Knit n Things

FYI: If you asked me about more pictures of our dying party (and you already clicked the kool-aid photo to get to my flikr account). Trek, Tisha, and Chris have posted some really nice ones.

So I'm work yesterday and I'm doing my thing - and I sit down at my desk and I hear the worst sound EVER!! "rrrrrriiiiiippppp" Holy crap - do I need to go home and change??!! Damage assessment revealed the liner of the skirt I have on has split a seam. Whew - major crisis averted, sort of. I'm annoyed - I love this skirt, it's one of the few expensive things I own and has a really nice jacket that goes with it. It can be repaired but why do they make the skirts out of stretchy fabric blends and then put non-stretchy liners in them??

I'm also upset because apparently I am gaining weight. I don't own a scale (I'm way too neurotic, I'd be insane inside a week) so I rely on the fit of my clothes to warn me when I start creeping up. I guess I missed the first few warning blips cuz I just got hit with the air-raid siren of warning signals.

I'm usually a very active person however I've really been slacking off the past few weeks. Earlier this year I signed up to do a 5K and I made myself a deal that if I ran it (this was my first 5k) in 40 minutes I could buy myself an iPod. I did it in 40 minutes and 12 seconds it was an incredible moment. Part of my deal to myself was I actually had to do the workouts - no cheating & just running the race and hoping for the best; I really had to commit. And I did. (I got a 4g Nano - it's really nice) I have not ran a step since this race. Pathetic.

I need motivation. I just can't get excited about working out and my eating habits have never been best so I depend on my activeness to maintain. Obviously that's not working at the moment. So I joined the Trek Along. Maybe commiting to a couple of hikes will re-motivate me - G has already agreed to come along and be my "official" photographer (she won't even entertain the idea of knitting a sock). Any other helpful ideas to get me moving??? What motivates you???

As all of you may or may not know my mother tends to be my favorite partner in crime for most of my knitting exploits. As such I've asked her to fill you in on our latest adventure. We had a few people over for a little science experiment. . .

I do believe our first dyeing party was a success. Although we were all anxious to get to the dyeing part as evidenced by T bringing her dye already mixed in Mason jars. We had a slight delay in the process; however, as some of us had last minute design changes and decided we wanted to try making striping yarn. So thanks to the genius of the group we devised a plan - 2 chairs, a swift and lots of helping hands we began “Yanking the Yarn” (not a true knitters term – but we like to use it) And wow it turns out we had a LOT of yarn. But finally we were ready – or so we thought! It turns out none of us had a true clue what we were doing but we enjoyed the process. We gave Kool Aid dying a shot – great outcome but some thought the colors were more fluorescent than what they were looking for so they went with a “professional” dye – sorry, don’t remember the name but the colors were awesome. We even tried Easter Egg colors which turned out beautiful, crisp dare I say “Easter” colors. AND my favorite was the Wiltan’s cake decorating colors. This was a last minute, “Hey have you ever tried food coloring? And “No but I heard Wiltan’s cake colors work.” And “Oh, my god, I have tons of them. Let me get them out of the pantry.” Who knew standing on your feet for 5 hours over pots of colored water with yarn doing extraordinary, and highly unpredictable things could bring such joy! I mean we all were hopeful. But when it was your turn at the sink and it was your yarn getting its final bath and you got to finally see the results of your labor, Well I got to tell you there was a lot of squeals of “I just love it!” going on. So Yes, I do believe it was a success and we will most definitely be doing this again.

I must share with you all what a complete and total moron I am. I’m sitting at the park today merrily knitting away on the heel flap of my second sock. I diligently count the rows of flap number one and flap number two and decide that I’ve gotten them to be the approximately the same size (or as close to as I can get since I didn’t actually count the first one until now) they look pretty good. So I pick up the stitches for the gusset and I’m happily knitting away on the first decrease round. I’m ridiculously please with myself that I’ve done the heel & gusset in the same sitting. Then it occurs to me that something doesn’t “feel” right. I look down at my knitting and hmmm….it doesn’t really look right either. So I count the gusset stitches and discover I’ve got 16 on one side and 18 on the other – this isn’t really that tragic and not what the problem is.

Have you figured it out? I’m kickin’ myself for being caught without a camera so I could show the world … I’ve got a heel flap and gusset with no flippin’ heel. Yea I’m a dumbass and forgot to turn the heel – the truly dumb part would be not noticing until a round and half later when I idly note, “there seems to be an awful lot of stitches on these needles.”

I’m going to blame this little episode on the two circs. It’s my first time knitting socks all over again – I’m allowed.

Any of you that have been with me for a while might have noticed that I get a true kick out of making new knitters. I taught both Tisha & Gretchen and I've taught a few random people at SnB. I just get such a warm fuzzy from every stitch they complete. Well let me tell you - I've found a new kind of high with my latest adventure.

A few weeks ago my mother got suckered into volunteering to teach a group of kids to knit. She in turn has suckered me. So for the past few weeks we've been heading over the the Salvation Army's after school program for lessons. The first few weeks were hell - weeding out the troublemakers who had no interest in knitting and teaching 10 kids to knit at the same time. Not easy - every child needed help and with only two sets of hands it was a very trying experience. At the end of the first class we both left exhausted and echoing our students "it's too hard - I can't do it."

This week however things were different. This week I finally had a class of just the kids that were really knitting. It was amazing - for the first time I was really able to take a breath and see that holy cow they're really knitting! Their hands are so small and their faces so intent on what they're doing. Talk about a warm fuzzy! I'm making little itty bitty knitters! It's got to be the coolest thing I've ever done. I'm kinda glad I got suckered.

The bunnies are to be their first project. The whole thing is sewn together from one square. I have it on good authority that regardless of the square's shape it will still make a cute bunny.

And just so you guys know I'm doin something besides making little stuffed bunnies. I present the Maryland sock. So far in it's short little life this sock has been to MD twice and will probably go again next weekend. Last night it went to G's piano recital. If you can manage it you should totally take your socks to a piano recital. It is incredibly soothing to knit to someone playing the piano. An experience I would repeat again in a heartbeat! Oh -and guess what??
IT STRIPES!!!!

Did I happen to mention what my plans for this weekend were? I didn’t think so. So… guess what I did this weekend. You’re so smart I knew you’d guess! Your right! I went to MDS&W! Let me just tell you I am still (2 days later) in fiber overload. It was a beautiful day (I only went on Saturday – my wallet couldn’t handle two days) Mom & I thourouly enjoyed ourselves. Saw some interesting stuff.

I bought way too much sock yarn (scratch that there is no such thing). I scored both the brands I’ve been dying to try (socks that rock & Lorna’s laces) plus some other stuff from Spirit Trail Fiberworks that feels amazing & is dyed so fab that I couldn’t resist & bought 2 pairs worth (would’ve been more but I was trying to stop myself). So I’m happy – that’s all I really wanted was fancy sock yarn – I also got a set of Brittany Birch DPN’s so I can work on more than one pair at a time.

The coolest thing about the MDS&W….the blogger meet up! It was unreal how many of us were there! I totally didn’t expect the huge crew that was there I was in awe and I felt very small & unknown - after all why would you know me? I’m a lurker nobody knows me – so that’s going to change. I can’t expect to make blog buddies if I don’t reach out right? So work be dammed I’ll be attempting to comment more often. Anyway I met so many people – I tried to get the blog addresses of all the people I talked to – I’m sure I’ll miss a few but here goes.

I met this trio that came all the way from Dallas! Skittermagoo, Good Girl Purl, & Nanc. How cool is that they came all the way from Dallas! They brought pins & business cards with their blog info, and had matching T-shirts. I met Cara – I am such a DORK she probably thinks I’m somekind of weird knit stalker. I was completely unable to form a coherent sentence and I think I may have drooled on her Diamond Fantasy Shawl. Hell I don’t even know if I told her my name – it’s all so blurry I just remember my brain doing some kind of chant ohmygodit’scaraeshe’sfamousandshe’stalkingtomedon’tscrewup. Which of course I’m sure I did – sorry if I scared you Cara – I’m usually much more normal. I met Heather who is WAY cool & had fancy shirts made up for her crew. I met my name buddy Jodi and we had the obligatory discussion about spelling your name with an “I” or a “Y” (every Jodi I have ever met has this conversation with me – I often wonder if it’s me or a Jody thing – I’m praying I’m not really that lame and it’s a Jodie thing). I also met Jane , Elsbeth and Teri (whose blog name I screwed up & now I can't find). I’m going to go be a good blogger now & go say hello in all their comments.

I'm going to continue to distract you from the lack of knitting by posting the SP8 questionaire. I'll get back to the knitting soon - I promise.

1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely *not* like? I like anything that feels soft and silky on your skin (alpaca, cashmere). I don’t like cheapo acrylic that feels like cardboard when it’s worked up (i.e. Red Heart).

2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in? I’ve got a nifty custom needle case that my girlfriend Tisha made me.

3. How long have you been knitting? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced? I’ somewhere between intermediate and advanced (my distinction being an advanced knitter does her own designs – I haven’t really gotten there yet)

4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list? Yes, I have an amazon wish list – but it probably needs to be updated a bit. I also have an “informal” knitpicks wish list (that means I have a catalog with a BUNCH of stuff circled – I’ll put it online if you’d like).

5. What's your favorite scent? (for candles, bath products etc.) Mostly I like sweet fruity scents, I’m partial to vanilla – I don’t like scented lotions.

6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy? Of course I have a sweet tooth – Ghirardelli chocolate is among my favorites.

7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin? I don’t spin – trying not to want to learn. I do scrapbooking (sometimes), crochet.

8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD) I’m pretty eclectic I probably have some of everything in my collection. Yes I have MP3 capabilities.

9. What's your favorite color? Or--do you have a color family/season/palette you prefer? Any colors you just can't stand? I hate to pick a “favorite” color – I like lots of colors. I tend to knit with neutrals that will go with lots of stuff but that ‘s only because I want to be able to use my hand knits as much as possible. I don’t really like fluorescents.

10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets? No husband, no kids, no pets. It’s not as lonely as it sounds.

11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos? All of the above – although I don’t actually own a poncho I would wear one (if I could make one that looked nice on me – I’ve failed twice so far)

12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit? I’m on a lace kick at the moment. And I love making socks.

13. What are you knitting right now? Two lace shawls, a tank/sweater, and a pair of socks.

14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts? Handmade is the best kind, provided it’s practical. I’m not a fan of tchotchkes (even if they are handmade).

15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic? I’ll use which ever is appropriate for the yarn/project I do try to avoid plastic though.

16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift? I have a winder, no swift yet - I am going to MDS&W this weekend though ;)

17. How did you learn to knit? My mom

18. How old is your oldest UFO? I think I started the Kiri last fall.

19. What is your favorite holiday? I like them all but today I’m feeling - Fourth of July (probably cuz it’s the next “big” holiday)

20. Is there anything that you collect? Books, I also have a very strange need to own a zillion pens (only half of which write) and lots of post-it’s don’t know why but I never seem to have enough of either of these and I’m forever buying more.

21. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have? I’d like to get the Harlot’s new book. And I’ve been on a hunt for a Paton’s book “Street Smart” cuz I really want to make “The Must Have Cardi.” I’ve also been toying with getting a subscription to Interweave Knits. I’d also really like to try some of the fancy sock yarns that everyone raves about STR & Lorena's Laces.

22. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn? I’m going to attempt mosaic knitting as soon I find yarn that works (I’ve made three attempt so far but keep having yarn issues)

23. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements? Yes, I pretty much always have a pair of socks going. I wear a women’s shoe size 10, foot is 10” long and 9 ½ ” around (if you make me socks I’ll love you forever!!)

24. When is your birthday? (mm/dd) 07/05

A lot bruised, some sun burn, and a whole lot sore, but whole and unbroken. I made it through my first rubgy tournament. I'll say this about rugby - it is NOT kind to the body, but dam is it FUN! I had a blast this weekend. Can barley move today, and my body is sportin some pretty interesting shades of blue, but it was worth it. Not a whole lot of pictures to show for (camera acting up & no subs to take pics of me) but there is one to prove I was out there. Unfortunately blogger is being a pain in the ass today so I can't show it to you. I'll try again later.