Modeling In Maine

I drove today. A lot. I left home a little after 11 and got to Purl Diva a little before 4. There was already a crowd, and I was #14 in the modeling queue. Ellen, the owner, recognized me right off the bat from my Ravelry avatar, and just as I was saying hi to her, I spotted Mel making his way to the door. He'd been there since 2:30, and had his niece waiting in the car, along with his adorable pup, so he was ready to head home.

After he left, I found a chair and worked on my uncle's sock until my number was called. Meeting Franklin was such a treat, more than worth the long drive. He's a sweetheart. I wore the shirt I designed for Sunflowerfairy, and Franklin absolutely loved it. We talked about designing and knitting and crochet, and we weren't ready to stop when I finished my row of the scarf, so he told me to knit a second row. It may have only been five minutes, but it was so much fun... I'm hoping I'll get a chance to sit down with him for a longer conversation at Rhinebeck next year.

One of the other models tried to convince me to stay in town for the night and check out the other LYSs before heading back to Connecticut, but I have an expensive trip coming up, so even if I'd packed for it, it would have been out of my budget. One of these days I'll have to go back for a longer stay. I love Maine... nice folks, beautiful scenery, and a really cool little yarn store in Brunswick.

Oh, I'm knitter #277. Hee!

Edit: I guess making a 460-mile round-trip just to meet Franklin was a big deal. Both Franklin and Ellen mentioned me!

Up North

Tomorrow I'm driving up to Maine to see Franklin for his latest 1000 Knitters photo shoot. Anyone who wants to come with me, email me by 10pm today. I plan on leaving around 11am tomorrow from just north of Hartford, Connecticut, and might not get back until 11pm. (The shoot is from 4pm to 7pm.)

Come on. You know you wanna!

Well Crap

I'm unemployed. The company officially closed a few hours ago, after giving all of us our severance packages. *sigh*

At least I have plenty of time to knit now.

Making Up For Lost Time

Y'all ready for pics?



I began this sock with the intention of finishing it and its mate in time for Christmas, as a gift for one of my uncles. It ain't gonna happen. So I dove into my stash and found this Patons Classic Merino and cast on for a much faster sock on US#3s:



Ah, yes. Much better.



This is a shawl I'm trying to get finished in time to wear to my friend Alli's wedding in January. The pattern is the Feather Lace Shawl from Gardiner Yarn Works. I've already made a mistake:



but I'll be damned if I'm going back to fix it.



For the first time in ages, I bought a pair of straights last weekend. I was going to get circs, but I couldn't find any with points I liked (for some reason all the ebony circs Webs had were on the blunt side), so I ended up with these Colonial rosewood straights. The Plymouth "Indiecita" alpaca yarn was a gift from TVSnBer Cassie, and it's going to be a scarf. The stitch pattern is out of Interweave's (Harmony Guides') Lace & Eyelets, and, as written, is wrong.

I got through the first repeat, as written, looked at the picture, and cocked an eyebrow at the book. The written instructions (no chart) were only half of the pattern. Buh. Got out the pencil, reverse-engineered the rest of the pattern, fired off an email to Interweave (no response yet), and muttered something about how it figures that the first pattern I try is wrong.

Oh, and I didn't take a picture of this when it arrived a while back, but David sent me some sock yarn. It's very soft.



I'm trying to fight the impulse to cast on right away. Too much other stuff to finish first.

Okay, that should hold you for the next few weeks. ;-)

The Waiting Room

This morning I spent three hours working on an evil job at work (it's not difficult, it's just very annoying), gave up, told the boss I was sick, and went home. On the way, the check engine light came on... again. It's been doing this for a few weeks, but because of my schedule (and the fact that I'm hourly, not salary, and have no vacation/sick days), I haven't been able to have it looked at. So this was a perfect opportunity. I called the shop, told them about several issues (warped rotors, rough/low idle, check engine light) and asked if they'd have time to take a look at it. "Bring it over as soon as you can," the guy said.

Over I went, and the Guy Who Runs Things (who *is* a mechanic, but mostly works the counter) verified the list of things I wanted the techs to look at, and then said he'd noticed that my tires were looking a little bare. We went outside and checked (because I'm a doofus and don't pay attention to these things), and not only were both front tires almost down to the tread indicator, one also had a nail in it. Whoops. While we were out there, he was wowed by two things: my NZ All Blacks rugby ball on display behind one of the rear headrests, and the (stock) white ball shift knob. He doesn't get excited very often, so having two things that got that reaction from him totally made my day.

So we had our list of things that needed to be looked at, and he said it would take most of the day. They don't usually give people rides, but because everyone I knew was at work and it was pretty cold out, GWRT offered to take me home. I knew that if I went home I'd spend all day in front of the computer, and I'd brought my knitting bag with me, so I opted to stay at the shop and work on socks (Ravelry link) for one of my uncles.

Between 11 and 4 I finished the instep and turned the heel, doing most of it while watching the techs work on my car. At the end of the day, GWRT asked me if the socks were for him. I might have said yes if the bill hadn't come to nearly $800 (nearly half of which was labor).

So yeah... I learned a bit about how the shop is run, the techs' pecking order, how often the NAPA guy comes, how many parts places and dealerships the shop has on speed dial (the speed dial codes go to three digits), and how much GWRT hates it when his wife calls him at work. Plus, I got a lot done on the Uncle Sock.

Just before I turned the heel, it occurred to me that I didn't know what size feet my uncle has. I took a guess, started the heel, and then called my mother. She didn't know his shoe size, but she gave me his number, so I left him a message.

"Hi, Uncle Ron, this is Lilith. This is totally going to give away what I'm making you for Christmas, but... what size shoe do you wear? Leave me a message at home, k? Thanks!"

Later this evening, I got his message:

"Uh, hi, Lilith, it's Ron. My shoe size is 10.5 or 11. *pause* All...righty then... um... I hope that helps. Have a good weekend!"

I don't think he knows what he's getting. It's great!!! He was really excited last year when I gave him a simple stockinette beanie, so I think the socks are going to floor him.

This is what knitters live for: the sincere excitement and gratitude over hand-knit gifts. Now if I can just come up with more car trouble so I can get more knitting done...

Equine Affaire

Today my sister and my friend Mike and I went to the Equine Affaire horse expo in Springfield, Massachusetts. We saw tons of horses, but our breed of choice is the Fresian, and somehow we didn't take pictures of any other breeds.







I worked on a sock for Cool Uncle, and, surprisingly, nobody stopped me to express their amazement at my ability to walk and knit and look at horses at the same time (like they did last year). Oh well... I got most of the foot done in about four hours, so I'm happy.

Dizzy Cup Jellies

or Night of the Mutant Coconut

This is how my day was supposed to go:

- work for five hours
- go to SnB for an hour or two
- go out to my guy's house and learn how to change my car's oil
- maybe go to a movie

This is how my day actually went:

- got sick of work after an hour and a half
- went home, packed up my knitting, and went to SnB
- knit for four hours
- had a late lunch with Jenny and Matt
- went to an Indian grocery store that looked like it could be packed up and gone before the INS agents showed up
- dropped off Matt so he could take a nap
- went to the Asian supermarket and spent at least an hour looking at everything, but only spent $20 between us
- went to the Salvation Army and got a pair of cargo pants, a jean skirt, and some raveled yarn (dusty teal cotton in sweater form)

I'm going to let Jenny tell you about the dizzy cup jellies, because she's the one who got them. While we were walking down one of the isles with preserved... stuff (I got a little creeped out by a shelf of preserved fish looking at me from their little glass jars), there were a dozen types of preserved coconut. For most of them, the first ingredient was "coconut." For one, though, called "Coconut Sport Strings," the first ingredient was "mutant coconut."

Yes. Mutant coconut.

I passed on that and got some honeydew shortcake cookies instead. Nummy!

Remind me to show y'all the shawl I started the other day. It has a deadline and everything!

Inspired By Tonight's SnB

If you were at Rhinebeck, did you see a tall guy wearing jeans, a black cowboy hat, and a t-shirt that said "BOOBIES MAKE ME SMILE"?

Yeah, that's my guy.

I've started a new project, but I'm way too bloody tired (11 hours at work today, 13+ planned for tomorrow) to take pictures and write about it. I'll try to get around to it this weekend.

Rhinebeck, Year Two

[I knew David was something of a celebrity, what with being a cute, geeky, straight guy who wears kilts and knits and all, but I didn't realize he had so much power in the blogosphere until I checked my stats and found that, in the last two days, his blog has sent over three hundred visitors here. Thanks, hon! And welcome, everyone!]

Okay. Rhinebeck.

The weekend went too quickly. I wish that, like last year, I'd been able to get there Friday night and stay until Monday morning, but circumstances didn't permit, so I drove out and back both Saturday and Sunday. Saturday I took my guy and my friend Cassie, and Sunday I went on my own and hung out with David.

I'd been planning on only going on Saturday, but I didn't get to do everything I wanted to do, so I came back on Sunday and finally hooked up with some of the people I'd been wanting to see. We found Juno and Etherknitter looking at cashmere, and just a few minutes later I was spotted by Eklectika. Sunflowerfairy wore the shirt I designed for her CP shop and indulged my sweet tooth with some maple cotton candy. Most of the Sunday New Haven SnB crowd was there: Suzy, Rebecca, Emily, blogless Katie, and probably a few I've forgotten (sorry!). Edit: We also spent a little time with Mel! His kilt is verrah sexy.

I missed a bunch of people, too... I really wanted to meet CygKnit, Cheryl, SpiderWoman, and Paul, (this list keeps getting longer as I read people's blogs this morning) but our paths didn't cross. Jenny and I were going to hang out, but issues with three crappy mobile phone service providers killed that plan.

I bought a few things, actually spending less this year in spite of having a bigger budget. I picked up two US#2 bamboo circs so I can start a new lace project with some recycled yarn. As I was walking through one of the barns, this beautiful Corriedale roving called out to me and wouldn't let me walk away without it.



While I have the ability to spin it, I want to have Jenny spin it for me, since she's much better than I am.

On my first trip through Building A on Sunday, I stopped at the Brooks Farm booth and saw some Primero in a red and black colorway. I fondled it and told it that I'd probably come back for it later. By the time I came back, it was gone, but its pewter-colored cousin was eager to come home with me.



I think it's going to be a lace shawl, maybe another out of Victorian Lace Today.

Sunday was a tough day for me, with both physical and emotional pain, but I'm glad I went to the festival. How else would I have met beauties like these?

Give Me A Few Days

I ended up going to Rhinebeck both days, and the weekend as a whole was nice but very emotionally draining. I got some fiber, some yarn, and some needles, all of which I'll show you when I have the time and energy to take pictures.

Midnight Muse

T'was the night before Rhinebeck, and in Lilith's lair,
The poor tired knitter was pulling her hair.
So many projects to work on and show,
Which ones to bring? She just didn't know.
Two pretty tank tops, one not yet done?
That beautiful knee sock, just barely begun?
Greenery 2, almost complete?
A dark red sock, un peu trop petite?
At last, with a sigh, she picked out the best,
and crawled off to bed, a little less stressed.

See y'all there!

Plotting And Scheming

Holy carp! I've been to two SnB gatherings in the last week! I've also re-started an old project (one of the secret ones I might end up selling to Knitty), done a few rows of Greenery v.2, and started planning what to make for my family for the holidays. I think Cool Uncle is going to get boot socks (since he snowboards and skis), but I have no idea what to make for the rest of the family.

I'm trying to decide how much money to bring to Rhinebeck. I really don't have space at home for much stash expansion, but if I fall in love with a hank of something, I want to be able to grab it without hitting an ATM. Thoughts?

NOOOOOOO!!!

The Bleus beat the All Blacks by two. bloody. points.

*cries*

England beat the Wallabies by two points, too... another surprise. If the Springboks don't win, I think I'm going to have to jump off a bridge.

At least NZ gets to host the next cup (2011).

[Update: The Springboks won their game against Fiji, so they'll be up against Argentina in the semi-finals next weekend.]

Isn't It Ironic?

So we were down at the river last night, the guys were fishing, and I was knitting. After an hour or so, my hands got so cold that flexing my fingers to hold the needles was difficult, so I put the knitting away and buried my hands in my friend's pockets.

The irony: I was knitting gloves.

We did get a fire going eventually, but by that time I'd lost interest in re-starting the same gorram finger for the fourth time, so I amused myself by taking pictures with my cameraphone. Here's my favorite:



Mmm... fire.

I Still Knit! I Swear!

Fellow TVSnBer Jenny and I went to a fiber-themed farmer's market on Sunday, and I actually got some knitting done. I brought two projects with me: a black wool stockinette somethingorother that will probably end up as a felted bag, and Greenery v.2. That's right, the hat's back, and worked a few rows while watching The Painted Sheep give a dying demo. I can't cable and walk at the same time (well, I can, but disaster often strikes when I make the attempt, and nobody wants a #8 DPN to the eye), so I worked on the black thing for most of the visit.

If you hate LOLcats, move on to the next blog on your list now, because this is probably going to make you nauseous. For the last few months, I've been thinking (and often speaking) in LOLspeak. I dragged David into this habit, so he's who I babble at when I get an attack of the LOLs. This is the email I sent to him after Jenny and I got back from the market:

k soez i goes to farmr markit wif jenny dis moarnin an she gotz lots a fyebur an cheez an we seez wulfhownd an ibeezin hownd and labs an skipper... shippr... the kewt blak dawg an i wants stuffs but i has fiev buks an i need it fer subway tamorra soez i cant has anyfin an i sad but is okee cuz i saws teh puppahs an deys kewt and dare wuz sheeps to an we pats dem and dey goes baaaah an dare wuz lama to but heez eetin soez we not pats him an tonite i gunna wach franse play eyrland cuz rugby is kewl

And this, folks, is why I don't go out in public much. ;-)

Time for work. Gods, I feel like a grown-up.

Welding Work

Holy Mother of Melted Metal, I'm exhausted. I haven't gotten used to getting up at 5am yet, and every morning I catch myself thinking, I'll call, invent an excuse for not going in, and go back to bed, but I yell at myself and get up anyway.

I like the work I do, and it's easy, mostly-mindless stuff, so I can still do it when I've had very little sleep. One of my coworkers bugs me, but I'm learning to tune him out. This is the company I work for, and the bunches of blades in those fan-shaped things are what I make. Sheet steel comes into the building and goes to our massive (about 20' square) laser cutter. It mostly-cuts the blades for each job, and then the blades come to my area, Barset Assembly. My partner and I run the sheets through a Timesaver (big belt sander) to get the burrs from the cutting process off. Then we "break" the blades (snap them out of the rest of the sheets), arrange them by type (usually between four and seven types of blades, depending on the size of the barset), and "build" the sets by assembling the blades in the correct order. We put small spacers between the blades (creating the grooves) and then put each barset in a clamp. I put on my welding helmet and fuse three to five lines across the back of the barset (depending on the set's size) and one line along each cross-section edge. The sets get run through another Timesaver to make sure everything's even, and then they go on to the next step in the process... which I don't watch because I'm too busy building more sets.

So yeah, that's my job. I haven't done any knitting since I started working, but I'm going to make time to finish Askew #2 this weekend. SFF asked about Rhinebeck... I'm not sure if I'm going this year. If I go, it'll only be on Saturday, and I probably won't buy anything except maple cotton candy.

Time to go take a shower and curl up in front of the TV for a while.

It's About Bloody Time, Eh?

I got a job yesterday. A welding job. A job I was pretty sure I wouldn't get. A job I was pretty sure I wouldn't hear back about for at least a day or two. A job I'm pretty sure I got just because of one of my references.

Last Tuesday, one of my teachers told me that a place he used to work at was looking for welders. On Wednesday I picked up an application. On Thursday I submitted the application. On Friday they called and asked me to come in for an interview on Tuesday. The interview and tour were over by 11:30am. At 2:30pm I got a call... and they offered me the job. After I hung up the phone, I screamed the ecstatic scream of someone who just landed her first decent job.

I really didn't think I was going to get the job. My employment history sucks (all retail, all more than five years ago, each job held for a month or less), I only have one reference who's a welder, and I took a hell of a risk with my wage request. I expected a "you gotta be kidding me" look from the guys interviewing me, and a call later in the week saying that I wasn't what they were looking for.

I sure as hell wasn't expecting an offer three hours after the interview.

Apparently the teacher who told me about the job made quite an impression when he worked for the company. The supervisor looked at my references, was disappointed that they weren't in the welding industry, and then saw my teacher's name on the list. "Well, you've got [this guy] on here, so that's good enough for me!"

Also, my meager knowledge of French came in handy. The other guy who was at the interview (an efficiency consultant) turned out to be French-Canadian and didn't speak much English, so I spoke to him in French for a little while. You should have seen his eyes light up!

So now I have this job making the grinding heads used in fiber/pulp processing. I start in about an hour, which means I need to go braid my hair, pack a lunch, and try to get the butterflies out of my stomach. Eek!

Fair Sock

I bound off the fingerless gloves yesterday afternoon and immediately cast on a sock with the Regia yarn I got in Virginia. I finished the toe cup in about an hour, put it in my purse, and went off to the fair. I knit while I walked around, I knit while I watched the antique tractor pull, I knit while I watched the demolition derby, and I got about five inches done before I went home. I'll be back again tonight to see the doodlebugs at 5 and the figure-8 demolition at 7:30. Hopefully I'll turn the heel tonight.

Night Knitting

Every morning as I'm going through the nearly 60 knitblogs on my daily reading list, I think, I should post something today. (And, I should update my blogroll, too.) Then I go to Ravelry, get sucked into the forums, and completely forget to post anything on my blog. I had to stick a note to my monitor before I went to bed last night so I'd remember to post today after pulling myself away from the forums.

So. How y'all been? I've been tagging along with a friend when he goes night fishing, so I've been getting very good at knitting in the dark, which is why Askew #2 is about 15 rows and two straps away from being finished. The current crochet project is in my bag, too, and its front side is a few rows away from being finished. The second fingerless glove hasn't been worked on in a few weeks, but it's close to being finished, too. Stuff might actually get crossed off the WIP list soon!



See? Stuff! Almost finished! Yay!

Anyone gonna be at the Hebron Fair this weekend? If my surcoate were in wearable condition, I'd be helping out the CT RenFaire folks, but alas, said surcoate has been collecting dust for many months and is not ready to be taken out in public. So I'll be there in modern clothes, probably hanging out with a tall redneck who wears a black leather cowboy hat. (He stands out in a crowd far better than I do, so you're better off looking for his hat than for my green-streaked hair.) If you see me, come say hi! I love meeting other knitbloggers, especially at non-knitting events.

ConnectiKnit

I had an idea not too long ago for a fiber festival with a strong focus on Connecticut's fiber production, historical and current. I gave the event a name, came up with a few ideas, and then asked Nutmeggers on Ravelry for their input. Now I've started a blog to help keep all of this planning organized, and I'm inviting you to take a look and make lots of suggestions.

Visit ConnectiKnit!

The Hook That Brings You Back

I've started a new project. Yes, another one. I'm running low on knitting needles, so I'm crocheting this new thing. It's thinking about being a tank top (I'm designing it as I go along), and it's made from the same recycled (100% cotton) yarn I used for Askew #1.



Purty, huh? I'm using my beloved walnut Brittany G hook and a stitch pattern out of The Harmony Guides 220 More Crochet Stitches.

The fingerless gloves I'm making from the leftover Supersocke yarn are coming along nicely. Again, I made up the pattern as I went along.



I've put Clessidra aside for a while, and abandoned the idea of finishing it before Rhinebeck. With only two months left, other projects keeping me occupied, and the possibility of a job in the next few weeks, I just don't have time.

Itty Bitty Stash Expansion

Hey, folks. Sorry I've been quiet... I spent a few days with my friends in Virginia and then came home to spend a few days reading Deathly Hallows and fighting off depression.

The depression comes from my frustration at people who underestimate or ignore the need for a post-breakup grieving period. I've been hearing encouragement to find someone new, and the assumption that it's so easy to get over an intense nine-month-long relationship really bothers me. It's not that I don't appreciate people's interest in my happiness, I just wish they'd back off for a while. I'll move on when I'm ready.

And now back to your regularly-scheduled, light-hearted blogging...

Virginia was fun! I got most of the way through a pair of fingerless gloves (using the leftover Supersocke yarn), cast on the second half of Askew #2 for the third time (first time: spilled root beer, second time: wrong number of stitches and didn't realize until the third row), and bought sock yarn. Not like I need more yarn, since I still have a bunch of sweaters to unravel, but this stuff is so pretty.



The solid color (#315) will be for reinforced toes and heels, and possibly some cables up the leg. I tried to find a yellow-orange to go with the lightest shade in the other colorway (#1036), but nothing in the store matched in both artificial and natural light. As I told my friend and one of the other customers, it doesn't matter whether the colors match once the socks are on my feet, but they need to look good when the sock is on the needles to keep my OCD happy. I'm weird like that.

Time to go finish the gloves so I'll have needles free to start the socks. Wheee!

Six-Month SuperSockeSocks

I started these socks in February after David's visit, and finally finished them yesterday. Reasons for the delay included: other projects catching my attention, those #@*&!%^ Crystal Palace circs, k4tog, and a touch of Second Sock Syndrome.

I give you: the SuperSockeSocks!





I had to tink and re-do the bind-off for the first one because it was too tight, and discovered that the tail I'd left was a little too short for comfort... I finished the bind-off with half an inch of yarn to weave in. Oh well. At least I can get the cuff over my heel now.

I'm happy with them, and I've started a fingerless glove with the remaining yarn (on other needles... those CP circs are going to hide in a dark corner for the rest of my life).

Naughty Nicole, Awesome Askew, and Rockin' Ravelry!

My Ravelry invitation came the other day! Yay! Boy, is it easy to get drawn into that site and never leave... yikes. I have walked away from the computer a few times to take care of real-life stuff (and to cool down after getting really annoyed at a member who has a stick so far up her bum that she pukes splinters), so I'm not completely obsessed. See, I even took some time to write this here entry!

Voila, the long-awaited pics of Askew and Nicole!





Askew is a great pattern. It's simple, quick, flattering, and easily modified. I'm really, really happy with how this came out, and I hope to have my second one finished this month (in between other projects).



This is Nicole. Eventually pictures and memories will be all that's left of her, because I'm going to frog her and use the yarn for something else. The smallest version of the pattern was too big (even with a slightly smaller gauge), especially for my nearly-nonexistent breasts. The stitch patterns didn't match up with each other and made my obsessive-compulsive side twitch because there was no way to center the stripes perfectly. I'm just... really not happy with it. The yarn, Ella Rae Silkience, is soft and wonderful, so I'll probably use it for a similar type of garment. I might even design a cami of my own.

In other news, I've started Clessidra, the knee-high socks from Knitty, with another recycled Goodwill sweater. I love this pattern. I do. I have to keep reminding myself that I love it and that it looks fantastic, because if I don't, I'll remember just how much I hate seed stitch. These socks have a lot of seed stitch. A lot. But it's okay... it helps make the socks pretty!



See? Pretty!

David and I are doing a pseudo-sock-KAL, since we're both working on knee socks and we both want them to be finished for Rhinebeck. He's cheating, though... his Marshmallow Hose are DK weight on US5 needles. My Clessidra socks are fingering weight on US1 needles. He gets 7 rows to the inch. I get 15. So I think he's going to have to do two pairs of hose to make it a fair fight. ;-)

Okay, that's done. Time to get back to Ravelry!

Happiness Is a Harlot At the Dinner Table

Sorry this took so long. I've been trying to turn "OMGSQUEEEE!!!" into something more interesting, and it's been a little difficult. I hope this comes out well.

I'd been thinking about driving down to Madison on my own, but decided that, in the interests of saving gas and not having to pay attention to directions, I'd get a ride with my friend Jenny (who has a great account of our evening here) and her hubby. Also along for the ride was Melissa. We completely forgot that our other friend, Aaron, was going to wait for us at Starbucks instead of Jenny's apartment, so, thinking he had encountered scheduling issues and not been able to call us, we left without him. We didn't realize our mistake until he called us 20 minutes later to say that he'd given up and gone home. We felt really terrible. Sorry, Aaron.

Google gave us the most direct, but definitely not the fastest route to the bookstore, and we ended up arriving half an hour late, halfway through Stephanie's talk. There were no chairs left, and no place to sit on the floor except tucked around the corner where we couldn't see Stephanie. We could hear her just fine, though, so we didn't completely miss out. After the talk, while the book-signing line formed, I got to chat with some of the New Haven SnB ladies and see Sunflowerfairy's shawl. I was wearing my first Askew (Kimberly got pics of it here and here) and got a bunch of compliments on it.

Jenny had run into some people she knew, so our group in the signing line had grown to eight. We let people pass us because we were busy chatting, and ended up being the last ones in line. This meant that we were hanging around when Stephanie mentioned that she wanted to have dinner before heading back to her hotel. One of the locals in our group suggested the pizza place a few doors down, so we all headed over there while Stephanie finished up at the bookstore. She pulled up a chair at our table a few minutes later, and we spent a wonderful hour chatting with her and enjoying our pizza.

Let me say that again. We had dinner with the Yarn Harlot!

That was our mantra for the rest of the night. She went back to her hotel, we filled up the gas tank and got on the highway. We were so excited about having hung out with her that we missed our exit, and we were halfway to Rhode Island before we figured it out. We finally made it home after midnight, tired and happy.

My pics are here. What a night. :)

Next time: my hatred of seed stitch, my rather surprising self-control, and finally the pics of Askew and Nicole that David took when I was in Texas.

ETA: When things were wrapping up at the bookstore, I leaned over to Stephanie and told her that David from Sweater Project said hi. She said, "oh! Are you Lilith?" I just about died. The Yarn Harlot knew my name. I was kind of floating from there on out.

OMG OMG OMG OMG

I tried to Kinnear her. I got busted. But what a shot, eh?

More pictures and tales later. Must find a way off this cloud so I can sleep!

Next Chapter

Single again. No takebacks. I'm forcing myself to be angry so I'll stop crying. The fates seem to be doing their part to distract me by throwing boys at me... two of my favorite exes and two new guys have started giving me lots of attention.* One of the new guys is a classmate, and having him around is helping my mood a bit.

Not much new to report on the knitting front. I was hanging out with the new classmate-friend the other night, working on the Supersockesock, and I caught him and his mother staring at my hands while I was working. It seems that doing stockinette on #1 circs while watching TV is mesmerizing to those who have never seen it.

I'm off to get a present for a friend and (hopefully) finish the Supersockesock so I can put those gorram Crystal Palace circs in the back of a dark drawer, never to see the light of day until I move out of this house.


*The exes, unprompted, have been telling me how amazing I was when they dated me, and the new boys are telling me how amazing I am now. It's marvelous for the ego. I won't be falling in love again for a while... David isn't that easy to replace or get over... but it's nice to be told that, even though I wasn't right for David, there are plenty of people who wish they had me.

Overdue Prize

Remember when AllergicMom won that contest I ran back in March? Well, I finally got around to sending out her prize before I left for vacation. I'm such a bad contest-runner-person. I sent her six stitch markers and a bonus necklace (to alleviate my guilt about procrastinating for four months). I forgot to take a pic before I sent them out, but she took a pic when she got them and posted it here. The designs on the markers are: Dr. Who's TARDIS, a dragon, the Babylon 5 logo, the Rebel insignia from Star Wars, Pisces fish, and the ring from Lord of the Rings. I'm glad you like them, AM!

Sorry I've been kind of quiet lately. I've been depressed about a bunch of things, and I'm just starting to find my balance again. I have pics of Askew and Nicole to share with you, and I've started Clessidra with another unraveled Goodwill sweater. I'll try to remember to post the pics later this week.

If anyone's going to be at RJ Julia's on Friday to see the Harlot, I'll probably see you there. I'm going to be running an errand in Vermont most of the day, but I'll try my best to be back in time.

Help For Hot Hands

If you listened to the podcast, you know that I made some potholders for David while I was in Texas.



Here's the pattern!

---

Abbreviations:

ch - chain stitch
dc - double crochet
fpdc - front-post double crochet
sl st - slip stitch

Note: stitches defined at Crochet Pattern Central

Yarn: 1 ball Sugar & Creme 4-ply cotton
Hook: US H/8

Here we go!

Row 1: Ch 32, dc into 2nd ch from hook, dc across, turn.
Row 2: Ch 2, fpdc into 2nd dc, *dc, fpdc, repeat from * across, dc into last ch from previous row, turn.
Row 3: Ch 2, *dc, fpdc, repeat from * across, dc into last chain from previous row, turn.

Repeat rows 2 and 3 until the potholder is just about square.

Finishing Row and Loop: Ch 2, dc across, dc into last chain from previous row, ch 20, sl st into last dc, pull end of yarn through loop.

Weave in ends.

---

For those of you who like charts, this is a slightly expanded (because it looks better this way) look at the stitch pattern.

Show Notes

Photos and Video:

my fireworks video
David's photos
my photos
ants
the Yip Yips

Food:

ravioli and risotto cakes
"Taste of Hunt" cookbook
Central Market

Shopping:

Ikea in Round Rock, TX:
Heimdal bed
kitchen shears (actually $9.99, not $2.99)
butt crab

Ace Mart:
work table
big martini glass

Places to Go:

Lake LBJ
San Antonio Zoo
The Yarn Barn

Movies:

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
The Fountain
Transformers
Mirrormask

Misc:

Greenspeed Trikes

See Y'all Next At:

Rhinebeck

Home Again, Home Again

I don't want to be here. Almost as soon as I got off the plane in Connecticut, I felt uncomfortable. It feels wrong to be with my father and sister, it feels wrong to be in this cluttered house, and it feels wrong to be in bed alone.

I want to go back.

We recorded a podcast before David took me to the airport, and I wrote up show notes this afternoon, so he should be posting it soon. There are pics on my Flickr for you to look at in the meantime.

Teaser

This is about the dozenth time I've tried to write this entry, and either we've done so much that I can't sort it out yet, or David has me completely under his spell. Either way, I'm having a lot of fun, I'm insanely happy, and I don't want to go home. I haven't done much knitting and haven't bought any yarn, but there are still a few days before I have to get on a plane and go home. I think we're going to record a podcast, so that'll tell you more about the vacation. Things you'll hear about include: burros, butt crabs, lots and lots of driving, the zoo, and, of course, how the public reacted to David's kilts. Stay tuned!

Bags Packed, Flags Flown, Shoes Blacked, Wings Sewn On

Askew #1 is finished. Askew #2 is half-finished. Nicole is not finished because I'm not happy with her, so I'll finish her when I get to Texas. I'm mostly packed, my tummy is all fluttery, and my right leg will not stop bouncing.

Speaking of packing, Speedy Space Maker bags rock! I've packed much lighter than usual for this trip, but there's still a lot of stuff for such a small suitcase. The bags help make everything fit, and they're safe to use around pets who are terrified of the vacuum cleaner.

I'll probably post once or twice while I'm in Texas, and David and I might even record another podcast. I'll be back very, very late on the 15th.

I leave for the airport in about an hour. Time to get dressed, brush my hair, and go over my checklist to make sure I have everything I need. Squeee!


* The title of this post is a line from a song in Leonard Bernstein's "Mass."

Yarncakes!

I am my family's tech support. In exchange for attempting to fix my mother's computer yesterday, I got temporary custody of her ball winder. This is what I did last night:



I haven't finished Nicole. I haven't finished either Askew. I haven't finished the lace tank top. I leave in four days.

Don't Panic.

Love Askew

I haven't finished (heck, haven't started) weaving in the ends of my first Askew, and already I'm working on my second one. Here's the first:



I made the back the same as the front, laced up the sides instead of seaming (gods, how I hate seaming), and crocheted straps. Once I weave in the ends, I'll take pics to show y'all how well it fits. I love it!

I love it so much that this happened:



Another recycled sweater, another pattern modification, and another excuse to use my precious ebony needles. Have I mentioned how much I hate seaming? This version of Askew is going to be seam-free. I cast on twice the number of stitches called for in the pattern, with a marker at the halfway point so I remember where to decrease.

Cheryl? Thank you. This is a great pattern. It's quick, simple, fun, and very, very cute. :)

How It Began

A lot of people ask me how David and I met, so I've decided to tell the story here. Have a seat, make yourself comfortable.

So there I was, in county lockup... no, wait, wrong story. *ahem*

Two and a half years ago, I had a strong and sudden urge to make an Aran sweater. Everyone has that urge at one point or another, right? I went online and started looking for inspiration. Somewhere in my search, I stumbled across this post. My thought process went something like this:

That's a nice sweater.
That's a cute guy wearing the nice sweater.
The cute guy made the nice sweater?!?
I'm bookmarking this blog.

Shortly after I started reading his blog, I commented on a post. I was new to the knitblogosphere back then, and anyone who had made something as big and fancy as a sweater was a superhero to me. So when David emailed me to thank me for the comment, I was shocked. And then he told me that he'd checked out my site and thought I was an interesting person.

Oh. Em. Gee.

We emailed back and forth for a bit, and then started chatting on AIM. We found that we had a lot of common interests and we got along really well. Over the next year or so, we got to know each other better, so last spring when David said he was coming to Rhinebeck in the fall, I told him I would meet him there.

In the months leading up to Rhinebeck, we chatted almost every day and became closer friends, with a hint of romantic interest. Even though I hate phones, I let him call me, and we spent hours talking. We were both very excited about meeting each other... and the fact that it would be at a fiber festival was a wonderful bonus.

It was the Friday of Rhinebeck weekend. I got out of school at six, scarfed down some dinner, changed into clean clothes, tossed my bags in the car, and raced off to Poughkeepsie. Two and a half hours later, I got to the hotel and knocked on his door.

We hugged. And hugged. And hugged. We made a little small talk, brought my bags in from the car, and then he gave me this look... and he kissed me. Soft, tender, slow... the kind of kiss that makes you wonder if you're dreaming, and know that if you are, you don't want to wake up.

*sigh*

Where was I? Oh, right. At some point we went down to the lobby and hung out with the big group of knitters and spinners who had gathered there. David worked on his kilt hose and I worked on my dead muppet. Later on we went back to the room, and... fade to black. ;)

It was an amazing weekend. We discovered that our chemistry is even better in person than it is online (and it's pretty darned awesome online). It was, by far, the best first date I've ever had. It was also one of the longest; a little under two and a half days. Going home was difficult, but I knew I'd met someone very, very special, and I looked forward to seeing him again.

We've been together for eight months now. I'm madly, hopelessly, head-over-heels in love with this man, and I'm thrilled to have him in my life.

And I never did get around to making an Aran sweater. I guess I had a clever muse.

Come Into My World

Askew doesn't look like much yet, and I still haven't finished the last bits on Nicole, so here's a look at my corner of chaos.


(click to embiggen)

1. classmate's shirt, in need of mending
2. Essential Tank pattern
3. surcoate
4. stash
5. Nicole
6. Essential Tank yarn
7. container of crochet hooks
8. Askew
9. Askew pattern
10. old FOs
11. Lopi bag
12. swift with ex-sweater yarn
13. Lace Style
14. this box

I Askew

Nicole is finished. Well, mostly finished -- she needs some elastic and some buttons and some ends woven in, but the knitting, blocking, and seaming are finished.

But you don't get to see her yet. Yep, I'm evil like that. I have been triple dog dared to post pics of me wearing it, and a dare of that magnitude isn't something I can just walk away from. I'm going to have David take some pictures when I visit him again (in less than three weeks!), and y'all will see them when we get around to uploading them... which will be after he removes Nicole from my body and has his way with me. (Still wondering about the deadline, Patty?)

In the meantime, I'm about 5/8ths of the way through a(nother) new project: Askew. I'm making it out of one of the recycled sweaters, and using the stealth needles, with which I fall more and more in love with every stitch.



I'm altering the pattern a bit. To keep my OCD happy and my butt covered, I'm making the back the same as the front. To make it a little more delicate, I'm probably going to use braided/cabled I-cord for the straps. To make it more sexy, I'm thinking about lacing it up the sides with black satin ribbon.

Askew is such a quick, easy knit that I'll be finished with it this week. Then I'll focus on another new project, one I started last week after I bought Interweave's Lace Style. I'll take pictures when it's longer than three inches.

In other news, I have a cold, and it's not David's fault this time. Bleah. To all the SnBers, I'm sorry I've been gone for so long. The free time I've had hasn't matched up with the SnB schedule. I will try to make it back soon.

Tell Me Lies

That black-on-black sexiness I told you about two weeks ago? Here it is:



The pattern is Nicole from White Lies Designs. I've probably knit enough stitches to be almost finished with it by now, even though I'm only about four inches in. Several size issues, attention issues (I can't do the border while watching television), and an email to the designer later, I think I've got the hang of it. I have four weeks to finish it... wish me luck.

Ribbit... Ribbit... Ribbit

Behold, the unraveling of sweaters!







The average right now is about 2000 yards per sweater. This is so much fun!

Goodwill Hunting

My mood has been a little off lately, so I skipped two creative gatherings this weekend and indulged in some retail therapy. This kind of mood-booster is usually a bad idea, considering my budget, but I decided that looking for specific items at thrift stores was okay. On Saturday I went to the Salvation Army for their 50% sale and got a skirt and a pair of shorts for a total of $3.50. Today I went to Goodwill and did some yarn shopping.

Yup. Yarn shopping. At Goodwill. As some of you know, there are those among us who buy cheap sweaters at secondhand stores, unravel them, soak or steam the yarn to un-kink it, and knit the yarn into things we'll actually use. Now, I've never actually done this before, but the sale at Goodwill (and the selection of sweaters) was too good to pass up.

I present: the haul.



Total: $7.92. (If they hadn't been on sale, the total would have been almost $50.)

From left to right: 55% cotton/45% acrylic (size L), 60% cotton/40% acrylic (size L), 100% cotton (size XL), 100% cotton (size S), 100% cotton (size M), 100% lambswool (size XL), 55% acrylic/45% cotton (size XL), 53% linen/47% cotton (size L).

Let the Great Unraveling begin!

Sexy

Is this not the sexiest thing you've ever seen? Susanne's ebony circs with Ella Rae "Silkience". When the pattern arrives, I'll tell you what it is so you can see how perfectly the sexy yarn and sexy needles suit it.

Sexy. Seriously.

Fiber High

I've been on the receiving end of a lot of generosity lately. Sunflowerfairy gave me yarn and needles, David gave me a camera, and now Jenny from the Tobacco Valley SnB has given me fiber as encouragement to get back into spinning.

So I've been spinning. A lot. And I love it.

On Thursday, Jenny gave me all of this (wool of various breeds):



plus another bump that I spun up immediately:



Friday night, I planted myself in front of the television and spent an episode of Bones and most of While You Were Sleeping spinning the bump on the bottom right of the first picture.



It doesn't look like much there, but I covered most of it with the stuff I spun last night:





The second batch of white is part of the bump on the right in the first picture. I'll probably spend this evening finishing off that bump and maybe pre-drafting the brown.

I need to find my niddy-noddy.

Tagged by Sunflowerfairy

The rules:

Each person tagged gives 7 random facts about themselves. Those tagged need to write in their blogs the 7 facts, as well as the rules of the game. You need to tag seven others and list their names on your blog. You have to leave those you plan on tagging a note in their comments so they know that they have been tagged and to read your blog. Here are my facts:

1. The five books on the shelf next to my desk that don't have a fine layer of dust on them are: a dictionary, a thesaurus, a French/English dictionary, The All New Joy of Cooking, and A Basic Course In American Sign Language.

2. I electrocuted myself on Tuesday. Nothing major, just a stupid mistake while welding. Lesson learned: turn off the electricity before making your arm part of the curcuit.

3. Porcupine Tree is one of my favorite musical groups.

4. I used to write Star Wars fanfic. Slash fanfic. I also wrote a recipe for Bantha Burgers. And I waited in line for four hours to see Episode 3 at the AMC Empire theater in NYC.

5. I love thunder, lightning, and heavy rainstorms, but I hate dull, drizzly days.

6. I have more hats than I know what to do with, but no scarves.

7. I raised silkworms for a few years. In their fifth instar (their biggest size before they start spitting out fiber), their chewing sounds like a light rainfall.

I tag (and hope they'll play along):

Blithering Knitiot
Enchanting Juno
Jason Knits
Lauren's Knitting
PoMo Golightly
Sheepish Annie
Sweater Project


[Edit: Sorry about the pattern issue, folks. My webhost had some issues, so I've moved the pattern, and it should work fine now. Here you go.]

TIG 2

I'm making progress on Feed the Bead v.2. And I'm changing its name to "TIG 2" because I'm finicky like that.



As you can see, I've started the thumb increases earlier and spaced them out a bit. I've also waited a bit longer to split the other side so it'll be a straight line to the middle finger instead of the funky diagonal-straight-opposite-diagonal thing I did last time.



There's a little more ribbing on this one, too. I'm using more inherited crochet cotton, a little thinner and a different brand than the last stuff.



I think I'm going to even out the color by dying the glove with tea when I'm finished with it. It doesn't really show up in the pictures, but there are clean patches and dirty patches because the ball sat out in my grandmother's filthy house for years. There's a bright white stripe under the ball band, and the rest is a little more off-white because of the dust.

Feed the Bead

The TIG glove, which I've dubbed "Feed the Bead," is finished. It's not perfect, and I'm already working on a new and improved version, but it serves its purpose.





I finally got myself a YouTube account so I could show y'all how I use this thing. The #1 straight in the video is a bit thicker than the wire I use, but it's close enough for the demo.



The new version is going to have more coverage on the hand, and be tighter, especially on the thumb.

Yesterday, I took a break from welding for a few minutes and worked on the glove. One of the instructors mock-scolded me for knitting when I was supposed to be welding. Once I told him what I was making, he encouraged me to continue knitting. It probably helps that I'm ahead of the rest of my class by about four assignments.