The perfect equation
Me + Toxic + 8 hrs nonstop flying time/4 days by myself = bliss, and hopefully some Spiral Boot Socks. Type to you next week!
Signs of spring
What we call the Grape Bubblegum tree - please let me know if you recognize it
And summer sweaters resting in the Mexican Heather
The Summertime Tunic halves are joined and the body is started. Unfortunately what you see above is 2 balls of the 5 available. Hmmmm...might be an awfully short sweater, and God knows my midriff doesn't need that much baring. The good news is that I'm knitting the 37.5 size, and it looks to me like it might be quite big. First chance I get to take it off the needles (probably after ball #3), I'll try it on. I might be able to go down to the next smallest size successfully, since I don't want a whole lot of ease.
Unfortunately, this weekend has been a knitting-free zone - my right hand/wrist have been sore for a few days. I've got a bone deposit on the back of my hand that normally doesn't bother me at all, but if I'm doing a lot of hand motions that involve flexing my wrist, the tendons on the back of my hand get annoyed. I guess there's been too much rabid Firestarter knitting in the last week or so (in addition to getting back out on my tri bike which also puts my wrists in a slightly uncomfortable position). In an attempt to let the tendons chill out a bit and recover, I replaced knitting with spinning over the weekend, and now I've got this sitting on the bobbin.
Last month's (January's actually) HY Fiber Club, Verdant, 50/50 merino/mohair, in my first attempt to spin laceweight. It's a pain in the ass. The fiber is beautiful, and the actual spinning is going fine, but it's the winding on to the bobbin that ain't working so well. I'm currently adjusting the tension between the long-draw and wind-on portions of the program, and it seems to be working ok, but it's not terribly efficient. Plus it takes a really long time to spin 4 oz! No instant gratification here...I just hope I like the end product.
I'm off Wednesday to Portland, OR for a conference, so this may be the only post for the week. However, I have grand plans for finishing off multiple socks while I'm gone, so next week should bring many FOs (famous last words, right?)
Snow!
Well, theoretical snow at least. I just heard a weather report about the next cold front that's coming through southeast Texas in the next 36 hours, and they actually mentioned the dreaded "S" word.
Now I have lived in a number of places where snow was something of an anomaly, at least in any real amount, and it's been pretty entertaining to someone who did not get a snow day from sixth grade through high school graduation (and that's not because it didn't snow). Flashback to January 1996, driving from Boston back to grad school in DC one day after a blizzard dumped almost two feet of snow all the way down the eastern seaboard. Roads were dry and perfect until the Mason-Dixon line, at which point a sudden salt famine set in, and pinko commies apparently had stolen every snow plow in a 500 mile radius because Rt. 95 was glare ice and my street in Arlington, VA didn't get plowed for two weeks. Ehem.
Or the lovely afternoon I got to ride my bike to the pool at U of AZ through the wet slushy snowflakes the size of quarters. It didn't stick mind you, but it snowed in Tucson. Very exciting (the mountains around Tucson get plenty of snow in the winter, but it doesn't happen in town very often).
But Houston kind of takes the cake. It has "snowed" here once in the five years we've lived here - Christmas Eve 2004. Ironman and I went outside and danced around in the small white pellets falling from the sky. I took pictures of snow piled up in the cups of the philodendron leaves, and tried for arty shots of "snowflakes" falling. It was pretty neat, but like Tucson, not around for the duration (although Victoria, TX, southwest of Houston, got almost a foot, and the paper the next day had a front page picture of a snowman someone built on the beach in Galveston). It was pretty entertaining, but more so was the fact that the "snowstorm" was all anyone talked about for days afterwards.
And now, in March for god's sake, they're saying it might snow. All I know is that I'm going to be eagerly watching to see what kind of precautions my neighbors take. Stocking up on firewood*, clearing out the milk and bread at the grocery store^? In preparation for the imminent freeze, here is (finally) a picture of some warm, cozy, size 11.5 Trekking XXL socks to keep us from succumbing to the elements.
^ because, you know, we might get snowed in! (Note: this is my pet peeve held over from living in the DC metro area for 5+ years. Every time snow was forecast, I could guarantee that the grocery stores would be a) packed to the gills and b) cleaned out of staples within four hours of the forecast.)
Now I have lived in a number of places where snow was something of an anomaly, at least in any real amount, and it's been pretty entertaining to someone who did not get a snow day from sixth grade through high school graduation (and that's not because it didn't snow). Flashback to January 1996, driving from Boston back to grad school in DC one day after a blizzard dumped almost two feet of snow all the way down the eastern seaboard. Roads were dry and perfect until the Mason-Dixon line, at which point a sudden salt famine set in, and pinko commies apparently had stolen every snow plow in a 500 mile radius because Rt. 95 was glare ice and my street in Arlington, VA didn't get plowed for two weeks. Ehem.
Or the lovely afternoon I got to ride my bike to the pool at U of AZ through the wet slushy snowflakes the size of quarters. It didn't stick mind you, but it snowed in Tucson. Very exciting (the mountains around Tucson get plenty of snow in the winter, but it doesn't happen in town very often).
But Houston kind of takes the cake. It has "snowed" here once in the five years we've lived here - Christmas Eve 2004. Ironman and I went outside and danced around in the small white pellets falling from the sky. I took pictures of snow piled up in the cups of the philodendron leaves, and tried for arty shots of "snowflakes" falling. It was pretty neat, but like Tucson, not around for the duration (although Victoria, TX, southwest of Houston, got almost a foot, and the paper the next day had a front page picture of a snowman someone built on the beach in Galveston). It was pretty entertaining, but more so was the fact that the "snowstorm" was all anyone talked about for days afterwards.
And now, in March for god's sake, they're saying it might snow. All I know is that I'm going to be eagerly watching to see what kind of precautions my neighbors take. Stocking up on firewood*, clearing out the milk and bread at the grocery store^? In preparation for the imminent freeze, here is (finally) a picture of some warm, cozy, size 11.5 Trekking XXL socks to keep us from succumbing to the elements.
Dad's Christmas socks, actually on Dad
* for "firewood", read "gas" for the gas fires that most people have. Hell, even we have a gas log in our fireplace - it gives Ironman (who grew up in a house that was at least, in part, heated by firewood) a huge kick to say "Well, I guess it's time to turn off the fire" on one of the five days a year we use it.^ because, you know, we might get snowed in! (Note: this is my pet peeve held over from living in the DC metro area for 5+ years. Every time snow was forecast, I could guarantee that the grocery stores would be a) packed to the gills and b) cleaned out of staples within four hours of the forecast.)
Project Spectrum 3: Fire
Over the past couple of years, I've noticed these cool Project Spectrum buttons on numerous blogs, and thought it sounded like a pretty interesting idea. As someone who has 1) trouble deciding what to knit next and 2) has a pretty limited color "safety zone", the idea of theme knitting/crafting appeals to me. Wandering around Ravelry about a month ago led me to the PS3 group, and here I am, working on my first PS3 project.
Yarnissima's Firestarter socks. I picked this yarn up in my falling-off-the-Yarn-Diet-wagon splurge and started the socks this weekend. It's lovely and soft, if a bit splitty. This is my first experience with twisted stitches, and at 4 chart repeats (of 5) into the foot, I think I'm finally getting the hang of them. There have been many dropped stitches and vulger epithets thrown around in the meantime.
Being as it's now "spring" here in Houston, I've started work on a summery-type sweater - the Summertime Tunic from IK Summer 2007. I'm using Classic Elite Premiere, which is a 50/50 cotton/tencel blend. It is gorgeously soft, but I am again reminded of why I like wool better then cotton - it hides my tension changes so much better! Hopefully blocking will solve the problem.
****************************************************
February Progress report
Finished:
Secret project sock design
Ivy (hooray!)
Frosted Forest
Cricket
In progress:
Duck blanket for Devil, somewhat stalled
Verdant - my first attempt at laceweight
Yarnissima's Firestarter socks. I picked this yarn up in my falling-off-the-Yarn-Diet-wagon splurge and started the socks this weekend. It's lovely and soft, if a bit splitty. This is my first experience with twisted stitches, and at 4 chart repeats (of 5) into the foot, I think I'm finally getting the hang of them. There have been many dropped stitches and vulger epithets thrown around in the meantime.
Being as it's now "spring" here in Houston, I've started work on a summery-type sweater - the Summertime Tunic from IK Summer 2007. I'm using Classic Elite Premiere, which is a 50/50 cotton/tencel blend. It is gorgeously soft, but I am again reminded of why I like wool better then cotton - it hides my tension changes so much better! Hopefully blocking will solve the problem.
****************************************************
February Progress report
Finished:
Secret project sock design
Ivy (hooray!)
Frosted Forest
Cricket
In progress:
Duck blanket for Devil, somewhat stalled
Verdant - my first attempt at laceweight
To Boo, on the occasion of her first birthday
Hey baby girl. Here you are. Amazing, isn't it? A mere three hundred and sixty five days ago you arrived,
and now all of a sudden I turn around and you're doing this?
and now all of a sudden I turn around and you're doing this?
I think perhaps I should be a bit worried.
The night before you arrived I went in to your sister's room where she was sleeping in her crib, and stood there for a moment before heading off to the hospital. I was sort of sad. It wasn't that I wasn't excited about your joining our family, but it was the last time I was just going to be Devil's Mama.
You climb up on every single thing you can - a few weeks ago your Daddy was in the kitchen while you were playing on the floor. He turned around and discovered that you had climbed up on the front of the stove, holding on to the door handle and planting your feet on the lower drawer handle.
You adore opening and closing doors. You crawl into the back hall or your room without us and close the door for fun (and then get pissed off and yell when you can't open it again).
You love the water and splashing around in it as much as possible. You are definitely my water baby, and I have grandiose plans for your Olympic freestyle career.
You chase your sister around the house, doggedly crawling around in circles while she happily laps you repeatedly. But it's not going to be long before you're giving her a run for her money I know.
Happy Birthday baby!
Love, Mama