Holy Hannah!

Remember this? Well, it seems Ms. Fields liked it soooooooooo much that she wore it again.
That is all.

Moving on

Boudica is on a time out, thinking about what she's done

You'll notice that I've frogged her completely and even rewound the yarn and now she's going to hang out in her little orange bag while I focus on other things. Like this:

My sister and brother in law are celebrating their first anniversary on Father's Day and I'm making a small afghan/throw for them to celebrate the occasion. Yes, I know that I only have 17 sleeps left to complete it. Thank goodness for my Clifford needles.

No Pictures, Just Grumbling

I should have known better than to approach a pair of socks named after Boudica with anything less than the utmost respect because people? They are kicking my booty. I've cast on for them no less than six times since Friday morning and I'm still not past the first dozen rows! The toe technique that Designer Mim has chosen is, according to Sensational Knitted Socks, an "easy" toe. Mmmhmmm. Yep. Easy. Easy like giving yourself stitches in the sole of your foot. Sure it can be done but not without considerable amounts of discomfort, cussing, and alcohol. I'm almost at the point (and knowing I can do this is why I love knitting) where I'm going to rip the whole thing out, again, and just do a short row toe which for the record is easy.

What's really ticking me off is that I know that I'm smarter than the yarn but I just can't seem to grasp the technique I need here. It doesn't matter what videos and descriptions I use online because I need someone to look at what I'm doing and either show me where I'm going wrong or tell me if I have it right (Mathboy says it looks good to him but the boy's a muggle). I would love to wander down to my not so local yarn shop for help and advice but there are two problems. A) as I've mentioned, they're kind of far away and B) I don't feel comfortable going into a place of business with items not purchased there and asking them to help me. It would be different if I could pick up a couple of skeins of sock yarn or something while I was there but I really do need to hold off on unnecessary spending for the duration of the summer. I guess in the end I'm just going to have to keep plugging away, trying things, until it looks right.

That's enough whingeing. I'm going to go take another crack at them (socks, if you're reading this, I have nothing but respect for your beauty and intricacy) and contemplate how much I would love a Caramel Coretto from Second Cup right about now.

Goin' to the yarn store!

I've been extremely hard on my dpn's lately. There was an incident which I won't go into detail about but it may have involved a certain ... glove-like item leaping out of the open window of a school bus travelling at 55 mph. Turns out that even powder coated steel has a hard time dealing with speeding asphalt. Two actually came out unscathed, two had burrs and the fifth, well, I think of it every time I pass that stretch of road and sincerely hope that its final resting place wasn't in some poor saps tire. The other incident involved my size two bamboo dpn's and my knitting/book bag. All I'm going to say here is that you should be gentle when putting your sock in progress into a book bag that has a large and heavy binder in it.

When the metal dpn's bit the dust, Mathboy suggested that I make do and refused to even consider a trip to my nearest yarn store (which, as it's nearly an hour away, is not a good week day destination so we go as a couple while doing other things in Tampa on the weekends). However, on Monday when I sheepishly admitted to my latest accident and told him that I was going to need to replace two sets of dpn's, he said "oh, ok. When we're done at the immigration office on Friday, we'll go to Knit and Knibble and get you some new ones".
I was flabbergasted. Even argued with him saying crazy things like "I can live without full sets for a while" and "I can make do". I have since recovered from my temporary insanity and am now plotting routes through the store to get to the needles while caressing the maximum amount of yarn. There *would* be yarn buying also, but as the school year ended yesterday and there are no jobs in my immediate future, I'm pretty much reduced to knitting from my stash. The good news here? Well, my stash is very very small and once I start knitting hair and fur out of desperation, I'm sure that the budget will be rearranged to allow for a skein or two of sock wool.

Incidentally, the immigration office visit should be (please God) uneventful. Essentially the temporary stamp in my passport that declares me to be a Lawful Permanent Resident Alien will expire in July and I have not yet received my Green card. I've been pushing the USCIS to find out why they haven't issued that rather important document and recently found out that they were investigating and that I could expect an answer in October. Three months too late. When I asked what I should do about my rapidly expiring stamp, they told me to make an appointment to have it extended. As this type of joy is par for the course with Immigration, I made the appointment and now Mathboy and I will be spending the kickoff to our Memorial Day weekend running around in Tampa having a grand old time.

Lazy Blogger

We've got pictures!

I've been very busy not blogging lately.

There was finishing these:
















Baking this and assisting Mathboy in the decorating of it:















Finishing Nick's Knucks . . . which he did not receive in the end. Our deal was that I'd give them to him on the last day of school and he decided to skip. *shrug* Someone will give them a home.


















Making these:















And of course, variously confusing and downright tuckering out some of the animals.

Victoria Day and other things

Happy Victoria Day!



Comment answering:

As a child I remember being told that the hole in my hand happened when, as I developed in utero, my middle finger grew into my palm. *shrug* It might even be true. That finger is certainly shorter than it ought to be and also slightly crooked. Incidentally, it occurs to me that I misspoke concerning my knitting and my funny hand. I have not yet been able to master knitting continentally because I can't maintain tension with that finger.

The Yarn Harlot, to my knowledge, will not be coming to Florida. *sigh* Nor will I be in Toronto for the Represent event up there. These things make me sad.

There will likely be photographs later of socks, knucks, and evidence of Mathboy's renaissance man tendencies. :)

By the by, Look! I can give things titles now. Easily pleased ya know.

Whoops!


Kristy tagged me for a Random Facts meme and I totally missed it for um, oh say, nearly a week. *sigh* In retrospect though, it could be because I got all distracted by yarn porn and talk of short rows. So, without further ado;

Robyn's Random facts.

1. I was born with a hole the size of a dime in my left hand. I have a lovely scar to this day that I use for distinguishing between right and left (sad but true) and debates about stigmata. Because of the hole, the middle finger of my left hand has little to no sensation which makes typing and piano playing interesting, but does not affect my knitting in any way.


2. I used to think that bus drivers, particularly public transit but also school bus, were crazy. Now, having done both, I know it's true.


3. I love to cook. I hate to clean. We would eat a lot better if fairies would be kind enough to swoop into my kitchen on a daily basis.


4. Mathboy and I met on the Internet. We were not plotting romance when we had our first face to face meeting, but he tells me that when he saw me at the airport that first time, he knew he'd marry me one day.


5. I loved the series "Firefly" and actually scheduled my wedding in such a way as to be able to watch the movie "Serenity" with the friend who introduced me to the television show. Also, I heart Adam Baldwin. (No, I'm not totally insane. It also had a lot to do with the fact that I wanted a candlelit ceremony and a long sleeved gown. Both were more easily accomplished in October.)


6. My cats are Hemingways or American Polydactyls and have extra toes on their front paws. They have all their claws and use their extra toes like opposable thumbs which can be very, very, bad. When we adopted them, their names were Jack (a black and white short hair) and Jill (tabby and white medium rabbit fur[she's so soft!]) which we thought was very unoriginal so we changed them to Otokonoko (Japanese for boy) and Otome (Japanese for girl). Noko and Ome for short, or, as my mother in law calls them "Ohno" and "Ohmy".


7. We have a fruit salad tree in our backyard. It's got Meyer Lemons, Honeybell Tangelos, Ruby Red Grapefruit, and Valencia, and Navel Oranges.

There will be no official tagging of people because all of the people I feel comfortable tagging have already done this. If you're reading though, and you haven't done it, consider yourself tagged! Leave me a comment so I can stalk you read it.

Kitty content!

Mathboy has read the blog and he is not amused. Evidently, it's just not right that I have not explained his blog name. So . . . here goes.

My husband is highly intelligent. The man has a mind like a well oiled steel trap (unlike my mind, which is more of a rusty steel trap. Facts go in never to be seen again). Anyways, his all time favourite mental pastime is playing with numbers. He's constantly running formulas and calculations in his mind. Again, this makes him my complete opposite, because I've always joked that I wear toe socks so that I don't have to take my shoes and socks off in order to count past ten. Because I am mathematically challenged, whenever I hit a calculation that is beyond my ken, I turn to him. You can see an example of his mathiness in the comments section of this entry of Kristy's. This is why he is Mathboy.

Now for some Yarn Porn:

That's Wooly Wonka's BFL sock yarn in the River colorway and the pattern behind it? That's Mim's Boudica Sock pattern. They were shipped on May first, and I've had 'em for a while, but I've been too busy fondling the yarn and working on the Crush sock of doom to focus much on posting them. Today I wound the yarn into two separate and equal balls. . . not that I can do anything but fondle it until I'm done with the C.s.o.d. *sigh*
Oh, and while I'm talking about those C.s.o.d. beasts, I've turned the heel on the first one and can officially count myself as being on the home stretch. Woot!

There's doings afoot! (With apologies to Kristy for my worse than usual grammar).
First, these came:













So, naturally, I promptly dove in and devoured my new books. (fyi, it's not a good idea to read a book like the Harlot's while there's a cranky muggle in the house. Giggle-snorting tends to poke the beast) "Casts Off" was reassuring because it reminded me that I'm not alone as a knitter, and I have been feeling a little lonely lately. Of course, it was also deeply deeply funny.

"Sensational Knitted Socks" is kind of an Idiots Guide to Knitting Socks and it led directly to this:



Yes, that's Mathboy modeling a pair of . . . well, deeply feminine socks. They're for my sister and frankly, chickie has feet like a duck. 9 1/2" around and 8 1/2" long. The yarn is Modea Dea's "Sassy Stripes" in the "Crush" colourway and I'm knitting the socks on size 2 needles. At this time, I'd like to mention that I love love LOVE the magic that is short rows. It started out straight, but now it's a smiley face! Gnomes!

Other goings on have included making another step toward having a proper office in place of our screen room/porch/lanai. To that end, Mathboy and his dad spent yesterday sheathing the frame that they installed a few months ago. Everything went well and we learned something new. Evidently our puppy thinks that tar paper is worthwhile entertainment and snack food.

Evidently, eating tar paper is thirsty work.

There's not much excitement in my little corner of the world lately. I've been plugging away at Nick's Knucks and while the right one is hideous and destined for the frog pond (stupid intarsia and lack of creator patience) the left one is, thus far, looking like something I'd actually give to someone.

In the midst of all of the blandness I've been struck by a glittering ray of temptation; Mim's Boudica socks. I have been plotting thinking about getting the kit for these with the River colourway from Wooly Wonka for my mother in law, and a skein of either Sea Wool or Merino from Fleece Artist in Amber for me. I have a pair of celtic inspired amber earrings that would look gorgeous with 'em. Is it sad that I'm accessorizing my accessories?

HAPPY EASTER!

Look! Horse Poo!

But, through the miracle of JellyBelly jelly beans, they become adorable little nests. The recipe I used can be found here. I recommend cooking the chocolate mixture for a minute and a half to two minutes in order to get a firmer drier texture. If you try the nest variation, I recommend having a helper. As you drop the oat/chocolate mix on your lined trays, they'll follow along and either jam the "eggs" in place, or make dents in the mounds.

This was my very first finished object. It's one of Wendy Johnson's Kitty Pi pet beds. I hunted all over Tampa for chunky wool and finally ended up settling for Noro Kureyon held together with Cascade. I don't remember what the novelty yarn was but I loved it passionately. I struggled with the cast on, knitting in the round (remember this was my first foray into knitting) holding two and three strands of yarn together, decreasing and all sorts of other things I'd never tried before.

I finally completed the Pi and carefully felted it. I then spent the next several days chasing the cats around and sitting them in it, rubbing catnip in it and generally doing everything I could to encourage them to love it. It took a while but they did eventually deign to use it, in spite of the natural tendency of a cat to shun all things that may be for him or her. They learned to love it and it became part of their games and occasionally they would accidentally kick it off of their little hangout as they wrestled together.

This morning I awoke to find this:
I resisted the urge to weep, although it was a close thing. I resisted the urge to kill the dogs (who were responsible for the destruction), although it was an even closer thing. I did call Mathboy and tell him that I hate his dogs and that they are hell spawn (this is the second thing that they've killed in the course of three days. Sunday we came home to a sea of fiberfill from one of their beds. Zipper pulled apart, liner in shreds, pillow itself partially shredded . . . )

Anyways. Since sitting around plotting the demise of my DH's beloved pets isn't productive, I'm now taking suggestions for what I can do to repair/rehabilitate the poor Pi.

Oh, by the way. Anyone want some dogs? They're really cute . . . when not shredding things. I'll even throw in the Sponge Bob blanket for free.

Eureka!

Well, in all fairness, I don't know that I made any great discovery that will improve the world of knitting but it makes me happy.

Did you know that, when knitting in the round, if you turn your work for the first row (after joining your cast on stitches) you'll end up with a really pretty purl row at the start of your work, and no jog! Well. Ok. There might be a jog if you don't cast on an extra stitch at the end and knit it together with the first stitch but I usually still get a jog even when I do that so I'm pleased with myself.

Also, when knitting something like Knucks (look! I linked! Sorry, big moment in my little world) Make sure that you try on all of the fingers to be certain that they're the right length and that you don't end up with, oh, say, an index finger that's two rows longer than the middle finger. 'Cause it just looks dumb. And it's kind of hard to tink down from a cast on edge. *Grin* Just sayin'

I've been hearing a lot lately about how I must be very patient and I have to come clean. Patience? Not so much. I'm incredibly impatient. Some days, the only thing that keeps me sane is my knitting and the sure knowledge that Spring Break, Summer Holiday, or Christmas break is right around the corner. In fact there are some days when I can't even look *that* far ahead and I have to focus on my next seven minute break. Do I enjoy my job? Absolutely. Are there days that I find it more frustrating than I have words to express? You bet. So no. I'm not patient. What I am is decently compensated for a very challenging job that I enjoy 80% of the time and that I am able to leave when I step off of my bus.

Wanna see what else I'm up to?

This is a housewarming gift for some friends who are moving into a brand new home in two weeks. It's Lion Brand Homespun in "Mediterranean" and I'm expecting to use 12 skeins in total.

I'm using these:

And if you're wondering just what size that is . . .

Yup, U.S. Size 50. These are Lion Brand's "Speed Stix" and they're enormous. I'm holding four strands of yarn together and getting a really soft fluffy fabric out of it. Love the Speed Stix. It's a little like knitting with kindergarten crayons, or carrots, and they make me giggle but things just knit up so fast! Hmmmm, could that be why they call them "Speed Stix"?

We were visiting with some friends last night and talk turned to hitchhikers. Our friend Adam related this story;
One evening he was on his way home from some grocery shopping and saw a man waiting by his truck. Adam asked if he could help him and the man said he needed a ride home. This was Wisconsin in the 80's so Adam didn't hesitate in agreeing to take the man where he needed to go. The fellow hopped into the truck and, a few minutes into the drive, offered to repay Adam's kindness with a blowjob. As it happened, they were close to a police station, so Adam pulled over and told the guy to get out of his truck right then and there. It wasn't until some years later that Adam saw a face that he'd never forget on the six o'clock news. His overly friendly hitchhicker had been Jeffrey Dahmer.

The Elizabeth blanket came to work with me for its portrait session and I showed it to one of my colleagues who is a quilting and sewing type. As I put the blanket back in my bag, she asked if I sewed and when I said that I don't (very well anyways) she told me to pick up some fabric, measure the folded blanket, and draw her a picture of what I wanted in the way of a blanket storage bag! Well, I had no idea what I wanted but Bill and I picked up some cute fabric, a pair of honey bee shaped buttons, and I returned to Connie and said "can you do a flap?" And this is what she came up with:




It's got a nice little front pocket, the flap, beautiful emerald green lining, and a hidden strap. I love it to pieces. I could have done without PoohBear . . . simply because I think Elizabeth will outgrow it for ten years or so but since the nursery is done in Pooh, and since Elizabeth's daddy is Bill's oldest and closest friend, he got his way on the fabric choice.

My apologies for the blurriness of the photos. Evidently I've been having a series of bad picture days.

In other news, I've been working slowly on a pair of fingerless gloves for one of my bus kids. If he manages to avoid getting into trouble for the rest of the school year he'll get a pair of black gloves with deep red stars on the backs (his colour and design choice). These are the fingers :)

I've finished the baby blanket! It's all blocked and I'm just waiting on a friend who was kind enough to offer to sew a pillow/pouch for storage. The whole shebang should hit the mail by Wednesday at the latest and with a little luck and some cooperation from the USPS it should hit Richmond Saturday or Monday *grin*

Blocking:

Something tells me that I need a larger cat free surface for blocking.

Edited to add: I used four balls of Bernat Baby Coordinates (hooray for Michaels/Walmart yarn) in Lemon Custard and cast on 128 stitches with a set of Susan Bates 4.5 mm circs (which I will never ever use again! Ever!) After six rows in garter stitch, I started a feather and fan pattern with a six stitch garter stitch border. I then knitted in pattern until I decided it was long enough, did another six rows in garter, and bound off.

I am a school bus driver. The observant among you may have noticed that the photo of the baby blanket (still incomplete) is taken against a background of school-bus-seat-blue pleather but I digress. I drive a group of high school and middle school students who like to fancy that they live in da ghetto. Yo! 813 represent! Anyways, it's most gratifying when these corn-rowed, blinged out, baggy panted ... well, hoodlums stop on their way up the steps and say "Miss! What is that? How do you do it? Is it easy? Show me!" I doubt that they think I'm cool or anything bizarre like that, but I'm definitely an anomaly in their little lives.

My Beloved, modeling the thrummed mittens (complete with idiot strings) scarf and hat all currently winging their way to Ontario. Everything is Plymouth Encore. Hat was knitted on US 8 circs and dpns, Scarf was knitted on 5.0 mm needles in a k1 p1 rib until I got sick of it, and the mittens . . . hmmm, I'll have to hunt that down for ya'll.
Mitten close up. I quite like them.
Kitty Pi knitted from the pattern in Wendy Johnson's book of Noro Kureyon and Cascade Heather held together . . . should have taken a picture of the outside and it's too late now as it too is en route up north.
The still unfinished baby blanket. Bernat Baby Coordinates in Lemon Custard. It's essentially a feather and fan lace with a six stitch/row garter border knit on US size seven needles (as an aside, I despise Susan Bates circular needles. They don't relax for anything.)
Skinned Muppet Flip flops. I'm sort of embarassed by them but look! Finished knitting!

Pictures!

Don't you hate it when you run out of yarn and time and you were planning on wearing your latest creation? What to do, what to do . . .

Edited to add: The lovely lady in the ombre blouse and no pants is Patricia Field, presumably of http://patriciafield.com AND an Oscar nominee for the costumes in The Devil Wears Prada!!