knitters = angry mob

Entries from March 2008

I’m not posting photos today.

March 28, 2008 · 1 Comment

Too busy and discombobulated and all that. (Wow – spell-check recognizes “discombobulated” as being correct!)

So, without further adieu, I offer these (things I’m loving on a Friday):

1. Cardamom. It is yummy, and I could eat it in everything.

2. Sesame oil. See above, only not with savory things.

3. My mom. Think good thoughts – she’s going in to surgery today. She’s one of my two very favorite people. The other is

4. My husband. He’s awesome. That pretty much sums it up (but it could never do him justice).

5. Men in corsets, Edwardian-style.

6. Cast socks. Like regular socks, only giant-sized, to fit over a cast. See #3 for how I know this.

7. Cats. They often  “help” me knit, which is not so cute, but they try very hard.

8. The knitting bowl. It’s a ceramic bowl with a hole in it (that has a slit in the top) so that you can put your ball of yarn in it and the yarn bounces around, but never gets stuck like it does in a bag.

9. Sunlight. Hooray, vitamin D! It’s getting warmer here, and I’m spending more time outside. It certainly helps when it’s sunny (but I must remember the sunscreen, lest I become all lobster-fied).

And that’s all! Later on, I’ll do an edit and put in photos.

Categories: General stuff

Oh, dear.

March 27, 2008 · Leave a Comment

I have just realized, after perusing my Ravelry account, that I have no less than six works in progress. I should perhaps finish those socks I’ve been working on since last October, so that I can finish them and check them off the list. And also probably the hat that remains almost done, waiting for a second I-cord tie and some eyes (it’ll be a frog, in the end), before the intended recipient becomes too large to wear it (he’s approximately three months old).

However, the interesting projects keep on calling to me, so I’ve been putting stuff off.

I’m thinking that Saturday will be a day to finish things. And perhaps Friday, too.  I need to get my ass into gear.

Categories: General stuff · knitting

Tuesday fluff, MKII

March 25, 2008 · 3 Comments

For all yous out there who are fiber dorks of the sheep variety:

Unknown1

[Found on CuteOverload.com]

Now, if only Atlanta would realize it and give in to some flip-flops weather. I’m so ready for flip-flops weather.

Categories: Cool things

Yep…

March 25, 2008 · Leave a Comment

I got the  Marrakesh in the mail, and got all excited and went to Knitch and bought some more size zero needles, and got out my pattern, and then realized that the hank has not yet been wound into a ball and so therefore I should not start knitting on my Rivendell socks yet. So I transfered the lace project from my KnitPicks circulars to a lovely new set of Addi Turbo Lace circulars (TURBO!!!), and then knit on another unfinished sock, and lamented my lack of a working camera battery (and battery charger).

However, during my trip to Knitch, I got to see the lovely Marisa, whom I have not seen since  she left for France with her husband, and I’m glad she has not left Knitch or decided to stay in France forever (though I’d understand if that was the case; I have often contemplated doing that myself).

Tonight, I hope to wind up the Marrakesh and start the Rivendell socks, since I’ve been waiting mostly patiently and I have everything I need except for the winding bit. I’m just not good at waiting.

Categories: General stuff · knitting
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First thing

March 24, 2008 · Leave a Comment

of the week, and it’s a cool thing at that:

Hobbit socks!

Quoted from SueJG’s flickr post:

“Top section Based on “Smaugs Treasure Socks” by Debra Barker of Friendly Socks. Self charted Hobbit runes. (“The Hobbit” or there and back again)
Yarns: Elann Sock It To me!
Black, Fresh Cream, Midnight Navy, Vermillion Red, Mint Leaf
2.5mm Addi 30cm circular “

I’m so happy there are plenty of other dorks out there (so that I know I’m in good company).

Case in point:

No, seriously! A lamp that knits itself! We all need one of these.

Happy Monday!

[found via BoingBoing]

Categories: Cool things · knitting

It’s one of those days.

March 20, 2008 · 1 Comment

No, it’s not what you think.

I mean, I’m happy that this is a short week, what with Good Friday and all, but I’d still rather be anywhere than here at my desk, wondering how I’m going to proceed on that Thing That Must Be Done Today (because there’s always a thing), and also wondering why I was so masochistic as to put my knitting bag next to me, except that I really don’t want the office dogs to eat my socks.

So I took a brief break to go out and run an errand and buy a seriously fattening (but tasty) chicken sandwich from the cafe down the street (it is chicken salad made with cream sauce; good lord is it tasty and am I going to pay for it later), plus some Orangina (I loooove Orangina, but not as much as the Pellegrino orange fizzy drink), and a free cookie. I have yet to eat the cookie.

And I’m still trying to decide what yarn to use for the Rivendell socks. The pattern calls for 383 yards, and the Blue Moonstone is only 350 yards. Is 33 yards that important? I mean, if I don’t have them, will the socks not come out right? If anyone has knit them, please offer advice. I’d be most appreciative. However, I think I’m going to use the Marrakesh first, because I want to be sure to have enough yarn to start, especially since this pattern involves lots of things I’m not completely comfortable with. It would suck a lot if I started and then did all that work, just to find out that I’m 30 yards short.

I did some more on the garter rib socks. I love that they go very fast; it’s like time-lapse striping. I also corrected a purl stitch that didn’t need it, and the pattern hides it well enough that I can’t find my mistake. Which is just fine with me. These could very well be socks that I finish in under two weeks (if I’m diligent). But probably not, given my history of sock construction times. Goth Chick plain rib socks? Anyone? You know – the ones that I’ve been working on for a year and a half now? Yeah. I’m not particularly optimistic.

Categories: knitting
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KTILW

March 19, 2008 · 1 Comment

Or, the Welsh version of KTLIT (Knitting Things I Love Tuesday).

Only this time, it’s not just knitting. It probably won’t be knitting always. Actually, it’s more like Things That Are Awesome And Really Inspire Me (TTAAARIM)

1. Berger Cookies. These are so amazing that I eat them for breakfast each day I visit my in-laws (because mom-in-law buys some for us in anticipation of our arrival), and I ask for them in each care package. She sent two boxes in the Easter package, and I shared them with my co-workers, having cut them into smaller pieces beforehand. They were gone in under an hour. Reason? They are a cookie on bottom, and SOLID FUDGE on top. I attribute 10 pounds of the weight I gained in grad school to their fudgy deliciousness.

2. Obsessive Consumption. This is the blog for Kate Bingaman-Burt, a wonderful designer and illustrator. Each day she posts an illustration of a thing she’s bought that day. It’s very cool.

3. Sock yarn in the Blue Moonstone colorway from Blue Moon Fiber Arts. The future color of one pair of Rivendell Socks (I will be making two pairs eventually, since I couldn’t decide which colorway I liked the best.

4. FreakAngels. A brilliant weekly comic that I happened upon via BoingBoing. It’s a great story and it’s beautifully drawn. Updates every Friday.

5. Octopus Tentacle Earrings. I bought a pair of these last week from OctopusMe’s Etsy store, and I love them! They’re clever and subtle and quite beautiful. I will be buying more. I think I posted about these already. They remain awesome.

6. Fearless Fibers sock yarn in Marrakesh. This is the color for the second pair of Rivendell socks. I have difficulty making decisions.

7. A good friend to knit with. This is sappy, sorry, but it’s true. Chickengoddess, you’re awesome, and I’m glad that we both knit. I’ve got a lot of knitterly love for all the other folks I knit with, too.

8. Marian Bantjes’s illustrations/design. Can I be you when I grow up? KTHX. Seriously. I’m in awe.

9. Cocoa butter, nutmeg, and cardamom body bar from Crabtree and Evelyn. Even though I feel like I’m, like, eighty when I admit that I shop there, this bath bar smells amazing. I have no idea what it’s doing for my skin, but I really don’t care. I smell like chai after my shower.

[oh, and I did a quiz after looking through tCG's blog:


My blog is worth $1,129.08.
How much is your blog worth?

Ha.]

So… thanks for listening! I’ll write something pithy and interesting later (first, lunch).

Categories: Cool things · General stuff · knitting
Tagged: ,

Weekend Update

March 18, 2008 · 4 Comments

Only without Jimmy Fallon, Tina Faye (okay, so now you know roughly how old I could be), or any sort of scathingly witty commentary. Sorry.

Things of note:

1. Tornadoes! In! Atlanta! I live very close to the damaged area, and work within sight of the Georgia Dome, so this was a little unnerving. Not scary, because we only lost power for about 5 minutes, and then found out about the tornadoes when my dad called to check on me, but unnerving nonetheless. We can’t easily get to Cabbagetown, and I made the husband go out on Saturday to check on work, to make sure the windows weren’t busted out and that nobody had looted the place (there’s a seriously sketchy tenement complex next to the building). All is fine, and I have some hail saved in the freezer, or at least until it sublimates away.

2. Chickengoddess and I are making matching socks, because we are Huge Gigantic Dorks. I have cast mine on three times now. I do not know if I will cast them on more times. I hope I don’t. We are making them with Twisted Fibers Warlock (the striping is unbelievable, see?:

twisted),

in the garter rib sock pattern from Sensational Socks. And now this makes three concurrent sock projects, plus a sweater, plus a hat, plus a lace project, plus another project that needs to be a secret for a little while. I’m pretty happy with this.

3. The cat (I’m not sure which one – they both look very guilty) unwound an entire ball of yarn that I had strategically hidden (I thought) away from feline smell and reach. And the kicker? He did it not while my husband was home all day, but in the brief 30-minute period between when the husband left to pick me up from teaching and when I got home. The cat(s) seriously has some issues with me.

4. I’m ready for the next round of the Little Red Riding Hoodie! Thank you, Chickengoddess, for your glorious math.

5. We made very juvenile poetry on the Knitch refrigerator during knitting on Sunday. I hope it’s still there (Interweave, don’t tell me you didn’t expect knitters to do those sorts of things with your magnetic knitting poetry. If you didn’t expect it, I expect that you’re lying).

And that’s pretty much it. The camera woes continue, and now my battery won’t function at all. I’m going to get a new one, plus a replacement charger as I have misplaced the one I had. Then, there will be photos of knitting things.

Categories: General stuff · knitting
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I’m covered in bees!

March 14, 2008 · 3 Comments

No, seriously.

COVERED IN BEES. (seriously, click the link. CLICK IT.)

“My father was a beekeeper before me. His father was a beekeeper before him. I want to walk in their footsteps. And their footsteps were like this – ‘Aaaaaaaah! Aaaaaaaah! I’m covered in bees!’”

ZOOOOROOOOWWOOOOZZOOOOW.

Youtube clip:

And, erm, yeah.

Categories: Cool things
Tagged: , ,

iPod cozy, here I come!

March 13, 2008 · 2 Comments

I’m a crafter in addition to being a knitter (one just kind of follows the other, doesn’t it?). Also, my iPod recently died a sad death, and so I recycled it and bought a new one, which is black and shiny and beautiful and scratches easily and doesn’t fit in my iPod cozy.

So I went to etsy.com to search for a new one. After looking through ~90 options, in my usual fashion I decided that I could do a much better job (mind you, I haven’t tested this theory yet) and sat down and drew up my own design. Then today, as if to reassure me that I had indeed made the correct decision, I stumbled upon this beauty of a blog post (links to the Design*Sponge post via the photo):

Well, I must say. This is quite something, and I want one desperately, and so I’m going to make my iPod cozy in much the same way (I’d kind of started along those lines, but the process is going to change somewhat). I had thought to knit it originally, but I kind of want to do something different, and so the husband and I are taking a trip to the fabric store this weekend to pick up supplies and whatnot.

{Do you want to know my secret guilty pleasure? I love buying thread. Not yarn – thread. I really do.}

At this rate, I’m never going to finish my socks.

Categories: Cool things · General stuff
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