KADD is serious…

On Saturday, the Mr. was busy playing with a new toy of his - perfect opportunity to get my knit on. While he was drilling away and making all kinds of noise, I finished my Embossed Leaves socks, did a little happy dance and ventured into the office to show them off. A few minutes later, he made his way into the kitchen to take a few photos of his old toy… I begged him to take a picture of my newly finished socks, to which he replied: You know, your blog is going to start attracting the foot fetish crowd with all these pictures of your feet. Could he be anymore perfect!

so pretty and so hard to photograph!

With the Embossed Leaves off the needles and the Shetland Triangle ripped, I didn’t know what to knit on next. I had the Jaywalkers on the needles… but really wasn’t interested. The yarn is a little rough and I can only work on them a little at a time, otherwise my fingers totally cramp up and I become Capitan Ornery Pants. Nobody likes Capitan Ornery Pants. Y’all know what that means, don’t ya? Time to start a new project. I really tried to wait until my sockapaloooza pals’s yarn arrived to start another pair of socks, but I had a ball of Koigu calling out to me and Susan’s new pattern. I have to say, after a few repeats, I don’t think I like it. I like the pattern and I like the yarn, but together…

is it really is too damn busy? what does the internets think?

I took Cherie and the Jaywalkers with me to SLC SNB Sunday Edition. I’ve since made progress on both, but I’m rather bored. A little bit of a tangent here, I knit while watching Assault on Precinct 13 last night, and now I’m all “bad-ass motherfucker(s)” about everything. Kally, Cherie and Jaywalker #1 are sick and tired of being called bad-ass motherfuckers right about now, but the homework, like Ethan Hawke’s Sarge, loves the reputation.

cherie is sweet as pie

the heel is flappin’ but not turned

Would it be the knitting blahs or KADD? Or is it just a downright February funk? Could spring seem any further off? I’m trying my hardest to fend off the urge to start something new - STR should arrive in the mail shortly and I can get started on my sockapaloooza’s socks. I’ve finally decided on the pattern - yet another pattern that is floating all over blogland right now… any guesses…

ms. kally is waiting for your guesses… in my chair…

Not much knitting

I’ve spent the last three days trying to figure out the coefficient of friction by rotation… Yesterday, I had one of those a-ha moments where I realized I was doing what I am notorious for doing, I was making the problems much more difficult than they really are. I just love those a-ha moments, especially when something turns out to be much easier that I thought - like knitting socks. Perhaps this is too much information, but I turn my homework in online and it lets me know right then and there if I’m correct. Every time I hit submit, I cross my fingers and think please be right, please be right. When I’m wrong, I turn to the master physicist in the house and ask her. Unfortunately, I don’t speak meow.

After I figured out radial friction, I continued working on my secret project. I had finished the knitting (I bound off at the same time as the guy blew up on Grey’s Anatomy - given all the foreshadowing , I really didn’t see it coming; I totally thought the bomb would be a dud) and it was time to felt. I have had tons of trouble felting in the past, usually a result of the spin cycle and my items folding over themselves in the bag I use. Being easily distracted, I have found that leaving the lid of the washing machine open prevents the spin cycle from starting and I can restart the agitation as needed. I then run the spin cycle without the knit item and return the knit when the rise cycle starts, again leaving the lid open to prevent the spin cycle from starting until I’m standing there watching over it. I do let it spin just a little at the end, then pull the still wet mass of felted wool out and block like crazy. I block and I block and I block some more.

While the washer was doing it’s thing, I turned the heel of my second Embossed Leaves sock, finished the gusset, and then some. Just a pattern repeat and a half, then the toe and I’ll have my second completed item of the year. The secret project has a bit of finishing work left and I doubt I’ll finish it before the sock.

Shitty Kitty getting into trouble while I’m distracted by my socks…

D is for…

DONE… finally, and on their way to SLC SNB!

My first FO of the year, half-way through February!

I seem to have a serious case of knitting ADD right now.

The Shetland Triangle from Wrap Style no longer sits at the bottom of my knitting tote. Since I used a lace weight yarn with a DK weight pattern, I figured I could just knit more rows. At 104 rows, each one takes forever - What The Fuck was I thinking? I don’t know when I’ll stop, but I do want it to be much larger than it is now…

I wrote the above paragraph last night just before I went to bed. When I woke up this morning, I really started to think about why I’ve stalled on this triangle - the pattern is easy to memorize yet still engaging, the yarn is beautiful, and it’s all coming together so nicely, so why am I not loving it? I realized that I’m not to fond of the overall shape, the triangle. I would much rather have a big ol’ rectangle like my pashima. So, internets, I ask: do I rip and start over? The yarn is beautiful and I want wrap myself up in it. Maybe a modified version of this shawl from Folk Shawls?

Moving on…

Embossed Leaves Sock #2 is waiting for me to turn the heel. It’s all “Seriously woman, would you turn me? I promise, I won’t be difficult… oh, come on!”

And that yarn I dyed with kool-aid a while back… Well, I’m joining the rest of the internets and making a pair of Jaywalkers.

Cherie has taken the place of the Shetland Triangle at the bottom of my list. It’s a shame, she’s so beautiful, but so boring. Without any mindless stockinette on the needles, I may pick her up sooner rather than later… but then again, I may not.

Another thing I accomplished… I purchased the sockpaloooza yarn and have narrowed my pattern choices down to two. I almost feel bad for the gal knitting my socks - compared to the pal I’m knitting for, my feet are huge! Monster feet! GRRR! However, the sale racks and lack of my size indicate that my feet are pretty much average, so maybe I just lucked out… the knitting powers that be must know how scattered my brain is right now and don’t want me to have to knit more than my attention span will allow.

And because I’m totally obsessed with my meow…

We like to call this one Over Exposed Shitty Kitty…

Knitting and Tagged again…

Embossed Leaves #1, you are done! Off the needles for you!

Supersock #1, you are done! Off the needles for you!

Uh. Two #2 socks? At the same time? Uh, I totally didn’t plan that one out.

Teri tagged me so I’ll play along…

List seven songs you are into right now. No matter what the genre, whether they have words, or even if they’re any good, but they must be songs you’re really enjoying now. Post these instructions in your blog along with your seven songs. Then tag seven other people to see what they’re listening to.

As stated by others, it’s pretty hard to pick only seven songs so I’m going for seven artists. There might, or might not, be more that one song per artist, but I’ll try my hardest to limit the number of songs to three per artist.

1. Donde estas, Yolanda? and Lilly by Pink Martini - Yolanda is so much fun! Every time I need a little pick me up, I que up this song from the album Sympathique. Lilly, from the album Hang on Little Tomato, sounds similar to Yolanda and is really fun. I love to change the lyrics from “Lilly, Lilly, Lilly, Lilly, Stay!” when I’m singing along at home to “Kally, Kally, Kally, Kally, K!” Kally just looks at me like I’m the crazy string-obsessed lady.

2. Never Know, Flake and Bubble Toes by Jack Johnson - My love for Jack started with Flake on the radio and evolved to the point where he is one of the few people I have actually seen in concert. I remeber trying to find Jack on the internet when I first heard his music, but I couldn’t remember his name and kept mixing him up with Joe Jackson! I can listen to all of his songs on all of his albums over and over.

3. The Moon and Antartica - entire album, Good News for People Who Love Bad News - entire album and Baron Von Bullshit Rides Again - entire album by Modest Mouse - I’m trying really hard to limit here. Modest Mouse, for me, is one of those bands that I absolutely love, from their old, rough-around-the-edges, released on their own label music to the slicker stuff they have put out with Sony. Right now, Good News for People Who Love Bad News has been playing in my car for the past month, non stop. I am so enamoured with Modest Mouse that I went to one of their live shows last year. Holy shit. TWO drummers drumming AT THE SAME TIME and NOT MISSING A BEAT. TWO! A banjo. A double bass. A couple of gituars, accoustic and elecric. Horns. A big-ass piano. And a totally incoherent when speaking but not when singing Issac. Bliss! One of my favoite Modest Mouse lyrics: I do not need you to tell me that I am not a cat! LOVE IT.

4. Be Yourself and Doesn’t Remind Me by Audioslave - Soundgarden was one of those bands that blew me away when they hit the scene. Same with Rage Agasint the Machine. When both bands went their seperate ways, then Chris Cornell joined forces the band from Rage, and it was musical genius - the best of both groups. (a little side note - the last album Johnny Cash released contained a cover of Soundgarden’s Rusty Cage - it is so awesome to her the Man in Black’s take on a song that I have loved since I was a youngin’)

5. Brothers & Sisters and Crazy Beat by Blur - both songs are on Think Tank, another album I can listen to over and over. Crazy Beat is so funky and perfect for both surfing the internet and figuring out how I want this site to look.

6. Feel Good Inc. by Gorillaz - this song makes my smile. I don’t own a copy of it - which is surprizing since I have really liked everything the Gorillaz have put out - but I always crank the volume when I come across this song. Because I don’t know the lyrics when the little rap part starts, I sing “Don’t stop, Shitty Kitty!” followed by best attempts at beat keeping noises.

7. Que Onda Guero and E Pro by Beck Beck, how I’ve loved you back in the day. Then came Sea Change. Sure, it’s a great album, but what happened to the Beck from Odelay? You know, the one who changed music for me? It looks like he’s back. “Have you seen the vegtable man in the vegtable van? ” Maw!

And the honorable mentions goes to Only by Nine Inch Nails and Love You Madly by Cake.

All of the above, with the exception of Feel Good Inc. are on Pinky’s Brain. Internets, I would like to introduce you to Pinky…

and the Brain…

I made Pinky last year, when I the Brain came to live with us.

Holy long post, Batman.

Gossip

So, Kally and I had a little chat yesterday. Well, it was more like a big gossip session than a chat. I wasn’t feeling too well, so she kept me company by sitting on my lap and telling me all kinds of stories while I worked a little on my secret knit project. Kally is always in the know and she felt it was a good time to share some dirt with me.

Kally told me all about the lady whose dog really likes the tree outside our office window, the lady who never picks up her dog’s business. Well, she took her dog for a walk the other day, stopped at his favorite tree, the one right outside our office window, and she totally didn’t pick it up. Kally insisted it was a good thing for the dog that she doesn’t know how to use the phone, because she can read the sign that threatens a $500 fine for not picking up dog poop, you know, the sign with the phone number of who to call to report those who don’t pick up poop, you know, the sign with all the free poop bags attached to it, yeah, she can totally read that sign.

dogs are so messy!

As far as progress goes, I finished the back of Cherie v.2.0,

please ignore the wrinkles

turned the heel of the Embossed Leaves Sock #1,

and almost finished SuperSock #1, only a toe remains.

Oh, there’s that secret knit project too. Here’s a hint:

Snow…

Mid-morning Wednesday it started to snow. Big, heavy, wet flakes filled the sky and started to collect on the ground. I was completely grumpy and wearing the wrong shoes. Walking to my lunch-hour class was not fun as I slid down slushy sidewalks. After class let out, it was still snowing. Some jackass threw a snowball at one of his friends and missed - hitting me in the head. As I slid my way uphill, a SUV too big for the narrow campus lanes splashed the dirty slush that collects in the gutters onto the crowded sidewalks, soaking my khaki trousers (and my fellow students). I went from grumpy to down right angry.

When I returned to work, I sent the Mr. an email detailing the events of the last hour and a half. Later that evening, when my spirits finally lifted (thanks in large part to a Mexican dinner date with the Mr.), he joked that it was a miracle my email made it through the spam filters - it was the first time I had used the “fuck word”* that many times in an email.

To further lift my spirits, I successfully knit a short row heel onto my Cherry Tree Hill SuperSock. Could it be the perfect end to a not-so-perfect day?

The pictures I promised earlier:

Beginning of Embossed Leaves

exhausted dye

exhausted shitty kitty

finished Kool Aid yarn

closeup

*Growing up the “F word” was always fuck in my house. Being in Utah with some very conservative neighbors (not the cows - they were pretty liberal and open-minded), the “F word” I always got into trouble for saying was fart. Yes, fart. So, when I was old enough to say fuck without getting into serious trouble, I began to ask for clarification - do you mean the “fuck word” or the “fart word”? The Mr. finds this just as funny as I do. Clearly, we are a match made in non-Mormon Utah dwelling heaven.

Socks, Socks, Socks…

A little over a year ago, I decided to be brave and venture out of my house to meet other knitters. One fateful Tuesday in December, I went to my first Stitch n’ Bitch where I met Susan, Margene and Laurie. All three were knitting socks and Susan insisted that I too would be knitting socks someday. Me? Socks? Yeah, right. Sure thing. I’ll get right on that.

A few months later, my curiosity continued to be perked by the socks that flew off the needles of these three amazing women. One night, Susan showed the group how to start a toe up short row sock - provisional cast on and all. Mental notes were taken, worsted weight yarn was purchased (I highly recommend knitting a first sock out of a larger weight yarn) and the internets combed in search of a sock pattern. A few weeks later, I had my first sock. Second Sock Syndrome (”SSS”) set it and it took a month and a half to finish sock number two. Before actually knitting a sock or two, I thought SSS was a bullshit excuse for Startitis, but I have felt it with every pair of socks I’ve knit - sock number one can fly off the needles, sock number two takes two to three times longer, yet I have no interest in working both socks at once. Why does number two take so long? Why is the sky blue? Why is Kally so shitty?

For 2006 I have the following socks planned, all from stash:

1. Cherry Tree Hill socks. I started working Nancy Bush’s Conwy back in December, after finishing BIL(2). One month later, I hadn’t reached the heel shaping of the first sock. The pattern and yarn colorway combination just wasn’t working for me. Conwy has been frogged and I decided to go with something simple for this particular yarn. Hello picot and stockinette.

2. Embossed Leaf Socks with Nature’s Palette. I am completely copying Margene on this one, though I didn’t realize it when I bought the yarn - the same day, place and time that Margene bought her yarn.

3. Koigu socks. Not quite sure what I’m going to do with this lovely yarn other than turn it into socks. I may try Conwy.

4. Jaywalker - maybe, baby. Several years ago, I bought a monster cone of fingering weight wool on ebay. I don’t know what to do with all of it, but I do know I have more than enough to make several pairs of socks. I found this tutorial, have made a swatch, done the math, wound the mother of a skein, purchased the kool aid (learning the hard way that self-check out is not the way to purchase twenty-one packets of kool aid), gathered together my mason jars, and…

I haven’t done anything else. I may wait for warm weather and let the yarn soak in the sun for a few days rather than cooking with a crock pot (stove top seems like an unnecessary fire hazard, too short to use the microwave for anything other than popcorn).

5. Mr. socks. The Mr. really liked the yarn I used for BIL and I have almost a full ball, so I’ll be making toe up ankle socks for him. I think I’m going to have to tackle the two at once thing to ensure I don’t run out of yarn, again (see BIL(2) above).

Raise your paw if you’re ready for 200SOX!