One Crazy Fiber Lady

Well even if it isn’t Wednesday, I think this will be a very random posting.

1.¬† Alex is still sick.¬† Tuesday he spent the day fever free.¬† Yay.¬† This meant he could go to school on Wednesday and I could go back to the office.¬† It happened.¬† Then yesterday he woke up, kinda whiney but cool.¬† I dragged him and his sister off to school.¬† He whimpered the entire ride, which really is only about 3 miles so it could have been way worse.¬† All right, I’m no mother of the year.¬†¬† I got a call from mom at about 11 that she heard from his teacher, he was running 102F, and that she was on her way to get him.¬† I left work early, met up with Jessica on the train, picked up Kat at daycare and then dad at a different train station further down the same line.¬† Oy.¬† The Logistics!¬† So, Kat is at school today, and Alex is at home with mom.¬† Again, I have to leave work early to get her.¬†

2.¬† I got a new cell phone having been lured by a decent plan at Sprint.¬† I’ve had T-Mobile now for a couple of years and while it was okay, nothing to really write about.¬† A coworker has been chipping away at me to go to the Sprint deal since shortly after starting here.¬†¬† I finally caved and free unlimited data was the final kicker.¬† I got me a new HTC Mogul telephone which runs Windows Mobile (really geeky in that I can develop my own software for it ¬† The downside is that I’m going through a bit of hell trying to port my number over from T-Mo.¬† Been on the phone with Sprint for almost 2 hours over as many days trying to get it straight.¬† One less than helpful CSR told me they couldn’t port the number because it was still active.¬† Um.¬† Wrong.¬† Thankfully I knew better and didn’t run off to call T-Mo and cancel my account.¬† I’m still hopeful it will all work out eventually, but in the meantime, I now have my old number forwarded to the new Sprint number.¬† Incidentally, the phone is pretty darn cool

3.¬† I don’t know about everyone else, but I just LOVE online tracking of shipments.¬† I placed an order for a microSD card (for the new phone) and a memory upgrade kit for my iMac.¬† The company shipped it FEDEX.¬† I LOVE how Fedex routes stuff.¬† Take a look at this interesting routing.¬†

4.¬† Getting geekier now for a quick bit. Sorry.¬† There will be a fiber-y reward if you make it through the next bit.¬† I promise.¬† For those who are still using Windows based computers and haven’t been lured to MacWorld yet because of the fear of not being able to run essential software (not including the intensive games) because they either don’t want to buy Mac equivalents or there aren’t any, there is a solution.¬†¬† Parallels Desktop 3.0 for Mac (Intel Mac).¬† I mentioned it before I believe, but now here is a real world example.¬† The development suite that I primarily use is Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 and with it, write web and windows based applications.¬† While there is an attempt at making a runtime environment for the Mac for the .NET framework, this isn’t a complete solution as not all the libraries are available, blah blah and Microsoft has not yet released a version of Studio for the¬†Mac (nor do I ever expect¬†them to).¬†No other solution and a great example of why someone wouldn’t make the switch to the Mac.¬† Aha.¬†

Enter Parallels.¬† This nifty piece of software allows me to have what is essentially another computer running on my iMac, and this one is Windows XP based.¬† Sounds good?¬† Gets better.¬† It isn’t some odd dual booting scenario where if I want to¬†run Studio and happen to be surfing with Safari under Mac, I don’t have to shut down everything, restart the computer and select a different operating system when starting back up.¬†¬†Cool huh?¬†¬†Starting up Parallels and¬†the familar Windows XP logo shows up and I have¬†a full fledged, network recognized, windows based puter running at the same time.¬†¬†Now this can run in a single window¬†like a remote desktop, but¬†this is where Coherence enters the picture.¬†¬†Applications running on the windows¬†”computer” can appear¬†as if they were natively running on the¬†Mac.¬† ¬†Behold….

Here is a screen Grab of my actual desktop one day on my iMac.¬† At the bottom of the picture you can see both the Mac Dock and the Windows Taskbar.¬† Cool enough.¬† But cooler are the actual applications that are running.¬† The foremost window is Mac’s Finder.¬† The one under it is the aforementioned Visual Studio with the beginnings of an application (win mo no less .¬† All seriously good slickness if you ask me.¬† They run seamlessly together, you can cut and paste between the two, etc.¬† The only thing that gives away that they are running on different OS’s is the frame, Windows’ apps look like Windows’ apps, and Mac apps look like Mac apps.¬† I couldn’t recommend it more!

5.¬† And now for the fiber-y reward for those of you who managed to make it this far.¬† I’ve been playing with the CSM and the gloss is coming off the machine a bit for me.¬† I have super narrow feet, measuring in at a whopping 7.25″ circumference.¬† I’m having difficulties getting the socks narrow enough from the CSM.¬† If I dial up the tension to get more stitches to the inch, the machine doesn’t work right, skipping LOTS of needles and making a huge mess.¬† Switching to the 54 cylinder has helped somewhat but still the socks off there are still too large.¬† Compare the Regia Kaffe Fasset sock that I did on the 54 this week with a sock I started yesterday on the train (Tempted in Roxanne for the curious, US0 – 56St):

Notice the huge gauge difference.¬† My handknit is about 9st/in and the CSM comes in at @6or so.¬† Ugh.¬† I’m not sure where to go from here or to branch out and start selling grown up normal sized socks

In more satisfying knitting, I tossed aside that no-pattern top down raglan last night at SnB as being a seriously boring knit in favor of something else.  This SnB is bad for the stash knitting   Anyway, I was tempted by something else.  Enter Fitted Knits and the Boatneck Bluebell, which Jessica happened to be wearing.  I went scouring the Cascade cubes at the store and narrowed down the color with the help the ever wonderful SnB ladies to the orange-y heather of the Quatro.  Love that 220.  I cast on.  I took this picture on the train this morning.

Mmmmmm.  So far so good

Craft on!

I was posting at a pretty decent clip there for a bit, eh?¬† Sorry to disappear.¬† I’ve been fighting a cold that started with a sore throat and has no progressed to a pretty decent cough.¬† My boss presented me with a challenge that has kept me pretty busy for the last week or so (and we all know I tend to blog at work ¬† And now, I’m working from home with a sick kid who is finally fever free for the first time since Sunday and the other one who refuses to go to school without her brother, especially I’m home too.¬† Mom is off to PA to be with my youngest sister who needs her.

Got a quick moment to do a short update now that the kids are fed and back in the den watching their current fav, iCarly.¬† It is a cute show, but new and only a handful of episodes of which I’ve seriously tired of…

Anyway back to the land of crafting.¬† I had a playdate with Jessica two weekends ago.¬† She came over for a little CSM’ing and spinning.¬†¬†

She used my eBay no-name (more than likely an Auto Knitter) and made a pretty decent tube ¬† Having only a week of playing with the things myself, I’m not sure what kind of teacher I actually made.¬† While we cranked, the Kat kept herself occupied:

After an hour or so of cranking, we moved to the wheels ourselves.  It was a fun way to spend a Saturday afternoon.  Thanks Jessica!

I have been knitting, but suffering from multiple projectitis combined with startitis.¬† I worked for a bit on the Clapotis out of Lion & Lamb in Black Purl, but having hit the straight section I ran out of yarn in the first skein and can’t seem to remember where I put the rest of the yarn.¬† Haven’t been able to find it in almost a week now.¬† Pathetic huh?¬†

Moving on, I picked up a top-down raglan cardigan that I started sometime last year in either Feb or March out of Lavold Chunky Al.¬† Not entirely sure of the pattern either as nothing was found with the WiP and it doesn’t quite match CosmicPluto’s pattern as I kind of neglected to knit either the ribbed or seed stitch version of the neckbit but opted to go straight into the body.¬† Sigh.¬† Pretty though

Judging by the seed stitch button bands, I think I’ll have to do a seed stitch neckline addition and hem ¬† I also dug out the Monk’s Travel Bag from cold storage, or at least WIP Idle Land behind my knitting chair and went back to work on the 74″ long bag side/shoulder strap piece.¬† I’ve made pretty decent progress on it and have passed the halfway point a couple of days ago.¬† It is definitely mindless knitting as it is comprised of some 35st in seed stitch.¬† The only thing that keeps it from being perfect is that I’m using the very splitty Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece.¬†

Gotta go back to work.¬† I’ll leave you with a new picture of the mutant cat who’s coat is slooooowly growing back.

Craft on!

For the non-code peeps,¬† that roughly translates to “Quiet is not Good”.¬†

I don’t know why, but I’ve been seriously slow in learning that lesson.¬† Especially when applied to children being quiet.¬†¬†¬† Thanks to the weather, I worked from home yesterday.¬† And since I was such a chicken about driving, I didn’t really want to take the youngin’s out either.¬† So they stayed home too and played.

Late morning they had disappeared into Alex’s room and mom reported they were watching tv in there.¬† They weren’t killing each other and were blessedly quiet.¬† I know.¬† My first tip off.¬† A while later I walked by and saw Alex giving a toy duster a trim.¬† Messy but not really a problem.¬† I told him to quit it.¬† Quick motion by the girl child who spun around and sat on the floor.¬†¬†¬† When queried as to what she was doing, she replied with “Nothing” and the innocent but not innocent smile.¬†

A little prodding produced a small pile of hair on the floor tucked under her and her tush length hair¬†somewhat more ragged looking than normal.¬†¬†¬† This was the day that I’d been dreading and hoping wouldn’t happen.¬† You see, she’s never had a haircut other than my trimming her bangs.¬†¬†¬† Can’t say that anymore…

 
This was Kat’s handiwork.¬† Note the small section that still reaches the chair and beyond.¬† We called that stuff her baby hair.¬† The waves are from the braids I put this stuff into every night as it knotted terribly.¬† The baby hair didn’t help there.¬†¬† I’ve been meaning to give her a trim, but seriously, not this much!¬† Anyway, after lunch, I evened her out a bit…

That’s 8″ long.¬† I now have it in a rubberband and tucked away.¬† One bath and hairwashing later, I trimmed better as the braid waves were gone.¬† Here’s my little girl now.

It looks cute and yes, took less time to do, but I miss the long hair.¬† As she told me yesterday amidst her tears “It will grow back”.¬†

Do I need to mention that today is picture day at school?

Craft on!

Some called me out on it yesterday, yes there are two CSM’s.¬† Long story that I’ll eventually share, but suffice it to say I am weak and bought two of them.¬† The first purchase was in fact the eBay find, “no-name” as it isn’t labeled in any way.

I knew buying one on eBay was a bit of a crapshoot.  It could either be a lump of cast iron or a wonderful working machine.  While I hoped for the latter, I expected the former.  Sometime after placing my bid, I tripped on another yahoo group and found someone in the area who was selling a refurbished machine for a very decent price.   we all know I bought that one Рthe Auto Knitter.

The AK came with a 72/36 cylinder/ribber.¬† Works beautifully.¬† Only problem is my wee feet and that even with reduced needles, the socks were generally too big for me.¬† The yellow ones from the weekend were felted a tad smaller and fit fine.¬† The Duet Skinny are superwash and I’d have no such luck.

No-name came with the 72/36 combo, but also a 54.  This would allow for socks with fewer stitches without long gaps between stitches.  Just what I wanted.  It also has the side benefit of handling up to a worsted weight yarn.  I set up no-name Monday night with the 54 and some of the needes that came with it.  The thing cranked well in one direction, but would jam in the other.   A number of things could cause this, including mismatched needles or not enough oil. 

So last night I tried something else.¬† I took the 72 out of the AK and put the 54 from no-name in it,¬† using AK’s nice new matched needles.¬† It worked beautifully, in both directions!¬† I even made a bonnet to use for starting each sock.¬† YAY.¬† Small socks for me on the horizon.

Since that went so very well, I wanted to see what I could do with no-name.¬† I first tried AK’s 72 in no-name, but it was a tad too tight and I didn’t want to damage either piece.¬† I took out no-name’s 72.¬† It fit beautifully, turned oh -so-nicely, but as I went to put in a few of AK’s needles, found that the spring that holds the needles in was missing on the cyclinder.¬† I borrowed the spring from AK’s 72, popped in a bunch of needles and was able to go in both directions without binding.¬† I filled her up and cast on.¬†

See for yourself:

AK on the left and No-Name on the right

Both are working.  Sorry for the color.  The waste yarn is not quite that ugly, but close.  The camera exaggerated perhaps a tad.

I’m curious to know what No-Name really is.¬† I “think” it might be a Legare #400 as I’ve seen photos on web sites that are identical twin to this machine minus the badging.¬† There is absolutely no identification on it at all.¬† Here are more photos of the two side by side.¬†
(click to make big as always)

      

I promise to move off the machine thing for my next post

I’ll leave you with a picture of the cat we all know and love:

Craft on!

But a good cranky lady.  I cranked ye old CSM again last night and churned out another pair of socks.  This time in Duet Skinny РSailor Girl colorway if I remember correctly.

I do a couple at a time separated by waste yarn.¬† These socks are a mock rib done on the 72 cylinder over 54 st (3in 1 out) as 72 stitches is wicked big for my wee feet.¬† There’s a 12 row picot top that you can just make out.¬† What remains is the toe needs to be grafted and waste yarn removed.¬† Neat.¬† This pair remains a bit too wide around for me and since it is superwash, I can’t felt them smaller as I did with the last pair.¬†

My ebay machine arrived yesterday.¬† The jury is still out as to whether it is trash or treasure.¬† It isn’t a serious mess, and I was able to set it up and get it to crank with needles in it.¬† But only one direction.¬† The other direction would cause it to jam.¬† I oiled it up a bit and it went a tad smoother.¬† I might try that cylinder on the working machine, if it fits.¬† The maker of this thing is unknown.¬† It isn’t labeled in anyway, but other than the markings it could be a twin of the Auto Knitter.¬† The only thing missing is the raised embossing of ‘Auto’ on the crank and the ‘Auto Knitter – Made in Canada’ on the base.¬†¬†¬† I’ve ordered some new needles for her and will give her a good cleaning over the weekend.¬† (Mental note, must get mineral spirits.)

Not all socks are being cranked around here.¬† I’m actually hand knitting a few of them.¬† Actually finished one on Saturday at a birthday party the kids went to at Tiger Schulmann for one of their classmates.¬† Only got two new invites yesterday.¬† Ugh.¬†¬† Oh well, I had a nice time hanging with the other parents.¬† Its not something I get to do much.¬† I drop the monkeys off in the morning and go racing for the train.¬† Doesn’t give much socializing time.¬† So it was nice to really chat with the other mothers.¬† Anyway, I finished the first KnitPicks Felici sock in Firefighter and cast on the second this morning on the train (yes, not immediately, I have been a tad distracted …

That’s about it for today.¬† I’ll leave you with a picture of my silly girl mugging for the camera.

Craft on!

Well, its more like a weekly update at this point.¬†¬† I know it is either feast or famine when it comes to my posting.¬† I do apologize for that.¬†¬† I write a lot of posts.¬† In my head at least.¬†¬† I snap lots of photos and eventually connect the camera to one of the many computers in my life.¬† Actually there’s a new one of those for me to support as I finally rebuilt one of my OLD desktops (a 500mhz celeron) so that Alex could play on one and get off my dell laptop.¬† Kat has one of my mother’s old hand-me-downs in her room and plays Reader Rabbit and Calliou on it.¬† Fair is fair, right?¬† Anyway, I had started futzing with Alex’s machine about a month ago only to find that the hard drive in there had died leaving the machine without its primary operating system.¬† It is fixed now and running and oldie but goodie, Windows 98

I saw this gorgeous sunset last week, I think it was Thursday as I made my way home.

It was a warm night for February and I rode outside on the top deck of the ferry.¬† You can just see the Statue of Liberty in the distance there.¬† As always, click to make big.¬† Surely isn’t that nice today!¬† We had blizzard conditions that left us with a dusting of snow.¬† It was a brisk 27F when we came home from a dinner out at Bennigans.¬† Brrrrr.¬† Nice to have warm indoor hobbies.

I apparently have my sock mojo back after losing it for far too long.¬† I cast on one¬† Monday morning on the train, in KnitPicks something or other in the Firefighter colorway. ¬† This is how I commute, knitting and iPod on knee.¬† I’m currently re-watching old Battlestar Galacticas in preparation for the upcoming new season. ¬† I can’t wait for that!

I have my first finished socks for the year.¬† The mojo is back in spades.¬† These are stockinette socks with short row heel, short row toe over 54 stitches.¬† The yarn is Sweet Georgia in some colorway or other, I’ve sort of lost the tag.

The truly amazing thing with these socks?¬† I knit the first one yesterday in about 40 minutes and the other this afternoon (after finishing Alex’s computer).¬† How did I do that?¬† With one of these!!!!

After almost a decade of looking, reading and coveting, I finally bought one.¬† This is a Canadian Auto Knitter that I bought from a local NJ fiber buddy who is upgrading to a NZAK.¬† It has 72/36¬† cylinders, electronic counter and a plethora of other accessories.¬† She even gave me a lesson in how to use it when I stopped on by yesterday.¬† I’m digging it.¬† I do think that that lesson combined with my experience with flat bed knitting machines has made the steep learning curve pretty flat.¬† I haven’t tried ribbed sock yet, but woohoo, the first pair is done.¬† AND better yet, I made a nice pair with yarn I didn’t really enjoy hand knitting with.¬† Maybe that mountain of sock yarn will become a mole hill

Finally, Deb, Jessica and Eva have awarded me with the “Make my day award”.¬† I’m terribly honored.¬† Thank you, thank you, thank you!¬† You all make my day.

Craft on!