Options

I have the KnitPicks Options. I like the convenience of them. I was swatching for Tempting from Knitty the other night and I completely forgot about one of the functions that makes them so convenient. My 7 and 8 tips are in use on projects and therefore I thought I would try the 9s to see if I could get guage for it. I did not. I did not, however, think of taking the 8s off the cords of that project and putting the purple end protecters that screw onto the cables for the current project and then swatching with those. It would have been the smart thing to do. I did not think of it however, and someone thankfully, did think of it. It was someone on Knittinghelp.com where I am participating in a first sweater KAL. Or I will be as soon as finals are over and I can follow this wonderful advice. Wednesday can't come fast enough.

This is just another way that having an interchangeable set with a lot of cords is great. You don't acctually have to have more than one set of tips in each size unless you want to do socks on two circulars. You can be working more than one project with the same size needles without any problems just by using the little end screw on protectors that came with this set and switch needles out between the two or three projects whenever you want to switch projects. It's pure genius I tell you. Pure genius.

Lies and the Lying Liars who Tell Them...

I saw this: http://www.benmaller.com/archives/2007/april/26-schillings_bloody_sock_called_into_question.html

I am angry and disturbed that this guy would suggest this without checking with Curt Schilling or Terry Francona, or Theo Epstein...

I added another person to the mental list of liars I keep in my head. It's a short but well kept list.

I guess all the surgeries Schilling had and the doctors reports aren't enough for this guy to just keep his crackpot stories and lies to himself? There goes his "great reputation." It's never good to have your "source" deny flat out what you say they said.

This is also indicative of another problem I have with the media. It's reporters who report on the scandalous rumors that someone else said first. It goes like this:

A says something ridiculous. A is a tabloid reporter, or some other incredibly ethical person who checks all their sources meticuously.

B reports that A said what A said. B works for People Magazine or Newsweek or some other publication that is considered less irresponsible than the first.

People who read B, but view A as the trash it is for actual news purposes, hear the report from B and therefore a scandalous, false rumor gets cloaked in the reputation of B.

It happens all the time now and is ridiculous.

I promise knitting content after finals are over on Wednesday. Until then, I will just be blogging if something makes me as irate as I am about this type of thing.

Earth Day..late...

So, Earth Day was Sunday. I try and live my life in a generally earth friendly way and I do an ok job, but there are always ways to improve.

This Earth Day I spent studying. I did get to help the earth through my position on the Environmental Law Society Board on Monday, in honor of Earth Day. We provided free organic and free trade coffee to all law students if they brought their own mug. It was just to encourage people to think about the little things that they can do.

So, I want to encourage you to think about the type of place you want this planet to be for your children and grandchildren and for the children and grandchildren of the people you love.

Also, check this out: http://www.greatturtlerace.com/

I'm going back to my Environmental Law outline.

Back to Knitting Content

I recently got some more yarn because I am going to make my first sweater, and I think it is going to be done in tandem with some other members of the Knittinghelp.com boards. I am so happy with the yarn I purchased for the sweater.

It's http://www.debbieblissonline.com/yarn/cash_aran.htm in 607. It's the cashmerino aran. The purple color is much more well, purple then it appears on my monitor. The best thing is that it is sooooo soft. I want to spend all my time petting the yarn and I can't wait to knit with it.

I am going to make Tempting found here: (http://knitty.com/ISSUEwinter04/PATTtempting.html). It's supposed to be a good first sweater project and will give me something easy to work on while I attempt Thermal (found here: (http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEwinter06/PATTthermal.html) as well, which will probably involve tons of frogging as I mess up numerous times.

I was looking at the pictures of Tempting online and I decided that I want to make this a three quarter sleeve length sweater so I called Windsor Button (where I got the 6 balls called for) and asked if they could hold the last ball they had for me so I can make the sleeves longer. I am going to have to figure out how much sleeve length I can get from that one ball.

I am so excited for finals to be over so that I can knit!

Attorney General Gonzales

Let's step back from the important things in life, aka knitting and the Red Sox, for a moment, and discuss the AG. I dislike him intensely for various reasons, many of which seem to center around the fact that he is one of those lawyers who seem to think that the law should only serve their purposes. I don't believe I think like that. Unfortunately, and the AG doesn't seem to understand this, the laws of our nation and the individual the states govern whether or not they say what he wants.

I am writing a paper right now on physician assisted suicide, and just read the case Gonzales v. Oregon, in which the Supreme Court gives him the smackdown for trying to argue that the Controlled Substances Act makes Oregon's physician assisted suicide act impermissible. It made me smile, not because of the assisted suicide matter per se, but for the fact that they put Gonzales in his place in such a matter of fact manner. I also got to imagine the SC Justices in WWF style outfifts in a ring taking turns tag teaming Gonzales.
I'm not a fan of pro-wrestling, just not my thing, but that image was funny nonetheless.

As a future lawyer, I realize people use the laws of this country as a tool to advocate for their personal, moral, religious, etc. beliefs, however, I don't think we should push our beliefs that come from religions upon each other.

OT: Red Sox-Yankess Game Last Night

This post is not about knitting. It's about one of my other passions, the Boston Red Sox. I am from Concord, Massachusetts. I was born in Boston, however, at Beth Israel and I have been going to games since I can remember. I love crackerjacks because of eating them at baseball games as a kid, sitting next to my dad. I got the see the curse reversed in my lifetime. Last night, I went to a great baseball game. For those of you who did not watch, here is a little summary of the highpoints. The Yankees, that evil team, were leading my sainted Red Sox 6-2 and it looked like we were down for the count. The mighty bats of Ortiz and Ramirez had been silenced by those evil pinstripes. The weather warmed and something breathed life into my boys and the bats came out in full force to quickly score 5!! runs against Mariano, an unheard of situation. The 9th passed with bated breath as Okajima came out instead of Papelbon, the sainted hero closer of late. He did it! He faced the Yankees and came out victorious, securing the win to retain the Boston Red Sox's lead in the AL-East and put the fans at Fenway and around the world into a frenzy of celebration.

It was the second best baseball game I have been to.

The first?
Yankee Stadium, 10/20/2004, my 24th birthday and the game that made the reversal possible.

The best part about both of those games? My father was with me for both of them.

I think this will be a success....

It still requires finishing...but it fits!!! Yay!!!! First large project ever!!! It's very very soft against my skin too.

See, it fits! I picked the right size!


I guess you get to see what I look like too. When finals are over, and I have two weeks before bar ickyness begins, there will be gym time....



Front!


Back!

Yarn Fun!!

I ordered some very nice sock yarn from Mystical Creations on ebay and I was very afraid that it would be laceweight because some people seemed to think that the yardage and weight indicated it would be laceweight. It is luckily not! Here are the pics of the pretty, pretty yarn and a picture of it for comparison to KnitPicks Gloss. It seems to be sock weight (fingering) to me! Yay!

Pretty yarn...


Gloss and the new yarn!


I just want to add that I am very sad about the tragedy at Virginia Tech and my thoughts go out to all the people affected. I was in high school in Oregon during that school shooting and moved to Colorado for college the fall after Columbine. I know people who were at Columbine that day and I know how tough it was for them.

Calorimetry

This is my finished Calorimetry!!!!


This was my second time knitting Calorimtery. I made one out of Alpaca that had come form KnitPicks but it was a gift for someone I knew would appreciate it and I never got a picture of it. However, I loves it so much that I wanted one for myself. I had been looking for the perfect yarn so when I went to Nashua, NH to look around and determine where I wanted to live I had to go to the LYS, Ewe'll Love It and look around and I found the perfect yarn with help from the very nice sales lady. It was a lovely color changing yarn (the exact information is in a previous post) and I wanted to cast on immediately, but I had some things that made me have to wait. However, I completed it a few days and it turned out very well. It's just the thing for my cold ears on these windy (spring????-hasn't really come to Boston yet) days.

Here are the pics. I also found that beautiful button at Ewe'll Love It as well.
This the Cal buttoned as I would wear it from the top view.n I love the purple and I have such a teeny amount of it left, I want to use it in some way but there isn't enough of it left to do anything with!


This is cal buttoned up as I would wear it from what I consider the "back." It's just such a pretty yarn!

This is the button shot! It's such a pretty green and has color changes in it that reminded me of the yarn.


This is the amount of yarn I have left (next to a quarter to show scale).

Pictures!!!

I found my camera....in my black sweater drawer of all places....

However, here are the pictures I promised!

This is my tank-top progress. It's almost at the end of the increases. I love how it is turning out. It's a beautiful color. I will be making another one of these based on it so far I think, in another color.



These are the holes I left in a few of the increases. It's character, so I am leaving them, but the next one will not have them. It's my first big project so I expected a few little oh wells. They are on the side so I am ok with it.



This is my progress on calorimetry for me. I love the color changes in this yarn. It is Nashua Handknits Wooly Stripes in Rolling Thunder. Their website is www.westminsterfibers.com. I got this yarn at Ewe'll Love It in Nashua. I wonder if these people have their own direct sale store, even if they don't, I know I can get them at my wonderful new LYS.







I also am soon to have another niece/nephew (well, in roughly 6 months).

I looked for baby blanket patterns today and decided on this one: http://knittingonthenet.com/patterns/babyafheart.htm in KnitPicks Swish Superwash ( http://www.knitpicks.com/Swish+Superwash_YD5420153.html ) in either Aloe or Sunshine since they (my stepbrother and his wife) will likely not be finding out the sex.

No pictures, but a knitting store review!

I am a messy person. I am in a constant fight to keep my room organized and things were they should be. I will be doing reorganizing and spring cleaning of my room tonight instead of knitting while watching TV. That way I can find my digital camera to show you progress on my projects instead of just telling you about it. Blah. I hate not being able to find things but I can't keep things in one place. It's inherited I think.

However, I will be telling you all about the progress I have made on my tanktop and hopefully will have pictures later. I am almost done with the increasing! Yes, I have been knitting steadily on it and am almost done with the increasing. I have figured out consistently how to increase without leaving a hole (though there are 3 on each side which do not bother me because I think they are fun and they are not in any scandalous spot, like the chest). I did this with help from knittinghelp.com. Those videos are awesome and so are the people on the forums. They help me out all the time! I cannot wait to really get to knit a lot on this to reach the inches mark for the armholes and back straps, etc. It's going to be a challenge because there are a number of things this pattern calls for that I have never done before. I'm a little nervous but very excited.

I also went to a new yarn store yesterday. It is called Ewe'll Love It in Nashua, NH. Now, I am moving to Nashua, NH this summer because I will be working there for the New Hampshire Public Defender's. It's a great assignment because it is close to Boston(making trips to NYC to see the BF once or twice a month very easy), is close to Concord, MA (making trips to see the family very easy), has inexpensive really nice apartments and has a very nice yarn store! The wesbite is www.ewellloveit.com and has very good pictures of the store. The selection was overwhelming to me and very nice and not overpriced at all. Another plus side is that there is no sales tax. They have Manos and Malabrigo which I will purchase some of when I am there next. They have a huge selection of a variety of yarns and fibers and an excellent range of needles and stich markers/holders as well. They also have buttons! I purchased a skein of Nashua wool yarn to make myself a calorimetry and got the button for it there too! Pictures of that will have to come later as well. I also had an excellent experience with the staff. The woman helped me find a sub for a discontinued yarn for a sweater and gave me a range of options in a range of prices. She was so excited when she found out that a new knitter was moving to Nashua! The store also has some very comfy couches for knitting time and has classes and knitting groups on Thursdays with a teacher there to help you. They also had chocolate out. I loved this store and can't wait for it to be my LYS.

That's all for now until I can organize tonight and find my camera to show you the progress on the tanktop!

Tank Top Knitting Galore

I have been knitting a little bit on my tanktop. The pattern is here (http://magknits.com/July06/ballet.htm) and I am done with the deacreasing section and about to start on the increasing sections. I am so excited to start on the increasing sections. It is half the length it is supposed to be before I start the binding off for the armholes. Yay! I had some serious issues with row gauge however. My stitch gauge was right on but my row guage was very off. I had to do a lot of math to figure out how to work the decreases. I took the author's row guage for 4 inches and divided 4 by the number of rows (29) then multiplied it by the number of rows for this section (50) and determined that this section had to be 6.9 inches total. My number of rows for that length for the decrease section had to be 62 rows (12 more than the pattern calls for). How did that happen? I figured it out with some good help from some very nice people on the knittinghelp.com general forum. They are my go to resource for things that challenge a newbie knitter like me. Thanks!

This is the front of the tank top. As you can see, the stitches are pretty teeny. Maybe not sock knitting teeny, but teeny nonetheless. I ordered more yarn because I am using more yarn for more rows for this thing, so hopefully I need it!


This is the back..




HAPPY KNITTING!