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Zarzuela Knits and Crochets
My blog about my knitting, crocheting, and anything else I feel like ranting about!

Ball winding bliss

11.30.2004
The new pattern for the 6 sox knitalong is supposed to be posted tomorrow so it was time to wind the Koigu into balls. And just in the knick of time Eklectica posted a note to the SnB list with a link to a site that talks about winding a ball using a nostepin or, of all thing, a toilet paper tube! I'm all about doing something easy on the cheap so I gave it a shot and I think it worked out well.


It makes for an awfully big hole in the middle of the ball, but it pulls from the center and seems to hold its shape pretty well. Best of all, my hands didn't totally cramp up while trying to wind the ball like they usually do. No pain is a definite plus.
So now I'm all set for the new pattern. Just have to wait until tomorrow for it to be posted. Hopefully I'll have the right size needles and I'll be all set. I'm hoping to do them both at once too so this should be REALLY interesting.
Oh...and lest you think I forgot:
Bills 38 - Seahawks 9
Hmmm...maybe the season isn't a complete loss? We shall see.

I've managed to make some progress on the wedding afghan:


What you see here is about 1 skein worth of work. I've got three more to go. Oh yeah...and it's about 5 feet long (pics can be so deceiving can't they?!). The pattern calls for 14 pattern repeats but I'm doing it with a K hook instead of an I so I may not need that many. It seems to be going pretty quickly. I guess it had better since it needs to be done by January 2nd!
I'm also hoping to work on squares for HMB soon. I have a bag of partial skeins of yarn that I think I'm just going to make into plain granny squares. There is a contest going on and for every 12 inch granny you send to an assembler you get one entry in a drawing for a goodie bag that will probably be (just what I need) more yarn! :) But it's for a good cause and I can do a granny without looking so it shouldn't be too hard. All I have to do is find something decent on TV to watch while I'm making them. That could be the real challenge.


Back to civilization

11.28.2004
Well it's a dreary day here in CT and I worked all day but I just had to come update my blog. :)

You'll see from the sidebar that I accomplished quite a bit while I was away. Most of the work I'm showing here was done on trips to physical therapy with my Mom (she had knee surgery two weeks before Thanksgiving). She drove and I stitched. Not a bad deal. :)

First, I finished the magic stripes socks!! I was so excited when I finally finished the last one. No second sock syndrome for me! And they actually fit.



And just like a kid with a new toy I had to wear them the very next day. They are super cozy and feel really nice. I'll definitely be making more socks with this yarn. Just have to see how it holds up to washing. Hopefully that won't change my mind. Best of all, now that I'm done with these I'm ready for the new pattern for the 6 sox knitalong which will be posted this week! Koigu here I come! :)

Then I finished another OPH (Operation Purple Heart) ghan for HMB.



It went in the mail on Saturday to it's new owner in NJ. I've already signed up to do another. I'm hoping that I might be able to do a couple during my break from school. They are so badly needed.

Next I finished up the pair of Voodoo's I wanted to make for a Christmas present:



I am the hand model here and they aren't for me so they are a bit tight. Don't worry, I do have a thumb, even if it isn't evident from the pic. I did these in Woolease with a size 5 Addi circ and did both at once. It was a bit of a tangle with the two balls of yarn but once I finally got the hang of it I was able to finish them in a day. I hope the recipient likes them.

Then I finished up another Christmas present:



This bearghan is another pattern from HMB. People make these for children that are ill or are having some other kind of difficulty in their lives. I made this one for the new baby a friend of mine just adopted from Korea. The nose is a little crooked, but I think it gives him character, don't you? Once I finally figured out how to crochet the squares together instead of sewing them it went pretty quickly. If I ever do one again, I think I will do it in 12 inch squares instead of six. Makes for faster assembling and less ends to weave in at the end.

I also started the afghan I'm making to give as a wedding present. My best friend from high school is getting married on Jan. 2nd and I found a pattern on a skein of yarn for a "diamond trellis" afghan. I thought it was appropriate. I'll have pics of that one soon.

And for those of you who can't get enough cat pics, here is Simba's uncle Buster being posed for a pic with my Mom:



Don't they both look thrilled?

Simba had a good time visiting her grandparents:



Not only did she get to hang out on the couch and watch the birdfeeder (or "Kitty TV" as we call it. KTV for short), she also got to play with just about anything:

It's definitely a cat's life.


Retreat to the land of dial-up

11.22.2004
So I took this online quiz yesterday and here are my results:

Knitting Guru
You appear to be a Knitting Guru. You love knitting
and do it all the time. While finishing a piece
is the plan, you still love the process, and
can't imagine a day going by without giving
some time to your yarn. Packing for vacation
involves leaving ample space for the stash and
supplies. It can be hard to tell where the yarn
ends and you begin.
http://marniemaclean.com


What Kind of Knitter Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

I find this quite funny. I would hardly consider myself a guru. I thought I knew a thing or two about knitting and then I started going to SnB. Let me tell you, I have learned more than a thing or two! I am hardly a guru. But then again the thing about packing is totally true! I ended up packing my projects first before I packed anything else to go home today!! LOL... Ok...so I haven't packed anything else yet...ya got me. According to two other quizes I am also Lion Brand yarn and bamboo needles. Hmmm...well I bought the Woolease yesterday for the Dusty Miller and I'd rather use natural needles than metal if I have a choice. Maybe there is something to these tests. Nah...I'm not that gullible.
So here's my excuse for not being packed yet. I woke up at 5:30AM this morning! I must really want to go home because that is just an absolutely unholy hour for me. The sun wasn't even up yet! I'm so not functional but I was awake. I even tried crocheting a granny square (something I can almost do with my eyes closed) to put my to sleep but no luck. So I figured I'd take care of e-mail, etc. and then get to packing.
Oh and one other thing:
I'M FREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
NO MORE CLASS UNTIL JANUARY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
:)
Could I be any happier? I don't think so. Only one class to go and my M.L.S. will FINALLY be done. No more professional student jokes for me!
And I did work on the last sock in class last night. Apparently I over did it a bit this weekend and my hands were complaining a bit so there wasn't a whole lot of progress. I'm hoping to have it done by the end of the week though.
Well methinks it's time to get my act together. For all you celebrating Turkey Day, have a good one! For anyone who doesn't, have a good week and please under-eat to compensate for the rest of us who will be stuffing ourselves, never mind the turkeys!


Holy Enabling Batman!!

11.21.2004
Bills 37!!! - St. Louis 17
Oh ye of little faith, take a look at that score! Woo hoo!! :)
So last night my Mom just had to tell me that Michael's is having a sale on Woolease! I really want to do the "Dusty Miller" cardigan from Crocheted Aran Sweaters and that is exactly what it calls for. Can you hear the money leaving my wallet?! I knew when they put the new Michael's in about 2 miles from my apartment that it was going to be a very dangerous thing indeed. LOL!
At the end of the summer I did the "Morning Mist" sweater from the same book in Caron and I really like how it came out. This was the first time that I made something of the wearable variety that actually came out the way it was supposed to (i.e. it fit a human being instead of some unknown deformed creature). I'm glad I did it in acrylic instead of wool though. It is so warm as it is I can't imagine what it would have been like if I had done it with a wool yarn! So I have added yet another "future project" to the list. Sure am glad that I'm about to have a couple of days off to work on getting some of the "in progress" stuff done!
Speaking of which, I am really rocking on the second MS stock. Here is my progress since casting on after I finished the other one on Saturday measured against the first one:

I'm still a bit worried about having enough yarn. I figure since all I really have to do in class tonight is turn in my paper and listen to the other presentations, I should be able to get a good deal of work done on the foot. I might as well accomplish something while I'm learning something right?
By the way, the Koigu has been safely stored in a drawer that one particular feline can not enter unless she suddenly grows an opposable thumb. And if you haven't seen this stuff in person, don't do it or you will end up with some going home with you too! It's quite *petable*.
And yes, the paper is FINISHED!!!!! I just can't seem to get my stapler to staple it since it's so thick so I will have to try with the electric one at work. There is a decaf white chocolate mocha at Starbucks with my name on it tonight. :) I decided that would be my little treat to myself for getting the thing done and in on time. Since I'm not supposed to have caffeine at all and decaf does have some in it, well, believe me, it's a treat.
So after class tonight I will have to start packing for the retreat to the land of dial-up. It's kind of like going back in time in a way. Yes, going home means no high speed internet access, no cell phone signal and no Starbucks for miles. It's enough to drive a blogger nutty. But if it means getting a vacation, I'll take it! If there aren't many blog updates in the coming week, now you'll know why. It may be all I can stand just to read my e-mail. But I am definitely ready for the break. I'm going to crochet and knit until my little fingers can't move!! :) Yes that's a happy thing. And somewhere in there I will have to practice the bassoon a bit too.
Now to get ready for that trip to Michael's....


My first koigu!!

Yale 3 - Harvard 35
Yikes. What a way to start the weekend.
I did find a hockey game on last night though! Of course, Hartford lost. :( Maybe it's a good thing there isn't going to be an NHL season this year. My teams are all sucking pretty badly lately. But maybe Buffalo will get me a win today.
Wow. Now I really am dreaming.
Anyway, lookie what I finished yesterday!



That's right! One sock down, one to go! And best of all, that is actually the intended owner's foot in the sock (that intended owner being me of course). Here's another angle.



It's rather difficult to take pictures of your own feet. I asked Simba to do it but that whole lack of an opposable thumb makes it kinda tough to hold the camera AND take the picture.
What do you think of the toe closure? I grafted it and it seems so square to me. Is this normal? Is there a better way? Cause my feet certainly aren't shaped like that!
As soon as it was done and I had admired it for a bit I was a good little girl and cast on for the other one. Here's my progress so far:



I'm almost done with the cuff already. I'm a bit nervous about having enough yarn left to do this one since I have *ahem* rather large feet. But I just keep telling myself that even if I do run out there is more yarn where this came from so it really isn't that big a deal.
Now I can already hear you all asking, "What about the paper?! Have you fallen into homework procrastination mode again?!"
To which I answer, "Heck no!" The paper was sent to the proofreader (a.k.a. Mom) yesterday afternoon and had already been returned last night. I looked the corrections over and decided between the burnout and the incredible headache I was experiencing it might be smarter to let it *marinate* overnight before I went to work again. Yes it is still marinating. But give me a break, it isn't even noon yet and it isn't due until 6pm tomorrow night!
Yesterday afternoon I decided to take a little study break and visit one LYS that I hadn't been to in quite a while. This is what ended up going home with me:


My first koigu! Lauren will be proud. I was looking for sock yarn and while they had many nice things I started digging around in the koigu bin and found this color. Isn't it awesome?! (Can you tell my favorite color is blue or what?) I had wanted some solid color sock yarn for the impending start of the 6 sox knitalong's next pattern. This is definitely going to be a pricey pair of socks but I just couldn't leave that color behind.
As you can see, I also ended up with another Addi Turbo circ which is helping round out the collection. It's a size 3 and 60 inches long! The longest I've been able to find so far has been 40 which seems to work well with the magic loop technique and the two Voodoos but some extra room couldn't hurt. I'm planning on doing the next pair of socks two at a time since this "not being able to wear them when you are done with the one" thing really does suck. I guess I could wear one, but the other foot might get jealous. No one wants to deal with that.
Thanks for all the comments on my last post! :) Nice to know someone really is reading this thing. One person left a link for some really yummy looking sock yarn which I thought I would share. The store is called The Fold and if the colors are anywhere near what they look like on the computer I'm going to have to be careful not to drool on it while I work with it when I manage to get some! I especially like "Sapphire" (there's that blue thing again). Maybe it's a good thing that I took two more gigs after Thanksgiving.

Well I must leave you now. Time to think about working on the paper again and possibly start packing to go back to NY on Tuesday. This should tell you how badly I am ready for a bit of vacation. Packing is usually an activity reserved for an hour before I'm ready to leave. Even thinking about it this far in advance is definitely a sign!
Go Bills!


A little vacuuming is good for the soul

11.19.2004
Now that Mr. Vacuum and Mr. Floor have been reacquainted I feel much better. Life can go on as scheduled.

Check it out! My current special HMB ghan is done!! It took another SnB session and working on it until 11:30pm last night but there it is!!



Simba must, of course, inspect it fully before it leaves the house as you can see in the pic.

We also send tote bags with the ghans so here is a shot of both together:



I think it all came out quite well. It's always amazing that even though people send squares and material from all over North America and sometimes the world, they all work together.

I decided on a simple edging for this one since I thought the squares were all so pretty and I didn't want to take away from that. Here's a close up:



Any comments?

So the paper is coming along. I didn't make it to yoga this morning because I wanted to get it solidified before my meeting with Sami tonight to get the statistics worked out in my poor little brain. The last of my participants should have their reports in by 8pm tonight (why the heck did I agree to extend the deadline without looking at time zone first?!) and then it's "Let the analysis begin!". Lucky me. Obviously I have a lovely weekend planned for myself.

However, the bright side is that Sami and I are having dinner at a favorite coffee shop downtown and will of course be doing at least a *little* bit of knitting in the process. The next major goal is to get the Magic Stripes socks done and off the needles. I joined the 6 sox knitalong the other day and the new pattern starts December 1st. I'm a little worried as the past patterns look a bit complicated. I also need to find some solid colored sock yarn since I think that would be much nicer with the type of patterns they seem to be doing. The multicolor would be a bit too busy I think.

So what is everyone's favorite sock yarn? Where do you purchase it? If you have a source for a good price on Addi turbo needles I'd love to hear that too.

And just to end Friday on an up note, I made the mistake of putting my huge tote bag that I'm using for transporting in process afghans on the floor where Simba could get curious last night. So here are some obligatory cat photos:



That look could only mean trouble...

Does a mother know her kid or what?



Luckily the yarn and tools were already out. Here's the end result:



Now if I could only get her to stay in there so I wouldn't have to use the cat carrier to get her back to NY next week...

Have a great weekend!!


Stressed OUT!!

11.18.2004
The title doesn't even begin to describe where I'm at right now. The paper is now requiring statistics of which I know nothing about. Musicians can only count to four for god's sake!! The study participants are, well, hard to keep track of at times. I've had to extend my deadline to tomorrow which gives me two days to finish the paper and interpret the data. Oye! Luckily, my dear Stitch n' Bitch buddy Sami has offered to help on the stats part. Thank god. Standard deviation what?! Yeah. I'm in trouble. My apartment is also a complete disaster. That's probably more of a problem then the paper. I'm not a neat freek, but there is a line for everyone and mine has been crossed, BIG TIME. Luckily, tomorrow I don't have to work at the library, so I think the morning calls for getting up early to clean at least a bit and then going to yoga. I may just run the vacuum at 9am since no one else around here seems to have any consideration for noise level, why should I?! Can you say "picking an apartment on the lower level was a bad idea"?! And then of course it's that time of month when bills are coming in and money isn't coming in fast enough. But enough of that.

Good news! I have been approved for the Stitch n' Bitchers webring!! You'll find the link on the sidebar down there somewhere. Haven't gotten to official word on the other two yet.

I managed to gain some semblance of sanity last night by going to Stitch n' Bitch. It was so busy yesterday that we had to make two groups instead of all sitting together. I managed to get all but three squares joined on the special project ghan and did a little work on the MS sock. There is another meeting tonight where I will hopefully finish off the joining and start the border on the ghan.

Here's another pic to ad to the FO gallery:



Simba wouldn't stand still so I needed another model. ;) Rather complementary don't you think? The hat is the Polish Star pattern from some book I can't remember right now. The scarf is the Fish Knit Wrap from Morehouse Merino. I absolutely love that place. They are about 45 min. from where my parents live and they have the most amazing store. Not to mention the yarn is amazing and so soft. I'm a touch allergic to wool and this stuff doesn't bother me a bit. I've also made the Ultrasoft Scarf and love that too.

Must run now. Only four more days and my sanity will be restored....maybe.


Blogging is addictive!

11.16.2004
Thanks to everyone who wished me well on the presentation. It went well although I felt like a blithering idiot up there. I'm not used to being in front of a bunch of people without a bassoon in my face! But I was told by my peers afterward that it was find and my project was very interesting. I also found out that we can write the paper more like a published journal article than a hugh tome of a term paper so that made my unendingly happy. Let's face it, no one is going to publish a 20 page article on authority control these days unless you turn the world upside down and I'm certainly not doing that. One of my classmates even said that she appreciated the fact that I was a nerd enough to be able to talk about the topic! LOL. I took it as the compliment it was meant to be.
In crafting news, the last two squares for the special project ghan arrived yesterday! :) Now I can (hopefully) get this ghan done and out the door by Monday. The recipient for this one is my ex-boyfriend's grandmother. She was recently diagnosed with leukemia and the first treatment did not go well. She's going through a different treatment now and things seem to be stabilizing...thank god. I bawled my eyes out when I found out she was sick. I guess some would think I'm pretty weird for doing this ghan for her and being so upset. My reply: I dated her grandson for over 5 years, she and her husband welcomed me into their home while we were dating AND after we broke up, they are the sweetest people around, they did so much for me while I was in college and I think this is the very least I can do for them. We've been though cancer in my family too so I know how hard it is. I hope the ghan will do its job and bring her at least some small measure of comfort as she battles her illness. Considering the quilts she makes, I know she will appreciate it if nothing else.
So everything else I'm working on goes on hold until I get this done. Still have to decide what edging I'm going to do this time. The last one I did is totally out of the question. If you look in the FO gallery you'll see a pic of "Lucile's ghan" and the edging for it. While it did come out nicely it took 2 skeins of yarn just for the edge! Not to mention it took forever. Just can't do that again. If anyone has any suggestions for a nice edging for a ladies ghan please share! :)
You'll probably notice a bunch of changes to the blog today. A million thank yous to Eklectica who helped me get the progress bars for my works in progress looking like more than long white blobs. :) I've also gotten myself into a couple of webrings. One for crochet and one for knitting. My approval for the crochet one hasn't come in just yet so the previous and next buttons don't work yet. I'll let you know when (and if) they do. I also got myself a counter (yep, I'm a geek), added a link to the bassoon camp page, changed the HMB link to the actual logo (an idea I stole from Jenn at Crochet Crafts - thank you!), added Crochet Crafts to my crochet blog list and messed around with some fonts. There is still much to be done but I really need to make myself go to bed earlier instead of doing this until all hours!! LOL.
Well I've gotta get it in gear and get some other things done around here. I leave you with this:

Simba says, "What's going on out there?!"
Zarzuela says, "You may not want to know!!"


Monday Monday

11.15.2004
Bills 6 - Pats 29
Not exactly a good way to end the weekend...but at least the Bills didn't get completely shut out.
So between working on the paper and procrastinating on the paper I decided to do this:

That's right. Two tubes on one circular needle. It really is possible! This was a complete pain in the you-know-what to get started but I eventually got it worked out. Then of course I realized that I had screwed up the ribbing pattern and had to pull some out which involved transferring things back and forth to another needle and now I somehow have one that is x number of rows and the other is x+1. Oh well. Not a big deal.
These are actually going to be another pair of Voodoo's for a seasonal holiday present for someone. I say another because I made a pair (albeit much shorter than the pattern calls for) for myself to use at work [don't bother looking in the FO gallery for them. I forgot to take a pic]. My office is about 63 degrees all year 'round and after about two hours at the computer I can hardly move my fingers sometimes! I tried fingerless gloves but there was too much *stuff* between my fingers and I ended up with @$#&)#$&@& instead of what I wanted to type! LOL.
Just have to add one more thing. I found this link while I was surfing some other blogs yesterday. I live in a blue state, I voted in a blue state and I'm proud of it! I may have to get some stuff when the cashflow is a little better around here. Boy would my folks freek if I came home with that bumper sticker on my car! :)
And now I must return to term paper land. Not a happy place...let me tell you....


Advanced Homework Procrastination Techniques

11.14.2004
Happy Sunday! I've been crunching numbers and fighting with Excel spreadsheets all morning. Ugh. But I'm taking a break from all that for a bit. Don't you just love the title of this entry?! I stole it from my friend and fellow S'nB-er Sami. :)

So here's what I've been working on. Last night between rehearsal and the concert I edged the square that came in the mail for the special ghan I'm working on for HMB.



I've got one more square that will hopefully arrive early next week and then I'll be able to start assembling this one. I also still need to get my own square done. I've just got a few more rows to go:


Pineapple Square

This is one of my favorite square patterns and I've done it so much I've got it memorized! That's pretty amazing for me since I can't seem to memorize anything to save my life! LOL. The pattern comes from "Priscilla's Crochet"which also has a lot of other great free patterns. The pattern I use for joining the squares comes from this site too. (Unfortunately this site goes over it's bandwidth a lot. If you can't seem to get in, try this link.)


I've also got an OPH (Operation Purple Heart) in the works:



Just a few more to go on this one too. I did my first Adoring Hearts square for this one. The pattern is in the book "A Crocheter's Garden of Afghans" by Leisure Arts. The picture in the book shows it in one color and it looks kinda blah, but when you use a couple of colors to make the hearts stand out a bit it really makes it look kinda cool I think. Everyone on HMB raves about this square. Someone also created an edging using the pattern which I will have to try sometime.

I had a lot of time to kill in between rehearsal and the concert last night so I made a couple of stops. :) I got this at A.C. Moore:



Yes, more sock yarn. I bought the circs cause I really like how bamboo feels in my hands. I'm pretty skeptical about the cord holding up to the magic loop process though. And the magnets are to tape in the windows of my car since some schmuck stole the last one I had right off the car! Makes you wonder about humanity sometimes...

Anyway, Michael's was rather disappointing. I even looked through some magazines and couldn't find anything worth buying. So I went to Panera for dinner and worked on the Magic Stripes sock. Here's my progress:



I think I may have a hard time with second sock syndrome on this one. The pattern I'm using (which is from the yarn label) is just not very intuitive and I'm not exactly loving it. Although it is working and so far it does fit so I shouldn't complain. Here's the decreasing:


I'm a little worried about the "gather" that seems to be happening just above the heel. At least I'm at the point where I can just work the foot for a while. The decreases were stressing me out! LOL. I'm also really glad I finally broke down and spent two bucks on stitch markers. I've never really needed them before but they really do help with socks.

Well I guess that's enough procrastination for now. :) Must get back to the paper. Can't believe I have to present in class tomorrow. Ugh again. Wish me luck!




Heartmade Blessings and the weather

11.13.2004
So here is what I woke up to this morning:


View out my front window

That's right...SNOW!! It's only November 13th!! I know I live in the northeast but this is ridiculous. This is why I left Buffalo, to not see this stuff before December, or at least Thanksgiving! Something tells me we are in for a bad one this year.


Simba doesn't look impressed

Neither am I for that mattter. I'm also not too happy about this:


Covered Car

Yep. That's my big red beast which I will have to scrape off before I go to my gig today. Do I know where my snow brush is? Heck no. And considering the rain last night you can bet there is a healthy dose of ice under the white stuff. Here's hoping the brush and scraper are in the car from last year like usual.

On to better things. In the sidebar under "My favorite things" you'll see a link to Heartmade Blessings. This is my charity of choice. I've been a member for about two years now. I won't insult you intelligence by saying everything that's on the website, but I thought I'd say a little bit about it. The group makes "comfort afghans" for people who are experiencing a hard time in their lives due to an illness, loss or whatever. We've made afghans for World Trade Center victims families, the Columbia Shuttle Mission families, the families of soldiers lost in the War on Terror and the war in Iraq, and for plenty of people who are just dealing with everyday things that happen in life. So far well over 3,000 afghans have been distributed in the about 5 year existence of the group. Members come from all over the world and either donate crocheted squares or assemble them into afghans. I joined the group about 6 months after 9/11 when I was feeling that I needed to do something to make my corner of the world a better place. The group is coordinated through a yahoo group and puts out about 300 e-mails a day! It's a lot to keep track of at times but well worth it.

I think the thing I like the most about this organization is that everything they say they do, they really do! It's not like so many other charities where you really wonder if your money is going to what they say it is going to. It is completely not-for-profit and monetary donations can only be made in the form of yarn or postage. I have a little cork thing near my computer and one of the push pins holds all the thank you e-mails I have received as a result of my participation. It's really an amazing feeling. And I feel as though I have many caring friends that are just an e-mail away thanks to the listserv. We don't just care about the afghan recipients, we care about each other too which makes it a great community to belong to. If you are looking for a way to make the world a better place in some small way, definitely check it out. Feel free to ask me any questions you might have too.
That's it for today. I should have some good progress to show on the Magic Stripes sock tomorrow. Enjoy the weekend!
*Think SUN*


Confessions of a twisted knitter

11.12.2004
Thanks for the comments on the socks. It wasn't easy to get that second one done, but I made it!

Now for the new stuff: Can I just say, CT drivers are C-R-A-Z-Y!! Last night I was on my way to rehearsal in 5pm traffic which everyone knows is bad around here. Especially where two highways which shall remain nameless (you know who you are!) merge. Well I slow down and come to a stop on a ramp and suddenly I hear *bang* *bang* behind me. It kinda sounded like a dump truck going over a bump. Unfortunately it wasn't. Lucky for me I was not involved but the three cars directly behind me were! Talk about a close call! And I won't even get into how rehearsal went...

So here I am on a Friday night blogging. I decided this would be what I would do to relax after a week of running my tail off. Yes I have no life. Simba doesn't approve but she will just have to live. I've done a bunch of updating on ye olde blog tonight. I finally have the link to my finished objects pics working, links to other blogs working through there buttons, a scrolling marquee and some other fun stuff. This is still very much an "under construction" site, but I'm getting there.

Speaking of under construction, the Magic Stripes socks are coming along. My knitting before rehearsals has become very popular, especially with the trombone section. I've gotten everything from "what are you making?" to "Don't forget, I have 12 toes so make sure you make it big enough!". LOL. Gotta love trombone players...I guess. At least the principle apologized in advance for playing so loud. That's a rare occurrence. But I digress... back to the sock....

I've finally got the cuff part done and have started to work the heel flap. There are some tension "issues" in the cuff, but this is my first attempt at non-twisted knitting so you've gotta cut me a little slack (no pun intended!). And they are also for me so if I can stand it why should anyone else care?! I originally started the heel flap before rehearsal last night but ended up frogging it just now and starting again. At least it is working better this time. I finally figured out that this whole "twisted stitches" thing has me all in a tizzy. I was so worried about not twisting stitches that I was slipping the slip stitches as if you would knit them. That made the next round a bit tight. I was really getting ticked last night with 5 min. to go before rehearsal started. Guess that's what I get for not warming up. When I frogged it I it also took me a bit of messing to figure out how to get things going in the right direction again. The magic loop thing had me a bit confused at one point. But now it's fixed and all is well I think. Here's a pic of what I have so far:


Cuff and beginning of heel

Not too bad I think. I think I'll be much happier when the heel flap is done.


How 'bout those not twisted stitches!

Well I think that's enough computer time for one day! Happy Knitting and Crocheting!



ACK!! A comment!!

11.11.2004
Ok...so somehow the word got out! My blog has been found and it isn't even "ready for public consumption" yet! Guess this means I better get it in gear and add some content to this puppy. Thanks for the warm welcome to blog-land. :)

So here are a couple of pics of the very first socks I've ever made. They were done with the "magic loop" technique since the whole dpn deal just seemed more awkward then it needed to be. During the course of their progress I found out that I am a "twisted knitter". Thanks to my dear Stitch n' Bitch buddy Lauren I think I am on my way to reform now. I finished these socks the "twisted" way and I've started another pair that I'm working my way to reform on. My tension is a bit weird, but I think I'm figuring it all out. Unfortunately I can't make it to an SnB meeting this week to get more input (damn gig) but maybe next week.


Here is a pic of the completed WoolEase Socks.



Here's a detailed view

And now off to rehearsal... again...*sigh*


11.09.2004

Here's a little pic to get this blog started! :) Please meet my fuzzy child, Simba! You will hear much more about Simba in the future, count on it.


First Post

11.08.2004
Ok. I can't stand the peer pressure. I just had to create my own blog. I totally don't have the time for this right now but I did it anyway. Silly huh? Here's hoping I get to making something cool of this sometime soon.