listage before i leave

It's all Harry Potter, all the time!

1. These t-shirts, sadly not real, are very entertaining (but likely rated at least a PG-13: you've been warned, but it's worth it).

2. Spoiler in the link! But when you are done reading, click on over here for a most excellent discussion about the end (and the whole thing really). But maybe I just like it because of the Jane Austen links the author draws...

3. I really like the stuff in the new Interweave Knits. Will it be waiting at home for me tonight, for excellent airplane reading? Probably not, but a girl can dream.

So: we're off. Sort of. I'm packing an Icarus, an Embossed Leaf, and Cascade for an intarsia class! And I can't wait to buy yarn!

mission accomplished

I really wanted to get my latest Trekking Jaywalkers done before we left for Portland early, early on Friday morning. And I did! While watching the Yankees (currently) beat the stuffing out of the Royals.*

Pattern: Grumperina's Jaywalkers (is a link really necessary? didn't think so.)
Yarn: Trekking XXL, color 107
Needles: Addi Turbo size 0, 40" long
Modifications: I magic looped, and unintentionally skipped the slipped stitch along the side of the foot. I think we'll live!

*Uh-oh. Johnny Damon just struck out.

potter revealed

I had Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in my hot little hands (embellished by a HP7 tattoo! (which is still on my hand and amusing my co-workers)) by 12:10 am on Saturday. Rudely, I read while we had a glass of wine and Hubby chatted with some friends after we got our books. They didn't seem to care, thankfully.

I did sleep, and upon waking on Saturday, I read through until the finish at about 4pm. And I didn't peek at the end ONE BIT. Lots of tears, but I was really satisfied. I still have questions about some of the plot twists, so if anyone wants to discuss, please let me know!

This weekend we head to Portland, OR for a friend's wedding. Not only is this a vacation (thus allowing yarn purchasing!), I'm taking an intarsia class at the Yarn Garden on Saturday. Our hotel is also just down the street from Knit/Purl. Wee! It also means that when we get back next Tuesday my Knit From Your Stash pledge is over! However, I've still got so much yarn that I'm going to really try to not go crazy for the rest of the year. Ideally, I'd like to keep my yarn only in the bins under the bed. I've got a lot of stash reduction to go to meet that goal.

countdown to potter

One of the most excellent gifts I received upon graduation in May was Tom Hodgkinson's How To Be Idle, which I carried around with me for weeks. It was comforting, and brilliant, and just something that I wanted more of in life. While certainly not for the Type As out there, it provided marvelous perspective on life as I embarked on this new phase. If you are looking for something to entertain for that lazy vacation, or just need a new out-of-the-rat-race view on life, this is it. (And on sale at Amazon!)

But it's really just a waiting game for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows right now. Yes, I'm going to wait in line for it at midnight. How often can one say that about a book in today's world?

sock progress

These poor, poor Jaywalkers. I started them on Knit in Public Day at the beginning of June! And I really didn't do much with them until last week. The Trekking colors are fun, but not quite the watermelon fantasy I'd hoped for. And I completely forgot to do the slip stitch along the foot to match the raised stitches from the leg. I was way too far along to go back and rip, but I'm still pretty pleased to have one finished sock.

on a break

Dear Mystery Stole,

I feel like we've had a couple of dates, and while I like the idea of our relationship at a macro level, I'm just not sure that we are meant for each other. Something keeps going wrong, and it's not you, it's me. Really. I just don't have the time for this relationship right now.

I can't see the big picture, and since I don't like surprises, so you can see that we were starting off on shaky footing.

The foundation of our relationship also wasn't the greatest. The second try with the Knit Picks yarn worked much better, but then the beads didn't really match, or help to fancy you up at all. So what was the point? I spilled and picked the beads up from the carpet one too many times.

Yes, on Sunday morning, I packed all of you and your accoutrements up in a plastic bag, and cleaned off the coffee table for the first time in days. Because you'd really taken over the living room. All the swatches, beads, charts, post-its for keeping my place... swept up in one swoop. I felt so much better without you hanging around cluttering up my chi, or psyche, or whatever you call it. It was time for a break.

I'll look forward to seeing you with other people, out there in the internets. There are plenty of knitters in the sea. We'll check in with each other on occasion. If you see me in a restaurant or theater lobby, please stop and say hello. But you deserve someone better than me!

best, me

ssr #5 and #6

Two more skeins down! The gifts are piling up!

Pattern: Branching Out from Knitty.com
Yarn: Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool in color 08, purchased from Webs about two years ago (I think)
Needles: size 6 circular, from Claire's mother's collection of needles
Modifications: none! It's such a lovely little lace pattern.

Pattern: Angel Booties, pattern available here. Thanks for showing this off, Ravelry!
Yarn: Lorna's Laces Angel (70% Angora, 30% Lambswool) in color 142, Bucks Bar
Needles: #5 DPNs, Susan Bates, perhaps?
Modifications: I would use size 4 needles for the next set, and maybe make the cuff a little longer. But it was a very fun knit, and as promised, knit in an afternoon!

listage is back!

1. I've now listened to every episode of Stash and Burn, which I totally love. I'm very glad they are back from vacation!

2. I want to learn to crochet, and am very sad that the Happy Hooker hasn't shipped from Amazon yet. What's the deal, yo? Jane at Yarnstorm made some absolutely beautiful squares that are gorgeous flowers and they were the real inspiration to learn. Then I heard Sasha Kagan on the Ready Set Knit podcast talking about crochet... and then Jenny and Nicole from Stash and Burn are talking about crochet... so it's time.

3. Mystery Stole 3 is getting the best of me. I started on the 4th with the LB Cashwool, then started again with a different bead. Then I stopped. I wasn't good at knitting with yarn with the approximate thickness of hair.* Next I started with the Knit Picks Shadow, which worked out much better. I was cruising along, and then someone started setting off fireworks across the street. I jumped, and ripped a needle out of the half the row. After that, I decided it was time for a break.

*It's lovely! Just not the thing for my clumsy fingers right now. The Cashwool is 100 grams and 1460 yards, and the Shadow is 880 yards in 100 grams. Cashwool is some pretty skinny yarn.

3a. So now the second clue has been posted, and everyone's clue #1s look lovely. But I'm not sure that this is going to happen for me. I'm still in Chart 1A. Ah, well. I'm going to continue printing the clues and plug along at my own pace. And probably switch my Yahoo Group settings to only receive the Special Notices. 400 emails, even when digested into 25 message chunks, is way too many per day.

4. I reorganized my circular needles the other day, and am very pleased with the results. Can't wait to get my camera back from France! And Hubby, too, of course. It sounds like he's having way too much fun for this to be work.

5. Last night I got to meet the recepient of the log cabin baby blankie for the first time. She was quite pleased to see me, didn't cry at all, and I was very pleased to see that the blankie was being put to good use.

ssr #4

Actually, it's not a single skein... it's three! Mohair is rough in the summer, of course, but it's been very dry and relatively cool for summer, so I seized the opportunity.

Pattern: Misty Garden from Scarf Style
Yarn: Jo Sharp Rare Comfort Infusion Kid Mohair in color 614
Needles: #9 straight bamboo
Modifications: none that I can think of

Look at how incredible these seats were! I didn't want to leave. The food was still pretty icky. It didn't stop me, though.



Have a happy 4th!

the last time i saw paris...

Hubby landed at Charles deGaulle safely, early early this morning. I was so asleep that I didn't even hear the text message arrive on the phone right next to my head. He's in the Loire Valley for the week, with the rest of his company, touring and visiting. At the end of the week, he gets a free day in Paris. Lucky duck.

So my camera is out of the country, and therefore pictures this week are from the archives. I'll see if I can keep them topical.

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We went to see the Yankees lose on Saturday (is there any outcome for the Yankees?), and an odd thing happened during the 7th inning stretch. We were asked to rise for "God Bless America", and a spectator in front of us started screaming, "Hats off, you Commies!" Repeatedly. The whole thing struck me as strange, since 1) GBA isn't an official anthem of this country, and therefore hats off shouldn't be necessary; and 2) Commies? Is that still an insult? The largest Communist country in the world almost owns the U.S.* Of all the things one could say, Commies just seems so odd and retro.

I'm heading back to the Stadium tonight, but will be in a corporate box. No hoodlums and free food!

*Only Japan holds more U.S. government bonds.