledge that the breed began as a hunting dog and would rather it stayed a healthy, robust, hunting dog than a foo-foo kind of show dog, just because I think that would be healthier for the breed at large–breed for what it can do, now hot it looks–but still. I’ve hated that I couldn’t even think about any real competitions for my dog–not that Chappy’s interested, but Katy would have loved it.

Tags: General, Knitting/Spinning by Deb
2 Comments »

Well, I got a very nice rejection from MagKnits about my Christmas Tree Hat pattern. Not that they didn’t like it–because she said that she did–but that she wouldn’t be able to get it into an issue before Christmas. But that she’d even be willing to post a link to my hat if I publish it myself–isn’t that a nice, friendly rejection?? (grin)

So, I guess I’ll be publishing this pattern myself . . . I just need to put it into a PDF format, which shouldn’t be too hard, and then figure out how to get one of those little PayPal buttons, because I am going to charge a few dollars for the pattern. It’s adorable and pretty original, I think a few dollars seems pretty reasonable, don’t you? Say, like $3.95? (Too high? Just right? Too low? I don’t know, I’ve never sold one of my patterns before, though I’ve certainly bought some!)

Oh, and I will ALSO host a Knit-Along for this hat, which I’ll also set up in the next day or so. With, maybe, a prize for the first person to complete the hat?

How does all that sound to you folks?

  Oh, and just because it’s cute and sheepy, a look at Pooch Cafe from the Saturday:

Tags: General, Knitting/Spinning by Deb
15 Comments »