The Lion and the Lamb

Princess Bride Quiz

Thanks to Julia and Katy (hey, I feel like I'm in a Betsy-Tacy novel!) for this quiz.

Which Princess Bride Character are You?
this quiz was made by mysti

Catching up

I had most of the day off from work today, and it turned out to be a great day for catching up! I finally tracked down snaps strong enough for the Felted Marsupial Bag and sewed them on this afternoon. And I am now able to move that annoying 99%-finished project over to Recently Finished Projects. I also finished the April Block of the Month, and have only to wait for May's.

I have to confess that most days, I don't get 8 rows done on each project as was my goal, but I am still pleased with the progress they are all making. I do find myself on a rotation (as mentioned in other blogs), but because I only have a few WIPs, I can keep it simple: If I didn't get around to a project one day, make it a priority the next.

I also got quite a bit done on the Summer Stripes afghan and some the cat bed for Booger. The only WIP I didn't work on today was my Little Lola sock (I've finished its mate). I plan, however, to give it extra TLC tomorrow, and may even finish it then. Then I will get going on the lavender socks from the Sock of the Month club. And when I finish the knitting part of the cat bed (thereby freeing up my size 10-1/2 needles), I'll start on Chelo's sweater-jacket.

I have been reading about some knit-alongs in other blogs, and decided I want to join the fun. So I sent for the Everyday Cardigan kit from Peace Fleece. I chose the sport weight version in Baltic Blue. Since I sent in the order by mail, it should arrive at Peace Fleece toward the end of the week, and I should get the kit sometime in mid- to late May (I'm guessing). By then, I'm hoping to have some of my upcoming projects also done, or close, freeing up time for the cardigan.

I also decided to try out those Broadripple socks I hear so much about, so I got some Cascade Fixation yarn from my LYS. It wasn't the color the pattern specifies, but that just makes it more mine. :)

Movies and Sock Stashes

I'll start with an idea from Alison's blog:

1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open the book to page 23.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the sentence in your journal with these instructions.

Harry dug into her pocket, handing Market a ten-dollar bill.

Pawing Through the Past by Rita Mae Brown and Sneaky Pie Brown

Since for me, the nearest book was fiction (the mystery I briefly mentioned yesterday), the quote doesn't make much sense out of context. But then, that's part of the fun of it.

I also saw The Prince and Me yesterday, and I did enjoy it. There were a couple of sweaters in there that I had my eye on, but only one stuck with me. This was a silky-looking sweater worn by Julia Stiles when her character, Paige, asked the prince to go home with her for Thanksgiving vacation. If I ever do get around to making this sweater, I don't know whether I'd try a silk-blend from my LYS, or Lion Brand Microspun (acrylic, yes, but quite satiny in its own right). Knowing Paige, she'd probably wear something easy care. Of course, by the time I get around to the sweater (if I ever do), the movie will be on video, which will give me a chance to pause the movie and study the sweater.

Oh, I also bought a cute little, cloth-lined basket just for my sock yarn stash. At this point, it only holds yarn for future socks, but when (if ever) I'm more caught up, I may also put in unfinished skeins from socks past. Maybe I'll use them to make baby hats for Stitches from the Heart. Not all the skeins are conventional baby colors (either traditional pastel or the more up-to-date brights), but I think even those of "different" colors and patterns will find a home.

My sock stash.

And (good news for the readers), my picture of the stash finally finished my roll of film! I'll take it to develop in the next few days, so I should have some pictures to post by the end of the week. Seeing all these other blogs dotted with photos, I often feel my blog is inadequate. Is that a form of knitting guilt (or at least blogging guilt)? I am seriously considering buying a digital camera, so my pictures will be ready to post right away. I went to Best Buy and looked them over, seeing not only cameras, but things called "docks" sold seperately! That got me wondering, do I need one of those too? What do they do, anyway? Though I may later want to use the digital camera for prints, for now, I only want it for blog-posting. Help!!

My Knitting Geek Code

In my last post I forgot to add my Knitting Geek Code from Knitty online magazine. Here it is:

-----BEGIN KNITTER'S GEEK CODE BLOCK-----

Version: 1.1

KCR++(+) Exp++ SPM++ Pl Alum Bam Wood Syn@ Nov@ Cot Wool+ Stash++ Scale+(+) Fin Ent? FI- Int-Tex++ Lace+ Felt+ Flat+ Circ@ DPN5++ ML? Swatch@ KIP++ Blog+ SNB EZ? Gauge@ FO++ WIP++ ALTCr++X

------END KNITTER'S GEEK CODE BLOCK------

New Upcoming Projects

Yesterday, I had the day off work, but still didn't get as much done as I could have in my crafts. So far, I have some days better than others in the goal to work at least 8 rows per project per day. Yesterday was a day I should have done very well, but it ended up as a lazy day. In the morning, I was reading a mystery when I received a couple of packages. In the book, they had just found the body of the second victim, when the packages arrived. Despite the tense scene, I eagerly put down the book and went straight for the packages, like a kid on Christmas!

One of them was my first Sock of the Month kit from theknitter.com. It's a gorgeous lacy sock made with lavender Fortissima cotton yarn. Now, I so want to drop all my other projects and concentrate on that one. But I'll be good.

The other package was from Lion Brand. It included a book of their knit and crochet patterns from 1916, more for historical interest than for usefulness. Unfortunately, the yarns used are no longer available, nor did they include substitutions of today's yarns, and the patterns do not include gauges. I may still eventually make a couple of the baby projects. When I make something for Stitches from the Heart, I'm not too concerned about the sizing of the project; it's bound to fit some baby somewhere. In fact, even when I make something with a specific baby in mind, it will fit the baby at some stage of life, even if it isn't the stage mentioned in the pattern. That is, if I avoid the "newborn" size.

The Lion Brand package also included a skein of its Magic Stripes yarn, which I have not been able to find at any of the LYSs. Lion Brand's Magic Stripes is not to be confused with Sirdar's Snowflake Magic Stripes. Both came by the names because they are varigated and the colors are arranged specifically to form stripes without changing yarns. But Sirdar's is a chunky, fluffy yarn, and Lion Brand's is a sock yarn.

So that makes two sock yarns I'm eager to start. Plus I already had two pairs of unborn socks waiting in the wings. My stash already includes a solid, off-white yarn from Regia and a solid teal yarn from Wildfoote. I think as soon as I finish my Little Lola sock WIP, I'll start on the Fortissima. The reason is that it's cotton, while the other sock yarns are wool/nylon blends, and the cotton will be more conducive to summer wear. I probably will, most of the time, have a pair of socks as one of my WIPs.

I've been seeing a lot of guilt addressed in other knitting blogs, and here is my one source of guilt. I have not yet started on the Corinthian Homespun sweater jacket. I have all the materials, I've hunted down the pattern booklet, and it's all staring me in the face whenever I walk by. The reason I feel guilty about this one is that I've promised it to my sister-in-law's mother, Chelo. BTW, what does that make Chelo to me? She's not my mother-in-law (I don't think). She's my brother's wife's mother.

Another thing that kept me from knitting as much as I should yesterday, was that I went to see the new movie 13 Going on 30. I liked it, but then, I like almost all romantic comedies, even when they're panned by critics and other viewers. I was also curious whether the median age of the audience would be closer to 13 or to 30. It was hard to tell about the audience of my viewing; the theater darkened before I could get a good look around. It seemed, though, that most of them were in between (late teens to early 20s)--about the same age I was when Big (with the then up-and-coming Tom Hanks) came out.

Today, I'm going to see The Prince and Me, which didn't get as good reviews as 13 Going on 30. I still want to give it a chance, however. In fact, if a critic dismisses a movie for being too sweet or sappy, it's a sure sign I'll like it. I know, seeing this movie will cut into my craft time too. One of these days, I may even try to take a simple project to the movies and see if I can work on it in the dark--instead of stuffing my face with greasy popcorn!

Home again, home again!

I'm back to posting from home! Prince is back with his chief slave, as are his canine brothers. And I'm back with Scarlett and Booger.

We had the Stitches from the Heart tea yesterday (actually, the day before, since it's technically now 4/19). I brought in the year's worth of baby caps and a couple of sweaters (including the turquoise one I'd been working on). I had an unfinished Walking Rib cap at the time of the tea, so I couldn't hand it in. But I finished it later in the day, and I can send it along with the project I make in May (I've all but decided on a lacy crocheted dress).

I did pick out a sweater and matching hat for my friend Ilse's child-to-be. She isn't due until fall (September, I think), but the ones I took out were the colors she's asking for. But I will replace them in my Stitches stash over the next few months.

Since the Stitches tea, I've done pretty well on my goal to work 8 rows/rounds per project per day. Of course, it's only been one day (I'm not counting the day of the tea itself).

I was now able to get my hands on a new Snowflake skein and check out the material. I stand corrected about the fiber content; it's not nylon, it's 100% polyester. In my last post, I also forgot to mention that if you can't find Snowflake, Lion Brand has a similar yarn known as Polarspun. But I don't know if varigated Polarspun makes strips like Snowflake.

I also finished my March Block of the Month this weekend, but decided to wait a day or two before starting April's. I'll probably start that one this evening (Monday evening, that is). Finally, I bought the yarn for the Homespun sweater jacket currently in Upcoming Projects. I couldn't find the Mexicana color I originally wanted (everyone's sold out, including the Lion Brand website). But I did find a similar color, Corinthian. The bad news is, I wasn't able to get 7 skeins in one dye lot. I had to go with 5 of one and 2 of another, but Corinthian contains so many colors I don't think it will be as noticable as it would with a solid. And I did learn a few "in a pinch" tricks to disguise (if not completely hide) a dye lot faux pas:

1) Change dye lots when you change a stitch pattern (e.g., make ribbing in one dye lot, then switch at the main body). The difference can be at least partially attributed to the way the light hits the different stitch patterns.

2) If your pattern includes color changes (such as stripes), get a contrasting stripe between the dye lots.

3) Use the smaller dye lot (the one where you have fewer skeins) for stitching and for trims (such as a crocheted edging). In fact, if the project has any pom-poms, why not try using both dye lots in one pom-pom? There, multiple dye lots can actually be an advantage, adding dimension to a pom-pom.

4) If the project has more than one piece, get a seam between the two dye lots. Not preferable, but even with matching dye lots, light hits both sides a little differently.

On this project, I'll be able to employ all but #2.

Putting the sweater jacket and the April Block will make six WIP's, technically. But I'm not counting the felted bag. I've done all the knitting, and I've felted it. It just needs snaps, but I'm having trouble finding them. Once I've found some heavy duty snaps (preferably sew-on), it should take less than an hour to get that pesky 1% finished, and move the project to the Recently Finished list.

As for my television "dilemma" from a few nights ago, it turned out American Idol recorded beautifully, and I was able to see the results. Survivor, it turned out, was pre-empted on Thursday, and I was able to see it Friday.

I also want to thank those who replied to my question about replying to comments. It sounds like it is a matter of personal preference. I'll look for my own style. But for now, I'll use a case-by-case basis.

The home stretch

I'm almost done house sitting; the people should be back in about 24 hours. Actually, the time they gave me was 9:30 PM Friday, but I'm not sure whether this is when their plane is set to land, or when they estimate walking through their front door. Their cat, Prince, is giving me a little trouble with this entry and with reading other blogs. First, when I turned on the computer, he sat in the desk chair and placidly began bathing. Then, when I did sit down at the computer and begin typing, he started walking on the keyboard. Now he's walking up and down the stairs, meowing in that inimitable Siamese voice! He is a very sweet and affectionate kitty, however, and maybe I should take the hint and pay him some attention.

I missed both Survivor and the American Idol results show tonight, because I went out to dinner, and stayed longer than I'd intended. Tomorrow at work (and on the way to and from), I'll try to avoid finding out who was voted out of either show. Then, when I get home, I'll watch the recordings. That is, assuming the DVR worked properly and wasn't too confused by this week's abrupt schedule changes of AI!

Thank you, Sharon, for the wish for luck on my new goals. I probably will need it!

SnowgirlNC, I'll be happy to answer any questions about the Snowflake jacket. Thank you for the adding my blog to your favorites, BTW; I'm flattered. Snowflake is a chunky, but very light, yarn by Sirdar. Without a label available, I don't remember its fiber content, but I think it's largely nylon. Snowflake comes in both solid and varigated, and its varigated skeins are called Magic Stripes. They use that name because the colors only change every several feet or yards (instead of inches like most varigated). That way, a single skein effortlessly knits in stripes ("like magic"). It knits up very quickly; I can make a baby sweater within a couple days. It works very well for simple patterns like garter, stockinette, and 1x1 or 2x2 ribbing. But it's so fuzzy that more complicated patterns are lost on it. The one negative comment I have about Snowflake is that it's a bear to frog (now there's a strange sentence!). The actual frogging isn't too difficult, but it is hard to pick the stitches up again, because it's hard to find them all, or to make sure you've picked up the whole yarn, and not just the fuzz. If your LYS (local yarn shop) does not have it, you can order it through Mary Maxim. I'm not sure I remembered to take a picture of the jacket before giving it to my niece, but if I develop the roll and it isn't there, maybe I can get it back just long enough to take the picture.

BTW, maybe some of my fellow (more experienced) bloggers can answer this for me. When replying to comments on your blog, is it better to do so (a) in your next post, (b) in a comment on the same post or (c) by private e-mail? Is it a matter of Nettiquette (Blogtiquette?) or is it just individual preference/style?

Thanks in advance!

Knitting and Taxes

Apologies for the time between posts. I've been knitting like a mad woman the last few days. Today, I didn't get much knitting done, but I did do my taxes. Then I spent a lot of time online, catching up on several days' worth of e-mail (mostly daily comics pages from My Comics Page) and tweaking the sidebars of this blog.

I am now past the halfway mark in my house sitting. The owners return Friday, then the Stitches from the Heart tea is on Saturday. Last night, at the LYS Girlz Night, I was able to trade my untouched magenta skein in for the same one in turquoise. And I am now working on the same one-piece sweater in turquoise, and I bought the cutest cat buttons for it! I'll take a picture of both after I'm done. After I finish the sweater, I should have time for one or two more baby hats, for which I'll design my own Walking Rib pattern and make it in varigated yarns.

I have now made some new goals for after the tea. I may need to put them in a separate list with a link in my sidebar.

- Never have more than five projects going at once. I normally need at least 2-3, so I can put one aside if it's too frustrating.

- Work at least 8 rows/rounds on each project each day. If this puts me in the middle of a pattern, finish the pattern. That way, even the "back burner" projects make progress. I chose 8, because I happen to be working on two projects which have 8-row patterns. This can also work with 2- and 4-row patterns.

- Each month, make at least 3 pairs of booties, 3 hats, 1 sweater OR half an afghan for Stitches from the Heart. That way I won't have, to put it politely, a case of the "Oh-Ohs" when a tea is coming up. If an emergency charitible need comes up (such as last October's wildfires), I may "dip into" the Stitches from the Heart finished projects and give them to the other need. However, if I take from the projects for anything else (such as a baby shower), I must replace it.

Well, I think I've rambled long enough. For those who celebrate it, Happy Easter!

Housesitting and such

For a couple of weeks I'm housesitting for some friends of my family's, who are traveling to the Orient. Sp, for the time being, I have an "extra" cat and two dogs, one of whom is, as I write, trying to get me to play fetch. He does need the exercise, but I'm afraid he (or I) will break something! Maybe I'll take him outside later to play a real game.

As for knitting, I've gotten plenty done since I've been here. I brought along an unfinished baby cap, a baby sweater (which was supposed to take 3-4 hours, but took me 2 days, and I still haven't sewn it up), and the February Block of the Month (as well as yarn and instructions for March's). I've also brought along a sock kit I won in a drawing at the LYS (I couldn't resist!). All of these projects are going very well. But I've left at home the crochet-n-weave afghan and the cat bed. Scarlett has taken over both cat beds in the house, so I'm trying to make this one just for Booger. I've also left the camera at home, but I should have plenty of pictures to take when I'm home again. Then maybe I can develop the roll and post some, to make this site more interesting.

For the sweater (which I'm donating to Stitches from the Heart), I've done the knitting part, but still need to sew it together and sew on 2 buttons. It's a magenta Superwash 220 by Cascade Yarns. I bought 2 skeins, because the pattern called for 250 yards and the skein has only 220. As it turned out, I finished within one skein (with plenty leftover for sewing). The pattern does have a small and a large, and it's probably the large that requires 250; I made the small size. So, I can make another. When I go to the LYS's Girlz Nite (wonder if they'd change the name if male crafters started attending :)) this Friday, I'll see if I can exchange the unused skein for another color (maybe turquoise or royal blue?).

I'm now about three quarters of the way though February's Block of the Month, so March's shouldn't be too far behind. At the end of the year, I'll be putting them all into an afghan (and, as mentioned in a previous post, I may make a second as well). I'm also just over halfway done with the baby hat (a swirly one with lavender and peach).

The sock kit is a skein of Little Lola yarn by Schaeffer (sp?) in various shades of brown, and a pattern for Walking Rib socks. Walking Rib is basically 2x2 ribbing, but every two rows, you shift it by one stitch, so it comes out as a diagonal rib (or swirled if it's done in the round, like with socks). I may even try that ribbing with a baby hat (thereby legitamizing the knitting of socks for me, on "baby clothes' time").

Yarn in the Afternoon

This afternoon, I went to Yarn in the Afternoon, a small-scale knitting event held twice a month (1st and 3rd Sunday afternoon) at a bar in another part of town. I went once before, I think it was in January (or even December), right after I read an article about it in the paper. That one was crowded, because so many other knitters and newbies also read about it and decided to attend. After that one, I intended to go on a regular basis, but other things got in the way the next few meetings.

Well, I finally made it back, and found it much less crowded; there was more than enough seating for everyone, and we could actually hear each other! A couple of the regulars said it was actually fewer people than usual, and speculated Palm Sunday and Daylight Savings Time as possible reasons. So, it sounds like I still haven't been to a "normal" Yarn in the Afternoon.

Even with this one, I had to leave 45 minutes before the end, because it was back-to-back with other plans I'd made (dinner with some co-workers). I'm not sure if I'll attend the next one, because it's the same weekend as the Stitches from the Heart tea (the tea's Saturday and Yarn in the Afternoon is Sunday). So it may be too much of a good thing for one weekend. On the other hand, I may be enthusiastic after the tea and rarin' to go on a new project, and if I am going to knit or crochet that afternoon, I might as well have company.