Day three: Jeep tricks

There was a reason for renting the Jeep Wrangler. It's an uncomfortable tin can of a vehicle, but it beats all shit off road.

We started off early and went to Pu'uhonaunau National Historical Park, the Place of Refuge. Not only is it an interesting historical site, but IMHO it has the best snorkeling on the island.
E apparently likes to take pictures of flowers. Here is an artistic flower picture he took at the park.

We also went snorkeling, of course, and had a great time. The reef there is deeper and hard to access (you got to just from a ledge into the waves), but it was worth it.

Next we went to the beach. Possibly the remotest beach on the island. To get there, you have to drive over a lava field for several miles until the "road" becomes too rough even for the Jeep, and then hoof it the last 1/3 mile. This is where we left the Jeep at the end of the road. I think the 4 or 5 mile drive took an hour each way.Then we climbed to the top of a hill and saw this:
It might be the prettiest beach I've ever seen. And almost no one goes there. That might be why it's so pretty. In fact, it's so remote and unused that green sea turtles nest there. And do you see what else is interesting about it? Look at the sand near the bottom of the picture. It looks green. That's because it is green. There is a large olivine deposit there that is eroding into sand. Awesome!

After spending some time gawking, we drove back on that some road. And Dude, people stay along that road in Tee Pees.
Lastly, we went to the southernmost point in the United States. It's windy there. That night we stayed near Volcano National Park.

I found this picture

This is me right before I became the future Mrs. E.

The rest of day two: the snorkel challenge

Okay. After the proposal we had a whole day ahead of us, so we drove down to Kona town. The city wraps around a bay and most of the restaurants seem to have balconies with views of the water (and the sunset at the right part of the day). We headed down there for breakfast at one of those restaurants. Basically, we ate and mooned at each other for an hour before carrying on with the day.

The next item of business was getting snorkeling gear and going in the water. E had never been out for snorkeling, so this was going to be an adventure. We got the gear (I had to rent a prescription mask) and headed to a shallow reef that is easy for beginners. He was a little nervous, which is very understandable. Sticking your face in the water and breathing at the same time is an unnatural act. But he was a champ, and in no time we were having fun. Afterward, he declared it his favorite past time.

The rest of the day had a lot to do with dealing with jet lag and tiredness. We lay about a lot, ate dinner, and got to bed early.

Day two: what you've been waiting to hear

Let me start the description of this day off by saying that the Amazing E talked about going to the Cloud Forest for three weeks before we left on the trip. He wanted to go to the cloud forest, and he wanted to go the first morning. It was the only thing we wanted to do at a specific time. And it was really cool. And he really, really wanted to go.

OK, E. I get you.

The "Cloud Forest" is most of the way up the Hualalai Volcano, Hawaii's third active volcano. It makes up the western point of the island, and last erupted in 1801. It rises about 8,000 feet above the nearby coast. We went, what, 4,000 or 5,000 feet up. E told me that he's read about the place, that there was a nice winding road up there with forests and views of the sea below. Also, it's an interesting place because being a big old mountain jutting out into the sea, it creates its own weather and is often covered in mist. When we went, the view was clear at the elevation where we were but the mist was hanging a bit above us. Another interesting thing I heard about it was that the Marines who stormed Iwo Jima (you know, that famous battle WWII battle with the tear jerking picture of men raising the American flag on top of a mountain) practiced the operation here because the size and shape of the two volcanoes is very similar.

So we drove up there and got our first views of the island. Here's what you see.
Where we were is a lava field with these interesting dead looking trees all about. It seems like these trees live primarily on recent lava flows. So the area is rocky, like rocky with sharp rocks. We walked around there for a while. I kinda had a suspicion that himself had some plan for up there, but he was walking around and talking and acting tired and nervous. So I thought that I must be wrong about my suspicion, and decided that he wasn't going to do anything interesting except look at the view. So I sat down on a rock and started telling E about the trees.
That's a blossom from the trees. There's a romantic story about them, so I thought I'd tell it. The flowers represent one of the volcano goddess's, Pele's, lovers. While I was telling the story, E started walking around in little circles sort of behind me with his hands in his pockets and sighing. So I ask, "Dude, what's up?"

So he walks around next to me and tries to kneel next to where I'm sitting. Now, this is crunchy lava and he was wearing shorts, so I ask again, "Dude, what are you doing? That's sharp." Or something to that effect.

Next, he looks at me with the cutest face and says something like that he was trying to get comfortable. And then he goes "and ask you to marry me." Then he said something like, "I have this ring," and showed it to me.

I dissolved into a blubbering mass of jelly. I believe I took the ring and clutched it in my hand while I collapsed into his arms and laughed with tears shooting out of my eyes for several minutes. I suppose he was dying for an actual answer and what was going through his head while I was out of mine. After letting me bawl and laugh for a while, he says that he'd need an answer soon. Of course I said "Yes."

After that I pulled back and asked if I still had the ring and I showed him that it was still in my hand. He's so cute. E took it and said that he wanted to tell me about it. The diamond is a family heirloom that has been in his family for about 130 years. The ring is in a simple solitaire setting now, but he wants to reset it for me. To make it mine. We'll do that soon.

I'm so happy that I'm going to be Mrs. E. I'm also honored that his family has welcomed me in such a touching way. Thank you.

Hawai'i: Day One

Here I'm gonna tell you about my trip, day by day. There will even be pictures on most of the posts. I'm 100% exhausted right now, so this will come over the next day or so as I recover. I'm sorry I can't come to knitting this week to tell everything in person. Tonight I am dead, and Wednesday I have Shakespeare tickets. Some of you will hear the stories in person on Yom Kippur this weekend. The rest of you have to wait!

First let me say that things started off sucky. I worked 12 hours on Friday and was pissed off as all hell by the time I was done. I was so crazed that I forgot it was Shabbat (!) and went to bed. Go up Saturday morning and delivered the kitties to my Grandpa's for cat sitting (thanks, Grandpa!) and called the taxi for the airport.

The first flight was to Dallas. The Amazing E got in just after me, and after a short layover we left for LAX, and then Kona. We got into Kona at around 9:30 local time, both of us exhausted. After a small meltdown, we got our luggage and Jeep and left for the hotel, 20 miles to the south.

End day one, tired but in two pieces.

It's a little too big

Here's a picture of me still knitting that Green Tea Raglan. See?

It's a little big. Probably more than expected. I'll have to find a way to make it smaller so I can wear it properly on my tiny little self.

A few pictures

Here are a few pictures for now. I'll post a long and boring day by day journal of the trip when I get home.

This one is the Waipi'o Valley. We drove down there. All the way down to that beach.

This is us at the volcano. E needed a nap and someone thought we were really cute.

Romantic sunrise over Mauna Kea, complete with rainbow.

This is were we had to leave the Jeep behind on the way to a green sand beach. Not even the 4x4 could make the rest of the way.

I'll tell you about this flower later.

Crispy critter

The Amazing E and I have been fairly far off the map for the last several days, and time back in the world is short now.

Suffice it to day that we're having a great time in the sun and sea. It's utterly awesome here. The computer I'm using doesn't allow me to upload my photos, so I'll have to post them when we return.

See you soon.

Lost!

Sorry for the scare. Somehow this got published before I was ready.

I can't find my other Panda Cotton sock! They're my favorite socks, and I wanted to wear them on the plane. I'm worried about its well being. See, I went shopping the other day for the trip and was sitting in the middle of my living room floor taking tags off things and packing them. One thing I wanted to do was to try on my new store bought socks. So I pulled off one of the Panda Cotton socks to try it on. Then I walked around the house with one sock off for about an hour. I don't know where I took the second one off. It is entirely possible that I took if off in the middle of my floor. And that one of the socks got scooped up with the trash. I hope not.

I get in the taxi to O'Hare in 24 hours. Yeeee!

Plotz!

38 hours from now, I am scheduled to be on the airplane. However, what is likely to be in my seat is some shredded bits of myself because I believe I will plotz before then.

I have come here at this time to bitch.

Mind you, this is not the pre-plotz state that I used to get into while I worked at the very stupid government job. That is the good news here. This is induced merely by having too much to do, and not by crisis. I'm just exhausted; I am earning that vacation this week. Yeah, there isn't enough time in the day lately. But that's what vacation is for.

I haven't had time to knit, so I'll not be able to wear the Green Tea Raglan on the plane. Boo. I guess I'll see if I can finish it on the plane.

In other Hawaii related knitting news, I have located a yarn store in Hilo. I will go there and check it out when I need a break from my travelling company.

Since you asked, I will try to update the blog at least once or twice while I'm there. And I'll try to put pictures up.

Almost ready...

The time has almost come. I've been there twice before, you know. The Big Island of Hawaii is my favorite place in the whole world, and I'm going there with the love of my life. So excited. Right now I feel like the luckiest woman in the world.

The trip will be 10 hours of flying time in each direction. This is plus the layovers. What can I say, I bought the tickets on my frequent flyer account, so direct flights were out. Fortunately, the Amazing E will be in the seat next to me for all but the first and last couple of hours. Despite all his amazingness, I expect to need something to do on the planes. I'm not the greatest flyer. Not that I get scared (have tons of trans-oceanic flying experience). I'm just uncomfortable and bored in that small flying tin can. And I can't sleep.

Of course, knitting will be on the in-flight agenda. I'll bring the Green Tea Raglan, if it's not done. Also, I'm thinking of the Oriel Lace Blouse. With that much knitting time on my hands, I feel like working on larger sized, flexible needles is in the interest of my hands. Also, I will bring E's second Bribery Sock.

The front of the Green Tea Raglan is done up to the raglan decreases. Take a look. Check out where the current needle line is compare to the back. After the front is done, only one sleeve will remain. If my PM doesn't kill me with crazy work, I might still get it done before the plane.
I've also finished packing, for the most part:Does Scott TC want to come with in that bag because he'll miss me, or because he likes to sleep in the sun?

SNBWB@night.com

No, not really. Don't try to go there.

But we did get together last Friday night at Nadia's lovely new home in Carol Stream (whilst her husband was out with the dudes). A gracious host, she fed us cheese pizza and a super yummy artichoke dip. My sister, Cheeez, who taught me how to knit, was also in attendance. She was in town on a visit from her super secret job. It was a fun evening of knitting and being women. Much like SnB, but with way more comfortable chairs and better food.

This is a snap of the SNBWB group. Nobody seems to have thought to take any at Nadia's.
BTW, keep voting! I find it amusing that so far you all want to see me as a burrito.

Is it noodle kugel?

No, it's yarn. Back when , you remember that day when we ransacked The Fold? Well, that day I bought 8 ounces of single ply undyed Icelandic wool. It's a bulky weight, and will be used to make myself a lovely winter ensemble. Hat, mitten, etc. I dyed it today.

It started with three colors of acid dyes. There was some idea in my brain of doing a hand painting thing with a plastic bottle and the dyes. I wanted a rich, purple-y blue with flashes of yellow. It came out like this:
In other words, crappy. Where were my rich colors? Where was my beautiful yarn?

So I mixed up some double strength dye, poured it over the yarn, and popped it in the oven for a half hour. Now my yarn is dyed with TRIPLE STRENGTH! And has the richness of a noodle kugel without the calories.
You'll know me this winter because I'll be the one looking like a Smurf after the first sleet storm.

Winter projects

September. Could it be here already? I guess it is. I will be finishing up my two spring/autumn garmet projects, the Green Tea Raglan and the Oriel Lace Blouse, soon enough. I mean, I have 20 hours of airplane time coming up shortly.

So, I'm thinking. What winter projects should I do? One has to be easy; it will be the black and sari silk jacket I tried to do last year. It's frogged. The pattern was crappy, so I need a new one. But I also want a hard project. After looking at Knitterary's books over the last year, I've determined that the hard project has to be an Alice Starmore creation.

Which one? There are so many that are just so stunning that I'm having a hard time picking. So I'm putting it up for a vote. (Not that the voting results will be binding.) Here are the candidates from Herself's website.

LUSKENTYRE

ALBA

AMPHORA

Rheingold Wrap

I bought the crap!

Well, I did despite your advice on the matter. Keep looking here for the Cherry Tree Hill yarn Pr0n. You know, even bad pr0n is still Pr0n.

Oh, and hello New York.

Yarn Pr0n!

If I haven't finished anything lately, and I'm too tired to say anything witty, then I bring you an evening of yarn Pr0n. I've been saving this one.This is my skien of yarn from Zen Strings. It's their Bambewe fingering weight yarn in the Strawberry Fields Forever colorway. Of course, it has some bamboo content. (I know, I know. It's bloody rayon. But it's a rayon that makes my feet happy, dry, and smelling like pansies.) It's also shiny. OOOOH. You know, women and shiny things.

I could not resist - Semetic and cat humor

ROSIE

You decide to become a Jew when you see Satan Claws come down the chimney.

Link for this page: http://www.mycathatesyou.com/cats/20

SALOME

'Heeere's SALOME!'

Changing focus

I've knitted a lot of socks lately, and I have purchased a great deal of sock yarn. I do indeed love hand knitted socks, now that I've made them. I have small, narrow feet with monkey toes (as you've seen). Most store bought socks bunch, twist, and otherwise misbehave on my feet. Furthermore, my feet are cold and clammy most of the time. (yes, I know you always wanted to know that). Knitting my own socks out of carefully selected fibers is solving those problems, and I am learning the joy that socks can bring for the first time in my life. If you're a knitter and haven't tried it, I think you should.

I didn't take part in the Summer of Socks, as some of my knitting buddies have. But I'm getting burned out on them. So I picked up my Green Tree Raglan the other day. It's coming along.

I'm changing career focus lately as well. My job as grant writer was a very satisfying one, but if you know Chicago politics, working for the town I did was nuts. But I did some good. I got at least $250,000 for the town and its residents in less than one year. One very stressful year. It really was like working as a director of development at another organization for at least twice as long. Unfortunately, the long hours and chaos wrecked my health. I'm recovering now.

Work at the gigantic corporate entity is wrapping up shortly. Technically, I am not even an employee there, so I don't know if I can get unemployment when the work is done. However, I'm buoyed by the fact that I've made a lot of money, that the work is low stress, and that headhunters are hunting my head right now. Aggressively. I have decided to return to corporate work in the short term. I will go back to nonprofit work soon enough. After all, that is what my master's degree will be in.

Ok, all of you. You've been found out. You know who you are, and you are all "Gentleman." This post is for you, because I know that all of you are reading this to find out what I'm up to. Keep it up, if you want. Especially if you want to knit.

The 100 stitch sock

Well, it's only the 96 stitch sock, but I don't think the missing four stitches matter. This is the beginning of the Bayerische socks. The yarn is SockPixie. It's a challenging patter, and I only get about 1 row done at a time before I have to put it down. The upside is that I'm learning to cable without a cable needle. I hope this doesn't end up in jail too much.


Guess what else. Guess. The Green Tea Raglan is motoring along again. I suddenly seized it from its home last night and started work on the front.
It would be nice if I got that done in time for vacation. I'm leaving in less than two weeks!

Gah! Camera malfunction! I guess you'll not see the pictures of the Bribery sock and the Firefly sock for now. Speaking of camera, check out my new link on the bar to the right. It's the photography web site of my sister Peggy. There's even a photo my my beautiful sister Eileen in there.

New news

1. One of E's Bribery socks is done. See? 2. My weekend with E and his folks went well. We seem to have gotten off on the right foot.
3. I have to send a congratulations to E. The Amazing E got a big work promotion on Friday. Congratulations, E.
4. E was unfortunately not able to enjoy much of his glory the last few days. He's sick. I was sorry to leave him that way.

That is all.

Dull-es

Bah. Blah. Blekh.

Dulles Airport is my gate to Purgatory. I'm sitting here... bored... this is so dull. And I'm tired. And I'm leaving DC in a little less than an hour. I am happy in DC. Dulles takes me away.

At home are my cats. I hope they're ok. And I'm quite certain that my Zen Strings order will be waiting for me when I get there. But here in DC is the Amazing E. We'll see each other in just a few weeks. September 8, to be exact. (How many days is that?) And it will be in the Dallas/Fort Worth airport on the way to Hawaii.

I always bring a lot of knitting with me on these trips, and I never do a whole lot of it.

The Gambler

Well, here it is. The Link to the Cherry Tree Hill Orphans Sale. It's $30 for a pound of yarn. Some of it's really nice. For example, one time I got three skeins of their possum worsted once (among other things). Now, Now. Don't let the name fool you. It's nice stuff and made a lovely hat and some mitts. I also have received fun fur, bulky potluck crap, and 8 ounces of crazy mohair loopiness.

I don't gamble or buy lottery tickets. This is my twice a year gambling fix.

Weekend update

You guessed it. Once again I am in the very important government city with the Amazing E. I am pleased to report several developments.

First, the first Bribery sock is finished. No camera is available to me now, so I cannot post a picture. It is very lovely and precious to me. There is a small ball of yarn left over. What will I ever do with the little balls of sock yarn? They take up space, you know.

Also, you didn't know about the firefly sock. I cast on a fast stress relief sock last week, and it's down to the beginning of the heel flap. All the other projects on the needles right now are pretty complicated, so I needed something quick and easy to work on when I am feeling braindead or on an airplane. It's made of the Trekking ProNatura and has little "firefly" twists in it. You'll see.

I have done about 10 rows of the Bayerische socks. Those are slow going. The yarn is thin, they are finely detailed, and they are on size 0's.

One last update. This weekend was all about meeting the Amazing E's Mom-E and Dad-E. Yes, it was meet the parents weekend. They are lovely people, and I liked them. I know they read this blog, so "hi!"

Dun, du-dun dun

For the record, I have finished HP7.

Whore!

That's me. I'm so promiscuous with my knitting. It's a shame. I wonder how my knitting pals put up with me. Just look at my shame.

I cast something else on today. You see the pink thing in the corner? That's it. This means that I have four pairs of socks in progress. The first of E's Bribery socks is almost done. I expect I'll close up the toe tonight. I'm going to rip out what I did on the SNBWB socks because I have a way better idea for them. The Entrelac socks are still on vacation until I figure out how to do the half-blocks I need to do to start the heels. And now there is the Bayerische sock in the Peachy-pink SockPixie yarn.

And my Green Tea Raglan still sits untouched on my coffee table.

Woe is me. Woe are my knits.

Once again, the orphan yarn sale!

Wooo! Did ya check out that pasty leg in the last post? Positively glowing.

Cherry Tree Hill is having their twice annual big ole sale, including the Bag o' Crap Orphans by the Bag Sale. They sent out the email today.

I've purchased the bag o'crap before. The first time, I got lovely and weird stuff. The last time, I got pure crap. So this time around, I am cautious. But I will throw caution to the wind and spend the $30 again I think. What about you? Will you buy the mystery yarn? Look over there, I have a poll. Let's see if it works.

Laying about

Today has been a much needed day of laying about the house. It's been weeks, or perhaps months since I had a day of guiltless laying about my house. Yesterday also involved a great deal of laying about the house. Usually, I at least have a little urgency to do something productive on a Sunday, whether it's housework or homework. But this week I decided to let the housework go, and thanks to misreading my class syllabus I am a week ahead on assignments. So today I lay about and knitted.

When I posted this morning, I had just turned the heel on this sock. I cannot stop working on it. After all, it is made of my preciousss...
This picture is was not easy to take. One, it ain't easy to get snaps of your own feet. I'm afraid that I still haven't figured how to get a good picture of the spiral pattern on this sock. But they are coming out nicely. I'm getting about 9.25 stitches to the inch on my size 1.5's. It's a tight gauge, but Koigu blooms and stretches a lot in blocking, so I want them to be tight now. And they're so soft and warm. They'll be even nicer after they're washed. The second difficult thing about this picture is my camera. I can't get more than one picture out of it before the batteries die and I have to plug it back in. That's what the problem has been. Crappy (non) rechargeable batteries.

Oh, and in my laying about I never got to work on the Green Tea Raglan. I kept getting distracted by the precious. So soft....So beautiful....

Speaking of laying about...there one one lady not laying about this weekend. It's Aleta of Froebe Fibers fame. She did the Susan G. Komen 3-Day walk this weekend. Great job Aleta! You've done a fantastic job of moving us toward the cure.

Bribes

You've never seen E's Bribery Socks! Here's my progress on the first one.
The SockPixie Cornucopia calls for a short row heel. Personally, I don't like short row heels and this might be the last one I do. It's a spiral sock pattern, and the pattern is showing up well when the sock is stretched. And boy this sock can stretch! It's made of Koigu, after all. But it is a very slow knit.

My other projects are still be neglected due to my sock knitting passions. I did actually take out the stash box that holds my Green Tea Raglan. I fully intend to knuckle down and work on it this week. To prove my intentions, I have placed the box on my coffee table. It's the box with the blue knitting. The other box is my sock yarn collection. It overfloweth, and is getting bigger. Yesterday I checked my Paypal account and discovered a small balance there. So I went online yarn shopping. I purchased a hank of a superwash merino/bamboo blend from Zen String. You know I'll do anything for bamboo sock yarn, and they offer free shipping.

Lastly, thanks to the Amazing E, I may have a use for my Loopy Mohair Craziness that came in the January Bag of Crap from the Cherry Tree Hill sale. Look:

He suggested a pillow cover. I think it works! Extra points.

Magic numbers

I feel stuck in a bad horror movie, where I'm beginning to see that certain numbers with magical and transient properties have undue relevance on my daily life.

For example, I was knitting on the Precious Socks last night (Incidentally, I am considering renaming these socks E's Bribery Socks, as the yarn was acquired while the Amazing E was trying to influence me to move to DC. Although I admit that yarn, especially Koigu yarn, is a powerful motivating factor, it is not the bribe which will produce the desired result.) when I discovered that the number of stitches on my needles kept changing. There were supposed to be a constant 64 stitches with an 8 stitch repeat that shifted one stitch to the left every other round. Somehow I could not keep the total number of stitches constant on my needles. The number kept shifting, and I could not seem to get it through my brain that I also had to shift everything left on my own, but instead was relying on magic in the yarn to do it for me.

Another magical number gets me in an out of the building where I work to earn money for yarn. I have a crappy contractor's badge that allows me entry and egress from the corporate headquarters of the gigantic corporate entity. There is a bar code on it that must be scanned by a great eye that emits a read light. I have to wave the badge over the great eye a number of times, and then it will let me come to work or leave work. I do not see a constant method to the waving, nor a number of times it has to be done to produced the desired results. It must be magic.

Wow. Goofy, goofy thinking. I must be tired. I would like to go home and knit something easy.

Scenic lookout

Yes, I missed SNB again. With the new job, I hope to reform soon. I was knitting in DC and thinking of all of you. Well, some of the time. ;)

During my 4 1/2 days in DC, I worked on some socks. The Cornucopia socks in Koigu KPPPM progressed by about 2". And I worked on your socks.
See. I told you I thought of you. Methinks I like purple socks.

This photo was taken at a "Scenic Lookout" near Frederick, Maryland. I passed through here this morning on my drive from DC to Chicago. (For the record, it is an 11 hour drive.) This is the site of the Battle of Monocacy. It was "The Battle that Saved Washington," even if it was a Confederate victory. I have to say that I really like Maryland and the DC area in general. It really appeals to the historian and archaeologist that still lurks inside of me.

S(h)ocking...

I've just finished up work for today. This is a beautiful thing. I sat and accomplished what I was supposed to without strange interruptions having to do with terror of bulldozers or screaming bosses. It is also a beautiful thing because I feel able to eat after eight hours of work. Lastly, the Amazing E is due back in one hour. Yes, remote working has its advantages.

Presently I am watching a Star Trek: Voyager rerun on Spike TV, and working on the Precious Socks. The selection of the Cornucopia pattern is probably throwing a bit too much complexity into the whole shebang, as the yarn is dark purple, blue, brown, and magenta. The stitch pattern in showing up certainly, but not well. Dark colors. Oh well. They will be nice, and they will be precious to me... Ehem. I am 3" into the sock. Tonight I will try to post a photo.

I made two possible lapses in judgement this weekend. The first was the selection of a movie to watch with E. We watched Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. Oy. I have known since I met him that E does a eerily accurate voice impression of Gollum. In the past, I've heard him whisper a line or two of if when I talked about my Koigu yarn to him. And I forbade him to every use the voice around me again. He did not comply. After hearing it is it's full glory (or repulsiveness as the case may be) I'm quite certain that he must have spent a great deal of time and effort perfecting this voice. At least I hope he did, because the possibility of E having a natural ability for it is too much for me to bear. At any rate, we watched this movie whilst I knitted with Koigu yarn and was subjected to him speaking about the yarn in his Gollum voice, turning all of Gollum's lines about his precious into comments about my precious. I believe I had nightmares that night.

That first lapse in judgement was a pretty serious one. The other was not so bad. I introduced the Amazing E to Lush goods. You see, he actually was introduced to this company's products at my home two weeks ago and expressed satisfaction. So I brought with me this weekend some soap and other things. I think I've created a monster.

Oh, and thanks to not working in the far northern reaches, I may actually end up knitting socks on Wednesday in Tinley Park. Shocking.

Progress

As you know, I'm done, done, done with the very shitty government job. For the record, I left because of stress and poor behavior on the part of certain people there. The municipality I worked for has some real bad problems. Like existential problems. And it leads to a lot of stress in the workplace, which in turn leads to some really crumby behavior being tolerated. Well, it's tolerated by some. Not by me.

I've moved on to a consulting job at a giant corporate entity. Like one of the huge and hated ones, but then again, I survived working a year for big tobacco. So I should survive this well. My job is to rework several hundred pages of highly technical information. The best news is that I can work remotely the vast majority of the time. Aaaannd that allows me to see a bit more of the Amazing E. In fact, I am in DC with him now preparing the Shabbat dinner. I'm planning on being here for the better part of a week, so I brought some of my stash and my current projects. Note to self: Damn, I need to update that OTN list....

Current projects include the Entrelac socks, Precious socks, SNBWB socks, the Oriel Lace Blouse, and finally the Green Tea Raglan.

• Entrelac socks have been relegated to a very long term project. They are not in jail, but they are on holiday. They need rest. Or perhaps I need rest. They are not an easy knit.
  
• Those two skeins of Koigu E lead me two last week are being turned into Sock Pixie's Cornucopia socks. I've got the cuff of the first one squared away. I'm doing them on the remaining 4 of my favorite Knitpicks needles. I placed an order for a new set the other day, along with a set of size 0's for an upcoming project, and a copy of Vogue Knitting Stitchionary 2: Cables. (In case you don't know, Knitpicks is having a fine summer book sale now. Check it out.)
• SNBWB socks ran into a snag. Near the end of the first pattern repeat, I did something really weird with the yarn. I can't even begin to describe what happened. At the same time, I noticed a big mistake with the cable I intended to put on the edge. I'm going to have to rip out about an inch of progress. So that sucker's in jail. I'm quite amazed. Nothing but the Crapotee has been in jail for a long time.
• The Oriel Lace Blouse sleeves are coming along slowly. Painfully slowly. This project as well as the Green Tea Raglan have been neglected lately in favor of a flurry of passion for sock knitting. I'm certain my infatuation will soon subside and I will give these worthy projects the attention they deserve.

Some of you have been asking questions. I have answers.

In reference to my recent purchase of Sock Pixie yarn, Nadia asked:

Very pretty color. Do you have a pattern in mind yet?

Yes, Eunny Jang has a beautiful free pattern on her blog for some fancy cabled socks that I think this yarn is perfect for. They're called Bayeriche socks. I love them, and they are what I bought the size 0's for.
_____________________________________________________________
Knifty Red asked about the Panda Cotton yarn:

Awesome socks!! I think I have the same yarn in my stash...do they keep your feet cooler because of the cotton?

I wore them yesterday for the first time. The combination of cotton and bamboo makes them fantastic summer socks. My feet were cool, dry, and fresh after a day at work followed by an 11 hour drive to DC. I will definitely buy that yarn again.

Sock Pixie yarn

Here it is. I find it to be very nice, but I haven't knit with it. It's soft, springy, and has a tight twist. Sort of like the precious.

New socks

As I have today off between jobs, there's been time to finish the Panda Cotton socks. This yarn is awesome. It's squishy and elastic and knits up fast. These are just stockinette ankles socks knitted top down.

I forgot to tell you about the one tragedy from my weekend with Amazing E. I lost one of my favorite needles at the airport. I knit socks on Knitpicks needles. I've been using their size "1's" to knit just about every sock in my year long sock knitting career. And I lost one. I had to finish the second of these socks on four needles.

So now I have to replace my favorite sock needles fast. You know, before withdrawal sets in. Through a miracle of cosmic coincidences, I will be able to replace them correctly. Did you know that Knitpicks sells two sizes of size 1's? I did not. But the Yarn Harlot did, and she posted about her favorite needles not long ago. Apparently, they have 2.25mm and 2.5mm size 1's. It's a good thing she posted, because I might have ordered the wrong ones. So I emailed Knitpicks over the weekend. I know I've criticised their customer service before, but this time they came through. They looked up my order from a year ago and told me that I own the 2.5mm needles. I can't believe they had the record still! I would have had to find someone with a micrometer to measure the remaining needles for me. Hooray! I'll be ordering the new needle set today.

Moving on, I have started the SNBWB socks. I'm about half way through the first pattern repeat. I'll start posting pictures when there's more to show, and I'll post the pattern when it's done.

For the record, I am doing the sock with the Magic Loop method. Cast on 12 stitches on each needle using a figure 8 cast on. Increase one stitch by knitting into the front and back of the second stitch from the beginning and end of each needle on every other row until there are 30 stitches on each needle.

What I want

I'm going to whine now.

I want to hide in my house for a few days and knit. Actually, I want to hide on the beach and knit. That's all. To knit and pretend there's nothing else going on. I really need a vacation, and my scheduled one cannot come soon enough.

I'm reflecting this morning on the last six months. Wow. I've been stressed out, and I know that it's been a combination of my job, my health, and the confluence of the two. Fortunately, today is my last day at the Village. I am supposed to start two months of consulting at a locally based gigantic corporate entity tomorrow. Too bad I can't take some time off. I have a list of complaints right now, like that there will be a pause in my health care because of the transition, that the project manager at the new job has not told me where to meet him tomorrow, that I am tired from my weekend with E, and that I have a paper due on Thursday. The good news is that this shitty job is done, that the new one will be lower stress and allow me to work only 4 days a week, and that I'm not as sick as I thought. I'll get better soon.

One more day. Just one more day. I can do this.

My own...my love...my own...my precious

It's purple. It's Kooooiiiiiguuuuu. It's.....

Knitting my way to DC

Once again, I've safely returned from a weekend with the Amazing E. Sigh. It was a nice weekend.

I left for DC from the very important government job at about 3pm. I was supposed to take a 9pm flight to Baltimore, but I thought I'd try for an earlier standby seat. Everything looked to be running on time. Oy. I should have just had dinner with Marcy.

I got to the airport, and didn't know just what I was supposed to be doing to get on the standby list. So I stood in a line for 30 minutes until an agent told me to go to the other line. In the mean time, flights are taking off. Flights I could be on. So I got in the other (non-moving) line for 45 minutes. Eventually, after we all started bitching to each other about the lack of progress, another passenger who flies for business all the time told me just to leave the line and go to the gates to arrange the standby. So I got in the security line. For 30 minutes. And I was in a panic over the fact that my 2 ounce face cream (from Lush) was in a one gallon bag. Fortunately, the agents were in a rush to see us through the line and ignored my breach of protocol.

At long last, I got to the gates and discovered that a stationary thunderstorm was sitting and dumping water on the DC area. So all flights were delayed. My 9:00 pm flight would leave around 11:45. I did get myself on some standby lists for earlier flights to Baltimore, but they would not put me on a flight to Reagan or Dulles without some huge increase in price, even if seats were available on those planes. So I sat. And knitted. And watched the hours go by. Finally around 9pm I ran up to the boarding queue of a flight to Reagan, presented by boarding pass for the pitifully delayed Baltimore flight, made sad eyes, and asked if a seat was available. Success! There was one more seat, and it was mine. The seat was well earned, and I got to sit in it for a long time. The plane took another 30 minutes to get moving. During my seven hours of waiting at O'Hare, I managed to get the second Panda Cotton sock down down to the heel flap. Yay for that.

I have to tell you something about E. He seriously spent a lot of energy trying to convince me to move out there. He worked so hard at it. Do you know what he did? He found a yarn store and took me there. And it wasn't just any yarn store. This yarn store had my precious. Yesssss. I bought 2 hanks. I'll show you later if I can get the camera to work. The best part of my purchase of the precious was that E told the proprietress that I call the Koigu the precious, and she slyly replied "...it is preciousss." She knows.

I also got a skein of Trekking ProNatura in a nice colorway dominated by green. I've had my eye on this yarn for some time. It's 75% superwash wool and 25% bamboo fiber. E picked the color. The point of this trip was to show me that things that I like exist in DC. Now he should find me a SnB group with nice ladies.

Yesterday we went to the Shenandoah National Park for a scenic drive and some hiking along a short stretch of the Appalachian Trail. It was very nice. I got in early this morning and came straight to work. Not that I have too much to do here. Tomorrow is my last day.

E asked me something this weekend. He asked me to move to DC and live with him. I told him I would not. Sorry. None of this is to say that there is anything wrong with our relationship. I just won't live with a man I'm not married to. But I do know for sure now that he's serious. So am I. And at least I know that my precious lives in DC as well.

Boo!

Hah! Double hah! Guess what? Really, guess...

I am no longer a very important government employee. I handed in my resignation yesterday. My last day is supposed to be Tuesday, July 31. I may not even stay that long, depending on certain things that happen today. I will be returning to consulting on Wednesday after receiving another offer. The stress level became unbearable in the last couple of months, and I can't do it anymore. Check out the "sneak attack" in the Chicago news today if you'd like an idea of why.

And guess what else? I'm leaving for a weekend with the Amazing E tonight.

One more guess. Try. C'mon. OK. Well, I finished the first of the Panda Cotton socks. I wish I could post a picture.

Up yours!

Well, the tests are done. I had a colonoscopy, the ultimate medical "up yours" today. I'm sure you heard all about the President's recent one, so I can spare you the details of what this test is. I can't tell you, it ain't fun. But there are preliminary results to report: good and bad.

First the good news. I had been receiving treatment from my regular physician based on the presumption that I have ulcerative colitis. This is a nasty and insidious illness that causes digestive ulcers and usually results in the removal of various parts of the anatomy. I have had an incident of it in the past, but it was fairly mild and put into remission with treatment. (G-d willing it will stay that way) Understandably, when I started showing symptoms of ulcers again, this illness was presumed to be the problem. However, after today's test, the doctor believes that I have a more acute problem, possibly an infection and/or stress, that is causing inflammation and ulcerations in my stomach and some other places. This is a good thing. It can be cured outright and I should have a full recovery.

The bad news is that the test resulted in some complications. I started bleeding pretty badly after the procedure and it caused some excitement in the hospital. Fortunately, it's stopped now and I'm home to rest. I will remain here for another day or two to rest.

I would like to send another Up Yours! tonight to HP. I have a camera from them that is used almost exclusively to bring you yarn pr0n. Does HP have some political agenda against all types of pr0n? Because that bastard keeps acting up. Now it won't charge. So I can't take pictures. If I could, you'd see a nearly done sock where there used to be an arsed up tangle of Panda Cotton yarn.

More diversions

Well, I'm here in my office. There's not a lot of pressing work to do, and I'm nervous about tomorrow's festivities. I won't go into a detailed report on the events, as Katie Couric already did it on national tv. Suffice it to say, the test itself is not fun but the preparations tonight might be worse. I just hope that they give me enough drugs tomorrow. That's what I'm nervous about. Not enough drugs.

So I'm occupying myself with thoughts of my upcoming vacation with The Amazing E. This weekend we booked our flights to the Big Island of Hawaii on my frequent flyer account. The two of us will spend seven days there in September. I've been there twice, but E as never been. So I'm letting him pick most of the activities. I think he's very excited. E was up half of Saturday night reading the guidebook. He's so cute.

Hawaii is possibly my favorite place in the world. I like it even better than Jerusalem. I mean, it has great weather, good diving, and a drive-in volcano. On my previous two trips, I concentrated on diving and volcano hiking. I wonder what E will have in store for me on this trip?

Diversions

This weekend has been filled with pleasant diversions.

Friday was great. First of all, I didn't' have to work. (Yay!) The very important government office has not been a fun place lately. We've seen a rash of resignations, terminations, and general poor behavior there lately, culminating in the announcement of a major reorganization on Thursday. So I was glad to not be there. Instead, I picked up The Amazing E from Midway Airport at the crack arse of dawn that morning. I believe that E's goal for this visit was to see me eat and rest as much as possible, and these were our priority.

Miss Luka, La Petite Tricoteuse, and the Captain joined us for Shabbat dinner at my place Friday night. I don't know about them, but E and I had a great time, even with Duncan's antics. The poor kitty. He just wanted love and Turkish Delight. Don't worry, he didn't get any candy.In knitting news, the tangle of Panda Cotton is once again on the road to sockdom. After much hemming and hawing, I have settled on (drum roll, please...) plain stockinette. And it's going quickly.

I'll need some diversions tomorrow. Tomorrow is hospital. Blech. I only have to be there for a couple of hours. It's for tests. But they're nasty and I'll be laid up for at least a day afterward. You see, I have a new doctor and he wants to run diagnostic tests himself to confirm my original Insidious diagnosis. After that, I may actually start to get some aggressive treatment.

My primary diversion for tomorrow is likely to be a book. You know what book. Yes, I bought HP7. It came via UPS to my door on Saturday morning, and I'm about 140 pages into it.

BTW, when are we allowed to start talking about this book? I mean, most people I know have finished it. What amount of elapsed time is polite? A week?

Musings on a love affair gone wrong

I've cast on the Panda Cotton again and again, but I've produced exactly fuckall. Well, actually, I've produced a tangled ball of yarn. Don't get me wrong. I love the yarn. I love it so much that I am putting a great deal of pressure on myself to make something really good out of it. First it was the Snicket Sock, which I got half way through when I got sick of it's foolishness and pulled the lot out. That pattern should roast in hell for eternity. Then I cast on a diamond lace number because I think that a subtle geometric patter would be best for this yarn. However, I got a couple inches done and pulled it out. Too big and weird. So not it's cast on again, and an inch of ribbing is done for the cuff. But I don't know what I'll do now. Patterns don't really show up well with this yarn. It's very colored. Do I do just a stockinette sock (G-d forbid!)? I could do it that way, and I'd have new socks to prance around in in no time at all. But not something fancy. Sigh. Decisions, Decisions.

I'm thinking that I rushed into this relationship. (And no, this post is not a cryptic message about my other blooming love affair). I was once in love with a skein of STR in the Heartstone colorway that was purchased by the SNBWB gals on our GREAT SNB TRIP TO THE FOLD. When they presented it to me, I promised to love it and hug it and make up a pattern just for it in honor of the group. But it got bumped in favor of my infatuation with this bamboo sweetie. Perhaps I should put the Panda Cotton away and refocus on the STR and the Entrelac socks.

Now, for juicy news about my other love affair. Yes, I am seeing the Amazing E this weekend. And yes, I am seeing him next weekend! And finally, yes, I am booking the trip to Hawaii with E this weekend while he is in town. Please contact Tzurriz to place your wagers.

I couldn't stop myself

My Stash Building Fund has been drastically reduced lately, as it pulls from the same pot of money as the Visiting E Fund. Therefore, I haven't bought new yarn in at least a month. Until yesterday. I was inspired by Wendy's newly finished creation, and purchased yarn from SockPixie in the Peach Melba colorway yesterday. I can't wait until it arrives.

I officially stink

I can't believe it's been four days since I posted last. Time seems to be slipping away from me lately.

I just got home from work. Yes, it is Sunday. The John Kurtz 5K was today, and it went off well. With only 3 weeks to plan, we attracted 150 runners, including two men who competed against each other in the 1996 Olympics. It was very exciting. That's a good one for my resume. But I'm home and I stink. It was warm out there.

Fortunately, working my ass off today means that I will not have to work on Friday. And guess what? The Amazing E is arriving early that morning! We'll have three days together. I'm so glad he's coming in.

But for what you've come here for. I knitted these booties yesterday for my neighbor's new baby. Sabastian was born on July 3. Congratulations, Arthur and Barbara.
These were knitted according to the pattern in Last Minute Knitted gifts on size 1's using some left over STR on the Jewel of the Nile colorway.

I did it.

I signed up for Ravelry. I've actually hidden this for you for several days, but since the cool kids are all signing up, I had to fess up. So when I get the invite, I'll be able to obsess over organizing my wee stash.

Do you know what I did at work today? I get dressed up in a reflective vest and went a-walking around the town where I work with a road measuring wheel to mark off for the upcoming 5K. They call me "grant writer."

Ripped

Love the yarn, hated the socks. I pulled out my work on the Panda Cotton Snicket Sock. It sucked. That pattern is a pain in the arse for the size small. The way the pattern is written, you have to switch the number of stitches on each needle every few rounds. Yesterday I cast on the beginning of a diamond lace pattern from the same yarn, but an inch into the knitting I realized that that sock was arsed up as well. Too big. So it's all been ripped out again. The poor yarn has really taken a beating. I'll give it a bath and croon lullabies to it tonight to try to restore it to happiness.

Insidious is still being a pain in my arse, but less so than before. I believe the weight loss has ended for now, and I am able to eat tasteless foods. B"H. I am eating fine things such as rice, toast, and chicken soup with rice or toast. However, this diet lacks the necessary calories to fuel my body. Amazing E (being the amazing guy he is) turned me on to non-dairy protein shakes to make up the difference. This is the sort of thing that body builders drink to get ripped...I'm sure I'll get huge...and they've been working. While still ill, I have more energy.

In fact, I am drinking one now. I just got off the phone with E, and during our conversation he asked me what I'd eaten today. Sometimes he asks. Did you know he's really a Jewish mother? He added up the calories he thought I ate today and declared it not nearly enough, demanding that I have one of these shakes before bed. I'd not had one today because I ran out of soymilk to mix the vanilla flavored powder with. So I mixed it with water instead. Heh. I can't say it tastes bad, but it's blue.

If I'm a Smurf tomorrow, E, it's your fault.

Insanity

Well, I was all puffed up with pride over having finished the front of my Oriel Lace Blouse, and decided to cast on the two sleeves. And then I read the pattern.

Hah.

That crazy pattern calls for a zillion needle changes! It starts with a size 8 cast on, 17 rows of size 7, 16 rows of size 6, 14 rows of size 5, and finally 8 rows with size 3! It's a good thing I'll be using interchangeable needles, but that's just nuts.

I guess I'll cast them on anyway.

Look here (I hope)

Well, well, well. I actually got photos uploaded. IE is objecting strenuously, but the force of my will has prevailed.

Here we have the front of the Oriel Lace Blouse. I finished it and am blocking it today. It's lovely. I am honored that people are asking my advice about this pattern. After doing a Google search, I'm not finding too many people who have gotten very far on this project yet. It's very pretty, but it is intimidating. Not because the the pattern is horribly difficult, because it's not once you figure it out. It's just that the way it's written leaves a lot to figure out.

These are the Camo Snicket Socks. The cable shows up nicer in person.
And these are long overdue Jaywalkers!
I'm very tired today. I had two pretty good days, and now I'm shot again. Right now I'm trying to find the energy to go Miss Luka's party. Blah. This is frustrating.

What is it, really?

I mean, a knit blog with no pictures? I guess the results are self evident here. Perhaps the problem not blogger after all. I seem to be having an error every time I try to close a browser window, and it is the problem that is leading to a lack of photos. I've run the virus scans, and nothing comes up.

With Jaywalkers done, I have started my next (non-Entrelac) sock project. The Entrelac socks are going to be a very long term thing, as I really can only deal with them for short periods. I don't want them to end in jail just because they frustrate me. They are innocent knits that should not unfairly incur my wrath. This next project is a Snicket Sock made of Panda Cotton in Fall Herbs on size 1 DPN's. It's a bit of a to-do for a variegated yarn, but somehow I can't bring myself to make a plain stockinette sock. The fabric is lovely, soft, and firm. A plain stockinette would work up very quickly in this yarn, but I've spent two days getting the ribbing and one repeat of the 20 row chart done, being not-so-quick in the cable needle. I sort of wish Wendy would hurry up and publish the pattern for S(p)ocks. I'd rip out my progress now and do those, but won't if I get to far with the Snicket this weekend.

Feeling (almost) human

Here I am, sitting at my very stupid important government job bored and uninspired to do anything above and beyond. Huge sidewalk grant went in last Friday. Next one not due for some time. The government powers that be have recruited me to plan a 5K which will take place next weekend. In fact, you can sign up here. It's only $10, and you get a free shirt. I think a group of jogging knitters would make a fine spectacle.

Getting back to it, I am bored at work. I have no big grant to work on right now, and I am able to think about something other than my guts for the first time in at least three weeks. So just a minute ago a horrifying thought occurred to me. Considering that I've been living with the situation that the thought was about for three years, I am surprised that it hasn't occurred to me before. This is the thought:

My household consists of me, Duncan (on the left), and Scott TC (on the right).

Duncan is named after Duncan Idaho. You get special points if you know who that is. Scott TC is named after toilet paper. For real. My first inclination when I met him was to name him Nimoy, as he closely resembles a Jewish Vulcan. However, when he got to my home he revealed his favorite hobby to me. That being taking bites out to rolls of toilet paper and spitting them into a pile on the floor until his mouth gets to dry or the paper supply is exhausted.

Back to my terrible thought. I am outnumbered by my cats. It's two against one. Dun dun dun.

Success!

Ha ha!

Thanks to my last post:

I knew I could do it!

Yet another disappointment

You know, I was just recovering from the identity crisis brought on by finding out I was dishcloth cotton. And now, thanks to Miss Luka, I am doubting myself again. This is why:



Apparently, my use of the words "breast" and "shits" are the reasons for the PG rating. However, I would have thought I'd get at least a PG-13 rating or higher. There has, of course, been all kinds of yarn porn and yarn-otica on this blog, and I know I've dropped F-bombs in here somewhere. Specifically, I recall the use of "fuckall" and "fucker" in a post about Chicago traffic. Perhaps the rating computer forgave me because it's smart enough to know that any oath taken while describing Chicago traffic is forgivable.

I shall have to try harder.

Knit knit knit

So I've been home a lot lately. It's helped. After a weekend of doing almost nothing plus a couple days off from work this week, I actually had the energy and stomach constitution to go to the 4th of July festivities hosted by the Froebe Fibers ladies last night. Now I am tired again, and I'm leaving for work in a few minutes.





I say I've done almost nothing because my days have included alternately sleeping, laying about, and knitting. Perhaps Blogger will let me put pictures up now...

Well, it looks like the blogging gods smiled on me a little. I was able to upload this one photo, but I really wanted to show you more.

This is the front of the Oriel Lace Blouse. Nice, huh? In other knitting news, I FINALLY FINISHED JAYWALKERS! Really. After actually finishing a pair of socks made from the Tofutsies yarn, my opinion about it has changed a bit. First of all, it makes comfortable socks. I wore them yesterday. However, the yarn sucks to work with. For one, it stinks. Literally. Secondly, one of the plies is really thin and was broken in many places. Also, I found no less than three knots during the course of knitting one sock. Consequently, there are many weaved in ends in my socks. Not nice. I hope that their quality control improves, because this could be very nice sock yarn. But it was a pain to knit with.