Hello, happy readers!

Posted on April 3, 2008 by HappyGoth

All… um… six of you.

Anyway.

In the interest of keeping this fresh, Thursday will now be:

Another Blog To Read (As If You Didn’t Have Enough Already), otherwise known as ABTR(AIYDHEA). Or perhaps Other Blog Friday. Or Fred. I don’t know yet. However, this is the other blog for today:

A Year of Drawing

Categorically, these links will probably not be about knitting, and will instead be other ways to enrich/stupidify yourself further. And yes, I mean stupidify, because often those are the most fun. The one above is an enriching sort of blog, and is very good, and is done by a coworker. She has a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel named Olive, who (as far as I can tell) is the best muse ever (and good fun, besides).

So… yeah.

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Well.

Posted on April 2, 2008 by HappyGoth

As you’ve probably deduced, I’m not quitting knitting (heavens, no – I’ll just have many things undone, like that newsletter).

And for my latest knitting accomplishment, I have

taught Dawn to knit!

I feel really special right now. She’s brilliant at it already.

As for my knitting, I’ve gotten to the heel portion of the first Rivendell sock (still no photos, sorry) in record time, that is, I’ve done it in under a week as opposed to my usual three months! With cables! And irritating wraps! And it’s awesome! But a little small. I think  next time I’m using both bigger yarn and bigger needles. The Fearless Fibers yarn is beautiful, but on the small size, so I had to go down to size 0 needles to make it look not swiss-cheesy, and therefore it’s on the tight side. I’m really stubborn and I’m forging ahead. It’s not that tight…

Posted in Cool things, knitting | Tagged | 2 Comments

It’s final

Posted on April 1, 2008 by HappyGoth

I have decided to quit knitting.

I mean, I love it, but it’s something that’s really not good for me right now; I have many other commitments that I’m not honoring, because I’m always distracted by knitting. Take last night, for instance. I should have worked on the newsletter that I do for a group that I’m in, and instead I sat on the couch and knit and watched The Notorious Bettie Page (good movie, by the way).

So I’m going to quit knitting, and get all those things done that I really should be doing anyway, and devote more time to exercise and to my Thursday class I teach.

Sorry, guys. It was a hard decision, but I had to make it. Email me if you want to talk about it.

[poisson d’Avril!]

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I’m not posting photos today.

Posted on March 28, 2008 by HappyGoth

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.

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Oh, dear.

Posted on March 27, 2008 by HappyGoth

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.

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Tuesday fluff, MKII

Posted on March 25, 2008 by HappyGoth

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.

Posted in Cool things | 3 Comments

Yep…

Posted on March 25, 2008 by HappyGoth

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.

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First thing

Posted on March 24, 2008 by HappyGoth

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]

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It’s one of those days.

Posted on March 20, 2008 by HappyGoth

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.

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KTILW

Posted on March 19, 2008 by HappyGoth

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).

Posted in Cool things, General stuff, knitting | Tagged , | 1 Comment