Entries from July 2011
…. and we have a pair!
Bonfire Socks – Project Details
Looks like I’m getting back on my old pace of actually knitting things. Well, socks anyway. Up next? Well it was going to be the second sock to match the first sock knit so long ago that I don’t remember what the yarn is, nor what needles it was knit upon. I think the yarn is Vesper in Strange Little Mama color, but I could be making that up whole cloth. Sick thing is that the first sock is complete, well except for the ends that need to be woven in. I was going to start the second one, but I left my US0 Blackthorns in my tote bag at the office this evening. Either I use different needles {shudder} or pick a different yarn. Hmm.
There is this yarn that I could use…
I plied up the ITW fiber that I spun on the sidekick last week. See, I can ply without an electric! As it is still sitting on the bobbin, I haven’t a clue what the yardage it, but its more than plenty for a pair of socks.
But then again, I’m not lacking for either yarn, needles or things to knit.
I do have to point out that in some project in the last couple of months (think it was the kindle sock), I discovered a new to me cast on and bind off. I linked them both above in the socks project detail. Must say that I’m completely sold on both. Definitely give them a try.
Okay, off to decide what the next project is going to be. Definitely a sock as I’m catching up on Game of Thrones on the Nook Color while commuting. I missed it airing on HBO while I read the book. Now that I finished it (and oh boy how the hell did I miss this series of books before now!!!) I was going to go back and watch the episodes On Demand. Sadly, I missed them by 2 days. HBO pulled them. I let google be my friend and found the season online. Thank goodness for Divx. Oh and the divx player for Android that I’ve got on my rooted Nook Color. I can watch an episode a day over the course of my commute. Makes for good knitting time too 🙂 Anyway…
Craft on!
Tags: Socks · Spinning
We have one sock down! Woot. Amazing too. Less than 6 months between bind off. Can you believe it?
I finished it this morning while on the train. I wish I knew what the colorway is. Will need input from Leann on that. Chinese Fireball is what I want to say, but we’ll need her to weigh in with actual name. I can’t seem to find where I put the band from the fiber. What else is new. I immediately cast on for the second sock and by the time I got off the train this evening, was halfway through the foot.
Along with the new job, has been reading in new to me technologies. I’d dabbled with jQuery at the previous gig, but not to the extent that I need to use it now. So to that end, I’ve been reading a pretty darn good book on the subject: jQuery: Novice to Ninja
. Being the good geek that I am, I was immediately motivated to play with the newest tool in the box. And to play with it in my own personal playground: this blog! So now, if you click on the photos to embiggen, you’ll get a pleasant surprise if you come directly to the blog. Reading through Google Reader or other site isn’t going to do it. Come closer said the spider to the fly 😉
Anyway… Off to relax in front of the boob tube.
Craft on!
Tags: Socks
As I settle into the new job, and climb up the up-slope of the learning curve, I find myself settling in, getting comfortable and returning to the old things that made me happier. Family, friends and workplace make me happier, the rest is gravy so to speak. So, reading for pleasure, knitting and spinning are all making returns.
While reading on the train this week, I’ve been working on the sock I started Saturday morning. It was nothing more than the toe when I packed it for work on Monday, but as you can see, I’ve made some serious progress.
Again, this is my handspun (see here for the fiber and here for the plied up goodness on the bobbin). I do love knitting with handspun. Could kick myself for not doing it more. I love how the colors are playing out as this sock progresses. Why yes, I am using a set of Blackthorn needles. These are US1 in a custom 7″ length. I lurve them. I also have a set in US0. The 0 is sadly, a replacement. I lost my knitting bag one day while commuting and in it was a lovely skein of Leann’s yarn and my US0 Blackthorns. Oh and the bag was one of my favorites from Jessalu (but thankfully not my custom Red Sox one!). Sigh. So sad. So I ordered a new set and while I was at it, got the 1’s for the slightly thicker sock yarn. I use 0’s for weight like Lorna’s and Trekking XXL, 1’s for everything else.
Last night while watching the sluggathon in Baltimore, I finished up the remainder of the ITW fiber.
I spun the two halves of the fiber differently. It started out as one length of 4oz. I split it in half lengthwise so I wound up with two sections, roughly 2oz each. I then split on half lengthwise a number of times into sections no larger than my little finger around. Maintaining the same start/end order, I spun the first bobbin (background) using these strips randomly. For the second bobbin (foreground), I used the second half as is, just drafted it, to create longer runs of the individual colors. I’m really looking forwarded to seeing how this little experiment worked out. I’m toying with plying them up on the Sidekick, but we all know how much I love plying 😛
On a different note, I bought yet another pair of shoes, trying to find something that both my left tingly toed foot and cranky right ankle don’t mind. They are both being rather bitchy as of late causing much discomfort. Commuting with complaining feet is no fun.
So these arrived from Zappos (Dansko Maeve). They’re comfy. So far. In the house. No telling what they’d be like on the open road. I had Dansko clogs, but dumped them in the Goodwill Donation box after rolling off the side of them a few too many times for my comfort. I’m hoping the ankle straps will prevent that from happening. I’m wearing them around the house this evening. Maybe I’ll wear em to work tomorrow, though I do have some extra walking as I’m heading into Manhattan and the old ‘hood to have lunch with a dear friend and former coworker. Fingers crossed.
Craft on!
Tags: Socks · Spinning
Got some stuff to share, and look at this, its under a month since my last posting! While I sit here watching the Sox play the Rays on ESPN, I figured I’d update. I’m stuffed from a pasta dinner (that my digestive system is seriously bitching about) in a gorge maneuver prior to starting a lo-carb diet tomorrow. The discomfort is a further reminder that my system just doesn’t like processed wheat. Ugh. Anyway..
First up! My first finished object in a long time. This is a pair of socks that I started in April I think. I finished these Friday night. The yarn is Forbidden Woolery Twisted in Ravenclaw Blue. Love the yarn and truly love the socks.
I knit these on my nifty square Kollage needles using my standard pattern (56st around using US0). The second sock took considerably less time to knit than the first! I’ve started another pair, this from my handspun, fiber from the same source as this yarn. Not much to show but managed to garner attention at the restaurant this evening as the lady from the next table saw me knitting from the corner of her eye.
I’ve spent some time with the new wheel. It went to Tami’s house on Thursday night where we had our SnB rather than Panera for a change. I also took it out on the patio this morning and finished off the first bobbin’s worth of fiber. This is Pomegranate Blossom from Into the Whirled in Polwarth. I just adore polwarth.
While I haven’t had a marathon spinning session with the Sidekick quite yet, I can give an early review. She’s definitely a Schacht, A good, solid spinning wheel that is doing what I ask it to do. It folds down nicely without too many steps and is relatively easy to carry about. But beyond the portability, she doesn’t spin like a portable wheel. That’s been my complaint regarding the easy to move about wheels, that they just aren’t worth the time. You can take em with you, but you don’t feel like spinning on them when you get there, so you bring something else instead. From what I remember, the feel of this is much like the Ladybug. I do like that the flyer / bobbins/ whorls are all interchangeable with her big sister, my Matchless. I’m sure I’ll write more about her in the future.
I’m taking stock of the current crop of wheels and noticed the herd has grown to a significant number. I think it might be time to move some along. But there’s a bit of a problem there. Which one(s)? The three that get the least amount of usage (with the exception of the Tina in the entry foyer that just looks good there) are the: (click links for pictures)
The Van Eaton is the only wheel that I can spin a thicker yarn on, and well, the chances of putting my hands on another one of these wonderful wheels anytime in the future is nil, considering the waiting list for this one! I don’t think she’s moving. The Reeves? She’s a beautiful wheel and when I do use her, I use her happily. See the replacement problem excuse above also for this one as well. So if I should move one along, it would be the CPW. Anyone interested?
Just because I was playing with the camera, I have this picture of Serendipity, where you can see her in all her funkiness.
Just look at that under-bite! And the mess near her eyes. One fugly, but adorable cat 🙂
Tags: Socks · Spinning
After a very long wait, my Schacht Sidekick is finally FINALLY here! I’ve been wanting a folding portable wheel from Schacht since I bought my Matchless. I pre-ordered this in February and the nice man in the brown truck delivered it this evening. I haven’t gotten much time to play with it very much (had to run to the mall to return a couple of pairs of shoes to Nordstroms) but I most definitely took it out of the box and gave it a spin. That and take some pictures with both cameras (Canon 300 HS & Canon Digital Rebel XT with 50mm). See if you can tell which camera took which picture.
The fiber is {drool} Polwarth from Cris that has been mellowing in stash for far too long. I’ll give this wheel some love tomorrow night while watching the All Star Game.
Craft on!
Tags: Spinning
I got to talking with one of my new coworkers last week. Not sure how the subject came up any longer but we settled on digital photography and DSLR cameras/lens combos. Turns out we both have Canons and she had the 50mm lens
that I’ve been lusting after for a long time. I’ve been jealous of the bokeh that Jessalu has been able to get with her lens. However, it isn’t the cheapest of lens options out there, so she offered to bring her lens in and let me give it a go with my camera. Well Friday was digi camera day at the office. I took the below shot with her lens and was sold immediately.
Second sock (while trying out a co-worker's lens)
After lunch I ordered it on Amazon, opting for $3.99 prime one-day Saturday delivery. Gave me an opportunity to play with it over the weekend. Here are a couple of the pictures I took over the weekend..
And yes, for those reading along on Facebook, Kat broke her elbow in a fall at camp the Wednesday before the July 4th weekend. It is a radial head injury with a very very stable fracture. She has a split cast, which we are allowed to take off so she can enjoy the pool. Hasn’t slowed her down any. We do get some bitching when it is time to put it back on. Guess that is to be expected. Kid is a trooper and doing very well.
Time to go relax and read a bit before bed. Long awaited arrival tomorrow!!!
Craft on!
Tags: Family · Socks
The new job is awesome, but the commute from NJ to Brooklyn is a bit longer than I’m used to. To get to the office, I take the train to the PATH to the Subway. Coming home, I’m splurging and taking the Ferry to the Ferry to the Train. I thought that for today, I would post something a little different. Instead of yarn, or electronics, or even my children, I would post pics of what I see each day during my commute.
Sixth Avenue looking south
West 4th Street A/C/E Downtown
Cadman Plaza Park
The Manhattan Bridge as seen from under the Brooklyn Bridge
DUMBO ferry pier looking west (can just see my old office building 😉 )
Pier 11 Manhattan ferry pier looking east
Yes, the DUMBO ferry takes me to Pier 11 almost directly across the East River. I hesitate to admit that the 3 minute ride costs $4 each way. But its soooo convenient, not to mention a nicer way to commute. I’m not a mole 🙂 Anyway, that’s some of what I see each day. My favorite bits are the ferry and the stroll through Cadman Plaza Park.
Craft on!
Tags: Misc
