One Crazy Fiber Lady

Its been a week since my last posting… and there have been some doings that I need to catch you all up on.

first:  Remember the Dansko shoes I was trying out not too long ago?  Well after almost two weeks of trying them out in the house, they felt fine at night after work.  So I’d put them on in the morning to wear to work but wouldn’t make it out the door in them.  After about a half hour of the morning wanderings (getting the kids up and dressed, doing the breakfast thing, packing lunch), I’d have to go change into something else.  I called uncle and returned them to Zappos.  Got to love their service!

second: Since I haven’t posted a fiber-y acquisition in a LONG time, it’s time to renew that tradition.  At least this way I’d have a better idea of how long things marinate in stash   Anyway, this is more Polwarth from ZarzuelaFibers in Stormy Seas colorway.

Isn’t it gorgeous?  I’m looking forward to spinning this.. but it needs to marinate first

third:  On the spinning front, I broke out the skeiner and wound the Pomegranate Blossom yarn off the bobbin.

Yardage is 457 yards, which is more than enough for, yes, another pair of socks.  I might go crazy and knit something else with it.  Haven’t decided, but then again, it needs to marinate as well.

fourth:  Now that the above was off the bobbin (and I started Weight Watchers again), it was time to break out some fiber and start something else.  30 minutes of spinning is worth 1 activity point.  Yay me.  So what did I break out?

• Fiber:  Falkland
• Artiste:  Forbidden Woolery
• Weight:  4oz
• Colorway:  Tabula Rasa

I’m spinning this for a two ply.  Pulled it into two halves (not lengthwise like the Pomegranate), and am splitting each of those into random thickness, one half for each bobbin.  Isn’t it purty too?  I must have a thing for this colorway as I also have yarn in the same colorway.  A lace weight yummy blend just waiting for the mental energy and right pattern.

fifth:  Another finished pair of socks.  Well the first sock has been finished for goodness only knows how long.  I don’t remember when I tucked it away, only that I did.  Thankfully I tucked the first sock in the yarn basket along with the remaining yarn.  I found an odd sock in a different yarn basket that was complete except for weaving in ends no where near a mate or yarn supply.  Joy.  Anyway, I cast on for this mate last Wednesday night after posting and bound it off last night.

• Yarn:  Vesper
• Colorway:  Strange Little Mama
• Needles:  US0
• Pattern:  My basic sock formula over 56st.
• Started:  ???
• Finished:  8/2/11

No, I did not try to match up the stripes.  I just got VERY lucky!  Even more interesting, the first sock was done cuff down and the second toe up.  He he.

sixth:  Since the one and only active project was now completed, I needed to start something else.  I went digging through the sock yarn supply (never fear, there is plenty of it) but hemmed and hawed over much of it.  Had trouble deciding which it would be.  Got caught in an internal debate over hand spun v. commercial.  What weight?  Etc.  Finally this yarn spoke to me:

• Yarn:  Spunky Eclectic
• Colorway:  Neapolitan
• Needles:  US1

I cast on this morning on the train.  I wasn’t able to knit on either the PATH or the subway this morning (don’t usually there anyway as it is just 2 stops on the A) so I didn’t get terribly far.  However, by the time I tucked it away in my bag to get off the train this evening, I had finished the toe and was making progress on the foot.

seventh:  I’m not making as much progress on anything right now as I got sucked into yet another video game.  Nothing huge this time, but an amusing little time suck on my iPhone.  If you haven’t checked out Tiny Tower yet, not sure if I should tell you to do so or run and save yourselves!  Here’s a quick look at my tower!

Not sure how to best explain it.  Has some vague reminiscences for me of a game I spent a great amount of time playing:  Sim Tower (which btw is available for iPad under the name Yoot Tower).  But a little bit more than just adding floors, upgrading elevators and choosing what to put on each floor.  No, this has cute little pixelated people that have interests, ideal jobs.  The businesses need to be stocked and people ferried around via the elevator.  Okay, it doesn’t sound glamorous, but it is quite fun.  I took this shot a couple of days ago when I had 17 residents and 11 floors.  My tower has moved much further along.  I now have 35 residents and 22 floors.  Okay, its a lot more interesting than I made out.

That about does it.  I have an early company meeting tomorrow so need to call it an early night.  Friday is the company picnic at Governor’s Island, which should be interesting.  Never dull when I commute with the twins

Craft on!

…. and we have a pair!

Bonfire Socks – Project Details

• Needles:  US1
• Total Stitches around 52
• Heel – PGR short row heel working 9 pairs
• Toe:  Judy’s Magic Cast On
• Cuff: 2×2 ribbing, binding off with Jeny’s Surprisingly Stretchy Bind off
• Yarn:  Handspun from Polwarth fiber in Bonfire Color from Forbidden Woolery (spun June 2011)
• Started:  7/16/11
• Completed:  7/27/11

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!

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!

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!

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)

• Reeves 24″ Saxony
• Van Eaton Production
• CPW

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

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!

I must say, the events of this past month have certainly been interesting.  It is never dull around here!  First the somewhat unexpected lay-off (well I knew it was coming, but like a teenager, didn’t expect it to happen to ME!), followed by the whirlwind courtship with the new employer, I’m still in a bit of shock.  I started my new job this past Monday and I’m pretty sure that I made a good decision.  The work is interesting and varied, the people are really nice.  Thursday evening was a company affair in the Soho office, Beach Party Beer Pong.  Yes you read that right.  There were two kegs in the office and a beer pong tournament.  No, I didn’t get hired by a frat   I’m working here, in the Community/Membership area.

Now that the work turmoil has ended, I can get back to the hobbies.  I no longer have to spend all my “free” time reading tech books to get ready for interviewing (and up to speed on the tech that the new employer uses).  I’ve actually gotten back to spinning and {gasp} knitting!

First up, is the finished fiber from Leann.  It is yummy yummy Polwarth, which was not only spun on the Tina, but also plied!

The color is pretty crappy.  It isn’t quite this bright, but more of a subtle orange/brown.  I took this with the iPhone and find its flash is meh.  But then again, it is better in most ways than my P&S (point and shoot) Olympus that I bought last year on the cruise.  I’ve never bonded with the camera and actually just ordered a new Elph to replace it.  I should have it Wednesday,  in time enough to use it over the holiday weekend next.  But I digress once again, the yahn needs to be wound off and knitted up into something.  I suspect there’s more than enough to knit me some socks.  Commute into Brooklyn is going to require it

I finished my first knitting item of something other than a cozy for a new electronic device.  This is a sock.  No, its mate hasn’t been cast on yet.  I started it ummm in April I think after Leann brought yahn to SnB one night.  it is yummy too.

The color is also crappy in this picture, but not quite as crappy as the yahn picture.  I don’t think it is quite so dark.  I actually bound this bad boy off last night.  Now I need to cast on for the mate.  Will do that tonight so that I have something to knit while reading and commuting tomorrow.

I do hope to return to regular posting, and hopefully this was the start of it.

Craft on!

As I approach the end of my two year contract with AT&T, naturally I’m considering the next cellphone.  Do I get the new iPhone 4 or do I try something else?  While I love my iPhone and will keep this 3g around at the end of the contract and use it like a iPod Touch (handy for handing to a bored kid), I’m not sure if I want to replace it with the new iPhone.  I’m not that much of a fangirl that I HAVE to replace the old iPhone with a new one.  Yes it has been a fave tech toy since I bought it almost two years ago.

What am I considering?  The Motorola Droid X.

I read an excellent review of it here.  As a developer, this phone has two advantages for me over the iPhone:

1. Apps are written in Java – which as a C# developer I pretty much already know as opposed to Objective-C which has some similarities but is far more different and is a far bigger learning curve.  While learning yet another language is not a bad thing, I could be up and developing Android apps far faster.
2. The distribution of Droid apps is an open market – not closed like Apple.   I don’t believe I would have to pay $100 to even get the SDK let alone distribute any application I do happen to eventually turn out.
3. Since the language is Java, I could develop apps either on my Macs or a PC, depending on how the mood was flowing and which computer I actually felt like carrying around.  With the iPhone, I was locked into a Mac.  Now this is not necessarily a bad thing as I do heart my Macs, but my netbook is far lighter to schlep carry than my MacBook.

That’s the short list.  I’m sure, given enough time, I can come up with a few more reasons.  On the other hand, I’ve invested a bunch in iPhone apps.  Fortunately, that won’t go to waste as I’m still holding onto the 3G and I’ve got the beloved iPad that can take advantage of all. 

Anyone have an android phone and can offer up advice either way?  I have some time to do further research as my contract ends in early August and the X ships finally in mid-July.  I don’t want to be paying early termination like I did when I made the jump from Sprint to AT&T (though it was worth it for the iPhone).  I wonder if I could get a temporary number from Verizon and then port the old number from AT&T when that contract ends… hmmmm. 

Oh and since the iOS4 update, my battery indicator is flaky.  Unless I reboot the phone, the indicator is pretty much stuck.  Awesome.  Hope that patch fix is soon.

Wait, what is that you’re saying?  This is a crafty blog?  Hmm.  I better show some crafty pictures then post haste!  Would a picture of two different crafts make up for the geektalk above? 

The sock is the Roundabout Socks (rav).  I finished the first one on Saturday and started the second yesterday during my morning commute.  The yarn is mmMalabrigo Sock in Stonechat colorway.

The spinning is ITW Merino-Silk in the Autumn in Burgundy colorway.  I’ve moved to the high speed whorl and bobbins on my Matchless.  I’m going to two ply this stuff and hopefully get enough yardage for a decent lace project.

Okay, that’s all for today.

Craft on!

There’s been a number of requests for more information regarding the newest wheel in the herd. It is a double treadle Merlin Tree Roadbug.  Here is another shot of her nestled in her bag:

The pocket on the front of the bag is her second treadle.  When Dave modified his little portable wheels from single to double treadle, he didn’t modify its overall footprint.  Instead, he designed a removable second treadle.

You can just see the “left” foot off to the side here in this picture.  Also included for scale is my Van Eaton production wheel in the background (with the endless bag of CVM fleece).  I love the green monstah wheel on the Bug.

Here she is with both her treadles and set to spin:

From this picture you can see how her left treadle attaches.    She makes for a pleasant (if a smidge noisy) little spinner that fits perfectly on the boat.  I also like how the flyer poses no danger to anyone wandering too close to the wheel (beyond them hitting my leg and making me get whacked with the flyer) which was a concern with the Sonata and how her flyer was out back.

On other fronts, I finished the latest pair of socks at SnB on Thursday.

I decided not to reknit the first sock as there is so little difference between the pair, beyond actual stitch count (52 v. 56) and needles used (both US1 – dpn v. circ). At this point, I can’t tell which is which.

Craft on!

I know it has been a while and I won’t begin to apologize. Work has been seriously kicking my butt for the last month. We had a service pack release that I was the lead developer (and for a while the only developer) on, as well as the build specialist compiling the package for deployment. I’ve put in a bulk of extra hours with little desire to spend additional tine with a computer. The beloved iPad has seen most usage as a book reader with bejeweled thrown in when the brain was totally fried

While I haven’t been doing much else at night before collapsing into bed, there has been spinning while watching the Red Sox on Extra Innings. The pictured skein is from the monthly spin-a-long with Into The Whirled fiber. If I remember correctly, this fiber was the April-May offering of “Just Fig” color way in Falklands wool. If I’m wrong would someone comment with the corrected info please? I spun it three ply (like the last selection – return to warmth) on the new CPW that I bought at MDSW. Love that wheel, as well as Cris’ fibers. She does a beautiful job. Again, the day it was plied it was skeined up and washed. Two days after that – when I had finished the Pink Cadillac socks – the yarn met the needles.

I have a small problem though. I started the sock using my new Signature dpn needles. Love the needles but they are a tad too short so I’m going to return them for the 8″ set. Instead of waiting to finish the remaining 1/4 of the first sock like a sane person, I swapped in the knitpicks circular and went back to magic looping. When I tried on the finished sock I found that my gauge had changed with the needles. The circs was a tad looser and I have to admit that I like it better. Soooo this pair of socks will actually be three. I started the second sock (pictured) and am creeping up on the heel now. When I’m done, I’ll rip out the first one and re-knit it. Sigh.

That’s about it for now. Train is almost in Hoboken.

Craft on!