Short updates

Today I am running around finishing up projects and reports, so my thinking is all disjointed. Here's a quiz that I found at Dogs Steal Yarn the other night:

You will sink in a mire. You like to think you're
normal, but deep down you really just want to
strip off your clothes and roll around in
chicken fat.

What horrible Edward Gorey Death will you die?
brought to you by Quizilla

I'd like to think the chicken fat is...yarn. But I can see why Gorey did not foresee THAT particular fate.

Had a Dr appt and a car appt in the same day. So glad that the Dr appt when better than the car appointment. Can I just scream how much I hate Williams Auto World? Not only did they not call me to tell me to pick up my car, they actually didn't even DO one of the requested services. And didn't call to ask if they could keep it another day or something. Argh. And that is why I won't get my beautiful Passat TDI wagon as long as I live in this town.

As for the Dr appt - everything with this kid is insanely average and/or normal. Which is good to know. We have a one-day childbirth class tomorrow all day, so between that and the malpractice case that I juror-ed(?), I should have lots to ask the Dr about at my next visit.

I finished the boring grey hat. It is actually lovely, though it makes my head look pointy. Perhaps that is not the hat's fault.

I am trying to decide whether to make a matching pair of mittens now - I have gloves and a hat, but am pretty sure there's not enough for a scarf. Or maybe I just pack it away for the next time I need boring but lovely grey yarn.

I also finished plying the turquoise soft-stuff, but had a lapse of thought - I forgot to tie the skein before removing from the niddy-noddy. What? This is defintiely a "losing it" kind of thing. I will end up with a tangled tangled mess. Ick. Maybe I can pull a Tom Sawyer and convince S that it's fun to untangle yarn?

I have big weekend-knitting plans - joining the Rip-Along (inspired by Alison & Co.) with S's grey ribbed/too-tight sweater, finishing one more repeat of St. Brigid before St. Brigid's day (Monday), heading to the Intarsia Support Group to work on an ancient project, and not-buying-yarn at the big Super Bowl sale on Sunday at Stitch in Time. Luckily, there is a Super Bowl to sit through, so I should be able to do both some ripping and some knitting.

Adventures in Crafting

For your reading pleasure, an article in which a girl tries her had at many different crafts - including knitting.

What do you guys think? What's the best way to pick up a craft and make it actually stick?

Whoa!

I think we've got enough snow for a while. Ten inches or so yesterday? S took the snowblower to the driveway twice yesterday afternoon and again this morning. Anyway - no one was silly enough to try to come to the knit-in besides Sarah. Although our road was relatively clear, I hear not many others were. I was glad I didn't have to leave the house - I got to sit in front of the fire (we have a wood stove and a fireplace, so we rarely build a "real" fire) and roast a marshmallow. And watch 24 (when will they just kill Kim?). Bear and Indy were happy because they had separate but equal bones to devour - I think Bear got the meat sweats from hers - blech! S was happy because there was an abundance of tracy-prepared food - and I hadn't cooked in a long while thanks to my work schedule.

And, since it wasn't an official knit-in, I felt justified in not sewing in ends on Anjuli. I spun some more turquoise merino and started plying it with its matching silk. Nice stuff. Everytime I spin merino, I think, "Why would I ever spin anything else?"

Getting into work this AM was fine, but I got a bit grumpy as the employee parking lots near my building were not plowed at all, and I was watching (from my teeny tiny Golf) SUVs rocking and getting pushed around - so I had to just keep moving. I did find a legal and plowed spot on a campus street - whew! But it was a bit farther from my building, and the sidewalks weren't shoveled. Let me reiterate how glad I am that I am not a student at this university - no classes were cancelled (although I am sure professors were understanding) despite having to trudge through knee high snow to get anywhere on foot. Really - I am so glad that I am not an undergrad here.

Keep your fingers crossed for good weather for the MMKG workshops at the end of March! I just heard from Margaret and she's booked her flight. Classes are filling (only one spot left in the Saturday AM class, I think), and I'll be sending info out to other guilds and shops this weekend.

Sweatergirl finishes something!

Ok, ok - I thought I would finish two things this weekend (actually glad to have finished this post, started Sunday!), but one is still pretty good:

It's kinda cute - but the hood is really big. But babies have pretty big heads, relative to body size, so hopefully it will work. This thing is made out of ancient acrylic yarn, and is a bit stiff, but still pretty cute. We'll see if the Bump is allergic to acrylic.

And this is what my husband finished this weekend...

Those that have been to my house may remember that we ripped out the existing mantel and above-fireplace wall about 4 years ago...We needed to re-roof to fix the leak around the fireplace before doing anything interior-wise. But now - we have a thing! It's only been primed, so it gets another coat of paint and a few shelves in the tall cubbyhole, so it's not quite done, but I am so happy! What a good guy.

So - for those nearby that have and have not been to my house - I hope you will consider braving the snow for the knit-in tonight. BUT - I haven't actually seen the roads yet! Anyway, there will be food and friends and a toasty-warm fire, so c'mon by.

TGIF!

It's been a long week for me and S and the pups. Sleeplessness heaped on stress makes me a cranky girl. I am looking forward to staying in bed as long as possible tomorrow!

In my major stash organization project, I mentioned that I had dealt with all the yarn that I understood. So I've been trying to deal with some of the misunderstood yarn this week, particularly with started/half-finished projects. I started small - two skeins of Berocco Plush. These were meant to be a liner for a little sweater, so I got that moving, finishing the back relatively quickly - one skein down. Then I moved to two skeins of acrylic yarn that I started knitting up into the Babies and Bears sweater - until I realized how it worked and got bored. Now that's together, needing only the hood and the bands. So I may have two tiny FOs for a Monday post!

I still have quite a bit of odd yarn to deal with - oh dear. At least one box I hope to sort out in the MMKG Intarsia Support Group, so I can shove that away for another week!

For those interested in acquiring yarn, I hear there is a sale at the Plymouth yarn store this weekend and one in Howell next weekend!

Sweatergirl makes it through another public speaking commitment

Whew! It's over. I had promised to give last night's guild program on intarsia a loooong time ago, but had avoided thinking much about it or doing much about it for nearly as long. Anyhow, I always think it is slightly intimidating to give a talk to this group because they do such wonderful work and so many are experienced knitters. But they are very nice and supportive, and I think it went ok. And I know I taught a few people how to do intarsia, so I feel even better.

Of course, my procrastinating self didn't start the handout until 5 PM (for the 7 PM meeting) and had to drive frantically through the streets of East Lansing to retrieve two intarsia projects as examples before going to Kinko's to run photocopies of the handouts. So I arrived at exactly 7 PM. Thanks to Jessica for finding the library cart and the nametags and bringing them out for the guild meeting!

So much good stuff happening with the group this winter/spring - a retreat to Grand Rapids, a set of workshops with Maggie's Rags (which we might break even on - whew!), and a bus trip to Philosopher's Wool. And an intarsia support group meeting - for starting or finishing or working on those messy but beautiful intarsia projects. What a great and giving group!

I have been sleeping a little better - thanks to some pillow rearranging (and the end of the jury duty, I think). And less than three months to go now! The Bump received a present from a dear college friend last night (Baby Abby's mom). I was so touched! She also wrote about how much she loved the little yellow sunshine sweater and hat, which was very sweet. Of course, Baby Abby is the cutest thing anyway.

S and I got to go to the North American International Auto Show in Detroit last weekend. While I was off looking at the new TDI wagons, S was looking at this:

Denial - not just a river in Egypt. But it is pretty slick for a Pontiac, no?

And since you have been so patient, here's a picture of St. Brigid as she stands - halfway up the back!

Not a great picture - it was tough to get any detail because of the dark color, despite using all my available flash settings. But Debbi wore hers last night (so amazingly beautiful), so I wanted to make sure she knew I was working on mine. And I think we'll be doing a Fern challenge next...Hopefully I will not lag SO far behind on that one. But I'm not starting Fern until I finsh St. Brigid...One aran at a time for me! However, I think Fern's cables are a bit less complex. Whew!

Magical dates

Isn't it amazing how when you promise yourself you will feel someway on a certain date, it works? Well, last Thursday was 3 months from the Bump's due date, which means "third trimester" to me, and all of a sudden I am really, terrifyingly pregnant.

I feel like I have expanded horizontally over the last week and now am having more trouble sleeping. Luckily, I've had two sleep-in days to recover.

The baby stuff has started arriving - I figured the first thing we "needed" was a car seat, lest they not allow us to remove the baby from the hospital. While reading the descriptions of the various possible seat belt configurations and which might or might not work, I gave up. S to the rescue. He got the thing installed and said it was actually not hard. Whew!

Part of this third-trimester-induced terror also had to do with some civic responsibility I was practicing last week - I got called for jury duty. And, not only that, I got selected. And, not only that, but it was a medical malpractice case related to a life-threatening post-delivery situation. So, now, I think I can hear just about anyone's delivery story and not mind - now I know the worst, and the best. Because although the woman lost a lot of blood and went into shock and had to have a hysterectomy and spent her post-partum days in the ICU, everyone pulled together and she lived. So. Hopefully I will get through it too, and hopefully with a little less trauma.

Knitting? Oh, ok. Well, I didn't actually get much knitting done on jury duty. They were quite efficient aboout not having us wait around doing nothing. I didn't knit in the courtroom, because it would have been disrespectful, I think (though the judge was doing some weird cutting and taping in his planner through the trial). I didn't knit in the jury room, because it just caused a lot of questions and I didn't feel like prosteletyzing. And, besides, reading was a good way to keep from saying anything case-related to my fellow jurors.

But I have been cranking on St. Brigid. I now have 4 repeats done on the front or back. I think there are 8 repeats in the pattern for the back? Once I got to 4 though, I crashed. That's some pretty good progress for a few weeks. I started thinking about what my next Aran project would be - I think either Irish Moss (AS Aran Knitting) or Fern (AS Stillwater). Irish Moss is gorgeous, but has twisted stitches on every row...I will have to research doing this without having to purl into the back of the stitch, which is no fun. Next magical date: Feb. 2, where I can stop working on St. Brigid, should I choose, and pick up Aberlemno again. A much more picture-iffic project for the blog.

After celebrating my St. Brigid progress, I switched over to mindless knitting: spent a little time on my Opal sock and on the grey hat to match my gloves. I also had a little more mindful knitting: a lot of time on some swatches for the guild program on Intarsia tomorrow. I was trying to use some of the suggestions in SWAK's booklet on intarsia technique for one swatch (with some level of success, but I think I need more practice), and the other swatch used some intarsia-in-the-round techniques from PGR's article in Fall 03 IK. It took me a bit of time to decide which techniques were appropriate, and I'm not fully satisfied with what I ended up using. But I can present some pros and cons now.

After having been out of the office for a few days, I've got lots piled up, so wish me luck on getting enough sleep and making it through the week! And keep your fingers crossed that either S or I remember the "new" administrator password on the home PC, so we can get the new printer installed. Grr!

Handknitter to the rescue!

Sarah has the most amazing knitting library, and she loaned me two awesome books that have info on making frog closures - 50 Heirloom Buttons to Make and Knitted Embellishments. This is quite exciting. All the frogs look a little complex, but not hard. Whew!

Kathy also suggested Nicky Epstein's Knitted Embellishments. Knitted Embellishments is quite a lovely book that I probably overlooked in the past - perhaps I was still in the "must acquire beautiful pattern books" phase of book aquisition. Ok - I still am in that phase, but now, I don't require beautiful sweaters to buy a knitting book. I am going to enjoy looking through these fer sure. I might need to acquire Nicky's book though. Besides, researching frogs will keep me from finishing an intarsia handout for next Tuesday's guild program...

In random news, I am serving on a jury this week and am finding it fascinating. I learned at least one new term - I had never heard of a "Philadelphia Lawyer" before...Had you? It can be either a compliment or a pejorative, so it's an odd duck. The story: Andrew Hamilton (a lawyer from Philadelphia) was an early defender of free speech and freedom of the press in the American colonies. He successfully defended a newspaper printer/editor against politically-based libel charges using a jury-nullification strategy. The Philadelphia Bar Foundation hosts an annual Andrew Hamilton Ball to honor (?) the guy for whom the term was coined and the heritage of the "Philadelphia Lawyer".

Sweatergirl calls for help with frogs

So - I gave in on the No-Yarn Pact to purchase a skein of cotton classic to finish Sam (abandoned project #429 - this from last summer). Here she is...

But she is not finished. I think I want to make frog closures for the front - but I have no idea how to make them. Does anyone have a reference on crocheting frog closures?

Marcia has a great post from Saturday (Jan. 10) - I am feeling a little scared of my yarn accumulation. And scared-er now that it is in the basement (out of sight = out of mind?). Hence the No-Yarn Pact with Sarah, which I have regularly and willfully violated since its initiation...Hmm.

In the spirit of self-examination, Sharon and Debbi have five knitty things about themselves up on their blogs.

The odyssey of St. Brigid continues - 8 more rows done! That's one full repeat of the big cables. Whew.

I also spent some time spinning - more turquiose silk and more turquoise merino. Nice stuff, but I am just bored of it. The end is near, however! All the silk is spun, and I like spinning the merino better than the silk. I am making a two-ply fingering weight - not sure what it will become yet, but it's nice yarn. Destined for Box 32 or so.

I had a relatively stressful weekend (for me - considering I didn't actually do any work), so I am actually glad that it's Monday. Strange, I know. I twisted my back on Saturday trying to move furniture - blech. And then I had to crochet - blech. I just never really learned to crochet well, so it's slow and painful for me. And one of our cars is just falling apart - not a crisis, since we anticipated it this year, but unfortunate, nonetheless. But the real stressor is: we are trying to find a new home for Indy, since we don't think he will do well with a baby in the house. I don't think he is going to pass the "temperment test" that the rescue org gives - they test how well he tolerates being touched by strangers, and they are going to do the paws. He hates to have his paws touched, since I cut too deeply one time while trimming his nails (I gave up and now just take him to the vet). He is also a nervous kind of dog in general, but we have worked out a reasonable relationship based on (a) meeting his simple requests and (b) not touching him unless he approaches us (This is the part a toddler would not understand). I am just about out of ideas on finding him a new home - I am trying to avoid taking him to a shelter since I think he would be nervous there and not show well. Anyway, I am heartbroken about losing him, and I feel really guilty/am not ready to accept that he might be put down just because I am having a baby. Ack. Stuff like this really slows the knitting...

Sweatergirl's 5 knitty things

Whew - I've caught up on blog-reading! And have been working on some guild projects. Since I have no knitting pics AGAIN, I thought I owudl list 5 knitty things. Jen and Monica posted 5 things about their knit-life. Here are mine:

1. I hate knitting on a deadline. I don't think I could ever make any money at knitting, because imposing a deadline makes the project "work". Or maybe I just hate finishing projects?

2. I don't actually carry knitting EVERYWHERE. Just when I know I will have time to knit - dr. appts, airports, looong car rides. Maybe having it more often would increase the pace of at least the mindless knitting.

3. I love plain yarns and stash them when I find a sale. Boy, did my inventory bring this out! I am not into novelty yarns at all, though plain yarns in luxury fibers are definitely stash-worthy. Weights - generally DK and worsted., though I have quite a bit of Pomfret (a lovely discontinued sport-weight) as well. I despise knitting with cotton or acrylic. Just a personal thing, I guess. I don't like the feel.

4. In accordance with my yarn preferences, I guess, I like classic knits. Arans are my favorite (despite my St. Brigid reluctance), with 2-color knitting up there too. Plain stockinette in a classic yarn counts here too.

5. I have no color sense, and can't even imagine taking on something Kaffe-Fassett-like unless someone gave me a chart and the exact colors.

Who's next?

PS - MMKGers - class selection for workshops is now on the web! More info coming soon...really. Like at Sheila's house and in this month's newsletter.

Brigid continues

I think I have decided to knit St. Brigid whenever I can concentrate on my knitting. At least until Groundhog Day (aka - St. Brigid Day). In my scatterbrained knitting, I will be working on either sewing in Anjuli ends or on the grey hat. Last night, 10 more Brigid rows down! Ready to start row 17...How many more to go, Debbi?

Unfortunately, none of these are great blog projects. I'm using navy yarn for St. Brigid, so the cabling doesn't photograph well. When I get my scanner though....I think it WILL scan well. But sewing in ends? Or a grey hat? Boring.

And a quick news note: a class called Knitting: Handcraft as a Window into Domestic Culture and Religious Practice at a somewhat nearby college. I guess that's what I missed in my Big 10 education...Don't you think it would be interesting to read the students' papers?

Tonight, I'm working on a flyer for the guild, but I also hope to start entering the results of the Great Stash Migration inventory...so that I don't lose the paper key!

Sweatergirl and the yarn addiction

I have, I think, sorted and packed all the yarn that I understand. That's over 40 containers now. I am left with a pile of unfinished (and somewhat unloved) projects and some odd balls of yarn that do not fall into any of my other categories. At least I am having a good time wallowing in the yarn.

In the wallowing, I found some yarn that would be wonderful for the MMKG sock exchange - it is perfect for my secret sock partner. Whew! What a stash.

Last night was the knit-in at Sarah's house - a fun event. I dutifully sewed in ends on Anjuli. When I got home, I still had a little time to knit, so I picked up St. Brigid. I had both sleeves done. And now 6 rows of a front or back! Woo hoo! What a long project this is going to be.

Margaret Radcliffe (of Maggie's Rags) will be teaching workshops at ou guild at the end of March. Plans are progressing; current status posted at the MMKG webpage. Just a few more details to iron out. Whew!

Sweatergirl finds her lost knitting time

I just finished a long post and Blogger ate it. I know it happens to all of us, but, wah!

First off - Sharon from our guild recently started a blog, Knitknacks. Check it out!

Here's my favorite Christmas shot - my little brother with the Christmas dinosaur. Huh? Well, my mom has a LOT of Christmas stuffed animals. Shh! He's waiting for Santa to come...

Ok - he's almost 18, but he IS the baby of the family.

Stockings were well-received. Strangely, my Dad was over-the-top impressed. But not enough to give me a ride in the Model T. I was mortified to discover (while sewing on the ribbon hangers) that the heel of the Sirdal stocking was not centered on the pattern. But I don't think anyone will ever know. S could hardly even see it after much gesturing and explaining, and he's been looking at my knitting and picking out errors for 7 years or so. Other gifts were also well-received - whew!

Anyway - I'm glad to be home, but I did get a lot of knitting done in the car and otherwise. So there's a lot of progress on Anjuli and a new pair of gloves. Anjuli needs a lot of end-weaving, and I need to figure out the sleeves (are they not wide enough, or just not attached to the body very well?). But I am happy to have much more done.

The gloves are soft and comfy - thanks to the starting the pinky a few rounds before the rest of the fingers (last pair of gloves doesn't fit nearly as well). They are very bland-looking though - just grey. Started a hat to match. Again - more grey.

Yes, my thumbs must be that long. Weird. And the right pinky isn't deformed, it just looks that way.

Inserted 1/6: I forgot to thank Lisa for being a shining beacon of glove. Without her gloves (and catchy blog entry titles of transformed song titles, I wouldn't have had the phrase "All you need is glove" in my head while packing for the trip...)

I also participated in the Great Yarn Migration, in which all of the yarn from the Fire Truck Room (the baby-to-be's room-to-be) is moving to the basement. I think we have figured out how to keep the dust from the Workshop part of the basement out of the Yarn Cellar part of the basement, so I should be able to have a comfy (and sawdust-free) place to peruse my collection. As part of the Great Yarn Migration, I numbered and inventoried each box - yow. 29 project boxes so far - there would have been more, but I guess my quest for organization is not original, and all of "my" containers were sold out from several stores by Sunday. It's a lot of yarn. But I love nearly all of it. And I really hope this system sticks. Anyhow - it should keep my from buying yarn for a while. The only thing I am really craving is some Baby Ull, but I am not ready to start a Baby Ull project yet, so I will wait until I have the deck cleared.

One happy outcome of the Great Yarn Migration - I found some superwash wool that I might be able to use for a baby blankie - I am not happy with the sheen on the acrylic that I have been knitting with or with the way it doesn't slide on my needles. Luckily - gauge is not terribly important in a blankie. It probably won't wash or wear as well, so maybe it won't get used much, but I am going to like the product and the process so much better. And it would use up most of box 17.

I am seriously debating whether to work on the baby blankie or to go back to Aberlemno or to St. Brigid (these are all follow-the-chart projects, in case they seem unrelated - lace, Fair Isle, and cables, respectively). Mostly, I feel like I should knit SOMETHING for the Bump, but it would be nice to finish something (or get closer to finishing something) rather than start something new. Besides, I am having St. Brigid envy, since TrixieChick finished hers...I've seen it in person and it is gorgeous!