I'm famous!
Okay, this post was a) going to be done two days ago, but the super computer here ran out of juice and crashed and uh, I didn't save my draft and b) just going to be a regular ol' update but...I'm famous!
Lime and Violet read my letter on their podcast (episode 13, in case you're reading this in the future)! Dude! They
opened with my letter! To quote the patron saints of the yarn obsessed themselves, SQUEEEE!!! I've added their button to my sidebar there -- they're a very funny pair of knitter chicks and I lurv them. They make my commute considerably less boring. Of course, between listening to them and reading the
Yarn Harlot, I'm constantly bursting into giggles and I'm sure my train-mates think I'm a few skeins short of a sweater. So if you're coming here because you heard about me there, hi y'all! I usually update a little more regularly, but work has been out of control insane lately. There was this whole launch thing (see the end of this post for more info and a really cool special offer from my so so awesome company,
Tutor.com), and it's just been crazy, but in a good way.
Okay, I'm breathing regularly again. Back to our regular features. First up,
Becky fix (read the whole post, folks -- there's more Becky in the knitting section):
Who's happier to see who?
That's my pretty girl. And smart, too (apparently you can't just tell your girl baby she's pretty anymore or she'll turn into Jessica Simpson when she grows up).
Mmmmmmmmm...Mr. Shmousie. Could we have some privacy, Mom?
I love Mommy and Daddy thiiiiiiiis much!
She's a super-duper googy poppet -- still growing like a weed. I'll have exact specs next week -- she had another cold this week so we had to reschedule her regular monthly checkup. I'm guessing she'll be just about double her body weight and about 30 inches. Taking my sister-in-law's advice (hi, Coll!), because she has awesome, well-rounded kids (hi, Taylor and Ryan!), I stopped getting crazy about the TV. Becky
adores Madagascar, especially the lion and the part with the lemurs when they're singing "I like to move it, move it." She also loves it when Mommy sings that and dances with her. Oh, and holding her under the arms and spinning her gives her serious giggles.
Knitting/Fiber Fix:
She's a high...plains...drifter...Yes, that's the Mexicali on Becky. You'll notice that it actually fits her. This means that it will not fit its intended recipient, who is about twice Becky's size. There was much colorful language used when I realized this. So I have cast on for a baby sweater of my own devising. There is no picture of this because, well, I can't find it. Don't ask (no, it is not lost in the Pit of Despair). Moving on.
Dude! Check it! I made a sock! Only one so far, and I'm not working on the second one yet (though you can see in the picture that I have cast on for it). I swear, I do not have Second Sock Syndrome (non-knitterly peeps, this is when you finish one sock and then can't bring yourself to start and/or finish the second one). I really want to get my First Pair of Socks done, and the yarns is just totally luxe and I love to touch it and knit with it. The stripey bits are one skein of XXX and there's one ball of XXX for the toes/heels/cuffs [looking for ball bands] -- incidentally, fellow yarn addicts, you can stretch your yarn budget further by using just one ball of the fancy stuff instead of two for your pair of socks and sticking plain yarn on for the toes/heels/cuffs. Plus, it looks really cute and people think you're a genius.
I am not working on Sock2 because I decided that I
need black gauntlets for
Otherworld, which is in a week and a half. So I cast on for those yesterday. My own pattern, possibly to appear as a Lauriginal soon, knit with...get this...STASH! So I'm working on those and not Sock2 or the Rhinebeck sweater:
I actually have everything but the back and collar done, and it moves really quickly. I'm thinking I'll probably be able to get it mostly done during our trip up to Pomfret next weekend (about a 4 hour drive, depending on traffic). The big benefit of being married to a man who hates being a passenger is plenty of knitting time in the car.
I also continue to knit Christmas hats while I walk, because I cannot knit on DPNs and walk at the same time (I
can purl and walk at the same time, but not on DPNs). I've got TWO hats off the needles. They need to be seamed up -- the pattern (from
Oddball Knitting - the roll brim hat) calls for DPNs, but if you think I'm going to use size 15 DPNs, you have another think coming. I've decided for Christmas knitting I'm going to do all knitting and leave the making up for later. This may turn out to be a mistake, but I think it's going to let me keep my momentum going. I also have a gift scarf (the Manly Muffler -- soon to be a Lauriginal) halfway done but it turns out it's going to need 2 balls instead of 1. I'm going to get the second ball at
The Point tomorrow when I head up there with the lovely Erica and introduce her to the visceral pleasures of the Awesome Yarn Shop.
The cool work stuff/special offer I mentioned at the beginning of this post: The company I work for,
Tutor.com (leader in online tutoring, been available in libraries for 5+ years -- we know what we're doing), just launched our very cool, very usable, very helpful direct to consumer online tutoring service, Tutor.com Direct. This happens to be my division, so this is kind of my baby, and I'm very proud of it. So I'd like to invite you all to take part in the Friends and Family program we're running through the end of the month -- if you don't have kids the right age, pass it on to people you know who do. PLEASE don't spam anyone -- we're not trying to drum up usage, just trying to give a little extra break to our buds and their buds and so on. Sort of a six degrees of separation thing. Anyhoo, the special deal is this:
Updated: the original offer that was here has been discontinued. But there are still great deals available -- visit tutor.com for details!
Lost weekend
Sorry for the lack of recent posts, and the lack of photos in this one – we're launching our new service at work and things are just crazy. But here’s a super quick update on the weekend-that-wasn't to tide you over, plus some stuff about knitting and of course, the Beckmonster.
So, you'll remember that last weekend I was originally going to go to The Point on Friday night, then the Garden State Sheep thingie on Saturday, then the Knit-Out on Sunday. Then I decided not to go to the Saturday thing due to weather (which actually cleared up and was beautiful) and Becky and I still being sick (which did not clear up).
I made it to The Point Friday night where I met Amy Singer (see? No reference to
Knitty at all. It can be done.) who is just fabulous. Super nice, willing to share (there was lots of talk at our table about how/why she started Knitty, what makes a good design, etc. – you know, the stuff that she could totally keep to herself since it's how she makes her living. And she took a look at the design I've had in mind for awhile for submission to Knitty, offered some pointers, told me what would make better (read: more publishable) to her, etc. She seemed really enthusiastic, so I'm going ot start working this up as soon as I get the new yarn (the structure is staying the same, but the color(s) are changing dramatically).
I skipped the Saturday thing as planned, but still meant to go to the Knit-Out on Sunday. I made it as far as the train station and then realized that I forgot:
- to look at the map, so I'd know which way to go from the PATH. It’s been awhile since I was up that way
- my cell phone. No way I'm leaving my baby and not having some means of instant communications
- sunglasses
Plus I still didn't feel very good. So I didn't go. I came home and worked on getting the Pit of Despair into some kind of shape (pics tomorrow, and yes, I will be posting the before pictures that I promised). I made a lot of progress, even though some of it isn't very visible. I discovered that there is a serious mildew issue. Right now things are just getting a little musty, but I can definitely see that they're going to get really bad if I continue on as I am. So here's my plan. Drawer yarn will go into ziplocs. Cone yarn and fiber and fabric will go into big plastic tubs. There will be some sort of plastic storage for paper and paper products as well. Not sure what to do about all the books – I'm going to have to think on that.
Okay, that's enough for now. Becky's not doing anything new (except waking us up ten times a night to roll her back over – to be fair, she seems as upset about this as we are), I do have an FO and several new projects on the needles that I will get into the gallery as time permits (but certainly sometime this weekend if not sooner).
Finally, some pretty pictures!
Fun new features! Now if you click on a picture you can see a bigger version (not retroactive, does not apply to pictures from other sources). Also, over on the left right I've added a Flikr gallery of Works In Progress. I'll add a Becky gallery as well. Now back to your regularly scheduled blog.
Becky Fix:Look! She's wearing Sam! Sam's been finished since Monday, but I haven't had the camera handy.
And more Becky (I think this is a preview of her teenage face):
Knitting Fix:It's a Sock!
I'm using the Crenellated pattern from Lucy Neatby’s Cool Socks, Warm Feet, which, as I mentioned, totally changed the way I knit with DPNs. This is an incredibly easy first pair of socks, with a Bosnian toe and a Turkish heel (which, as you can see, has yet to be worked. I may be using filthy curse words after I do the heel. We'll see.).
So, the new camera, though it takes lovely pictures (see above -- the new camera may nudge the fridge out of the number one spot for inanimate object love in my heart), will not be accompanying me to The Point tonight. I looked at my backpack, which I have to take to work as it has my laptop in it, and my pump, which I have to take to work for what I think are pretty obvious reasons, and then I looked at the pack the camera goes in. I am not lugging all this crap around the city at 10pm tonight. Not gonna happen. It'll definitely go to the Knit Out with us, though.
People I'm going to meet, and other stuff
Okay, there should be some pictures in this post taken with the new camera. I hope. I want to take it with me to
The Point tomorrow, when I get to meet
Knitty's Amy Singer (which is the only way I've ever seen her referred to in blogs. I wonder if she gets tired of it?). I'm very excited about the whole thing, not just because she's, you know, Amy from Knitty (see? I'm trying to change it up a little), but because I've had a design I want to submit to Knitty for awhile now and just haven't had the impetus to finish knitting it. I'm hoping during the "submit a design" portion of the evening, she'll tell me how much she loves it, because I think that would give me a good hard shove in the right direction. Or she'll tell me it's shite and I can leave that project on the back burner and knit more socks.
As previously mentioned, I had planned a whole weekend chock full of fiber related activity. Tomorrow night is
the Point/Knitty thing, Saturday there's the
Garden State Sheep and Fiber Festival and then Sunday is
NYC's Knit Out (and my knitting hero, the
Yarn Harlot, will be there. Yippee! Digression: I am not normally a "go and meet the author who neither knows nor cares anything about me but just happens to be famous" kind of person. But the Yarn Harlot is special. It's her fault I'm knitting socks, fer cryin' out loud. So I'm going, and I'm excited, and I'm okay with it.). But after further reflection, Saturday is going to be a no-go. Becky is under the weather. I'm under the weather. The weather sucks. And mostly, it's an hour and a half away which is a really long way for me to go with the Beckster by myself, especially since I'd have to pump in the car while there. Too much. So I'm not going to that, but will still be going to Rhinebeck in October, since Chris is coming along to that one. And look -- I'm a square!
Something I learned about myself recently:
I have absolutely no concept of time, or rather the time involved in knitting. 2 socks in one week, when I've never knit a sock before, have a full time job and a little baby who still doesn't sleep through the night (it's a diaper issue -- she doesn't like them. A lot.)? No problem! Ha. You will recall I had planned to wear these for my big exciting meeting with the Yarn Harlot. I have just passed the heel on the first one. I do not see myself having a pair by Sunday. Coming off the whole Mexicali fiasco (I'm working on it, I'm working on it) this lack of being able to realistically plan projects has me somewhat concerned about my Christmas plans.
Wow. Dude. I just found the coolest thing ever (for knitters). There is an extensive
online stitch encyclopedia. How did I not know about this? Holy crap, this thing is awesome! I can't believe I haven't been seeing links to it all over blogland! No pics, but she (yes, I'm assuming) does refer you to (offline) sources. I'm still digging around on the site and -- holy cow! There's a sweater generator! Knitting Fool, you rule.
And in other knitting news, I get to teach a friend to knit! Now, this is not one of those situations where said friend approached me, eager to pick up the needles and bask in my knowledge. No, this is someone I have lured in, baited with scrumptious yarn (I made her hold my ball of Cascade Imagination) and
this pattern (no, the yarn and the pattern don't go together). I don't normally do this -- while I am an enabler, I try not to be a pusher. But I'm telling you, this girl was born to be a knitter. I can feel it. This week I spent just introducing her to some potential patterns so that when we go to Seaport Yarns next week, she won't be so overwhelmed by the possibilities. Well, she'll still be overwhelmed -- it's that kind of yarn store -- but at least she'll have a target in mind. She remains anonymous for now, as she wishes to present her friends and family with a
fait accompli.
This is getting really long, so I'll leave the pics for tomorrow.
Quickie no pic-y
Because I have a few things to mention, but haven't taken any pics lately and am not going to before I (finally) go to bed tonight, either. In no particular order:
1. Got the
new camera. Yay! Need a compact flash card. Boo. So I've found a couple online for around $20/1GB, but I thought I'd buy local this time. The local camera store had them for $90/1GB. I said "no, thank you" and went on my merry way. I am not paying $70 for instant gratification. So I have to order that before the fancy pics start.
2. Sam is FINISHED! Yes, off the needles, made up, buttons on, FINISHED! Pic tomorrow.
3. For Christmas (or whatever December holiday you choose to celebrate) gifts, I'm going to post pictures but not name recipients. Family, there may be a few things for friends in there to throw you off the trail. Yeah, I know I said I wasn't going to knit for friends this year. I lied. Sue me.
4. I've started the Socks (pic tomorrow). I've got a toe and part of a foot done. Things are coming along swimmingly. I don't know if they're swimming fast enough to be (almost) done by Sunday (
Knit Out,
Yarn Harlot, ringing bells for anyone yet?), especially since Saturday I'm planning on going to the
Garden State Sheep and Fiber Festival, but it's realy cool to keep trying them on. More experienced sock knitters: does that ever get old?
5. Mexicali is still not done. Sue (Gracie's mom) was very understanding and gracious. I will have it to her next week. I think it's going to be too small and end up Becky's and I'll have to knit another one in the next size up for Gracie. Good thing I already have the yarn.
6. I did not get anything done in my studio this past weekend. Embarassing pics tomorrow. And in case anyone else is confused like Chris was, not embarassing pics of me, embarassing pics of the filthy studio.
7. I am not crazy enough to try to knit a whole sweater from scratch for
Rhinebeck (okay, I totally am that crazy, but I'm not going to this year), but I am going to finish my big oversized cabled thingie that I was working on when I got pregnant and sick and had to quit pretty much everything because that's how nauseous I was. I'm not sure if I have everything but the back done, just the fronts and backs, everything but one front (hah! I should be so lucky!) or just the sleeves done. No idea. Guess I should take a look before I commit, huh?
One-Armed Bandit
It's 6:30 am the day of the party and Mexicali #1 looks like this:
I was feeling pretty good yesterday -- I was making great progress on the back, I was totally knitting in the groove, I figured I'd have about 3 rows of the back left and the sleeve for the evening train ride, then the collar for this morning. I even thought maybe instead of the shawl collar I'd just pick up and knit a few rows of garter stitch for a faster collar if necessary. Then I realized I'd forgotten about the 3 1/4" between the neck edge and the sleeve. Defeat. Even if I get everything actually knitted and made up (I'm stealing "making up" from the
Yarn Harlot -- sounds so much more pleasant than "finishing"), it's wool so it absolutely must be blocked, and there's no way I'll have time for even a light steaming to dry. Wet wool smells nasty, and I'm definitely not going to give a baby a nasty smelling sweater. She'll get the sweater, but probably next weekend instead of today (yes, I'm going to go buy something this morning. I do not expect a one year old to understand my knitting problems.). And then on to the Socks. Since I'm planning on making socks for at least 3 people (possibly more) for Christmas, I best figure them out soon, huh? I got
this, so that should help. I opened it up in the store and immediately got a tip which totally turned using DPNs around for me: There is no reason that all the stitches have to be evenly distributed amongst them. As you're knitting along, knit the first couple of stitches with two "live" needles before you switch the empty needle in again. I can't believe how neat this has made my DPN knitting. I can't tell where I've switched needles at all.
Speaking of Christmas, lookee what I got in the mail the other day (the yarn, not the cranky baby):
Doesn't it make a lovely hat?
Apparently not.It's from
Woolarina and is incredibly soft Merino. I haven't decided who's getting it or what it's going to be, so if you see it and fall in love with it let me know.
I'm hoping to pretty up the design here at Chez Knot over the weekend, so things may be intermittently broken as I test them. Come Monday, though, if something's not working, please let me know.
Big news in the world of Becky: She rolled over last night for the first (and second and third) time! On the one hand, I'm totally thrilled that she's doing all these cool milestone things, but on the other hand, this means babyproofing is not far in the future. In this house, "babyproofing" is going to involve a lot of "hauling Laura's crap down to her studio, which is already crammed so full of crap that you can barely move in it." I absolutely must get in there and clean things up. It's just ridiculous. If I don't get it done this weekend, I'm going to post of picture of it next week just to humiliate myself (how bad is it when I have to threaten myself in order to get things done?).
But enough about me, let's talk about me
No pics today, sorry. But we're getting a shiny new camera soon, so there'll be bunches then.
Becky update:
Still cute, pooped on me today (which was not so cute), can pull herself to a sitting position (but can't stay upright without a little help from mommy or daddy), still hasn't rolled over, eats like a champ.
Knitting update:
The Sam sweater is off the needles and ready to be blocked. I normally sew and then block, but this one really needs it the other way around. I've been meaning to block it for two days and keep forgetting. For the purposes of giving other babies gifts, though, I consider it complete (I'm pretty good about sewing things together once I've got them off the needles). I'm almost halfway through the Mexicali -- one sleeve and the front are complete. So that leaves the back, the other sleeve, and the collar. In one day. One day during which I have to work as well, or I won't be able to buy fun yarn anymore. I meant to get a back up gift but, um, well, I sort of forgot. So do I give up valuable knitting time to go get something just in case? Or do I have enough faith in myself that I'll finish in time...tune in tomorrow for the answer.
So I joined a swap (actually, I joined two, but SP9 doesn't start for awhile, so let's focus). There's a button and everything (look over on the right. I'll wait.). This one is a Spinning Roving Swap, and I'm pretty excited about it, since it's my first ever swap. It's a round robin, and we're supposed to be secret(ish) pals until the big reveal at the end. Of course, I already boned that up pretty good by sending my pal an email with my name in the header. Duh. But she was very sweet and understanding, and I'm really looking forward to spoiling her (Hi, Harriet!). Anyhow, one of the things with these swaps is that you have to answer all these questions so your buddy knows what kind of stuff to send you. In this case, it has to be posted by the 8th. It is now 11:09pm on the 7th. Nothing like waiting 'til the last minute, I say. So, without further ado, the Questionnaire:
1) How long have you been spinning? 2 years, but it's not my main hobby so I've spun relatively little during that period.
2) Are you a beginner, novice, or experienced spinner?Somewhere between beginner and novice, I would say. My fingers have novice skill, but my brain doesn't have the language yet -- what I mean is that even though (for instance) I can spin cotton pretty easily, I can't tell you what kind of draft I'm using or anything like that. The words just don't make sense to me. The fiber, though...the fiber speaks.
3) Do you spin on a drop spindle or wheel, or both?Both, but I prefer the wheel. I used to prefer it just from a speed standpoint (I love spinning on a drop spindle, but I hate all that winding!), but now with a four-month old, it's a safety thing, too, as my drop spindling relies heavily on the "drop" part of the name.
4) What types and weights of drop spindles (or what type of spinning wheel(s) ) do you currently own?I have a Babe double treadle wheel, which I love. All of the drop spindles I use are fairly light homemade ones: I have one of the CD-ROM spindles (which I learned on), one I made out of a dowel and an olivewood bowl I picked up in a little shop, and one I made out of a dowel and a top to a little unfinished wooden trinket jar from Rag Shop. I also have a couple of commercial ones that are heavier, but I never use them. Oh, and I only spindle with a top whorl (yes, I've tried a bottom whorl and yes, I hated it).
5) What type of fibers have you spun with before?Romney wool, merino, alpaca, cotton, some sort of incredibly soft wool that looked like a tribble that I picked up at Stitches East, a merino/silk blend, angora, lots of unidentified wool at school (I'm a fiber ho. Don't judge me.)
6) What fibers do you prefer to spin with?Anything with relatively few guard hairs.
7) What fibers do you dislike?Anything with lots of guard hairs. Okay, look. I have an allergy. Yes, I know, woolophiles: most people really aren't allergic to wool. It's the dye, or the lanolin. But I've worked with commercial dyes with no problems (I was the technical assistant in the fiber studio in college, which despite my advanced age was only a year ago or so), and used lanolin hand lotion with no problems. And when I say "allergy" I mean there's a rash. It seems to be worse when I work with wool that's very guard-hairy, and doesn't show up at all when I work with fiber that has no guard hairs (non-animal fibers, alpaca). You do the math.
8) Do you prefer natural colored fibers, or handpainted/dyed fiber?Both are lovely.
9) Would you prefer all one type of roving or smaller amounts of different types to sample?You know what the best kind of roving is? Free roving. As you can see above, I really get around when it comes to fiber. I would love little bits and pieces of different cool things, but then I'd want a pattern that incorporated all their coolness. All the same thing would be lovely, too, and I would think much easier to find a good pattern for. You pick. Surprise me.
10) What are you favorite colors?(Having a Monty Python moment. Okay, it's over. Carry on.) Purples, blues, greens -- and I love them all mixed together. Also a big fan of a pink/red/orange colorway (that's a colourway if you're Canadian, pal o'mine).
11) What colors do you dislike?Butter yellow.
12) What would you like to do with your handspun yarn, or what do you plan to do with it?Do I have to pick now? Dude, I don't even know what I'm going to wear to sleep in tonight.
13) What spinning projects are you currently working on?Somehow I never think of spinning as "projects." To me, spinning is making yarn for projects. I have waiting to be spun: some more merino/silk blend; a whole whack of wool that I'm hanging onto to see if I need it for the blanket that I'm weaving for Chris; a big bag of lusciously soft grey baby alpaca; a bunch of cotton, some in plain cotton color and some in one of those funky "it just growed that way" colored cotton; and an assortment of 1-2oz bags of things like camel, yak, mohair, etc.
14) Do you have a wishlist?Doesn't everyone? I assume this is referring to a wishlist at Amazon or Barnes and Noble. I do have one at B&N, but it's really more just a reminder of books and movies I know I want to buy or possibly check out of the library.
15) What are your other favorite hobbies?Knitting, weaving, dyeing, sewing, reading (lots of reading), web design (used to be a career, now it's just for fun).
16) Do you have any allergies (pet, smoke, food, fiber,etc...)?Most perfume and scented products. There are actually lots out there I can use, but I never know until I try (I'm almost positive it's a scent preserving chemical that triggers the reaction); bell peppers, especially the green ones; aspirin; and see my notes about guard hairs, above.
17) What is your preferred shipping method (USPS, UPS, FedEx)?They'll all get here, but the UPS man has complimented my
door mat (plus he's really good about putting stuff in our little entryway and not leaving it out in the elements for the hoi polloi to lust after. You know they all know about my fiber addiction and long for my soft, scrumptious yarns.).
I may have to edit this when I read it in the cold light of day, but for now, that's all I got. Enjoy.
Just shoot me now
Becky Fix:
(Becky's cousin Ryan picked that shirt out for her. Kid's got some fashion sense.)
Things were moving along so nicely. I finished the right front of the Sam sweater. I was feeling good about reknitting the left front. I mean, there was the cable thing and the wrong size yarn thing, so one way or another, that left front was not going on this sweater (side note: there's enough of the wrong sized yarn to make socks. I'm slavering.), making it much easier to come to terms with knitting three fronts for a cardigan.
Those of you who are keeping score will remember that I had to drop the cable back and fix it several times (I stopped counting on purpose. If you really must tell me number you do so at your own risk.), and totally rip out and start over 3 times. But the right front went really, really smoothly, so I thought
Ah. I just needed to get used to the pattern, that's all. Now I finally am, so this left front, my knitting nemesis, will no longer be able to frustrate me. So I've already dropped the cable down once to fix it and then, as I'm finshing the first pattern repeat (which would make me a fourth of the way done) I see that the cables are going all wonky again, and I can't figure it out because I was so careful to get them right. My method of making sure the crosses are in the right place is to count the stitches next to the viney thing. It turns out that this method will totally throw your cable crosses off if you're, say, missing a stitch in the viney panel (non-knitterly folks: it means you cross too early at every other cross, which makes things uneven and unattractive).
I have now cast on the left front of this @#&!$%! sweater 5 times. Who says a cardigan needs two fronts, anyway?
