omigod
I am having a panic attack. I am sooooo not going to finish all my holiday gifts before the holidays. Then again, maybe I will. But at the moment I am thinking that it's not going to happen and maybe I should just do some analysis of remaining time, my schedule, and effort to be expended, call some of these WIPS Valentines Day gifts and just go the store-bought gift route for some of my loved ones?
Surely I'm not alone with these thoughts. Who else is in this pickle right now?
Sigh
I have had such a long long long day. I think I am having a relapse of my cold. I was so tired on train home from work tonight that I couldn't even knit. I tried, but it was just too much effort to hold the needles. I am going to take a bath and go to bed.
reading glasses
I've just discovered that I can see sooo much better if I wear my reading glasses when I am knitting dark colors. Actually, it's not so much a discovery as a general acceptance of the situation. It does make a heck of a difference though.
Home with all my stuff
I took a vast amount of cold meds this morning, drove back to the campground, and loaded my crap in the Santa Maria. After that I went to the beach and did some knitting. I also went to The Yarn Place in Capitola, but I just couldn't find anything I really couldn't live without. Now I am eating turkey noodle caserole, watching Beach Blanket Bingo, and doing a teeny bit of work to get ready for a meeting I have in the morning.
Check out this hat from
Fred Flare- isn't it cute?
it's official
I have the Second Annual Thanksgiving Weekend Cold. I was in Hawaii for the inaugural event last year, and really nothing beats being sick on the beach in Hawaii (except maybe being well on the beach in Hawaii). This year I'm camping in the Santa Cruz Mountains and it's not quite the same thing. For one thing it's about 38 degrees, with frost predicted. I felt crappy all afternoon, but about 8:30 I got hit with the Sick Hammer so bad I just drove home. I left all my camping stuff at the campground and went home. I wanted to sleep in my own bed in a warm house. Hopefully I will be better in the morning (or at least feeling not so shitty) and I will go back to the campground and get all my crap. It's only about 45 minutes from home, so it's not like a million miles away or anything. And I can just go on to the beach from there and see if I can glean some benefit from the magical healing powers the ocean has. Alternatively I can just come right back home and crawl in the bed and sleep the rest of the day...
Volkswagen Swift
I bought 2 skeins of Cascade 220 at Kintting Arts this morning and since they weren't winding any yarn today, I took matters into my own hands. I used the latch for the pop-top on the Santa Maria to hold the yarn while I wound it into balls. How clever am I?
Pardon the crap photo quality- I am using my camera phone because I loaned my "real" camera to a friend. Oh, speaking of my real camera, I finally figured out how to use the Macro Function on it. Woohoo! I'd have figured it out about 10 months ago if I had bothered to read the instructions, but you know me and instructions....
Sale-a-bration
I went to the Knitting Arts sale at 6:30 this morning, and it was
packed. PACKED! I bought a couple of balls of Cascade 220 and 3 balls
of Kidsilk Haze. It's some stuff I needed to finish a couple of
projects, actually. Everyone else was buying Touch Me. I seemed like
every three seconds I heard someone asking if there was more Touch Me in
the back. Kind of a funny thing to say, when you take it as face
value....
It was too crowded to do any sort of stash-enrichment shopping, truth to
tell. 30% off is a great deal, but I'm not an impulse shopper when it
comes to yarn. I have to fall in love with it, and feel like I would be
incomplete the rest of my life if I left the store without it. Which is
why my stash isn't as bountiful as some of my knitting friends'.
I think that if I ever do win the lottery I'd probably buy a half-dozen
skeins of every color Cascade 220 and 2 of every size and length of inox
express circulars, put them in the craft room in my new house by the
beach, and call it a day. I could keep busy with that for a long long
time.
I am camping in the rain. I'm holed-up in the Santa Maria with #3 and
#6 keeping me company, and my little buddy Reese (my girlfriend Lynn's
dog) mannin the driver's seat. It's quite cozy. Speaking of Reese,
except for a couple of potty trips and a walk at the beach he doesn't
want to get out of the bus. Even with all the doors wide open, he's
decided that his place is in the driver's seat. He only moves when I
physically relocate him to the passenger seat so I can drive. As soon
as I vacate that seat he goes right back to it. Dogs are so funny-
they have such cute little quirks!
Yeah!!!
I am all settled in to my campground here in Scotts Valley. I made mac
n cheese for dinner on the grill (yum), drank some wine, did some
laundry in the swanky Neptune washers they have here (seriously, they
are now on the Kackie's dreamhouse must-have list) , and sat in the hot
tub twice.
I also talked to my friend Melissa in New Orleans for like an hour. Can
you believe she has no hot water, and hasn't since Katrina? I won't
camp where there is no hot water and she's *living* with no hot water.
I'm such a wuss, and she's totally my hero. XOXO Sweet Melissa!
Knitting Arts in Saratoga is having a sale!
I am on the email list for Knitting Arts. I just got notice of a sale on Friday:
Arrive between 6:30am - 8:30am and receive 30% off the entire store!
Arrive between 8:30am - 10:30am and receive 25% off the entire store!
Arrive between 10:30am - 12:30pm and receive 20% off the entire store!
After 12:30pm (until closing at 9:00pm) the entire store is 15% off!
See you there!
Getting there
I did a little bit more practicing on the cable front, and you know, following the directions really makes a difference! Amazing how that works... I'm going to keep practicing another day or two on this leftover yarn before I start in on #2 again with the Cash Iroha.
Tomorrow I leave for my camping trip, and I am so excited I can hardly see straight. 4 days of some much needed relaxation time is just about the best thing I've heard of in a long long time.
Craptacular Cables
So this new thing I want to do for #2 involves cables. I've never knit a cable before, and not being afraid of trying something without reading the directions first (or really ever) I gave it a whirl.
First I tried it with the Cash Iroha but that's not a good yarn to learn cables on, I've decided. Plus it doesn't really like being beat up all that much and grows rather hairy after it's been frogged 10 times. Once I figured that out I grabbed some leftover yarn from my stash and tried again. This time I gave a slightly-more-than-cursory glance at the instructions and dove in again. Here's the fruit of my labor- how sucktastic is this? Clearly I need to pay more attention to details like how many rows between turns and is the cable needle supposed to be in front or back.
Speaking of cable needles, I just used dpns, since I don't have a cable needle and I don't know where to get one at 11pm. It seems to work just fine for me.
Got it!
I got the finishing touches for #1 today (along with $12 worth of sparkly christmas crap I *really* needed) and they're perfect. I am going to sew them on right now, then get down to business on #2. I've spent a lot of time on #6 the last couple of days, and #2 is feeling neglected.
Only 2 more workdays between now and a 4 day weekend!
another one bites the dust
I just felted #1. It took FOREVER. It ran through two whole cycles of the wash with me scrubbing like a washer-woman every couple of minutes before it felted. Tomorrow I will apply the finishing touches (well, maybe tomorrow- I haven't actually found the finishing touches yet) and I will have one whole holiday gift project completed. Woohoo!
No pics till after the holidays, since it is a gift, but I do believe I will have quite a gallery of Finished Object photos to share after the holidays are over. Won't that be swell?
My SP5 bag is all finished!
Here's the final product- I think I finished knitting this sometime in August, and I finally got around to wrapping it up this weekend. I felted it yesterday, and this afternoon I stitched on the buttons and the handles. Isn't it cute?
Here's a close- of the button. I think it turned out very well if I do say so myself. I'm happy anyway.
Ouch
I went surfing this morning and since there was ZERO surf, I conteplated what kind of waterproof knitting project I could do sitting in the water on a surfboard on days like this. I also spent a couple of hours trying to do a variety of yoga poses on the board in the water. Pretty much only child's pose, cobbler's pose, plank pose, and cobra pose were successful. I did do corpse pose but I got an unexpected noseful of water and that was not fun. Everything else I tried - and I tried them all!- ended with a big splash, except one (I forget the pose) that ended with a thunk and then a splash. I hit my chin on the board. It rang my bell, but I'm ok.
I had such a fun time time this morning that I can't wait till Wednesday. I am camping and knitting and surfing Wednesday-Sunday in Santa Cruz. And dog sitting too. My girlfriend Lynn is going out of town so her little smoochie-pooch Reese is coming with me.
On the way home I stopped at Beverly's and got some buttons to spiff up my felted purse. I think they'll look cute stitched on the outside of the bag at the end of each handle. I'm going to take a shower and then finish that project this afternoon.
I am going to make another turkey today too, to take with me camping this week. If you see smoke, call the fire department!
Here's what I sewed today
As unbelieveable as it seems, I actually got somethings done in between blog posts today. Here are the things I ran up on the sewing machine this afternoon while I watched "Singing in the Rain" and "Lords of Dogtown."
This is three table cloths in a variety of sizes, three more of the drawstring bags that I love to stash my WIPS in (also in a variety of sizes), and one little "envelope" that has my two new 16" Addi Turbo circulars in it.
When I was digging around in my craft stash I found a package of 50 iron-on patches I bought for $1 at Wal-Mart a while back. In it there were two really silly looking palm tree iron-ons. Well, they looked silly on the kitchen counter anyway. I suddenly thought they might look nice decorating my new orange drawsting bag, since it does have sort of a tropical motif. Here's the finished product- I ironed one on each side of the bag. It's really cute, if I do say so myself.
#2 is DEFINITELY not going to be done today
I frogged #2 back to nothing. Zippo. Zilch. It isn't even a pile of ramen noodles on the floor, because I wound it back into balls. I saw a picture of something like #2 on the internet and suddenly realized that the recipient would like it waaaay better than what I had going. So, rip rip rip went the Cash Iroha, and I'm starting again from scratch.
I'm actually very pleased about it, because if I had finished #2 and seen this picture afterward, I'd have had to decide if I wanted to keep #2 for myself and make another one for the recipient, or frog it back to nothing and start again. It's one thing to frog when it's not finished, even if you are 3/4 done. It's another thing to frog it when it's done all together. It's like killing a living thing, almost.
Anyway, I am going to start back in on it in a little while. I just got out the sewing machine and I'm hemming some fabric for table cloths. I bought some fabric for skirts a while back. However, I've used the fabric as temporary table cloths for a couple of events and I've decided that the real calling for this fabric is table cloths. I made a shower curtain from the some of the other fabric I bought at the same time, so I am starting to wonder if any of it will ever become a skirt.
Finally
Instead of picking up the 130 stitches on #2 right now, I decided I should finally get around to felting the bag I made from yarn and a pattern my secret pal sent me. Here are before and after shots of the bag. The after shot it actually not a finished shot- it's still wet and stuffed full of a towel to block it. The handles are tucked in the top so you can see how the'll look when it is done.
Before
After
Lifeline
I couldn't get a lifeline worked into #2 and not miss a zillion stitches accidentally. However I did figure out how to rip it back 46 rows and get it back on the needles without dropping stitches- I ran a thin ribbon through the raw edge. I just frogged to the magic row, then I took this little satin ribbon, threaded it through a darning needle and just picked up all the stitches on it. Now when I go back with my #6 I won't have to fear them being, skipped, dropped, running, or ravelling. I sure wish I'd thought to do this on at least half a dozen other projects in recent memory. It would have saved me a lot of heartache.
Here's what it looks like with the ribbon in. I don't think there is anyway the recipient will be able to tell what this is (or who it is for), so I guess it's not like I'm letting the cat out of the bag or anything.
This is actually kind of decorative. I think I will have to try using a ribbon to edge something instead of a knitted BO sometime. I wonder how well it would work that way- like is it in the realm of "nice idea but completely non-functional from an engineering perspective" or will it be a nice stretchy edge for the end of a sleeve or a neckline or something? I'll ponder that while I'm picking up all those stitches in a second.
I'm making another turkey today (or tomorrow depending on how fast it thaws- I started it thawing yesterday morning). Boy, do I love turkey. I used the leftovers from the last turkey in the gumbo I made last night. YUM!
No, I will not be done with #2 tomorrow
I have had a change of heart about #2. I need to rip back the last 3" I just worked (about 4 hours, no big deal really) and add some length in the section before the decreases I just worked. It'll look much better with about another inch or so of fabric in that section. Much more hip/ fashionable/ stylish/ with-it. Whatever all the cools kids are saying. I just pulled my stitch markers, and was about to frog it, but I think I will go to bed before I do anything drastic. In the morning I'll see if I can't figure out some way to run a lifeline in there somewhere so I am not stuck trying to put 130 teeny little stitches back on my needle. There's probably no way to do it, but at the very least I won't be so tired and in a position where I might make a bad decision.
Wine and knitting
My wine tasting group came over tonight and I made gumbo and red beans and rice. They both came out really well if I do say so myself. As usual I had a minor kitchen catastrophe, but it wouldn't be a Kackie Cooking Project without one.
I worked a little bit on #6 while we were all sitting and chatting. I discovered that the yarn is the EXACT same color as my couch. EXACTLY the same. Not a half a shade off or anything- I'd swear they even had the same dyelot they are such a match. Which means I better not leave #6 unattended on the couch or I will never find it...
I worked on #2 on the train home from work today and watched Viva Las Vegas (with Elvis and Ann-Margret) on my laptop. It was a nice ride, and I only have a bit more to go on #2. I'll probably be done tomorrow. Yeah!
Camelhair
I went to the Yarn Place in Capitola yesterday because I failed to bring
#2 with me to the beach. I had actually packed my knitting basket, I
just didn't put #2 in the basket. Since I couldn't imagine not knitting
all afternoon I got the yarn to start #6. (I already have the yarn for
#3, #4, and #5, I just didn't bring any of it with me).
I found the most beautiful camelhair and wool yarn, and I swear it's the
softest yarn I have ever touched. I always thought camels were
bristly. I've never actually touched a camel though, so I guess I
shouldn't prejudge a critter solely on its looks.
I have a whole weekend with no real plans (except for my wine tasting
club coming over for a couple of hours at 6:30 tonight, and I had talked
to a friend about doing some sort of social activity this weekend, but I
don't know yet if that is a go or not). I am quite excited about all
that free time- am going to sew, knit, and maybe even paint my bathroom
cabinet.
#2 progress
I watched Cleopatra last night after I got home from dinner and got about 3 hours of work in on #2. I'm about 2/3 done with it and it looks GREAT.
I hope the recipient loves it. I put my heart in it. I've been reading a little bit of Stephanie Pearl-McPhee's
At Knit's End every night before going to sleep since my Secret Pal sent it to me. I finished it last night and one of the last "meditations" in it talked about something very much like that. It was about how some knitters think so many good thoughts of love and happiness when they are working on something for someone else that the recipent can actually feel the love when they wear the article. I hope that's the case with this item.
Fortunately for the recipient it is not a horrid, scratchy, awful, acrylic purple, brown, orange, and green patterned sweater with batwing sleeves. I've been the recipent of that sweater before, and it's such a crazy feeling. On the one hand it's so nice to think that someone spent that much time and effort on you. On the other hand, you know you would never in a million years wear something like that and you wonder if anyone else you know will accidently see you in it during the one and only time you will ever wear it- during the obligatory "Look! I am wearing the sweater you made me" event.
I had such a crappy day yesterday that I am going to take a mental health day off from work today. I'm getting dangerously close to going crazy and I don't think I can wait till the weekend for a little time off. I just loaded my surfboard and #2 in the Santa Maria and I am headed to the beach. I'll probably have to work really really really late tonight to make up for the fact that I didn't work during the day, but really, my emotional well-being depends on this.
Tooting my own horn
I had an awful day, just awful. Work has been really a bear lately.
Right now I am sitting in a bar having a chat with my friend Jack
Daniels and doing a little knitting on #2, trying to take the edge off
before I meet a girlfriend for dinner in about 45 minutes.
One really good thing did happen today though, and I think it is cool.
About a week ago I wrote an article for a website that focuses on the
industry I work in. They thought it was so great they want me to write
for them every month. Yeah! And even better, a blurb about and link to
the article I wrote is featured at the top of the front page of the
site. I just saw it at 2:00 today.
It's not like it's the new york times or the wall street journal or
anything, and I have a blog that stars lil' ol' me day in and day out,
and it is certainly not going to make me knit any better or faster. I
just think it's cool, is all.
I'm feeling Lucky!
About a year and a half ago, this picture was in Lucky Magazine:
I ripped it out and put it on my bulletin board because it is pretty much identical to what I wear every day of my life. It's the Kackie Uniform, all the way down to the exact same brand, style, and color of cowgirl boots that I wear (except I wear a cardigan instead of the wrap about 95% of the time). It's like someone took a picture of me.
So here's the reason for this post- I have been looking for the bag in this picture, or at least something similar, for the last 18 months. Today I got a holiday catalog in the mail from eBags.com and lo and behold they had the EXACT same bag in the catalog as in the picture above.
Naturally I raced to the computer and bought it, in brown. Golly I am so excited I can't see straight. It's big enough to carry all my crap and just about any size of knitting project. Yeah! I was so excited to find it that I even had them gift wrap it for me. Lucky me!
Busy busy busy
I've been so busy the last few days I only had about 3 minutes total to knit. I tried to knit a little while camping this weekend, but mostly I got distracted by wine and smores and eating and stuff like that. Here are a couple of exciting action shots:
This is Betty cooking a yummy pancake breakfast at our first campground. We stayed one night at Bothe-Napa Valley state park, but they had a water leak and that meant the bathrooms were closed. Totally inconvenient. We moved over to Skyline Ridge Park in Napa and it was great. I will definitely camp there again- I like it better than Bothe-Napa Valley for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is that there is a Starbucks about 5 minutes from the campground.
And here we are at the Chimney Rock Winery.
We went to a bunch of wineries, but we forgot to take pictures at most of them except for Chandon. There was a mushroom sculpture garden there, and for some reason it seemed like a great place to have my picture taken. It was also a great place for me to lose my car keys. Someone found them and put them on a rock in the area, so we weren't stranded.
Here's Yoshi, one of Betty's dogs. Isn't he adorable? Look at that tongue!
And here are both Yoshi and Elvis crashed in the Santa Maria on the way home. Don't they look like Butterball turkeys? We also went shopping at the Napa Outlet Mall, but no pictures from the shopping trip. I got some new shoes and jeans though. Yeah!
ARRrGH!
I just burnt my exact same fingers in the exact same place on the exact
same spot as I did on my birthday 2 weeks ago.
Ick
My fingers where I burned myself on my birthday are starting to look really gross. The part that blistered is all peely in wierd chunks so it looks like a disease or something. Oh well. At least it isn't painful and doesn't interfere with my knitting.
Neighborhood association meeting
Tonight I went to my neighborhood association meeting and for some reason about 100 people were there. Literally. Usually there are about 7 people there. No clue as to why the massive turnout, except that maybe it was because I plastered the time, date, and place all over the newsletter this month (I'm the editor of the neighborhood newsletter). It was swell though. And as usual we had a raffle for prizes. The prizes are always so odd. Remember a couple of months ago when I won a box of 64 crayons? Well, tonight's prizes included a white plastic dish drainer, a blue kitty litter scoop, Johnson's baby shampoo, and Hidden Valley Ranch salad dressing. It's particularly amusing since no one is actually trying to be ironic or funny with the prizes that are selected.
I worked on #2 on the train home tonight and at the meeting. I wanted to work on it some more tonight but I had to get busy packing for my camping trip this weekend. I leave tomorrow and I can't wait. I neeeed a break from work. It's been really busy and stressful this week. I don't think #2 is coming on the camping trip though. I don't want to take a chance that I will get it dirty or mangle it with the sticks that inevitably fall in my knitting bag.
Is anyone else's mailbox bursting with catalogs these days or is it just mine?
Is it Friday yet?
I had a very very long and stressful day at work. Lately all my days at work are that way. There's so much to do and so little time to get it done, and I am trying to squeeze in a million things into just every single second to try to stay on top of it all. I'm really getting worn out from it. I can't wait till this weekend. I am going camping in Napa with a girlfriend and I hope it will be very relaxing. A little knitting, a little wine tasting, a few smores. Sounds great, doesn't it?
Tonight I met another girlfriend for dinner in Palo Alto and got there a little early (actually like about 45 minutes early, because the traffic wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be) so I had 45 minutes of knitting time that I totally didn't expect to have. I love it when that happens. I sat in the bar and drank a pot of jasmine tea and worked on #2- it was a lovely buffer between work and play.
Speaking of #2, I just love the yarn. It feels really good, and I keep taking little breaks from knitting to rub and love on the yarn. I may just have to make myself a pair of mittens in Cash Iroha after the holidays are over. Then when I wear the mittens I can love and rub all over the yarn all the time and no one needs to know I am engaging in an obsessive-compulsive type activity.
Ooh, I need to start some laundry so I will have some warm clothes for the weekend. It's supposed to be in the 30's for a nighttime low on saturday. Brrrrrr!!!! My roommate gave me a propane heater for my birthday. This will be the first time I have used it. It's pretty cool- you can use it inside a tent (or a VW bus) because it has no open flame (it burns, it just has a protective barrier so flames aren't shooting out of it), but you aren't supposed to sleep with it on for some safety reason or other. I can think of a million safety reasons not to myself, so I will just use it when I am awake and huddle under my umpteen down comforters and blankets that I work perfectly for just such an event. I should be plenty warm.
It is also interesting to note that the heater came with an adapter that will let you use the heater in a golf cart.
Warning- dangerous girls ahead!
Shawn and Blayssa came over for a little stitch n' bitch tonight. I made spaghetti and Blayssa made one of her yummy salads (she's the best salad maker in the world), and Shawn and I collaborated on some lemon squares made with lemons picked fresh from the tree in the yard. I'm as full as I can possibly be without popping or needing a zipper put in my side.
My roommate joined us for the dinner part of the event. He let us all try on his new helmet. Don't we look ready for action and adventure?
Speed Demon Blayssa
High Flying Shawn
Super Swift Kackie
Dirty knees
I wore a skirt today and when I got to a meeting this morning I discovered I had big ol' dirty black smudges on both knees. Like the kind of smudges that a chimney sweeper would have oh his knees. Gawd. I have no idea where they came from, and they were as big as my kneecaps. It's definitely not nearly as embarrassing as the day earlier in the summer when my shirt came unbuttoned and I didn't realize it right away. Still though, I just always hate it when that kind of stuff happens. I always wonder what things happen to me that I don't notice- crap in my hair, paper stuck to my shoe, a big huge fuzzy blob on the seat of my pants, etc...
I worked about 15 rows on #2 today. Sadly it was the same three rows 5 times. First time it was because I knitted a row when I should have purled it, the second time it was because I forgot to change to a smaller needle before I started it, the third time it was because I was an idiot and worked it as K1P2, and then the last couple of times it was because I just couldn't do it right no matter what. I eventually decided I needed to put down the needles and step away from the yarn.
After that I did a little house keeping to get ready for my stitch n bitch tomorrow night. I've got a few girlfriends coming over for dinner and crafty fun. I think a couple of girls are bringing their sewing machines, and who knows what the rest of the girls are going to work on. It'll be fun though. I think we'll have spaghetti and lemon squares, probably a salad, and definitely some wine.
I finally remembered to get EZ-Off while I was at the store today, so I was able to clean up the inside of the oven where I flambe'-ed the turkey drippings last week. I'd been to the store 50 times this weekend trying to remember to get oven cleaner and just never managed/ remembered to get home with it.
#2's progress
I've finished the ribbing in #2. Golly it's gorgeous. It's just the most beautiful color, and the Cash Iroha is fabulous. It's absolutely dreamy, I have to say. I'm also pleased to say I managed to maintain my gauge all the way through, so the sizing is exactly perfect as of the current moment. There's still a lot to go though, so I don't want to jinx myself by saying anything too arrogant- next thing you know I'll be all off kilter and the thing will be size ginormous or triple extra-midget. Triple extra-midget is most likely, as I tend to knit very very very tightly.
I've also discovered the most groovy thing. It's called
Thimble-It. I've been doing so much knitting the last few days that I have a really sore spot on the pads of my thumb and first finger. I needed something to pad my fingers, but I didn't want a whole thimble, and a band-aid was just not doing the trick. These little things are just little ovals of thick adhesive tape and are perfect for the job. I'd highly recommend them if you need a little bit of extra padding.
I went to the beach today, but I didn't feel too beachy when I got there so I walked a couple of miles up the road to The Yarn Place. I didn't buy anything because I'd have to carry it a couple of miles back to the beach. Lame excuse I know, but my stash is overflowing already and I'm looking for any reason not to exacerbate the problem.
Here's a cool thing that happened today. When I was getting back to my bus after my walk, someone was taking a picture of my bus. The dude has a VW bus of his own and he liked the paint job on mine, so he was taking a picture to remember the details when he got home. He was using a polaroid camera and gave me a picture of the Santa Maria as a "thank you." It's not a big deal, really, it was just kind of a nice little thing.
GROSS!
There's someone 2 seats back from me on the train that is snorting and
hacking and gagging and sounds just like a 300 pound pig. It is loud,
it is disgusting, and I hope it isn't contagious. Some dude just yelled
at the person to "cover your f-ing mouth, man!" so I suspect my Howard
Hughes cleanliness/OCD thing is going to kick-in in about 1 minute and I
will be rinsing myself off with the hose in the backyard when I get home
before I go inside and douse myself and my clothes in bleach and lysol
You know you knit too much when...
The Yarn Harlot would be proud of me. I took the train to the
housewarming party tonight instead of driving. This is partly because I
wanted some quality time with #2, partly because I wouldn't have to
worry about having a cocktail and then driving home. I've also started
listening to a book on tape and that's adding to the thrill of riding.
What's that movie, the one where the chick rides the New York subway
working crossword puzzles, as many as she can in 24 hours? Crossword
maybe? Well, I can see the appeal of that right now. Riding Caltrain
and knitting I mean. The NY subway is not in my neck of the woods and I
am not the clever witty one that works the Sunday crossword (or any
other day, for that matter). I'm not dim, I'm just not the quick witted
literary type. I'm the counted, counted again, and recounted one more
time knitting type.
#2
Mystery Holiday Gift #2 (hereafter known as #2- MHG2 sounds too much
like a flu strain) is underway. I'm using Noro Cash Iroha and it's a
dream to work with. I also lashed out on a #6 Addi Turbo 16" circular.
I had so much success using the smaller circular over dpns with #1 that
I am going to give it a whirl with #2. It's a different project/ object
altogether and eventually there will come a point with #2 where I have
to use the dpns, but I am going delay that as long as possible.
This is the first time I've used Addi Turbos. They are super slippery,
which I guess accounts for the speed, but they are not all that smooth
at the points. They have kind of a grindy feel to them and I find it
somewhat distracting. I have to say that I really really really prefer
Inox Express needles, but I do like the Addis better than every wood and
most other metal needles I've tried. Those cheap lion brand needles are
great though, and if I absolutely have to use a straight needle (like
when the instructions say CO 256) I will use those till I can to move to
circulars.
BTW, in case you are wondering why I didn't just buy Inox instead of
Addi, it's because none of the yarn shops in San Jose metro area that I
pillaged looking for the right yarn for #2 had them. I know The Yarn
Place in Capitola has them, and I am going to be over there tomorrow
hanging out at the beach, but I didn't feel like making the drive today
just for needles.
I have about 2.5 hours till I have to get ready to go to a housewarming
party tonight. I am hoping to get a good chunk of the ribbing done
between now and then....
Done!
I parked myself in front of Turner Classic Movies tonight with my mystery holiday gift and worked my fingers to the bone. If my math is right I did about 5500 stitches in 6 hours. That's a record for me and my attention span. My index and middle fingers on my right hand are so tired and sore I believe I may have done myself a serious injury. However, I FINISHED the mystery holiday gift. Woohoo! Well, finished except for blocking and weaving in a few ends. It's off the needles and even unblocked it looks so great I wish I could post a picture. The nature of gifts being what it is sort of precludes that. I tell you what though- my fingers are so tired that binding off was torture.
At this point I guess I should start referring to this project as #1, since I will be starting mystery holiday gift #2 tomorrow. It's a different project for another person that reads my blog so I have to keep it under wraps as well. I need to do a little prototyping and then the actual kntting, but I figure I will be done with it by Thanksgiving.
Oh- I watched the cutest movie tonight: Alfred Hitchcock's The Trouble With Harry, with John Forsyth and Shirley MacLaine. It was Shirley's first movie, and it was so witty and droll and dry and morbidly amusing I wish I had Tivo'ed it so I could watch it again tomorrow and hear what all I missed the first time.
Alright, I'm going to sleep now. I'm dizzy with exhaustion. This is sooo far past my bedtime it's hard to believe I am still awake, particularly in light of the fact that I haven't gotten used to the time change yet...
Where's the Fire Extinguisher?
So I cooked that turkey I thawed out. I popped it in the oven late yesterday afternoon and around 11pm or so it was ready to come out of the oven. I managed to slosh some of the drippings out of the pan when I was sliding it out of the oven though, and WHOOOOSH! Yep, I had a blow torch on my hands. It was huge! Well long story short, the conflagration self-extinguished before I could even finish my initial screech, and no one was hurt. The turkey was fine, I am fine, and the oven is fine. I think I should have worn my roommate's new helmet though. Next turkey I cook I will. And an asbestos suit too.
I should add that the turkey is yummy, and it looked gorgeous. Cover of Southern Living Magazine gorgeous. I've never had a turkey brown so nicely. No, it was not browned by the fire. It was covered with aluminum foil at the time of the blaze. Actually, it was covered with an inverted disposable aluminun roasting pan, which is the same sort of thing but much easier for me to manage than aluminum foil when I am dealing with a 20 pound bird that doesn't slide in and out of the oven so easily. But anyway, I should have taken a picture of it. I got all distracted with the drama of the moment though. For lunch today we started carving that sucker up, so it is not nearly as pretty as it used to be.
I moved my mystery holiday gift off dpns and onto a single circular. I wish I'd done it sooner- it's so much faster and easier. The only reason I didn't was because I thought all I had in the size 10 circular department were 36"- waaaaay too big. Turns out I had a 24" after all, which is just absolutely perfect.
High Speed Knitting
My roommate won this helmet on eBay the other day and it just came today.
He got it for flying his airplane, but he said I could use it for high-speed knitting maneuvers if I ever needed to. It would be very handy for those times when I'm beating my head against the wall over some tragic flaw I've discovered in my WIP.
I did it again!
Damn damn damn. For some reason when I picked up my mystery holiday gift today I started knitting on the wrong side of the dpns. It only took me 4 rows to figure it out, but that was some painful ripping. I had to un-knit it, because I knew there would be no way I could get that puppy back on the needles if I tried it that way. The funny thing about this is just last night I thought "I wonder if I should work in a lifeline sometime soon?" Well, I guess I know the answer to that.
Two good things today:
Albertson's had turkeys Buy One Get One Free, so I bought 2 20-pound turkeys. One is in the freezer, the other is thawing in the sink.
Albertson's also had giant Hershey and Cadbury candy bars 10/ $10.00 today. I loaded up- I bought 15 of them. I'm not a huge candy eater, but it is really nice to know I have 15 candy bars in the pantry in case of emergency.
How hot would I look in this?
Ok, forget the ribby cardi (for a while anyway).
This is awesome! I totally love this jacket. I saw something very similar in a shop window recently, and just went bonkers over it. It'd be just gorgeous in a nice shade of eggplant...
And now back to my regularly scheduled knitting. I have 5 "active" things on needles right now, all of which are holiday gifts so they have to remain in stealth mode. I have another 4 things that are
this close to being done: the felted satchel, another
Daring Diva halter, a scarf I'm copying from something I saw at Urban Outfitters in Santa Cruz, and a brown furry bolero (it started as a vest, but I decided I would like it better as a sleeveless bolero- is that still considered a vest). I probably won't finish them up anytime soon. I think I'll pull them to the top of the pile for Thanksgiving though.
Wow, the time change is killing me. Just killing me. It is like going to another time zone. The clock says it is 9:07, but my "must go to bed at 10 no matter what" body has definitely started major systems shutdown. I guess I better listen to it and go hit the hay. G'night all!
Mid-day lull
I have a couple of minutes (about 2) between conference calls right now. Not really enough time to do anything productive (like get some lunch), but it's enough time to make me think , gee, I could blog something. Wow, how fun is that? I guess I could mention that I am having some girls over to do a little SnB next Tuesday. That's kind of cool. And I guess in a few hours my work day will be over and I can go to yoga (the cute guy teaches tonight) and that will be fun. And then I can do some more work on the mystery holiday gift till time for bed.
And I guess that is really all I have to say right now.
