Midway Through Stitches

Thursday PM class was cool. Merike Saarnit taught "Fiendishly Difficult Stitches" to a full class of eager (and often befuddled) students. She talked briefly about what makes a stitch 'fiendishly difficult,' then gave us a handout with 3 patterns that she thought fit the description. Ah... yeah. I've become a chart person, preferring to knit pattern stitches from them instead of verbal descriptions ("*K4, P6, C6B, P6, K4, P6, C6F, P6, K4, repeat from * until you lose track of where you are in the string of Ks and Ps). But some of these stitch maneuvers defy charting.

"From back to front, stick the right needle between the 4th and 5th stitches, purl this stitch [what stitch??], bring it around back, put it on the left needle, purl it [again?], drop it off the needle, slip the next 4 stitches from LN to RN, pull the purled stitch over the 4 slipped stitches."

Yes, that's a real stitch. And it actually it isn't all that hard to do and looks pretty cool to boot. But... um... dudes... there's no universal symbol for THAT one! The words are okay, but we really needed to see her fingers make the movements to really get it.

The Market preview was after the class, from 5:00 to 8:00. Bee-line to Blue Moon, scored the Silkie yarn I was looking for, then found a lovely Rare Gem. Um, then later I found a Mill End skein that jumped into my bag. ChickWithSticks found the booth selling Kollage square needles, and their circulars have the most awesomely limp cords! Bought one of those, then also found some wood circs, with the cords made from medical tubing. Got one of those, too. Picked up two more tiny crochet hook key chains (although I found the expensive ones, Knitterliness found the cheaper ones, with even smaller sizes - hope she can find/remember which booth so I can get some of those). I think that was it for Thursday's bounty.

Had a lovely dinner at Tomatina's in Santa Clara with Knitterliness, ChickWithSticks, and SarahG, doing show-and-tell before we got tomato sauce on our new yarns.

Back again this morning with Kadootje (after a stop at OPH for some 49er Flapjacks!). I had been eyeing the Namaste Zuma bag with lust in my heart, but after (trying to) carry it around Balls and Skeins in Sebastopol a few weeks ago, found that it just didn't stay up on my shoulder. Not good. I'm not a crook-of-the-arm purse holder, I'm a shoulder-sling kinda gal. So I got their Newport bag instead. Roomy, with separate pockets for purse-stuff and knit-stuff. They retail around $70; Fibersphere was selling them for $59, so I bit. Plus the set of 3 little mesh bags to stow stuff inside. Got 2 more of the medical tubing needles, too. No more square needles - for the price of one set of square circulars ($16) I got 3 sets of the tubing ones ($5 each). I suspect the square ones will last longer than the tubing ones, but hey...

Kadootje scored just about everything she was looking for (including a skein or two [cough.orthreeorfour.cough] of Blue Moon in some gorgeous colors, and some yarn for her sister's pending baby. We departed before 1:00 and promptly ran into traffic on southbound 101 - a truck hauling humongous rolls of paper fell over and they had to close 3 of the 4 lanes. We finally got through it and had a rushed lunch at Red Robin so she could go pick her son up at school.

I've been spending the afternoon trying to come down off that yarn-fume high (and organize my purchases, photograph them, and have a sharp talking-to with my budget).

Tomorrow? Post-Stitches party time at Bobbin's Nest! I'll help with the prep, spend some schmoozing time, then giddyup home... so I can go back to Stitches Sunday morning for my last class! Yippee!

Fruit of Our Labor

No, not fruitS of our labor, plural, because there's only one. If we had actually put any labor into it, we might have more than one... blood orange, that is. Pretty, and tasty. There are two more on the branches, but they're a little bit away from being ripe enough to eat.

With the recent rains, the rest of the backyard has turned into a lake. What isn't lake is marsh or bog. We avoid going out there.

In mo' bettah news, DH got his Dupuytren's Contracture taken care of (the picture of the hand on the "symptoms" page of that website could be DH's; looked exactly the same). That's the condition he has on his right hand where he can't straighten out his pinky and ring finger. Thanks to a referral from our GP's wife (whose dad had it done), we found a doctor in Larkspur who has a non-surgical fix to the problem. Pictures show before, after with bandage, and after without bandage. The discoloration in the bandage, by the way, isn't blood or betadine... it's barbeque sauce! His hand is still a bit achey and black-and-blue, but his fingers can now extend fully!

In our trip to Healdsburg this weekend to visit KB, we dragged poor DH around to 4 knitting shops: Llama Llama Knit in Novato, Village Knitters in Santa Rosa's Coddingtown Mall, Cast Away in Santa Rosa's Railroad Square, and Balls and Skeins in Sebastopol.

Llama Llama Knit is really cute, very comfortable, and carries roughly the same types of yarns that Bobbin's Nest does (Rowan, Louet, Misti Alpaca, etc.). I would feel comfortable bringing my knitting and just flopping down in their knit pit.

Village Knitters is actually a small side area inside Village Sewing at the Coddingtown Mall. It's jam-packed with yarns and there's a small table to gather around, but it doesn't feel like a "sit and knit" kind of place. They have a HUGE selection of Cascade 220, 220 Superwash, and Lamb's Pride, plus they had Mini Mochi sock yarn. And they carry Royale Hare yarns and fibers, which is a Santa Rosa local company. They also posted on their website that they had a sock yarn that self-striped on the diagonal, but the clerks on duty when we visited knew nothing about that. They offered to find out and give me a call, which they did a few hours later. Word was that it's an Opal yarn, but try as we might, we can't find any reference to a diagonally self-striping Opal yarn. It's a mystery, son.

Cast Away is adorable! From the boat in front to the pug/terrier doggie who greets you to the lovely displays, it's a cozy and comfy place to be. (I also envy the owner's - and her daughter's - gorgeous red hair.) They, too, carry many of the same yarns that Bobbin's does, along with some of the artiste Cascades (Nicki, some other hand-paints), organic fibers, and more unusual vendors (ggh, BeeSweet). She also carries Mini Mochi, as well as Adriafil Knitcol, which I had never heard of before (of course I got some, in color 46 - Monet Phantasy).

Balls and Skeins was probably the most surprising of the lot. It's in a non-descript building with an awkward parking lot, and you sort of have to know where it is in order to know where it is, so I wasn't impressed from the outside. But inside... wow. It was warm and inviting, and had more unusual brands of yarns: Conjoined Creations (not just Flat Feet, but their other yarns), Blue Heron, Shaeffer, Wildefoote, I can't even remember the others. And they carried Offhand Designs and Namaste bags. I walked around carrying a pink Namaste Newport bag, but in the end decided not to buy it. Yet. I may get one at Stitches or I may wind up going back to Balls and Skeins after all.

After the knit-shop whirlwind tour, we (DH and his 2 "nieces") had Valentine's day dinner at K&L Bistro in Sebastopol. Wow. Really good. I made a pig of myself with their fabulous French Onion soup, frisee salad with warm pecan-covered goat cheese, Boudin blanc sausages and fries, and a hot fudge and caramel ice cream sundae (I paid for being a pig that night - uncomfortable). Everything was amazingly wonderful.

Drove home in pretty much continuous pouring rain. Very tiring, but made it home safely. Today is for kicking back (then some work for RP).

Good Update

Got a call from my aunt today after her third chemo treatment - so far, she's had no ill effects, other than getting a small headache. This flavor of drug apparently doesn't automatically make you lose your hair; so far, she hasn't lost any. I sent a hat to her anyway, just in case. (Of course, it's a joke hat - Hallowig, from Knitty.com.)

DH and I are planning to visit her and my dad at the end of March. We'll finalize the plans as soon as one of his clients decides if they need/want a meeting on Friday, March 27. If they do, we'll take the red-eye Friday night; if not, we'll travel Thursday evening or all day Friday (depending on cost). We're also tying the trip in with the Disaster Recovery Journal's "Spring World" conference, so DH can do some schmoozing with vendors and some clients who will be there. Unlike other times when we've gone, though, this will just be a visit to the marketplace and vendor stalls; no sitting in on sessions - the conference costs almost $1000 per participant, it's free to walk around the marketplace.

Before then, there's Stitches West! Yay!! It will be held this year from February 26 through March 1. I originally only signed up for classes on Thursday, but started itchin' to take more, so signed up for a class on Sunday morning with Chickenknittle. And even after shopping at the Market Preview on Thursday night, I'm very likely to be back on Friday. And, of course, after class on Sunday. (Yes, I will stay away on Saturday. Zoo!) Photo is of last year's bounty. Let's see... I sold the roving, have used the needles, read the magazine, have one of the sock yarns on needles (that's Pigeonroof Studios), and have tried to figure out what to do with the 3 mini-skeins of Malabrigo lace weight. Haven't used the burgundy yarn from Yarn Place (will use the beads for whatever it will be), and have an idea of what to do with the Newton's cashmere/merino, but nothing definite yet. Of course I need more yarn. Why do you ask?

The last bit of travel in the early part of the year will be the two nights we'll spend in San Simeon wiht DH's sister, brother, and sister-in-law the last week in April. Back in the day (before I joined the family), his mom, dad, siblings, and sib-spouses would spend a week at "their" motel in San Simeon, all rooms facing the water, all visitors using the time to decompress and unwind. By the time I came along, mom and dad were no longer up for the drive (it's a few hours from Oxnard), and the siblings let the tradition die down (except sister - she's been back 2 or 3 times on her own).

This year, DH, me, his brother, sister-in-law, and sister (sister's husband passed away 3 years ago), will be there for a couple of days in April. This tickles mom to no end. I'm looking forward to it, too. Not only because I like his family, but gotta search for yarn shops around San Simeon!

Knitting stuff... Am trying to be monogamous. Well, okay, am trying to keep number of active WIPs down to 2. Okay, 3. I really need to get the re-knit of my aunt's sweater done. I'm almost at the point where you do the last buttonhole and split for the arms. To balance that, about 2 weeks ago, I picked up my Pigeonroof Studios sock toes to find a pattern worthy of the yarn (this is, like, my 4th attempt). This time, I committed myself to a pattern. It's from a sweater, and is very much like Janice Kang's "Early Spring." So far, I like it. Problem is, it's a 16-row repeat, and while it's technically easy to make each stitch, I can't commit the pattern to memory. So, last night I cast on some Blue Moon Fiber Arts Mediumweight in Rhodonite. They will be Leyburns once I get past the heel. I needed something non-thinking and portable. I will enjoy knitting the foot and instep in stockinette... round and round and round. (Except for when I'll put in the Cat Bordhi arch expansion.)

Gotta publish this, then re-edit it in MSIE... Google's Chrome can't handle when I try to move the pictures around.

"You Big Dummy!"

So last summer, there was a series of cell phone commercials that started with, "'Beep'! So-and-so's phone calling. We're here in no-bar land, so So-and-so didn't get your message that..." and they'd go into stuations where so-and-so might have wanted to get that call. In one case it was to tell the friend the home alarm security code, another was that you're supposed to thaw the turkey before putting it in the deep fat fryer, and another was to tell the news crew that the blasting site for a building demolition changed to... um, where the news crew was at that time. But the one that is appropriate here is the one where a young girl has Michael Phelps posters all over her walls, and her 'beep!' message is that because she couldn't get the call, she didn't know that Michael Phelps was in town, schmoozing with the locals. No, this isn't a drool-over-Michael post.) At the end of the commercial, the 'beep!' talker is screaming at the girl, and the last thing she says is, "You big dummy!"




That's me. Big dummy. I had my camera available to take pictures of my aunt's Red Spice sweater. I took pictures of the sweater. Close ups, mostly, of the old sweater, the one that doesn't fit her. I forgot to take pictures of the new, in-progress sweater so I could post on Ravelry. It's good that I took the pictures of the old one, because at some point, I'm going to need to remember how I assembled it... and since I have to unravel the old one to knit the new one, my point of reference will be gone. But it would have been nice to take a picture of my progress so far, while I had everything laid out on the table in the sunlight streaming in through the window.
Ah, ya big dummy.



I adore my Silkie Monkeys. I get all warm and squishy just thinking about them; you can imagine what happens to me when I actually put them on my feet. So, since I finished my Checker-Bordhis and my Monkeys, I get to cast on another pair of socks! Only I didn't. In a marvelous (and completely unprecedented) show of restraint (or stupidity) (or dumminess), I didn't. Instead, I went to my hibernation pile (thank you, Chickenknittle) and pulled out the toes of my Pigeonroof Studios socks. I like this yarn. It is wonderfully soft and the colors are gorgeous - totally unlike any other color and type of yarn I've been attracted to in the past. When I tried to knit with it, though, I couldn't find a pattern that would show off the yarn to its best advantage. I must have tried 4 different patterns, and ripped them all back to the toes after 6 or 7 rounds.


Last weekend, though, I thought I'd give it one more chance, and started working on a pattern that's very reminiscent of Janice Kang's Early Spring pattern. It's not perfect - I think it shows the colors better than the pattern - but it's kind of growing on me. I just finished the second repeat, and think it might work.


And that, dear friends, are the only two - yes, two - active projects I have right now. I'm trying to be sort of faithful to my knitting. Actually, I'm trying to actually get some finished objects off my needles, and realized that if I stopped flitting from one to the other, completion might actually be possible. Imagine that! So one pair of socks, one sweater. My aunt is starting her chemo treatments on Monday, though, so I reserve the right to interleave a chemo cap or two in there should she start to lose her hair (she's been told this variety of chemo doesn't necessarily induce complete hair loss; YMMV).


Off to feed my sweetie and prep for the Invasion of the Knitters tonight - lentil soup on the menu!

Well, Where the Hell Have You Been??

Oh. I guess maybe it's me who's been MIA, huh? No reason. Enjoying not having deadlines for RP. Enjoying knitting. Enjoying not having to set an alarm.

Well, all that's over with now. RP's back at work, which means I've got design team meetings to attend and documents to update. Which, after close to 5 weeks of not having much of anything due on a tight schedule, is not pleasant. I really should have been born to aristocracy - alarm clocks are for the little people...

We plan to watch the inauguration ceremony and associated pomp and circumstance. I'm pretty certain I'll cry. I've already gotten a little choked up when I read that Obama is going to be sworn in using the same bible that Abraham Lincoln used. Think about it. That's pretty seriously cool.

Knitting, knitting... Trying to be monogomous to one (maybe two) (okay, maybe three or four) thing at a time. So far, that's gotten my Checker-Bordhi socks completed, and I'm making great progress on the Silkie Monkeys. Soon as I'm done with those, I'll tackle Aunt's Red Spice sweater in earnest. And I did decide that Tuesday nights will be "knit your fucking swatches!" nights. 

On the writing front, Monday nights will be "finish your fucking novel!" nights, so those of you waiting on pins and needles to hear how Betha gets out of her latest adventure may not have to wait until 2019.

That's it. Tomorrow, history will be made. I'm pretty jazzed.

2009? Already?

A new year, a new set of resolutions to work on for a week until they become one with all the other resolutions gone by the wayside.

But first - what about last year? What happened to the Year of Finishing Dangerously? Well, I wish I could say I ran through all my stash and now have nothing left... but that would be such a lie. There were some stash enhancement opportunities in 2008.

In my defense, I will say that many other people helped me out by gifting me with lovely, lovely yarns... In particular, Erin at Bobbin's Nest absolutely spoiled me with random packages of gorgeous yarns - Hazelknits, Chasing Rainbows, Mini-maiden. And my Wednesday and Thursday knit gangs, who not only gift me with their knowledge, but also Jitterbug, Claudia's, and Araucania, among other things.

Further in my defense, others gave me gifts of checks or gift cards. In particular, my MIL's birthday gift came the day before Teri's 50%-off sale at Madonna Needleworks (RIP) and I felt compelled to help Teri sell out her yarns. Oh, yeah, and there was the bonus from Regina, part of which went to help Erin lighten *her* yarn load at the before-inventory 35%-off sale this past Monday. And at Michael's 70%-off end-of-year clearance sale. And at JoAnn's Big New Year's Sale (plus 10% off your entire purchase including sale items).

Okay, fine. I fell down. Once. Okay, maybe twice. But I did manage to make some headway into the 'old' stash:
- That weird Muench yarn: Using it as a border around a plain white stockinette pullover. Almost done. (Still leaves 9 balls of the damn stuff, though.)
- 2007's birthday Malabrigo: Hey, Teach! is almost done knitting. Back is done, fronts are 3/4 done, two short sleeves and seaming remain.
- Kraemer Little Lehigh Pebbles: Finally finished the Lacey Vee tank that had been in progress since 2005!
- Berrocco Ultra Alpaca: Picchu-Picchu sweater is in progress. I was using it as my "practice Continental" sweater. Unfortunately, after my thumb surgery, I'm having some 'tingling' issues with my index finger that makes it very difficult to 'pick' off that finger. Putting the sweater into hibernation until we figure out what's wrong with my finger - and hopefully fix it!
- KnitPicks Shine Worsted: Hibito is in progress! Put this on hold while I went through my Christmas knitting, but will pick up after Hey, Teach! is done.
- Crystalline Lattice socks, Lorna's Laces: Finally finished these, gifted to KB.
- Bistro Shirt, Rowan Summer Tweed: Another project that had been on the needles for a long time - done!

Yeah, there were a few other projects that I started and finished using new yarns.

For 2009, I think I'll try this knitting-from-stash thing again. Thanks to Chickenknittle's help reorganizing the yarn room, I remembered that I have wonderful, wonderful yarns to choose from right in my own house. I think I'll even put the stash up on Ravelry... maybe a print-out of everything I have will help restrain me when I'm in a yarn store. (Stop snickering!)

Happy new year, everyone!

Ancient Scroll

Well okay, maybe not 'ancient,' but they have been on the needles for a while. Scroll Lace socks, done in Hazelknits Artisan yarn (nylon & merino) in Plum Glace'. Great pattern, easier than I thought it would be. Knit toe-up (natch), and sized for a woman's big (10.5? 11?). Chickenknittle likes her socks high up her calf, so the first time I finished them, I wanted to compensate for the fact that legs get a little wider going up the leg. Oops, I over-compensated and when she wore them for a couple of hours, they got a little slouchy; can't see the lovely pattern when they're all squished down around her ankles. So I undid the 2x2 ribbing in favor of a 1x1 ribbing (oh and I may have decreased down a few ::cough:: 8 ::cough:: stitches). She tried them on today and they fit like they were made for her. Which they were. Duh. :-)

And, even though she had a wicked bad head cold, she still came over and helped me reorganize my yarn room. Everything's nice and neat, but the best part is that there are empty spaces that are crying out to be filled with MORE YARN! Just in time for the Bobbin's Nest pre-inventory sale!

Blessed (slightly belated) Solstice, Chickenknittle. Thanks for all your help today, and I hope you're feeling better.