Cattywampus

Lace! Again.

Here is the sock I test knit for Anne.  I dont' remember the name of it, something about frost.  I think she will be releasing it in the next few days.

I think it is just beautiful.  Now all I have to do is make another so I can actually wear it...

In fearless fibers tight twist sock, a colorway called feel the love (I think), it's actually more of a pink & red than red & orange color, I'm not sure how it looks on your screen, but on my screen it looks reddish orange.

I got the first installment of my Embrace the Lace club today.  I have been SO excited about this, so imagine my disappointment when I saw the spoilers and the colors is (IMHO) just ICKY.  

Green I can deal with SOMETIMES, but yellow...never.  I know.  It's a personal problem.  Some of you ADORE this yarn.  Well.  Them's the breaks, as they say.  I do like the pattern though, it's a mobeus (mobius?) wrap, quite cute, so I sold my icky green yarn to a nice knitter on ravelry who thinks it's just gorgeous and have purchased some malabrigo lace in a fabulous pink color to replace it. 

Going into the club I knew (of course) that I wouldn't like all the yarns, colors, or patterns included, but it was disappointing that after 4 months of waiting the very first color was one I didn't like!  I'm sure I will be quite happy with the same thing in fabulous pink.  And look at all the great themed goodies there are in this bag - I've heard her clubs are great, and I agree (now if I could only convince everybody that pink is the new green, I'd be all set).

And now I have to wait until the end of the week to get my own yarn and start on the project.  OH THE HORROR!

A Stromboli and An Event

I made the stromboli from Artisan Bread in 5 minutes a day for dinner tonight.  For full disclosure, I didn't really make the stromboli in the book.  I used my sauce instead of canned diced tomatoes, I used dh's meatballs instead of sausage, and I used a mozzi & provolone blend of shredded cheese instead of fresh mozzi, but still...the idea is the same, and I did use the bread dough and follow the directions for rolling, filling & baking.

One word.  De-lic-ious.   

Oh, and  brushed the top with olive oil and then I sprinkled more cheese on top for the last 5 minutes of cooking.

(head of garlic for size comparison)

The we set out to take the dogs for a walk on this lovely 70 degree, sunny, spring day.  Except the skies were suddenly green.  So we thought better of it, and then this happened.

I don't know if you can tell, but the water was in the street was the same height as the sidewalk.  So we waited and watched

Holy Cow!!  It hailed and poured and stopped hailing, then hailed again.  The people walking by were completely soaked.  It did this for about 15 minutes, and then the sun came out again.  It felt like 'an event' of nature.  It was so sudden, so violent, so forceful, and then it was just gone.  Maybe every once in a while mother nature feels like she needs to assert herself and remind us all she's still there.

Museumy

I found out on Friday (after waiting in the doctor's office so long that even my knitting wasn't keeping me from wanting to hurt people - 1 hour and 40 minutes in the waiting room) that I have a deviated septum.  A septum that is SO deviated, in fact, that the doctor got incredibly excited, giddy even, showing me the details on film.  Yay for me.  

Apparently this usually happens when you are hit in the nose as a child, but I don't remember ever being konked straight in the nose in any way that caused more than momentary pain.

My septum deviates so much to one side that the slightest provocation (swelling due to cold, allergies or sheer mischievousness) causes it to block off my sinuses on my right side, leaving me a no contest candidate for sinus infections, severe sinus issues during allergy season, etc.

Why am I telling you all this in glorious detail, you ask?  Well, it can be fixed with surgery, leaving me (theoretically) with significantly less sinus trouble for the rest of my life.  Do any of you have experience with this sort of surgery, either directly or indirectly?  

I will be out work for a week, which seems rather long, but from what I understand he would have to break my nose on the inside and straighten everything out, so I guess that makes sense.

I am very leery of having surgery that isn't necessary for survival, but is more of a quality of life type thing.  I've never had surgery of any kind, and I've known way too many people who have gone into the hospital for routine things and come out with more problems than they started with.  

Opinions?  Thoughts?  Encouragement?  Discouragement?  I just want to think about all the sides before I make my final decision.

In the much more fun and entertaining side of my life, we went to Art After Five at the Philadelphia Museum of Art this weekend.  They had a really, really good jazz band with a singer and yummy appetizers and drinks.

If you are at all familiar with the musuem, I can tell you that they put that curtain up right in front of the main entrance, so the grand stairway serves as seating for the event.  It's pretty clever really, and it was packed!  This is apparently quite the popular friday night activity.  

(And, completely random here, we took a NEW bus to get there, I am unduly excited by learning new bus routes.  I am leery of a bus until I have been on it once, because this IS philly after all, you never really know where a bus goes and how safe the area will be when you get there.  But we found a bus that goes from close enough to where we live to the museum so I'm totally thrilled by that!)

The entire museum isn't open, but the modern art downstairs is as well as the armor gallery.  We explored the armor gallery.  I am constantly amazed at just how SMALL people were back then.  

DH would NOT have fit in this armor.

This guy was a scuba diver?

I'm not sure what it is, something about the way the eye surround is, it makes me think of those old under water suits men wore when they were attached to the old submarines by oxygen lines.  Something from 20,000 leagues under the sea, perhaps.

The detail on some of these things is incredible.  Imagine somebody doing this all by hand??

Imagine somebody doing THIS all by hand?

lol.  right.  to each his or her own brand of madness.  Anyway.

DH takes the best pictures when he's not posing, but most of the ones that I get are blurry, this is a rare gem.  In this picture he is in the process of commenting on my paparazzi-like activity in the armor room.

It was just dusk when we left the museum (oh the joy, remember when dusk was at 4:30, that seems like last week!).

and we played with the settings on the camera to get some decent shots of the city.

We wandered around, trying to find the bus to get back into the city.

We did find the bus stop, but without a schedule it was a gamble, so we waited for 10 minutes and then gave up and took a cab to dinner.

We walked home from the restaurant and passed by this Temple in the Rittenhouse Square area.

The windows are just gorgeous.

And now it's already sunday morning.  ACK actually it's Sunday afternoon!  I made some scones for breakfast - yum!  And I have plans to make stromboli using the bread from the 5 minute a day bread book for dinner with my homemade sauce & meatballs.  mmmmmmmm I'm getting hungry just thinking about it!  I'll report back on my success or failure there for those of you who are also experimenting this book.

Knitting or Science?

I work at a local university and recently one of the people in the office (a woman, a fashion grad student to be specific) was teaching an engineering student (male) to knit. He was completely mesmerized, and after 6 inches or so of perfect knitting he turned to me (a passerby, not the teacher) and said 'it's just soooo scientific, I can't stop!' It was fabulous.

Catching up

Well, here I am, I've been absent for a while, a week maybe?  Not that long I guess, but it seems like it's been ages since I've posted.

We were away for the weekend and then I had a stomach flu Sunday through Tuesday, so I'm just coming up for air.  

I don't have much at all to tell you other than it froze here with all the blossoms on the trees and I'm afraid we wont' get to see much blooming this year.  It's quite sad.  Maybe this weekend I'll get some spring pics to post.

I have been working on test knitting that sock for Anne, and it's as far as I need to take it for her, so while I probably shouldn't back burner it, I'm going to.  Pretty, no?  I think Jocelyn is right, they look like poinsettias.  

I also started yet another lace project, I just can't seem to make up my mind, yesterday while I was lying on the couch being neither sick nor well I started Caricia, also by Anne in Malabrigo Sock Rayon Vert.  The color looks nothing like this, I'll see if I can find the color in the skein.

Here is the REAL color.

It's quite lovely, and the little flecks of green aren't distracting as I worried they would be.  I have no idea who this is for.  Okay I have one idea, but I'm not sure.  It wouldn't hurt my feelings if I decided it was for me.

And that's really all I've been up to.

The first shipment of the Embrace the Lace club from Woolgirl is supposed to go out by the end of this week and I'm all laced up already, but still...I'm looking forward to seeing what it is!

Parade of Lace

I haven't done a very good job of starting any of those sweaters that I bought yarn for a few weeks ago.  I got totally distracted on lace.  

I was completely motivated by the finishing of the Bee Stole, I had one other small shawl in my wip pile, and then I knew I would be FREE to start new things!  My lace weight yarn has started to pile up a bit over the last year for a few reasons, I think first because I knew I shouldn't be starting anything until the Bee Stole was done, but I think also b/c our lives were just a little crazy over the last year, lace was just too complicated to be fun.

So, I finished Ishbel.  And I love it!  For me, this is infinitely more wearable than the Bee Stole (gorgeous as it is).

  

I wore it like this today and it felt completely natural.

and from the back

It is absolutely the perfect size (20x52) for wrapping around one's neck without there being too much bulk or long flying ends and so on.  I knitted the scarf size, not the shawl size, but it came out somewhere in between.  You can see the colors really well in this shot.  It is Perchance to Knit lace weight Midnight Rainbow/Harlot's Peacock, I used about 275 yards, if that, it's incredibly light.

And since I finished this, I cast on for the Spring Things shawl by Susan Lawrence, I bought the pattern at least two years ago, maybe more.  In Handmaiden Silk Lace, colorway Smoke.  This is some seriously skinny yarn.

This is on a size 1.5 US needle.  And it's still that loose, crazy, no?  but I think it will be pretty, so I'm going keep going.

In the meantime, I started a cowl for my bus knitting.  Cowls are hard to photograph, but here's what I've got done.

 

It's in Jade Sapphire Silk Cashmere.  I bought this in CA last year when we were out there in May, so I think it's about time for it.  I am thinking it will be really nice to tuck into spring coats when a full scarf isn't called for anymore but there is still a chill in the air.

And one more...I am test knitting some socks for Anne, the hoarfrost socks, they are SO pretty.  She has them done in sort of a creme/pale blue sort of color, but I'm doing them in red b/c that's what color I had in Fearless Fibers Tight Twist sock.  They certainly don't look like frost in red, but they're pretty regardless.

I finished four projects in the last few weeks and cast on for four...so at least I'm keeping a balance.  It's good to have balance in life.  

Anne is also finishing up the pattern for this gorgeous sweater and whenever she does I will be test knitting that as well, so I'm going to hold off on starting any sweaters until I do that.  I'm having fun with my lace right now.  

And tomorrow is FRIDAY!  WOOT!  We are going to visit some friends this weekend, I hope you all have a great weekend!

And one more!

Cabled socks, 3x3 moss stitch w/cable from Sensational Knitted Socks.

I first saw this pattern here, that is in October of 2006, and that is long before I had either knitted socks OR cables of any kind, but it was inspiration, and I have finally done it.

They are knitted in Knitpicks Bare wool & silk sock yarn.  My theory was to have some truly neutral socks that would go with anything, in yarn that would show off the cables nicely, AND the silk, theoretically, will make them last longer than pure wool.  We shall see.  At any rate, I am quite happy with them!

As promised, I will give you the decision about my next sock knitting venture.  And the answer turns out to be...none of the above.  Something just didn't feel quite right about any of them.

Soooo, I turned to Deb of Fearless Fibers and she had some Blue Raven sock yarn that I thought would work just perfectly.

I am definitely happier with this combination.  Here it is in action.

The navy looks black if it's not in direct light and the color tones down the brightness of the variegated yarn.  It's quite fun, actually.  Tho I can't figure out how to move between the needles without dropping the yarn in one hand, any tips on that? 

I took a long weekend this weekend, in part to have fun with beer week and in part because I really needed some recovery time.  I am starting to feel like a normal person again for the first time since my grandmother got sick in January and it feels good.

The weekend has been really relaxed so far, we went to the 'real' grocery store, ie in the 'burbs, and spent well over $200, stocked up the pantry!  We had a Belgian beer class friday night, which was really, really fun.  It's fascinating that so many people think of beer as an alcoholic version of soda when there are so many nuances in good beer, just like in good wine.  It's a whole different way to look at it.

In addition to making fresh bread yesterday (that book, Artisan Bread in 5 minutes a Day, is amazing!) I got some good knitting time in, working on Ishbel, the new socks, and starting a cowl, which I'll show you when I have a bit more progress.  I would really like to finish Ishbel and start another lace project, and it's tempting to skip the 'finishing' part with the big finish of the Bee Stole earlier in the week, but I am trying to cut down on the WIPs.

 

We have another beer event this afternoon, but plenty of time in between now & then for some projects.  It's time to make some homemade granola and maybe I'll get a repeat or two in on Ishbel before we leave.

Tomorrow is an at home day, which is fine since it is supposed to be rainy.  I am going to make homemade sauce w/meatballs (dh makes the meatballs and he does a fabulous job), and do whatever strikes my fancy, which will most likely be more knitting and listening to an audiobook and I'm fine with that.  

I am so thankful for  this job with enough vacation time to take a few days off like this to regain my sanity, for living close enough to home that I can actually use my vacation time for me when I need to and not have to hoard it for traveling, and for my amazing husband who doesn't think I'm crazy for wanting to spend 4 days off in a row playing with sticks and string.

Happy Knitting!

Finally

In Fearless Fibers merino laceweight, color Notorious, 2.25 skeins.

21" wide, 66" long

The Honeybee Stole by Anne Hanson of Knitpsot  

It's a grey day, so the color isn't coming through as vibrant as it really is.

this is our back parking lot, it's not a very romantic setting either.

This took me 18 months to finish.  Really, when you get right down to the details it took me about 3 months, with a 15 month interval in between the first one and the last two.

What can I say?  I just couldn't get back into it to finish the second half, maybe it's like second sock syndrome.  

I am going to give it to a dear friend I will see next weekend, that motivated me to finish it, finally.

I hope you won't think any less of me when I tell you that I am going to wear at is as many times as I can between now & next weekend.  It's gorgeous!  I want to get some use out of it before I give it away.  As long as I don't spill red wine on it or set it on fire nobody will ever know.

I just can't get enough of these little bees!

HAH!!

Just a few shots for now.  

ooh, that one bottom point is uneven, I'd better go fix that.

This is blocking on my bed, so these shots involved flash by necessity.

This is my favorite section, those little bees & their hives.

Soon...the action shots, those will be prettier, but I had to share.  Just had to.  I can't even put into words how excited I am to have this DONE.  FINALLY.  It is SO PRETTY!!!!

Stashing/destashing

When we moved up here last year I decided I needed to destash some.  I started out with about 65000 yards of yarn.  Even with all the yarn I have brought into this house, I am down to 35000.  I have to say, I am pretty proud of myself for getting down that low.  I would like to get down to about 20000, which is still really an AWFUL lot of yarn, this calendar year.

Now that I've said that, I will show you what I got from Webs last week.

As a special treat for myself I bought Jade Sapphire Silk Cashmere fingering weight in Tanis Greys to makeCaricia by Anne of Knitspot.  (also Anne of my TWO REPEATS SHY OF BEING DONE Bee Stole)

It's SO shiny and pretty, it will make a lovely shoulder shawl.

I got some Elsebeth Lasvold Silky Wool in a lovely blue denimish color to make Dulce de Leche.

This is my next project, I am a whopping 10 rows in already.

I got this Takhi Sierra, in a lovely pale dusky purple color, it's a blend of silk and linen to make Elaine's Blouse. 

Finally, there's this Frog Tree silk/pima blend to make the Millefiori Cardi from the Spring Interweave.

So these are my spring projects, in addition to the fair isle socks, of course.  I am still wavering on the color.  I keep deciding one thing and then changing my mind once I go back to look at them.  If I don't have a decision by this weekend I'll pull all my yarn back out and see if that makes a difference.  The blue/purple blend won your vote, but something is holding me back, so I'm hesitant to commit.

Beer week is off to a grand start, and I have learned, once again, that Sunday is really NOT the right night for going out. EVER.  EVER.  Sheesh.  It was fun, but I am old, and holy crap work was really not a good place for me to be today.  Luckily, I am taking a 4 day weekend this weekend, so I can deal with the after effects of the rest of the beer dinners in peace and quiet. 

I need to get back to the Bee Stole, I want to finish the repeats this week so I can do the edging this weekend.  I WILL BE DONE with an 18 month old UFO and holy cow will that feel good!  Then I can start my next lace project!  Hooray!