This Lady Knits

Can I just say wow.  My brain is fried from yesterday’s Make it Fit class, I’m still absorbing what I learned but I swear my brains are still leaking out my ears.  Today’s Worsed and Woolen Class, great counterpoint to yesterday’s class.  The Make it Fit was more of a structured class, where information was given, and given and given….it’s a lot of info.  I can already see where it’s going to complement the 3 month every other Monday, Design Your Own Sweater class I’m taking at an LYS and enhance it.  I just started that class and already I know 2 different ways to take measurements that complement each other.  In the spinning class, it was much less structured, sort of here’s the information, some examples on how to spin woolen and prepare the fiber, lots of sample fibers, then after lunch more examples, this time on how to spin worsted and fiber prep and more fiber samples.  I was in this class with 5 other ladies that I spin with regularly, and it was a lot of fun.   Tomorrow I’m heading back down, to spin with my spinning group, but most of all to spend some time with Sachi.

I forgot to bring a camera, and even if I had brought one, I probably would have completely forgotten I had it.  Maybe tomorrow I’ll remember one.

Oh the Market, I though I was good until I emptied out my trunk, more on that later, once I’m sure the shopping has stopped.

Pattern: Calorimetry by Kathryn Schoendorf

Needles: Options #8

Yarn:  Handspun by Moi on the Victoria and Plied on the Lendrum. Cashmere & Wool blend, dyed by Chasing Rainbows, I don’t remember the colorway, silly braid bands disappear as quickly as the ball bands.  Navajo Plied to retain the color progression without minimal muddying.

I needed a “bar” knit for a b-day party I went to last night.  This really is a quick knit, I cast it on and did the first row before leaving for the bar, came home, sewed on a button and wove in the ends.  Done did deal.

…well ok, a turn at the wheel does wonders as well.  Edge, what edge you ask, well this knitter has a 4 hour interview tomorrow, so I finished the socks that were supposed to be done last Sunday at knitting tonight.

Pattern:  Earl Grey by none other than the Yarn Harlot

Needles:  #2 circular needles 10″ with a stretch cord and KP 2.50mm DPN’s.

Yarn: Dream in Color Smooshy but the ball band got away and I didn’t note the color in Ravlery so I don’t know what the color is, but it’s a beautiful slightly variegated brown, perfect for a pair of socks for DH.

Thoughts, this was a fun knit, well except for those needles (the circular not the KP).  The little needles were surprisingly easy to knit with, and I liked the stretchy cord, however, I didn’t like the join, it caught every stitch and was rather a PITA to deal with.  I’ll probably never use them again, the entire experience would have been a complete joy had the joins just let the knitting slip right on by.

So I haven’t made any progress at all on DH’s sock, well that’s a lie, the gusset is done, but it still is missing a foot.

I tripped on the socks and look what came off my needles…oh wait, it jumped on my needles last night, while I was studying for work.

Pattern: Calorimetry by Kathryn Schoendorf

Needles: Options #8

Yarn: Filatura Di Crosa 127 Print Colorway 14

Just doing some stash busting that and this will be the perfect last minute B-day present for a co-worker.

Here’s Thelma showing off for the camera. Ain’t she sweet?

Yes, that is 1 complete sock, and one sock that almost has a complete gussett.  Yes I realize that yesterday was DH’s B-day.  Yes I do realize his feet are probably cold today all because I’m a bad wife and didn’t finish his socks. Yes, I am a bad knitter because I didn’t finish in time.  In reality, I am not really a bad wife or a bad knitter, I just get distracted so easily, so in the case of the sock I am both.

I didn’t make it, so this is what DH got for his Bday yesterday.  Granted I have several excuses good reasons for missing on this one, well ok, 2 shiny objects got in my way, and it didn’t help that when we went to breakfast I fogot to bring the 2nd dpn i was using on the heel.

 There’s this bamboo i’ve been trying to finish spinning, and for what ever reason it chose yesterday to call my name and call it loudly.  So I was just going to take a 15 min break and spin some bamboo and one thing led to another and an hour later I was still spinning.

 The other shiny object, well I’m beta testing software for a friend and I fell into the black hole of my computer for quite some time late yeterday afternoon. Then DH got home from his SB activities and well I couldn’t very well put his sock over him. 

Ok, I’ll have to admit I heard the call of sleeve island yesterday too.

Pattern: Shedir by Jenna Wilson (Knitty Fall ‘04)

Needles: Addy Turbo 16″ #3 & Knitpicks #3 DPN’s.

Yarn: Rowan Calmer Colorway: 479 - Slosh 2 balls, well actualy one and just a bit from the 2nd.

Cast on 1/1/08

Cast off 1/31/08

Yes I know I rarely actually know how long it takes me to knit anything usually it’s just an estimate of how many days, weeks, months, years it’s taken me if I post even that much, but this was for my OOP’s GKA (group knit along) for January, so I know when I cast it on, and my goal was to finish at least 1 of my January KAL’s in January, this was much easier than finishing the Sleeves on my EDC, which I will get back to tomorrow.

The pattern calls for 1 ball of Calmer, and I knit to gauge, others have been able to just get by with one skien, but for some reason, I ran out of yarn in the first ball with 20 or so rows left to go. I really had honestly thought this was the only ball of Calmer in this colorway in my stash, so I was very worried about running out of yarn, so I did what any knitter would do and knit faster, but alas the ball ended and I still had 20 or so rows left to knit.

I went on a stash dive, hoping and praying that I was 20% wrong when I thought I was 80% sure I didn’t have a 2nd ball of this in my stash. I found 1 ball of Calmer in a cream/white, and seriously thought about finishing this with that ball. I figured found 1 ball, there must be another, so i went in again. This time I came up with 1 ball of Calmer…hot pink, not exactly what I was looking for, so back in I went. Came up with yet another ball in hot pink again… back in I went. Wait there’s a 2nd ball of hot pink, it was in the back, so into the cotton shelf I went again, this time I went deep and low and behold what was hiding in the very back bottom corner of my cotton shelf (btw, it’s 5 shelves up, so just above my eye level) there I found another ball of Calmer, not only in the same color way, but from the same dye lot. This hat was meant to be, or so I thought.

I went off to meet with one of my knitting groups, fully intending on finishing this hat, only to find while I brought the new found ball of yarn, and the hat and a sufficient number of DPN’s, but no pattern. I was at knitting, so I knit on DH’s sock, which btw is still not done, but I still have a few hours to finish that one, he’s off for some Superbowl testerone bonding, so I bought myself some time. Hopefully he’ll come home to a completed pair of B-day socks (Happy B-day DH). But I dirgress. Left knittting early that night, so I could finish Shedir in January. I came home an knit, and twisted stitches and decreased then wove in my ends and finished at 11:12 on January 31.

I must knit, I am on the heel of the 2nd Earl Grey sock, and I have until DH gets back from his SB activities to fnish.

I finished with 45 minutes left in January to spare.  Pics later, when there’s light out and DH is actually awake, he went to bed an hour before I finished weaving in the last end.

Now onward to DH’s 2nd sock, Sunday deadline on this one, it’s ok if he reads it here, he’s already seen the first one, since I needed his foot before I started the toe decreases.  I’m knitting it top down, which is unsual for me, and even more unusual, I knit the first sock before the 2nd sock instead of at the same time.

But first, the need to become one with my bed.

Accckkkk!  I’m knitting as fast as I can to finish Shedir this month.  I joined a KAL with my knitting group in Cali, and I’m knitting with them in spirit, since knitting in the flesh is a bit difficult now that I am 1100 or so miles away.  So I’m knitting to get this thing done before midnight tonight, hopefully, if yarn holds out I’ll have a pic of an  FO to show for it by tomorrow, or the next day.

Oh, my pleas to make it melt apparently worked, what was predicted to be another inch or 2 of snow, just enough to keep me stuck at home, turned to rain.  While there is still a little snow at my place, it’s not enough to keep me house bound. 

  Gotta knit!

 Please make it go away.  I decided it would be safer to leave work early and work from home the rest of the day… Oh how right I was.  It took me about 20 - 25 min to get home….but take a look at this.

5″ of snow sitting in my driveway!

Heck, this isn’t even my driveway, it’s next door, but my car decided to try and get in there. Didn’t make it

This is what stood between me and my garage for 45 min!  yes there is a path NOW, but that was a lot of hard work on my part.  I was stuck.  See where the slush is?  That’s where my car was stuck!

Here’s what it looked like after I finally got my car in.  There is a slight incline up to our town house.

Here’s my car safte and sound.  Yes it does sit that low to the ground, and yes I’m not going anywhere until enough of this melts that I don’t have to worry about high centering my car.  She’s tucked in nice and safe.

But first, if you’ve sent me a comment to my last 2 posts, I did see them, but my email notification was broken, I’m really not ignorning you.  I did manage to get that fixed :).

This is taken in the Loading bay at work.

This is from the window in my office near the desk.

I would have taken pictures before leaving my house this morning, but it was dark and there was a lot of snow, and it was still snowing.  There was a good 3 - 4″, any more than that and my poor little car would have been a snow plow.  I park in a garage at home, so there was no snow on my car when I left my house, but by the time I got to work, there was about as much snow on my car as you see on the ground in these pictures, and we’re expecting more tonight.  Before you think I’m a snow wimp, it doesn’t normally snow in Seattle and people here drive like they do in So. Cal in a heavy rain, when it comes to snow.  Neither is weather you want to be on the roads for.