I finally figured out where to put my blocking board. If I clear off the table in my little room/office, I can balance it on the top. It’s not a terrible fit, either–it’s larger than the table, but only by about about 5″ on each side, so while a little inconvenient, it at least works.

Of course, I don’t know what I’m going to do the first time I have a lace shawl to block–those never fit entirely on the blocking board, so that’s going to be interesting…

Of course, this means I was finally able to block my ribbed-cabled cardigan that I finished last month. The poor thing has been waiting for weeks and weeks to get its final wash.

My orange sweater is blocking, too–laid on a towel on the cedar chest. I had recently torn out the button bands that had stopped halfway up, because I was never happy with that. So I just reknit them, finishing them last night. So, that’s drying now, too.

After I had laid everything out and sat down to rest, I glanced over … the blocking board was just as eye level. (You folks know I sit on the floor when I’m using my computer, right?), and I loved the ripple the ribbed edge made.

Now, I just need to pick out the buttons.

On the plus side, it’s not going to take long for these to dry. Not only did I spin most of the water out in the washing machine, so they’re damp/wet, not sopping, but … it’s warm up here! We joke that this townhouse is a Goldilocks house… the downstairs is too cold, the upstairs is too warm, and the middle is juuuust riiiiight. And on days like today, when it’s really cold outside (like, 20 degrees) so that the heat is on a lot? The upstairs is extra warm. In fact, I’m sitting here right now in jeans and a tank top, having shrugged off my sweater. When I get up to go down to the kitchen for lunch, I’ll grab it, but for now? Too warm for a sweater.

Yes, I know, it’s weird. And we’re all a little worried about what’s going to happen this summer, if the heat rises this dramatically–especially with that huge window of ours.

In fact, we’re trying to figure out what to do about that window. It’s beautiful, but it’s HUGE, and it lets in way too much sun in the afternoon. (As in, it’s blinding in the kitchen.) Not only that, since that’s a large amount of glass, it’s letting too much cold air in now and is going to make things extra hot in the summer.

We’re desperately trying to think of something we can do to cover this window enough to (1) cut down the glare, (2) add some thermal protection, (3) still let in some light because we like the whole natural-light thing, and (4) won’t be too expensive.

This is harder than it might seem. First, the three of us all have different ideas on what will or won’t work, or how it shoul be done. And, second … even if we agree on a drape or blind or something, installation is going to be HARD. This window is about level with the second floor, so it’s HIGH. Even if we owned a ladder–which we don’t–there’s no way it would be tall enough to reach ABOVE the window to hang, say, a drapery rod. And that’s assuming you could find the floor space to put the ladder, because we have almost none, and our huge behemoth of an unmovable tv is in the corner right in front of the window. We can’t move it even an inch. Even if we find some affordable kind of cover that we can all agree on? Installation is going to cost a fortune …

I don’t suppose any of you have any ideas, huh?

And now? Do you realize that I don’t have any knitting projects? I’m still trying to find a pattern for all that lovely Black Water Abbey yarn I unravelled, but … haven’t found one. Which means that the only thing I’ve got to knit right now is the sock in my purse (yawn).

Tags: Finished Knitting, General by --Deb
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Tags: Eye-Candy Friday by --Deb
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I can’t tell you how much fun I had, having a Chuck-watching contest, and I want to thank everybody who humored me and gave my favorite show a try!

1. What snack was Chuck gorging on during his depression? Cheese Balls (apparently a Buy More specialty)

2. How many times was Chuck knocked unconscious in the first episode? Four times, including being drugged into submission. Once in Prague on General Beckman’s orders, once when Sarah slapped him on the dance floor, once when they were ambushed at the Buy More, once in his prison cell when he couldn’t flash to defend himself.

3. What instrument did Chuck play on stage? Guitar–pretty much any answer with this word in it was right, since I’m not really up on the various mariachi/flamenco guitar nuances.

4. What were Sarah and her friend Carina doing when they bumped into Chuck? Clubbing, out for a drink, girl’s night out… just generally having fun.

5. How did Chuck get the briefcase out of the vault? There was quite a sequence of events here, Chuck flashed on the security system and then did some truly amazing acrobatics to get to the far side of the vault. Though, technically, he didn’t get the briefcase out of the vault at all–he got cocky at the end and sprang the alarm so that Sarah had to come to his rescue.

6. Did Jeff and Lester try to help Morgan out at his party? Or did they just mock? And were they successful? A shocker, of course, but they mocked. And mocked. And mocked. They did take steps at one point to try to bring down the numbers of men who came in with Carina, but that was mostly out of selfish motives so they’d have a better chance with the women, than to help Morgan in any  way. They were, of course, wildly unsuccessful.

7. Who looked the best at that embassy dinner? Chuck? Sara? Awesome? Ellie? (Really, there’s no wrong answer to this one.) Seriously. No wrong answer to this one … though I deliberately left Casey off the list because, handsome though he is, he wasn’t at his sartorial best that night. (He has yet to top his diving off a balcony-while-tied-to-a-chair-in-a-tux outfit.) Besides, technically, he wasn’t at the dinner–not until he crashed it.

8. What color was Sarah’s dress, while she was dancing with Chuck? Sparkly silver/gray/pewter.

9. How did they save the dictator? By the unwilling blood donation from AB-negative Casey … despite the fact that he had already passed out from lack of blood himself. Seems unreasonably risky, but hey, the man was a FORMER stinking commie dictator.

10. What do you think happened to Awesome at the end of the episode? Obvious from the next-week scenes, and of course, it’s two weeks ago now, but yes, the man was kidnapped because they thought that HE was the super-spy, not Chuck. (“Because one looks like a spy, and one looks like, well, Chuck.”)

So, who is the winner?

I used Random.org to pick a random number and, honest to God, the winner is #1, Jennifer Shival. Congratuations, Jennifer!

Tags: General by --Deb
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I was starting to think the button band was going to take forever.

I started the sweater back in December, and the button band-slash-collar took me about a week. Insane, right?

Now I just need to pick a button. These are just a few of the ones in my button collection. Some, you’ve seen before. And yes, I actually do have a favorite from these.

Oh, and my Chuck contest? I’m working on picking the winner, and was all set to go, but my printer won’t print out the list of entrants. I don’t really want to write them all out just to be able to pick the winner. I could just assign a number to each one and use a random number generator, but where’s the fun in that? Though, honestly, that’s probably what I’m going to do. Just not right this minute.

Right now? Back to work on my book. I’ve got all my plot holes plugged. I drew an Excel sheet with a row for each character, a column for each day and plotted out everything I had happening, and made sure that, character-for-character, I wasn’t missing anything (too) obvious. Because I knew I was missing some things, and was afraid of dropping others … or of things happening too soon/too late … it was easier at this point just to plot the whole thing out. (“Oh, okay, I need a scene that explains why the reporter knows what Adam wrote in his school essay.” “What if his classmates gave him a gift that proved that he had friends and really was happy in that school? Then, how do I make sure the lawyers know about it?” Stuff like that.)

Then I went back and moved some chapters around and added a few so that the holes weren’t so ankle-twisting for the readers.

So, I’m kind of calling it Second Draft now, and it clocks in at 93,696 words.

Next step–reading through the whole thing again, this time watching for continuity errors, grammar-and-spelling type things, and filling in some of the details for some of the newer chapters that are, at the moment, mostly dialogue. I love writing dialogue, but sometimes forget to have my characters DOING things while they’re talking!

Tags: Finished Knitting, General, Knitting/Spinning by --Deb
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(And, no, I’m sorry, I really could not think of a better title.)

My Redhook is almost done–I’m working on the button band and collar–one, long piece of knitting. Right now, it looks rather bag-like, all gathered up around the front edge, as I go back and forth on the short rows that shape the collar. Incidentally, I used the flash when I took this picture, so you can see all the different shades of color in the yarn–really such pretty colors.

Going forward, I still haven’t picked a pattern for my Aran cardigan. I’ve got the yarn ready, though. See?

I finally got a drying rack so that I could hang my yarn to dry. Not only did I wash the yarn I reclaimed from my Celtic Dreams, but I finally got around to washing the rest of the cormo from Martha’s Vineyard Fiber Farm. (It was my share or Cormo from MVFF which doesn’t really exist anymore, of course, even though Susan now has her Juniper Moon Fiber Farm.)

The rack is interesting, actually. It’s designed to balance over a bathtub, but since the tub in my shower has one of those fiberglass, sculptured walls, it doesn’t have a ledge on the inside wall. So, I’m drying in my parents’ bathroom–particularly handy, in fact, since they don’t use their bathtub–they both use the shower stall instead. And, actually, I balanced it on the edge of the counter instead of the tub because it was easier to reach that way (grin).

The bad part, of course, is that the light in there is entirely artificial since there’s no window, so the light was pretty bad for pictures.

It was otherwise a pretty standard Sunday. Laundry. Baking. Cleaning. Writing. Reading. And about the reading? You want a shock? Including three knitting books that I’ve read for reviews, and the book I’m just finishing now? I’ve read six books this month. SIX! How is that possible?

Well, it’s possible because I’ve put myself on a fiction diet. I have a fiction addiction, you see, and NEED stories and characters and plots to keep my head happy. It’s one of the reasons I read so much. The problem right now, though, is that I’m trying to work on MY book, and if I scratch that fiction-itch by reading other people’s books, it’s too easy to avoid my own. So, for now, I’m only letting myself read non-fiction. And my book, of course, which is coming along.

Chappy’s been quiet today. He’s been reluctant to run up the stairs, and a little more clingy than usual. I’m not worried about him, exactly, but I hate when he’s not himself.

Tags: Knitting/Spinning, Reading by --Deb
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Its official as of yesterday. Our old house is officially no longer our house. We are glad not to be responsible for the house any more but it’s still kind of sad. We hope the new family is as happy there as we were.

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Tags: Eye-Candy Friday by --Deb
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Hi, everyone, it’s Chappy, and I have a friend who needs your help.

Okay, I haven’t actually gotten to meet her yet, but her name is Lucia, but everyone calls her Lucy. She’s lucky enough to live with Susan and Erin and Paige at Juniper Moon Fiber Farm. (Actually, that’s another confusing thing because there used to be the Martha’s Vineyard Fiber Farm because it was on the Vineyard, and then there was the Hudson Valley Fiber Farm too (which I kind of liked because it was a shorter drive and I don’t like the car), but, anyway, now Susan and her farm is in Virginia and called Juniper Moon. I’m not entirely sure where it is, but the pictures look like fun.)

Anyway–the help part.

Last night, Lucy was hit by a car.

I know! It’s awful. My sister Katy was killed by a car, you know, which worked out kind of good for me because that’s why Mommy needed a puppy when I came along, but it was still really sad. And even sadder, Susan at the whatever-you-call-it Fiber Farm lost of her dog Biscotti to car just over a year ago, too. (I know, the idea just makes me want to howl.)

But, here’s the point.

Sick Lucy

Last time we heard, Lucy was still alive, but having trouble breathing because her lungs are bruised (which just sounds painful, and Mom says she can only imagine how much that must hurt). The vet wanted to keep her on oxygen to help for several days, but it was too expensive.

So, there are two things you can do.

1. Say a prayer for Lucy. Or send good thoughts, or good vibes, or whatever you want. But, send some positive energy her way. Like I said, I haven’t met her yet, but she is a GOOD dog and she’s only a few months old and just shouldn’t die. Puppies just aren’t supposed to die, especially when they are so cute and lovable–not to mention loved. And hard-working!

2. Help pay the vet bills. Susan said that she doesn’t want to ask, that she hates to ask, but the bills from Lucy’s rush to the vet last night–and then the transfer to the second, more-expensive vet–wiped out her bank account. Now, I don’t know pretty much anything, but I know that bank accounts are necessary for things like food and collars and biscuits and chew toys and treats. And food. So I know it’s important.

This is what Susan said:

If you’d like to make a small donation to help with Lucy’s vet bills, you can send it via Paypal to susangibbs1 AT mac DOT com. We are all so very grateful for the thoughts, prayers and kind words you are sending to Lucy and to us.

But I definitely know that sending prayers can only help, and that if you can spare even just $5 to help pay for the costs of keeping that sweet puppy alive long enough for me to meet her and play with her, that would help, too. (And yes, I realize that would mean I’d have to ride for something like six and a half hours in the car. And be near the sheep again, who hopefully aren’t as mean as the goats were last time I saw them.)

Oh, and for any other dogs out there reading this? If your Mom or Dad needs to give you an extra hug, you should probably let them. Mom didn’t think it was funny when I played the “I’ve got a toy, keep away” game when she came home at lunch. Go figure.

Tags: Chappy, Family, General by --Deb
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Don’t forget–I extended the deadline for my CHUCK contest–there’s still time to enter!

If you’ve forgotten–these are the prizes.

Oh, and while you’re watching, if you get hungry, I’ve got to tell you, this is one of the best, easiest tomato sauce recipes I’ve ever seen. A can of tomatoes, an onion (cut in half), and butter. So simple, so yummy!

Tags: General by --Deb
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Well, finally. For the first time since August, I got a haircut yesterday. How badly did I need it?

Here’s what it looked like yesterday before the cut.

Actually, it’s been so long, it’s been tangling a lot, so I’ve been brushing it before my shower each night–and here’s what it looks like then:

Lots of hair! The minute you break up all those curl-clumps, every hair goes wild and you end up with frizz.

So, anyway, I got my hair cut. Now, my stylist–the one I found after several really bad cuts when my last regular hair-dresser disappeared from the old salon–is really wonderful, but she recently got a promotion, which means her haircuts are $20 more than they used to be, which I can’t really afford. But I like her, so I’m trying to make my cuts last even longer than before.

So, today, it’s much shorter.

Oh, but yesterday after the haircut? By the time she was done combing through it and doing all the cutting, trying to salvage any curl was pretty much impossible, so I let her blow it out .. making yesterday the first time my hair has been blown dry in, well, years.

I took a picture as soon as I got back to the car.

And one when I got home, figuring it wasn’t going to look like this, well, pretty much ever again.

(Oh, and more or less as soon as I took these pictures? I got out a headband to keep the hair out of my face!)

In other news, Mom has a cold again–her third since October. Because she didn’t feel well, I cooked supper for the three of us last night–beef stew and homemade biscuits. The stew (in all modesty, I make great stew). For whatever reason, though, the biscuits chose not to rise–but tasted good anyway.

I had been going to bake a cake, too, but it turned out that we were low on flour, so Dad said he’d run to the store this morning to pick some up … which he did. About 20 minutes later, though? A phone call. He had somehow lost his keys and needed me to come and bring him the spare keys. Okay… turns out, his had fallen out of his pocket INSIDE the car as he got out. (No, don’t ask me how. I don’t understand it, either.)

By the time I got home, though, Chappy was a little put out that I’d put a coat on and gone out without him, so he convinced me to go out for a quick walk. Good thing, too, because it’s now sleeting and raining outside and we would otherwise have missed the one opportunity to go. So, you know, silver lining.

Okay, back to working on my book!

Tags: General by --Deb
9 Comments »

How’d I miss that?

My 5th blogiversary was on Thursday, and I completely forgot.

Darn it. Five years.

That’s one thousand, eight hundred, ninety posts. 1,890.

Fourteen thousand, five hundred sixteen comments. 14,516.

And, my first real post? About getting Chappy’s picture taking, as well as some very pink spinning for yarn that I made for a friend’s birthday. That was about a month and a half after I started spinning, just about one month after I got my Kiwi to spin on.

It’s a pity the pictures are so mediocre, though. There’s no question that knit-blogging has been WONDERFUL incentive for me to improve my photography.

And, all of you, of course. Blogging would be pointless if it weren’t for the fact that you come by to read it. I’ve made a lot of friendships because of the blogging world, and it just wouldn’t be the same without you!

Tags: General by --Deb
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It seems to me that I haven’t shown you a picture of my sweater in a while. I’ve got the two fronts done. (They’re wider than they look, they just curl a lot from the stockinette stitch.) Now I’ve just got the back to finish. Then, two cap sleeves and the button bands.

Chappy is keeping tabs on things for me. You know how he likes to supervise.

Some random stuff for you:

I can’t get this song out of my head, In-Flight Safety’s “Model Homes.” Wistful lyrics, lovely music.

How cool are these? “Grid-It” covered with interwoven elastic straps for storing, well, anything you might usually stash in your purse or briefcase … thumb drives, phones, headphones … all the little things that get lost in corners.

You DID know that Stephanie lit the Knit Signal, didn’t you? To raise money for those poor people in Haiti?

And … if you have a few more dollars to spare?

My best friend–you’ve heard me talk about Dawn lots of times is working on her Masters Thesis Film at the American Film Institute. Like most films, though, it requires money, and to be able to make it, she needs to prove to AFI that they’ll meet the budget. So … Can you help her out? All donors get listed in the credits of the film, and donations are tax-deductible.

The film is called “Big Ol’ Crouton” and the website is right here.

Here’s what she has to say:

Dear Friends,

I’m still working on fundraising. We need to get to $30,000 by next Friday (Jan 22) in order for AFI to allow us to do this film. We are halfway there. And so I am now offering:

The Dawn Green/Martin Luther King, Jr. Birthday Weekend “TWO FOR ONE” Film Fundraising Special!

Anyone who donates $50 or more to our film starting today (1/14) through Jan 18 (Dawn’s birthday) will receive TWO DVDs of our film and TWO HOURS of professional Italian Lessons with Dawn. Hours are transferable, so feel free to give them away as a gift to a friend! Go to www.croutonthefilm.com to donate now!

Times are tough right now. And as you know, when things get tough the arts get cut. AFI has had to cut back on the monetary assistance they give to us, and it’s more difficult than ever for AFI students to raise the money they need to make their films. I know that it might be a really bad time for you, too. I get it. I’ve been there myself. I want you to know that anything you have to contribute is truly appreciated. And even if you can’t give a monetary contribution at this time, your words of support truly mean everything to me. If you are on Facebook, become a fan of our page “Big Ol’Crouton”. Or give me call or drop me a line!

Regardless, please check out our website (http://www.croutonthefilm.com) for details on our film. If you are able to give money, you can donate either by check or credit card. Your contribution is tax deductible. Also, your company might offer matching funds (ask me about this, I have a list of companies).

All the best, Dawn

–  Dawn Green Producer, “Big Ol’ Crouton”

I know, there are other, more urgent demands on your money right now–especially the urgent need down in Haiti. Making a film may seem unimportant. But, still … How could I help but ask? At the very least, could you help spread the word?

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

Okay, I’ve told you about the contest.

I’ve shown you the prizes.

And now the episodes have aired. You presumably have either (1) watched them, (2) recorded them to watch them later, or (3) have gone to hulu.com or NBC.com to watch them online. (Presumably iTunes, too, for that matter.)

Which brings us to the actual contest.

Answer the Following Questions:

1. What snack was Chuck gorging on during his depression?

2. How many times was Chuck knocked unconscious in the first episode?

3. What instrument did Chuck play on stage?

4. What were Sarah and her friend Carina doing when they bumped into Chuck?

5. How did Chuck get the briefcase out of the vault?

6. Did Jeff and Lester try to help Morgan out at his party? Or did they just mock? And were they successful?

7. Who looked the best at that embassy dinner? Chuck? Sara? Awesome? Ellie? (Really, there’s no wrong answer to this one.)

8. What color was Sarah’s dress, while she was dancing with Chuck?

9. How did they save the dictator?

10. What do you think happened to Awesome at the end of the episode?

We need rules, of course:

Number One Rule: Send me your answers via email, to contestATchappysmomDOTcom. Do NOT put your answers into the comments.

Number Two Rule: Whoever gets the most questions right (or ties with the most correct answers) will be eligible … and since the questions are going to be pretty simple if you watched, so there are really no excuses.

Number Three Rule: Of the eligible entries (that is, the ones with the correct answers), I will randomly select one winner. The two yarn-y prizes will be shipped by yours truly, and Glory will send the Blu-Ray disk set she’s so generously offering directly.

Number Four Rule: The deadline for entries is Friday at noon, EST. This gives you plenty of time to watch the episodes if you haven’t yet (or you want to watch them again). Although, I might extend this through the weekend to give people a little more time to watch…

So … what are you waiting for?

Tags: General by --Deb
7 Comments »

There’s one fewer sweater in my wardrobe now.

First, I started by unweaving the ends … or at least the ones at, well, the ends. The end of the body, the ends of the sleeves, the seams at the underarms, and so on. I figured I’d come across more in the middle of the sweater where I switched skeins, but at least this was a good start.

Then I came upstairs with my niece and took down my skeiner (I so love my skeiner) and we started tearing out the body and the sleeves. Since I was the one who knitted the sweater, I knew how the structure worked, and that helped figure out where to start.

The pile of crinkly, curly yarn grew rapidly. (And, yes, I do love the way yarn curls when it’s been knit and then unravelled. But then, I’m a fan of curly fibers like hair…) Thank you for your help, Tiffany!

I unravelled all the way back to the two saddles. I’m leaving those intact for two reasons. Well, three. One is that, unless I end up really needing it, it doesn’t seem like I’d get enough yardage out of the two shoulders to be worth the effort. Two is purely sentimental. And Three is that … since I don’t yet know what pattern I’ll be using for the cardigan, or if I’ll be making it up or following someone else’s, it’s possible I could use the saddles again.

I’m left with a pile of skeins of widely varying sizes … along with the sixth skein that I barely touched when I made this sweater in the first place.

Next, I need to:

1. Wash and block the yarn to get the kinks out. The trick is figuring out where I can dry them since I don’t have the handy extra rack in my shower anymore, and nothing like a clothesline (even assuming the yarn wouldn’t immediately freeze out there).

2. Come up with a pattern for the yarn. Norah Gaugin’s Tweedy Aran Cardigan looks nice. And I’d love to figure out a way to turn the Celtic Dreams into a cardigan … then (allowing for the gauge/size thing) I could still use that gorgeous cable up the center back, but just turn it into a cardi instead. For that matter, I’ve got an assortment of books telling me how to design my own Aran sweater. (Janet Szabo‘s is particularly brilliant.) I could just plug my own cables into the basic shape and go from there … The problem with that is that I just don’t know that I have the mental creative energy for that right now. The Truffle Cardigan looks intriguing, too. Knitting, yes, but creative pattern design/assembly? I’d rather that creative energy went toward my book. So, please, I still need pattern recommendations. And yes, “A Fine Fleece” has some good ones, but I don’t seem to love any of them.

3. Finish my Redhook, because it would just be WRONG to drop it and move on to this sweater. Especially since it’s coming along so well. I split the body into its fronts and back last night and got one of the fronts done. That leaves one front, and the back, plus the little cap sleeves to go (plus the button bands).

4. Finish performing a little cosmetic surgery on the cardigan I made with my Briar Rose Yarn last winter. As much as I love most of it, I’ve had two quibbles all along. One was that, when I sewed the hem, I folded it under and tacked it down to the inside of the sweater … except, I was just a row or so too low, so that the hem has always flared outward, just a tiny bit. It’s an easy fix–just unsewing that hem, and then rehemming, but I’ve been putting it off. The other fix? The button bands. I had decided that I liked the way the top half curled outward, like a built-in collar, so I only put the button band on the bottom half … except I’ve never been happy with the way that looked. Kind of unfinished. So today I took off the two button bands and will knit brand-new ones, that go all the way to the collar. Much better, I think.

I do love that curly brown look.

Oh, and Dad? Happy birthday!

Tags: General, Knitting/Spinning by --Deb
9 Comments »

Don’t forget, folks … to be able to participate in my Chuck Contest, you need to have watched the episiodes.

They are airing TWO EPISODES tonight, Sunday January 10th, at 9:00 and 10:00 EST (8 and 9 Central)

They are airing a THIRD EPISODE tomorrow, Monday January 11th, in its regular timeslot of 8:00 EST (7:00 Central).

So, either plan on watching LIVE, or SET YOUR TIMERS on your DVR or VCR or whatever playback devices you have. The contest will be a few simple questions that you will have had to see the episodes to answer.

If you miss them? You can catch replays the following day on Hulu.com or at NBC.com. iTunes, too.

Once you’ve watched and are hooked? You can get season 1 and season 2 on DVD.

What’s that? The prizes?

“>

How about 12 skeins of this lucious Sublime DK yarn? It’s a Silk/Merino/Cashmere blend and oh, so incredibly soft. The specs? 75% extra fine merino, 20% silk, 5% cashmere. 116m/127yd to a 50g skein. 22 st/28 rows to 4?/10cm. “Sublime” is definitely the word.

And, maybe this great Knitting Daily video on Knitting Cables?

PLUS! Glory Torres, one of my twitter friends has a Blu-Ray copy of Chuck Season 1 that she can’t use and offered it for one of my prizes. How wonderful is that?

So, folks … go WATCH!

Tags: General by --Deb
1 Comment »

So … am I crazy?

Do you remember my Celtic Dreams sweater? I finished it in June 2006.

I said at the time, “There are just two things that aren’t perfect. One, my gauge loosened as I worked the body, so the lower half of the body is wider than the top–just ever so slightly tent-like. Not as flattering as I’d like (as if I didn’t have enough trouble with my waistline). And, two, the sleeves are somehow just a tiny bit too short. Usually, if anything, sleeves end up too long for me but I actually followed the pattern and made them the length called for, and they’re about half an inch above my wrist bone.”

In reality, the sleeves are well more than a half inch above the wrist. This makes it very handy for checking the time, or washing my hands, but they’re not really supposed to be 3/4-length sleeves. Much as I love 3/4 or bracelet-length sleeves (and I do, they’re my favorites since I’m forever pushing my sleeves out of the way), these sleeves don’t look like they’re meant to be that length. Which, in fact, they’re not.

And then, the size. It’s a boxy sweater, I know, and Arans aren’t really known for the sweater shaping, but … it’s really kind of, well, big. It’s at least a foot bigger around than I am, really more. I can hold the waistline out and look like one of those weight-loss ads, where a newly slim person stands inside their old “fat pants.”

(I took this picture discreetly at work, sitting at my desk, so it’s not the best. I folded over the excess fabric and kind of hoped for the best.)

So, this has me wondering …

I love the yarn, it’s gorgeous. I adore the golden-brown color which is not only wonderfully autumnal, but goes great with my hair (grin). (Not to mention that it matches Chappy’s eyes.) But, as it is, it’s tied up in a sweater, albeit a beautiful sweater, that doesn’t fit well at all and therefore only gets out of the closet one or two times a year.

The yarn deserves better than that, don’t you think?

The idea, therefore, that’s teasing in my head is … What if I frog the entire sweater, reclaim the yarn, and knit a new, better-fitting sweater? I even have another skein of the Black Water Abbey yarn that was barely touched when I made this one, giving plenty of leeway so far as gauge goes.

And then, I HAVE been kind of itching after knitting cables, lately. Lots of them, but I don’t have a yarn at hand that is screaming “Use me!” This would certainly solve that problem.

Of course, I don’t have a pattern in mind, which would help the decision process. I wear cardigans a LOT more than pullovers, so that would be ideal, but … I did mention I want lots of cables. One of the things that drew me to the Celtic Dreams in the first place were all those varied panels of cables.

The first question, then, is

What do you think? Crazy? Or thrifty and not-crazy?

This certainly would be a first for me. I’ve never frogged a completed sweater to reclaim the yarn. I know the concept, but have never actually DONE it. Luckily, as that goes, this sweater is as close to seamless as never mind, so that part at least is pretty easy. It started as two saddles for the shoulder and then the front and back were picked up from there, knit down to the underarm, then joined and the rest of the body knit. The sleeves were picked up on the body and knit down in one piece … so, there are woven-in ends, but no seams in the way (except under the arms).

The second question?

Does anyone know a good, Aran-ish Cardigan pattern that would work?

I haven’t browsed through any pattern books yet because this re-use-the-yarn idea only just occurred to me while sitting at my desk this morning. But, still … suggestions never hurt, huh?

Tags: Knitting/Spinning by --Deb
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Chappy just wants to remind you that, no matter how cold it might be where you are, Summer is coming … if you like that kind of thing!

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Tags: Eye-Candy Friday by --Deb
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Did you know that knitting bags make wonderful pillows? Chappy decided that mine did.

Certainly, the colors look wonderful with his chocolate fur.

The knitting itself? Coming along. That’s about 15″ of knitting, there–the whole body is one piece. And, those fifteen inches? It all came from one skein.

I just added the second skein two rows ago, so you can see how much yarn there is here. BIG skeins, that just, just barely fit on my ball winder. It’s pretty though, huh? Lovely colors. Browns, mostly, with hints of green.

Let’s see. What else can I tell you? I’m working on my book. (You know, when I’m not reading blogs, reading, knitting, or obsessing on Chuck.) Chappy has discovered the joys of being brushed. My hair’s getting long and about the only way I can get all the tangles out in the shower is to brush it before hand. Brushing, you understand, being something that I try not to do because it pulls out the curl and damages the hair.

As to Chappy (who’s not overly concerned with how his curls look), I’m not in the habit of brushing my lovely brown dog because, when he was a puppy, he constantly tried to chew on the brush, so I more or less gave up. I figured that baths every few weeks, and haircuts would take care of his grooming needs. So, we gave up on brushing.

So, anyway, last night I was brushing my hair before I took my shower, and glanced back to see Chappy sitting in the doorway, watching. On a whim, I walked over with my hairbrush … my beloved Widu with the wooden bristles … and ran it down his back. Apparently it felt very good because he let me brush him several times with nothing more than a sniff at the hairbrush. He even rolled over for me to give him a tummy rub with the hairbrush … which made brushing his back rather harder, but hey, it was cute.

I think Chappy wants my hairbrush.

And if he can’t get that? In the meantime, he’ll settle for using my knitting bag as a pillow.

Tags: General by --Deb
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You all know how much I love the TV show “Chuck.”

Well, finally … finally … the DVD set for Season 2 is out! (In Blu-Ray, too, for those of you who have it.)

I say “finally” because Season 2 ended on April 27th … over 8 months ago.

Also, “finally” because the season for Christmas (or the winter holiday of your choice) just ended like two weeks ago, and they completely missed the chance for people–like me–to give copies of Chuck to everyone I know.

And, “finally” because SEASON THREE STARTS ON SUNDAY!

Yes, that’s right, on SUNDAY. NBC is airing the first two episodes back-to-back on Sunday night (starting 9:00 EST, check your local listings), and THEN airing the third episode on Monday night at its normal time

People, I don’t need to tell you that I’m going to be watching. But I AM going to tell you that YOU should be watching. Everyone should watch. Why wouldn’t you watch? I’ve been telling you for months that “Chuck” has everything you could as for in a tv show. It’s got comedy. It’s got action. It’s got romance. It’s got chases and gunfights. It’s got spy-stuff. It’s got warm and fuzzy family moments. Did I mention the comedy? I am absolutely serious when I tell you that there is not a single other television show on right now that I think is as good and satisfying to watch.

Yes, there are other good shows on, of course there are, but none that are as much FUN. Except for the occasional moment, “Chuck” isn’t full of angst and anguish. It’s got its own arc and layers of story-telling, but it’s not the kind of show that you need to study from week to week just to keep up … but it’s got enough going on to be interesting. It’s just enjoyable and diverting and good entertainment–just what is needed in these difficult times.

The acting is wonderful, too. Zachary Levi. Yvonne Strahovski, and Adam Baldwin (yes, from Firefly) are perfect as Chuck and his CIA and NSA handlers … even more so when you see them in interviews and see how different, say, Adam Baldwin is from Casey. The soundtrack from each show is always perfect, too, and I’ve added more songs to my MP3 player because of “Chuck” than for any other reason in recent memory, short of last month’s temporary addition of Christmas music. (In fact, I’ve listened to my “Chuck” playlist almost nonstop since about March.)

There are many, many reasons you should be watching “Chuck,” but I’ll give you one more.

I’m having a contest.

Between Sunday and Monday, there will be three, brand-new episodes of “Chuck.”

Watch them.

On Tuesday or Wednesday, I’m going to post some random questions about the episodes. Not hard ones, but ones that you will have needed to watch at least one of them to be able to answer. They could be things like, “What color shirt was Sarah wearing” in a particular scene, or asking the name of a character played by one of the guest stars. I don’t know what they’ll be, because I haven’t seen the episodes yet … but I’m going to ask them.

I haven’t settled on a prize yet, but I’m guessing it will be some kind of yarn, or knitting book. Maybe an amazon.com gift card. Could be all three. I don’t know. I think it will depend on the kind of response I get.

So … tell your friends, set your DVR, and get ready. CHUCK is coming, and you’ll want to be ready. And if you have a Nielsen box (or know someone who does), you get extra points for helping the ratings. I’m putting my money where my mouth is, here, so you know I mean business.

Oh, and if you miss the episodes live? You’ll be able to catch them online at nbc.com or at hulu.com, and I’ll give you a couple days to get your contest entries in, because that’s the kind of girl I am. Besides, the point is to get you to WATCH!

(And, seriously, spread the word about the contest too, huh?)

Tags: General by --Deb
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So, we’re three whole days into the new decade* already … how’s it going?

First, I can tell you, it’s cold. Like, 20 degrees with wind up to 40 mph. Brrr! Except for opening the door for Chappy to go to the bathroom, I haven’t stuck my nose outside all day. And the one (or, other) drawback to the big windows in this otherwise wonderful townhouse is that on windy days, they’re drafty. So on windy days, the house feels cold. Or, at least, it does if you’re near a window.

Luckily, I’ve got shawls and handknit socks … and afghans! I’m sitting underneath my yellow Sylvi afghan right now, with the laptop in my lap. I’m sitting on a floor pillow, leaning back against my red chair, which is what Chappy is curled up on. Cozy, huh?

I’ve spent most of the day reading through my book manuscript, looking for weak spots, things that are missing, things that need to be better–stuff like that. The first half … which I’ve had done for years and years now … is actually pretty much, well, done. Except for a comma or two, I basically couldn’t think of anything to really change. I’ve tweaked and edited so much over the years when I was stuck on how to move the story forward, the beginning really doesn’t need much.

The second half? Or, really, the last 100 pages? They need work because they truly ARE the “rough” in “rough draft.” This makes sense because they’re the newest. I’ve written them but haven’t gone back to read them again, expand the themes, tighten the prose … all that.

But, still … Those first 200 pages are pretty good. Or at least I think so!

Otherwise? Mom and I met up with Kim and Liam yesterday. I returned the knitting book Kim lent me and she returned the DVD for “Up,” that I lent her. We had coffee and treats and a very nice visit. Kim’s right–we need to do this more often! Though, we saw each other a month ago, just after Thanksgiving, so this is pretty good for us.

I HAD been planning on inviting Risa over to see our new house, but then she went and sprained her “good” ankle so that, suddenly, two flights of stairs just aren’t as appealing, so we’re going to have to put that off for a bit. (I knew I should have asked her over at the beginning of December!) Of course, the ground floor of the house is perfectly nice, with a couch right next to the coffee, and there are only two steps up from the driveway, so it’s not like it’s not possible to get into the house … but, still, it’s not the same if you don’t get to see the whole thing!

I baked bread today (rye bread, which is already half gone). Baked a cranberry-applesauce cake with leftover cranberry applesauce from Christmas–I made up the recipe, but rich with spices, walnuts, and dried cranberries. Yum. I’ve gotten a lot of knitting done on my Redhook and am a couple inches away from splitting the fronts from the back.

All in all, a pretty nice year so far. Mom is taking down the Christmas decorations, and that all seems kind of odd. We had a perfectly nice Christmas, and all, and our cute new little tree did a great job being, well, Christmasy, but, still. It was different. The last time I woke up in a new house on Christmas morning, my first instinct was to run and check if Santa had come with presents. I had 34 Christmases in that old house of ours, and the one in this house both did and did NOT feel quite like Christmas. (Which, yes, I know, isn’t about where you are, but whom you are with, but you know what I mean.) The holidays this year were nice. They were family-filled and love-filled, and perfectly pleasant … they just felt … different. So the idea of putting all the Christmas decorations away and trying to get back to normal … when we had only just barely started to feel like “normal” when the holidays arrived … isn’t as bad a thing as usual.

Oh dear, Chappy’s barking at the front window again. Ironically, the blinds to the one and only window in the front on the ground floor don’t go all the way to the bottom, so while we can block OUR view out of the window, we can’t block Chappy’s. And since we share a front walk with our neighbor’s, whose door is right about 6 feet away from ours, Chappy gets upset whenever they use their door–and there’s nothing we can do about it! Ironic, huh?

Sorry for the lack of pictures … Oh, all right. ONE picture, of Chappy on his chair the other day. Except, he was curled up on my side of the chair, and looking very snug indeed.

* Although, technically, the decade won’t start until 2011, just like the 21st century didn’t officially start until 2001, but let’s not start the year off by quibbling.

Tags: General by --Deb
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Here’s my December reading list:

1. Archer’s Goon by Diana Wynne Jones (341 p.) YA book … Howard comes home from school one day to find a goon in his kitchen, demanding his father write 2000 words for Archer, or he’s not leaving. But, who’s Archer? 2000 words of what?

2. Alphabet of Thorn by Patricia McKillip (291 p.) A beautiful little fantasy book. You have orphans adopted by the kingdom’s library, a new, very young, queen who seems to be able to do magic, a magic student sent to study to help his uncle’s ambitions but who starts to love Nepenthe, one of the library’s orphans, and a mysterious book, written in an alphabet that looks like thorns, that seems to tell the story of the most successful conquerer the world has ever known … but what does that have to do with Nepenthe, who only wants to see how the story ends.

3. Hexwood by Diana Wynne Jones (293 p.) An odd little YA book. It’s not told sequentially at all (on purpose) and is a big confusing, though ultimately that’s because the characters are confused themselves. It all centers around Hexwood Farm, where strange things seem to be happening … but they’re stranger than you think, and connected to an intergalactic dynasty. Throw in a splash of King Arthur-type heroics, all of which seem completely unnecessary except for getting out of the wood … or are they?

4. Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott (237 p.) One of the best inspirational writing books, this basically takes one of Lamott’s writing seminars and puts it in one volume for everyone else–what can you expect from your first drafts? What do you do when you get stuck? Light and readable and chock-full of good advice for writers.

5. String in the Harp by Nancy Bond (365 p.) I’ve loved this YA book for as long as I can remember. It tells two stories–a displaced American family trying to settle into a new, strange life in Wales after losing their mother in a tragic accident, and that of the ancient bard Taliesin. One one of his lonely walks, Peter found what appears to be Taliesin’s harp key, and from then on, it “sings” to him, telling him the story of its owner. It’s a wonderful book, and I always enjoyed reading about the family’s domestic struggles just as much as the parts about Peter figuring out what the key wants him to do. This one is an old, old friend.

6. My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George (177 p.) Speaking of old friends, imagine being a boy and running off to the Catskills woods to live inside a hollow tree with your specially-trained falcon named Frightful. Seems unlikely? Well, sure, but it’s also the idea behind this great back-to-nature adventure story. The author, years later, wrote a couple sequels to this, but they can’t compare to the original … which is particularly handy to read if you ever plan on trying to boil water in a leaf one day.

7. Island of the White Cow by Deborah Tall (234 p.) I’ve had this book since college and love pulling it off the shelf every few years. It’s a memoir of the author who, right after college, spends 5 years on an isolated Irish island with one of her professors. They embrace the traditional lifestyle in their house with no electricity or running water, but all the time witness the hardship and grief of the islanders, stuck with no apparent future. It’s a wonderful picture of both the islanders but also of the way we view the world.

8. Magicians and Mrs. Quent by Galen Beckett (498 p.) A fantasy book with a large dose of Jane Austen. There are so many features of Austen (and the Brontes) in here … the manners, the poor daughters trying to find husbands, the entailed estate … all that, but there is also something mysterious going on among those people who can do magic. I enjoyed this one, but didn’t love it. It was a good read, but it felt like something was lacking–though I can’t say exactly what. No regrets about reading it, though.

9. Matters at Mansfield by Carrie Bebris (286 p.) Speaking of Jane Austen .. imagine a series of mysteries where Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy are the sleuths who solve the murders. Yes, a bit of a long-shot, especially when you pull in the characters from other Austen novels–in this case, Henry Crawford, who elopes with Darcy’s cousin, Anne de Bourgh, just as her mother is arranging a marriage for her. Um, well, I would have enjoyed it more if one of the characters hadn’t apparently died TWICE, after having created an entirely false identity for himself years before and getting amnesia … a few too many narrative stretches all at once there, for me!

10. Foundation by Mercedes Lackey (418 p.) Well, I like Mercedes Lackey, and Valdemar is an appealing place, but this book felt like it was written on auto-pilot. Mags is a little too quick at picking up the Herald-trainee lifestyle after living his entire life in a mine, and that’s just a little too unbelievable that he would be asked by some of the most powerful people in the city to help them, when he’s only been a trainee for a couple months. And then, there is a big deal made out of the bodyguards to a foreign embassy, and were they trustworthy, did they have some ulterior motive? Yet, they disappear from the story with no conclusion, and there’s an abduction of one of Mags’ friends thrown in that seems completely out of place. I know that this is meant to be the first of another trilogy, but usually the plots are more tightly constructed than this. It wasn’t awful, it just wasn’t as good as some of the others.

11. Storm Warning by Mercedes Lackey (438 p.)
12. Storm Rising by Mercedes Lackey
13. Storm Breaking by Mercedes Lackey (435 p.) One of the better Valdemar trilogies, with the effects of the millenia-ago mage storms reflecting back onto Valdemar, leaving them trying to figure out how to save the world–even if that means dealing with age-old enemies at the same time.

14. Not My Daughter by Barbara Delinsky (352 p.) Not technically out until next week, I got this as a review copy. It’s the first Delinsky book I’ve read, but I enjoyed it. Susan is the high-school principal in a small New England town who learns that, not only is her 17-year old daughter pregnant, so are two of her best friends–all “good” girls but making Susan’s accomplishments as principal pale beside her supposed “bad-mother” skills. In some ways this was predictable, but it was a good story–and, the best part? (And apparently the reason I got the review copy?) Susan and her three best friends run a hand-dyed wool company and yarn and knitting run through the entire book. ALL the main characters knit to ease their stress, so, what’s not to like?

15. Morning Glory Farm by Tom Dunlap. Mostly a cookbook, but also partly a paean to a way of life. This book tells the story of the family who run Morning Glory Farm on Martha’s Vineyard. Filled with gorgeous photos and some tasty-sounding recipes (I haven’t had time to test any of them yet), it captures what a family farm really should be.

16. Keeping Days by Norma Johnston (238 p.)
17. Glory in the Flower by Norma Johnston The first two “Tish Sterling” books, which are sadly out of print, these are also books that I’ve loved since I was about 13. Tish is a sensitive teenager growing up in 1900 in the Bronx. She’s got an older sister who is a beauty and being courted by their father’s best friend, a down-to-earth grandfather, a high-tempered mother who tends to speak in half-sentences, and … well, she’s got a bunch of characters making her life interesting. I love these books and dearly wish they were in print again–if only so I could get copies of books 3 and 4, too!

18. Titanic’s Last Secrets by Brad Matsen (308 p.)  A really interesting analysis of what really caused the Titanic to sink. (You know, other than the iceberg.) This tells the divers that found something new, but also the people who built the ship in the first place. Really enjoyable read.

Tags: Monthly Reading List, Reading by --Deb
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