why I need to buy more yarn:

I need a new project, and soon.

I ought to finish Sizzle, so I can wear it this spring/summer.  But eh.  I don't wanna knit 1.5" of seed stitch on the neckline and sleeves.  Plus, I feel like I messed up when sewing up the sides, so I'll have to re-do that as well.

I messed up somewhere on attaching the border to Print O the Wave, and have a devil of a time when I attempt to tink back, let alone rip back, the edging.  This, of course, is a fairly easy fix - I just need to sit down for a few minutes and take care of 16 stitches.  

I don't want to start another Sheldon, because that's TV knitting - I need to be able to look at the pattern, count stitches and rows.  

I ran out of yarn for Urban Aran, sadly - fronts and back are complete and I'm halfway done the sleeves.  I might be able to finish ONE sleeve with the yarn I have left, but that leaves me with half a sleeve and the collar to finish and Knitpicks isn't shipping more of that particular color until the 16th.  I should consider checking Ravelry, but I think I need three more balls and that might be hard to find there.

The gloves are frustrating me - I don't know the magical formula for knitting fingers and messed up.  But ripping back and starting all over is SO ANNOYING.   That one can just go sit in time out for a while as I try to figure out the trick.

The socks I'm currently knitting in class, at the movies, while reading, are coming along very well.  However, that means that I will soon be done and ... well.  Then I need to find another boring project to work on.  But I'll also have another pair of socks.  Hrm.

I swatched for a baby blanket with shiny new metal DPNs from Knitpicks... and I'm going to blame a certain young kitten for the fact that one of those needles is missing.  No idea where it is.  I even crawled along the floor for a while, checking to see if it fell into any of the cracks in the floor.

I came home the other day to find that he had pulled 13 of my bamboo DPNs out of my knitting basket.  THIRTEEN. Luckily, I managed to find all of them - most had been batted under the rug.  Of course, I'm missing three - but I think they are back in PA - and have no idea which ones are what size, between US 1, 2, and 2.5.  Now would be a good time to buy a gauge, I suppose.

Pictures to come later, of all my projects.  You know, when I'm bored and avoiding homework this weekend.

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?

Of Mice and Men

What I planned on doing today:

• riding lesson
  
• clean bathroom
  
• clean kitchen
  
• take out recycling
  
• straighten room
  
• knit
  
• read three chapters of my book
  
• go to the gym and kick my own ass
  

What I will Most Likely End up Doing Today:

• read half a chapter of my book and fall asleep
  
• attempt to straighten my room and give up half way
  
• curse a lot
  
• attempt to knit and discover that your middle finger is really quite required for the whole process
  

And the reason my to-do list will end up so very NOT to-did?

But there's a valid reason for drinking before noon on a Thursday:

You see that line about a third of the way down my nail?  It was bent backwards - and STUCK - at that line.  I managed to rip off a large portion of my nail during my lesson this morning.

Doesn't it look pretty?

Good thing I went bowling last night, otherwise I'd be bowling left-handed.  Also, that happens to be my middle finger, so I've been walking around like I'm giving people the middle finger.

Yesterday, I was bucked off.  Twice.  By the same horse.  I had bruises by the time I got home.  They look funny (but don't photograph well - believe me, I tried) because the surface of the ring is uneven, so I have "dotted" bruises.  A couple scrapes as well and some really nice and sore muscles to boot.

I can't wait to see what happens tomorrow when I ride.

In knitting news, I tore out the majority of Sizzle.  I tried it on again and finally convinced myself that it is too short, too wide, and not something I would wear.  So, back to the seed stitch border to start again.  I went down a needle size, figuring that will help with the "too wide" part.  I also knit an extra inch before starting the decreasing darts and will knit an extra inch or two in the shoulder straps, I think.  Also, I knit that back when I was twisting my purl stitches by purling incorrectly for the way I knit (or vice versa, depending on how you want to look at it.)

I finished the sock I started while watching Knocked Up and offered the pair - once I finish it - to my sister.  I'm knocking around ideas for my sock pal's socks, but I want to start at the toes and knit my way up.  And use little to no lace.  I'm thinking of modifying the Bayerische pattern to use the two cable patterns that I really like.  I think I'd have time to finish them.  Right?

Clearly, I need help:

This is what I currently have on needles:


Sizzle, Bayerische socks, waffleweave socks, and Branching Out.

I've got one row to go and then I can cast off the neckband for Sizzle. After that, I have a few ends to weave in and the sleeve trim to do - but I might not do the sleeve trim. The sleeves a little tight as is right now and I'm not sure how much of a problem adding the trim would cause. Though, I suppose finding out will only take an evening.

(The color, not so very correct in that picture.)

After a three hour long class and a few hours of television this evening, I'm working the toe decreases for Bayerische.

I need to stop and do some maths here - I have 46 stitches on the sole, as my sister has large feet. As a result, if I decrease as the pattern tells me to, the decreases will be in weird places. I think I might just put some of the sole stitches on the top two needles and decrease in pattern from there, so that the toe doesn't end up looking too funky. That, of course, means I need to tink back two rounds, since I forgot to think about that BEFORE I started the toe.

As I've finished Paradise Lost AND Paradise Regained, the waffleweave socks are kinda lagging behind:

(Six inch dpn included for scale.) I'm on repeat 12 of 18 before starting the heel. They move pretty quickly and I have a movie to watch tomorrow, so they should be near the heel soonish. Maybe even before mother's day? Nope, not gonna happen.

And no picture of Branching Out because I promise that it looks exactly the same as it did the last time I posted a picture. Whenever that was.

And here.. here is almost all of my stash.

From left to right in some sort of order: Louet's Gem in navy, KnitPicks dye-your-own dyed with koolaide, a skein and a small ball of Lorna's Laces, two cakes of Claudia's Handpainted yarn, some Sock it to Me Collection sock yarn, more of same, and some Opal.

The Opal is for my mother, the blue sock it to me is for Tina, the Claudia's is for ME, ME, ME, ALL MINE, MAY NOT TOUCH, and the rest is pretty much up for grabs.

And the rest of it....

I have enough yarn for 8 pairs of socks and 5 skeins of the yummy purple alpalca that knits up into the most awesome swatch ever.. About 1000 yards. AND NO IDEA WHAT TO DO WITH IT.

I really, really, really, really want to knit a shawl. A lacey, needs to be blocked to make the pattern beautiful shawl. Problem is, I would never use it. No one I know would ever use a shawl. I'm thinking that I might offer to knit a shawl and donate it as a prize for someone's drawing for something good, like Steph's Knitters Without Borders.

So, conclusions:
a) I need to buy more yarn.
b) I need to knit a few more pairs of socks for myself
c) I need to finish Branching Out
d) I need to decide what to knit next.

Any suggestions? (Donations of yarn also glady accepted. I might even knit what you want and send the knitted item back to you!)

This is not homework

Even though today's high was something in the 80s, I'm still slogging along on Blaze. I have 15 rows to go.. but with nearly 300 stitches per round, that takes a while. Maybe I can wear it to work over the summer, as I tend to freeze in air conditioning.

Soon, I'll need to pull Sizzle out and finish that. Then I can wear that one to work as well. I think after everything settles down a bit. One rough draft and a final paper for FR, one final paper for 301, one final exam for 301, one final paper for 497C, one final paper for 409Y, one book report for 176, one final exam for 176, one take home final essay for 303, and one quiz for 497C and I think I'm done for the semester. Of course, I also think I'm forgetting something.

The finished waffleweave sock:


For some reason, the sock does not lie flat. I haven't blocked it however, and it fits a foot perfectly, so I'm not too worried about it. You can also see that I've started the second sock. I'm about two pattern repeats into the 18 repeats that make up the cuff. I don't see it taking too long but I also don't see me having that much time to knit.

Bayerische is slowly coming along. See:

Because of the crossing of stitches every single round, I've had to distribute stitches in a slightly ... uneven and strange way. DO NOT LIKE. It is almost enough to make me consider two circular needles, but that will prolly never happen.

The sock is pretty there, but it totally blooms on the foot:

The color is close to true in the first picture, this one is a little washed out. It is seriously hard to get a decent picture of a sock on needles on the foot with weird numbers of stitches on each needle and NOT accidentally getting a corner of your drying rack which is currently home to some 14 bras and pairs of underwear from the last two weeks. Love the internets, but I'm not posting pictures of my underwear. (if you have other requests of things that I could also show my parents, let me know.)

I think I'm going to try to finish the waffleweave socks, then Bayerische. THEN, I can cast on a pair of socks for me.

That's part (and a small part, at that) of the windows in the Urmila's uncle's house. SO COOL.

Russian roulette

Ugh.

The internet, it does not like me. Or my roommates. I'm not sure what we've done to anger the internet god(s), but something needs to give. So far, I've talked to tech support for the modem, return the old modem and picked up a new one, talked to India via Linksys and attempted to set up the router, and reset the router about 7 million times.

Reseting the router works for about 20 minutes or so. The worse part is that I HAVE a connection, I just can't DO anything with it. Grr. Angry. And also, sore. I have a bad habit of punching myself to get anger out. (Hey, it means I'll get my security deposit back later. And less likely to break a bone or something.)

So, I have about 15 minutes to type up this entry before I have to take a shower and run over to TheUrmily's for Studio 60. And then home and to bed and ignoring the internet, cause it doesn't want to play nice.

(I've spent way too much time dealing with this problem.)

So... Tina visited yesterday. At which point, I discovered that her feet are a LOT bigger than mine. To the point that the sock I was knitting for her? It didn't fit. So I frogged the whole thing and have decided to try knitting it toe-up. Not sure how that's gonna work, cause I might have increased too many stitches to make sure that the new sock fits. Went from 88 stitches to 92 and it seems a little... big. I guess we'll see. Worst come to worst, I can tink a bit of the short-row toe and make it fit, I think. We'll see. Experimental knitting, such fun!

I finished the first of the Lorna's Laces sock. Need to take pictures, but don't want to waste the time I have with an internet connection. Later, I promise. It fits nicely, though it might be a little short at the ankle... I'm thinking about picking up and knitting a few more rounds of ribbing at the ankle, to see if that helps the problem. Other than that, love it.

And Sizzle is still neglected... Poor Sizzle. I promise I'll do something with you soon. Before I start another project. Maybe. We'll see.

So, 21st birthday is tomorrow. I plan on watching the season premiere of Gilmore Girls and doing homework and going to be early. I live such an exciting life.

Procrastination, how I love (and hate) thee

Apparently, I suck at up-dating at a regular basis. I feel that this is a result of my need to include pictures with my posts. The fact that I have an awesome digital camera, am a founding member and secretary of the Photo Club, and clearly LIKE photography seems to have no impact on the whole dragging camera out, finding the item I want to photograph, arranging the item in some sort of not-so-boring manner, taking the picture, uploading the picture (which requires disconnecting either my wireless mouse or my printer [and which I will forget to plug back in and then spend 10 minutes cursing as I try to figure out what is wrong with my mouse and/or printer]), editing the picture, and loading it to Blogger.com.

That is, unless, I am putting something off. Currently, I'm putting off calling my parents (it is Sunday, I call on Sunday. Otherwise, my mother will call to tell me that my cat wants to go outside. Again. After coming in 5 minutes ago. While that all might be true, THERE IS NOTHING I CAN DO. Nothing. But she will call and tell me that. Or that my sister stained her placemat again.)

Where was I? Oh, and homework. I have an article to read on Lithic Stone Tools and Stone Tool Technology. After reading the article, I must write up an abstract and some sort of notebook entry on the article.

Clearly, blogging comes first.

And sadly, pictures are NOT forth coming in this entry, unless you want to see close-ups of weeds in my yard. (They are pretty weeds, though.) If you so desire, leave a comment and I will share.

I've finished the major work of Sizzle. Finished on ... Thursday? Wednesday? Don't quite remember. But back and front have been knitted. Then the shoulder seams were grafted, the side seams mattress stitched. I just need to neaten out the edge of the neckline and do that part of the finishing. But. YAY! It fits! It is pretty! I can wear my very first major-knitting project. (Good thing, with the amount of money I spent on it. A pair of socks that doesn't work out... well, that's not so bad. And you could re-knit without killing yourself. Multiple times.)

I've finally, finally finished the heel of Tina's socks (the purple with white/black checkered strips). I knit that heel three times and I messed up on the short rows the third time. I'm trying to decide if I want to rip and reknit. Again. The only reason you can tell is cause the stripes didn't quite line up as they should.... I think it makes the sock more special. I also don't wanna deal with the heel anymore.

I've start swatching with the Lorena's Laces that I won a long, long time ago from Moth Heaven. I think it is finally time to knit a pair of socks for myself. This makes me happy.

Pictures next time, I promise. And is there anything you want me to photograph? I will consider requests.

sunshine

I've made some serious progress on Sizzle. Back on ... August 2nd, I had this: Today, September 1st, I have this: A completed back of Sizzle, plus the start of the front of Sizzle, that little bit at the bottom on the needles. Color is pretty close, though I think it might be a little less blue and a little more grey. The yarn is actually that shiny, though. I'm totally loving it. This is what I'm totally looking forward to: Penn State Football. Kickoff tomorrow is 3:30pm, against Akron. We should win. In fact, I'd be scared if we lost. But, new quarterback, lots of new players on the field. Will be interesting to see how the team has learned to work together. My body also wants to kill me. Going from physical labor all day, every day to sitting on the couch, sleeping in, taking naps, etc., is killing me. I'm getting headaches from ponytails, since I've worn my hair down every day. My knees hurt, my back hurts.. I hurt. I think I need to drag my butt up to the gym tomorrow or maybe today. We sent Ryan, one of my roommates, to the grocery store. So far, he's about half-way done his list and has called me three times to ask about what he should get, how much, if we have this, if we have that. He cracks me up. Wonder what he'd do without a cell phone? Or if I didn't answer mine? TheUrmily should be up here in just under two hours, so I prolly have time to get a hair cut, should I so choose, a shower, and maybe even read a little bit. This free time thing is weird. Weird, I say!

The socks, they are DONE

Done and blocked and everything. Already gifted them to my mother, who loves them.

(and her feet are smaller, so they fit her a little better. And is it possible to take a picture of ones feet without giving oneself cankels?)

A close up shot of the stitch pattern:


I really like how they came out, even though they took forever and I apparently knit tightly and loosely at the same time. (As in, with larger-than-called-for needles, I get smaller gauge AND holes in my fabric. What gives, yo?) Started sometime during the school year (you'd think I'd remember) and finished on a Friday. I think the Friday after TheBoy left, so the... 11th. In other words, they took forever. I am a slow knitter, specially when I ignore projects for a length of time.

It has been beautiful out in the last week. A little warm during the day, nice and cool at night. No rain, which we need, but beautiful skys and such. See?


What I call the Dr. Seuss Tree:


It totally looks like it came right out of a Dr. Seuss book. I love it.

See the three trees in the middle? The one on the left looks like a rearing horses, ears pinned back. And the one on the right looks like some sort of cartoon bird. I've been staring at that section of the treeline every day as I take horses out and that's what I think every time. Lexi agrees with me, and we decided that it's a garden-scape of her horse, Scout, fighting an ostrich over that thing in the middle. Someone else said camel, but we don't really see it. Or, the camel has some weird thing growing out of his butt.


Meet Flair. Flair is one of our mares. I dislike Flair. She's very pretty, as you can see. But she's a mare, and thus, moody. She's hard to ride (read: likes to rear) and hasn't been sound for the last three months. In fact, she's spent the last three months in that stall. AND IT DOESN'T bother her. There's something wrong with a horse that doesn't mind being inside. All the time. Alone at night. She's also not all that bright. Not that dumb, but ... not that bright.


Though, tonight, Flair has Harry to keep her company. Isn't he cute? And silly?


This is Rocket. Rocket likes sticks. He's so very cute and has the best sad puppy dog eyes I've ever seen. He makes me feel like the world will end if I don't throw his stick. He'll keep bringing it back to you until he's tired and needs a break. Then, he chews his stick for a while. The result is that you end up with very small pieces of stick that are really better mulch than toys. But don't tell Rocket that, he won't listen.


That's all I got for now. Still working on the back of Sizzle (which Wendy says knits up in about 3 days), about to finish the increases and work on the armholes. So maybe there is hope. Still loving the pattern, the yarn, the resulting fabric. Not sure if I like the increases in the back, they look wonky to me. Maybe I'll mess around and figure out another way for the front, a way that doesn't show as much as my most invisible method of a make 1.

I think I owe a few pictures

This:

Now looks like this:


The socks I started a long long time ago, at school, now look like this:

I'm about halfway done knitting the foot, so the end is in sight. I'd kinda like to finish this before I go back to school....

And because I'm insane, I started this:


I was bitten by a really nasty fly (no idea what kind, either) and my left ankle swelled up something akin to a balloon, resulting in this:


This is the first of the long promised pictures of the apartment:

my bed. Doesn't it look comfy?

This is the bathmat in the bathroom:


And this is what I spent Saturday doing:


I started this within the last week:

Wendy's Sizzle. I am LOVING this yarn (Karabella's Zodiac) and the pattern.

In other news, I move in about ... 30 days and have yet to start packing. I want to finish the one pair of socks, the scarf (so that I can give it to my boyfriend's mother when she moves back into (or near) town, cause that's not weird at all. Right?) My boyfriend will be here on Sunday or Monday, we're both hoping for Sunday. I need to go grocery shopping cause I've heard that eating on a regular basis is a good idea. I want to buy V for Vendetta. I need to buy text books online, at least the ones I was able to get ISBN numbers for from the student bookstore. Tina needs to finish my quilt so that I can take that to school.

My computer remains propped against my printer, my back is killing me as a result. I'm competing again on Sunday. It is hot here, but I have the pool. Of course, that requires walking outside, which is NOT benefiting from my A/C. So that doesn't always happen as often as it could.  

And that might be the last you'll hear from me until I move into the apartment at school- around the 30th.

just breathe

I don't have any pictures to show, sorry.

I have, however, started the heel on the second sock. I'm onto pattern repeat 20-something of the lace scarf, and I've started another pair of socks- simple knit2purl2 ribbed socks with Opal.

I also recently bought yarn and the pattern for Wendy's Sizzle. I'm very excited for the yarn to arrive. I think I ought to finish at least one sock first, though.

Problem is, I've finished season 4 of the West Wing. I need to find something new to watch on DVD then, so I can sit and knit in front of the TV still. I think Marie has Friends on DVD, but I'm not all that interested in Friends. Maybe I'll steal TheUrmily's House? That'll do me for a while.

I've got three dogs for the weekend- two big dogs, one little dog. One of the big dogs snores and has horrible gas. Sadly, I can't convince him to stay in the spare bedroom. He does know he's not allowed in my bedroom. It is kinda nice to have the company, though.

My life revolves around horses- who's where and when, who needs drugs, who needs to be ridden, who has lost a shoe. I had a day off a little while ago and walking through the barn that evening, checking on the one horse that is in due to an injury, I realized that I do more than just bring in horses, feed them, feed them again, and turn them back out. I know who goes where, when, and why. I know who gets fed what, who gets what drugs - and for how long. I know where the new horse should go, when Chris will not be around. I'm the glue that's keeping everyone else together. It's kinda nice.

Two of the girls who normally help us out each day will both be gone the next week. That means it will be mostly just me for a week. I'll have help in the mornings, but shall be on my own in the afternoon, to turn out and muck. Should be interesting. I guess it is a good thing that I have next weekend off- gonna go up to school with TheUrmily and visit for Arts Fest. Should be good times.


Ok, need to escape the dog. And go to bed. Maybe pictures next time. I've discovered that I get great signal strength from the pool.