Author Archives: zardra

Just a day late

Posted on by

This week is at the very least on probation; it has come extremely close to being fired more than once as it’s gone along.  There has been much broken glass — I lost 2 flower vases and then a bowl in the kitchen.  Dinner Monday night ended up on the floor, along with some of that broken glass.  These are probably some of the things that lead me to stay home from work on Tuesday.

I’ve spent the last few days doing my exercise in the morning, then heading to work.  By the time I get seated in front of my computer I’ve felt ready to start crying like a baby for no obvious reason.  I have since been reassured that this is apparently normal and that I am not alone in this phenomenon; I understand that it will soon pass.  But between that and my next-door neighbor thinking they have to take a shower at the same time I do, my mornings have not gotten off to the best start most days.

I’m in a race to get the Rivendell socks done by tonight so that I can wash and block them and get them in the mail tomorrow.  It wouldn’t be as much of a race except I was not paying attention yesterday as I went to start the heel flap, finished the heel flap, and turned the heel.  It was then that I discovered that I had knit the heel on the front of the sock.  So, I had to rip out 2 hours of work and redo it, thus putting me back 4 hours.  We’ll see how this all goes.

ETA: Closing comments on this post due to spam.

Mental health day

Posted on by
Reply

I stayed home from work today.  I woke up this morning and realized I just couldn’t do it today.  This morning and yesterday, when I woke up I felt just as tired as I had when I went to bed the night before.  I’m hoping taking a day to rest will help.

I still ended working out, hoping that getting some movement would help me feel better.  It didn’t pep me up like I wanted, but at least it didn’t make me feel any more exhausted.  Today was my 7th day in a row working out, so I’m still on target for my trip to the Monterey Wool Auction.  I’ve managed to slowly increase the amount of time I’m able to do on the exercycle each time; today’s time was 25 minutes.  My short term goal is 30 minutes a go.

Just a quick post

Posted on by
Reply

I’ve been a little scatter brained this week as I have tried implementing a couple of new changes into my routine.

The first is trying to cut back on caffeine.  I’m currently on my third day without a caffeinated beverage to start the day, which of course means that I’m on my third day of a sort of headache that’s happening on the perifery of my thoughts.  I’m sure the heat hasn’t been helping in that department at all.

The second change is exercise.  I am attempting to exercise every day for the next 30 days.  For every day I workout in some fashion I gain money towards a fund for purchasing fleeces at the Monterey Wool Auction, which is set to take place August 16.  Days I don’t workout subtract money from the fund at a greater rate than I am earning.  And if I miss 4 days in a row, I’m not allowed to go.

This is all in the pursuit of forming a habit of exercise.  I’m the type of person who hates getting hot and sweaty, yet feels better once I’ve done it.  I’m hoping it will help me tame my asthma, my weight, and my stress levels.  Most importantly the days are counting down for our trip to Japan, and my sister recommended being able to walk 5 miles a day by the time we get there.  I hate flying, so who knows when the next time I might be able to get to Japan will be, so I want to see and do as much as I can without having a lack of breath and energy get in the way.

On the knitting front, I should be able to start the toe on the first Rivendell during tonight’s TV watching time — mmmm, Leverage.  🙂  So, I’m still on track for finishing, washing, and mailing the socks off by next week’s deadline for the Sock Museum.

Baby gifts and socks

Posted on by
Reply

Just a quick post to show off a few finished items.  They’ve been finished for awhile, but I had to get the photos off my camera, which took great effort.  First up are the baby gifts I knit for my friend — a simple roll-brimmed hat and the Little Sky socks from New Pathways for Sock Knitters.

They were all knit out of Dream in Color Classy in the Happy Forest colorway.  I really like the way the yarn softened up when I washed it.  A sweater out of Classy would be really nice, and I’m remembering seeing one of the new semi-solids from DiC in a pretty, chocolaty brown.

Next up is the pair of socks I knit my mother for her birthday/Mother’s Day gift.

They are knit out of Jojoland Melody Superwash.  They took 2 skeins, and I thought it was interesting just how different in striping the 2 skeins turned out to be.

Rivendell socks

Posted on by
1

The Rivendell socks progress steadily.  The pattern looks nice in the semi-solid color.  Unfortunately, in this photo, you can’t really see the sparkliness from the silver thread.  The pattern has been easy to follow so far; the charts reall help with that.  I was thrown slightly for a loop when working the cluster stitches, but it’s an interesting technique.

While the gauge (@ 7.5 sts/in) is a little looser than I would normally knit socks, it does seem to help the knitting go quickly when each round it only 63 stitches long.

The ribbing seems really stretchy, so I don’t think I’ll have to worry too much about fit issues.  Although, I don’t believe there are any plans for anyone to wear the socks.  The Sock Museum website does not actually say what will happen to the socks after Sock Summit 2009.

It’s still Tuesday

Posted on by
1

6 pm on a Tuesday is still Tuesday, so time for a post while I’m remembering to do it.

I hit Full Thread Ahead on Saturday to see what was left of their store closing sale.  I got a skein of Farmhouse Yarns Bo Peep’s Sock Yarn in Lilac and a skein of Trekking Pro Natura in a pale blue, which I was considering using for the Rivendells.

Then I head to Purlescence Yarns because they were having a 25% off sale on Dream in Color, which they never put on sale so I couldn’t pass up the opportunity.  I walked to the back of the store where the Smooshy is and saw one skein… count ’em… 1… of Dream in Color Starry in Grey Tabby.  I nice silvery grey semi-solid with sparkly silver bits.  I pulled it down and walked up to Kathy and asked what she thought.  She thought it was perfect and told me that she had actually just found that skein and hung it up not too long before; the skein had been hiding, laying in wait just for me.  I’m hoping that the silver thread will give it a nice little bit of shiny.  I’m knitting the Starry on two size 2.5 circs and have already finished chart 1 for the first sock.

The only thing so far that’s a little odd is that pattern calls for a gauge of 7.5 sts/in, which just seems a bit loose for me (although the pattern also says that’s gauge on size 1 needles, which for me would be really loose knitting).  I’m used to knitting my socks at at least 8 sts/in but several pairs have been 9 sts/in.  But the looser gauge does mean they’re a fast knit.

Looking for opinions

Posted on by
1

So, I’m knitting up a tiny preemie cardigan.  And I’ve already knit a hat and booties in normal baby size.  But, now I’m realizing that a yarn I have in my stash that I didn’t originally use for a baby gift because I thought it was not superwash may indeed be superwash — Lisa Souza Merino Hardtwist in Spumoni.  (For some reason, the skein I have is a completely different color from the Spumoni on Lisa’s website.  Mine’s a yellow, green and pink mix while the one on her website is teal, grey, and purple…. weird.)  This is why I’m thinking my skein may not be superwash if something changed along the way.  It’s a skein I picked up at a yarn swap in January, so my memory is a little foggy about it, and it’s at home and I’m still at work (*shhh*).

Anyway, if my skein does turn out to be superwash, I thought it would be nice to knit my friend a normal sized baby sweater as the little girl won’t be preemie sized forever.  I’ve knit EZ’s Baby Surprise Jacket once before and thought it was a great, fast knit.  But, now I’m also considering EZ’s Feburary Baby Sweater to make things exciting with a little lace.  I am flip-flopping between the two.  Thankfully, this isn’t a rush.  i’ve got the hat and booties and the preemie cardigan should be done quickly (which is good because I believe my friend may be coming to a work potluck on Tues. and I could give them to her then).

So… opinions.  Should I go with the magic that is the BSJ?  Or should I try something new and knit the February Baby Sweater?

It’s got to be something

Posted on by
Reply

I seem to be experiencing a sort of knitting ennui.  Thankfully, there is a baby to knit for.  After a few weeks on bed rest, my friend’s baby apparently couldn’t wait any longer and came still several week early.  Baby will be staying in neo-natal for a couple of weeks until she can breathe, eat, and maintain body temperature.  I had already knit up a cute hat and booties, but they were sized to fit a 6-month-old.  While that will fit eventually, I decided to knit up a quick preemie sweater.  Heck, the pattern I’m using only calls for one 50 g ball of sock/light fingering weight yarn, which means this should be like knitting 1 sock.  So, that’s what I’m knitting while the sock and the stole I have on the needles bore me.

I’m not even excited by the shawl I have ready to cast on.  A lovely dark blue wool silk laceweight, and I just look and the ball of yarn and sigh.  No compulsion to cast on.  Wish I knew what was wrong with me.

Maybe I need to spin more.