Um.

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

Name that yarn!

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

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!

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!

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.

Send help.

All's well that ends well

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

A message just came through.

4pm.

It did not say what day.

Act 4 continues

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

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

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

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

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...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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?

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.

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

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

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)

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...

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

Half time

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

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

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

Orange Kit Kat.

Boo!

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.

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

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!

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

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

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!

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

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

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

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

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

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?

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

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.

Hurricane

It's nice here now. Sunny, even. But as you can see from this map by the National Weather Service it looks like tropical storm Hanna's gonna blow through here tomorrow afternoon. Maryland is apparently on two types of warnings. The eastern part of the state is on a tropical storm warning. More inland areas are on a flash flood warning. We're right on the border between the two areas. So we're going to get hit with a grand storm (and based on my experience here in Maryland, that means that the power will go out for days). Oh, the excitement.

You'll be proud to hear this. With Gustav recently gone, Hanna about to hit, and Ike and Josephine close behind, our government has swung into action. The entire PHS has been put on alert to be ready to go to any disaster. They don't want a repeat of what happened in New Orleans with the slow response. So the Amazing E may have to fly off at any time to help save the day. I doubt he'll be wearing this when he goes, but you should see him in the whole gettup. He looks amazing.

Re-in-donkulous

I realize it as well as anyone who has been reading here this summer. I've been writing re-in-donkulous posts about serious things. Blame it on the travel and finishing graduate studies. I've been flying back and forth between DC and Chicago all summer, and think I spend about a third of my summer in transit. Actually, I spent the majority of August in Chicago. Some people even saw me there. And now I'm done. My classes are done. All I have left is my master's project, and that is partially done. Say it with me. HOORAY!

Now that I can stop, look around, think, and kvetch, I want to write seriously about some re-in-donkulous things.

For one, my knitting. I've been knitting a lot this summer. A real lot. I mean, flying-twice-a-week-all-summer amounts of knitting. Do you know what I got done? Almost nothing. I have two pairs of socks and two berets. But I also have at least four single socks and a completely-knitted-but-not-felted felted stained glass bag. Summer of socks is nearly finished, and I only have two comeplete pairs. Re-in-donkulous!

You know what else? Flying is re-in-donkulous now. The planes are full, the airfares are sky high, and you have to pay for your bags to be checked. Oy. Plus you gotta be there an hour and a half before the flight. Oy. At least it gives time for knitting.

Re-in-donkulously cool alert! I got an iPhone. Actually, E made me get it. The first coolest part is that the purchase of the iPhone represented the first sizable payment to myself from Rock Creek Yarn. Secondly, it's just cool. It's a good phone and I can do all sorts of interesting things like make my grocery list on it. I even found a free knitting application.

Latly, hurricanes are re-in-donkulous. For real. Gustav went through the Gulf Coast, and the PHS got called up. E was not one of those called up this time. (That's a major thing his branch of the service does, going to hurricanes.) However, this weekend we'll get another chance. Hanna is on her way up here. So, woo hoo! My first hurricane.

Hail! Hail! The Gang's All Here

This weekend was an impromptu family reunion of the Gentlemens. Some certain family member who does not wish to be named has been rather ill, so everybody flew into Chicago for a visit. This involved sisters from the left coast, the right coast, the United Kingdom, and even me and E flying on Thursday and Friday all to the center of the country. So we've all been here. It's very nice. We hardly get together like this.

And the ill person seems to be doing a bit better.

Flame out

After much futzing, I have produced my Tree Beret for Ravelympics.
I had to take the picture with my camera because I'm at my grandpa's in Chicago. It's really very pretty. But it's too big for me.

Prisoner updates

Remember Ole' Crap-o-tee? The evil knit languishes in knitting jail. Seeing as how I know of no convention on the treatment of prisoner knits, today the punishment of this knit was made (notice the use of passive voice here) more severe. It's needles where taken away, and sent to another part of the country. There is no hope. Doomed.

And then there is the case of a certain Jeremy Clark-Erskine. According to the Indiana database of prisoners, he's supposed to be released from the custody of the state today. I believe that he has been convicted of another crime in Marion County, and am hoping that upon his release from state prison he was delivered to the care of that county to serve his sentence. A lot of people are hitting this blog today looking for information about him. If you know if he was really released, please contact me by commenting anonymously, and tell me if you want me to actually make your comment public. I have the option of keeping it for my eyes only.

A quick note

I'm still not done with that darn hat! There's been lots of picking out two or three rows and reknitting. Ugh. Frustration.

I'm in Chicago now, and I have a final tonight. Things have been pretty busy here since I arrived with school and family stuff. My flight back to Maryland is tomorrow morning.

Day 1: Disappointment of Olympic Proportions

Cry.

I cast on at precisely 8 am eastern.It was going so well. I got to row 19 of the Tree Beret and found an error. This is a Brioche Beret that is a cousin to the Windmill. I'd been knitting with only a few cases of picking back small portions steadily all day. And then I realized that I'd missed an increase in one section about, oh, seven rows back. I thought it was two rows back, but I tinked all those and then discovered the true horror of the situation.

Gasp. I'm pulling it all out now

On your marks,

Dude, I'm totally ready. My yarns are here. My needles are sharpened. I'm ready to take my team to victory. The mass cast on begins tomorrow morning at 8 am eastern time.

Ravelympics 2008

I have taken on the challenge, and it's not socks.

Don't get me wrong. I love the socks, and I love summer. But also love knitting, competing in amateur sports, and international camaraderie. So I've thrown my needles in the ring for the Bag-n-Tote Backstroke event in Ravelympics 2008. For 17 days during the games in Beijing, I'll take a break from my sock knitting to knit the Felted Stained Glass Fan Bag.

The new gear bag has taken its place next to my Summer of Socks bag our living room.

Stay tuned. Scott TC will be reporting on location.

Favorite Shabbat Dinner

Every Friday night I cook an especially good dinner. Sometimes it's a nice fish or roast chicken, but my favorite are stuffed onions. They take a little work, but are absolutely super.

Ingredients:

3 or 4 very large sweet onions
3/4 lb ground lamb
2 fresh tomatoes diced
1/2 cup long grain rice, soaked in water for 30 minutes
1 small can tomato sauce
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp allspice
1 tbs chopped parsley
2 tbs olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
Juice from 1/2 lemon

Place unpeeled onions in a large pot and cover with water. Put the pot over medium high heat and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat and simmer the onions for 30 minutes. Remove onions from water and set aside to cool until they can be handled.

Drain the rice.

In a large mixing bowl, combine lamb, tomatoes, cinnamon, allspice, rice, parsley, salt, and pepper. Mix well with your hands.

Cut the root and stem ends off the unpeeled onions. Cut a slit the radius of each onion. That is, cut the onion from the outside to the center. Remove the peel and as many layers you need to to get to a layer that is edible and discard. Take off each layer of the onion as you can; you should get four or five good petals per onion. They will curl up on themselves. Set aside and repeat for each onion. Save the onion core for another dish.

Now stuff the onions. Handling the onion petals carefully so as not to tear them, place a few tablespoons to a half cup of the meat mixture into each petal and roll it up so it looks like a fat sausage. The amount used will depend on the size of the petal, but the onion should roll up somewhat on itself. Repeat until all stuffing is used.

Heat olive oil in a large lidded pan until it shimmers over medium heat. Place the onions seam side down into the pan. Cook for about 5 minutes. Add the tomato sauce, chicken broth, and lemon juice. Reduce heat to low and cover. Simmer for 45 minutes.

Serve four people with a green salad and chewy bread for dipping in the sauce.

There was no mashed potatoes.

In which I multi-task

Ever tried to juggle? I'm terrible at it really.

I'm currently working on two classes for the end of my degree while thinking about what my final project will be, running the yarn business, and knitting for Summer of Socks (which is related to the yarn business). Somehow I am doing a lot but it doesn't occur to me that much of it would be interested to my dear readers.

But there is progress on all of these tasks. For one, I have written one short paper this week and am working on a second now. Yes, even now. I'm taking a break from it so my brain can stop smoking. This is of course part of the process because we don't want anything to catch fire.

I've finished yet another single sock. Here it is being modeled on my knifty new sock blockers.
The sock is made of Panda Cotton in Painted Lilac. Unfortunately I can't cast the other on because immediately upon finishing this I cast to my one set of size 1.5 needles a sock for E. Therefore I have three single socks and three other socks in progress that count for SoS. Hopefully I'll knuckle down and finish at least one pair by the weekend. And hopefully it will be the second Durin sock. I have to get that pattern test knitted and published ASAP.

Also in news is a new colorway for Rock Creek Yarn. Behold Cherokee. It's a Smoky Mountains inspired colorway with dusty violet, blue, and orange. It'll be up and available soon enough on the website.

And now back to that paper.

Two socks

And they don't even match.

I finished one socks from each of two patterns today. The first is the Rivendell sock. It's a fairly easy pattern. Really. The only hard part is the wrapped stitches in the cuff.The second sock is Durin. I'm writing it up now. It's my own and will be available on Ravelry and my store in a couple of weeks. This is done in my Cable-icious BFL yarn.

Love the swappin

I got a package today. It came at a very good time. Today isn't a happy day. I seem to have strained my neck on the drive home, and it's got me laid up today. That and E left for a business trip today. But this package from the Sock Yarn From Your Stash swap came today. All the way from Canada.

The package includes a skein of Yarn Pirate's yarn, the pattern for Cookie A's Mingus socks, a really cool small project bag, some rose scented bath goodies from The Body Shop, coffee, chocolates, and some other small gifts.
I love presents.

Windmill Beret

Back on the day the Yarn Harlot came to Nana's Knitting Shop in Oak Lawn, some sort of knitting epidemic spread through the store. I'm not sure how it got started, but it hit me hard. Before it passed, I'd purchased a skein of Noro Silk Garden and a skein of Cascade 220 to knit the "Windmill Beret." Not that I had any idea of what it was. But you know how it is. Sometimes the yarn fumes can cause a disease.

In the following weeks I sat here and cast it on. And ripped it out. And cast it back on. And frogged it. And. Cast. It. On. And. Frogged. That. MF.

ad nauseam

Until I came to Chicago and got some help. Some of the ladies who had caught the disease that day had found ways to deal with it, assuring all of us in the throws of the illness that it's not so bad. And that it gets easier to deal with once you're used to it.

Taking their advice, I cast the hat back on to my needles. Four days later I had this:It's lovely with the shades of green and blue. And all my hair fits inside. I feel a knitting jag coming on.

I just realized. Sweaters hate me.

Before I get on topic, I'd like to say something. I got to Chicago safely. The trip took about 13 hours, including stops. The details of my cross country yarn crawl will be disclosed shortly. Perhaps next week after I finish it. 'Twas a bit stunted, you see. But never fear, I am at Tzurriz's house safe and sound. Without as much delightfully diverse yarn and stories as I'd hope.

(At this time I'd like to address one question I was recently asked. Tzurriz is Yiddish for "trouble," and the apt nickname of a dear friend of mine in the Chicago area. ((Perhaps the name comes from some of her more memorable exploits: spending well over a year trying to introduce me to the Amazing E.))

Perhaps because of the amount of knitterly literature I've absorbed in the last few days, I've been contemplating a serious subject. And oh, by the way, my signed copy of Things I Learned from Knitting was at Tzurriz's after all. Anyway, the subject was my pitiful relationship with the sweater. By this I mean no sweater in particular, but rather all sweaters that I knit much like an ornithologist who has a close relationship with flightless Antarctic birds refers to them collectively as "the penguin."

In my 3.667 years of knitting, I have cast on a total of five sweaters. The first was frogged long ago and very early in my knitting career. No harm, no foul. The second was the Fair Isle Sleeve Top which I still own. It slumbers in a bag. I've worn it once. It is a beautiful work of art and completely unwearable. To this day I haven't to foggiest what the designer was thinking, and I'd like to write her a letter. Third is the Green Tea Raglan. We'll come back to this in a moment. The fourth sweater is a Sahara. Knitting that lovely whizzed by in only six weeks. However, I used some silk for the lace that I'd dyed with Kool-Aid. It wasn't colorfast and faded to a horrid shade of blue-gray. I'm pretty sure it can be saved if I rip off the lace and reknit with something I like better. And then there is the Oriel Lace Blouse. I still have hopes for this blouse. I have only to do the back. It will be done this year. Then I can find out how disappointed I am with it. For now it remains an unrequited love.

The Green Tea Raglan. Sigh. Feel this with me. Sigh....

I finished it in late May. I think I even posted about it with no picture. To review the case history, I purchased the yarn for it in a fire sale at a yarn store. In short order it was cast on for an unsuccessful project and frogged. The Green Tea Raglan was cast on, and according to the pattern I should have just made it with the yardage. Yes, I know I was tempting fate, but let's not dwell on that. In short order I got nearly done but realized that I would run out of yarn sometime during the last sleeve. The knit was cast into prison for months whilst we searched for the one or two balls of what turned out to be a rare yarn. When two perfectly matching balls of another colorway were by an act of yarny heroism in another state by my LYS, the project was restarted and shortly thereafter finished.

Then I spent hours properly seaming and blocking. Then I wore the perfect knit with glee. Three times.

Then some fiendish cat decided it was his mommy and kneaded it with his claws while it sat in its place waiting to be lovingly hand washed. All those little bamboo threads that make up the yarn got frayed on one part near the bottom. It's unwearable. It's only on one section near the bottom hem of the back, but it's several square inches of very frayed fabric.

And I don't know if I can get anymore of that yarn. Boo hoo hoo. Perhaps sweaters are never to be, and I am destined to knit socks forever. And perhaps this is deductive reasoning at work.

Knitting and driving

At 7 am sharp (ish) tomorrow morning, I'll be leaving to drive to Chicago. More accurately, I'll be driving to Flossmoor, IL and visiting Chicago on almost every one of the nine days I'll be in the area.

As anyone who has done cross country driving knows, particularly if you've made the trip before and seen all the sights along the way, it's hour after hour of trance-like boredom. According to Google Maps my trip tomorrow will take 11 hours and 17 minutes. At the posted speed limits. Not that I will admit that I intend to break the law on my trip, but I will take note that Ohio seems to enforce speed limits and Indiana does not. And as we know, I am a woman and therefore will have to stop to pee. So let's say that my trip will take 12 hours door to door.

12 hours is a lot of time to sit in a small metal box, even if it is moving and dangerous speeds. So I've been trying to figure out how to make it more enjoyable. My immediate reflex is the think that I should combine knitting with this trip. Of course. However, my vice-like grasp of the obvious tells me that I should certainly not actually knit while driving 90 65 miles per hour down a highway shared with triple trailers. Especially since I'm working on socks on very pointy size 1.5 metal needles. And most especially since my husband is clearly a Jewish mother in his heart.

So I've looked for other ways to incorporate knitting with the drive. My success has been mixed. I found At Knit's End by the Yarn Harlot on iTunes audiobooks. And it's read by herself! A real treat. My big failure, or more accurately the failure of muggle web designers, it that none of the driving direction pages allow you to search for yarn stores along your route. I'm going to keep looking for a site that will. Or I'll make my million by designing such a thing. Damn it.

So right now I'm packing and manually making a list of yarn stores easily access able to my route and thinking about how I will be away from this guy way too long. We're newlyweds, after all.
Does anyone know how long it takes to play the entire Rock Band Aerosmith game? He got it yesterday to ease his suffering while I'm gone. I'm just wondering when I can start expecting phone calls about missing me and asking where the clean underwear are.

Keep on sockin'

Despite the stoopidness of my tummy, I have been taking advantage of this summer to have fun and get a lot done. But you know that. It's why I'm not blogging much.

Summer of Socks is coming along. Fifteen days in, I have something like 2.25 pairs of socks knit. The latest finished was the Campfire socks. They seemed to have been well received by Ravelers, so I think I'll write up the pattern soon. It's an easy columnar lace pattern, and with the thickness and elasticity of Jitterbug, they were only 54 stitches around. Oh, and yes. My legs and feet are that pasty white. Modest dress is not conducive to the tan. Not that a fair lass like me ever really tanned in the sun.

So I've cast on new socks. When I brought this Great Adirondack Soxie yarn in the Birch colorway home, the Amazing E immediately declared it "Sindarin." I knew then I had to use it for Rivendell socks, which I'd been eying and spying since the Harlot knit them. This is the first sock. I'm calling them "Imladris" because that's the name for Rivendell in Sindarin, the language of the Wood Elves. (and I know I'm a nerd.)The only part that's really hard are figuring out the wrapped stitches at the top.

E's got a four day weekend this weekend. Very important government employees, you know. Anyway, we've been chilling out and resting. Even so, I've also done a lot. Today we went blueberry picking at a local "you pick'em" orchard. Man, that's a smart business plan. They do the labor to plant the crops, but people pay to come and pick them and take them away. At any rate, we got two pounds of the biggest blueberries I've ever seen. I made a batch of awesome muffins for us. E's gorging himself on the now.

I've also been working on yet another paper for school. Whew. After two years, I'm finally in the home stretch. Just a couple more classes and the seminar next week. Oh, did you know? I will be coming to Chicago on Wednesday and staying for nine days to go to that seminar.

Bleh.

I got that paper in. And my final for another class. I have another final due next week before I leave for Chicago. But I didn't work on it today. Or yesterday.

Today I had, ehem, medical procedures. I'll not use the "c" word here, but the procedures involved looking into my guts from both directions. Insidious has been back of late, so my new Navy docs wanted to look inside. It seems there's nothing horrible to report. No giant holes or bad diseases. Just a lot of irritation. And a strange anatomical thing involving my large intestine. Very interesting, but not dangerous.

So I've been home feeling crumby and knitting. For a little change, right now I'm feeling crumby and stoned while knitting. The sedatives have not quite worn off.

All this crumbiness and knitting has produced even more Summer of Socks progress. I'm nearly done with my second pair. There are another of my own creations made from Jitterbug sock yarn. I'm calling it Campfire Socks because I think they look like burning sticks.

I can report other good news. E loves me and is bringing me raspberry sorbet for a cool treat.