Knitting Stuff

Here are some random knitting bits for you.

Hemlock Ring Blanket!

Status: Done! Knit in two weeks at the beginning of February.
Yarn/needle size: Cascade Eco Wool/US 10.5
Comments: Love, love, love this blanket, but I'm a little concerned with how ripply it still is after blocking. I'm giving it to my cousin and her fiance for their wedding, and they're not knitters so just telling them to block it doesn't really work. Oh well, I have till May to figure it out. As for the pattern, it's ok. I'm not in love with the mishmash of vintage book, and Brooklyn Tweed chart and randomness. It went together easy enough though, and I would not call this hard.

Jaywalker Socks! (On Ravelry)

Status: Done! Started in early January and Knit through part of February.
Yarn/needle size: Regia Crazy Colors 4ply/US size 1 dpns
Comments: My first real socks. I don't have much to say other then they feel great and I need to knit more socks.

Swatch (from This pattern)

Status: Ummm, It's a swatch. It's done I guess.
Yarn/needle size: Hand spun from Crown Mountain Farms/US size 5
Comments: I knit this as a swatch for a shawl that I wanted to give to a woman in Japan. Unfortunately when I actually starting knitting the full sized piece it turned out super stripey and I hated it. I ripped the whole thing out and started it over as a Clapotis. I really like the way the swatch looks though, so I'm saving it. Here's how the shawl was starting to look but I didn't take any pictures of the stripey horror.

Boyfriend Socks for the Boyfriend

I'm going to try to finish these before I leave for Japan.

That's all the recent stuff. Whoo!

Fort Casey

On Saturday Tyler and I took a trip to Fort Casey. Here are the highlights for all the pictures see this flickr photoset.

It was really foggy while we were on the ferry.

Defending the US.

2009

I've been putting off the New Year post since New Year's day, now I realized that if I don't just f-ing post something, it will never get done and then it will be far to late to proclaim resolutions... or whatever.

First, a look back. My resolution last year was to get my transdermal implants out, and boy do I wish I had gone through with it. I don't know if it's my lifestyle or diet or astrological sign, but this last year has been transdermal hell. TMI warning! They have been been bloodier, crustier, and more swollen then any other time since I had them put in. I wake up with goo stuck to my chest, and when I gently remove it the damn things bleed. I have to sleep in a sports bra otherwise the irritation gets so bad that they hurt all the time, and swell up, and bleed more, and crust more, and look like crap. I can endure the blood, crust, and pain, but the looking like crap is getting to me. I like to wear low-ish cut shirts but this last year I've had to retool my wardrobe, because I didn't want people commenting on the bloody metal sticking out of my cleavage. It's frustrating because I want them to be there but I also want them to be maintenance free. I'm under the impression that this type of body modification isn't common, and I like being a rarity. I've decided to suck it up and have them taken out on my terms, because otherwise I'm afraid they're going to have to come out on not friendly terms.

Enough about (what I didn't do) last year. This year is setting up to be fantastic (if you ignore the general state of the economy). Here are my resolutions: 1) Work my butt off till my trip to Japan in April, so I'll have maximum funds. 2) Attend my closest knitting group (Purly Girls) at least twice a month (everyone is so nice, I think I'll be there every Monday I can). 3) Finish this ESL certificate and decide if I want to go to grad school for ESL or Adult Education or Linguistics. If school isn't in my future figure out if I actually want to be a teacher. 4) More friend time. 5) Knitting/Spinning/etc. 6) Get back up to an acceptable level of fitness.

and seven is the big one: 7) Get a drivers license, swallow my pride about the environment, acquire a car, and have at least 2 more hours of free time a day.

All in 2009, I think it's doable and I'm excited.

Spinning Wheel

You may have noticed that I've been spinning on a drop spindle. It's ok, and I really like making my own yarn, but it's slow and not relaxing. A spinning wheel takes care of both the slow and not relaxing because it goes as fast and you never have to stop to wind yarn on and then respin and draft and basically treat it like a drop spindle. Here's the issues with spinning wheels though, a decent one retail costs about four hundred dollars vs. a drop spindle that costs forty. So the choice is obvious if you're cheap/broke/saving for a vacation to Japan like me. This is where Craigslist.org comes in. You can literally find anything on Craigs List, so a spinning wheel should be no problem, and it wasn't. The problem was the people. Seriously guys, craigslist is like humanity on crack without any of the good parts. After a couple failed attempts at buying a used wheel I landed with this little guy!





It's in decent shape, and may date back to the 70s. I still need to spruce it up a little but as things stand it works well enough to spin, and boy have I been spinning. If I was doing the other kind of spinning I would have lost 20lbs and developed a huge muscular butt! The yarn has turned out ok so far, and I'll have pictures after it's done drying.

Here is my next project, it's for a spin along on Ravelry:







That's half a pound of super wash merino from Crown Mountain Farms. I spun a little of it and am pretty happy with the results.

If you can't tell, I'm obsessed with yarn.

Wool and Kool-Aid and other stuff

I was going to write a really involved blog post, then I got distracted by a really good deal on Craigslist. 1000 dollar wheel for 600? With extras? God I wish I had more money.

Here's some pictures of wool I dyed with Kool-aid.

Spider Head!

I failed at National Blog Posting Month, so here's a picture of a spider on my desk.



The little person was brought in by my coworker, she says it's looks just like me. So I guess there is a spider on my head! Ew... but I don't want to deal with putting it outside.

And We're Back

Kind of... All I really have to say is that I'm learning to use my camera better.


Here I am contemplating soda. Mmmmm liquid candy.


Tyler being Tyler.


The bratwurst I stuffed my face with.


My most recent spinning project. This is the first half, and I've started on the second, my goal is to ply over Thanksgiving.