Sunday, July 22, 2007

I think everyone in knitting blogland is reading Harry Potter!

With a few limited exceptions, I think everyone in knitting blogland is reading Harry Potter, except me, and probably you too! I don't know if it is because you are sick of the whole Harry Potter trend, like these people (http://www.knittinghelp.com/knitting/forum/showthread.php?t=62510) or if you just can't get the book out of your friends/sibling/child's/sig other's hot little hands, or have something much more pressing to do (like me-the bar exam (two) this Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) or just are not so obsessed you have to read it right away.

I am so close to finishing my Tempting, which I have back in my hands, now that I am at my allston apartment again for the last week and a half of living in allston, that it is a real struggle to study wills law rather than knit.

I also really want to knit this: http://www.stitchdiva.com/ProductInfo.aspx?productid=SDS-031
In purple, in the long version I think. It's so gorgeous, it's just a shame that it would be so expensive because of the yarn. Maybe a birthday gift from someone who knows and loves me? Or, I could put some money away every week to save up for it? It's just so pretty.

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

The yarn Harlot is Coming!

Coming right to a Borders near me! Hopefully you are coming there, too, for her appearance. I am a big fan of her blog and might have to cast on a first sock for her appearance. She's coming to the Burlington, MA Borders bookstore which is less than two miles from me on August 2nd, a mere three days after our move in date and right before I go to Florida for the Grandpa's 90th birthday. I think I can dig myself out of my unpacking from my move to go see her. Maybe I will drag the Man Who Knits if I can bribe him with food or something.

Speaking of family, my great uncle Lou died last Friday in a tragic car accident. I don't know the details because my family (read:mother) is kindly keeping me oblivious of many things until the bar is over. After that life will come in full force with moving and packing and Yarn Harlot visits and things like family deaths which unfortunately, life doesn't stop for. I am not letting myself think about this because I cannot have another freak stress attack right now, and certainly can't sit around crying. Life is hard. Thank you, whoever you are, for knitting! I will also have the family trip to florida to see grandparents right after the move, first weekend of August, so I will celebrate Uncle Lou's life then with his sister (my grandma) and other relatives

Monday, July 16, 2007

My first felted project


I branched out and did some felting. This little cute bowl is for my swap partner on the Knittinghelp.com forum. I am so glad that this turned out marginally cute. I used Lion Wool Prints on size 8 (you should use size 10s-I will next time: see Knitty article referenced below) and used Magic Loop to create a smallish hat and then felted it.

I started with 80 stitches (40 on each side for Magic Loop purposes) and knit in garter stitch in the round, knit one row and then purl a row. I knit until the body was 3 inches and I started to decrease. I basically decreased either 4 or 6 stitches on each knit row. For the first five or so decrease rows I decreased 4 stitches per row. I decreased two stitches for each "side" one after the first two stitches by knitting 2 together and another stitch on that side 2 stitches before the end of that side by ssk. Then I started to decrease 3 stitches each side on every knit row, for a total of 6 stitches decreased each knit row. When I got down to 20 stitches I knit 2 together across all the stitches and then purled and then knit 2 together again on the next row and then took one side of the needles and threaded the yarn through those stitches and then pulled the other side off the needles and threaded the waste yarn through those stitches and sewed the waste yarn into the bottom to reinforce it a little. It worked great! This was my first simple design of my own and I am very proud it worked out.


I used Knitty's guide to felting (http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEwinter03/FEATfelthis.html) and it took forever for me to felt this because I was using a front loading washer.
I plan on making one of these for me too for the new apartment with different yarn maybe. I could end up making a lot of these and giving them away as gifts with bags of nice candy in them. The mottled effect of the variegated yarn here is very interesting to me. I was so worried that this was not going to felt because it took forever to get any real felting. Next time I will read the felting guidelines/instructions beforehand and will use size 10s for worsted weight yarn if I am going to felt it.

Friday, July 13, 2007

Gus Hansen, we're all counting on you...

I'm counting on Gus Hansen to win the WSOP Main Event this year so we don't have another Jamie Gold.

For those of you who are unaware, I play poker as another hobby and follow the World Series. Winning the Main Event of the WSOP in No Limit Texas Hold'Em is THE most coveted title in this field. It's like winning the World Series in basbeball, the Superbowl in football, the Tour de France in cycling, the World Cup in soccer/football, etc.

337 people left and Good ole' Gus is sitting 11th in chip stack.

Thursday, July 12, 2007

Luna Moths!

That insect I posted last week turned out to be a luna moth! Apparently they are very rare to see in nature because they only live for a week and then die! We saw two! Chappaquiddick is very undeveloped, that is probably part of it. Just today we saw a deer eating our flowers about twenty feet from our back windows. It looked at me for a while, when I didn't move it went back to eating. I looked for my camera but it was upstairs! It was about 5 feet from the back of the stone patio outside. Pretty cool.

Here is that picture of the moth again and I am bringing my camera back downstairs. The deer was very graceful as it bounded away.



Here is a link for more information about luna moths.

http://www.ivyhall.district96.k12.il.us/4th/kkhp/1insects/luna.html

I have packages!

Yay, a quick trip to the post office was all it took. They had my lovelies from KnitPicks all ready for me. Then, I swatched for Thermal again using the size 3s and well, I still did not get guage. So, I am swatching with the 4s and am getting guage currently. Yay! But I could have done this the entire time I was waiting. At least the Man Who Knits can use my 3s to make his knitted tie. I think I will sew up my two little swatches and make a little bag to hold my stitch markers. It will be cute and the yarn will not have gone to waste and I will have something to put them in (besides the fabulous bag my swap partner sent me.) She gave me the idea with that little bag. I could also use the bag I am making to hold the darning needles I use to weave in ends.

I am currently working on 2 secret projects for my swap partner, so no pictures of those.

I am about 4 feet into the scarf for the scarf/bonnet project, so about 2 feet more to go because I like long scarves that I can wrap around my neck. I have made little to no progress on the baby blanket, but that's ok, the baby isn't due until the fall.

I have another baby to knit for as well, because my cousin is pregnant too!

Friday, July 6, 2007

Bad Blogger..No Package for you!

I feel like the postal service are being the package Nazis right now. I know that's not normally PC, but I'm using it a la Soup Nazi from Seinfeld and not real Nazi. I ordered stuff from Knitpicks on the 26th and 27th respectfully and it is still not here! I am not sure why coming to Chappaquiddick is taking so much longer than Allston, but it is. Well, it is probably the two! ferry rides in addition to the normal transit time but still, come on people! You know you did not attempt to deliver it and leave me notice, because there was no notice! Tomorrow I shall hound the USPS people with a phone call and possibly a trip to the post office if I have to pick it up. UPS delivers to the Chappy store, and FedEx comes to the house, but do I really have to take the ferry into Edgartown and drive to Post Office Square to get my pretties? Probably.
'
However, despite lacking the implements I want and desire and track every few seconds even though they are NEVER updated, I did knit a little.

This is a scarf for a scarf and hood/bonnet from Knit2Together. It's progressed a little since this picture, but is not much more exciting. You knit the scarf first, then the bonnet. The bonnet knitting is the carrot I guess, but why does there have to be a stick with knitting?
Why ladies why?

I also have made progress on the baby blanket for my stepbrother and his wife, but I only have two out of the eleven heart motifs done, each set of 32 rows (8 for the border and 24 for the heart pattern takes approximately a little bit less than one ball of KnitPicks Swish Superwash) and I have eleven balls of yarn.

This is close to the color of the yarn.

This is the heart pattern outcome.



For eye candy Friday this is all I have: This really cool looking insect that was on the outside of the window most of the day. He looks like a leaf from the other side. Very good camo.