Post-Brewery Blogging

Weee, tipsy blogging. Not drunk blogging, as I am still able to stand on one foot and touch my nose with my eyes closed and not fall over. Sober persons attested to this fact and thus, I am only tipsy. Which is sad, but tomorrow is another day. And next weekend is Blue and White Weekend, and not only will TheBoy be here, but a ton of other people will as well. And it shall be fun.

That said, I got a graduate assistantship. I think my references basically completed the interview for me, for I know they called at least one of my references before my interview. And I think they went into the interview planning on hiring me, so long as I didn't totally mess it up. So, I have a graduate assistantship for 20 hours a week in the fall. For those twenty hours a week, they shall pay me about $17 an hour. While I will need to dip into savings to pay tuition the first few semesters, I think I will mostly be able to live off of my salary and that includes paying rent.

Now I have to answer super important questions such as: TIVO or no TIVO? I think it is about $13 a month. I DON'T KNOW. I get the impression that TIVO is one of those things that you can't not have once you have it. Am I willing to make that leap, knowing I will be working for about oh, $30k a year after graduation? Hrm, I shall have to debate this one.

That said, I finished the second sock of a pair of socks of which I have not posted pictures. If it were not 1am, I would take pictures now. So, just know that they were knit out of KnitPicks yarn in the Waffleweave Pattern that I wrote and that lo, they are awesome.

And as a reward, I am attempting to start a sock from New Pathways for Sock Knitters - the riverbed sock. I really dislike toe-up socks, and I am remembering why. I attempted to start the sock at work last night and just massively failed. I could not handle the figure eight cast on, let alone Cat's LLink and LRink increases. I just gave up, used Judy's Magic Cast On, and used an increase that I could manage for the first round. We'll see how it goes from here. And for my self that manages to forget things, yarn is ArtYarn's Ultra Merino, 6ply, with US 1 needles.

And I picked up US 2 needles today, so now I need to decide if I will be knitting the Eagle's Flight socks again. As much as I hate the idea of frogging YET AGAIN, I kinda can't handle the idea of NOT knitting those socks perfectly. So, we'll see. If I can't bring myself to wear them as is, they shall be frogged and re-knit. I have proven to myself that I can knit a sock in about a week and I most certainly do have the pattern memorized by now...

Orts and Bits

Really, do I ever write anything that is not some sort of random collection of the things floating around in my head? Finished Object posts, you say? Those don't happen all that often anymore, so I'm going to say "not really."

That said, on to the random collection of stuff that is floating around my head:

Sleep: I have gone to bed after 6:30am more times this semester than I have before midnight. This is not cool. This needs to change. (I do not see how this could change in oh, a month and a half.) If I am not asleep by 1:30am, I am considering just not sleeping tonight. I woke up around 2pm, so really, it would only be at the start of a three hour class that I would be awake for over 24 hours - that's totally doable. And then I can nap for an hour on the way to a rock climbing field trip and then climb for three hours. I SEE NO FLAWS WITH THIS PLAN.

School: Ugh. Do not care. I graduate in a month and a half. GRADUATE. They'll give me pieces of paper that make it official and everything! (Fools.) However, there are some ... 55 pages that need to be written between now and then. GAH. On one hand, I want to graduate and not thing about papers or anything, on the other hand? Graduate? Only real people, ready to face the real world graduate. Also, those people have learned something in the last four years or so. Have I learned anything? I do not know.

Ballet: Was awesome. I probably would have gone to that show even if I weren't taking a class that required me to do so. TheUrmily, however, ditched me in favor of BATTLESTAR GALATICA. There is nothing more that I can say here, other than to also mention that she canceled Thursday plans for Mad Mex because it was raining. Just .. fail.

Apartment: In theory, they have mailed the lease to me. I have not yet had it show up in my mailbox, but they most certainly went ahead and cashed the check I sent them. However, we suddenly have a new problem: Any assistantship I might get would start on August 16 - the lease starts August 18th. Tomorrow, I shall beg them to let me move in three days early. They keep claiming that they'll have plenty of time to clean and paint and remodel between July and August 18th, so what would three days be, now really?

Running: After trying to be nice and offer someone an onion ring, I have been roped into a weight loss challenge. Apparently, the goal is to lose 9lbs by the end of April. That's about 21lbs a week, which I think is pushing it a bit. I think I have talked the rules committee into accepting a weight loss goal of 7lbs for me, which I fee is much more reasonable and also, healthy. But, if by the end of the month, you have not met your goal of 9lbs, you owe $5 per pound remaining. Those who do make their goal get to split the pot. (Also, I find it interesting that a) I am the only female involved and b) this is a challenge set up to work best if some fail and some don't fail. We don't like it when everyone succeeds, it would seem.) So far, I have no idea how this is going, as I have eaten chocolate in some form or another every single day. And on Monday I had a milkshake.

However, in hopes to not owe $45 at the end of the month, I have started the Couch to 5K program.  Someone else has already done all the thinking, I just have to follow instructions.  To help me do so, I purchased an Eddie Izzard show in CD and have been running to that.  I will admit, it is somewhat difficult to run when you are laughing, but it is much more fun.  Also, you get great looks as you jog along, giggling merrily to yourself.  As you pass all the frat houses.  Ah, college towns.

Knitting:  Oh, right - the theoretical point of this blog.  I stopped by the yarn store the other day to purchase what I THINK are the correct size needles for the ill-fated Eagle's Flight Socks.  Only, they didn't have them.  No, seriously- they did not have them.  WTF, world?  Apparently, US2, 2.75mm, have been on backorder for some time.

So I came home and very carefully redisprited the tail I had left myself during my cast on.  And now, I can wear the sock without cutting off circulation to that foot.  I am still debating if I want to rip out the toe and reknit a slightly longer toe, so that the foot will be the correct length.  I think I will end up doing so, I just can't face the idea of messing with that sock anymore.

I am also currently turning the heel of the second KnitPicks sock that I am knitting for Klunk- that one should be done in a week or two, and then I get to play a new pair of socks!  I am excited.

Time to wrte another to-do list.  I write a mean list - pity I rarely manage to cross anything off.  And I can't even add things like "eat chocolate" to my list anymore.

Eagle's Flight Socks

Last time we checked in on the Eagle's Flight socks, I had finished the first sock, knit past the heel of the second sock and then... I lost the second sock.  Sock, needles, yarn, and all.

After trolling Raverly, I sent a message to a nice person who had used Opal's 4-Ply Uni Solid in color 1263.  She was so very kind to mail me her remaining yarn, with which I have started the third sock.  I am fairly certain that I will have enough yarn to finish this sock, and I am thrilled to be knitting these again.

Of course, I also have no idea what size needles I was using before, so I had to guess.  I also attempted to cast on in a moving car in the dark.  Actually, the casting-on part was the easy part.  The hard part was the second patter row, working into yarn overs located right before and after a purl section.  That I attempted while sitting at a bar, drinking a very yummy margarita.  I think the fifth time was the charm.

I am currently kicking myself for not blogging these socks more.  Just think of the trouble I could have saved if I had noted the size needles!  Or you know, never have lost the sock at all.

But at this point, that seems like wishful thinking.

And because I uploaded them for perhaps no reason, please accept the following photographs:

The loveseat that my father took off the hands of a friend after said friend's mother died.  We have two other loveseats in the house.  He also accepted a matching couch.  I am trying to convince him to buy a slipcover.

My current favorite new member of the household.  Meet Scooba.  He happily does kitchen floors so I don't have to.  Well, minus the whole ripping out old floor, replacing with new titles two days before Christmas bit.  Even after all that, I still love him.

A List, of Sorts.

I'm currently frustrated with EVERYTHING I am knitting and thus, attempting to decide what else to work on.

Eagle's Flight sock? Oh, right - I LOST IT. I am still attempting to find yarn to knit a mate for the first one. Anyone have Opal 4-Ply Uni Solid in color 1263 just sitting around, waiting to be useful? Let me know.

Rotating Rib: I don't know if I have enough yarn to complete these. Which - wha? The cuffs, they are only 6" long. Sure, it is a rib, and that uses a little more yarn, but really? I got past the heel and then realized that I think I used the wrong sized needle, because something was off with the size. So, I ripped and am starting again, this time with a larger needle. I am also holding out hope that this will magically increase the amount of yarn so I have enough.

Sizzle: The knitting is finished. Now, I just have to seem it. I started the seeming ... and something went wrong. The two sides appear to be different lengths. To which - wha? So I put it in time out.

Print O' The Wave: Oh, yeah. In a fit of "I have nothing to knit, oh no!" I started Eunny's Print O' the Wave in some of this. So far, so good? Maybe? I think I missed up the invisible cast on on the 38th (And final!) try. Not sure if I'll have 80 stitches with to knit the other half. We shall see. Also, this requires reading the chart, and thus, is for tv watching. I'm not sure about class, but I think it might require too much counting. Maybe if I printed the chart WITH the repeated section four times? I dunno, but not so much with that right now either.

So, I leave you with a picture of the snow taken at 4am from my balcony. I have no idea how this actually turned out cause there's not a lot of light at 4am and I was shivering, but oh, do I like it. It was calm and peaceful and you could hear the snow. And then you could hear the old beat up pickup truck attempting to get out of his parking spot and failing miserably, but that's one of the joys of living next to a parking lot, no?

Lost: One Sock in Progress

I lost my sock, people. Sock, the rest of the yarn, and a set of bamboo double pointed needles. I AM NOT HAPPY ABOUT THIS.

I know for sure that I had the sock with me in class last Monday. I have a memory of shoving it (gently) into my bookbag at the end of class, but not of zipping up my bookbag. Then, I took my bookbag to work on Tuesday and pulled out two books and the newspaper, but not the sock. I suppose the sock could have fallen out while doing so, but ... I think I would have seen that happen, as my bookbag was hanging on a coat rack at the time.

I didn't realize my sock was missing until Wednesday, when I went to leave for class and checked to make sure that I had something to knit during class. I haven't found it in my shoe box of an apartment, so I'm thinking I lost it.

I went to Lost and Found on Thursday, but explaining what a sock in progress looks like to the clueless girl behind the counter? Was not easy. Tomorrow, I shall return again, with the completed sock and say "It looks like this. Just without a toe. And 5 needles. And a ball of yarn (hopefully) attached."

I looked around at work, no luck. I think they have a separate lost and found, but I'm not sure if anyone would have .. found it. It would have been under the coat rack and that's not a regularly cleaned place.

What does one do with a completed sock, when one has literally LOST THE YARN for the second sock? I think I wrote down the color for the yarn, but not the dye-lot. Also? Am not checking for I do not wish to learn that I did not record the color in any way, shape, or fashion.

I'm thinking I shall have to beg for someone else's remains of said color of yarn. And hope that dye-lots are not too far apart. I think I might weigh the completed sock so I know about how much yarn I would need, plus a bit for casting on and grafting the toes. Think I can do that at the post office and take a picture without getting in trouble?

Back to Our Irregularly Scheduled Knitting

So, knitting.. I've been doing a bit of that of late.

First, I finished a hat in a few days:


Odessa, by Grumperina. I used left-over Andean Treasure from knitting Blaze. Less than one ball later, I have a warm and fuzzy head covering. Only problem, it doesn't cover my ears. I'm considering picking up and knitting a longer ribbed band, to hopefully cover my ears. So far, I've just been wearing the hat.

I omitted the beads because I didn't have any and I wanted a hat NOW. I love the different orientation the stripes take, just by the increases and decreases. It was a fun, quick knit and I got to try out my new KnitPick Options kit. (Which, by the way, I LOVE. LOVE.)

And then.. the first of the Eagle's Flight Socks:

I've even cast on for the second sock. I really like this pattern - it is a six round repeat, and half of the repeat is simply knitting or purling the stitches as they appear. I tried something different on the heels for this sock - I like the results.


It is a little hard to tell in that picture, so I highlighted the changes with blue in this one:Looking at all of my purchased socks, I realized that many of them had a weird y-shape in their short-row heels. I figured that they knit a normal short row heel as normal, wrapping and turning as they worked towards the middle. When I had about 1/3 of the stitches wrapped, I started working back out the normal way - double wrapping, then picking up and knitting the two wraps and double wrapping the next stitch. I did that for four stitches total - two on each side, and then started decreasing again - single wrap and then turn around and head back to the other side again. I re-worked the four stitches I had worked earlier, then continued normally again.

I realize that doesn't exactly make sense, but I'm not sure how else to explain it. Has anyone seen this type of heel before? Instructions for it? Once you understand how to knit a short row heel, I think it makes sense.

But that results in the y-shape and helps the heel really cup around your heel. It isn't that much more work, but the sock fits a bit better. A few socks I've knit with short-row heels ended up a little tight in the heel/instep area, and this seems to fix that problem. All in all, I'm looking forward to wearing these socks.

I realize that there are holes in my heel. I've only recently realized that you're supposed to knit the wraps as you work back out. I've tried it a few times, and never liked the look. So I tend not to do so. I recently got a copy of New Pathways For Sock Knitters, so I'm going to try those instructions and try that. But the holes are a result of the way I personally deal with the wraps, not the addition of my "y." So don't like that keep you from trying it yourself.

Look at the pretty scalloped edges that the pattern creates at the top, too:

Grrr

 Here's the current state of the sock:


I decided to go with the "Eagle's Flight" pattern, available here. I really like the pattern, and it was easy enough to adapt it to my gauge (of 10 sts per inch. No, seriously. Look:



and I'm only using size 1s, people. And I don't think I knit THAT tightly.)

However, I'm not sure the pattern is really showing up with the dark yarn.


So I think I'm gonna end up frogging this and trying for another lace pattern, maybe
this one but I'm not sure it will work with 80 stitches, rather than 60.

Luckily, I do have a yarn that will work well with the Eagle's Flight pattern. (However, that yarn is supposed to be used for socks for my mother. I guess she'll be getting another pair of patterned socks...)

I might just try to come up with a pattern of my own. Maybe cables? Lace?