all done

And I promise, the next post will be about something else. Pinky swear.

Happy Hols, y'all.

more flower basket

Well, here it is in its unblocked glory:


And a little close-up:


It's currently drying, and then I'll use the Harlot's tutorial to block it (thanks for the tip Peachy).

And now I don't know how to decide what to knit next. Hm.

home stretch

Ugh, sorry the long silence peeps, but this is my knitting blog, and I'm still working on the same project. I had to let Henry slide, because I do have alterna-gifts for DrBob, but the Flower Basket Shawl absolutely must be done in time, because we don't have any other ideas for my MIL. I'm beading the very last row before the bind-off row, and I'm halfway done with that, so really nearly done. Projektleiterin says it's going to be enormous - she should know, she's actually done lace before. I have to learn to block lace, well, tomorrow. And I haven't been taking photos, but I'll try to get a few up tomorrow.

I'm gonna make it! Probably. Yay!

well, now I know...

...that Christmas knitting is a Very Bad Idea. No time to start other projects, just grinding along on these until I want to jump up and down on them. IF I actually get them done in time (note very big if), when the huz and the MIL get them and say ooo! aaah! thank you! I will respond with GRAAARGH!

No pictures, sorry. No time to put the knitting down. Grargh.

passing it on

Hey everybody! A contest! Where you can win some really nice-looking yarn! Seriously, what's not to love?

Blurry photos in bad November light is not to love. And they're overdue, I really need to send them off tomorrow, so there won't be a lot of opportunities to re-shoot. But at least they're done. I've decided entrelac socks are cool, they seem to go faster than regular ones. But these are bleeping huge! I'm afraid they won't fit Mr Reid, even though I made them as close to his measurements as I could.

tagged! again!

By Elemmaciltur, again! For a meme I already did for Kelly (oo, that reminds me, I owe her another one as well), which means you now know sixteen random things about me. It's enough to make one's head spin.

1. Colors. I color-code things. On the calendar, my stuff is written in green. DrBob is black, Ignatz blue, the Sniglet red. When I knit sweaters, ring marker colors have Deeper Significance: purple for the left side, green for the right. Blue for the back, red for the front. It's important.
2. Numbers. I remember strings of numbers. I do multiplication tables in my head while I wait to fall asleep. I know all the squares up to 25, and I can count to 1023 just using my own ten fingers. None of this knowledge has ever been of any use to me whatsoever, but still. There it is.
3. Because 1+2 is 3, numbers have colors. One is red. Two is blue. Three is pink, four is purple, five is green. And so on. I don't know why I do this. I do know that I would love colored knitting needles, but I can't buy them until I find them in the right colors: the 2mms have to be blue, the 5mms green, etc. Otherwise I'd just be confused.
   
4. The bed must be made. I think I mentioned this one before - I read somewhere that you feel better when your bed is made, and I tried it, and durned if it isn't the truth. On busy days, when I leave the house early and get home just in time to go to bed, I can do without making my side of the bed. But even if I keep my back to DrBob's side, I know that his blanket isn't folded and his pillow isn't fluffed, and I know that they are staring at me. Waiting. And I can't fall asleep until I've fixed them.
5. When I was in junior high, my handwriting looked almost exactly like my dad's. By the time I was 30, it looked almost exactly like my mom's. Now it's like my mom's, only messy.
6. I do not like straight knitting needles. The only reason I even have any is because someone gave them to me. I never use them.
7. I haven't watched television on any kind of regular basis since I was about 17. I really miss it, but I never seem to find the time.
8. My hands and feet are almost always cold.
   

setback

It took me awhile to get rolling on that shawl for my mother-in-law, but it's been progressing pretty well, and I'm about halfway through. I was using a free online pattern from Interweave Knits. I just found out today that they've decided it should no longer be free. I'd just been going to the page when I needed further information (instead of saving a copy on my hard drive - yes I know, that was stupid), and now that it's gone, I can't finish the shawl. I could buy the pattern from Fiber Trends for $6.50, which is wholly reasonable, but they want $10 to send it to me. Ten freaking dollars to put a piece of paper in the mail. Yes I have the money, but no I'm not going to pay that, that's outrageous. What are they doing, mailing it to Saturn?

This is so aggravating, for two reasons: one, it's my own stupid fault for not saving a copy. Two, Interweave Knits owes me nothing: I am not entitled to this pattern in any way, and they are fully within their rights to remove it. So I have no right to be annoyed.

Knowing that it's my fault and I have no right to feel how I feel? Does not make me feel better.

Arrgh.

Yippee-hooray! And a teensy argh.

Okay, I signed up for Secret Pal 11 because I liked the idea of picking out pretty things and brightening a stranger's day. It was all about the giving, I thought, but no! I was wrong! It's the GETTING, BABY! My super-awesome Secret Pal who sent me all those reassuring emails when I was full of doubt about my ability to do a good job on my first SP swap sent me a box of wow! And yay! Look! How cute is this? SO cute! The green-and-black checkery-thing? It's a shoe! A ceramic witch's shoe! And how did she know about the bat thing? Ask Kelly, the bat is sort of my totem animal, but that's not widely known (well okay, now it is). Ha! Love! It!

And Trekking yarn, which is so fab because it solves my dilemma. Remember, I couldn't decide whether to use the Mari-yarn for Armadillo or Anastasia? Well, LOOK at that purple! Perfect for Anastasia, so now I get to choose both! Always my favorite option.

So much happy stuff! Stickers, Mardi Gras beads, pins, pen, paper, and I love that card, that's hilarious. Yay! As for the teensy argh, it's just that I couldn't get a good photo of the little hippo Webkinz guy - he really is a very nice light blue, but all the light blue stuff was really problematic with the camera flash, which I was using because the weather is so very icky today that it's been twilight all day. So I had to shoot it flashless, in natural li- um, what passes for light today. Gack. So the second photo does not do justice to the fabulousness of my Secret Pal loot.

And my Secret Pal is seriously awesome. Thank you SP!

arrived today

Le Swoon.

Now, what do I knit with it?

a meme from Elemm!

For newcomers via Ravelry, the other blog is the NaBloPoMo blog, because even though I've done all right for a week, there's no way I'll be able to write about the same five knitting projects every day for a month. So, if you want to read the wonder that is moi every single day this month (ugh, perish the thought), check over here. But since Elemm is a knitter-friend as well as a... well, the other kind, I thought I'd answer his questions over here. Now you owe me, Elemm! Come on, let's see 'em!

01. Can you cook?
If I must.
02. What was your dream growing up?
I wanted to be a linguist. Heh.
03. What talent do you wish you had?
Making small talk
04. If I bought you a drink what would it be?
A Margarita.
05. Favorite vegetable?
Broccoli! Take that, George Bush!
06. What was the last book you read?
I honestly cannot remember. Probably Between, Georgia.
07. What zodiac sign are you ?
Libra
08. Any tattoos and/or piercings?
3 tattoos, pierced ears
09. Worst habit?
Forgetting appointments. Or worrying. Or possibly being indecisive.
10. If you saw me walking down the street would you offer me a ride?
Absolutely!
11. What is your favorite sport?
To watch? Soccer, American football, ice hockey, rugby, figure skating. To do myself? Um... thumb wrestling?
12. Negative or optimistic attitude?
Negative by nature, working on faking optimistic
13. What would you do if you were stuck in an elevator with me?
Whip out the knitting!
14. Worst thing to ever happen to you?
My own bad choices.
15. Tell me one weird fact about you.
I can't count sheep to fall asleep. I always picture them leaping into a pond and drowning. It's too upsetting, so I do multiplication tables instead.
16. Do you have any pets?
One cat.
17. What if I showed up at your house unexpectedly?
Yay! Come on in! Or do you want to check out the LYS first?
18. What was your first impression of me?
Cheerful, talented.
19. Do you think clowns are cute or scary?
Scary.
20. If you could change one thing about how you look, what would it be?
Thicker hair.
21. Would you be my crime partner or my conscience?
At 20, I would have been your partner in crime. Now, I try for conscience. Motherhood does change that about a person. And after listening to the podcast, I think you have enough partners in crime...
22. What color eyes do you have?
Blue
23. Ever been arrested?
No! Why? What have you heard?
24. Bottle or draft?
Draft.
25. If you won $10,000 today, what would you do with it?
Spend it on yarn, probably.
26. Would you date me?
If I weren't married? If you were straight? Or if I were gay and a guy? If you weren't almost young enough to be my son? I think that's too many ifs...
27. Where's your favorite place to hang out?
I really, really love my house.
28. Do you believe in ghosts?
Sure, why not?
29. Favorite thing to do in your spare time?
Knit and listen to podcasts.
30. Do you swear a lot?
Hell to the yeah! Ask my kids.
31. Biggest pet peeve?
People who chew with their mouth open. Ick.
32. In one word, how would you describe yourself?
Confused.
33. Do you believe in/appreciate romance?
Yes!
34. If you could spend 12 hours with me and ask/do anything you like, what would it be?
Benediktbeuern! Vaterstetten! Sauerlach!
35. Do you believe in God?
Um, yeah.
36. Will you repost this so I can fill it out and do the same?
Sure! See?

hopeless

Today in the mail there were 3 CDs and 3 books. But no yarn. This made me just a little bit sad. But the music has turned out to be a good accompaniment for making my first-ever short row heel, and the Shrek soundtracks might just inspire me to watch the movies again. I can knit while I do that!

The books, the books... nope. I can't knit while I read paperbacks. EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE! THE BOOKS MUST BE DESTROYED!

Hm. Somebody in this blog might need to get a grip already.

stashmonkey

I sort of accidentally bought some yarn. It doesn't have a plan yet, except that I will keep it near me and pet it occasionally for at least a week because it's so pretty. And yes I read Amy's post about Saying No to Stash Guilt, and I did technically click the "buy" button before I knew that we needed a new washing machine - about nine hours before the repairdude came, saw, and tsk-ed. But now we need a new washer. And yet somehow, I also need this yarn. Might do for the Giselle sweater, because I still need a pattern, so as not to have bought yarn in vain. Especially since, as part of my declutter-with-Tini mission, I dug out some (not all) of my yarn and found some sock yarn I bought when Ignatz was a baby. Heh heh. Oops?

Cut me some slack, at least I didn't buy this.

...Yet.

must. make. this!

I'm in sweater-love. It's a new pattern from StitchDiva, I don't think it's even on sale yet - actually, given how much I have on the needles right now, maybe I want it to wait a bit before it goes on sale, because I can see myself dropping everything to do this. I don't even like following other people's patterns, but for this I'll make an exception. Swooooooon!

Only I can't use PayPal, so can somebody hook me up? I'll send you a check or, if you're Stateside, some awesome Euro-yarn or something.

for the ears

But first: Nah, I don't need a pattern for the Armadillos, I could figure them out. I could figure out the Anastasia socks too, actually. Woo-woo, listen to the SupaKnittah! I sound like an arrogant git. But it's true. I could.

Anyway. This is marginally knitting-related: it's about podcasts. Since my usual stars of the podio world have decided to abandon me in favor of trivial stuff like weddings and grad school and burnout and taking breaks and whathaveyou (nooo! you are here to entertain meeeee!), I've been forced to branch out. Yes - I am actually listening to a non-knitting podcast! Whoa. But I knit while I listen to it, that should make it this a suitable topic for a knitting blog.

The podcast is Will Write for Wine, and it is done by two writers (genre fiction, which is what I like best to read) who talk about the craft of writing and also the business end of it. And also about wine. And tell silly stories. They're very funny, but they're also really interesting and articulate about the writing process, and I'm finding that aspect fascinating. I have no interest in becoming a writer, but I am an avid (and very picky) reader, and I really like understanding the writing process so that I can articulate what I like or dislike about a book. They also recommend various random things they like, like books and websites and music, and I've found a few really cool things through them. Like this. I haven't actually read any of their books, but I did order two from amazon this morning, so I will!

So y'all. If your podcasters are in a slump or on hiatus, here's a new one to check out.

dilemma

Remember that yarn Mari sent me? Looks like this? And she suggested that I use it to make Armadillo socks, and I really like that pattern, but then I ran across the Anastasia sock pattern and I really like that too. Now I can't decide.

(Common Sense: Erm, alala, you already have five projects on the needles, including two Christmas gifts.
alala: La-la-la I can't heeeeeeeear yoooooooou...)

because I'm insane

As you all know, I bought yarn at a craft fair (from a woman who doesn't believe in the internet, or I'd send you to her site, because really - fantastic stuff) for Henry, and since it wasn't the yarn the pattern calls for, I had to do some guessing about needle sizes. Turns out I guessed wrong - I went bigger than the recipe said, but not bigger enough, and the combination of silk yarn and bamboo needles may have been part of the problem. It was kind of thick and inflexible and didn't travel over the needles very smoothly, so it was hurting my hands, but I thought I could live with it until I was about halfway through. So. I've started over on Henry, even though it has to be done by Christmas and I can only work on it when DrBob is not home, and I have three other projects on the needles at the moment.

Erm. Make that four. Because changing Henry to larger needles may have had the eensiest ulterior motive. I needed to free up my 3.5mm circs for the Mystic Waters shawl. Of course, there's no particular urgency on that one, so I don't have to cast on for it yet.

But um. I kind of did anyway.

I got mine!

So when will you get yours?

This actually came in yesterday's mail, but I didn't find time to blog it on the same day, but look! A zippy new thing from Yarnissima! And it is so darn cute I may just hang it on the Christmas tree as is, instead of knitting it up. Except I can't hang up the cookies, which I already ate. And I've actually met Yarnissima in person, so I don't know if everyone gets cookies or just me (*twinkle twinkle*), but even without the cookies, this is one adorable little kit. I am seriously considering ordering a few more... for my Secret Pal, for various friends, for having LOTS to hang on the tree! Whoopee!

PIF - Pay It Forward

via Tini:

“I will send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join this PIF exchange. I don’t know what that gift will be yet and you may not receive it tomorrow or next week, but you will receive it within 365 days, that is my promise! The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog.”

I think this is a great idea, a way to put some positive energy out in the world. So hey people - sign up, send people stuff, and I'll send you something! Let's all create some happy mail-days! I love those.

I won!

So there was a big squishy envelope in the mail today! From M.V., in Frankfurt - do I know anyone in Frankfurt? Nooo, I know someone in Hessen, but not Frankfurt-Hessen, and I haven't ordered anything from her lately, I'm still working on the last yarn I bought from her. Very mysterious. But not for long, of course, rip! shred! open! Mari! I love reading Mari's blog, even though I don't understand a word of Finnish (seriously, not one word. I know at least one word in a surprising number of languages, Swahili and Czech and Quechua and Indonesian, but no Finnish. Really. Zero.), because I like the look of it. I like double letters, as those of you who know my real name can attest. One of those things I would have put in that "six weird things about me that you probably don't know" meme, if I'd ever done it.

Anyway! My envelope of stuff! Does she know me or what? It's chocolate! With orange-y bits in it! And sock yarn, my very favorite kind that I never buy - it's both marled and variegated, such a joy to watch the colors change as the yarn slips through your fingers, but then once it's knitted up, you can't see the beauty of the yarn unless you stand closer to me than my West Coast-tuned proximity sensors will allow (I am all about the personal space, it's one of the reasons that living in Europe makes me so twitchy). So when I see yarn like this I always carry it around the yarn store for an hour, decide it's not a practical thing to buy, and put it back. But now I have some! In fabulous October-birthday colors too, purples and reds and browns and golds, see?

The photo of the yarn and chocolate together didn't turn out well, but you can see the yarn, at least. Click! Embiggen! It's pretty! This will have to make some very special socks. And then I will be the only one who knows how special they are.

Thank you thank you thank you Mari! This made my day.

Interlude

So I signed up to knit teensy hats for drink bottles (for the Big Knit) and then forgot about it because the deadline was way far in the future. That is what I do with events that are not Next: I forget them. Anyway, the deadline suddenly zooped up to next Monday, and I got the reminder email yesterday morning and went "ack!"

So I did other things yesterday, but I also knit five tiny hats. And it was fun. It did take time away from a translation that I have to do before this weekend, though. And now I am somewhat sorry about that because I have found that, even though this is not an academic text, and is quite interesting and I even understand everything, the fact is, after five pages my brain is fried and I have to take a break. But I have too many pages and too few hours, and I don't really have time for a break. Nevertheless, my brain is fried. So I guess it's fortunate that the person who was supposed to take Ignatz to Tae Kwon Do bagged on me, and I have to go sit in St. Wolfgang for an hour and stare at the wall, but to be honest, with the number of things I really need to get done, that lost hour is kind of bothering me.

But at least I had fun knitting five tiny hats. And now back to our regularly scheduled knitting.