2011 and still no flying cars.

What is UP with that?? I am very disappointed in science.

What have I been doing lately? LIVING. Not blogging about it, but LIVING.

Bradley and I in October...



Captain Jack & I at the same shoot...



Now, for knitting...

I FINALLY finished Branching Out for my mother. FINALLY. Blocked it using my wire set, and love the wire set.

I finished those red Austrian Socks, which felted in our new washer & dryer to the point that I can't wear them. Thankfully, my friend Jen has smaller feet than I, and she knits, so she is among The Knitworthy and will be receiving them as soon as I get them blocked [soon, Jen, I PROMISE!!].

Here they are, pre-felting:



For Christmas this year, we visited B's aunts & uncle who live in the Midwest. They live in a very small, quiet town, and I was able to knit to my heart's content! I finished the Waving Lace socks in KnitPicks Turtle Multi, and cast on the Padded Footlets for my brother.



I have a couple of other socks ready to go, but they are gifties, so I will post pictures after they are all blocked and in the mail to the recipients. No worries on the surprise factor; they know what they are getting, but I want to post nice pictures!

Vacation & road trips

We spent this last weekend on the road. It was my annual family reunion, and seeing everyone in my mother's family was wonderful. The gathering was at Cloudland Canyon State Park in Rising Fawn, Georgia. It's near Chattanooga and in the mountains - beautiful country up there.

I finished my Undulating Rib Socks on Saturday and cast on Sonnet! I was so pleased to finally start that. When I gave my sister and niece their socks, they were very pleased. Emily put hers on right away, but when Grace tried to put hers on - no luck. The yarn shrank in the wash :( Shame on me for not swatching them. I'm so disappointed. I suggested that she get them damp and slip them on carefully, and then let them dry on her feet.

My sister-in-law, brother, and father have all put in requests for socks. Mary and Kenneth are getting pairs of Padded Footlets; Kenneth is getting a pair of Eesti Trail Hiking Socks; and Dad is getting two pair of the same hiking socks. My poor Branching Out is going to be neglected, but thankfully, I have the counter app on my iPhone so I will be able to pick up where I left off. Kenneth picked out some beautiful yarn from KnitPicks - I can't wait to see how it looks and feels in real life.

The Sonnet is coming along nicely; I am using the piecrust basketweave instead of the box/moss stitch recommended in the pattern. I'm also cutting out an inch on each side since I have heard from every direction that the finished item will definitely stretch side-to-side. I finished about seven inches while we were on the road. I do love how Bradley doesn't mind driving...

Heat & wool socks.

Yes, I'm mixing the two. Bad, bad, bad. However, since the A/C is fixed, it's not so bad to be inside and knitting with wool. The first of the two socks is almost done - I began the toe decreases last night. I don't find the pattern very impressive until the sock is on my foot - then I love the rib!

The Branching Out is coming along nicely. I have about 165 rows or so of it done. One of my internet friends makes gorgeous little flower pins - for both hair and brooches. I ordered a few from her, and I have a perfect mental image of wearing the Branching Out pinned with a lovely grey flower pin she designed.

Spent the weekend slaving over the pool. Not sure if the water is in balance, but the clarity is much improved. I vacuumed some of the debris off the bottom, and Bradley is out there now checking the Kreepy Krawler to see if it works. [Typing that really makes my skin crawl, but that's the actual brand name, so whatever.] I've just been requested to cook dinner, so off I go!

Trips

Sorry I've been MIA. I try to update on Mondays and Thursdays, but the past couple of weeks have been frustrating.

DayJob is on my nerves like an untuned piano - and that's all I can say about that.

Last week, my little family went to visit extended family in the Midwest. I wasn't comfortable trying to take my Branching Out on the plane, so I brought DPNs in 2s, 3s, and 4s, and a couple of balls of sock yarn. I'm making a pair of Undulating Rib Socks out of Favorite Socks in KnitPick's Felici. I bought a sock sampler from them a couple of months ago, and the colorway Schooner was included. Now that colorway has been discontinued, so I can't link to it. While on the trip, I cast on, frogged, re-cast on, and got most of the way through the first one. I'm working on the gusset right now and just love the pattern. The recommended needle size is a 4 for the cuff and 3 for the remainder, but my gauge was too large - I had to frog and restart using 3s for the cuff and 2s for the remainder.

For the first time, I'm working on two projects that I just love and can't decide which I want to work on! I think I'll continue on the Branching Out for a while since it's been hibernating for a while. The Felici yarn is mostly wool, which is not appropriate for Florida summers!

Ah, summer

Time for lace and cotton and linen.

Finished my niece's socks! Got the buttons sewn onto my coworker's booties! I picked up Branching Out again - finally - but couldn't figure out what row I knit last. I ended up frogging it and restarting, and I'm so pleased with how it looks already. I made it through about six pattern repeats.

My friend SP finished her Sylvi and posted pictures of it today. I am amazed and in awe of that accomplishment! I know I can do it too - it's a pattern, a set of directions, and I'm good at following directions. That seems like such a mammoth project though... After I finish Branching Out and a few more socks, I think I'll work on my Sonnet. Maybe I'll be able to finish it in time for the chilly season ;)

In house news... the A/C will be replaced tomorrow. We requested several estimates, and the winner will charge us around $3,800. I'm so grateful for savings accounts and for both of us having stable, well-paying jobs. The pool is looking better and better - the chemicals we keep dumping in are working! This weekend, Bradley was brushing crud off the sides, and the brush fell off the end of the pole. It was clear enough that he put on a scuba mask and dove in to get it off the bottom. I was pretty grossed out and made him shower as soon as I realized what he'd done.

We've been considering adding two new ani-pals to our little family - two dogs. Originally, Bradley wanted an English Bulldog. Being from Athens and UGA, I LOVED the idea. My only demand was that my beast would be a boxer. One of my earliest memories is of standing on the driveway outside my childhood home, looking up at the boxer my family owned - that's how I small I was at the time. I adore boxers! Well - Bradley saw a picture on IHasAHotdog.com of a mastiff and has now changed his mind - no more bulldog; he wants a mastiff. HA. My major primary concern is controlling the animal - those dogs grow to be twice my weight. A bulldog would be strong and stubborn, but it wouldn't weigh more than I do, and I could SIT on it if all else failed. A female boxer wouldn't be bigger than me, either. But a mastiff?? Those boys grow to be as big as Bradley!!! We'll see what happens. Right now, we have some immediate house expenses that prevent us from acquiring new beasts. We'll have to get puppies so that the cats can deal with them... there's no way we could introduce adult dogs (such as rescues) into the house with Skye the Amazing Attack Cat and Pax the Stupid Prey Cat. Puppies mean we will have to find quality breeders. I have a bit of a hard time reconciling that with my values; I feel so strongly about adopting pound puppies... but I just can't risk the history that some rescues have when bringing a big dog into the house. Maybe I can ease my conscience by making a big donation to the local shelters when we bring home the pups.

Anyways, I gotta get off the keyboard; my left pinky is being weird and painful when I type.

Heat

We haz it. Our A/C has been out this week, and the temperatures have been in the 90s. UGH. Needless to say - that means no knitting! I could barely get off the couch without breaking a sweat, so the idea of touching even cotton made me swelter. The poor cats had me so worried, but they didn't seem to be near heatstroke. On the suggestion of a friend, I wrapped each of them in a cold wet towel for about ten minutes to help them stay cool. I was very surprised that they each tolerated it as well as they did. Must have been a sign that they were feeling the heat too :(

The A/C was recharged with freon today, and we're having a new unit installed on Tuesday. Bradley got a few estimates this week and we are satisfied with what we're buying. The current unit is about 20 years old, so I'm not surprised that it quit.

Now that the house is cooler, I worked some more on my niece's socks. I need to get the buttons sewn onto my officemate's commissioned booties, but I'll probably do that on Sunday since I won't see her again until Monday.

I've been wondering how I'll block things in the new house - we don't have any carpet! I found some blocking tiles on KnitPicks, but I am waiting a couple more months before buying them. Most of the projects I'm working on right now are socks or booties, which can just get tossed in the washer and dryer. After I pick up Branching Out or cast on my Sonnet, then I'll reconsider.

I can't wait to finish these socks for my niece - I am excited to pick up BO again!

Completion...

Aaah... Life is getting back to normal. What a relief!

I've finished the commissioned baby blanket and woven all the ends. I will wash it tonight and make any last adjustments then. It's bigger than expected, of course, because I always forget how doubling the strands changes the size of the FO. DUH.

I had jury duty Tuesday, which involved a lot of sitting around and waiting. I took the socks I'm knitting for my niece, so I was able to make some serious progress on the first one. The security didn't have any problem on the way into the courthouse in the morning, but on the way back in from lunch, a different guard was manning the scanner, and I very nearly lost my two small crochet hooks. She didn't really like the needles, either, but let me go on through with them because I was a juror. So I finished the heel and gusset of the first sock and am working on the foot now. I am so glad to be on socks after that damn blanket! Something that shows progress much quicker - is much lighter-weight - and the yarn feels good on my hands.

I'm definitely sticking with small projects for the next couple of months - or rather, any big projects are going to be for ME. I want to cast on my Sonnet, finally, and work on my Branching Out. It will be a lovely scarf for the summer!

Two at once

My usual scheme with life is one thing at a time. One book at a time, one knitting WIP at a time, one TV show at a time, one hobby at a time, etc. I've been working on adding variety in the past few months. I don't like it when different parts of my meal touch when they're on my plate - juice from my spinach running into my mac & cheese grosses me out to no end. But lately, I've tried some new things to see how I like them. I still can't read a different book while I'm studying for the CPA exam, but I cast on a new knitting project before I finished my current one.

I've been producing some scarves for my Etsy shop and still haven't knit anything for myself since I picked up my needles last year. Yesterday, I cast on Branching Out. I started it a few months ago and frogged it; using size 8s with the yarn I'd picked (KnitPicks Shimmer) made the stitches far too airy to even recognize a pattern. Last night, I went down two sizes to a 6 needle, and it's easy to see the pattern now. I've done about 4 repeats of the pattern, and I love it. The project I haven't finished is another My So-Called Scarf for Etsy. It's in Classic Wool Merino by Patons in Palais, and I love the rich colors - brown, purple, maroon, and blue. Today, I was catching up on my TV shows on the DVR, and switching from size sixes and laceweight yarn to size elevens and much thicker yarn was definitely an adjustment for my fingers. I didn't find it difficult, though, which was good.

I could knit all day, but it's 3:30 and I really need to get some chores done around the house. We have the Litter Robot for the cats, and it's time to change the bag. I'm also going to switch from clumping clay litter to crystals this week; several fellow cat caretakers (cause we all know that cats simply refuse to be owned) have confirmed that the crystals virtually elimiate the dust that comes along with the clay litter. My kitties have successfully used the crystals in the past, so I don't have to worry about them refusing to transition. I've already taken care of the kitchen; now it's just the rest of the house!

Ugh, and let's not even discuss the studying I have to do today. [Insert whining, bitching, & complaining here!]

Branching Out, revised

Hm, so, now that I've done a few repeats of the pattern, and I think I'll have to frog it all and restart with a smaller needle. It's turning out to be far too open to even see the pattern. I haven't used needles smaller than a 7 or 8, so I'm interested to see how the size 6s will handle. I dug around on Ravelry for a while to see how other knitters' projects turned out, and seeing those made the decision easy.

But I have a kitty curled up in my lap, and she's had a rough day today, so I think I'm going to wait a few before I pick up my project again.

Branching Out

I cast on Branching Out this afternoon. I definitely have to pay attention to every stitch right now - the yarn I'm using splits very easily. Not to mention k3tog is tricky, regardless of what yarn it is. I am finished with the first repeat and am on row 2 (or 17, from the beginning).

I have some stuff to get done around my apartment, but I hope to pick it back up later this evening.

Lacework

I finished the seed-stitch scarf last night while I was watching tv with B. Now I have two needing to be blocked and listed on Etsy, but he has my camera right now. :-/ Oh well. I can work on the rest of the listings and, ya know, block them while I wait. Instead - I started winding a ball out of the hank of Knitpicks Shimmer I bought from a Digsfriend months ago. It's Happy Dance, a color that isn't listed on the site anymore. I am planning on casting on Branching Out tomorrow at TNKG. My first adventures in lacework! I can't wait. I'm a little nervous, but I don't know why. I think it will be lovely.

Well, gotta do a few chores and then get into bed. Have to make it to the PO tomorrow morning to ship out some DVDs I sold on half.com.