Kung Fu Knitting

New Twisterino Colorways for Fall 2011 at Rock Creek Yarn

2011-10-02T07:32:00.007-06:00

When you're in the yarn business, with the fall festivals comes new stuff. Here are several new fall and winter themed colorways in Twisterino sock yarn.

First, we have Twisterino in Pumpkin Pie. Remember, Twisterino is our squishy, springy two ply 100% superwash merino. Pumpkin Pie has kettle dyed shades of crusty biscuit and sweet pumpkin custard topped with spicy brown speckles.

We're celebrating Samhain with orange Twisterino overdyed in spooky black.

Can you see it? If you look really carefully you can find a skein of sock yarn in Woodland camo colors.

Or try knitting gifts from cheerful holiday colorways of cool Winter's Tale

And Sugarplum Fairy

A Cheesitarian recipe: Enchiladas Salsa Roja

2011-08-04T15:50:00.002-06:00

Some of us need dairy only meals now and then. This one is for the cheesitarians out there. For this one, you'll need:

1/4 cup olive oil
8 corn tortillas
1 yellow onion, sliced
1/2 pound jack cheese, grated (2 cups of grated cheese)
1 tbs ancho chili powder
1 1/2 cups hot water
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tsp salt
1 yellow onion, finely diced
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tbs all purpose flour, browned in a 400 degree oven for 5 minutes
1 medium tomato, diced
3/4 cup vegetable broth or water
1 tbs red wine or apple cider vinegar
red pepper flakes to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Heat 1 tbs of the oil to shimmering in large skillet. Add sliced onion and saute until clear. Remove the onion and set aside.

Put the rest of the oil into the skillet and heat until shimmering. One at a time, fry the tortillas in the oil until pliable, but not crisp. Set aside. Drain oil until only a little coats the pan.

Add the ancho chili powder, salt, red pepper flakes, and garlic to hot water and set aside.

Saute the diced onion until clear. Add the cumin and browned flour and toast for a moment. Add the tomato. Saute 5-6 minutes until tomato is tender. Add the chili, garlic, and water mixture; broth, and vinegar. Simmer for 5 minutes to let the sauce thicken.

Add 1/4 cup of sauce to a 9x9 baking pan. Dredge one fried tortilla in the sauce left in the pan. Place on work surface and top with 1/4 cup cheese and a few slices of onion. Roll up the tortilla and place it in the pan, seam side down. Repeat with the remaining tortillas. Top with the rest of the sauce and any remaining cheese. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the oven.

Serves 4.

Cause I've been real busy

2011-08-04T15:48:00.002-06:00

I haven't written.

Well, Saul was born on June 1. And I've been real busy since then.

Why the silence?

2011-05-05T15:35:00.003-06:00

It's been pretty quiet around here for several months. Very quiet.

No, I didn't stop knitting, but I have been working on something else for the last 34 weeks and I haven't wanted to talk about it here. Until now.It's another boy, and G-d willing he'll be born in mid June.

Why the silence?

2011-05-05T15:35:00.001-06:00

Leek and Potato Soup

2010-12-07T15:42:00.000-06:00

Eeek! I've forgotten to post for some time.

After last night's soup and latke dinner, I've had some requests for my leek and potato soup recipe. Here it goes.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 pound potatoes
2 leeks
4 cups vegetable broth
3/4 cup half and half
pinch of nutmeg or 1/2 tsp of dill weed
salt and pepper to taste

Slice white and green parts of leeks into 1/2" rounds. Place in a colander rinse under cool water, separating the layers with your fingers. Leeks tend to have a lot of dirt and sand inside, so they must be well rinsed.

Peel potatoes and quarter.

Pour the broth into a large soup pot (at least 6 quarts). Add leeks, potatoes, and dill or nutmeg. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Turn on heat to medium and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for about 40 minutes until potatoes are soft.

Remove soup from heat. With an immersion blender, puree the soup. Return to low heat and add the half and half. Stir until well incorporated. Serves 6.

Some tasty additions can be made to this soup to make it more hardy. Add 8 oz of cubed salmon fillet and place over low heat until cooked, 5-7 minutes. Shrimp also make a nice substitute. For a smokey flavor, garnish with a bit of smoked whitefish, smoked salmon, or crumbled bacon.

Jeremy Clark-Erskine Sentenced

2010-10-11T06:39:00.003-06:00

Has the saga of this scoundrel finally come to an end? Jeremy Clark-Erskine was sentenced in Federal court in relation to his crimes out west last year. Will it be the end of this guy? I don't think so. He'll eventually be out, but this should slow him down in a few years. According to the FBI press release, which can be found here: http://www.justice.gov/usao/mt/pressreleases/20100927145224.html, Erskine is sentenced to:

Prison: 81 months

Special Assessment: $400

Restitution: $49,118.95

Supervised Release: 3 years

Now, this is good but I don't think this is great. That's not a whole lot of time compared to the grief he's caused, and if he does pay his fines and restitution I'd worry about the source. The best news in this sentence are that due to truth in sentencing laws, he's likely to actually serve about 7 years. Also very cool were details made known to me by the FBI. The first is that the judge was really pissed about Erskine's impersonation of an Army officer while committing his crimes. According to the official I spoke to, part of the judge's order was that Erskine has to write a him series of letters detailing the lives of actual war heroes who died for our country. The other cool thing is that when Erskine is done in Federal prison, Indiana still wants him on a number of other charges. So he's not going to be walking among us for some time.

For any law enforcement who might be reading this, I'd ask two more things. It's about his supervised release. His victims, past and present, deserve to know that he won't hurt people during his supervised release and that he actually is supervised for the three years the judge ordered. Please make sure that as part of his supervision that he does not have access to computers and that he is made to wear a GPS device. You know his history and how he commits his crimes. These measures will allow the public to have the three extra years of safety from this jerk.

199 skeins of sock yarn

2010-09-24T11:12:00.003-06:00

Take one down! Pass it around!

It's that time of year again. Time for the fall yarn shows. Creek Yarn will be at two. The first is tomorrow and Sunday. The Shenandoah Valley Fiber Festival is in Berryville, VA, and hour to an hour and a half from most of the DC area. This is a really cool show, and I'm doing it for the third year. Shenandoah has really expanded what they do. It's now a weekend of large and small fiber vendors, livestock sales, contests, demonstrations, classes, and food. Last year they even had a winery. Seriously, either day you go is going to be a good one. Take the drive.

Next weekend is Yarncon in Chicago, IL. This will be my first (and probably only) year at YarnCon. This small show is part of the hand made movement in Chicago and features small produces like me. If you're in Chicago, come out for it. Really. There will be lots of products there that you probably can't find in local yarn stores. Yet. Let's hope for some scouting from LYS's. Small hand dyers make some really great products that should be featured more in stores. Ask your LYS to send someone, and come with!

So here is is. The stock. That's 199 skeins of sock yarn that are coming with me to Shenandoah. There's some more that's note quite ready that will come with to YarnCon as well. Besides all the sock yarn you know, Rock Creek Yarn will be featuring some new colorways as well as the Silk Sock. Our laceweight selection is also expanded.

YarnCon will be our last show for 2010. The next time you'll (hopefully) see us is at Homespun Yarn Party next year, if it happens again. Make sure you show your support for that show, and offer to volunteer or sponsor it, if you can. It is another show dedicated to allowing small fiber producers to sell retail directly to the public. Shows like YarnCon and Homespun Yarn Party are really the bread and butter for us and allow us to be in business.

So what else for next year? Decisions. Rock Creek Yarn has to make a number of business decisions. First, I would like to expand into more local yarn stores outside the DC area. If you'd like to see Rock Creek Yarns in your store, please make the introduction between me and the owner. Second, I will start carrying things other than sock and lace yarn. Right now, The Yarn Spot in Wheaton, MD has a whole bunch of a kettle dyed DK silk/merino blend. Look for that direct from RockCreekYarn.com next year. Third, I'm working on learning to use my new drum carder to make art batts. Fourth, patterns; I'm days away from publishing two sock patterns with more to come. Lastly, a big decision regarding shows. I'll let you know about that one later.

New yarn: not just for socks

2010-09-17T14:34:00.003-06:00

The fall shows are coming up in the next few weeks, and I've got new yarn. I'm calling it Silk Sock, but it's not just for socks. I'll prove it.
The new yarn is a 4 ply fingering weight blend of 50% superwash merino and 50% silk. That means it's very fancy, shiny, and drapey, but also machine washable. I thought that made it perfect for a cute little baby dress. So here it is. I'll have some of this yarn at the fall shows to see how things go, and then it will go up on the website.

P.S. This is a message about my excitement over new yarn. Nothing else.

St. Brigid

2010-08-31T18:40:00.003-06:00

At long last, I'm knitting Alice Starmore's St. Brigid. I'd intended that this summer be my Summer of Starmore, knitting this pattern , finishing my 3/4 done Rheingold wrap, and starting either my Luskentrye kit or perhaps even an Elizabeth of York. I love the Starmores' patterns, and it looks like my Summer of Starmore is likely to turn into an Autumn and possibly a Winter of Starmore.

The danger of the Starmores' knitting patterns is that they take longer than 6 weeks for me to knit. I knit fairly quickly, but these are time consuming projects. I cast on St Brigid on July 14 and have worked on it (nearly) monogamously for all the time since. The back and most of the sleeves are finished, but I've reached the six week mark.

This is a problem.

After six weeks of exposure to a project, I develop a dreadful disease. Perhaps you've experienced it? I call it Project Fatigue. If it's not done at the six week mark, and project is likely to get pitched to a dark corner with a promise to myself that I'll pick it up again. Of course, no project ever has another 6 week go in it, as it's a progressive disease. After I first develop...this allergy... to a project, further exposure to it causes the disease to return faster and faster.

Project Fatigue has claimed several projects. A few, like my Green Tea Raglan, got finished. Some have eventually been frogged. Others, like the Rheingold Wrap and my Oriole Lace Blouse, sit waiting for a treatment for my disease. Indeed, this disease has been such a burden to my knitting that it has prompted me to try to learn things to like cabling without a cable needle and the Yarn Harlot's method of cottage knitting. The cabling thing helped. I still have not mastered the Harlot's flying fingers, but I still study the videos.

So here it is. The back of St. Brigid.As you can see, it's a great Aran geansai. However, unlike the authentic Arans I was dressed in as a child, it will not be a hair shirt. I'm making this of Rowan Cashsoft Aran. It's on US 4 needles, so it's pretty dense and is intended to wind up as my new fall and spring jacket. If the disease does not get too bad.

Clark-Erskine's sentencing delayed

2010-07-23T07:14:00.002-06:00

I received a message from an official involved in Jeremy Clark-Erskine's (Jocko Angus Abramovitch) federal case that the sentencing has been pushed back until September 8. This official was not able to talk about the specifics, but it appears that they found other things that Erskine was up to.

If you have any information that might be helpful in prosecuting this undesirable or even just his whereabouts from June, 2009 to January, 2010, please contact the Helena FBI field office at (406) 449-0195.

Hugs across the miles

2010-07-09T13:51:00.002-06:00

I've been keeping this one to myself to savor for a couple of months. Actually, I'm so touched that when I think of the kindness of knitters, it still brings a tear to my eye.

A couple of months ago I got a surprise package in the mail. It included some do-dads from different places and an afghan. A very special knitted afghan.

It seems that after the loss of our son, my wonderful friends got together an knitted us a special blanket. This wasn't just one knitting group. It included girls from SNBWB, South Suburbs SnB, and other knitting friends who now live in Ohio, France, and Japan.It's so special that hugs are built in.

I'm just speechless everytime I see it. The outpouring of from people the last few months has been incredible. Knowing the amount of time and love these ladies put into a gift like this is so comforting. Special thanks to Knifty Red, AJS, Knitterary, French Kitten, Luciousluka, Llunar Llama, and Gurski who all knit parts of the afghan. Thanks. Just. Thanks.

A new adventure in the Bag o' Crap

2010-06-25T10:26:00.004-06:00

What was it, three years ago that I swore off the Bag o' Crap yarn sales? This was after I got burned by the Cherry Tree Hill annual sales of Bags 'o Crap. After purchasing their yarn grab bags to expand my stash on the cheap, they sent me two really lousy ones in a row. By that I mean that I got 5 pounds or so of yarn made of shredded Muppets. I still have that yarn and now believe that I will eventually use it to make stuffed animals for children.

And then last week came an ad for 2.5 pound Bag's o' Crap from Dontbuynewyarn.com. They are an offshoot of Cherry Tree Hill. The bag was advertised to contain over a kilogram of discontinued Classic Elite yarn for $25. At the retail price of Classic Elite, I thought I'd only need something like three good skeins that I can actually use to get my money's worth. So I threw caution to the wind and ordered one.

Today my Classic Elite Bag o' Crap arrived.I am impressed. Really. I like more than half of this stuff. Not all of it is labeled, but I seem to have gotten:

Some patterns I am totally uninterested in.
Two skeins of Minnie. This can make a nice scarf.
Four skeins of LuLu. It sucks. Something had to.
Two skeins of something I cannot identify. It's at least aran weight and 8 or 10 plies of several colors. But it's soft.
Two skeins of a very springy 100% wool in a cream color. It says "Remateks" with the numbers 3238 and 7202. It's nice.
4 skeins of what I believe to be Bubbles in two colors. Not bad.
Two skeins of BamBoo in pink. it's nice and I'll certainly do something with it.
Two skeins of Fame in different colors.
Two skeins of Classic Silk. This is the real highlight. I was already planning on getting more and doing a striped sweatshirt type thing out of it. Now I have a head start

International S n B

2010-06-15T06:47:00.002-06:00

Early in my knitting career, I knitted with a great group of ladies in Wheaton, Illinois. This was even before I knitted with the girls in Tinley Park. Both groups, mind you, were made up of really great ladies, and I've remained friends with them even after moving away.

The Tinley Park groups is still fairly intact. However, the Wheaton group was flung to the four winds over the years. We're all over the place at this point. Except for last Sunday morning when we all shared the same space on the InterTubes.

On Sunday morning, the group met together on video chat. The Essing and Beeing took place with knitters signing in from three continents:

Merry Gentlemen from Maryland
Llunar Llama from the Chicago area
Theory of String from the Chicago area
French Kitten from rural France
ajs from Ohio
KnightthatsayKNIT from Misawa, Japan

Isn't technology grand?

At long last

2010-06-08T16:59:00.003-06:00

Long before I ever learned to knit I had an affair with my one true love.

Clay.
I was a potter. I had my own wheel and kilns and everything. Then tragedy struck. I royally messed up my left arm. What happened was a work related injury that robbed me of use of three of my fingers for a couple of years. Eventually, I had surgery that fixed the problem but by then I'd moved into a condo and was back in school. I didn't have time for pottery after my hand and arm recovered. Luck for me, my dad was kind enough to keep my equipment in his basement.

Last year I moved into this house that has a barn in the backyard that is perfect for a small pottery studio. In a flurry of excitement, I drove the truckster back and forth to Chicago twice to get all my stuff. However, I discovered that my wheel, which was already second or third hand when I got it, was in pretty bad shape. I couldn't start throwing. Then I got pregnant. My return to pottery was delayed for another year.

Until today! My brand new pottery wheel came today!The new wheel is on the left. My old one, which can still be used in a limited fashion, is on the right.

I'm so tickled. Look for this to become a place for yarn and mud induced mishegas.

Knitting while sick

2010-05-07T13:10:00.003-06:00

Well, maybe not sick. I don't have a germ. What I have is a lot of stitches in my bum. I had a hemorrhoidectomy on Monday, and yes, that's as nasty as it sounds. In truth, the condition that prompted the surgery was nastier. Suffice it to say, the recovery is not nice. Some of it, however, is fun. They gave me percocet. This is a pretty strong pain killer that renders me basically inert. All I can really do on it is lay about and knit. Only knit. No purling. No fanciness. During my recovery, I've worked on and finished these:They're plain old socks done in Three Irish Girls Kells Merino Sport in the special colorway for The Yarn Spot in Wheaton, MD.

Maryland Sheep and Wool

2010-05-04T09:19:00.004-06:00

The largest sheep and wool festival in the country took place again this weekend near Baltimore. I went for my third year as a shopper, and Rock Creek Yarn made it's first appearance at the legendary event.

I have to show my haul, because it was great.
I wish I got a better picture, but the sun moved and my ability to concentrate is severely limited today. I'll tell you about why tomorrow. Today is about yarn. What we have here is a mill bag of Noro Cash Iroha in a lovely blue/black. It was half price. I hadn't planned on getting a mill bag of anything, but the loveliness of this yarn really jumped out at me. The other two skeins are my own, my love, my Precious, my Koigu.

Did you see it? Rock Creek Yarn was there! I didn't have my own booth, but Jolene at Cloverhill Yarn Shop brought almost 50 skeins of my yarn to her booth and nearly sold out! I'm so tickled.

Knitting blog week day 7: What a yarn

2010-05-02T16:38:00.005-06:00

There’s one love that we all share: yarn. Blog about a particular yarn you have used in the past or own in your stash, or perhaps one that you covet from afar. If it is a yarn you have used you could show the project that you used it for, perhaps writing a mini ‘review’. Perhaps, instead, you pine for the feel of the almost mythical qiviut? You could explore and research the raw material and manufacturing process if you were feeling investigative.

Koigu.
Koiiiiiiguuuuuuu.....

I lurve lurve lurver it. It's soft, it's springy, it's fluffy, it's incredibly colorful. It's almost divine. Almost.

Of course, I'm talking about Koigu KPPPM. If you don't know about this legendary yarn, it's a 2-ply superwash merino fingering weight. What I know if this yarn is that it's dyed in the Toronto, Canada area. I have a book here about hand dyeing that indicates that the yarn is dyed in 500 gram skeins that are then split up into the 50 gram skeins we now pay upwards of $14.00 each for. From the pictures of the parent skeins, they appear to me to be hand painted with dye.
I love Koigu. A lot of people love the texture but in my opinion similar springy texture can be found in many hand dyed yarns like Rock Creek Yarn's Twisterino. It's the colorways I love. They all seem to be works of art. The colors are stunning, ranging from incredibly intense to beautify muted. Where running occurs, it's done in a way that looks great. Lastly, the color repeats are usually pretty short, keeping pooling and striping to a minimum.

I've made two pairs of socks from Koigu. I love the yarn, but it's far from perfect. First, the owners of yarn stores seem to have problems getting it, and that probably is the reason for the exorbitant price. Secondly, it's a very tender fiber. I guess the texture sacrifices durability. The socks wear through fast. FAST. But they're soooo pretty.
Despite the drawbacks, I do keep at least two skeins in my stash and do careful planning for what my precious skeins of Koigu will grow up to be. In fact, I bought 2 more today to replace the skeins I just used to knit these:They're Roza's Socks by Grumperina. And yes, I did just knit these in another yarn. They were done in Magic Loop on size 1 needles, and I used almost all of two skeins of Koigu that the Amazing E bought me after a big fight early in our marriage. I'm really glad that we don't get in fights like that anymore, but I miss the make up yarn.

Kitting blog week day 6: Revisit a past F/O

2010-05-01T19:39:00.002-06:00

Bring the fortune and life of a past finished project up to the present. Document the current state and use of an object you have knitted or crocheted, whether it is the hat your sister wears to school almost every day, or a pair of socks you wore until they were full of hole. Or maybe that jumper that your did just didn’t like that much…

Alas, it's my deepest knitting regret.
It's the Fair Isle Sleeve Sweater from Vogue Knits. It was a very early project for me, and it's beautiful. Except that I hate the collar edging. I hate the collar so much I've worn the sweater once, and have never gotten around to taking that horrible crochet edge off my beautiful sweater. That project was a huge undertaking for me and it languishes in a storage bag. All because of the lousy clown collar. Poor thing.

Knitting blog week day 5: Location, Location, Location

2010-04-30T19:35:00.002-06:00

Where do you like to indulge in your craft? Is your favourite arm chair your little knitting cubby area, or do you prefer to ‘knit in public’? Do you liek to crochet in the great outdoors, perhaps, or knit in the bath, or at the pub?

Forgive me for my boring life. I get a lot of my knitting done in front of the tv. Besides that, it's generally when I'm waiting around somewhere like at the pharmacy, in line and the store, or in the doctor's office. It makes me feel as if my tome is not wasted. That's it. Nothing interesting.

Knitting blog week day 4: A new skill

2010-04-29T14:39:00.002-06:00

Is there a skill related to your hobby that you hope to learn one day? maybe you’re a crocheter who’d also like to knit? Maybe you’d like to learn to knit continental, knit backwards, try cables or attempt stranded colourwork.

A couple of years ago, I got to knit sitting next to the Yarn Harlot. I'm a fast knitter, but this lady is phenomenal. She calls her technique "Irish Cottage Knitting." The lady knits like she's on fire. I asked her to slow down so I could watch, and I have studied this video. However, I have not been able to reproduce the technique. And I want to.

Knitting blog week day 3: One Great Knitter

2010-04-28T14:34:00.000-06:00

Write about a knitter whose work (whether because of project choice, photography, styling, scale of projects, stash, etc) you enjoy. If they have an enjoyable blog, you might find it a good opportunity to send a smile their way.

It's shameless. It's my secret. And it's out of the bag.

I heart Knifty Red. There. Now you know. I have a knitter's crush on her. She knits the coolest stuff, is very prolific, and takes awesome pictures for her blog.

Jeremy Clark-Erskine pleads guilty in U.S. Federal Court

2010-04-28T13:49:00.001-06:00

Not everything in this account of yesterday's hearing makes sense, but the original article can be found at http://www.keci.com/pages/6916769.php?contentType=4&contentId=6006706.

The United States Attorney’s Office announced that during a federal court session in Missoula on April 27, 2010, before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeremiah C. Lynch, JEREMY CLARK-ERSKINE, a 36-year-old resident of Missoula and Indiana, pled guilty to forgery of a signature of a United States judge, false personation of a Social Security number, interstate transportation of a stolen vehicle, and aggravated identity theft. Sentencing has been set for July 21, 2010. He is currently detained.
In an Offer of Proof filed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Bryan R. Whittaker, the government stated it would have proved at trial the following:
On August 11, 2009, CLARK-ERSKINE presented himself at the Montana Motor Vehicle Division in Missoula to obtain a Montana driver’s license in the name of Angus Jocko Ferguson. On the form, CLARK-ERSKINE falsely represented a social security account number as his own which he knew belonged to another individual.
The United States Attorney’s Office announced that during a federal court session in Missoula on April 27, 2010, before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeremiah C. Lynch, JEREMY CLARK-ERSKINE, a 36-year-old resident of Missoula and Indiana, pled guilty to forgery of a signature of a United States judge, false personation of a Social Security number, interstate transportation of a stolen vehicle, and aggravated identity theft. Sentencing has been set for July 21, 2010. He is currently detained.
In an Offer of Proof filed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Bryan R. Whittaker, the government stated it would have proved at trial the following:
On August 11, 2009, CLARK-ERSKINE presented himself at the Montana Motor Vehicle Division in Missoula to obtain a Montana driver’s license in the name of Angus Jocko Ferguson. On the form, CLARK-ERSKINE falsely represented a social security account number as his own which he knew belonged to another individual.
On September 6, 2009, presenting himself as a Captain in the United States Army, CLARK-ERSKINE, attempted to gain entry onto Malmstrom Air Force Base in Great Falls. At the time, CLARK-ERSKINE was driving a vehicle which had been reported stolen by Enterprise Rent-A-Car out of Chicago, Illinois.
Pursuant to a federal search warrant, law enforcement searched the car and recovered numerous fraudulent documents. Two of the documents included an “Entry” and “Judgment” purporting to be from the United States District Court, Southern District of Indiana. The documents bore a false case number and both documents contained the forged signature of the Chief Judge of the Southern District of Indiana. CLARK-ERSKINE had forged the signature on the documents for the purpose of authenticating them to use to obtain a new social security number for “Angus Jocko Ferguson” to replace the original (and now compromised) number issued to him under the name Michael Bruce Lafferty, later changed to Finn J. UiNeill in an attempt to protect his identity.
From September 9, 2009, to January 6, 2010, CLARK-ERSKINE unlawfully transported from one state to another a stolen 2010 Ford Mustang. He rented the vehicle on September 9, 2009, from Hertz Rental Car in Missoula with a rental agreement contract which only covered a one-day rental. He did not return the vehicle on September 10, 2009, but instead drove it from Montana to California. On January 6, 2010, the vehicle was recovered from CLARK-ERSKINE in Culver City, California. The original Montana license plates on the vehicle had been replaced with stolen Washington state licenses plates.
CLARK-ERSKINE faces possible penalties of 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and at least 3 years supervised release. In addition, CLARK-ERSKINE faces an additional mandatory two year imprisonment, consecutive to any other sentence, for aggravated identity theft.
The investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Knitting blog week day 2: An inspriational pattern

2010-04-27T12:42:00.002-06:00

Blog about a pattern or project which you aspire to. Whether it happens to be because the skills needed are ones which you have not yet acquired, or just because it seems like a huge undertaking of time and dedication, most people feel they still have something to aspire to in their craft. If you don’t feel like you have any left of the mountain of learning yet to climb, say so!

This subject is based on the premise that knitting takes a lot of skill, and that one's skill level determines what kind of knitting you can or should do. It's unfortunate that there are knitters who propagate this myth. Knitting is a very simple process that does not take a lot of skill to accomplish. There are only two stitches in all of knitting: the knit and the purl. If a knitter can do these two things, she can reproduce any pattern. I don't think any knitter should ever look at a beautiful project and think she lacks the skills to do it. That's just an incorrect way of looking at the problem.

The issue that complicates knitting is time and concentration. Complicated patterns simply require more time and concentration to reproduce. Having to look at a pattern for every single stitch requires a lot of concentration and patience and adds a huge amount of time to a project. The more experience you have at reading and following patterns, the easier this gets. However, whatever the pattern, you're still just doing knits and purls. My advice is never to tell yourself that you don't know how to do something in knitting. Instead, when considering the difficulty of a pattern, be honest with yourself about how much or little fun it will be to have to read the pattern while you're knitting and compare it to how much you would actually like to knit the project. That will tell you if you can do it.

Knitting blog week day 1: Staring out.

2010-04-26T13:14:00.003-06:00

Today is day one of Knitting and Crochet Blog Week. Eskimimi Knits organized this week to help knitters share and discuss a number of yarny related subjects. As this blog purports to be about yarn induced mishegas, I feel the need to take part. Today's topic is how we got started with this ~~obsession~~ hobby.

How and when did you begin knitting/crocheting? was it a skill passed down through generations of your family, or something you learned from Knitting For Dummies? What or who made you pick up the needles/hook for the first time? Was it the celebrity knitting ‘trend’ or your great aunt Hilda?

I suppose my yarn issues began as the result of the perfect storm of all the mentioned factors. My grandma crocheted. A lot. And she had 5 granddaughters and attempted to teach us all the craft when we were small children. I believe three of us do still crochet. I will neither confirm nor deny whether I am one of the crocheters, but being around so many yarn fumes at a formative age definitely sowed the seeds of my current knitting vocation

As a result of grandma's encouragement to learn crafts, I have learned many. Just ask the Amazing E about that. I've got stuff for pottery, glass working, and yarn strewn about the house at all times. And that's just the crafts I do currently and regularly. It seems it was inevitable that I would eventually learn knitting. Knitting has a lot of benefits that my other crafts do not. It does not require expensive equipment nor indoor pyrotechnics to accomplish, for example.

I learned to knit on Christmas Day, 2004. Yep, all of my extensive knitting expertise has been acquired in the last 5 years. I learned from my sister, whom I will refer here to as "Cheeez." (She keeps rather anonymous on the Internet, and I'll respect that here.) Cheeez is a self-taught-from-a-book knitter. Anyway, Cheeez took me out to a LYS for the first time and helped me by my first nice yarn and pair of pointy sticks so I could make a scarf for my friend. Within a week, I had a scarf and a new hobby.

So thanks to my grandma and to Cheeez for getting me into yarn.

It turns out the answer was wool

2010-04-21T06:07:00.004-06:00

You can't see in this picture, but the Amazing E was wearing very special socks. I gave him those blue ones I'd been working on.
He also gave me a kosher ketubah on our second wedding day last week on April 15, and I accepted it.

If the second anniversary is cotton...

2010-04-14T13:01:00.002-06:00

What's the second wedding?

Elijah and I are getting married tomorrow. Yes, again. Our first wedding will always be our anniversary. It was the most lovely evening of my life, what with all the great food, music, and love going around. Our first wedding was everything I wanted my wedding to be. Almost. We had a Jewish wedding with a chuppah, a ketubah, seven blessings, and a broken glass. But for a technical reason it was not kosher. We knew that at the time. Our wedding was not binding in Jewish law. We were ready to commit to each other forever, but not ready to commit to a kosher life together.

Now we are. And tomorrow after morning minyan, our rabbi will marry us in a properly religious ceremony. It's such a good time to do this after just having lost our child and when we're about to start trying for another.

But I don't know what to get him.

Setting goals

2010-04-12T12:33:00.006-06:00

I just feel the need. The need to commit to knitting goals for 2010. Why? Who knows. It's not like anything will happen if I throw them to the wind later and knit other stuff. But I feel the need.
This year, it is my goal to knit down my sock yarn stash and to knit my two Starmore kits. My sock yarn stash is not really that huge. (My personal sock yarn stash, that is. Technically, I have a nearly unlimited supply of sock yarn, but I'm not talking about that.) Knitting down the stash is really a moving target, since I am an infamous sock yarn impulse buyer. But I'm going to try to finish this year with almost no sock yarn left. There are good reasons. I started the year with almost no socks that did not have holes in them. My feet were cold last winter. I couldn't see my feet, but I know they were cold. That an the fact that I have sock yarn that's 4 years old that's been lonely and languishing in the stash. I should be fair and compassionate to that yarn and see that it grows up to be nice things. As for the Starmores, there is just no excuse for letting that stuff sit. It's a sin against knitting, and I intend to correct my ways.

I've gotten a good start on accomplishing the sock part of my goals. So far this year I've knit these:
This brown sock is the Pyroclastic Sock from Knitty.com in Panda Silk fingering weight. This guy is my generic top down sock done in Regia Bamboo. This is one of those poor yarns that languished in my stash for too long. I think it was in there for about four years, the poor thing. I should have knitted it sooner. Turns out that these are the most comfortable socks I own.
And this lovely thing is Roza's Socks in STR lightweight. I got the yarn last year from The Fold when they came to Maryland Sheep and Wool. This is currently my favorite sock pattern, and I'm making another pair in Koigu. Oooooooh. Koiguuuuuuu.

The Queen of Not Finishing Anything

2010-04-04T14:55:00.003-06:00

Back in the days of no posting, I was doing a lot of knitting. I feel like a have a very good reason for the discrepancy. I was very pregnant. Not that I know how they relate, but it's a good excuse. I will also use that reason as an excuse for many, many other things. Like never posting a roundup of 2009 knitting.

This knitter cannot claim to have really finished that many projects last year. I nearly finished a number of projects, and actually completed a few. As you will see later, the fact that I did not completely follow through on very many knitting related things last year might have been a good thing. At any rate, in 2009 I actually finished:

1. Icarus Shawl
2. Aeolian Shawl
3. Baby Cables and Big Ones Too
4. Crusoe socks in their second iteration
5. Hedera Socks
6. Channukah Challenge socks
7. A Baby Surprise Jacket for Mandy's baby
8. February Lady Sweater

These are not that many projects, and I'm a little disappointed in that. In addition to these, I worked on a number of baby projects. I did the greater part of a baby blanket, a diaper cover, a Baby Surprise Jacket, and a jumper based on the jacket pattern, but I didn't get any of them done. They are all nearly done, needing only a few more hours of work. However, none of them where actually finished and usable in time for Baruch's birth. In some ways, (and here's where the sadness that hangs over this house comes in) it might be a good thing. None of them were finished for him. So now I have to decide whether they belong to Baruch and should go into his box of things, or if they just belong to my babies in general and will be finished for another baby.

My life of danger

2010-03-24T16:08:00.002-06:00

Some time ago I knitted E a pair of wool socks. I did it partially out of generosity toward my new husband, and partially to prove to him all the time and money I would be spending over the course of the rest of our natural lives producing hand knitted socks is worth it. Well, my plot worked. He loved his socks and even worked on behalf of all knitters to try to convert others to wearing handmade socks. Until he lost one.

Since the loss of his sock, he's been bugging the heck out of me over his lack of hand knit socks. He's even complained publicly about how I had not made him more socks. Until a couple of weeks ago when I cast on this:
So I finished the first of a pair of new wool socks made especially for the Amazing E. There are two reasons why I avoid knitting socks for him. The first is that I am a selfish knitter. The second reason is more relevant to my point here; my husband has ridiculous feet. He wears a size 8 EEE. In other words, he has short, wide feet. It takes a lot of yarn to cover them. But I did break out a skein of Cherry Tree Hill Supersock and knit him this sock and cast on the second.

Then today I realized something frightening. The unused half of the ball of yarn seemed light. Uh oh. I just went downstairs and weighed the finished sock. 48 grams. Yikes! I'll be cutting things pretty close.

Merry Gentlemen and the Amazing E versus Key West

2010-03-22T14:35:00.002-06:00

Alright. So the title makes it sound way more exciting than it was. Last week E and I took a week long vacation to Key West, Florida. Reviving the time-tested tradition of going on holiday to recover from something bad seemed like a really good idea, and our friends and family agreed. So we got online and found a package we could afford, and off we went.

Key West is a great vacation spot. For real. Not only is it a chance to experience Caribbean Island life without a passport or anti-malarials, it seems to have some fun for everyone. There is beautiful blue water and some nice beaches on the southwest end...

Places of historical and literary significance...

And kosher sealife that can be enjoyed with or without swim fins.

(That's a Jewfish, BTW)

All in all, we got some much needed rest in a beautiful place.

Now, I'm sure some are asking the big question. Did it have yarn? Yes, it did have yarn. I knitted most of a Mingus sock while I was there. To bad I didn't get a Yarn Harlot-esque beach picture of that. There was one yarn store on the island, and I spent a whopping $40.00 there. One one skein. In my defense, it was souvenir yarn and it was Tilli Tomas Rock Star in an excellent shade of red. To bad don't have a picture of that, either.

Back to work

2010-02-23T13:05:00.003-06:00

Life here is some how continuing. Everything feels wrong and weird. We were so outrageously happy just a little while ago and then yesterday we buried our son. It's been devastating. I mean, what do you do when you become parents, and there's no child in your home? Someone is missing in this house, but we can't do anything about it but keep up hope for the future and keep our marriage strong. Elijah and I are zombies, barely keeping thoughts in our heads long enough to act on them. Despite all this, we keep getting up in the morning and going about our days however slowly and ineffectively we manage to move forward. Elijah is going back to work on Thursday. I'm starting to go about some of my normal routines of daily living, and today I'm working on getting Rock Creek Yarn back up and running after taking the winter off. Working should be good for me.

Some cool things with the yarn are happening around here. I've got two new sock yarns to introduce. And Rock Creek Yarn has been accepted to the Homespun Yarn Party next month, and we've been invited to come to a vendor's booth at Maryland Sheep and Wool this year (so I better get moving on that paperwork). One day soon I'm going to have to take yarn pictures, so I'll likely also get my 2009 FO's up here as well. On a brighter, sunnier day.

Baruch Weisberg 2/10/10

2010-02-15T09:05:00.002-06:00

Our son, Baruch was born Wednesday, February 10 at 9:13 pm. He had passed away inside me about 36 hours before, 5 days past his due date.

We discovered that our baby was dead the morning before at a routine doctor appointment. There was no warning or signs that anything was wrong. No test had ever indicated any problems. I had not even yet noticed that he'd stopped moving. When we were taken in for the appointment, they did the standard check for a heartbeat and did not find one. That was followed by an ultrasound confirming that his heart was not beating and that he was not moving. The results of the ultrasound indicated that he'd been gone for only a few hours. But it was clearly too late for emergency life saving measures.

At that time we were given the choice to wait a few days to absorb the news, or to go to the maternity ward straight away for labor induction. We chose to move forward immediately with the induction and were taken to a private suite to start the procedure. At that time we also called a few loved ones and asked them to inform our family and friends of what was happening.

I was admitted to the hospital right away and was prepared for the procedure of forcing my body into labor and childbirth. Elijah called the doula (private birth attendant) we'd hired to be with me through my entire labor, and she came to the hospital right away. I was given epidural anesthesia to numb me below my waist and the first round of medicine to start labor by early afternoon. Later in the afternoon I was started on stronger medicine to bring on contractions.

The labor progressed very slowly from my point of view, as it was not coming on through my body's own natural means. I also had an unpleasant but not dangerous reaction to one of the medicines I was given, but was switched to another. The doctors also gave me an antihistamine on a regular basis that made me drowsy and occasionally able to doze. I was not in any physical pain, but as the hours went by the situation became more and more emotionally painful for both me and Elijah as reality that we would not go home with a baby became real.

I have to say that we had great people working with us at the hospital. Ursula, our doula, stayed in the room with us and took turns with Elijah napping and sitting with me. The doctors and nurses changed every several hours, but were very kind, gentle, and concerned with keeping me as comfortable as possible. One doctor from the anesthesia department even came down just to visit us because he had lost a daughter under nearly identical circumstances three years ago. Our rabbi also came to visit us in the hospital to speak to us. Elijah was wonderful, even at the lowest times when we both thought that neither of could handle the protracted ordeal or the grief that would come later.

By Wednesday evening, we were exhausted. The medicine that is supposed to bring on childbirth was not working well, I had not eaten a meal in two days, and neither Elijah nor I had slept in any restful way. The doctors decided that they had to turn off that medicine for a while and then start again to see if it would work better after some rest. I also was feeling very strange and was in my exhausted state feeling confused over the fact that over half of my body was completely numb. At that time I also asked the doctors to turn off my anesthesia pump so I could regain sensation and control over my body.

Very shortly after stopping the medications, I started being able to feel and move my lower body again. Within two hours, I felt the need to start pushing the baby out. I guess at some point, my body needed to take over the birth process and had been rejecting the medicine. It took only about a half hour to bring the baby out. Besides coaching from the doula and hospital staff, I needed no more interventions. Baruch was born rather easily and with little discomfort, even though I did not have pain medication anymore.

When Baruch was born, the Navy Corpsman took him aside right away to clean him up while the doctors examined my body. I had come through the birth with basically no trauma or complication. It is expected that I will heal very quickly and be able to have another baby whenever Elijah and I want to. They had dressed him and put him in a blanket. The doctors had also examined him and learned that there was no sign of what had gone wrong. There was no visible injury or birth defect and no sign that anything had gone wrong with the umbilical cord.

After my exam was over, they brought the back to us and told us we'd had a son. Elijah and I immediately named him Baruch (Bah - rook), which means "blessing" in Hebrew. It had not been the planned name for a baby, as we had wanted to honor our families had the baby been born alive.. In the nine months he lived with us, he brought such joy to our lives and enriched our marriage in ways we cannot begin to express. We chose to honor him with the name.

Our son was beautiful and perfect. He was born 7 lbs, 11 oz, a normal full term weight for a baby. He had a little silky black hair, and very fair skin. He also looked shockingly like his daddy, with a few facial features that resembled me. We spent about an hour with him, looking him over, touching him, and telling him we loved in and were sorry he could not come home with us. After that, we asked them to take him away and told him goodbye. Pictures were taken. However, we do not know if we will be releasing any for viewing because Baruch experienced lividity after death that made his face appear badly bruised.

I was released from the hospital at my request 12 hours after the birth so we could rest in our own home. Given how well my body fared in the birth, my request was honored without reservation. So we are at home now.
Elijah and I are experiencing grief that we hadn't imagined existed. To us, we lost a living child whom we'd gotten to know and expected to meet any second up until the moment we learned of his death.

I would like to publicly thank several people for their help. First, Elijah, I love you. Thank you for being such a source of love an support throughout my pregnancy and the birth. Ursula, our doula, who provided months of education before the birth and unwavering support and comfort during the most difficult time of my life. The doctors, nurses, and staff at National Naval Medical Center who provided the highest quality of care to us with utmost compassion. The entire maternity staff at the hospital whom paid our son the respect of witnessing his birth regardless of whether we were their patients. Thanks to Rabbi Landman and the HTAA congregation for their chesed during this difficult time. Finally, thank you to our little son, Baruch, for blessing our lives and marriage for nine months. We love you so much and will think of you always.

Love,

MB a E

Stash Organization

2010-01-31T15:46:00.002-06:00

Perhaps it was because we've been in the house for a year and the stash got spread out in bits and balls of yarn all over the place. Perhaps I was nesting. Either way, I felt the need to gather, organize, and put away my stash this week. So I went around searching in closets, under sofas, in rarely used tote bags, and even in the truckster looking for my yarn.

Somehow I'm shocked at the amount of yarn I own. That's it. Right here. Two biggish totes and a small cardboard box. AND THAT'S IT! Well, I do have two pairs of socks, a baby blanket, and a jumper based on Alice Zimmerman's Baby Surprise jacket in progress that are not shown here. But everything else is right in these containers. Somehow I'm surprised that my stash has become so meager. What surprises me even more is that only a bit more than half of the volume of this yarn is actually good stuff.

Observe.
The tote on the left is actually nice yarn. It's stuff I cherish, made of the loveliest wools, linens, alpacas, and such. The tote on the right, however, is filled with stuff I barely want to admit I have. Now, there are remnants of nice yarns in there. But none of the balls is really enough to use for anything. Then there's the skanky yarn like Lion Brand stuff and gobs of single ply silk that I Kool-Aid dyed some years ago. I don't know why I can't let go of this yarn, but I can't. Lastly is the utterly weird. Most of that yarn came in the Cherry Tree Hill Bag O' Crap sales, and includes gigantic hanks of loopy mohair, eye searing pink chenille, and yarn I'm certain was made from the hides of dead Muppets. These yarns I keep because I have a suspicion that someday I'll have a six-year-old who wishes to have toys or scarves that will horrify the yarn snob in me, but that I will knit with glee. Lastly is the small cardboard box. I've had it for a year, and have not started the Luskentyre sweater inside. I'm just waiting for my chance to dive in to that one, believe me.

So now I'm wondering, how did my stash come to this? A three or four cubic feet of nice yarn, and a big bin of crap? Have I become a low stasher by accident? Or is this something more insidious?

PSA for law enforcement and the victims of Jeremy Clark-Erskine

2010-01-07T21:05:00.004-06:00

For knitting related readers, sorry I haven't updated here in a long time. I'm sure you want to see progress on the Chick and knitting. Somehow being in my third trimester has just sucked away my desire to do anything but sleep and sort through layette items. Rest assured, I've been knitting and will post 2009 FO's soon enough.

For law enforcement, government agencies, victims, and friends concerned with the fate of the Scoundrel, Jeremy Clark-Erskine, I have just received a message originating with the city of Culver City, CA. It appears Erskine was arrested and is in custody there. If you know of any outstanding complaints against this guy or warrants for his arrest anywhere in the US, please call the police in Culver City at 310 837-1221. As for the Culver City officials taking care of him, I don't think anyone ever looked into how he obtained a drivers license in Kenosha, WI back in 2006. He was arrested with it in Jasper,AB. I expect that it was obtained with false documents. Perhaps this is considered a serious crime. I can provide more particulars if needed.

If someone knows anything about the arrest and can share details, I'm curious. Please contact me through the blog or email an interested citizen cuchulain1973@yahoo.com. That person forwards information to me.

Shenandoah Valley Fiber Festival

2009-10-26T08:40:00.002-06:00

This past weekend, The Amazing E and I took Rock Creek Yarn to the Shenandoah Valley Fiber Festival for the second year. Now I wish I'd had the presence of mind to post something here before the show, but I've been so busy getting ready for the show that I didn't think seriously about it. Between being 6 months pregnant and needing to dye 20 pounds of yarn in less than a week, life was completely taken over by wool and sleeping. The show was worth all the hard work. It was the most fun show yet, and close to home. E and I didn't get out of our booth much to see all the other vendors or the events, but I'm told there was sheep herding, local wine tasting (E did get to that), classes, and lots and lots of fiber to buy. The best part were all the customers. If you've ever been to a fiber festival, you know that it's full of super friendly people just looking for a good time. And we were inundated by friendly people.

Too bad we also didn't get any pictures. Hopefully the festival will post some good ones soon.

We had a really great location in the front of one of the barns. That of course meant a lot of foot traffic, but we were also sitting right across from Rivanna River Farm and Fiber Studio. They are a local alpaca producer, and really fantastic ladies. I'll tell you. I spent the entire show pining over their hand dyed 100% baby alpaca yarn. I touched and cuddled it. I stared at it. And finally I bought five skeins of a rose and taupe colorway. There is a total of 1100 yards here. Enough for a sweater for me if I can put down the baby knitting.

Talk like a pirate day

2009-09-18T15:14:00.002-06:00

It's that time of year again. Tomorrow is the day each year when those dastardly pirates all show their colors by speaking their stoopid and secret language in public. It'll be on Yahoo, I'm sure. And Ravelry. Grr. I guess it's good for me. A a ninja, this day each year helps me identify pirates and know who in my immediate surroundings are my sworn enemies. Silly pirates. You'd figure they'd want to hide their identities from us ninjas. But NOOO. They podcast their silliness all over the place. I wonder who I'll discover is a pirate this year.

On another note, this weekend is Rosh Hashannah, the Jewish New Year. The Rabbi's sermon might be very interesting....

Speculation

2009-08-18T17:30:00.003-06:00

Pregnancy isn't always fun. I mean, the anticipation of a little one is very exciting, and the miracle of having another person growing inside me blows my mind. But the nausea, aches, sleep interruptions, and other discomforts you don't want to hear about tend to get me down.

But there is one part I find completely hilarious. It's the "what kind is it?" guessing. The Amazing E and I are waiting until our Chick is born to find out the sex of the baby. We figure there are very few genuine pleasant surprises in life, and this situation is one of them. So we're happy to wait. Some others, however, are not so patient. Indeed, many people are absolutely shocked that we're not taking advantage of the technology to find out. So in their curiosity they try to guess. And it's just hilarious to me.

So let's see? What do the Old Wives Tales tell us about "what kind it is?"

1. One story goes that if the fetal heart rate is above 140, it is a girl. According to the doctor this morning, The Chick's heart is beating 145 times a minute. So we're having a GIRL.

2. Some other people say that carrying the baby high, it's a girl. If it's low and around the hips, it's a boy. Well, my belly isn't big, but so far the baby feels like it's sitting pretty low. So we're having a BOY.

3. Then there's the acne test. Sorry to say, but I have acne. So it must be a GIRL.

4. One friend told me that since I have cravings for spicy meat, it must me a BOY.

5. But the same friend also said that if I still like my husband while I'm pregnant, we're having a GIRL.

6. 71% of the time the mommy guesses right. I think we're having a GIRL.

7. Apparently the baby effects the growth of leg hair. They, whoever they are, say that if your leg hair grows faster it's a boy. It might be TMI, but mine is growing just the same. And I hope our GIRL doesn't get cursed with fast growing leg hair.

8. I dropped the mac 'n cheese right on the floor yesterday. Clumsiness is supposed to be a sign of a BOY.

9. I just put my wedding ring on an string and held it over my belly. It swung in a circle rather than back and forth. This would indicate a BOY.

10. Lastly, my favorite one. Craving chocolate is a sign of a GIRL. I must be destined to have only GIRLS forever.

DH's latest revelation from ON HIGH

2009-08-17T08:37:00.001-06:00

He wrote his new insight into the nature of the universe this morning:

I have a new theory about cats
I have an entirely new theology.
In the beginning, god created the universe. It was, in fact, a revelation of this world from beyond the shadow that he installed to hide us from his presence
There is, however, a personage that evolved from this shadow - the Lord of Chaos
Indeed, this Chaos Lord is responsible for entropy and the nature of the universe ending in a heat death
For the Chaos lord has agents in this universe
In the form of kittens and cats. Cats are indeed sent from the Lord of Chaos to be adorable and irresistable to humans
Yet they are agents of entropy, forces of destruction
For in fact they are responsible for random placement of socks, hair ties, toy mice, and other objects around the house
That we put away previously
This morning's evil deed was hiding my wife's wallet
Right when she needed it
They knocked it down
Knocked it down behind the couch
Much as they were responsible for the downfall of many civilizations
Egypt
Babylon

I got got

2009-08-09T08:24:00.002-06:00

Maven over at Fiber P*rn tagged me with a Meme. I don't think she understands what she's done, tagging me like that. I am happy to oblige her, because now I'll have the opportunity to exercise my stealthy and mad ninja skills on her at a time of my choosing. Yesss. Yesss indeed. Revenge is a dish best served cold, and I'll savor and plan the meal for a long time.

As the first step in initiating my newest vendetta, I'm posting here 7 things you probably didn't know about me.

1. I am a ninja, not a pirate. The pirate thing is just my cover. Don't tell anyone.

2. I can make fire without matches.

3. I am not left handed. Even if both my parents are.

4. I feel great shame when my floors are dirty, but I can't give a hoot about the state of the windows.

5. I have only been knitting for 4 1/2 years.

6. I am clueless about computers. For real. As far as I'm concerned they are powered by a tiny fairy. And I do not care to learn the truth.

7. I find sweet corn detestable. In all forms. Yes, some of you know that, but probably you don't actually believe it.

As I recall, Mrs. Strauss tagged me for a meme centuries ago. I am tagging her again.

First knit for baby

2009-07-28T12:19:00.002-06:00

The other day I finished this project for the Chick. The Chick is too small to model it now, so the Bear bottom is filling it out for us.
The pattern is WHW Plain Wrap by Ruth Garcia. Tzurriz recommended the pattern. It's a size small. The yarn is Mission Falls 1824 Wool merino superwash. It only took a couple days of work, and I'm likely to make more and then re-lanolize them.

My latest project

2009-07-08T14:41:00.004-06:00

I've been working on a really big project lately, but I didn't want to show it until making a good start. The Amazing E helped with getting it started, and has been supportive and helpful during the last 10 weeks of working on it.

Here is the result of our hard work up til now.
You can see here the little arms, the cute button nose, and the giant head. So it takes after both of us.

What's Jeremy Clark-Erskine up to now?

2009-06-30T10:14:00.002-06:00

As some of you know, Jeremy Clark-Erskine is a convicted identity fraud artist who sneaked into my life about three years ago. I believe he stole my credit cards and car in an attempt to flee to Canada after escaping from jail in Indianapolis. Since then he's been accused of pulling off some serious fraud in Canada, and was eventually sent back to Indiana to serve out the rest of his sentence. Canada sent him back without prosecuting him for the thousands of dollars in theft and fraud I'm told he committed. Oh yeah, and my local police completely dropped the ball on prosecuting him.

Well, he served his sentence, but then was charged with escape. He served a few months for that, and was released last summer. Then early this year I was contacted by a very confused woman who had been dating him at the time of his last arrest. She was completely innocent in what he did, and she told me about his latest caper. I don't know that I should relate it all here, but it was an elaborate scam against a large corporation that she said got him new clothes and a long stay in a fancy hotel. He was arrested and convicted of some crime related to theft, even though I understand that he also commited a number of other crimes. The sentence passed was two years. He served three months and was just paroled. Really, this multiple felon was paroled after serving three months of a two year sentence.

So why bring him up again? Two reasons. One is that I got a flurry of hits to this blog today from private and government servers in Indianapolis. I would guess that he's been arrested again or some damn thing. I hope so. The other reason is that I contacted the Indiana Department of Correction in the last week to let them know that a bug in their system makes it hard for the public to find out the status of this guy's incarceration. After all, Jeremy has a lot of victims who would like to know when he's out of jail and if he's complying with parole. When I contacted them, I encountered a complete idiot who could not find his records, claimed he'd never been in an Indiana jail, and got nasty when I was finally able to pull them up and sent her the link to the record. Once again, the State of Indiana proves its incompetence when dealing with this guy.

So Erskine's out there. I know he's been paroled, but since the morons who are supposed to be keeping track of him can't seem to, I do not know if he's complying with parole or on the run again. If you know what's up with this guy, send me a comment. I don't have to publish it, if you ask me not to. My motives here are to see to it that people get him charged for the crimes he commits so he spends as much time as possible in jail.

If you are his latest victim and looking for information, first please go to the police and cooperate with the prosecution. Second, don't believe anything he's told you and don't blame yourself for whatever he did.

Jeremy Clark-Erskine is a convicted con artist. One arresting officer I've spoken to called him "a real predator." I personally have spoken to nearly a dozen people he's scammed in the last ten years. The aliases he uses that I know of are Jeremy Erskine, Jeremiah Clark, and Duncan McDonald. He is from Indiana, but has claimed to be from Canada, Boston, Ireland, and Scotland. For grins, here's his picture:

Silk Aeolian Shawl

2009-06-14T16:11:00.004-06:00

In an amazing feat of knitting monogamy, I knitted this shawl in just over a month.
Pattern: Aeolian Shawl from the Spring 2009 Knitty
Yarn: Rock Creek Yarn Silk Lace
Needles: Knitpicks circular size 3.
Start Date: May 9, 2009
Finished: June 12, 2009

Notes: I added two repeats of the yucca chart and a repeat of the agave chart, so this is a hybrid of the two sizes. The size 8 glass seed beads where added using a crochet hook I made from the wire inside a twist tie.

It rains a lot in Maryland

2009-05-26T11:13:00.003-06:00

First of all, thank you to Creative Crocheter. She once again identified one of the plants growing in my yard.

Like I was saying. It rains a lot in Maryland. At least compared to Chicago. It rains here at all times of the year, often for hours or days at a time. In fact, it's raining now, and will be for four more days. All the rain here has several effects for homeowners.

The nice thing the rain does for us is cause lots of things to grow outdoors. There's more stuff popping up now, like this weed in my yard. Right now the property is covered in strawberries. But they're the wild kind that don't taste like anything. Believe me, I ate them. At least they're pretty.

The peas are pea-ing.
And the roses are making an early show.
The other thing that all this rain does is back up into basements. We woke up to that this morning. The water probably came out of the sump pump pit, and if it did we're covered. But today we're working really hard to make sure things (like mold) don't start growing indoors, too.

Proving that I do things other than knitting

2009-05-20T07:36:00.003-06:00

It being summer and all, we figured that we needed some sort of window treatments in the bedroom. You know, it cuts back on sleeping time to have daylight streaming into the room before 6am. So off to the fabric store E and I went.

I told E I could do it, even if I'd never made any type of curtain before. He picked the fabric, a striped blue silk dupioni; I picked the design. After working forever to get the hardware properly installed, there is a working Roman shade on one of the two bedroom windows.
Perhaps I'll even make the second one before the days start getting shorter.

More beauty this week

2009-05-17T14:45:00.002-06:00

Nothing really new popped up for a little while, so I didn't stretch things here by taking pictures of wilting flowers. But today there are some nice things to show around the new house.

Last weekend, the Amazing E planted me a new garden. We decided on what will eventually be an informal perennial garden based on one my grandma had, plus some other things that attract butterflies and hummingbirds. This weekend the plants are staring to take root. This project will probably go on for a year or two more, but we have a start now. There is a pretty dark red flower that smells good; I don't remember the name. He also planted a butterfly bush, yarrow, a coneflower, and some flowering thyme and other low lying plants. Eventually, I would like some black eye susans, more coneflowers, and astilbe. Planting in the back yard turned out to be a challenge because a previous owner had an above ground pool back there. There's at least a foot of sand in the back yard, so we have to put soil wherever we plant.

There was also another azalea that bloomed. This one is a really nice pink.Then there is the mystery purple flower. I'm pretty sure these are from a bulb patch on the side of the house.
Lastly, an iris bloomed this week. Some others are making buds. I can't wait to see what they look like.
I also have an update on the mystery coral colored flowers. Those of you who guessed flowering quince must be right. This week it has little fruit on it.

There ought to be more soon; E and I are looking forward to it.

My Masterpiece

2009-05-13T13:14:00.004-06:00

I'm jumping ahead of myself a little, but I can't resist. Rock Creek Yarn's silk spinner only gets about 300 grams of this yarn to me per week, but I've been saving it up and dying it for the Sedalia Fiber Festival this weekend. It's the previously mentions Silk Lace yarn. Now I've got 8 one hundred gram skeins for the show. There would have been more, but the Cherry Blossom Festival Sale was wildly successful for this yarn. Thanks for that.

I have to say something. I love this yarn. Really. For lace yarn, it's very strong. And soft. And shiny. Pretty soon a picture of an in progress project will show up here. But I've been working lately at dyeing up this super special yarn, and I'm in love. Take a peek at an "unofficial" picture taken just now with my iphone.

FO: +3 Red Socks of Doom

2009-05-09T22:22:00.004-06:00

I'm actually quite pleased with these socks. They fit great, they're pretty, and the yarn feels really nice. If you recall, I started these socks back on November 30, 2007 in a fit of nerves over my wedding. It was the next day, so what did I do? Cast on socks of course. Since then, they've moved with me three times, gotten lost several times, and have had their needles repurposed more than once. Why +3 Red Socks of Doom? The beautiful lace killed my hands.

These socks were made according to Cookie A's Hedera pattern, which is available free on Knitty. They were knitted on size 1.5 DPN's out of Mountian Colors Bearfoot Yarn in a varigated red. I will be knitting socks from this yarn again someday.

Very pretty. Very dangerous.

Um.

2009-05-06T11:18:00.003-06:00

They're Pantaloonies. They're made of sock yarn. Um. I don't think I have anything else to say.

Name that yarn!

2009-05-05T11:50:00.002-06:00

So I've been dying this yarn mostly in Cherry Blossom for a while now. Until this time, it's only been available from my silk spinner in very small quantities. But now he's sending me several pounds. It's super pretty and the customers love it. Right now, it's just named Silk Lace. This is a lace weight yarn. It's 100% mulberry silk with great sheen and drape. The yarn is 2/20 count, that's two very thin plies spun together. I put it up in skeins of at least 100 grams, over 1000 yards. The best thing about it is that it's really strong, so you don't have to worry about breaking it when pulling out points on a fancy shawl.

But I don't know what to call it, and it's so fancy it needs a fancy name. Any ideas?

What's poppin up in the yard this week? May 1 edition

2009-05-01T15:56:00.002-06:00

We bought a house that had previously been owned by a gardener. Signs around the property, like built in flower boxes, raised beds, an insulated shed, and hanging basket hooks everywhere, pointed to this. Talking to the neighbors confirmed it. There's stuff growing everywhere. In fact, we feel like we really have to spend this year watching what comes up before we think about what we might like to do with the yard. It's really full of stuff, and new things are coming up all the time.

I didn't have the foresight to start doing this a month ago, so we've missed the mountains of jonquils that came up about the time we moved in. Then we had a dwarf crabapple tree and an ornamental cherry tree bloom. For a while we had a bush in the front yard with little yellow flowers. E was smart enough to name it; I was not smart enough to remember. Last week the tulips made a brief showing. It's too bad tulips bloom for about three minutes before the petals fall off.

It seems that people in the DC area have an obsession with blooming trees and shrubs. There are magnolias, dogwoods, azaleas, and of course cherry trees blooming everywhere. I can't remember anything on this level going on in Chicago.

This week we have more flowering shrubs and trees.

The weird looking bushes in random places turned out to be azeleas. It's a good thing I didn't dig them up.
Then there's this little tree next to the house. Turns out to be a cute dogwood.
Lastly, this is a crazy flowering tree in the back of the back yard. Don't know what it is, but it has flowers.

Bat Shawl!

2009-05-01T14:45:00.003-06:00

Okay. I'm not sure there is such a pattern. But I did knit the Icarus Shawl. It was a jump-on-the-bandwagon thing. Some of the other kids were doing it, so I did too.

This project was started on January 22 and finished on April, 16. I really wanted to do it all in one go and wear it to my friend's wedding in Chicago. It was finished on time, but it wasn't done in one go. I got bitten by the quilting bug and put the knitting down for an entire month.

The yarn is an awesome fawn colored laceweight made from silk and yak from Skaska Designs.

Fiber Alert!

2009-04-29T12:30:00.001-06:00

Goodness!

Maryland Sheep and Wool is this weekend. I'm totally not prepared to shop for yarn. I mean, you need a list, a plan, and a team to do this festival.

Have not knitted a thing in three weeks.

2009-04-05T18:43:00.001-06:00

Send help.

All's well that ends well

2009-03-20T03:17:00.003-06:00

The closing was at 4pm on Wednesday. Our heroes spent an hour signing papers to find out that the government form still was no where to be seen. It would still be another 24 hours before they could take possession.

But they got the house!

Act 4 continues

2009-03-16T09:22:00.002-06:00

A message just came through.

4pm.

It did not say what day.

Act 4 continues

2009-03-16T09:04:00.002-06:00

In Act 4 of the saga of closing on the house, we last saw our heroes sitting on their hands waiting to hear that the government form had been filled out by the loan officer and sent into NeverNeverLand, where the actual settlement seems to at once constantly yet never taking place.

Wwwwelllll....

The last time we checked, Kung Fu Knitter saw signs that it was Friday afternoon in the real world. In the alternate universe they're trapped in, cryptic messages had been seen profesying that the hidden and mystical "Tuesday" would be the date of settlement.

Our heroes had had it up to HERE! with all of it, so the Amazing E got on the phone with the COO of the loan company and demanded a real time that the closing would happen. After actually raising his voice at E, "Tuesday" was renamed "Monday, We promise!"

Just then, a booming voice declared "Tuesday is Tuesday, and Tuesday is the day for the settlement." Oh well.

Remembering how to sew

2009-03-13T12:35:00.002-06:00

When I was a child my mother taught me to sew. I haven't touched a machine in decades, so I'm really proud of this. It's my first quilt top and I finished it today.

House closing saga

2009-03-13T08:27:00.007-06:00

I'll not get into all the gory details, but the house closing has gone berserk.

The first act was the comedy of "Paint the House." This happened when our lender sent an appraiser out to the house one week before closing. She did the appraisal, which fortunately came out higher than our purchase price. However, she said she would not sign off on closing until our heroes painted the cracking paint. Enclosed in the package was a photo of cracked paint on the front porch and instructions to "sand, prime, and paint" this area. We also learn that hiring a painter will cost us a couple hundred dollars and require getting bids. With only a week to go, there is no time for a bidding process, so Kung Fu Knitter asks if she can paint, and is granted permission. She arrives at the house to discover that she must repaint two large railings on the porch and the outside of all the windows. Thank goodness there is no second floor. So she bravely sands off the peeling paint from all these areas, applies two coats of primer, and puts on one coat of paint. It takes two afternoons. The heroes let the loan officer know that the painting is done.

Now for "Re-Re-Appraisal." In this act, the appraiser appears to hold up the house closing. Apparently she did not get out to the house for her Friday appointment until late Monday, two days before closing. On Tuesday it is discovered that she will not sign off on the closing because chips of paint were left in the grass. Now, it's late in the day and the young couple is supposed to be at the Rabbi's for a Purim dinner that night. They can't go over there on a paint chip hunt, so the wonderful realtor swoops in and does it. Wednesday, the day of closing, the appraiser is sent back to the property, finds a lack of paint chips, and signs off. But it's too late. Everyone is irate, but our loan officer assures everyone that we'll close the next day. 2pm.

During intermission, the Kung-Fu knitter receives a request for bids on new appliances from the loan officer. Oh yeah, he forgot to tell anyone about about that. So Kung Fu Knitter flies around Maryland near the speed of light gathering and faxing said bids.

In the third act our heroes, the Knitter and Amazing E, are swept away to a place where the laws of time do not apply. The act opens Wednesday night when the loan officer says that he's working late and sending off the paperwork for closing the next day. According to him, everything is"clear to close." When he's contacted on Thursday morning to verify that he'd send off the package, he seems to reply in the affirmative. He has done everything that he has to to get to the settlement. It is at this point that time stops moving linearly. This odd phenomenon is first detected when the Amazing E receives a message that the title company does not have the loan officer's package. But he sent it already, right? Hmm. Someone calls said officer, and asks "WTF? We thought you said it was sent." He replies with something like "Well, yeah. But I can't do it now. Our system locks me out after noon for sending the papers." Someone's clock reads 11:55. Kung Fu Knitter becomes dizzy from the temporal dissonance and begins to sew furiously, almost as a nervous tick. The loan officer continues, "We never could have closed today. Government form A$&W!P* is not filled out. That will take at least two business days for all parties (including him) to look at and sign off on." It's not as if he didn't know about that form before time went out of whack, but in the great whirlwind of time it will hold up the closing until Tuesday if we ever return to the normal spacetime continuum. As the act closes, a great shout of disbelief is heard all over Maryland, this one louder than the one heard after the paint chip thing.

Seeing as how time is all messed up, we are assured that act five is written before act four, and has a happy ending with the young couple happy in their house. It's just thatno one knows at what point the final act will be revealed by the universe. It has happened, is constantly in progress, and has not yet come to pass.

In the fourth act, the heroes sit on their hands. They are not aware of the passage of time, and wonder if they will regain sensibility like Rip Van Winkle, several decades older. Or perhaps they will be returned to a time before they met. While they cannot directly observe the passage of time, they see signs that it's moving forward for others. For example, Kung Fu Knitter just received an email from the Rabbi and the Chabad house informing her that Shabbat is coming soon and that she should light the candles at 6:54 this evening.

So they sit, and wait, and wonder at what moment "Tuesday" will arrive.

So much happiness, so little time

2009-03-03T08:59:00.002-06:00

Please excuse me for the lack of reading material here. February was full of fun and happiness, March will have even more.

Let's see. February. Yeah, the first half was all about house hunting. Then there was the Vegas trip where I got to see my sister, the Beautiful E and her guy. After that, there was the Wisconsin bachelorette weekend for my girl in Mokena. And then Tzurriz had her baby! I just got home from the very long trip for all of that last night. Whew.

So this week I'll be packing up the apartment. Next weekend the Amazing E hope to get back to Chicago for the bris of Tzurriz's baby. And then back here for closing on the 11th. One and a half weeks of house cleaning later, we'll be back in Chicago for my graduation. After that, we return to Maryland for the official move to the new house, which must be completed by the end of March.

In the mean time, there has been yarny progress. A pair of socks was finished, as was a hat for an Israeli soldier. Icarus is also nearly done. Aaaaand. The mystery box from Scotland arrived. I'll try for pictures soon.

Take care and stay tuned.

More about the house

2009-02-12T17:03:00.002-06:00

The Amazing E and I finally got in for the inspection today. Everything is fine. We're taking it. Here are some pictures.

About the house...

2009-02-08T15:15:00.002-06:00

You want to know about the house? Well, I'm gonna tell you.

The house is in a neighborhood called Kemp Mill in Silver Spring. It's a brick rambler. This is a type of house like a ranch. The main house structure has a big living room with a fire place, a dining room, a moderately sized kitchen, two bedrooms, and a bathroom. The kitchen has a one room addition off the back. The basement is the whole size of the house and is fully finished with a rec room, a bedroom, a bathroom, and a workroom. The attic is accessible by stairs and is semi-finished. It's big enough so you can walk around up there. One other cool thing is that the yard is great. We think that the previous owner was big into gardening. They did a great job making the outside of the house look nice.

Home Sweet Home

2009-02-05T14:38:00.003-06:00

The Amazing E and I have been in house hunting craziness for the last couple of weeks. Today we got word that a house is ours.

YAAAAYYY!

Baby cables and big ones too

2009-01-26T07:46:00.004-06:00

It wouldn't fit in the fancy schmancy light box, but I finally got a picture of this finished object. Baby Cables and Big Ones Too took me about 33 days to knit on size 5 needles with 10 skeins of Debbie Bliss cotton Cashmere. I really enjoyed knitting it. The pattern is knitting top down in all one piece. No seaming!
Eh. Maybe I'll see about a better picture one day.

Frogged already

2009-01-22T14:46:00.002-06:00

Yesterday I was stricken by startitis. You see, Mandy posted photos of her newest FO on her blog. Realizing that I had the book with the pattern and some great yarn. The yarn is a fawn colored laceweight blend of yak and silk from Shaska Designs. I also have a great desire to do a laceweight lace project. I've never finished one. But Mandy inspired me. Icarus looks like one I might be able to do.

So I cast on and worked on it. And just now ripped it out. I missed a major concept in the first chart. Oh well. It was only one day's work.

And now with new pictures

2009-01-22T12:34:00.003-06:00

I'm not a photographer. I'm a knitter. So I've always been a little disappointed with the photographs on this blog and on the Rock Creek Yarn site. That's kind of why I've been stalling on posting; the pictures suck. But the other day I went to the craft store and bought some tissue paper and poster board. Yesterday was spent cutting and gluing, and today I have a light box.

Right now I'm working on updating the pictures on the web site with nicer ones:

New (and old) knits for the new year

2009-01-11T20:50:00.002-06:00

In looking at my knit from 2008, I realize three things. One, I tend to knit a lot of spur of the moment small projects. Two, I feel like I need to interject some structure to my knitting life. And three, I probably cannot keep any more order to my knitting life than I can to my stash. However, I still feel like I need to give number two a shot and do some 2009 knitting planning.

First things first. I have some projects that are shamefully still on the needles and have been there for over a year. Here I refer to projects on the needles that I actually like and may finish. These include:

1. The Oriel Lace Blouse that I started 20 pounds ago. It may not be knitted to fit me right now, but still want to finish it. Only the front remains unknit. I guess I have a couple of choices for what to do about the fact that it is unlikely to fit me as soon as it could theoretically be done. First, I could patiently put it away until a future time when I can wear it. Or there's the second course of action. It's made of alpaca. Perhaps it could be blocked to fit.

2. Those Durin socks. After Summer of Socks 2008, these got put away even though they were nearly done. I was burnt out on socks at precisely the wrong time because I was writing the pattern up to put it on sale. As soon as I can stomach the sight of socks on needles again, I really ought to finish them.

3. The last project shouldn't really be lumped in here. It's a love affair of mine so intense that I can only endure it for several days at a time before my heart and hands are exhausted and we need some time apart. It's the Rheingold Wrap. I love love love it. It's creeping toward being done, and I can probably finish it in two more good goes. Sigh.

As for the rest on my list, meh. I recently cast on that hoodie, and it's been zooming along for the last three weeks. Like all my recent projects, I can't seem to photograph it. That is, I can't get the gumption together to fight with the camera. And the rest of the projects? Like I said, meh. They'll get done some day.

So now I'm looking forward to knits for 2009. Hats are on my list, but I know not which ones. I'm sure I'll knit socks, but I can't fathom it now. One that's definitely on my list to start, if I can get the book for it at the library, it St. Brigid by Alice Starmore. For a small project, I've been eyeing Eunny Jang's Anemoi Mittens for over a year. In the midst of all this dreaming, though, I have to remember that it could all be for naught. I've heard that a late holiday gift is on it's way from Scotland...

Time for thinking

2009-01-04T18:22:00.002-06:00

Over the last two weeks, I've spent days worth of time in the truckster. It's a lot of time to spent driving, and the Amazing E and I have logged well over 2,000 miles on the road between our trip to Chicago and our trip to Tennessee. It was a lot of alone time to talk and to sit and think while not talking.

During that time I knitted. Once again, my bad habit of no pictures has stricken. I also thought about my 2008 projects. I forgot one more. Quant.

Oops.

2008-12-30T09:47:00.002-06:00

There was one other project. I made the Amazing E a cabled hat made of a skein of Malabrigo that we bought in New Orleans. It was one of his Channukah gifts.

2008

2008-12-30T09:22:00.002-06:00

I've been trying to figure out what I knitted this year. You know, doing some year end self evaluation. In all this hard thinking, I realized that my list is bigger than the one over there ==>

In the year 2008, I have completed a bunch of projects. I should really update my list.

1. Dad E's Manly Socks made of STR lightweight.
2. Mom E's Clapotis made of Blue Moon Fiber Arts Geisha.
3. Cabled Rangoli Hat made of the brushed alpaca yarn the Beautiful E gave me last year.
4. The Bunny made of more of that alpaca yarn.
5. Anntrelac Socks made of Zen String Bambewe.
6. The Amazing E's birthday socks made of Rock Creek Yarn's yarn.
7. Branching Out scarf made of Artyarn's Kyoto.
8. Green Tea Raglan
9. Haggis Throwing Socks made of Schafer Anne.
10. Green Sand Beach socks made of my yarn.
11. Campfire Socks made of Jitterbug.
12. Windmill Beret made of Noro Silk Garden and Cascade 220.
13. Tree Beret made of Noro Silk Garden and some other wool.
14. Secret Swap socks made of my yarn.
15. Felted Stained Glass Bag made of Noro Kureyon.
16. Imladris Socks, may they rest in peace.
17. Priiti Scarf made of Rock Creek Yarn Priiti and a suri alpaca.

Added to this list should be some projects I didn't list:
18. Hannah's hat.
19. A pair of Monkeys for a swap.
20. Baby Cables and Big Ones Too.

So that's 20. Not too shabby. 9 of them are socks. I guess pretty soon I'll have to take a look at my stash, my UFO's, and my stash to foment my plan for 2009.

Excuses, excuses

2008-12-17T08:56:00.003-06:00

Yeah, I haven't been posting.

I'll claim illness, because I certainly have been knitting. Although the doctor says my pneumonia is gone, I have a terrible cough that's holding on. I'm currently on my third round of antibiotics for it and am also still in need of strong (read: narcotic) cough syrup sometimes to keep it from destroying me entirely. So I have very little energy. Just enough for some knitting and doing housework. Everything else is on the back burner. Yeah, it sucks.

In the last six weeks I've completed two projects. The first was a baby hat for some friends of ours at shul. They have a little 3 month old girl. She's way too cute, so I made her a winter hat out of one skein in double thickness the Cable-icious BFL yarn. I have to say that it makes for nice baby stuff. It's soft, and retains it's elasticity after washing. Best of all, it's machine washable. Unfortunately, in my excitement I forgot to get a picture before giving it. Hopefully the parents will send me one.

The other project has been Baby Cables and Big Ones Too. I actually got it done in about 5 weeks using 12 balls of Debbie Bliss Cotton Cashmere. Hopefully E will take a picture of it on me soon and I can put it up here.

And the wrap? Not done in time for the holidays.

A wonderful life in New Orleans

2008-12-05T08:27:00.002-06:00

If you recall, the Amazing E and I planned a trip last weekend to New Orleans to celebrate our first wedding anniversary. Well, we went. It was great. I was very tired through the whole trip, but we had fun anyway. Our hotel was in the Warehouse district, and in a historical building. The French Quarter was only a short 3 block walk away, so we were there all the time.

E says he took me to do all the fun New Orleans stuff. We went to the markets and famous streets. We ate the local food; our anniversary lunch was at Commander's Palace and involved the best soup I ever tasted. He took me to the Garden District and Uptown, as well as a short tour through some of the poorer areas. It's clear that New Orleans is still rebuilding, but much of it looks great.

It was a wonderful way to celebrate our anniversary.

Tragically for me, I have to say goodbye to yet another sock. On our very first night there, I was walking in the Warehouse district in my Birkenstocks and Imladris socks. I know some people find that look dorky or otherwise inappropriate, but that's how I roll. Anyway, it was wet. And my socks got uncomfortably wet and started causing a blister. So I took off my socks to carry them. Sadly, one of them got away from me. I have the other. But one of my new and pretty socks is now living alone on the streets of New Orleans. I guess all I can do is hope it has a happy life down there.

Tragedy in Mumbai

2008-12-04T13:57:00.003-06:00

As you probably know, last week at least 188 people were murdered and hundreds more injured in Mumbai, India. The horrific attacks were carried out by as few as 10 men. I had been at a loss about how to respond or feel about it, but today I received this one minute video in an email.

I believe there is hope in the face of evil.

Update

2008-11-23T13:43:00.002-06:00

My illness is unchanged. The doctor gave me a mild antibiotic to start with, saying I should come back if I don't get better. Well, that medicine seems to have kept me from getting worse, but I'm no better either. I'll go back to the doctor tomorrow for something stronger. Hopefully I'll be on the mend in time for Thanksgiving. I love Thanksgiving, and we're supposed to have company. I'd hate to have to cancel.

Progress on the secret project continues.

Out sick

2008-11-19T10:16:00.002-06:00

I'd love to tell you all about what I've been knitting lately (I've been doing a lot), and what I did for Knit Like a Ninja Day (I did knit in secret). But I've been knocked over by something new. Pneumonia. I just came from the doctor, and he say's I've got it. No wonder I feel so crumby. Maybe I'll reveal my knitting secrets when I'm better.

International Knit Like a Ninja Day?

2008-11-15T13:00:00.002-06:00

Do you know what you're going tomorrow? I know what I'll be up to, but you'll never see it coming. I'll be sneaking into unexpected places and knitting in secret.

Very sneaky. Very deadly. Very yarny.

Post your Kninja activities on your blog showing how you sneaked your awesome yarny skills into daily life and confounded the muggles.

Darn! I hate it when that happens.

2008-11-13T19:30:00.002-06:00

It's another pair of socks. This time it's my Rock n' Weave socks made of STR Jewel of the Nile. I've had these socks and worn them regularly for a long time. A very long time. But they finally blue out in the ball of the foot, as usual.

I guess I feel a need to mark the passing of each pair of socks with as much fanfare as I made when the were cast off.

I'll miss these socks. They wore like iron. I'll miss them. I guess it's a good thing that I have 3 skeins of the stuff secreted away in my stash.

Dream Trip

2008-11-12T22:25:00.003-06:00

The Amazing E is away for business this week. He's at the Kennedy Space Center hanging out with the NASA types. It all has to do with a project at his work where he's trying to get NASA and the NIH to work together to put medical research on the International Space Station. His trip will culminate with VIP viewing of the shuttle launch later this week.

Well, E has a long standing dream of being an astronaut. So he's in heaven right now. Here's a picture of him with the thing that is supposed to replace the shuttle in a few years.
His caption for this picture is "And finally, I prove to you that I could fit inside the Orion capsule. Yes, you heard me NASA - I could be in that capsule, serving the Public Health of the United States, while at the same time exploring distant planetoids. Call me!?"

Seven

2008-11-11T11:40:00.002-06:00

That's how many repeats of the chart I've finished on the Starmore wrap. Twelve is the magic number. I guess it could still be possible to finish it before my anniversary if I worked my little fingers to the bone. But I won't.

New Orleans (not knitting related)

2008-11-06T13:23:00.004-06:00

The Amazing E and I will be going to New Orleans to celebrate our first wedding anniversary. I got a pretty good package deal yesterday, so we're all set. I guess we thought going to New Orleans for our first anniversary was appropriate because of several Louisiana coincidences contributing to our marriage and families:

1. We were introduced through a mutual friend who attended Tulane University with E.
2. My sister (the Beautiful E) and the Amazing E both hold masters degrees in biomedical engineering from Tulane university. Apparently they had classes together. (more parenthesis... the Beautiful E did go on for a Ph.D.)
3. E's best man is a native Louisianan.
4. Some of E's ancestors settled in New Orleans.
5. Our wedding coordinator was a Katrina refugee who had been the catering manager at the New Orleans Sheraton.

For all these reasons, we're celebrating the first anniversary of our wedding there. Also, I understand that all foods there are "special chicken" and therefore okay for me to eat without guilt. My sister who told me this is one of the smartest people I know and lived in New Orleans for something like seven years, so she must be right.

If your name is Mike...

2008-11-04T21:01:00.001-06:00

and your surfing the internet waiting to hear if you got your new job, the Amazing E and I say good luck.

Half time

2008-11-03T14:00:00.005-06:00

Tada!

I've been waiting for a sunny day to take a picture of my latest knitting triumph. There hasn't been one in a few days, so I can't show you a well lit and artistic photograph. But here it is. The first half of my Rheingold wrap. I restarted knitting it about three weeks ago and finished about four pattern repeats to complete the half.I'm really pleased with it. It's almost 28 inches long. And yes, it's a tube. It will be steeked after the other half is finished and the two parts grafted together.

I am not, however, sure when I'll be able to finish the second half. I'd love to have it done by my anniversary, or the winter holidays at the latest. But as tends to happen when I work on large projects, my shoulder injury has been aggravated by the knitting. It will get done though! I can't wait. This half is so nice.

And I already have plans for my next shoulder killing, blindness inducing fair isle project.

Happy knitting times!

Matisyahu

2008-11-03T08:54:00.002-06:00

In 100% non knitting related news, I took the Amazing E on a date Saturday night to see Matisyahu in Baltimore. For those of you not familiar, Matishayu is an Chassidic Jew who does a sort of rap/reggae/jam band type of music with (what I consider) very spiritual lyrics.

The show was very cool. They played most of the more well known songs and did a lot of jamming with members of the opening act and some other people. I haven't been to a concert in a very long time, and had never seen him in person. He seems like a very intense guy. I was shocked when he stopped and looked directly into the crowd as if he were at once trying to soak everything in and connect with the people in the crowd.

We had a lot of fun.

Shenandoah Fiber Festival

2008-10-30T06:33:00.004-06:00

As you know, last weekend was Rock Creek Yarn's third show, the Shenandoah Valley Fiber Festival. It was both Saturday and Sunday in Berryville, VA.

I have to say, the show was a great success and worth all the hard work. We had good sales despite the crumby weather, enjoyed seeing the fall colors in the mountains, introduced some new products and colorways, and even saw some friends.

Here's E holding down the fort in our booth.

Your wish is my command

2008-10-29T20:13:00.002-06:00

Orange Kit Kat.

Boo!

2008-10-28T12:03:00.002-06:00

While going through and organizing the yarn left from the festival this weekend, I broke into the Halloween candy. And you know what? Halloween Kit Kats are not covered in chocolate, but some weird orange stuff. Boo!

I'll try to get pictures from the show and the new products posted tomorrow, plus some other knitting fun.

Yarn and leaf peeping opportunity.

2008-10-22T09:37:00.002-06:00

This weekend I'm exhibiting at the largest fiber festival I've done yet. It's the Shenandoah Valley Fiber Festival, and it's in Berryville, VA. It's only about an hour and a half drive from the DC area, or eleven hours from Chicago. It should be a good opportunity to see fancy yarns and nice leaves in the upper Shenandoah Valley.

Not too shabby

2008-10-21T06:38:00.003-06:00

I can't believe almost a week has passed. I've been dyeing yarn like crazy. More about that later. And then there was the disastrous dental work. (Went to the dentist for the first time in five years and had no cavities or anything. So the guy decided that a couple of my old fillings needed to be replaced, which lead to chipmunk face all weekend.)

But to the news at hand. They accepted my paper at school and issued a grade. B+.

Rejoice!

2008-10-15T15:35:00.002-06:00

This week Jews are celebrating one of our lesser known holidays, Sukkot. It's the feast of booths, and it lasts a week. On Sukkot, we're commanded to do three things:

1. Build a Sukkah. This is a little hut with a leaky roof. You're supposed to build one and dwell in it. Mostly that means eating in the Sukkah. I gave a lot of thought to building one on our balcony. After all, this is the first year in many years that I have an outdoor space that's mine. My old condo didn't have a balcony. But alas, I haven't built a Sukkah. It didn't seem practical, and I know putting such a thing on the balcony is technically a violation of the apartment rules. So I haven't fulfilled that commandment.

2. Wave the four species. During this holiday, Jews are commanded to have four plants and to wave them. Why? Because we're commanded to. The plants are willow branches, palm fronds, myrtle, and a funny citrus called an etrog. We don't have our four species, so we can't wave them and we can't fulfil that commandment.

3. Rejoice. During Sukkot Jews are commanded to rejoice. And why not? What could be wrong with that. So I'm making sure I rejoice every time I can.

Happy Sukkot. And if you see a strange hut spring up in your neighbor's yard this week, rejoice and wish him a happy Sukkot too.

Small Vacation

2008-10-14T13:48:00.003-06:00

Sunday night E and I went on a one night camping trip to Assateague Island National Seashore. This is a barrier island off the coast of Maryland, and is about a two and a half hour drive away. The island is really neat because a heard of wild horses lives there. We camped there overnight, finally using the camping equipment we got last year.

Assateague is beautiful. It's a little skinny island over 30 miles long and perhaps only a few hundred yards wide. There's a campground near the ocean side where you can hear the surf all night. The camping area is covered with goldenrod that attracts monarch butterflies and bayberry bushes that smell wonderfully. It was great fun and very relaxing. I'm sure we'll be going again.

Hand Dyed Sock Swap

2008-10-11T19:58:00.007-06:00

I've organized two rounds of a hand dyed sock swap on Ravelry this year. This time my swap buddy was Joe82 from Ravelry, a very nice young lady from Ontario, Canada who shares my birthday. I got a package from her yesterday.

Aaaand. It's way too cool. She sent me some Canada souveniers which I just now realized I haven't photographed. I was too excited about the socks.

These socks have an allover spiral pattern and are made from SweetPaprika's 100% Merino sock yarn. They're very soft and squishy. I love the shaded dye job. (Sorry, I had to take the photo of my own feet myself this time. Of course, the ubiquitous cat face lurks at the top.)
The other knitting item is some hand dyed yarn. She sent a whole kit also from Sweet Paprika, and it's the cutest thing ever. I may have to cast these on tomorrow because, dude, there are fishies on the toes. I'm totally going to wear them with my Birkenstocks so everyone can see.Thanks Joe, and thanks everyone who participated in the swap.

Non yarn related cheering!

2008-10-07T17:41:00.003-06:00

Yay! YaaaaaaY! HorraaaaaaY!

Hip-hooray-and-ballyhoo!

I turned in that crappy paper only minutes ago. I'm done! Done done done with my thesis/master's project/crappy paper! So I'm sort of done. I'm still finishing up the end of my coursework, but my project is done and my classes are done.

E knew I was turning it in tonight, so he got me these flowers and is preparing a celebratory meal as we speak. (And behind the vase is our extremely sophisticated havdalah spice box that's still out on the table.)

Hooray! Yay!

FO: Imladris Socks

2008-10-06T12:31:00.002-06:00

Yay! Hooray! They're finally done.
To review, the pattern is Rivendell Socks. They were knitted out of Great Adirondack Yarn Co Soxie in Wild Birch. I did them magic loop style on size 1 needles with no alterations to the pattern. They fit me very nicely, but sizing might be tricky for people with thicker ankles. The wrapped stitches in the cuff can make things kind of tight.

Productivity

2008-10-05T11:40:00.003-06:00

Alright. Alright. So I am doing some things that are productive. That crappy paper is nearly done, and it's a good thing. It's due this week. I wish I didn't have senior-itis. I just don't care how well I do on the paper, and that frustrates me. Not to brag, but I'm normally a very good and conscientious student. At the end of my graduate studies, I have a 3.8 GPA. I've worked hard and now at the end I know that the only way I can really screw up is to not turn the darn thing in. If I turn it in completed and and meets the basic requirements they'll pass me and I'll graduate. So it's hard to feel like I should make this thing a masterpiece. Even if I feel like I should turn in a masterpiece.

Between plodding through that paper, I've been preparing for the Shenandoah Fiber Festival. It's in three weeks, and will be the biggest show I've done. A pile of yarn dyeing has lifted my spirits a bit.
I also knitted up a sample made from my Priiti yarn.

Yarn nightmares

2008-09-27T19:16:00.002-06:00

Last night I had a nightmare about yarn. For real. Ya think I might knit too much?

In the dream I was going to knit up this mill bag of Debbie Bliss Cashmere Cotton that has been marinating in the stash for about a year. I reality, I often think of this yarn and what I will knit with it. It's DK weight, red, and has about 1030 yards. Sometimes I take it out and pet it seeking inspiration. Well, last night I had a dream about that yarn.

In the dream I go into the stash to get the bag and start knitting some perfect sweater. When I take it out, I think "What in hell was I thinking?" I pull out a ball, and find that it is pink and really made out of a combination the material those plastic bath puffs come from along with iridescent Easter basket grass.

In the dream I take it out and think to myself that I don't remember the yarn looking this way, but I do remember loving the yarn. With this rationalization firm in my mind, I decide that it's perfect for my sweater and start knitting.

How many knitting projects have we done that turn out that way? You know the ones, where we delude ourselves for days, weeks, or months that the project will turn out despite it looking like complete shite.

FO: Not tellin ya

2008-09-25T11:24:00.002-06:00

I've resorted to a classic maritime morale enhancer lately: flogging. Basically I've been torturing myself to get things done that I should do. That I should have done. And that I normally would have no problem doing. My techniques are not violent, but they've been cruel. I've been denying myself the right to knit things I like and doing fun things like blogging. It's probably not the best way of dealing with this, but I don't feel like I'd do anything productive if I didn't stick to a regimen every day.

Looking around, I have been doing quite a bit. I've make quite a bit of progress on that lousy hateful paper. I've started the dying yarn for the festival that's in a month. I'm keeping the house clean and the husband fed. I even knit an entire pair of socks in the last week. Can't show you those yet, they're a gift.

But I've been in a funk and am not really enjoying what I'm doing. It's a sort of bored restless funk. Ugh.

International Knit Like a Ninja Day

2008-09-19T18:17:00.002-06:00

Will be November 16.

I've had enough of these scurvy pirates and their silly talk! On 16 November, all the Knitting Ninjas will unite and send our enemies to Davy Jones's locker!

Why is it so hard this time around?

2008-09-15T12:06:00.002-06:00

I was just over at the Yarn Harlot's blog reading about receiving the copy of her new book and about how scary and weird a job being a writer is. Her post made me think about my current situation and writing.

My current situation is procrastination. I am here at this computer reading and writing blogs when I should be at the other computer writing the final project of my master's degree. It's a 25 page paper on a topic having to do with Jewish communal services. In truth, I've been trying to get going on it since July. But I can't. I just can't get going on it. It's not that I have none of it done. I just can't sit down and do any significant part of it at one time. It makes me disappointed in myself.

I was a writer of one kind or another for years. I've written several books; one was almost 400 pages long. You won't find any of then at Amazon because they were the sort of book companies use for internal work. But I've written lots and can sympathize with writing being a scary and weird job. (Sometime I'll tell you about video taping a machine at 3am that threw ice cream bars at people .)

Once upon a time, I'd get a 20 page assignment and have it out in three days. I'd put away my fear for three days and research and write 20 pages in less than a work week. Not now. No. Now I sit here trembling before the words on the screen not able to finish it because I'm afraid to turn it in.

I don't get it. But I'm going back in for another fight.

Semi Finished Object

2008-09-07T19:14:00.003-06:00

There are so many things I've meant to put on here lately. The travel induced summer lull in blogging has left a backlog of stuff.

First of all, you'll be glad to know that Hanna was a wimp. She put down about 6" of rain and we had some strong winds, but nothing bad happened. I heard that a few roads were impassible for a short while during the storm, but everything was back to normal today. Even the Rock Creek was not too high this morning when I went for a run over on the trail.

Remember Ravelymipcs? I did my Stained Glass bag for that and felted it the other day. I'm pretty happy with it. I wish I'd had one more skein of yarn, because I rain out of some colors near the end. Some of the small panels on the bottom of the back have color repeats nearby. But they're on the bottom.
It's kinda fuzzy. I'll need to shave it. And it needs some leather straps. But it's done.

In non-knitting news, I've gotten into some more technological things lately. With my new found freedom from school, I've taken up playing on the computer more. I joined facebook while my sisters were in town. They asked me to, and now I can more easily keep in touch with them and some of my friends, too. I even found some people from my cohort at Spertus. Also, E bought the new Spore game today and I started playing it. It's pretty cool, and sure to take away knitting time for the next few days.