The "its been awhile since I last posted" link-o-rama!

Yay! Links! And things you can buy me! So exciting! (Don't work yourself into a frenzy now.)

*Let it be noted, that I am in love (love, I tell you) with the folks over at Fiddlesticks Knitting. I have been admiring their patterns at Woodland Woolworks (who most miraculously carries alot of their patterns) for awhile now but have managed to fully convince myself that next paycheck (hello March 5th!) I will be buying the Creatures of the Reef Shawl Kit, keeping in mind that I have never, ever knit even a swatch of lace. Why am I doing this, you might ask? Because I'm insane, legally and certifiably insane. And maybe because I like to be really frustrated, yell at my knitting and scare the dog.

*I didn't make socks for the Knitting Olympics! Ooops. Actually, I ended up having lots of work to do, plus numerable papers for school that I, erm, left until the last minute (me? procrastinate? let me get back to you on that one....) Instead, for my knitting challenge I am teaching myself to knit continental style, and hopefully be able to start 2-handed knitting. Let me assure you that it brings me back to being 14 and the frustration of learning in the first place.

*I visited a (somewhat) new knitting shop in Portland, called the Naked Sheep. The miracle here is not that I was able to walk away without buying anything (but I was sorely tempted by some Lorna's Laces sock yarn), but rather that my boyfriend actually accompanied me to the store. In fact, he was the one who noticed the store, told me about it, drove me there, then waited patiently in an armchair while I browsed. (side note: I would like to thank the management of the Naked Sheep for having the forsight to place comfortable man-size chairs in your store) He never even complained. I was almost speechless when we left. I tried explaining to him that the fact that he just did that made him about 50x more attractive to me, I think he thought I was a couple skeins short of a sweater. Is it possible that I could love him just for his yarn scouting?

jumps, tunnels, weaves and socks

This past weekend I went to the annual Rose City Classic dog show. Jack and I have been taking an agility class, and my mum and I went to go see our trainer compete in the agility competition. Naturally, I took the sock, but alas, didn't get much completed. The good news is that I did finish the horrible, god awful, sent-from-hell ribbing at the top and moved on to the 'tube' of the sock. Here's the sock in front of the course that Jane and Jamaica competed on:



And here's Jane and Jamaica going so friggin' fast that they are just a blur as they go running by us:



Let me tell you, they were awesome! Its awesome to watch a team that is so well coordinated they already seem to understand one another without the type of yelling that usually marks Jack and I trying to make it over the obstacles (and my knitting as well).

So upon (re)avowal to organize my knitting, I bought the most bitchin' case from Target to put my sock projects in.



Beauty, eh? But wait, it gets much, much better. It is as though Target understands a knitters inherent needs while knitting a sock. A place for needles, a place for 'doo-dads' (ie tape measure, scissors), and obviously a place for the actual project itself. Clear pockets of course for easy viewing and to wrap it all up in a cute, stylish bundle that can be easily slipped into a purse. Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you.....The Ideal Carrier for the Knitting and Transportation of Socks.



Beauty.

Remember this sock? Well, I'm finally getting around the finishing the second sock. Last night I dug up the original sock and balled the yarn for the second ball.



But wait, all is not well in Sock-land. If we take a careful look, we can see that I balled the yarn backward. You see, the sock goes orange to light pink, and the yarn goes light pink to orange.



Damn, damn, damn. I am trying to avoid a raging, screaming fit in which I curse all the yarn in my stash to the deepest pits of hell. Oh well, whats another re-balling session? (other than a complete nuisance that takes valuable knitting time?) To end on a good note, here's Jack at my office, which he has been attending on Monday's before agility class. He brings his blanky and squeaky toy.

Would I lie to you?

Maybe just a little bit....... I did get a digital camera for christmas (thanks pops), but I did not, however, document my trip to Maui through a series of knitting pictures. What really happened,(and this should come as a surprise to no one) is that I got completely wrapped up in my trip and didn't do a whole heck of a lot of knitting. For your reading (or rather viewing) pleasure though, you may here witness the pictures I did take. So, without further ado, and a la Yarn Harlot, pictures of the sock in the various places it actually showed itself whilst in Maui.

Here we see the sock joining in on a BBQ that was held at a park right on the ocean. The blue streak across the ocean is actually the island of Lanai. Megan (my step sis) is kindly providing us with some dinner entertainment.



The next (and most frequent) sighting of the sock was in the back of the pickup truck, riding to the beach. This is where most of the work was accomplished on the sock, before it was stowed safely back into its plastic case, to avoid the dreaded "sand in yarn syndrome".



And finally for your non-knitting pleasure, and also to inspire jealousy within the readers of this blog, a view of the water,



and a view of the sunset.

Anybody home?

*sigh* I'm afraid the blog has been a bit, um, slow lately. Quite frankly, I hate to keep posting half-assed descriptions of my knitting and no pictures. I have asked for a digital camera for Christmas, so I'm thinking after the holiday there will be a resurgence in the blog. In the meantime, you will have to be contented with a list of my projects, and absolutely no pictures that prove that I am not a big fat liar.

*socks for mum, using blue moon fiber arts
*socks my myself, using blue moon fiber arts
*fair-isle swatch (my knitting guru is in town teaching me)
*scarf for step-sister
*sweater from a twin-set in Vintage Knits

One more week, and then hopefully some pictures.

socks be damned

Don't get me wrong, I still love socks. I even still love knitting socks. And I also still really like Blue Moon Fiber Arts yarn, I just happen to hate this particular sock. It is the second sock, that I so unwisely decided to rib. The first sock is wonderful and I dream of the day I get to wear the pair, but in the meantime I am in knitters hell. I have three inches completed, and can't stand the thought of knitting one more friggin' inch. Please...somebody....inspire me to get the f-ing sock finished.

BOOKS!

In a vain attempt to stop the sock madness, I have put a temporary moritorium on yarn purchases. As a direct result, a growing trend of book purchases has taken hold. Two weeks ago I bought Folk Socks, by Nancy Bush...(hmmm..... do we notice some repressed sock energy?). The first chapter of the book is an awesome history lesson in sock knitting, running along the same lines at Richard Rutt's History of Handknitting (another huge recommendation!). I believe that the turning point for why I had to buy this book was a picture of a little old lady, carring on her back a huuuuge basket laden with what looks like peat. It probably dates from the late 19th century, and she is obviously wearing a heavy woolen bodice and skirts. Down by her waist, one can see her hands clenched, but if you take a very careful look, you can see she is actually working on some delicate knitting. I love her. When I get an opportunity I will scan her picture and post it here (copyright theft? whats that?).

Now, one book is obviously not enough for a repressed knitter such as myself. So last Tuesday, in a wild fit of folly, I bought Handknit Holidays. Now, I am normally against these books, because I tend to think the patterns are sub-par and average and they usually waaay overpriced. I also think that most of the 'home decorating' patterns are crap. I thought for sure I would feel that way upon picking this book up. Damn, was I ever wrong. The book costs a whopping $27.50 and has some of your typical hoaky crap (like the picture on the cover.... bleck). I judged it this way though, I counted how many patterns I thought I would actually and practically knit, multiplied by 5 (assuming $5 per pattern) and came to $55 before I quit counting. While there is the typical fun fur type BS, there are also patterns that will blow your mind. My personal favorite are the knee high stockings, which I would looooove to do in silk. I technically think that since they are knee-high stockings, they don't really count on the sock tally.

There is no end to the madness however, since the knitting guru just recommended the latest book from Sally Melville to help get me started on color work. She has also promised to be here in December to give me some serious fair isle sessions!

Comments

So Keri pointed out the other day that one couldn't make witty and fabulous comments about my witty and fabulous posts. Today I actually found the time to figure out how enable this feature, so without further ado, you may now comment on my exquisite knitting

La chaussette est finie!

I wish I could say that both socks were finished....... but alas. I started a new sock using my Blue Moon Fiber Arts stuff, and its looking alot better than the first time. I made the rather rash decision to rib the entire leg of the sock. An explanation is necessary: I hate, hate, hate ribbing, with a burning passion straight out of hell. However, given the nature of the yarn and my desire to have a perfectly fitting sock, I decided to make a brave decision and rib.......all 6 f*cking inches. 4 inches in, I am thinking this is not brave, its crazy. I did take the sock surfing with me this weekend. Well, not actually in the water, but the sock, Jack and I camped all weekend while attending the Rogue Longboard Contest. I must say, tent knitting is possibly my favoritist time and place to knit.

Here we have the most handsome, wonderful, adorable, awesome dog ever, posing beautifully from the security of our tent:



And here we have a picture of what I did as soon as I woke up Sunday morning. In the background one can see the tent and my sleeping bag. Thats right, I stayed in my sleeping bag and knit.



Aaaaaahhhhh....... the simple life.

socklings

Curious as to what happened with the sock? Well, I started knitting it with the most wonderful Blue Moon Fiber Arts stuff, cast on waaaaaay to many stitches, knit the most humongous sock until I had finished the gussets, frogged the sock, bought new sock yarn and started over with a brand new sock. Now if that doesn't sound like a knitter, what does? The new sock yarn I bought is a self-striper, a wool/cotton/acrylic blend. I'm just finishing the arch of the sock. Here we see a picture of the sock reposing in some grass at the local park during my lunch break today:



and here we see a picture of the sock on my foot:



So it is official, socks are my new favorite project. I adore them. I have already bought more sock yarn. I now have 5 skeins of sock yarn.......and I haven't even completed an entire sock. If the aforementioned statement didn't sound just like a knitter, the fact that I have already bought skeins and skeins of sock yarn should.

Keri knits a sock or two

Keri is a speedy f-ing knitter. In the time that I knit 3/4 of an inch of ribbing and about 3 inches of sock, she had 2 socks down to the heel completed. The lucky gal, she gets to knit at work. Keri took my sock class with me, making her project out of some lovely purplish-blue and green (I think) yarn that striped diagonally, which was a surprise to all of us, Keri most of all. It was also Keri's birthday last Tuesday. She brought us chocolate, and we sang her happy birthday, where she blushed suitably, though I think she was pleased. A few birthday words about Keri:

-Keri is amazingly intelligent, although a bit ditzy. She has a double major in something bizarre like journalism and physics. Whatever it is, she blows my mind.

-Keri has a very mathematic mind. She goes crazy for mathematical knitting like moebius scarves and the like. All the stuff that usually makes me dizzy. I like that about her.

-Keri is a newlywed. She got married about 3 weeks ago. Big congrats for that too!

So here is a picture of Keri trying on her new sock (without the toe finished). I even promise not to mention the fact that she ended up with gaps in her gussets. *grin* It doesn't matter anyhow, since the quality of my camera seems to getting worse and worse. Don't bother checking your vision, you now know what everything will look like when you are 97.



HAPPY BIRTHDAY KERI!

PS.... isn't that wall behind her just delicious?

Silk + Corset = loooooove

I love silk. I love corsets. I love knitting. I love short row shaping. I love historical patterns. Mode Knits apparently loves me. She has the most exquisite silk corset pattern that I just had, I repeat had to possess, not own, possess. With any luck, I will be able to stop myself from drooling on the silk as I knit this wonderful thing.

Sock it to me.....

Yep, I made the lamest joke possible in naming this post. And I love it. The point here is, I am taking a sock class at Lint. I was ssooooo stoked to start this thing I almost jumped the gun and started. I managed to wait, and man am I glad I did. The duration of the class was two hours, two hours in which I got about 5 knobbly little rows completed. I was incredibly nervous the entire time..... don't ask me why. My hands were shaking in the fear of really and truly screwing it up big time. Later that evening, nerves back in hand (well, beer in hand actually) I was able to make some progress. I finished 3/4 of an inch of ribbing (which was about all I thought I could handle if I was going to continue with the damn sock) and then started in on the leg. The bad news is, I bought this wonderful cotton/lycra blend that is hand painted in exquisite colors. One might wonder, why this is bad news. As I'm knitting it up, the colors are all blending to form what looks like a very poor tie-dye job. *sigh* Oh well, I'm just so stoked to be a knitting a sock.

In a completely unrelated incident, last night I went on a yarn spree and bought this book, 7 skeins of GGH's Scarlett to make the twin set in aforementioned book, 2 skeins of a self-patterning sock yarn and a new set of Crystal Palace double points. Thus far, I have yet to do anything but rub and smell my new yarn...... but just you wait Henry Higgens.

Hat? What hat?

I don't recall any old hat. Cloche? Hmmmm.... nope, doesn't ring a bell. I can't recall getting very angry at a certain hat, frogging it, getting really pissed while trying to get it back on the needles, throwing it under a huge pile of yarn and shoving it in the back of my stash. None of that seems familiar. Hat? I have no hat!

the yarn basket

My grandma keeps a basket of yarn in her house. It is truly wonderful stuff. It is handspun wool. She keeps it in the guest room where I sleep when I stay over there. From its perch on the hand painted wooden bench, it mocks me. While it is only two skeins, it still cries out to me...."knit me......knit me". It is unattainable. Why, you might ask, does my grandmother keep beautiful, handspun wool in a basket in the spare bedroom where it mocks me hauntingly?








Because she is evil I tell you. Pure evil.

HARLOT!

I met Harlot! As you may well be aware, I am an avid Yarn Harlot reader. I really love the Yarn Harlot. Anyways, about a month ago, my knitting guru bought me her book, which I have loved since the moment I got teary eyed reading the introduction. Anyways, last Wednesday she came to Portland to promote the book. As it turns out, I was not dissapointed. She is just as, if not more, witty in person as in her blog. With my crap-tabulous camera phone, I got a picture of the two us on either side of this bitchin' skull picture. Please, for a moment, overlook the fact that we seem to be entirely made out of little squares and that our faces look like they were blurred to protect our identities. I swear, absolutely swear, that its us.



PS..... if you go to her website and look at her pictures from Portland, you can see me sitting in the crowd. In the second picture down, look for a lady holding a large red blob (which is actually an exquisite shawl) and then look to the right of that. There I am!

1...2.....3.....

Thats me counting to 10. It took me a little bit of calming down before I felt I was ready for posting again after the last entry. I was, however, inspired to create a new blog focusing mostly on political topics. As it turns out, I, like 90% of the world, can't shut up about it. I'll link to it when I get it ready.

In the meantime, back to knitting. I was looking at my reductions the other day and realized that during my SSK's, I was twisting one of the stitches, causing a rather noticable and unsightly reduction. I have done that for about 4 rows now, and I have cast away the project in hopes that I will have a revelation about whether to rip it back (and almost impossible task considering the project) or just felt it lightly at the end to try to mask the mistakes. In the meantime, I am refusing to touch the evil thing.

On a lighter note..... I am definitely going to enter this contest. How can I refuse a challenge like this? I am keeping my master plan a secret for now, but when I take and submit the picture, I will post it here as well. I encourage, no rather, challenge all of you to be creative and come up with something awesome.

what have we done....

...and what are we doing? Knitting blog my foot, I feel the need to publicly condemn our actions in the Middle East here and now. My heart is in London right now, and I wish my fist was in GW's face. And while I'm kicking asses, I would like to take out any of the extremists who feel that it is their duty to destroy and ruin innocent human life. In the meantime, here is my letter to dearest GW:

Dear George W,

You sicken me. You stand for everything that I abhore. With your foreign and domestic policy, the US will crumble like the Roman Empire, and I hope you are alive to watch it go. Only in your sick mind was it necessary to invade Iraq, Afghanistan and whatever other oil-rich country you decide to 'liberate'. Somehow you have been able to blind and trick the uneducated American public, maybe it is that jackass grin that you hide behind. Under the guise of freedom you are executing the rights of the American people and making the US not only the laughing stock of the world, but also the enemy of it. Do you find it at all ironic that despite the London bombings, there has been no anti-Islamic movement in the UK, either from the people or from the government? They don't feel the need to prove their hubris, which is exactly what will bring your downfall. I know that you like to play the 'good ol' boy' card, so I will put this into terms that you can understand. You are like a man with a small dick and big truck. You have to make up for your inadequacy somehow, only you are playing with countries and human life. Empire to Ashes, George.

Sincerely, McKenzie


News that isn't censored for the American public

ma velo

I bought a bike! Yes I did! And whats more, I rode it! Last night I rode my bike to open knit night. Since its only about a half mile away from my house, I've had a hard time justifying driving my gas guzzler there. The downside was that it was so friggin' hot, and the inside of Lint was so stuffy that I only stayed for about 45 minutes. Well, that wasn't the only reason, or the real reason. The real reason was that a visiting knitter, who had at one time lived in Portland, was there visiting. Under normal circumstances, this would be exciting news. I love meeting new knitters! But this knitter, who I shall refer to as Nelly Know-It-All, was an entirely different case. She knew, and I do not exaggerate, everything. Or at least she thought she did, which seemed to be good enough for her. Name a topic, she knew more than you. Talk about knitting, she was better at it. She had travelled more places, knew more languages and had tried more than you. Emphasis is here place on the phrase "thought she did". The more she opened her mouth, the more it was obvious that she was full of shit. Nelly Know-It-All actually managed to break up a group of people that normally stay for 3 hours and force them to go home only 45 minutes into the night. I only got through one glass of wine! The good news is, I got to go for a nice long bike ride due to Nelly. The bad news is, I didn't get any knitting done.

Enough of Nelly Know-It-All, I could bitch for hours. Back to my bike, its a Trek 1220 road bike. Its awesome. So am I. Did I mention that I'm humble? This is the bike, only mine is a veeeeerrrrryy dark purple, almost black.

the mean reds

Lately I've had the knitting mean reds. I was just in a total funk. I didn't want to work on my current project (the cloche) and I couldn't get inspired to start a new project. Last night, I was cured by attending Open Knit Night. First, I sat down to page through a book, which happened to be Exquisite Little Knits: Knitting With Luxurious Specialty Yarns.
I picked it up because I have this belief that there is nothing new and exciting going on with all those novelty yarns, but am somehow always trying to prove myself wrong. Turns out, I'm pretty much right. This book offers such exciting variations as instead of knitting a Fun Fur scarf, you can make a Fun Fur shrug. Right. Maybe I'm just jaded, but I didn't see anything I thought was unique.

After reviewing my book, or rather eyeing it cynically, I decided it was time to take a stab at the cloche. Much to my astonishment, once I picked it up I felt the surge of knitterly conviction running through my veins. All the way down my arms and into my fingertips was the tingle of knitterness. Or maybe it was the red wine I was drinking. Either way, I got over that bit of the mean reds.

On to what you have been waiting for........just what exactly have I decided to knit for my second project? Before I tell you, I must lay out a disclaimer.

1) Please disregard what I said only a few moments ago about novelty yarns while thinking about my project

2) I do not like ponchos............at all...........none.........yuck

3) This is not really a poncho.........................per se

4) I am working with fingering weight yarn to make a difficult hat...... I need something quick, easy and instantly gratifying

Okay- now that we have that out of the way, I am making a poncho. But not really. And it uses novelty yarn. But not alot. Actually this gal showed up to OKN last night wearing this wonderful 'thing'. Sorta a poncho, sorta a shawl, sorta a scarf and very easy. Just one rectangle sew together. You've all seen them, I know you have, I just can't describe it. She had it on over a black t-shirt with a pair of jeans and looked absolutely adorable. She knit it on size 15's and said it went super fast. So last night I raided my stash to pull out all the odd bits of novelty yarn I had lying around to try and put a theme together. Then I flipped through this awesome book that my knitting guru got me for Christmas, whose name I can't remember right now, and found this neat lace stitch. Alright, enough of the obscure descriptions. You'll just have to wait until I get it started and scan a portion of it. For now, be content knowing that I am over the knitting mean reds.


By the way, if you don't know what mean reds are, go watch Breakfast at Tiffany's