Friday, September 28, 2007

A "Duh" moment

I had two "duh" moments this week, which slowed me down considerably on my two current projects. The first one occurred on Tuesday. I'm in my office showing off my knit picks interchangeables to my co-worker. I screw off the 13 that I'm using for the sleeve of Cherie Amour and I screw on the 9 that I used for the cuff. Then I took the 9 off and put in my bag, or so I thought.

That evening at knitting group I cast off on the first sleeve and go to switch the needles so I can start the second one. Guess what? I only found one 9 tip. I haven't located the other one since. So Cherie Amour has been put on hold for the moment. It's not that I don't have other 9s, its simply the principle of it.

I picked up the charade socks so I could at least finish the first. I completed the heel flap and I started to turn the heel, when I realized that I had worked the heel flap for the original stitch count, not the up sized version that I'm making. That made me feel particularly stupid. So I ripped it out on the train last night and started again.

Since I have no progress to really show off I thought I would share some pictures. I was looking through some old pictures this morning and I found these. First up a shot of me wearing a hat and scarf my grandma made for me:


The next one is just for Susan. I know how she likes when I take a stroll down memory lane. When I was a kid my parents went to their school reunion every year. I loved it because it was a real campus (it was a boarding school for the blind)and my parents knew it like the back of their hands so I didn't have to guide them anywhere. I just roamed free. I also used to get to play with my parents' friends' seeing eye dogs. They enjoyed the freedom as much as I did. This is a shot of me with one of them:


Spin Out in Central Park tomorrow people! Hope to see you there...

Monday, September 24, 2007

I choose to blame Kathleen...

So I'm minding my own business. Scrolling through the latest issue of Knitty and IM'ing with Kathleen (yeah we're such teenagers)...and I see Cherie Amour. I literally went walking through my office to find someone to show it to. I find our new floor manager Amanda and I make her look at it, thank god I hired a knitter. I went back to my desk and continued my conversation with Kathleen. I had just lamented that Rogue was going nowhere fast when she said "it's bulky, you could get that done fast". I am usually not such a suggestible person but there I was later that night going on to Handpaintedyarn.com trying to find a color I liked and ordering it on the spot.

My trip to the post office was to pick up my package. Lookie, lookie:



The colors are far more muted than the picture appears. The flash made them almost neon but they're not even close to being that bright. I find them very autumnal.
I'm about halfway on the first sleeve. I can't lie, I'm a bit concerned that the recommended 5 skeins will not be enough and if it isn't I'm screwed since my colorway is completely gone. What can I say I was drunk with the idea of it so I foolishly didn't overbuy. My size is somewhere between a large and a 1x so if I adjust a bit that should help. Maybe, just maybe it will be ready for Rheinbeck.

I was home with Ian today since he was coughing, sneezing and his nose was running all over the place. I was inspired by Chante's makeover to do one myself, hence the new look for the blog. A nice, fresh look for autumn.

Friday, September 21, 2007

If you were my mail carrier would you know a knitter lived here?


...hey wait a minute where is this postcard from...

Do you think Old Navy hired a marketing firm to attract knitters to their stores?

LOL


Oh yeah and this came too:
I'm not always crazy about the Vogue books but I love the sock book. There are plenty of patterns that I will make and only a few I definitely won't. The history of sock knitting chapter is especially interesting.

Speaking of socks, here's where I am on the Charade socks for Rinaldo:


I started these on my new Lantern Moon Sox Stix. I really do like to knit with them. They are comforable and the fact that they are so short doesn't bother me at all. However, they are so blunt that it's a problem. This pattern requires me to pass a slip stitch over two stitches and then knit the two on the next round and it's been a bit of a chore. I think that's why they were going so slowly. I switched over to my Knit Picks metal dpns and I've picked up the pace quite a bit.

I'm hoping to go back to regular posting next week. Things are definitely dying down here. In fact I'm ditching out at 12 for lunch with Gina and then heading home to pick up Ian. We're taking a trip to the post office for a package whose contents I will share with you on Monday.

Have a great weekend!!!

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

OMG! Can it be...

...yup a finished Dalek:



Aren't you impressed? Well I am damn you;) I have to say I have rarely followed a pattern so blindly. In principal I knew where I was going but since it was literally done row by row I wasn't always sure what the next piece would look like. The shaping is really well done but man row by row instructions are taxing. All in all I'm glad it's finished and the husband is thrilled. It stands on the table right next to his side of the bed ready to exterminate lesser beings at any moment. Of course he keeps us up at night saying stuff like this.

Meanwhile I haven't had the brain power to work on my rogue sleeve. Yes, yes I know the sleeve isn't all the complicated but charts while not as daunting as before are still a second language to me.

When I am low on brain power and energy I go back to my comfort food, socks. I cast on for some Charade socks for Rinaldo (dude, what is up with all this knitting for him, how did he make that happen) in Fearless Fibers merino superwash. Very nice to work with.

Rush is still going. We're in the second week where all we deal with are the screw ups and the sold outs so it's very unpleasant. I will be thrilled when Friday gets here. No more working weekends for me. Well at least for a little while.

Happy Tuesday or not depending on you view...