Friday, June 30, 2006

Rhode Island Hospital Is Becoming the MAN!

Sorry for the blogging delay. Rhode Island Hospital has decided to put more web filters on their internet network. I can't read blogs, I can't post to my blog, I can't listen to streaming music or books, and I can't even read my Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley fan fic. What does the hospital expect me to do during working hours? ::sigh:: If you have a blog I regularly post to, expect a little hiatus for the next couple of weeks until I get a more reliable internet source.

Now, what has been up with me for the past couple of days? Well, I got to go to another free concert with VIP service (free food and drinks). This time I went to a Hawthorne Heights and Yellowcard concert and handed out fliers for my marijuana study. Yellowcard was amazing live. There was definitely energy in the air when they came on stage. I ate, drank, and was merry. It was a perfect Thursday afternoon.

In knitting news, I have a few fabulous stories. First, my friend M is moving to Oregon for med school and had to destash and get rid of a few knitting magazines. Guess who the lucky recipient was? I thumbed through the magazines during lunch and found at least one thing in each of the magazines that I want to knit at some point. I really lucked out in the Knitters magazine, because it has the patterns to three of the purses I really liked in their "Purses: A Knitter's Dozen." Now I don't need to buy the book!

While I was looking through these magazines, I also realized that I have been making a consistent mistake in Branching Out. In the Sl2K1psso, I have been slipping the two stitches individually and not together. I started freaking out about this and then I came across an article by Meg Swansen about fussy knitting. I realized that a consistent mistake is a design element and to go with it. The scarf looks great and an extra twist isn't going to make a difference.

Finally, I am totally pumped about tomorrow! I am taking a day trip to Boston. I am going to go to a few yarn stores and do some final stash enhancement before the big trip, check out the MFA, and maybe do something else touristy. I am really excited about taking a day just for me and visiting some of my favorite places. With the weather (finally) getting better, I am in the mood to roam, and Boston is a roaming type of town!

-SAK

Wednesday, June 28, 2006

Another FO!

The past two days haven't been devoted to knitting (gasp!), I am sad to say. I started reading Memoirs of a Geisha and haven't been able to concentrate on anything else. I had seen the movie and wasn't that impressed, but the book is fabulous and goes into detail about how and why geishas did certain things. As much as I have been enjoying the book, the dirty looks Twizzler has been giving me, has been making me slightly guilty.

I did complete my dishcloth though! (On the right, you can see the stitching close up!) When I bound the dishcloth off, I realized that I knit a really long rectangle instead of a squarish dishcloth. I promptly sewed up two sides and now it is a mitt! Now that I finished the four dishcloths, I need to finish up that turtle that has been sitting patiently waiting to be completed, so I can send him and the dishcloths on their merry way.

I am all excited about this Saturday. This is going to be my final stash enchancement trip before Florida. I am going to go to Boston and visit a couple of yarn stores and then go hang out in a museum or do the Freedom Trail. According to the weather report, it isn't supposed to rain on Saturday (the one day in a really long time) and I am keeping my fingers crossed, because I need to get outside!

Monday, June 26, 2006

Update Monday!

The Amazing Lace
I am finally on pattern #2 for Twizzler! Hurrah! In fact, I am halfway through the first repeat. This pattern is far simpler than the first and I am zooming though it. This pattern is a multiple of 6 stitches instead of 14.

In regards to Challenge #3 for the Amazing Lace, I am slightly stumped. I need to write a poem devoted to Twizzler and I can't seem to think of something. Maybe something will pop into my mind while doing mindless data entry at work.

Other Knitting Projects
This past weekend was an interesting one for knitting projects. I decided to frog a few that I felt that I would never ever finish. I frogged the purse I started over a year ago and the second pink hat I was knitting. I feel relieved. Now I just have Branching Out, Twizzler, Sock (and Second Sock), the turtle, checkered grey scarf, a dishcloth, and a fun fur scarf. I am planning on finishing Branching Out and the dishcloth and then working on the other UFOs.

Oh, did I forget to mention that I am knitting a swatch for the Mystery Stole 2006 KAL? I haven't gotten too far. I am starting row 3 of 30. I am exciting about this KAL, but this is the first time I have knit with lace weight yarn and it is like dental floss! I am at a complete loss for how tiny and skinny this yarn is! The first pattern is going to be given to us on July 7th and so I need to get my act together and finish this swatch.

Summer Reading Challenge 2006
I finished The Lovely Bones this weekend. I enjoyed it, but it is a sad tale, so I was left with almost a bittersweet enjoyment of the book. I am going to pull out a new book out of my suitcase of books tonight. I wonder what I am going to get this time!

Completely Unrelated to Anything
I know this is random, but look at my cute sandal purchase! Florida here I come!

-SAK

Sunday, June 25, 2006

Weekend Knitting & Other Related Activities

This weekend was all about the knitting and the yarn. Even though RI seems to be having typhoon weather, I got out of bed at 8AM on Saturday to go to The Fabric Place in Warwick for their 25% off sale. As I was driving and cursing the trucks for spritzing my car with MORE rain, I decided that maybe this wasn't the best idea. Of course, that idea was pushed to the side when I thought about the yarn.

I picked up some needles, knitting accessories, and wonderful yarn. I bought Noro's Silk Garden Lite, some Cascade 220, Brown Sheep's Cotton Fleece, and some others. I would show pictures, but I spent today cleaning up my room, so I can repack everything I own into different boxes (don't ask, it makes sense, but yet at the same time it doesn't). At first I was amazed that all of my yarn fit into one 2x2x1 box and then I realized that I forgot about my four storage containers filled with yarn. To be honest, it kind of frightened me out of taking pictures of the yarn and then I became ashamed of my stash. I am planning one last hurrah in Boston and then I am closing up shop. Well, I am closing up shop until my Dad and I do the drive to Gainesville. Yarn bought on the way can be considered souvenirs and therefore not true yarn purchases. I know I should feel guilty about the yarn shopping, but once I get to Florida, my budget will be tighter (which is sad since a research assistant's salary is tiny enough as it is) and yarn purchases will be few and far between.

Besides purchasing yarn, I created an extensive chart of all my knitting needles. I used all those work-related Excel classes to organize my needles to great heights. These are my headers: needle type, US size, mm, length (inches), length (cm), company, brand, material, and number of needles. After I entered all of needles, I selected my headers, went to data, and clicked autofilter. Now I just select the arrow next to brand (for example), select addi turbo, and then just my addi turbo needles are shown. If I want to see all the needles again, I select the arrow next to brand and select all. You can select multiple arrows and really narrow your searches. Yeah, I am a dork, but now I know exactly what needles I have, what size, and what company.

I also found a really cute purse pattern from the latest Creative Knitting that I might knit up as a side project to my shawl. I realized that I need a fast project to break up the monotony of Twizzler. It is hard to stay inspired on Twizzler when it takes so long to see the patterns arise from the yarn. 401 stitches are a lot to knit. As you can see on the right, Twizzler is coming along, slowly yet surely. Who knows, maybe I will finish him by the end of the summer. Maybe I will use my brand new bed in Florida to block him!

-SAK

Knitting Television:
The Fellowship of the Ring (extended version...oh so good...much better than the theatre-movie version)
Arrested Development (Season One)

Thursday, June 22, 2006

A Fabulous Day

Today was a positively wonderful day and I am planning on having two more perfect days. Today, my fellow research assistants and I went to WBRU's Guster concert to hand out fliers to potential research participants. You read right, I got to go to a concert on company time! I should also mention that we got VIP passes, so we could go backstage and eat free food and drink free drinks (including beer, if you are oh so inclined). So let me recap, I got to go to a concert for free, eat free food, drink free drinks, even drink alcohol on company time (not that I drink alcohol, but I could have), and get out of work early. Yes, I did have to hand out fliers for 45 minutes, but I can handle that for all the freeness. Okay, yes, it isn't really free, since my office is paying WBRU to be at the events and advertise on the radio station, but it is free for me!

In knitting news, when I came home like the good girl that I am, I worked on Twizzler for a bit. I just need one more knit row and two more purl rows and then I can move on to pattern #2! Here are two pictures of my progress. If you combine the two pictures in your head, you will get the actual color of the yarn. I must admit that it is slightly disheartening to knit only two rows and see that an hour has passed. Maybe I will knit another hat this weekend and remind myself that yes I can complete an object every once and a while.

-SAK

Knitting Television:
Law & Order: Criminal Intent

Wednesday, June 21, 2006

A Finished Object!

So I thought I would start this post with something I seldom do, I am going to show you a FO! This is my Rose-of-Sharon hat from Magknits. I must say, I love this pattern, because it was easy to remember and quick to knit up. Heck, I will say it, "I love knitting hats!" Hats are so quick to knit and I love the fact that most patterns say something like "knit this pattern eight times and then start to decrease." Right from the beginning of the pattern, you are already counting down to the end. I love the immediate and obvious goal.

When I wasn't knitting, I was scouring Myopic Books in Wayland Square. Check out the knitting book finds! Altogether, I spent about $25. If I had bought them full price, they would have cost twice as much. I am really excited about the plant dye book. The author discusses planting your own garden specifically to grow dyes (well, plants with good dyeing ability). Once I get down to Florida, I am going to have to try my hand at dyeing my own yarn. I guess this desire is no surprise, I did love dyeing Easter eggs when I was little.

Not too much knitting to report, I have been exhausted when I come home from work and knitting lace has been a little too much for me. This weekend, I am planning on spending some uninterrupted knitting time over at Brown. I need to soak in as much New England weather I can get before I leave!

-SAK

Monday, June 19, 2006

Update Monday!

Another Monday, another set of updates...

Twizzler Shawl
Yeah, um, so I wrote an Amazing Lace challenge post about him. That counts, right? ::sigh:: This week, I promise I will work on him.

Other Projects
The Feather & Fan scarf has yet to be blocked. The more I think about it, the more I feel it will be better to wait until I am in Florida to block the scarf. What is the point in blocking a scarf just to smoosh him and have to redo it in a month?

I worked on Branching Out this past week. I am about a third of the way. The scarf has been slow in coming since I do need to pay a certain amount of attention to the project and I have just been plain tired, but I am planning on him in the near future.

I should be honest thought, the real reason that I have been ignoring my two main projects is that I have found a new love: the Rose-of-Sharon hat from Magknits. Isn't it adorable? As soon as I saw it, I had to knit it. Hey, the hat is made from cotton and I must promote cotton knitting. I am really happy with the hat and I am almost done, but as you can see in the picture on the right, I am not pleased with the yarn I chose. I am using handknit cotton from Rowan. If I ever use this yarn again, I am going to wind it, so I can check for knots. In the first ball I used, there was only one knot, but on the second, I had to start and stop three times! The yarn is DK weight and I am afraid that I am going to have these huge bumps from all the weaving I am going to have to do to my poor hat!

I should note that I like the way the yarn knits up and even though I had to frog the hat several times (I would tell you why, but I can honestly tell you that I can't remember, I am living in denial apparently), the yarn still look brand-spanking new. I think I am going to finish the hat, since I am so close to being done and decide what would be the best move: frogging from the second ball or weave in the loose ends the hat.

Summer Reading Challenge
I finished The Woman in White! No more Wilkie Collins for me. I started reading The Lovely Bones and am about a third of the way done. Even though the plot of the story is sad (fourteen year-old girl is murdered), I really like it and I know I will have it finished by the end of this week.

-SAK

Saturday, June 17, 2006

Challenge #2

It is time once again to post about about one of the Amazing Lace's challenges.

**********
It appears that Twizzler (aka the Sampler Shawl) has taken matters into his own hands. Over the past week or so, I have been drawn to Branching Out and to Rose-of-Sharon, because knitting a wool shawl in hot weather just wasn't doing it for me. I didn't realize that ignoring Twizzler would cause him to take eXtreme measures.

Don't believe me? Well, today I decided to rest in the wonderful air-conditioned library about a mile from my house. I thought since it was a nice day, I would walk. While I was walking to the library, I noticed that my backpack was really heavy. Why would it be heavy? I knew I had my laptop, but I just brought Branching Out and Rose-of-Sharon with me. I decided that I must have forgotten to check the front pockets and there was probably a paperback or something in there.

When I got to the library, I set up my laptop and direct my browser to bloglines. While everything was loading, I went to take a peek at the knitting books. When I left my laptop, my campout looked like the following. Everything looks fine right? Just my laptop and knitting blogs waiting for me to return.

When I returned to my seat, things had changed dramatically. Take a look for yourself. Twizzler had snuck into my backpack and brough Folk Shawls with him. As you can see from the photo, he tied up Branching Out and Rose-of-Sharon just to show me he meant business. I guess I know who is in charge now.

"Yes Twizzler, I'm coming! I am going to stop reading knitting blogs and work on you right now! Please stop teasing Branching Out and Rose-of-Sharon! They are smaller than you!"

-SAK

Wednesday, June 14, 2006

Yeah for Hot Weather!

I decided to pick up Branching Out tonight after a couple of days of ignoring him for Twizzler. I just discovered that we are going to have a heat wave (in the 90s) starting Sunday. I want to finish Branching Out and take advantage of the heat to block the Feather & Fan scarf and Branching Out. I feel a little weird looking forward to being utterly miserable in 90 degree weather with little hope for a breeze but here I am jumping for joy.

I am a bit stymied with my Amazing Lace Challenge. I need a picture of eXtreme Knitting and I can't seem to figure out what would be a good picture. Maybe I will walk around Providence this weekend with my camera and try to feel inspired. Actually, speaking of pictures, if you have any Knitty pattern knitted goods, take a picture of it in a cute artsy way and submit it for the 2007 Knitty Calendar contest. Yeah, I totally became a sucker for KALs and knitting contests this summer. Maybe it is the realization that I am going to grad school this fall and I am only young once? Okay, so that sounds weird to you too, right?

Back to Branching Out and Six Feet Under!

-SAK

Knitting Television:
Six Feet Under (Season Three, Discs Two & Three)

Tuesday, June 13, 2006

More Lace KAL Fun!

Today I am posting about a very important event. Why is it important you ask? Well the deadline to join is tomorrow, so this announcement is important in an ASAP sort of way. Melanie from Pink Lemon Twist is doing a Mystery Shawl KAL. Every week she will send out the instructions for a part of the shawl. At the end of six weeks, you will have completed half the shawl (or you can knit the two piece shawl simultaneously on two different sets of needles and then graft them together at the end of the six weeks). Since this is the summer of lace, I thought I would tell you guys all about it. Doesn't it sound like fun?

There are tons of other lace KALs happening right now. There is the Knit Your Own Adventure which is happening on the EZasPI yahoo group . It has already started, but the hints are still up, so even if you can't bond with the usergroup, you can still have some fun. How do I know about all these KALs? Well, I got a little over eager at Yahoo Groups last night.

In other news, check out my new knitting bag! The Brown Bookstore was having a sale and I thought it would be the perfect memento from my time at Brown. The picture is the Van Wickle Gates (not to be confused with Van Winkle) in the front of Brown University. This bag is great, because it is canvas and has no zippers or anything to snag the yarn. It is also quite roomy as you can see from this picture. It is currently holding Branching Out and Twizzler and random containers of yarn goodies.

-SAK

Knitting Television:
The Closer
Law & Order
Without a Trace

Monday, June 12, 2006

Update Monday!

I have all sorts of updates for today!

Twizzler Shawl
Twizzler and I are living in perfect harmony. I ended up working on him a bit this weekend and now I am on the second repeat of pattern #1! I keep going back and forth about whether I should get another skein. I think I am just going to bite the bullet and do it. I know I should be living on the edge for the Amazing Lace and all, but working with two different dye lots is enough for me.

Other Projects
I finished the feather & fan scarf on Saturday. I used just one ball of Silky Wool for it. I love the fact that I can make a beautiful lacey scarf with just one ball of this stuff! Silky Wool has the perfect yardage. I still need to weave in the ends and block the scarf, but I am holding off. Yesterday was beautiful, but it wasn't hot enough inside my house so that the scarf would try in the near future. I might end up blocking this scarf in Florida if we don't get several hot days in a row here in Providence.

I didn't touch the dishcloth that I wanted to finish this weekend. Instead, I started on Knitty's Branching Out. I am having a hard time with the pattern (thank goodness Twizzler's been behaving), but I LOVE the way the pattern has been coming out. I am using Silky Wool in a dark blue-purple and the pattern is just coming out so lovely. Don't the "leaves" look like grapes? This is going to be a pain to block with all the holey parts, but I don't mind. This pattern just makes me so happy.

Summer Reading Challenge 2006
I thought I was going to finish The Woman in White this weekend. I have less than 150 pages to go; however, I just can't finish this book. At this point in time the only thing keeping me going is the knowledge that the book will be over in less than 150 pages. Hopefully I will finish this book and start something more fun soon. The book is interesting. The mystery is still mysterious with only 150 pages left. My problem is that I don't care enough about the hero (and his crew) to want them to "win." Oh well. No more Wilkie Collins for me.

Amazing Lace
Nominations for the best Challenge #1 are up. I didn't get nominated but my friend E was! See her entry here and vote for her here!

-SAK

Knitting Television:
The Closer

Friday, June 09, 2006

Project Ideas and Happy Twizzler News!

So Twizzler and I are totally rocking out together. I haven't made a mistake in about 5 rows! Amazing, huh? The beginning edging and pattern #1 are really starting to show. I have wonderful and glorious lace. In all fairness I should admit that all I do when I knit Twizzler is knit Twizzler. I do watch Six Feet Under while knitting, but I remain locked in my room counting stitches very carefully. I think my plan to work on something more "sociable" this weekend is a good idea. I can't let Twizzler think he can have all my attention all the time. A girl needs space.

I am concerned that I didn't buy enough yarn. I made sure to buy more than enough yardage, but I didn't check for gauge. Instead of frogging (or knitting a gauge swatch), I might order a skein or two more. This would give me an excuse to get some yarn to dye myself. Doesn't dying yarn sound like the perfect summertime activity? Hmm, maybe it is time to join the stashalong.

I can also attest after doing MANY ssks, t2togs, and sl1 k2tog psso for Twizzler that I love the ssk. There is something simply wonderful about the gentle slip, slip sound that happens and the the ease of picking up these stitches and knitting them together. I used to enjoy the k2tog, but it doesn't feel as elegant to me as the ssk now. Of course there is much more room for error in the ssk, but I think it is now my decrease method of choice.

In other project news, I think I have a project idea for Knit the Classics. For those of you who don't know, Knit the Classics is a knit along in which people read a prechosen book and then knit a project based on the book. I knit the knecklace from Knitty for Pride and Prejudice last month. This month we are reading Wuthering Heights. I wanted to knit a shawl, because it can be very cold walking on the mores. I thought I would knit Icarus, but now I think I am going to knit the Candle Flame Shawl from Knit Picks. The reason for this shawl is because there seems to be many times that the characters need light. People keep walking around in and around houses late at night. In addition, the story is a dark romance, the story as a whole seems some friendly and sunny light.

Here are some gratuitous shots of my current dishcloth and the Feather & Fan scarf. I don't want Twizzler to think that he gets all the press and photos. I just need a few more pattern repeats for both the dishcloth and the scarf and I shall be done with both. If I get my act together, I could finish them this weekend. With the crummy weather New England has been having recently, there isn't anything better to do than curl up in a cozy blanket and knit.

-SAK

Knitting Television:
Six Feet Under (Season Two, Discs 4 & 5)

Thursday, June 08, 2006

You and Me and Me and You...

Twizzler and I appear to be getting along fairly well. It might be the fact that I renamed the Sampler Shawl Twizzler, or that after every pattern repeat I double check that everything is okay, or that I am wider awake while working on him than I used to be. Whatever the reason, we are bonding well. I am a little nervous that I didn't buy enough yarn, but since this
is being knit length-wise and not width-wise, I can stop whenever I want. I might skip a couple of pattern repeats and then it will just be a wide scarf and not a shawl.

With the horrible weather New England has been having, I have had no motivation to leave my house and I have been spending my time knitting. After I come home from work, I usually have an hour or two free before my housemates come home. I use this time to sit in my room watching episodes of Six Feet Under and knitting Twizzler. Once my housemates come home, I eat dinner and then pull out the Feather & Fan Scarf to knit while watching tv with them. This weekend I will post pictures of Twizzler (if he continues to behave himself) and the (most likely finished) Feather & Fan Scarf.

Knitting Television:
Six Feet Under (Season Two, Disc Three)
Primal Fear

Wednesday, June 07, 2006

Twizzler's Been a Bad, Bad Shawl

Not too much to report on the knitting front. I worked on the feather and fan scarf last night and I am nearing the end. I can't wait to block it and see it grows in length. I have a suspicion that I am going to have to wait a bit, because the rain is coming down in buckets! I need a little less humidity for the scarf to dry in this century.

Twizzler (the Sampler Shawl) is sitting in solitary confinement for the time being. Tonight, if he continues to behave himself, I might choose him as my project of choice while watching another episode of Six Feet Under. His picture will not be taken until this weekend (if he is lucky). I believe the photographs were going to his head. Twizzler isn't all to blame, however. I think the blunt Addi Turbos are causing me to pick up too many stitches at a time, especially when I am not paying close attention to what I am doing. Next time I am in Seekonk, I am going to pick up a pair of cheapo Susan Bates because she at least knows what pointy needles are. Then any mistakes will be Twizzler's fault in entirety. ;)

-SAK

Knitting Television:
House
Six Feet Under (Season Two, Disc Two)

Tuesday, June 06, 2006

Update Monday!…errrr Tuesday!

This has been a pretty productive week! I moved to my new apartment, I did one load of much needed laundry, read, visited several yarn stores, and even worked on some knitting!

So, let’s start at the very beginning…

Sampler Shawl
Things are still very tense between the Sampler Shawl and me (no pictures because the Sampler Shawl does not deserve pictures). I made a mistake and when I tried to fix it, I dropped a stitch and created a multiple level mistake. I have a feeling though, that after this issue is resolved, we will start getting along. Now that I realize that I need to pay more attention to the Sampler Shawl and I need to be wide-awake to work on him, I think our relationship can only grow in a more positive direction. I have also decided to rename him the Twizzler Shawl, because the color reminds my coworker of Twizzlers. I think this will also make the shawl happy. I live to serve, right?

BTW, I did buy yarn for lifelines, but I can’t use the lifelines until I fix my current mistakes.

Other Knitting Projects
I worked on the Feather and Fan Scarf and one of my dishcloths this weekend and made some much needed progress. It was refreshing to see that I can knit without making a thousand mistakes. I also feel really cool being able to knit the feather and fan scarf without a pattern in hand. I am so psyched to block this scarf. I love the fact that I can make a beautiful and whispy scarf with just one hank of yarn! I have it in my head that I need to have several balls of yarn to make anything, but as you can see from this scarf, one isn't the lonliest number, it can make a beautiful object!

I finished the knecklace. I am not completely happy with it, but it is growing on me, especially since my Mom sent me this picture. It is from a Les Miserables remake set in WWII. It is a knitted necklace! I can’t get over which is cooler, a knit necklace in a movie or my Mom sending me pictures of knitted necklaces!

No, I haven’t finished the tortoise, the socks, and any other number of projects I have mentioned however briefly on this blog. One of these days, I promise I will finish these objects. Maybe I should set a goal of the end of the summer, hmmm….

Yarn Crawl
E and I took a little trip to Boston this past Saturday to find yarn. Mind’s Eye Yarns was having a 25% off sale and we couldn’t resist. Mind’s Eye Yarns is a tiny store, but is quite lovely. The owner is very sweet and sells her own hand dyed yarn. She also has a good selection of roving, if you are a spinner. When I wasn’t getting blogged (not a bad picture if I do say so myself…shiny but not excessively...I am in picture #3 in the front), I picked up some Noro Kureyon (because I finally broke down) and some Crystal Palace Whisper (because it looks like fire!).

After Mind’s Eye Yarns, we hopped on over to Woolcott & Co. It was a decent sized store with a huge selection of XXL Trekking. The store also had size 000 circular needles! I can’t remember the length though. I didn’t get the warm and fuzzies there. The employees were doing their own thing and I was looking at the yarn. Trying to make a connection with one’s customers is a trait I really look for in any type of store. There are very few things that I need to buy from any one particular store, so I feel I am allowed to be picky and look for places with excellent customer service. I did pick up some dpns in size 4 that I “need” to fix my socks there though (I figured I wouldn’t remember again). I decided that I am going to frog Sock and start anew. The ribbing needs to be in size 4 and then I will go down a size for the rest of him.

Next on the Crawl was Windsor Button. Even though I rarely get the question, “Do you need any help?,” I really like Windsor Button. Part of the reason I like the place is that I feel I can approach an employee and they wouldn’t roll their eyes at me. What I also like about Windsor Button is that the Lion’s Brand is right next to the Rowan. There appears to be no yarn hierarchy there. I had to hold myself back, but I was on the verge of buying some Cherry Tree Hill sock yarn.

After lunch, we headed over to Circles: The Knitting Salon. I LOVED Circles. First of all, it is right off the Green Street stop on the Orange Line. Second, it isn’t a store, it is a SALON! Third, the yarn and the owner are amazing. When I asked about some summertime patterns (for the great move to Florida), she told me to look around the store if I wanted and she would pull all the patterns she could find and leave them in the sitting room for me. Usually when I ask storeowners for patterns, they pull out a book or two and then go on their merry way. She took the time to get me several pattern books and binders. The yarn is organized by weight except in one section of the store, which is all from “local” farms. I use local loosely because I bought some Fleece Artist sock yarn (yes! Fleece Artist! I am a total yarn snob) and another handspun yarn from a farm in Wisconsin. There is also a little playroom if you want to bring your tots, a classroom, and a sitting room to knit, look through patterns, and chat with other knitters. Did I also mention that there are snacks, water, and tea? Yes, it is quite trendy, but it doesn’t have that oppressive trendy feel to it. There is also a good selection of knitting books and patterns. I definitely want to come back here before I leave New England. I picked up a pattern book, KidSilk Haze (for Birch), Fleece Artist sock yarn, and some handspun and dyed sock yarn.

E and I then made our way to Newbury Street and visited Newbury Yarns and Knit & Needlepoint. Not too much to report here. Knit & Needlepoint is a needlepoint store with some yarn. Newbury Yarn had some delicious specialty yarns (with the prices to prove it), but almost everything was organized by color. It wasn’t the most conducive environment for me.

Summer Reading Challenge
I finally got interested in The Lady in White by Wilkie Collins. I might have had to force my way through 300 pages, but I am now curious to see how the book will end. When I was in high school, I had to read The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins (the first detective novel in the English language). I despised this book until I read about half the book and started to care about what happened to the stolen moonstone. SPOILER ALERT!!! I got interested in the book once you find out that the guy who stole it didn’t really mean to steal it and had been high on opium at the time. END OF SPOILER!!! I am hoping to finish the book this week and start something lighter and hopefully with a faster finishing time.

General Moving Fun
I moved into my sublet this week and I am trying to live an unpacked life while keeping my stuff packed. As you can assume, it is a trying situation. I have new and fabulous roommates for the summer. We are getting along famously, at least we have for the past two days that we have spent in each other’s company.

-SAK

Knitting Television:
Six Feet Under (Season Two, Disc One)
Something's Gotta Give
Runaway Bride
Friends
The Bourne Supremacy

Monday, June 05, 2006

Sooo Sorry

Sorry for the lack of posting! I don't have internet at my apartment and I must wait patiently for anunsecure network to pop up to post to my blog.

In other news, I had a pretty productive couple of days! I worked on the Sampler Shawl for a bit and I am close to correcting all the current mistakes with it. I also worked on the Feather & Fan scarf. I have enjoyed working on it, because it is lace that I can do. It makes me feel like I can conquer the Sampler Shawl.

When I wasn't knitting, I snuck off with E for a Boston Yarn Crawl. I got some great yarn (pictures to come tomorrow). We went to some faboo yarn stores and some not so great yarn stores. I wrote some mini reviews and brilliantly saved the document to my office computer. Tomorrow I will post the reviews.

Sorry this post is kinda boring. I just wanted to let you know that I haven't forgotten my blog or you guys!

-SAK

Thursday, June 01, 2006

We Can't Be Perfect, Right?

So I have a bit of good news and a bit of bad news. The good news is that when I was getting dinner last night, I ran into E on Thayer Street. Since neither of us was doing anything too exciting, we walked over to Pembroke and knit for a bit. E fixed my knitting! Apparently, I added a stitch towards the end of my row, so we (well E, really) didn't have to tink back that much at all. I was so excited! I even knit a row to celebrate. I decided not to press my luck though and stopped after that row.

Tonight, however, I had a new obstacle. I was a good girl and used my stitch markers. Since the pattern is a multiple of 14, I placed a stitch marker after every 14 stitches. I was so pumped. I decided to forgo the life lines, not because I don't believe in life lines, but I don't have any thread for the life lines. As you can guess, here comes the bad news. I guess I got a bit cocky and in the very last pattern repeat for the row, I made a mistake. I got 13 stitches instead of 14. I cannot win. I have made hats, socks, scarves! I have done cables! Why can't I do this? This isn't my first lace project. I have knit in mohair and tinked back with less aggravation than this! Honestly. My problem at the moment is I can't tink back the sl1 k2tog psso properly. I can see the stitch I need and it is not where it should be. Boo! I WILL conquer you Sampler Shawl!

In more exciting news, I recruited someone for the Marijuana study! Remember how I keep mentioning that I go to a clinic and spend my time knitting? Well, I started working on this study back in October of 2005 and up until yesterday I had yet to enroll anyone into the study. I had screened tons of people, but no one had qualified! Yesterday everything changed though. I ran back to the office and announced it to everyone. My boss didn't share the same joy that I did, but the other reseach assistants were proud of me!

In celebration of recruiting a study participant and in an effort to lift my dampened knitting spirits, E and I are going to Mind's Eye Yarns on Saturday for their 25% off sale. If the weather holds, it will be nice to walk around Boston, maybe hit the MFA, and even knit at the Boston Common. Nothing better than a day spent knitting and museuming. :)

-SAK