Well, here it is.

My Olympic medal.

(sniffle)

Really, it was just an honor to compete.

I’d like to thank Stephanie, for coming up with the wacky idea in the first place. And thanks to Franklin, too, for designing my medal. It’s beautiful. (Sniff)

And, let’s not forget, it was darn fun, too!

Now, my next sweater project is going to be making Wendy’s “Marilyn’s Not-So Shrunken Cardigan” with my own homespun orange/red yarn. I’ve got the swatch knitted and washed and everything. I just need to measure it to compare it to the gauge in the pattern, and I’m all set to go.

Really.

That’s the plan.

Despite having this arrived this afternoon.

That’s six skeins of Black Water Abbey yarn, in the Autumn colorway. Purchased for the Celtic Dreams sweater–which thankfully, looks much better when made to actually fit the model, as seen on Annie‘s blog. Or Melanie‘s. Or Mary Beth‘s.And Cassie‘s is looking beautiful. I just don’t know what the photographer was thinking.

But, really. That’s the plan.

Honest.

Tags: Uncategorized by Deb
6 Comments »

E is for Elephants. Little crystal ones we’ve had for as long as I can remember.

E is for Elvis. One of Mom’s long-time favorites. (And hey, the early stuff? What’s not to love?)

E is for Elbows.

E is for Elderberry Syrup. (Which, yes, Norma, I still don’t like, but have to admit it seems effective. This is my second bottle.)

E is for, well, E. Vitamin E. Always good to have around!

E is for Embroidery. Mom’s embroidery, to be precise. It’s been years since I did any, though I do like it. It’s hard to imagine topping my favorite, the Carl Larsson project.

E is for Edgartown. That’s on Martha’s Vineyard, the source of this cross-stitch, which Mom made.

E is for Endearing. (You knew I’d work Chappy in here somehow, right?)

Of course, E is also for Entrance.

And, E is for Exit. Ta ta!

Tags: ABC-Along by Deb
6 Comments »

I’ve got another FO to show you–my Koigu socks, in that gorgeous colorway of golds, purples, and blues. They go just wonderfully with my Olympic sweater, don’t you think? All the accent colors are in there, and there’s even a touch of green in the socks (just the tiniest touch, but it’s there). (Here‘s a better look at the colors.) They fit wonderfully, and I’m quite happy with them.

I haven’t actually gotten much of anything else done today. Reading. That’s mostly it. Kind of asthma-ish today (yes, Norma, I DID take some Elderberry syrup and I repeat, “ick”), and so I didn’t really feel like cleaning, like I really should have done, but I did do my laundry, did finish a book, and got some knitting done.

I’m getting close to the end of my Lotus Blossom Shawl, too. I’m midway through the third set of “blossoms,” and have about 12 rows to go, and am hoping to have this done by the end of the week. (Twelve rows, but at about 300 stitches each, it takes me about 20 minutes to get through each row, so . . . still a few days.) It looks great, though, and I’m still completely in love with the colorway (“Bronze”).

I do get good citizen points, though. I took some time out of my night to do my taxes. Yes, I know, I still do them the old-fashioned way–paper, pencil, calculator. I really don’t want to buy a copy of TurboTax, so . . . paper’s the only way to go. Chappy found the whole thing a bit boring.

Overall, though, as it comes to an end, I’d say this was a good weekend. Mom and I watched an oldish movie last night–Joe Versus the Volcano. Anyone remember that, from about 1990? Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan in an odd little sort-of fairy tale. Tom Hanks plays Joe, a man in a dismal, dead-end job, who’s told he has 6 months to live–and then a billionaire offers him a first-class trip to this tiny little Polynesian island to jump into a volcano. Meg Ryan actually plays three different characters throughout the movie, and it’s just sort of whimsical and off-beat, and yet sweet. (And, Nathan Lane’s one of the men behind Polynesian makeup–I’d recognize that voice anywhere! Back before he revived his career by voicing Timon in Lion King.) It’s not a great movie, but it’s oddly appealing.

Now, I’m watching the Olympics Closing Ceremony right now. As always, I’ve enjoyed watching the Games, even if the US coverage is pretty pathetic–everything runs long and keeps me up late; and they only show about five atheletes of most sports–the US members, and the medalists, and some long-shot or other. Fine. Whatever. It’s still the Olympics. I was reading some article the other day that talked about how the ratings have gone down (gee, I wonder why, see above), and who really cares about speed skating or downhill skiing anyway? But see? That’s part of the point. It’s nice to see something other than football/hockey/baseball/basketball. It’s nice to see atheletes competing for themselves, not just ridiculously high corporate salaries. And, every four years, why NOT be interested in moguls or bobsledding? Why NOT give these atheletes our attention, even though they’re not wearing corporate logos and being paid mega-bucks to do what they do? Because, really, in this materialistic age, that’s inspiring. They pay huge amounts of money for years of training, with no guarantee of anything but a dream at the end. Only a handful of them will ever will Olympic medals, but they’ve all spent years living the dream. Darn it, I’d rather watch someone committed enough to spend that kind of money than one being paid to play. (And, we just won’t discuss Bode Miller.)

Has anyone else noticed, by the way, how very attractive so many of the athletes are? For sports like figure skating where there’s an artistic . . . excuse me, presentation . . . element, I could see how there could be a skew toward better-looking competitors, but speed skating? All three of the 5000m speed skating medalists were darn good looking. So are a disproportionate number of the skiers and snowboarders. How’s that happen? Fast and attractive? Not a bad thing!

And, let’s not forget OUR favorite sport. The Knitting Olympics, which also conclude today. (Adorable graphic comes, of course, from Franklin.) Thank you, Stephanie, for having the brilliance to think this up! It was great fun–I hope you’ve medalled, and are just too tired to blog about it yet!

Added: I’m just chuckling at Bob Costas–he mentioned Joey Cheek, who is donating the $40K he won for medalling to charity, and is headed for college, a little disappointed that he didn’t get into Harvard, even though he got into a number of really good schools. Costas looked right at the camera, and said something to the effect of “I’m talking to YOU, Dean of Admissions (name) of Harvard University. Would it really hurt to take another look at Joey Cheek’s application? I’m just sayin’.” I don’t know, if his grades are even remotely good enough, he seems like a person I’d want at MY university!

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

We had so much fun, we’re exhausted.

I know, this isn’t a face you see on my blog that often–she usually makes her appearances over at her Mom‘s place. But since my camera was handy, I was the one who got to snap this picture. Kat didn’t want to nap with her brother, wanted to be with “the girls,” and so she entertained herself with us for a while until, suddenly, she was asleep. Standing up, and leaning against the sofa pillow. Then sloooowly, she slid backwards.

I had no idea that watching Risa and me knit was quite so tiring.

That’s the only picture I took all day, too. No kitty zen. No pictures of Alex (the little flirt). But I did get to meet the famous Sara, who’s just as soft and fluffy as she looks. Not only that, I got to meet and actually pet Earl and the elusive Duchess–a beautiful white and black cat. I’d never even seen a picture of her before, but am flattered that she came out to meet me. And that Alex wanted to hold MY hand when we went out, instead of his Mom’s. (Really. Very flattering. It made up for the fact that he clung to his Mom and wouldn’t come near me for the first half hour or so.)

The reason we went out instead of stayng in and knitting? We went back to Majestic Yarns, where I exchanged the extra yarn from my Olympics sweater, and got these in their place. That’s 6 skeins of Karabella Melange in a yummy blue-and-green, and three skeins of the green. I’m picturing a cardigan, with contrasting edges.

So, Carole? Does that count as 9 new skeins, even though I returned 6? Or only as the aggregate 3 for my anti-stashalong count?So, that’s my Saturday. I’ll have some knitting to show you tomorrow–I’ve still got at least a few days of knitting on my shawl, but I’ll show you an update.

And now, I’ve got to go look for some “E”s for the ABC-along. I’m really enjoying this photo-along–and can’t believe we’re starting the fifth fortnight of the year already!

Tags: Friends, General, Knitting/Spinning by Deb
6 Comments »

  Do you remember these little, folded-paper fortune tellers from school? You’d write fortunes, answers to questions, on the inside and your friend would pick a color or whatever, that you’d spell, opening and closing the inside as you spelled out the word?

I thought every school girl in America had done this at some point or another (in the back of boring classes in elementary school, as often as possible). Imagine my surprise when my mother said she’d never heard of it before. Wow! If nothing else, I was sure either my sister or I had, at some point, brought one of these babies home from school.

I came home to a really usual sight today. See?

What?

You don’t see it?

Look closer.

A man waaaay up in the tree across the street.

Apparently, our neighbors are having a couple trees cut down. I’m trying not to think about it. This was a gorgeous tree, the only one in their front yard, and the one I’d find myself looking at most often when sitting in my favorite spot with Chappy. But, you know, it’s not my tree, and it’s not my house it’s looming over, so . . .

I have to say, though, the show was very entertaining. Watching the guy at the top of the tree cut off the smaller branches, and then tie rope around the bigger ones, which the fellow on the ground would brace and pivot to ease them to the ground. We were all watching–with Chappy barking every time a big branch would go into the chipper.

Things were going swimmingly until about 5:30, when (1) it started getting too dark, (2) one big branch got caught in the rope so that they couldn’t get it to the ground, and (3) the chipper broke. That last log they tossed in there must have been too big!

Still, it was entertaining. And I’m sure it will continue to be when they come back, presumably tomorrow, to finish the job. Except I won’t be here. I’ll be at the Fair Isle Vest Finals competition. I’m looking forward to it!

And, are you one of the people hooked on Sudoko? Well, apparently, it’s GOOD for you! (My favorite site? www.websudoku.com.)

Tags: General by Deb
5 Comments »

And with a big sigh of relief, and the light of Olympic Glory in her eyes, our knitter proudly models her complete (and thankfully still-fitting) sweater.

Phew!

You’ll note, I’ve already got the gold-medal donut around my neck, huh?

What? A closer look?

I really enjoyed this top-down, totally seamless sweater. I cast on for the neckband, and worked back and forth across it, not joining it into a circle until I started the main body. Then, regular increases, along with color-patterning, down across the front, until it came time to divide for the sleeves. The sleeve stitches rested on markers, a few stitches were cast across the underarm “gap” and then everything knitted down to the ribbing, which I did in the same two-colors I used for the yoke. Then, back to the arms–picked up the stitches waiting, picked up the same few stitches at the underarm, and worked down, very quickly, to the cuffs, which I did in alternating green and gold (because really, It was a shame not to use the gold again). I’m glad I left the neckband solid, though. I did seriously think about doing it in an alternating rib, but I like the solid gold up there. I admit, that I really love the look of the alternating-color ribbing, mimicing the top of the yoke, and I’m SO glad I didn’t choose to do the wrists in the same colors as the waist. The only problem is some of the stray ends poking through to the front (sigh).

Really though, very happy.

The one who wasn’t happy? My fuzzy little boy.

Oh, he’s happy enough about the sweater and all. But he was not happy with the little photo shoot. What, he wanted to know, was the point on going out on the deck if I wasn’t going to let him down into the (muddy) yard to play??

It’s been a while since he’s been in the (muddy) yard to play because, well, it’s muddy. I can entirely see his point, but still. I just gave him a bath yesterday, and his feet get dirty enough going for walks–and he had one at lunch. So really, he had nothing to complain about. He’s just going to have to wait until (a) the ground freezes harder or (2) we get more snow or (iii) Spring comes and we hopefully get some actual grass. Really. There was no need for sulking.

Note: Apparently–to make matters worse–the cashier involved in yesterday’s incident was in fact older than my sister “between my age and a senior citizen herself,” according to my sister. Oh! That just makes it worse. She should really, really have known better . . . I’m guessing that she was the type to let herself go, though, she probably doesn’t care how she looks, only cares about saving that extra $.12 on groceries . . .

---

And, this week’s Booking Through Thursday

1. Are you currently collecting any authors? Why? Not at this precise moment, although I definitely do have the tendency to want all the books of any author I love.
2. Do you have all of their books? If not, why not? Usually–unless the quality fizzles in a series. Even then, if they’re still writing, I’ll at least look at the new ones to see how they’re doing.
3. Did you buy all the books in the collection at the same time, or did you buy a book here, a book there? It depends–if it’s a series which basically tells an entire story (e.g., Dorothy Dunnett), I’ll usually buy them all at once (or in as few trips as possible, if there are a lot of them). If it’s an author who writes “single” books or writes in pairs (e.g., Jane Austen), I’ll usually just get those on their own.
4. Have you read the whole collection? If not, why not? Chances are good that if I have it, I’ve read it! ‘Cause, isn’t that the point?

---

And, I thought this was cute.

You Are Scooter

Brainy and knowledgable, you are the perfect sidekick. You’re always willing to lend a helping hand. In any big event or party, you’re the one who keeps things going. “15 seconds to showtime!”

The Muppet Personality Test

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

My young-looking, slim, fit, sister was at the grocery store yesterday, and while she was paying, and counting out coupons and getting her wallet and doing all the other things you do at checkout lines, the girl at the cash register asked, “Do you have the other coupon?”

“Other coupon? What other coupon?” asked my sister.

“The Senior Citizen Discount.”

Ouch!

My poor sister almost fell over! I mean, okay, she might not look 20 anymore (she does have two kids and a husband), but she doesn’t look 41, either. (See? Here’s a picture of us from her birthday in June.) And she certainly doesn’t look anywhere near like 65. Needless to say, she was mortified, furious, and just, just, just, speechless. I could not believe it when I heard the story. Even my mother–who’s not 65 yet herself but is at least closer–doesn’t look like a senior citizen, and considering how often they’re mistaken for sisters . . . .

Sheesh! What was that young snip at the register thinking? Her excuse? “Well, when we don’t ask, people get upset.”

Obviously, she’s never seen my sister upset.

This is worse than being called “Ma’am” for the first time.

Now, I don’t have any exciting knitting news for you–I’m working on my shawl again, now that my Olympics sweater is finished. My socks are almost finished. But in terms of progress photos? Nothing much, really, to show. I’m looking forward to getting this shawl done–not only is it beautiful and I’m looking forward to wearing it, but I want to start my next lace project. (Sorry, I’m not saying what it is yet. It’ll be an adaptation of a pattern I already have.)

While I was knitting, we all watched Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. All of us. Me, Mom, Dad, and Chappy. And when Gromit pulled out his knitting needles in the truck? For some reason, they all looked at me! We thoroughly enjoyed the movie, by the way. Very funny. A nice change from all the Olympics-viewing, too.

Here are a couple non-knitting links for your entertainment, though (gleaned, as usual, from MSNBC’s “Clicked” page):

A blueprint game

A nightmare for my Mom: one billion mazes to solve.

What did George Washington look like as a young man?

Oh, and if you could say a little prayer, our company could really use some new business . . . a little extra good will couldn’t hurt, and I really love my job, so if you could say a kind word for us, it would be appreciated.

Tags: Family, General by Deb
14 Comments »

Well, here she is in all her glory. My Olympics Sweater, all blocked and everything . . .

. . . Although this may have been a mistake because, while my swatch didn’t shrink or stretch even a tiny bit, the sweater, now that it’s wet, appears to have grown fairly dramatically. Uh-oh! Seriously. Inches in pretty much all directions. This is worrying. I might be forced to toss it in the dryer, like I did with my Jo Sharp Silkroad sweater last year. It’s frustrating–no matter how careful I am, some knits just seem to bloom far, far too much!

Still . . . 13 skeins of Karabella Aurora Bulky yarn. My own pattern. Eight days of knitting. Olympic glory. Where’s the bad?

(You know, assuming it still fits.)

---

For your non-knitting entertainment. Here’s a link to a cell phone symphony, which I thought was pretty funny in a “clever prank where nobody got hurt and nothing was actualy illegal” kind of way. (You know how I enjoy those!)

Now–here–two memes to keep you entertained. (Please feel free to borrow either–I won’t actually tag anyone, but you know the drill!)

First, since Cara asked, here’s the view outside my front door as of about 10 minutes ago.

---

Now, since Amy asked:

Meme instructions: Look at the list of books below.
Bold the ones you’ve read, italicize the ones you might read, cross out
the ones you won’t, underline the ones on your book shelf, and place
(parentheses) around the ones you’ve never even heard of.

The Da
Vinci Code – Dan Brown.
The Catcher in the Rye – J.D. Salinger
The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy – Douglas Adams
The Great Gatsby – F.Scott Fitzgerald
To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee
The Time Traveler’s Wife – Audrey Niffenegger
His Dark Materials – Philip Pullman
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince – J. K. Rowling
Life of Pi – Yann Martel
Animal Farm: A Fairy Story – George Orwell
Catch-22 – Joseph Heller
The Hobbit – J. R. R. Tolkien
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time – Mark Haddon
Lord of the Flies – William Golding
Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen
1984 – George Orwell
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban – J. K. Rowling
One Hundred Years of Solitude – Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Memoirs of a Geisha – Arthur Golden
The Kite Runner – Khaled Hosseini
The Lovely Bones – Alice Sebold
Slaughterhouse 5 – Kurt Vonnegut
Angels and Demons – Dan Brown.
Fight Club – Chuck Palahniuk
Neuromancer – William Gibson
Cryptonomicon – Neal Stephenson
The Secret History – Donna Tartt
A Clockwork Orange – Anthony Burgess
Wuthering Heights – Emily Bronte
Brave New World – Aldous Huxley
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe – C. S. Lewis
Middlesex – Jeffrey Eugenides
Cloud Atlas – David Mitchell
The Lord of the Rings – J. R. R. Tolkien
Jane Eyre – Charlotte Bronte
Good Omens – Terry Pratchett, Neil Gaiman
Atonement – Ian McEwan
The Shadow Of The Wind – Carlos Ruiz Zafon
The Old Man and the Sea – Ernest Hemingway
The Handmaid’s Tale – Margaret Atwood
The Bell Jar – Sylvia Plath
Dune – Frank Herbert

The ones I left completely alone are ones I’ve heard of (I’ve heard of all of them) but have no opinions one way or another as to whether I’ll ever read them.

Tags: General, Knitting/Spinning, Reading by Deb
11 Comments »

I want to thank everyone for their get well wishes. The consensus here at the Chappy house is that this was not, in fact, something I ate, but a bug. Luckily, the worst of it was about 1:00 this morning (I won’t go into details). By the time I woke up this morning, my stomach was feeling a little tender, but not actually nauseated, and except for some, um, diarreah, today, mostly I’ve just been sleeping today. I haven’t gotten a stitch knitted all day! And have only gotten about 40 pages in my book read. Instead, I’ve basically napped the day away. Hopefully I’ll be feeling fine by tomorrow–thank heaven the office was closed today. I have an almost-perfect sick-day record (I’ve used one sick day in 15 years), and would certainly have needed to call in today.

Now, I was going to post the following links with pictures of my newly-blocked Olympics sweater, but, well, that was something else I planned to do today and, well, didn’t. So here you go:

Well, WE all know how exciting, how huge the Knitting Olympics are, but they’re hitting the mainstream media, too:

Time, for example. “NO IDLE HANDS For the 16-day Knitting Olympics, some 4,000 crafty couch
potatoes have set a series of stitching goals they want to reach while
watching the Games. Charitable projects include making clothes for U.S.
pregnancy centers and for tots in Mongolia.”

The Oregonian not only mentioned it the other day, but they’re also having a contest.

IC Wales (the official website of Wales) has an article, too.

My favorite, though? This editorial-like commentary from the San Mateo County Times, whose author jokes, “Next Winter Olympics, I propose they include my sport: competitive
knitting. Nobody has to sit in the cold to watch it, and it certainly
has a practical application: the athletes can produce nice warm
accessories for the snowboarders. I’m already in training for the
three-needle sock competition, Dude.”

I just love that. I sent her an e-mail telling her that there actually WAS such a competition already, along with links to Stephanie’s blog, and she sent me a nice e-mail thanking me for letting her know.

And of course, Stephanie was on NPR, and we were mentioned on the MSNBC “Clicked” page. It’s even in Wikipedia . . . let’s face it. Knitters are everywhere!

Tags: Knitting/Spinning by Deb
7 Comments »

. . . This blog to bring you this special announcement.

Everyone had a lovely day–laughs, giggles, good food, yummy cake–but sometime in the evening hours, Deb had something which didn’t agree with her. (The tomato soup and crackers at 5:30? A sliver of leftover chocolate cake with whipped cream and a cup of tea at 7:15? There wasn’t much else, but we’re betting on the whipped cream. Regardless of the culprit, she has spent much of the last hour and a half in the bathroom with . . . er . . . digestive issues. Including the kind which include kneeling in front of the toilet.

Deb apologizes for the inconvenience–and wants to thank everybody for the kind words on her sweater–and will be back to her regular blogging tomorrow.

Thank you. We now return to your regularly-read blog roll.

Tags: Uncategorized by Deb
16 Comments »

Tomorrow is the family celebration of Mom’s birthday. (Her actual birthday was Tuesday.) Tonight, she, Dad, and I are are going out for dinner, and tomorrow, my sister and her family are coming for dinner and cake. We like to stretch out birthdays here!)

Anyway, so naturally, she needed cake!

Mom’s first and favorite cake is ice cream cake. Now, there’s nothing wrong with the kind that places like Carvel make–mostly just ice cream with some chocolate crunchy stuff, decorated like a sheet cake–if you like that kind of thing. But I like best to make my own.

Usually, I’ll make one “big” cake. A layer of chocolate cake baked in a springform pan, topped with raspberry syrup and a gallon of vanilla ice cream. But, while delicious, that’s messy to serve and hard to cut, and my tendons have been working hard on the Olympics this week. And besides, I’ve been having asthma issues lately, and don’t need any more dairy products than are absolutely necessary.

So, I made little individual ones. I baked the chocolate cake, and then crumbled it into the bottom of these little serving dishes. Poured on some Knotts Blackberry syrup (the best brand I’ve found in a supermarket that tastes more like fruit than like sugar). And then topped each with a couple scoops of ice cream. Well, except for one (mine), which only has a little ice cream.

These, I sprinkled with some rainbow sprinkles (also known as jimmies), and put a cherry on top. (I put two on Mom’s, since she’s the birthday girl and has a little extra ice cream.) And they’re resting comfortably in the freezer.

And, the best part? They’re going to be so easy to serve tomorrow! Although, getting a birthday candle in there for Mom to blow out could be a little challenging. There’s one for everybody, plus one spare, since the birthday girl also deserves to have seconds. The rule in our house is that the final piece of any birthday cake belongs to the birthday-person . . . although Chappy generally gets to lick the dish.

I really had plans on doing things like cleaning today. It’s in the upper 20s and sunny and windy outside, so just a little on the chilly side for a walk. And my room desperately needs to be vacuumed–especially under the furniture.

But really, I’ve been reading, and just finished my second book of the weekend. (Brick Lane by Monica Ali and The Cotton Queen by Pamela Morsi). I thought the Olympics were going to make this a particularly light reading month, but I seem to be right on track.

See?

(Does anybody else hear a brass fanfare?)

Tags: Baking, Family, General, Knitting/Spinning, Reading by Deb
17 Comments »

So, fifty-three rows later, and here it is. A sleeve.

Which means that in another 53 rows, I’ll have a completely finished sweater. Not even any seams to sew–not even the underarm. Wow! Just some ends to weave in, and that’s it. I’m hoping to finish tomorrow, which certainly seems feasible, huh?

Of course, it helped that I had the day off today, and was able to spend some of my afternoon knitting. (I’m still using up extra vacation time from 2005.) And what weird weather we had today! Cloudy when I woke up. Then raining. Then sunny. Then windy. Then rainy and windy. Then sunny and windy. And little by little, the temperature dropped. It’s supposed to be a cold weekend.

I took Chappy out for a walk around lunchtime–it was great. Sunny, not too cold, but windy. Gusts around 40 mph, I think. I love windy days. There’s just something invigorating about that oh-so-alive air. The extra ions, or something, just make it fun. Exciting, almost. At one point, Chappy’s ears were flying almost straight back. And when we were walking with the wind at our backs, he did this cute little sideways skitter with his tail down . . . I think he was getting a draft where there’s not supposed to be one!

Tags: Knitting/Spinning by Deb
6 Comments »

Clearly, I’ve been slacking.

I joined Carole‘s Anti-Stashalong weeks ago, and, here it’s been over a month, and I haven’t bought anything since the yarn for my Olympics sweater in January.

Well, I’m really sorry about this, and so have this to offer you–22 skeins of Karabella Aurora 8.

I know, I could have just bought one color, but darn it, they were on sale. (I’d link you to the site again–because I did when I placed the order–but they’re no longer offering the sale price, so why torture you any more than I have to?)

Besides, I really like the gold that I’m using in my Olympics sweater, only I’m really only using a very little bit, and, darn it, I like it. So . . .

And that denim-blue yarn? Would you believe I’m considering making another cabled cardigan, just like my orange one, because I like it so much? I even know just the button for it . . . You don’t think I’m crazy, do you? It would look so fabulous with jeans . . .

Of course, in some areas, I haven’t been slacking at all . . .

As you can see, the body of my Olympics sweater is done. Completely. (Note that I’m trying this on over an orange t-shirt–naturally, under normal circumstances, I wouldn’t wear it that way!)

And when I say completely, I do mean it. Even the ends are woven in.

Don’t believe me?
  Here’s the inside.

I’ll admit, I do wish I’d centered that leaf-motif, rather than putting them in pairs like that. But, let me reassure you, in person, in normal, incandescent light, the blue and green are much subtler together (grin).

Tomorrow, I’ll start the sleeves. Wow. I can’t believe I’ve done all of this in 6 days (grin).

Oh, and before I forget–I really enjoyed all the answers to my sock question yesterday. It’s really kind of fascinating how differently we all wear our socks–handmade or not.

And–did you folks see that we knitting Olympians got a mention in Time? (Okay, so they referred to us as crocheters, but still!)

Tags: Knitting/Spinning by Deb
13 Comments »

Okay. The first thing you have to know is that I hate mending.

I’m not good at it. I don’t enjoy it. And darn it, I’m really just not thrifty enough to feel it’s usually necessary–not for something like a pair of socks.

But, well, handmade socks. That I made for my dearly-loved mother. Out of Cherry Tree Hill yarn in the “Martha’s Vineyard” colorway. And that she wears all the time. The only pair of wool socks she’ll actually wear. (Well, until she got her surprise Jaywalkers yesterday!)

Well, what else could I do?

So, naturally, I gave it my best shot. Because, well, she IS my Mom, although I admit I put it off for as long as I could.

First, I had to figure out HOW to fix the hole. (And have since told her to let me know before it actually wears through next time–duplicate stitch is much easier.)

What I decided to do was pick up stitches well below the hole.

Then I knit a tiny little flap, using matching yarn that I luckily had, since I had bought a skein of this yarn for a pair of socks for myself, too. (Hey, I love Martha’s Vineyard too, you know.)

And then I stitched up the sides, and sort of Kitchenered the live stitches with the sock at the top of the hole.

Now, I have no idea how well this is going to wear. My main concern is that it doesn’t have any ridges to give Mom blisters. But I’ve also heard that trying to patch a sock hole like this just puts extra stress on the already-worn yarn near the hole so that it wears through that much faster . . . I really have no idea.

The important thing is that I tried, right?

Of course, I suppose I could have tried removing the heel entirely and just reknitting the whole thing. It probably would have been the wiser choice, but . . . this will work, at least for now, right??

Out of curiosity, though–where do your socks wear out first? Mine, it’s always at the tip by the big toe, followed by the back of the heel (right by the top of the back of a shoe). Mom’s hole was at the bottom of the heel. When your socks start showing wear and tear, what’s their weak spot?

Edited to Add:

Christina told me about doing a crochet patch, which I think sounds brilliant, so I wanted to share it. (Not to mention having it someplace handy so I can find it next time I need it)

If you use your mom’s heel for example, you’d begin at the heel flap and heading towards the sole of the sock, slip stitch crochet (as if you were casting on) laterally (versus across the heel) while catching the live stiches to the left of the crochet chain. Turn with one stitch on the hook, and go back across, connecting the chain with the stitch you just made on the right. Go back and forth until done, then turn the sock inside out and clip the frayed bits. Crocheting laterally gives the “V” appearance of stockinette but is a bit thicker, so hopefully will last longer. I’ve done this with a pair of 100% wool socks (not superwash) that I knit on US4′s and after the next wash, the mend fuzzed up and became less obvious.

Tags: Knitting/Spinning by Deb
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  Jessalu and I are proud to announce (a little late, but what the hey), the Knitting Olympics Curling Team.

The eligibility rules?

1. You must have wavy or curly hair.
2. If you don’t have curly hair, liking it is okay, too.
3. If you don’t like it, but know someone who does, you’re in.
4. Liking the button is enough to get in.
5. If you’re not participating in the Knitting Olympics but want to cheer us on? You’re in, too!

How’s that for simple?

Oh, and as a PSA for you wavy/curly knitters–if you haven’t been there, may I recommend the Naturally Curly message boards? Not only is the main site interesting, they have a great store for hair-care products (not all of which are geared towards curly hair–it’s healthy that matters most), but most helpfully, the message board forum has just a wealth of information for ways to keep hair healthy and to encourage the curl. Go check it out!

Tags: General, Knitting/Spinning by Deb
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So, the most important thing about Valentine’s Day in this household?

Mom’s birthday.

I took the day off from work today, so I could spend it with her. We went shopping this morning at Short Hills Mall, where I treated her to lunch–frozen yogurt at Bloomingdales. (No, really. It’s really good! And besides, if it’s ice cream or like ice cream, Mom’s going to enjoy it.)

I completely surprised her this morning when I gave her the Jaywalker socks. She watched me knit them for weeks without having a clue that they were for her (tee hee!) Apparently I’m sneakier than I realized. She’s happy with them, and says they fit–which is a relief. I was a little worried about that! Such great Valentine-y colors, too.

I made lasagne for supper (Birthday Girls don’t cook unless they actually WANT to). We took Chappy for a walk on this lovely February day–sunny, and about 41 degrees, no wind. And relatively fresh snow for The Boy to bounce through.

I think she’s had a good day–which makes me happy. She’s a great Mom and deserves it, you know?

Oh, and the shopping? How’s this for a great deal?

A beautiful reddish-purple jacket from Ann Taylor, marked down from $218 to $49.99. I would never have spent the $218, but a gorgeous, decently-fitting jacket for $50? You bet! Thrilled, in fact.

I also got a book in the mail that I’d almost forgotten I’d ordered from Amazon. Inspired Cable Knits by Fiona Ellis. I’ve only just flipped through it, but oh, it’s got some lovely sweaters in there.

(Forgive the mediocre pictures of the photos in the book–the designs really deserve better.)

Tags: Family, General, Knitting/Spinning by Deb
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You’ll all be pleased to know that my Dad made it safely home at about 2:35 this afternoon, but not with any help from the airline.

No, he and his buddies decided to drive home. That’s only, you know, about 1,260 miles (that’s about 2,027 km for you metric people). The four of them were on the road for about 22 hours, and naturally, my Dad got practically no sleep at all. (He can’t sleep in the car, never could.) But, boy, he’s sure tired now! We’re just glad to have him home safe and sleepily sound.

I worked on my Olympics sweater tonight, but really, there’s not much to show, the picture wouldn’t look that different than last night’s, so you’ll just have to take my word for it.

I have one other complaint about the “real” Olympics–not only are the program directors sadistic and keeping me up far too late at night, but every time I sign onto AOL or check out the msnbc.com page–I’m getting spoilers. “So-and-so wins gold in the ___!” Whatever happened to keeping these things quiet until after the events have been aired? I mean, of course you can find out the winners at any time, and that’s fine, but in other years, there have been “Click here” options for results–not big pictures and names right there that you can’t help but see as you glance at the page. I’m watching the Pairs figure skating competition right now, but because I glanced at the MSNBC page . . . I already know who won. Sigh.

Incidentally, if you like figure skating at all, or just like reading good books, may I recommend Joy Goodwin’s The Second Mark? It purports to be about the Pairs scandal from Salt Lake City (you remember, the Canadian pair was perfect, but the gold went to the Russians because of the French judge, etcetera). But. This book is amazingly good because it tells the story of the three pairs who medalled in that competition–the years of training, the efforts of China to develop a competitive figure skating program . . . the people. It’s such a good story, and the actual “scandal” is actually a very small part of the book. And, let me tell you. You want to read about determination? Read about what Chinese Shen Xue and her parents went through to get her into training. Brrr!

Speaking of the Olympics…. (from the Daryl Cagle page)

Can you believe tomorrow’s Valentine’s Day? As usual, I don’t have a Valentine, of course. Well, unless you count Mom, the original family Valentine. And naturally, my boy Chappy.

Tags: Family, General, Reading by Deb
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I thought that, as we finish the second full day of the Olympics, that I’d show you my progress.

I have to admit, I didn’t think this sweater would be going this quickly. If I had realized quite how fast it would go, I would have used Aurora 8 rather than Aurora Bulky. It almost feels like cheating (grin).

Still . . . I’m pretty happy with this.

I’ve split for the arms, whose stitches are waiting patiently on Denise cables for their turn. And meanwhile, am working on the body. Nice, simple stockinette stitch, which comes as a relief after the long stretches of long floaters necessitated by the long, 18-stitch gap between blue stitches. Whatever was the designer (coughmecough) thinking when she put those long breaks in color there? Luckily, (it’s been years since I needed to do this) I remembered how to catch floaters behind the work.

My feeling about this sweater? Love the colors. Love the feel of the yarn. But really, bulky yarn on large needles is not my favorite. I would actually have been happier with finer yarn. But still–I’m happy with the way this design is coming out. (Although, in retrospect, perhaps I should have put that large, leaf motif in the center front, instead doing a pair like that?)

Speaking of Olympics, I trust you’ve all heard that Michelle Kwan has dropped out? I was sorry about Michelle, but as one report on msnbc.com, said, “Despite the disappointment for Kwan, truly for
everyone who loves skating, the withdrawal was a vindication of the original
decision—after Kwan was injured and unable to compete at the national
championships—to grant her a medical waiver and place her on the team. She more
than honored her public commitment to relinquish the spot if she wasn’t 100
percent and able to deliver her best performance. She did so with such rapidity
that Hughes, who was still in training back home on Long Island for next month’s
world championships in Calgary, will be able to arrive here in Italy well before
the competition begins on Feb. 21.”

It’s such a shame that she had to withdraw.

I wonder if she knows how to knit? A gold medal is still within reach . . .

Tags: General, Knitting/Spinning by Deb
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  Deep. This is how much snow we had at about 10:30 this morning. And, actually, there was s a little more, but this is as far out the door as I could reach with the yardstick. We’ve gotten about another inch since then.

  Another example–the top of Dad’s car as I paused for breath while cleaning it off this morning.

  Deliciously Doggie Delight. It hasn’t all been work though, today. We took some time for a romp. Here’s Chappy, ready to catch a snowball . . .

  Got it! (Thanks to Mom for snapping these two pictures. I was the one throwing the snowballs.)

  All this snow, though, is causing a sports Delay in my Knitting Olympics event. I haven’t gotten to open my knitting bag once today–either I’ve been out doing something in the snow, or inside recovering from doing things in the snow. My arms are sore from shovelling, my wrists are tired from pushing the snow off Dad’s car, and my legs are sore from bending down for all those snowballs. Tomorrow is going to be a fun, fun day at the office, I can tell you!

The one “D” that’s missing, though?

  Dad. My Dad is in Florida on his annual golfing trip with his buddies. They go every February. This is why my lucky car gets to be in the garage, while his is roughing it out in the driveway. However–and it’s a big “however”–today is the day they’re supposed to come home. Today. The day when there’s a blizzard dumping up to 3″ an hour over New York City and the immediate area. We, with our 19-20″ of snow are getting off lightly compared to some of those folks. And of course, the airports are largely closed. According to the FAA, “Due to SNOW, the Newark International Airport (EWR) was closed as of Feb 12 at 09:25 AM EST. The date/time when the airport is expected to reopen is not known.” Now, their flight was supposed to land here around 6:30 tonight
But, um . . . that doesn’t seem terribly likely. Frankly, we really don’t know WHEN he’s going to get home. Tonight? Tomorrow? And naturally he didn’t pack any “extras,” like underwear or medicine . . . though really, I’m sure he and his friends can manage–as long as he gets home safely in the next 24 hours, right? One thing that might help? One of his buddies is a pilot and mentioned yesterday seeing if there were any private jets coming this way with room for four . . . I guess if you’re going to be stranded, it doesn’t hurt to be stranded with someone with connections, huh?

5:24 PM Edited to Add: Dad’s new travel itinerary? Apparently Continental told them that they’ll be able to get them out of Ft. Lauderdale on Wednesday. That’s right. Three days from now. None of them much liked that idea–not only do they want to be home, but there’s one anniversary, one wife’s birthday (that would be my Mom), and of course, Valentine’s Day between now and Wednesday. So what are they doing instead? Renting a car and driving to Savannah GA, where they hope to be able to get a flight . . . no, it doesn’t really make sense to me, either, but as long as they make it home safely, that’s all I’m worried about!

Tags: ABC-Along, Chappy, Family, General, Weather by Deb
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It’s one of life’s little practical jokes.

The Knitting Olympics begins, with a great yarn challenge, and incentive, and all of that fun stuff . . . and so, naturally, this is the day I strike gold at the bookstore. I would even have bypassed the bookstore today altogether, but Mom wanted to go out, and we did need to go to the grocery store, and so . . . well, it was right there AND I still had a $40 gift card from Christmas. What could I do?

I’ve mentioned that my bookstore experiences are either feast or famine–I either find between three and nine books I want within the first few minutes in the store, or . . . nothing at all. I can’t remember the last time I went to a bookstore for just one book, unless you count our last vacation . . . and even then, I ended up buying two.

Well, today was a good browsing day, as you can see!

Not only, that, but my copy of Interweave Knits came today.

Naturally. Because it’s fun to try to distract Debbie from her knitting!

Speaking of knitting, I DID get some done this afternoon, but only about four rows. I had to get up to make supper–homemade pasta, for which I blame Wendy, for getting my tastebuds all excited. I mean, don’t get me wrong, it tasted great, but . . . it wasn’t knitting!

I’ll try to plan my visits to the kitchen better tomorrow–I’m going to make porridge for breakfast, and stew for supper–both of which you can put in a pot and just let simmer, with no more attention than the occasional stir.

Speaking of porridge, did you know there’s a contest for the best porridge? Or, how about this fellow in Scotland who opened up his own lunch cart that sells nothing but porridge? Frankly, that sounds great to me. I just love real, good porridge. I eat a bowl of Quaker Old-Fashioned 5-minutes oatmeal for breakfast at least 5 days a week (with a little milk, no sugar). I never, ever cook with 1-minute Quaker oats (though I will bake with them), and I will not eat instant oatmeal (not only is the texture terrible, but they’re always way, way too sweet), but my favorite is the steel-cut oatmeal (also known here in the U.S. as Irish oatmeal), and my favorite way of cooking it came from Cook’s Illustrated magazine (April 2000), but Alton Brown‘s is darn close. (The only real difference is the buttermilk.) It’s just a shame it takes so long, or I’d eat this every single day before work . . . although, it reheats really well, so when I DO make the “real” stuff, I usually make extra, for the week ahead.

Oh, and while I try not to pay too much attention to this kind of thing (try, being the operative word), sometime between yesterday and today, my Bloglines subscriptions went into the triple digits. 100 subscribers. Woohoo!

Added: I was just checking out my feeds at Newsgator, and in their “Latest Buzz” section was the following:

The Latest Buzz

• Google Copies Your Hard Drive – Government Smiles in Anticipation (146 incoming links)
• True video iPod to sport 3.5-inch display, touch-screen click wheel (95 incoming links)
• Big mail on campus (74 incoming links)
• Yarn Harlot: The 2006 Knitting Olympics (71 incoming links)
• Ex-CIA Official Faults Use of Data on Iraq (63 incoming links)

Now THAT’s making the big time!!

And last

My Scrabble© Score is: 26. What is your score? Get it here.

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Tags: Reading by Deb
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