The Good, the Bad, and TV

So I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is that I finished the potholder loop rug! It isn't incredibly huge, mainly because I got tired of knitting the heavy monster, but also because I just need a tiny rug for under my desk. The rug is 31 by 22 inches. I have my feet in the picture to give you an idea, but you may be distracted by the very sexy sandal tan and blisters. I need to make my office homey or I may never get through grad school.

The bad news is that I frogged part of my sock. I am so amazed that I was able to frog the gusset with only a few problems even though I didn't go back stitch by stitch. I am going to look over the work and then retry the gusset this week. I am going to finish these socks if it kills me! The other bad news is that I didn't win anything on the Amazing Lace. I get these grandiose ideas of winning stuff and then I am surprised when I don't win. Oh well. Life goes on. Plus, I bought myself some snazzy knitting-related presents for my upcoming birthday, so life isn't so bad. :) Pictures to come when I "officially" get to open them.

-SAK

Movies/Shows with Knitting (since I haven't been knitting to the tv recently, but still seem to have been watching television)

The Greatest Show on Earth (one of the audience members knits during a dangerous acrobatic act)

All Hail the Powerful Knitting Gods!

Last night I got together with my cohort for a little dinner party (there are just 15 of us). It was great. We talked clinical psych, Project Runday, and everything in between. We are getting to be a pretty tight-knit group, which makes me happy, since we will be taking classes together for four years. At the dinner, I have potentially recruited two new knitters! I told them about all the creative and calming powers of knitting. Of course, I felt slightly guilty saying these things, when I haven't picked up my needles in several days. Once I start getting into the groove of this whole grad school thing, I will be able to fit the knitting in better. Right now, I only seem to be able to squeeze the knitting in on the weekends.

Oh! I was going to tell you that I told the two lovely ladies about my local SnB and one asked what we did at the meetings. This struck me as odd at first. I told her that we knit and talk about all sorts of stuff. She seemed happy with this response, but I started to wonder about my answer. Should we be doing a prayer to the knitting gods at the beginning of every meeting? Should there be some sort of induction ceremony involving acrylic worsted weight yarn and size 8 needles? Should people who don't attend meetings regularly be forced to knit a fugly object in penance?

-SAK

I Heart Ernesto

This is going to be a quickie, since there really isn't too much to say. I have been mad busy spending time in the lab and reading articles for my psychological disturbances of children course. Trust me, this all sounds a bit more exciting than it really is. I am holding out that things will get a lot more exciting once we get through the introductory material.

In other news, I have been keeping my eyes on Ernesto. I am not very nervous about it, it is just a tropical storm right now. I am really frustrated though, because the weathermen/women just talk about the storm going through Florida. I can't get any sort of specific information about Gainesville! Weather.com now says that there is just a 60% chance of rain. Ugh. I just want some basic information: will it rain? will it be windy? am I just being neurotic? I grew up in Puerto Rico, so I am used to getting prepped for hurricanes and getting actual information about what is happening. Here, no one seems the bit concerned or interested or even aware that a tropical storm is hitting.

Anyway, I have made the big decision about my current sock. I am going to hold off on sock #1 and start on sock #2. I think I have too many things going on in my life to think about gusset decreases. I can do ribbing and a basic slip stich pattern. At least I think I can.

To bed! To bed!

-SAK

Hurray for Sock!

Wow, this has been one crazy week. I started school on Wednesday and I feel like I have been going non-stop since. I am not stressed out just yet, but I can already forsee the stress with the load of reading, research, and early morning classes I have. Knitting has been pushed to the wayside a bit, but I am still plodding along as best as I can (I even made time to go to SnB).

My sock is coming along; however, I am having mixed feelings about it. I might frog back and redo the gusset and whatnot. I have a ladder at the bottom of my foot and I forgot to decrease a stitch at some point. None of it is really noticeable, but it is bothering me all the same. You see, as much as I would love to just continue and ignore the mistakes, my anal retentive tendencies suggest that I might regret this and prove further aggravation down the line. Tomorrow I am going to take a good hard look at my knitting and make a decision. I don't trust myself in the heat of frustration to make a big decision like frogging a couple of hours worth of work.

-SAK

What I Did on Summer Vacation...

Today was my first day of grad school! Yea! I am official grad student with syllabi and homework. Alas, I didn't have time to knit, but I was busy becoming friends with my cohort and working in my lab, so don't begrudge me too much. :)

Some people were interested in the socks I am knitting. I am using Lorna's Laces' Shepherd Sock #70 (Vera). The pattern is entitled "Classy Slip-Up" from the happy-go-lucky Knit Socks! book. Since the yarn has this varigated but not self-stripping effect, I thought this pattern would help lessen the pooling of colors. The pattern has been doing a pretty decent job of doing just that, plus the simple slip stitch pattern is pretty easy to memorize, so I don't need to carry the pattern with me.

-SAK

Look! A Sock!

I want to thank everyone for the positive support regarding the woman at my LYS. I might not be the fastest or most experienced knitter, but I thought I deserved a bit better than that. Luckily, when I went to my local SnB, the attitude was much better than at the LYS. All of the ladies were simply wonderful. They were nice and didn't base their opinion of me on the number of WIPS I have or the amount of yarn I own. I can't wait to go back next week! Yea! I am making friends outside of school! ::clap clap::

I worked on my sock at the SnB and it is coming along nicely (I have worked on it since this picture, but I have been too lazy to get my camera...there is just more leg pattern). I am super excited that this project is portable and it can come with me when I am waiting for meetings to start and participants to show up! Is there something wrong with me since I am really excited that I can knit before classes and meetings? This is something I couldn't do at work, so I am super pumped that I can knit when I want to now. :)

Oh, before I go, I must say, "HI KURT!" I promised him that I would drop his name on the very famous silverarrowknits blog, since he helped work on the Give It a Whirl Bag a while back.

-SAK

Knitting Television:
The Full Ten Yards
Under the Tuscan Sun

Final Amazing Lace Challenge

At first, I was going to post this picture as my official picture. Since Twizzler spent a good chunk of time in this ziploc bag, it seemed understandable that it was modeld in the ziploc bag.

After a while, I decided that this was a sad model for Twizzler, even when he was half finished. For this reason, I decided to use Rudolph as my model. I chose Rudolph for two main reasons. 1) Rudolph is extremely attractive (at least that is what all the female reindeer tell me). 2) Christmas time is an excellent time frame for finishing Twizzler. :)














-SAK

Was It Something I Said?

So I was having a pretty good day yesterday, I got keys to my office, I got data for my 1st year project/Master's Thesis, and I went out with my cohort (my class) and the 2nd year students. With all this happiness happening, I decided that I was going to go back to the LYS and find out about local knitting groups and check out the store again. ::sigh:: Why do I continue to have bad experiences at this store? When I asked a woman who appeared to work there/loiter about the local knitting groups, she immediately asked if I knew how to knit. This struck me as odd, since a) I asked about local knitting groups not about lessons, and b) I was holding my knitted bag! Granted it wasn't the most complicated knitted bag, but it was definitely holding its own (and my stuff). After this, she told me about two groups at the store and then told me to look around campus, that there were fliers around campus for knitting groups for younger people. Now this sort of statement could be said in a nice way, but the vibe I was getting was that I was not wanted there. Maybe she didn't like the Rainbow Brite shirt I was wearing, but I never said I wanted to knit with "young people." I might look young, but I didn't like being treated like I was a tween. I should also mention here that I haven't seen any posters for knitting groups at the University of Florida (thus my going to a YARN STORE).

I wouldn't make such a mountain out of this, but when I tried to make conversation about bringing my yarn to Gainesville and about all my WIP, she just said that one day I would catch up with everyone else. I didn't realize that I need to have a room filled with yarn and 50 WIP to be allowed into particular knitting groups! Since this was my second non-friendly experience at the LYS, I have had it. Online shopping is the way to go.

Even with the negative yarn experience, I am planning on going to a SnB tomorrow. My life is finally calm enough to go forth and check out knitting groups. :) I am a little nervous about meeting new people, but I think it will be fun. I started a sock in celebration! Isn't it cute? It's Lorna Laces in Vera. It reminds me of chocolate and cherries. I am using Susan Bates' sock knitting set and I wished I had some shorter needles. I keep thinking I am going to poke my eye out! I am also continuing to work on the rug. It doesn't look longer, but it is. Now that I started on this sock though, I don't have a real desire to continue with the painful and heavy knitting project.

-SAK

Knitting Television:
The Whole Nine Yards

Happy Rug

I am proud to say that even though it has been over 90 degrees every day for the past week with not one whisper of a breeze, I have continued to knit. Granted, I wasn't too keen to pick up a scarf or Twizzler (merino wook isn't what I want to touch right now), but I did pick up the potholder loop rug. The cotton loops are breathable and I don't break into a sweat knitting it. I might be getting tennis/knitter's elbow using the huge needles, but everything else is hunky doory. I am planning to use it in my office at school, so I will have a nice and cozy handknit to keep me sane. The cotton loops are soft and squishy, so my feet will stay happy when I am stressing about clients, theses (both the master's and doctoral), and classes.

-SAK

Knitting Televison:
Home Improvement

Exhausted

I can't believe it's Monday already! The days just seem to be slipping past me. Every day has been a new adventure: filing forms to start getting stipend checks, learning how to do neuropsych exams, going to orientations (with a decent breakfast spread,btw), and trying to outfit my apartment. How's the moving in going, you ask? I now dream of going to Wal-mart, Sam's Club, and Target. Most of the moving in has happened, but there are little things that require me to continue to going shopping: white-out, napkin holder, and bug spray (the bug are 10 times bigger than bugs in RI, I kid you not!) to name a few. I have almost finishing outfitting my kitchen. I just need to motivate myself to go to the grocery store for flour, sugar, and other basic staples. I currently have parts of meals that need a trip to the grocery store for the necessary carbs: buns (burgers), rice (stir-fry), and taco shells (well, I don't think I need to explain here). Anyway, soon everything will work itself out and I will just need to visit the grocery store to refill the supplies.

In knitting news, I finished the "Give It a Whirl Bag" from Creative Knitting. I enjoyed knitting it, since it was mindless knitting; however, I do have some problems with the finished product. The handles are too long and the bottom is a tad pointy. See that cone-shaped bag? Not the most attractive look, if I do say so myself. I need to learn to crochet, so I can have flatter purse bottoms.

I also got my public library card and checked out The Shop on Blossom Street and A Good Yarn. I have been wanting to read these, but wasn't really keen on purchasing them. When I found them at the public library, I figured it was a sign. Once I finish these, I want to read those knitting-murder books. I might have to visit another library, but it looks like the Alachua Public Library system has them! You got to love the public library, it lets you indulge in your guilty reading/music/movie pleasures without paying for them.

Alright, time to get ready for bed. One of these days, I am going to have time to read my emails and go to knitting groups and do all the things I planned to do when I got to Gainesville. Right now though, I am off to bed and then am going to buy some clothes that are better suited for 90 degree weather.

-SAK

Sooo Tired!

It has been a long couple of weeks. I dream of going to Walmart now. I am a little frustrated, because I can't seem to get enough sleep. I am not sure if it is because I am not getting enough sleep or because I am still getting used to the heat in Florida and am extremely dehydrated all the time. I am drinking water like it is going out of style.

Even with the craziness of moving (I am still making lists of stuff I need) and starting graduate school (I am already expected to know my Master's thesis topic?!), I have been working on my itty bitty purse. This purse is probably the size of a hat, but it seems to be taking twice as long! I keep measuring it and it does not seem to grow in length. I just need 1 1/2 inches and I will be done. It is all St st, so I am just using the knit stitch since it is in the round, but it does not grow! The frustrating part is that after I finish the purse, I need to knit two 30inch i-cord drawstring straps. As much as this project is slow-going. I don't need to bring the pattern with me, so it is working out great as the carry-along project, when I am waiting for the ten million meetings that I suddenly need to attend. (Did I already mention that I need to have a Master's thesis topic?!)

Oh! In crafty news, two of the ladies with whom I will work crochet! I know, I know, it isn't knitting, but I am excited that I am working with crafty ladies! It's nice to know that I will be in a supportive and fiber-loving environment. :)

-SAK

Weirdness

So I was checking my email last night and I got a piece of spam. Now this wouldn't be weird all by itself, but it was the "person" who sent me the email which was weird. The person was...Barbara Walker. Yeah, weird, I know. I can't seem to erase the email, because it is just too weird.

Today I bought the most perfect needle organizer ever! Isn't it awesome?! I have all the needles from size 000 up to size 11 in their own separate bins (10 and 10 and 1o 1/2 share the same bin with a divider), larger sizes share a bin, and then I have three bins for extra knitting stuff like row counters and Chibi needles. If you are curious, I decided to organize my needles by US sizes and not metric. I am not sure if I am going to stick with this plan for the long term, but I am happy with it for now. I do have an extensive excel worksheet listing all possible data per knitting needle, so if I do need a particular metric size, I can go to that and not have to go through all the bins.

Oh! I got my boxes from RI today! My knitting books arrived safely and tomorrow My Dad and I are going to buy industrial shelves that can take up to 600lbs per shelf (I have serious shelf wharping issues...I am completely dissillusioned with the entire bookshelf industry) to put my knitting books and other books (like school books, I guess) on it.

Alright, must get some sleep...I am going to the DMV at the crack of dawn tomorrow.

-SAK

Finally Home!

So here is the post I have been promising you guys! Things have been crazy for the past week. My Dad and I drove from RI to Florida, proceeded to fill our hotel room with furniture, kitchen supplies, and everything else one needs to start up an apartment, and finally on Friday we moved into the apartment and proceeded to build all the furniture we bought. Don't worry though, the yarn was considered during all the furniture purchasing. You see this living room? It may look like a normal living room, but wait! Check out the trunk! It has yarn! :) I also have yarn hidden in drawers intended for clothing as well. Thank goodness, I went through my clothes before moving to Florida, so I would have room for all the yarn! (Okay, in reality, a chunk of my clothing was stuff I have had since freshman year of college, which was over six years ago.)

Even though I have been spending the majority of my time moving and building, I have been working on a little purse. It is halfway done. After all the craziness is over with, I will finally have time to cozy up and knit again!

-SAK

I'm Home!

I finally made it to Gainesville and my apartment! Pictures to come tomorrow. My Dad and I have been super busy buying all sorts of stuff for the apartment. We even bought containers specifically for my knitting needles! I even have yarn hidden around the apartment.

The moving in has been going well, but here are some of the things my Dad and I learned about building desks, tables, and other pieces of furniture that must be built because you can't afford the "good stuff."

1) Pieces not in bags do not count as parts.
2) A pile of extra parts is expected after building a desk.
3) NEVER take off the numbers/letters on particle board pieces until you have completed the object. You might think you will remember the label for the piece but five instruction steps later, you won't.

Tomorrow, I promise to respond to emails and all of that, tonight is for sleeping.

-SAK

Welcome to Florida!

Hello everyone! Sorry for the lack of posting and emailing, but I have been on the road! My Dad and I finally made it to the sunshine state (right as it started to pour...hopefully it wasn't a sign). Sadly there were no yarn expeditions along the way, but I was able to fit all of my yarn into my car, which was more important than anything else. Not too much knitting has been taking place. I realized that I am much more of a sit at home in front of the tv knitter as opposed to one who knits everywhere. I tried to knit in the car, but with the sun and the movement of the car, oh and the fact that I need to do a bit a surgery with Twizzler, it didn't work out too well.

I did start the "Give It a Whirl Bag" from a relatively recent Creative Knitting Magazine. I need to do some surgery on the bag, but I don't mind. I started the project while waiting for my clothes to wash at a Holiday Inn and while knitting it I met a pilot and a flight attendant. They wanted to try their hands at knitting. All sorts of mistakes were created on the poor bag, but it was an enjoyable time all the same. Okay, it was mainly because the pilot was cute, so for all of you non-believers, you CAN get a date by knitting in public. ;)

Alright, to bed I go. Soon I will be reading emails and posting to blogs, but right now I am concentrating on moving.

-SAK

Updates & Moving

Like I promised, here are some updates. They aren't too impressive, but moving has become a priority.

The only knitting I have been doing recently is Twizzler. His easy to memorize pattern has kept me calm in the whirlwind of packing. He is still coming along slowly though. Like I have said before, the slow moving of the pattern makes him disheartening, but in my heart of hearts, I know he will be beautiful soon enough.

Just so you don't think I have been lazing about in the heat: behold boxes! Some of these boxes have my knitting books and magazines tucked away. Here's hoping they all come to me in one piece. I will not be held responsible for my actions towards the UPS person if my packages are lost.

I also want you to behold the yarn (it's in the duffle bag). The yarn as well as the swift and winder (they're fragile!) and my needles (just in case I need size X) are coming in the car with me. If something does happen to my knitting books and magazines, at least I will still have the tools to create knitted goods. They say necessity is the mother of invention and I am willing to test that if it comes to that.

Looking over this post, I noticed that I sound stressed. The sad part is this is me being calm. Last night I was really stressed about the amount of boxes and everything fitting that I tried to calm myself before sleeping by looking at a knitting magazine. Everything seemed to get better and then I started thinking about storing my needles in Florida. I had an anxiety attack about whether to organize them by US sizes or by their metric measurement. Yes, I have definitely gone around the bend!

-SAK

PS I would like to note that the stuff in the background isn't mine. I am subletting a place.

90 Gallons of Yarn

Sorry about the MIA status. I have been packing or procrastinating on the packing by doing "packing related activities." I will have pictures and updates tomorrow like always.

On a yarn related note, I packed up all my yarn that is currently not being used in current WIPs and I have 90 gallons of yarn! This is not an exact estimate since I am just using CVS 30 gallon trash bags, but you get the idea. For some reason, this makes me really happy. The yarn has turned into a safety blanket for me, a very large unknitted blanket!

On a sadder note, I am packing up my knitting books and putting them in boxes. Think happy thoughts for my knitting books. I am putting them in UPS' hands. I decided that the CDs, DVDs, and yarn must come in the car (breakable and/or can't part with them ever), but the knitting books are heavy and I need weight for some of my boxes, so I can get them to weigh 50lbs (50lbs boxes are more cost effective than non-50lbs boxes for a particular hwl box).

-SAK

Knitting Television:
Waking Ned Devine

Twizzler Is Back!

So here is Twizzler with his brand new progress! Can't you just see the new Twizzler knitted goodness? Aren't you utterly amazed with the crazy amounts of knitting I have been doing? What? You can't see anything? Oh.

Here is a picture of Twizzler out of the bag. You can't really see the details, but you can see that he is getting a bit wider. There is something weird about knitting something width-wise instead of length-wise. At the same time, I can alway bind off and make him into a scarf, but don't tell Twizzler. I think he might frog himself, if he heard that!

Here is a better picture of the actual lace work. The latest pattern isn't the most visible, but I promise you that there are YOs, k2togs, and sl1k2togpssos all over the place! I am two rows away from the second (of three) pattern repeats and then on to the central pattern.

Now that I have proven myself as not just a yarn horder but also a knitter, I should get back to what I do best...procrastinating (by knitting)!

-SAK

Bad Silverarrowknits!

I know, I know! I am a very bad blogger, since I haven't blogged since Monday. The thing is I have been busy at work and then I am too exhausted to blog when I come home. Not good enough? We lost power two nights ago and I couldn't go on the internet. Still not good enough? Well, fine, I will pull out the big guns. I have been working on Twizzler. Really. I have been knitting several rows a night on Twizzler. I thought that was important to Twizzler's state of mind.

Pictures tonight.

-SAK

Knittng Television:
The Virgin Suicides (Kirsten Dunst knits!)
Dirty Harry
The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants

Update Monday!

Here are all the updates fit to print!

Amazing Lace
Twizzler is starting to get some love. I decided that since he is supposed to be the all-star project of the summer I should work on him a bit. I did a whole 1 and a half rows. I used to love him so much and he has suddenly become a burdern. He might make good road trip knitting, so I am holding out that I will finish him this year (maybe even before school starts, if I am highly motivated)!

Mystery Stole
To be honest, I haven't worked on it, since I had to frog the whole thing. I haven't had any serious sitting and knitting time, so he has just been chilling in the UFO bag.

Mason Dixon Knitting
You might have noticed that I joined the MD KAL. After starting two projects from the MD book in less than two weeks, I decided I might as well join in the fun of the KAL. The dish cloth is coming along nicely. I sit and do one pattern repeat at a time, so it isn't the fasted knitting but it makes me happy. I really like the pink and this crochet thread is soft! I am thinking I might even make the MD nightie in crochet thread! I definitely have enough pink to do it.

I also started (and am a third of the way through) the potholder loop rug from the book. I love this project. I don't have to worry about casting on or off with too little or too much yarn, because I can always add or take away loops. I also love the US 35 needles I am using for this guy. It knits up so fast. Every row is about an inch of rug goodness. If you are going to knit this rug though, I highly recommend getting circular needles. I wasn't thinking when I bought the straights and the rug got heavy fast. Other than that though, I love it! I decided not to pay attention to how I was connecting the loops, so sometimes I have long patches of whites or greens. I wanted randomness, but you could (if you were willing to buy LOTS of potholder loops) make a rug to match your house's color scheme.

Other Projects
Branching Out is on hold as are any other projects I may have. I guess I went on a buying needle frenzy and seem to be adding new projects faster than I can get them off the needles. :)

Summer Reading Challenge
I finished A Million Little Pieces on Saturday and picked Northanger Abbey up again. I was two-thirds through the book and stopped. Now, I am just 30 pages away and am actually curious to see what happens to Catherine. I am utterly amazed that this challenge has gotten me to read the books on my bookshelf! I wish there was a KAL (or BookAL I should say) for school reading.

-SAK

Knitting Television:
Cowboy Bebop
Repo Man (there is a guy knitting in the movie!)
Magnum Force
Lone Star
American Splendor

Challenge #4

Since it is 10:48PM on Sunday, I decided it is time to post my response to Challenge #4!

This was a hard challenge for me, because Twizzler is a very long rectangle. Items he could aspire to be include belts, shoe laces, and Indiana Jones' whip. Since Twizzler and I have been lethargic in the heat wave that has hit Rhode Island. He told me that he only wanted to be turned into non-moving objects.


Twizzler could be a leash for an inanimate dog.

Twizzler could be a toy for an inanimate cat. He doesn't have to be lifted up and down, because the cat will never even look Twizzler's way.

Twizzler could be decorative molding for shelves or for a wall.

Happy Friday!

I am soooo happy it is Friday! This has been a long week. I spent the entire week updating study keys and trying to compile everything I do into a 5-inch binder. I used to have a 3-inch binder, but it wasn't cutting it. For the next 48hrs, I do not need to do anything but knit, read, and sleep.

Here are two better pictures of the yarn and needles I received last night. I think I might start a mitered square blanket or a log cabin blanket with the Red Heart yarn. It can be my curling up with a book/tv/knitting blanket. I am also super pumped about all the needles, I just need to come up with a project for which to cast on. I don't think that will be a problem. :)

Alright, I should get going and work on clue #1 of the Mystery Stole, since the second clue came out today. I am starting on square one, since I didn't have the right number of stitches and for the life of me, couldn't figure out what was going on in the shawl. I can do this, I just need to sit still with the needles and yarn (and with Cowboy Beebop or something else distracting me in the background).

-SAK

Thanks Joyce!

This is going to be a quickie, because I stayed out late with a friend and am quiet sleepy. I could have waited until tomorrow, but I needed to show you the yarn and needles I have acquired. I had dinner with my friend MB tonight. We laughed and talked about old times. It was fabulous. In addition, she very kindly gave me some of the yarn from her large yarn stash her Mom had accumulated over the years. We must all give a very big shout out to Joyce! I left with four bags of yarn. Most of it is a mixture of acrylic and wool or just acrylic. I jumped at the chance for such a large amount of yarn, because I have been wanting to knit a blanket but didn't have the money to spend on the amount of yarn I would need. I am thinking about making a Mason-Dixon log cabin blanket with it or maybe even the mitered square blanket.

I also need to show you the needles I got. Here is just a quick shot of some of the dpns I got. Aren't they beautiful? I also got a stack of circular needles, my new best friends. Some are plastic and some are aluminum. I am going to have to make some sort of labeling system since there is nothing marking their size, but I love them all the same.

Also, on the knitting front, I started a moss stitch hand towel from the Mason-Dixon book. Isn't it sweet? I think it would be lovely to have some handknit goods around the apartment in Florida.

To bed! To bed!

More details (and pictures) tomorrow, I promise.

-SAK

Thank Goodness Knitting Blogs Don't Need to Be about FOs

So many updates, so little time...

The Amazing Lace
Wooly Twizzler got a little time out the ziploc bag this weekend, but the heat kept it from being too extensive. I will finish you Twizzler! I promise!

The Mystery Stole 2006
I did another two rows of the mystery stole last night, but as you can see from the picture, I haven't gotten very far. Sorry it is blurry, my camera doesn't want to focus on this particular project for some reason. I really like the pattern and it has been pretty easy going so far, but I seem to be terrified of messing up with the laceweight. I am afraid that if I do more than two rows at a time, I will royally mess up.

Other Projects
I finished Filbrina on Saturday and sent her to her happy new home. Branching Out has been quietly hoping that I will work on her now that Filbrina is done. Hey, it could happen.

In other news, I have decided to make Mason-Dixon hand towels for my new apartment in Florida. As soon as I got home and looked at the crochet thread, I could hear Julia Roberts telling her mama in Steel Magnolias: "My colors are blush and bashful." Just because I have a hard time finishing projects doesn't mean I don't like to start them! (I remember that I wasn't going to buy more yarn, but crochet thread isn't yarn! Okay! Okay! No more, I promise.)

Summer Reading Challenge 2006
I must admit that reading has been taking away serious knitting time. This past week I read Murder after Hours by Agatha Christie and The Time Traveler's Wife. I just started A Million Little Pieces last night as well. Murder after Hours was your typical, fun Agatha Christie book with humourous and slightly annoying Poirot. Christie is great because most of her mysteries are short and don't have too much in the way of side plots; they're just about a murder. I really like Christie's books, but I also consider them palette cleansers in between heavier books. The Time Traveler's Wife was really great. It was a love story but it wasn't overly sappy or anything. Everyone I know who has read it said they had a hard time with it at first, but the book really pulled me in from the beginning. I would definitely check it out if you are interested in sci fi-romanticy books.

Now to the controversial book...I bought A Million Little Pieces after the story broke about Frey's lies. I was curious to read it. I left it on my shelf for months, because I decided suddenly that I didn't want to read a bunch of lies. When I picked it out of my suitcase this weekend, I decided to suck it up and read it. After I started reading it, I realized that I shouldn't be surprised that he lied. My participants lie all the time and I take it as a given. Why should I expect more from Frey? I will say that it is a little weird reading the book, because I can imagine any and all of my participants as characters in it. I am just finishing the first 100 pages and nothing so far has shocked me. I guess my take home message is if you are interested in the book, read it. Ignore the fact that he does embellish the truth. I also read Dry by Augusteen Burroughs and found it an interesting account of going through a treatment center if you want something that The Smoking Gun hasn't discussed (at least to my knowledge). ***Disclaimer*** I don't work in a treatment center and know very little about them. These comments are simply opinions on what I think happens in treatment centers and how people deal with their addictions.

-SAK

Knitting Television:
Kiki's Delivery Service

Filbrina Is on Her Way to Her New Home!

Miraculous news! I actually sent off Filbrina! I finished my little turtle for S! It's amazing! Here she is in all of her adorable fugliness. I can't explain it, but she really is cute even with the crazy color combination. I think I didn't want to finish her, because it meant she had to leave me, but I know she is going to a happy home. Even if S doesn't like Filbrina (she has a real live tortoise named Filbert), I have bribed her with handknit dishcloths, so she will have to take Filbrina into her happy home. :)

Now I need to be honest about something. I didn't work on Filbrina last night. In fact, I completely forgot my pledge to work on her and worked on the Mystery Stole instead. Yeah, I am a commitmentphobe. In my own defense, I just did the "provisional cast-on" (I started on two different ones, but got impatient since I was in a different room as their instructions and just cast on with scrap yarn instead), the anchor row and the center row. No "real" knitting has commenced.

No knitting yet today, but I might do some before I go see Pirates of the Caribbean 2 tonight! Yeah, moving stress requires Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom. They're practically medicinal.

Okay, off to find some grub and possibly work on Twizzler!

-SAK

Mystery Stole 2, Here I Come!

Before I talk about knitting today, I just have to say that I love knitters. They are the friendliest bunch of people that I have every met. Remember when I said that RI Hospital won't let me read knitting blogs and go on sites like yahoo groups (they are classified as "message boards or clubs")? Well, today the first clue of the Mystery Stole KAL was posted on yahoo groups and I could not retrieve it, because it was on a banned site. This normally wouldn't bother me, but my printer is packed away and to get the PDF document printed out, I would need to download it to my home computer, email it to myself, and then print it at work on Monday, since I can read email still. Instead of doing all these steps (since I want to start NOW), I emailed the listserv. In under an hour, ten people emailed me the PDF document. Thanks again to everyone who emailed me the PDF document!

Now, on to the knitting. Last night not only did I knit, but I knit a swatch! I know, you are amazed. I am too impatient to knit swatches normally, but for the Mystery Stole KAL, you don't have any recommendations for yarn or needles or anything, so you want to double check that you are making good decisions. The swatch doesn't look too exciting (yes, that is a tissue underneath the swatch, it wasn't until after I pinned it to the bed that I realized I couldn't see anything with the dark sheets); however, it does show me that the size three needles work well with the KnitPicks Alpaca Cloud yarn that I bought. The YOs are clearly visible in comparison to the St st. At first, I thought the flowers were supposed to look like flowers, but after seeing everyone else's swatches on yahoo groups, I realized that this is not the case.

I have to say that my confidence in knitting has really gone up in the past couple of months, especially since starting all these lace projects (namely Twizzler) and learning all sorts of new and different increase and decrease stitches. This time last year, I would never had even considered knitting something as delicate as a lace weight shawl with all sorts of increases and decreases in it.

Tonight, however, I cannot work on the Mystery Stole until I finish seaming S's overdue birthday present. I am going to mail that package tomorrow no matter what. Maybe as a reward I will start the stole tonight. I wonder if it okay to take the reward first and then do the work? Ugh! It is that kind of thinking that gets me into these messes! :)

-SAK

Knitting Television:
EdTV

Too Hot to Knit

For once I am looking forward to the AC in my apartment in Florida. The past two days in Providence were H-O-T and H-U-M-I-D! I spent most of it swimming from AC building to AC building. I did work on Twizzler a bit since I realized the only way that he was going to be finished in the near future was if I actually worked on him! Here is a picture of him. Yes it is an old picture, but really the progress is hardly worth taking a picture, uploading the picture, uploading it to photobucket, and then to my blog. Tomorrow I will take beautiful and exciting pictures. Tonight I will bow to the gracious gods that decided a cool breeze and low 80s with little humidity would be nice.

-SAK

Update Monday!

Amazing Lace
I worked a bit on Twizzler but not more than just a few stitches. It is ridiculously hot in RI now. The summer has officially come and knitting in wool is just about the least desirable thought at this moment. I literally feel like I am slowly yet surely felting the piece when I am just holding it in my sweaty hands. I did write a poem about my darling Twizzler for the Amazing Lace though.

Other Projects
I started another Rose-of-Shanon hat which I worked on when I was in Boston, but sadly I ended up frogging it when a chunk of stitches slipped off and they were sadly lost. I was only on row four, so I decided to frog instead of saving it. I didn't really like how the cast on row was looking anyhow.

Branching Out and the swatch for the Mystery Stole have yet to be touched, but who knows maybe they will get sorted out this week. :)

Last Yarn Hurrah (or my trip to Boston)
On Saturday, I decided to do my last yarn crawl. I was planning on officially going on a yarn diet after the trip, but I want to have the option of buying yarn on the trip down to Florida, so I am going to hold off but no more yarn buying for me!

I started my visit over at Windsor Button. I picked up some needles, knitting accessories, and some glorious yarn. I got some sock yarn, cashsoft for a hat, and cotton ease! I didn't buy all the cotton ease because there were mismatched dyelots and the colors that I didn't buy were these weird pastel popsicle colors that I couldn't imagine being worn by anybody.

Next on the trip was Woolcott in Harvard Square. I picked up some more sock yarn (yes, I haven't finished a pair of socks, but I am planning on it soon!) and some lace weight yarn. I love the fact that I can get away with knitting in wool in Florida; I just need to be willing to knit with dental floss is all. :) The salesperson was talking up this camel yarn, and at first I was interested in it, but then I smelled it. It still smelled like camel! I quickly put the yarn back.

After this trip, I met up with my friend M (not the M who gave me the knitting magazines and yarn) and we went to lunch. Afterwards, I got him to come to Circles with me! I think M has knitter's blood in him, because he loved touching all the yarn and wanted to buy a pile to just lounge in! I picked up some Fleece Artist sock yarn and some bamboo yarn for a decorative scarf.

After the yarn expedition, we hit the MFA (Museum of Fine Arts) and saw an exhibit on cloth! It was simply faboo.

Oh, here are some pics to prove I actually went to Boston for those of you who feel I never leave Providence, let alone Rhode Island. It is true that we Rhode Islanders don't like to travel far, but we can when yarn is at stake. :)

Here is the recently frogged Rose-of-Shanon hat on the steps of a Harvard building.

Don't believe me? Well, I think this picture shows it the best. :) If you can't see what the bike says, click the image.

Summer Reading Challenge
This was a productive reading week. I couldn't seem to do anything but move my eyeballs in the heat. I read Heart of Darkness, Memoirs of a Geisha, and The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood. Maybe I will finish all the books in my suitcase!

Happy knitting!

-SAK

Challenge #3

It is time once again to compete against my fellow lace knitters in the Amazing Lace. I know you are all excited to hear about my final stash enhancement trip but you will have to wait until tomorrow. I WILL say though that I got my hands on some Lion's Brand Cotton Ease. :)

Challenge #3


slip slip knit
slip slip knit
i like the sound of the
slip
slip
knit
(on my addi turbos)

slip slip knit
slip slip knit
twizzler likes the sound of the
slip
slip
knit
(on my addi turbos)

yarn over (knit)
yarn over (knit)
i like the intended mistake of the
yarn over
(knit)

yarn over (knit)
yarn over (knit)
twizzler likes the intended mistake of the
yarn over
(knit)

i like how the red of twizzler's namesake gets more and more
obvious!
as he gets bigger with the knits and purls and slips and psso

twizzler likes how he snakes across my needles and curls upon himself
he waits to get bigger and cover my lap and keep me warm as we sleep

but we have miles to go before we sleep
we have miles to go before the needles are dropped
and only then can we stop
(listening to the swish of the needles)

slip slip knit
slip slip knit
yarn over (knit)
yarn over (knit)