If one skein of Noro Kureyon is happiness, two is "double happiness".
It's a simple scarf, and yes, I know one end has ribbing, and the other seed stitch. I'm not undoing it after it's been bound off. So :P
Benny likes it, and that's what counts.
Wednesday, November 23
One more post...
I've got laundry on, and we're going out with our friend for dinner, but I thought I'd upload my 'double happiness' scarf pictures. I call it 'double happiness' because of the chinese character used on wedding invitations, and the Noro (japanese, I know) that brings me such happiness.
If one skein of Noro Kureyon is happiness, two is "double happiness".
It's a simple scarf, and yes, I know one end has ribbing, and the other seed stitch. I'm not undoing it after it's been bound off. So :P
Benny likes it, and that's what counts.
If one skein of Noro Kureyon is happiness, two is "double happiness".
It's a simple scarf, and yes, I know one end has ribbing, and the other seed stitch. I'm not undoing it after it's been bound off. So :P
Benny likes it, and that's what counts.
The saddest thing you'll see today...
And the happiest post-surgery cat you'll ever see. Stefano needed surgery on his ear -- he had a hematoma and it was very sad. His ear was swollen up almost so his ear filled the whole ear-hole. We took him to the vet, and at 9 years old, they had to do extra blood work to make sure it was safe for him to go under anasthaesia -- he's only had to do so once before, around 8 years ago, for his neutering.
Needless to say, I was worried about him all day on Tuesday.
He's fine, and feeling like himself (he was trying to stalk Murrie this morning), but he looks so sad in his collar, with his ear all sewn up. He's convalescing on the sheepskin we bought last week. Rotten thing that he is.
Needless to say, I was worried about him all day on Tuesday.
He's fine, and feeling like himself (he was trying to stalk Murrie this morning), but he looks so sad in his collar, with his ear all sewn up. He's convalescing on the sheepskin we bought last week. Rotten thing that he is.
Monday, November 14
Yarn Crawl!
So, Saturday was our first group Denver Yarn Crawl. I need to get pictures of all I bought, but it was lots of fun. I enjoyed myself. Even after Leisel *AND* AntiKathy drove the wrong way on a one way street. :D
Here are the places we went:
String: Nice. Cute. Arranged by color, with a lot of cascade and brown sheep yarns in the back room. Some Noro. Some silk yarns. A bit spendy
A Colorful Yarn: Um. They had large 'pucks' of yarn, but I wasn't comfortable in the stuffy basement store. I *did* buy the pattern I had seen elsewhere that I wanted, though.
Recycled Lamb: Small shop, but they have roving and they had a couple of looms hanging out in the shop. This is where I bought some of my cute buttons.
Aurora Yarn Supply:Awesome prices, strange selection, cone yarn.
Showers of Flowers: Lots of selection. Much of it icky. This was the only place I didn't buy anything at all from.
Here are the places we went:
String: Nice. Cute. Arranged by color, with a lot of cascade and brown sheep yarns in the back room. Some Noro. Some silk yarns. A bit spendy
A Colorful Yarn: Um. They had large 'pucks' of yarn, but I wasn't comfortable in the stuffy basement store. I *did* buy the pattern I had seen elsewhere that I wanted, though.
Recycled Lamb: Small shop, but they have roving and they had a couple of looms hanging out in the shop. This is where I bought some of my cute buttons.
Aurora Yarn Supply:Awesome prices, strange selection, cone yarn.
Showers of Flowers: Lots of selection. Much of it icky. This was the only place I didn't buy anything at all from.
Saturday, November 5
So what am I going to do today?
Well, I *did* get this yesterday in the mail... 
I may dye some yarn today, which I enjoy, although Ben's only working until noon today, and he needs a haircut (and lunch). But it's here for me to dye when I want to, that's the good part. :)
Cute Dog Pics - and Why I'm not at Knit Group this morning.
I was trying to get a picture of the 'dead dog' pose, but I knocked the camera lens against the window, which woke her up.
Here she is under her favorite tree, next to her dog house. 
And here she is hanging out next to the back door, waiting for me to let her in.
Ok, so here's why I'm not at knit group this morning. I woke up late, and the house was cold. I remembered Ben said he needed his jacket, but there was no mention of ... SNOW. 
I kinda wondered why the dog was still in the house, too, but she went out after I asked her twice if she wanted to go out. Then she gave me this look. "You know this is cold, right?!"
Sunday, October 9
I knit funny.
I stayed late yesterday at knit group because neither Kathy nor I wanted to go home and do stuff. So we hung around and hung around.. Bryan showed up for a little while, and then left. Kathy had a question about her yarnovers (which she was doing as YO + K1), and I taught her three new things:
1. How to make a slipknot without using an entire lap. (She had been using the same technique since she was 8. It worked, but having another way can be cool, especially if you have a dog or cat in your lap.)
2. The knitted cast-on.
3. The Cable cast-on.
She was doing the long-tail cast-on, and when her 2nd finger went down, her middle finger went up... the flip-off cast-on.
I also verified what I had assumed for a while... I knit funny. I drop the yarn up and over my knit stitches, instead of coming up from under them. My purls are similarly backwards. But it works for me. The fabric comes out looking the same.
I'm trying to teach myself how to "pick" instead of "throw" today, though. Just because I think it's faster, not because my throwing is weird. I can throw the other way 'round (which I did when demonstrating to Kathy), but it's slower for me to do.
1. How to make a slipknot without using an entire lap. (She had been using the same technique since she was 8. It worked, but having another way can be cool, especially if you have a dog or cat in your lap.)
2. The knitted cast-on.
3. The Cable cast-on.
She was doing the long-tail cast-on, and when her 2nd finger went down, her middle finger went up... the flip-off cast-on.
I also verified what I had assumed for a while... I knit funny. I drop the yarn up and over my knit stitches, instead of coming up from under them. My purls are similarly backwards. But it works for me. The fabric comes out looking the same.
I'm trying to teach myself how to "pick" instead of "throw" today, though. Just because I think it's faster, not because my throwing is weird. I can throw the other way 'round (which I did when demonstrating to Kathy), but it's slower for me to do.
Friday, October 7
Yay! Yarn is up!
Ben & I worked together yesterday to get the hand-dyed yarn up on our website. We also made it over to Table Rock Llamas to buy some different yarn to dye. I got some licorice twist, and some weird thick-n-thin plied with a 2-ply wool, and oh yeah, pastaza. I'm going to dye pastaza! Yay!
Monday, October 3
4 yarn shops...
LYS Rankings!
I've now been to all 4 yarn shops in the area, so I think I can rank them now.
Number One: Table Rock Llamas. Surprised? I didn't think so. They're my favorite. They don't have a whole lot of anything, but they have a lot of what they have. Tons of Cascade 220, and lots of Pastaza (mm.... felting). Plus, they're really friendly, and the store is comfortable. Oh, and they carry not only acid dyes, but natural dyes as well. And spindles! Beautiful handpainted spindles!
Number Two: Green Valley Weavers & Spinners. Bright, well lit, and more Lamb's Pride Bulky (and Worsted, but I usually get the bulky) than you can shake a stick at. The sock yarn room is cool, too. But it leaves me sometimes wondering "where's the rest of the store". They carry dyes, but oddly enough, they carry procion mx (which is fiber-reactive, and mostly used for cotton) as well as the jacquard acid dyes (for wool and silk, although I've had some fairly good results with silk and the procion dyes).
Number Three: Needleworks by Holly Berry. A little close and cozy, a little higher priced. They have Rowan. This is where I got my $#@*^ Addis. [No, I do not like addis. the points are too blunt on the ones I have (10.5's), and I can't get the needle into the stitches.] They have some interesting yarns, in colors that I love.
Number Four: Knitter's Kove. For some reason, it seemed more disorganized than the others, and it seemed full of all sorts of novelty crap. A full third of it seemed to be Mirror FX, fizz, some sort of cording, etc. They have some roving and unspun fibers, but most seem to be in bags, not begging to be petted. I *did* buy some noro (kureyon) and pastaza, and I *did* get the sheep butt measuring tape, but it took a lot of looking to find what I wanted.
New Technique!
Oh, and I tried the 2 circ thing yesterday. I had to start my new bag, and I didn't have my dpn's. I picked up both of my 10.5 circs on the way out the door, though, thinking I'd have it enough done to transfer it onto one or the other of them. Got to work, no dpn's (as I had cleaned out my bag looking for something), and so... 9 stitches on 2 circs sucks. 18, too. 36, not so bad. 72's ok. I'm hoping to graduate to one circ soon.
2 circs left me with ladders worse than with dpn's (although I tend not to get ladders on dpn's) until I started treating the circ ends like dpn's, putting my "new" needle over the old needle and under the new one. I like the way a needle sandwich keeps the stitches close. Of course, I do the *yank* on the first and second stitch which doesn't hurt, either. I'd still rather have a good set of dpn's, though.
More yarn!
I rewound the blue-green skein last night, and started winding the SKEIN FROM HELL (the 40' one, with peach to pink to grey). I got discouraged around 10:30, 20 minutes into winding (and untangling), so it sits in a chair waiting for me to get back home. I still have to wind the rainbow lace... and take pictures, and put it on the crazymonkey website (so I have something to sell). I need to buy more 'blank' yarn, too. This is so much fun!
I've now been to all 4 yarn shops in the area, so I think I can rank them now.
Number One: Table Rock Llamas. Surprised? I didn't think so. They're my favorite. They don't have a whole lot of anything, but they have a lot of what they have. Tons of Cascade 220, and lots of Pastaza (mm.... felting). Plus, they're really friendly, and the store is comfortable. Oh, and they carry not only acid dyes, but natural dyes as well. And spindles! Beautiful handpainted spindles!
Number Two: Green Valley Weavers & Spinners. Bright, well lit, and more Lamb's Pride Bulky (and Worsted, but I usually get the bulky) than you can shake a stick at. The sock yarn room is cool, too. But it leaves me sometimes wondering "where's the rest of the store". They carry dyes, but oddly enough, they carry procion mx (which is fiber-reactive, and mostly used for cotton) as well as the jacquard acid dyes (for wool and silk, although I've had some fairly good results with silk and the procion dyes).
Number Three: Needleworks by Holly Berry. A little close and cozy, a little higher priced. They have Rowan. This is where I got my $#@*^ Addis. [No, I do not like addis. the points are too blunt on the ones I have (10.5's), and I can't get the needle into the stitches.] They have some interesting yarns, in colors that I love.
Number Four: Knitter's Kove. For some reason, it seemed more disorganized than the others, and it seemed full of all sorts of novelty crap. A full third of it seemed to be Mirror FX, fizz, some sort of cording, etc. They have some roving and unspun fibers, but most seem to be in bags, not begging to be petted. I *did* buy some noro (kureyon) and pastaza, and I *did* get the sheep butt measuring tape, but it took a lot of looking to find what I wanted.
New Technique!
Oh, and I tried the 2 circ thing yesterday. I had to start my new bag, and I didn't have my dpn's. I picked up both of my 10.5 circs on the way out the door, though, thinking I'd have it enough done to transfer it onto one or the other of them. Got to work, no dpn's (as I had cleaned out my bag looking for something), and so... 9 stitches on 2 circs sucks. 18, too. 36, not so bad. 72's ok. I'm hoping to graduate to one circ soon.
2 circs left me with ladders worse than with dpn's (although I tend not to get ladders on dpn's) until I started treating the circ ends like dpn's, putting my "new" needle over the old needle and under the new one. I like the way a needle sandwich keeps the stitches close. Of course, I do the *yank* on the first and second stitch which doesn't hurt, either. I'd still rather have a good set of dpn's, though.
More yarn!
I rewound the blue-green skein last night, and started winding the SKEIN FROM HELL (the 40' one, with peach to pink to grey). I got discouraged around 10:30, 20 minutes into winding (and untangling), so it sits in a chair waiting for me to get back home. I still have to wind the rainbow lace... and take pictures, and put it on the crazymonkey website (so I have something to sell). I need to buy more 'blank' yarn, too. This is so much fun!
Friday, September 30
2 more skeins!
This is the 'last skein' on the right in the first picture of them drying. It came out looking like the desert.
This is benny's dye job...
This is benny's dye job...
Monday, September 26
Last one tonight -- the autumn colored laceweight
880 yds of laceweight takes *FOREVER* to wind back into a pretty skein.
My Second Skein
AKA the one Felicia called dibs on. I need to re-twist it a little better, but the colors.... mmmmm.... colors.
Saturday, September 24
Friday, September 23
Multi-talented?
Well, ok, I'm multi-talented. Here's one of my sketches... not all of them are as good...
Alpaca!
And a picture of the sunrise the other day -- this is the view from my porch.
And although I didn't take this picture, I figured I'd put it here anyway because it's damned cute. :)
Alpaca!
And a picture of the sunrise the other day -- this is the view from my porch.
And although I didn't take this picture, I figured I'd put it here anyway because it's damned cute. :)
Wednesday, September 21
I've only been knitting since April
While I was checking on my current amazon.com order, I looked back to see approximately when I started knitting. I ordered the Stitch'n'Bitch book on April 2. If we consider that it takes about a week to get books from amazon, I started knitting on April 9th. 4/9/2005. Yes, April of this year. What do you mean I have too many finished objects to be knitting not even 6 months yet?
Harrumph! I'm going back to knitting Ben's socks.
Harrumph! I'm going back to knitting Ben's socks.
Monday, September 19
Craziness.
So, I had a great birthday. I partied with my friends, and my family sent me cool things. My mom sent me an Eddie Bauer gift cert which I'll probably spend on Friday, and my aunt sent me an Amazon gift cert, with which I have ordered: Spin It : Making Yarn from Scratch, Yarns to Dye For : Creating Self-Patterning Yarns for Knitting, and World of Knitted Toys. They're on their way.
I've ordered some 'dye-your-own' from knitpicks, and some acid dyes from Dharma... I've been encouraged by the girls in my knit group to dye yarn, so... I guess I will. I already dye cotton & silk with fiber-reactive dyes. I want to dye yarn anyway, so if I have a built-in market, all the better. :)
I made some progress yesterday with Ben's monster feet (from snbn), and finished the first one. I'm still not sure I did it right, but I figure as long as I'm consistantly wrong, they'll turn out similarly. Basically, the instructions were for short rows wrap & turns, but they worked too many stitches. ie, you start at one side of your work, work 28 sts, w&t, then slip one, and work 28 sts. um... your instructions for w&t show putting the stitch back on the lefthand needle. That means the instructions for that short row are either wrong (because it works 29 sts when you only have 28) or your w&t instructions are wrong (and you wrap, turn, and slip the first st when you work the next row). Ugh. And the errata for that pattern wasn't any help with that, either. Although it did include 'oh yeah, you need to k all the way across to the other side before starting this other bit', which WAS useful.
So I cast on for the other monster foot last night, and worked a few rows. And grumbled about the twist being worked into the Lamb's Pride Bulky. I have to spin the ball of yarn every row. I probably should've wound it again, but LPB comes with the easy-to-find center-pull end. I thought it would play nice, like the green one did, but oh no. Yes, Ben's monster feet are green and purple. Purple soles with green tops with green Fizz. I kinda like using GIANT BULKY yarn with the itty-bitty Fizz. Even if the monster feet look like I could put my dog in them now.
Speaking of the dog, everyone seemed to enjoy her company on Friday night. She was very entertaining, and she loves people. Although she did keep trying to drink Anne's mudslide, and the reaction to my telling her NO in my "bad dog" voice was kinda funny. Shibas are the small dog for people who don't like small dogs. Although almost everyone else in the knit group has big dogs (GSD's, Huskies, Samoyeds, larger mutts), they all fawned over Miss PrancyPants. :)
I've ordered some 'dye-your-own' from knitpicks, and some acid dyes from Dharma... I've been encouraged by the girls in my knit group to dye yarn, so... I guess I will. I already dye cotton & silk with fiber-reactive dyes. I want to dye yarn anyway, so if I have a built-in market, all the better. :)
I made some progress yesterday with Ben's monster feet (from snbn), and finished the first one. I'm still not sure I did it right, but I figure as long as I'm consistantly wrong, they'll turn out similarly. Basically, the instructions were for short rows wrap & turns, but they worked too many stitches. ie, you start at one side of your work, work 28 sts, w&t, then slip one, and work 28 sts. um... your instructions for w&t show putting the stitch back on the lefthand needle. That means the instructions for that short row are either wrong (because it works 29 sts when you only have 28) or your w&t instructions are wrong (and you wrap, turn, and slip the first st when you work the next row). Ugh. And the errata for that pattern wasn't any help with that, either. Although it did include 'oh yeah, you need to k all the way across to the other side before starting this other bit', which WAS useful.
So I cast on for the other monster foot last night, and worked a few rows. And grumbled about the twist being worked into the Lamb's Pride Bulky. I have to spin the ball of yarn every row. I probably should've wound it again, but LPB comes with the easy-to-find center-pull end. I thought it would play nice, like the green one did, but oh no. Yes, Ben's monster feet are green and purple. Purple soles with green tops with green Fizz. I kinda like using GIANT BULKY yarn with the itty-bitty Fizz. Even if the monster feet look like I could put my dog in them now.
Speaking of the dog, everyone seemed to enjoy her company on Friday night. She was very entertaining, and she loves people. Although she did keep trying to drink Anne's mudslide, and the reaction to my telling her NO in my "bad dog" voice was kinda funny. Shibas are the small dog for people who don't like small dogs. Although almost everyone else in the knit group has big dogs (GSD's, Huskies, Samoyeds, larger mutts), they all fawned over Miss PrancyPants. :)
Saturday, September 17
Woo hoo! Happy birthday to me! :D
My birthday was Tuesday, and the KWA party was last night. I spent most of yesterday preparing for it -- fruit, veggies, etc. Ann, Anne, Kathy (TOK), Liesel, MJ (complete with Jr. and Hubby), and my friend Kelly came to my house to celebrate the loss of my 20's. I'm now officially 30, and can't be trusted.
I've been a bad knitter, and been too busy to get any knitting done. Bad knitter! Bad! Bad! Well, I *did* cast-on for Ben's sock, but that's about it. Since I traded Tuesday for Saturday at work, I'm at work today. I don't have the concentration for toes yet, so I'm knitting ribbing on Ben's sock. Size 2 needles, 75 sts, k3p2 rib. Exciting.
I've been a bad knitter, and been too busy to get any knitting done. Bad knitter! Bad! Bad! Well, I *did* cast-on for Ben's sock, but that's about it. Since I traded Tuesday for Saturday at work, I'm at work today. I don't have the concentration for toes yet, so I'm knitting ribbing on Ben's sock. Size 2 needles, 75 sts, k3p2 rib. Exciting.
Tuesday, September 6
What were they thinking?
While waiting for my YouKnitWhat fix, I was looking for sock patterns. I had seen 80 bazillion of the same cuff-down sock pattern, and then... I came across these. Not all sock patterns, but, um... What were they thinking??!?
These are called "Knitted Squiggle Beasties", and they give me nightmares just looking at them. Scary otherwordly masses of felted yarn have come to take over the world. I welcome our yarny overlords!
I found these "Sandal socks" to be ... well... um... too much. Obviously, too much is not enough is about all that I can say about these socks. I'd say the 80's called and want their socks back, but I can't remember seeing such. The colors, the patterning, and the BEADS work together to make me hate these socks.
Ok, to leave you scratching your head and sweating profusely from your feet, I present the link to THRUMMED SOCKS. Yes, you heard right. Someone thought wool socks aren't warm enough, double-knit wool socks aren't warm enough either, so let's put wooly bits in them to make the feet feel like they're in an inferno! (Yes, yes, there are parts of the world that would benefit from this, but those places are small and inhabited by snow-people.)
Ok, these are socks. Socks with loops. For children, supposedly. Obviously for naughty children who don't listen to their parents, because I can't imagine anyone over or under the age of 12 begging mommy for these.
These are called "Knitted Squiggle Beasties", and they give me nightmares just looking at them. Scary otherwordly masses of felted yarn have come to take over the world. I welcome our yarny overlords!
I found these "Sandal socks" to be ... well... um... too much. Obviously, too much is not enough is about all that I can say about these socks. I'd say the 80's called and want their socks back, but I can't remember seeing such. The colors, the patterning, and the BEADS work together to make me hate these socks.
Ok, to leave you scratching your head and sweating profusely from your feet, I present the link to THRUMMED SOCKS. Yes, you heard right. Someone thought wool socks aren't warm enough, double-knit wool socks aren't warm enough either, so let's put wooly bits in them to make the feet feel like they're in an inferno! (Yes, yes, there are parts of the world that would benefit from this, but those places are small and inhabited by snow-people.)
Monday, September 5
Happy frickin' Labor Day
I'm celebrating Labor Day this year by being at work. We've already had one "fire" this morning, so I'm not especially optimistic for the rest of the day. I want to be with my knit group, not in front of a computer. I want to be knitting and chatting, not grumbling and working. Sigh. C'est la vie, I guess. I *am* getting paid 8 hours holiday pay in addition to my 10 normal hours today.
I need to re-ball my sock yarn before I start my second sock. My ball winder is on its way, but since there's no mail today, it'll be tomorrow at least before I get it. And of course, I won't have much time until Thursday or Friday (as I commute 1h, work 10h, commute 1h). I don't think I'll suffer from SSS (Second Sock Syndrome) as I really enjoyed my first sock. Toes rock.
I'm indentured to the tune of:
One set monster slippers (SNBN)
One pair grey socks with blue toes & heels
One pair tan socks with blue toes & heels
Ben went to 2 LYS's with me this week, and we bought the yarn and needles to complete the above projects. So, those are on my list. I haven't finished the sweater yet -- I'm taking a sock break from the endless stockinette (another 13" of it) for the hood. Eris is waiting for me, too.
I need to re-ball my sock yarn before I start my second sock. My ball winder is on its way, but since there's no mail today, it'll be tomorrow at least before I get it. And of course, I won't have much time until Thursday or Friday (as I commute 1h, work 10h, commute 1h). I don't think I'll suffer from SSS (Second Sock Syndrome) as I really enjoyed my first sock. Toes rock.
I'm indentured to the tune of:
One set monster slippers (SNBN)
One pair grey socks with blue toes & heels
One pair tan socks with blue toes & heels
Ben went to 2 LYS's with me this week, and we bought the yarn and needles to complete the above projects. So, those are on my list. I haven't finished the sweater yet -- I'm taking a sock break from the endless stockinette (another 13" of it) for the hood. Eris is waiting for me, too.
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