Yarnmule

I can haz blog now?

It's been a long summer. What have I been up to (other than not blogging)?

- A wedding and a funeral, not necessarily in that order.
- Three secret knitting projects, the last of which is nearly completed.
- A truly killer run of twelve hour days at work.

All of this has led to the longest stretch of "nothing to blog about" that I could have imagined. I have recently, however, started and nearly finished a sweater. Sadly, I'm in the phase of finishing that makes everything look like a blob. Soon, my dears, soon, I will have moved on to blocking and picture-taking. There is real live blogging on the horizon.

Labels: random thoughts

There has been some excitement here, though virtually none of it is knitting related.

About a week ago, BBMM spied this, two floors down on the fire escape:



We spent a couple of days checking the window every hour or so, trying to catch Mommy away from the nest. Two days later, we saw these:




Four eggs, nothing hatched yet. The next few days were a vigil for all of us; she sat on the nest, and we tried to catch her away from the nest. We would get a glimpse every day or two, usually only for a minute, sometimes less. Still eggs. Still a very attentive mother bird, who would come swooping back at the first sign of a pigeon getting too close.

We went away for the weekend. We got back Sunday, and checked the nest as soon as we got back. And look at that:




We think that's three babies, and one unhatched egg. But it could be four babies and some shell remnants. We didn't get too much time to look; within a few seconds we got this:




How cool is that? Yeah, the picture is pretty terrible, but still, that's REAL LIVE NATURE. Right here in NYC, on a fire escape covered with pigeon poop.

We'll be checking back on the babies, but I suspect at this point we won't see much until we get an empty nest.

Oh, and that knitting thing... Well...

Here's the deal. I am working on three projects. They all have deadlines. I am knitting frantically, but I can't tell you about any of it. The tank I was going to make? Yeah, that got put on the back burner during the swatching phase. I have nothing.

So, I'm going to make myself scarce for a bit. I'll pop in occasionally for bird updates and other such random happenings, but the actual knitting content will be scarce. Hopefully, when I'm back for GOOD, I'll have fun things for you. In the meantime, just imagine me hunched over charts and instructions with frantic flying fingers.

Labels: random thoughts

I feel as if I'm late, for a very important date.
I didn't manage to get a post up this weekend, as I was attacked by an unscheduled wave of exhaustion Sunday night. Frankly, I have very little to write about anyway. I didn't finish anything, start anything, or even accomplish much in the past week.


I have never owned a blocking board. At my upstate cabin, I've always used a towel on the floor, which has worked swimmingly. At the city apartment, things get a little more complicated. We have a cat, so blocking on the floor is out of the question. I have generally only been able to lay out small items (like the baby sweaters) on a towel on my dresser. This makes aggressive blocking (again, the baby sweater) difficult; when I pin the garment to the towel, there's a good chance the towel will just crinkle up and the finished item will be too small.




Plus, I can learn both the alphabet AND numbers! Heh.

Labels: random thoughts

Ah, the best laid plans...

About twenty minutes before I left to make the stole purchases, I got an e-mail from my Mom. The bride-to-be, her mother and grandmother, and my mom had all gone to buy The Dress on Saturday. The bride-to-be tried it on first, of course. And the moms didn't like it. Oh dear.

I gather there was much wringing of hands, and trying on of other dresses. Sadly, no decision was made. This weekend will involve more dress shopping, and hopefully a final decision.

Being a bride is hard.

So I'm holding off on making any purchases until a decision has been made. Mom has promised to keep me in the loop with as many pictures as she can get her hands on. The pattern search may begin anew after I see the dress, but that's OK. It's a wedding, and perfection is required.

In other news, I have been a busy, busy girl. Very little knitting has gone on for the last week or two. There is a four-day-weekend that starts in about 11 hours though, so there should be plenty of time to actually accomplish something I can post about.

I also got my Ravelry invite (I am yarnmule, of course)! Sadly, there hasn't been much time to play with that yet. I poked around enough to know that I will love. This. Site. That is, when I get time to play with it. Sadly, my four day weekend also involves a place with no internet access, so that too will wait until next week.

Did you ever notice that the end of summer tends to be the busiest time of the year?

Labels: random thoughts, WIP's

There's some extra joy for my family lately. My baby brother (who is most definitely not a baby) is getting married! We are almost as in love with his bride-to-be as he is; she's a wonderful woman, and they treat each other very well.

All this love deserves something special, so I've decided to make her a stole to wear over her wedding dress. They're getting married next September in Minnesota, so there is a distinct possibility that it will be cold outside. The weather doesn't mess around up there.

I'm looking for some inspiration. I have never knit a stole or a shawl, so I'm not too familiar with the patterns that are out there. Since I'm not quite on Ravelry yet (724 people to go!) I'm having trouble finding the perfect thing.

There are a very few requirements:

1) She wants a rectangular stole, not a triangular shawl.

2) I want this to be the most amazing thing anybody has ever laid eyes on. I have over a year to work on it, so time and effort should not be an issue.

3) It should be fairly large; her dress is strapless, so I do want it to be big enough that it will actually keep her arms warm if necessary.

So if anyone knows of beautiful stole patterns, please leave me a comment. There's a freezing cold bride out there that needs your help!

Labels: random thoughts

Only 998 people ahead of me in line for Ravelry (yes, I jumped onto that boat pretty late). I'm thinking less than two weeks.

Insert Final Jeopardy theme song here.

Labels: random thoughts

I did do some knitting this weekend, but not a tremendous amount. I've turned the heel on the first sock for BBMM; not particularly exciting or picture-worthy. I also re-started the Lunch Bag Sweater. I reduced by 16 stitches, removing a set of ribs (no, not THAT way) on either side of the center front and center back cables. I also took out 4 stitches just because I converted to the round instead of flat. I also realized that I knit much, much looser in ribbing than I do in stockinette, so I went down two needle sizes, from a 6 to a 4. I'm only about 8 rounds in, so it's not big enough to gauge size yet. We shall see...

Yep, that's all the knitting I did this weekend. One heel and 8 rounds of a sweater. It's unusual, I know, but I do have a very good reason.




Coming up later this week, Stitch & Pitch! It's Wednesday night at Shea Stadium, and I'll be there. If anybody lets me post pictures of them I will. If not, gratuitous player butt shots!

Labels: random thoughts, socks, WIP's

When we left for vacation, I was warned that there would be no knitting once we were at our destination. I got to knit in the car, of course, but more on that later.

So they are not knitting related, but wanna see some pretty pictures of Martha's Vineyard?



Gingerbread houses in Oak Bluffs, my favorite town. It's almost otherwordly. The houses look pretty much the same, except for the insane use of color. It made we want to knit in brightly colored things. I promise you though, that I will not knit a sweater with gingerbread houses on it. And I assume I will return to my regularly scheduled neutrals soon.



A view of the Chappy Ferry, taken from the dock in Edgartown. The ferries are fun and all, but why don't they just build a bridge? It seriously take less than a minute to get across...



Chappaquiddick is pretty amazing; virtually deserted, and water everywhere. Of course, it's got a bit of tragedy too...



Dike Bridge, site of the accident that killed Mary Jo Kopechne.



The clay cliffs at Aquinnah, complete with lighthouse. There are very limited tours to the lighthouse, so this is as close as we got.

And for the final coup de grace, we got the best spot on the ferry on the way home.



One morning, I woke up really, really early. While BBMM was in the shower, I thought I could cheat a little. I got busted.



Next time, you'll get to see what I was working on!

Labels: random thoughts

I have no interesting pictures for you. I truly feel like the slowest knitter in the world lately,but it's really just life kicking me in the butt. Some extra hours at work, lack of a seat on the train, and all of a sudden several hours of knitting have disappeared this week.

Of course, like the rest of the world, I will be spending the long weekend stuck in traffic trying to get someplace lovely. It means I won't be posting again until at least Tuesday, but it also means lots of knitting time.

In the meantime, I'm going to distract you by talking about knitting podcasts. They are my new favorite thing in the world. Even when I can't knit, I can listen to people talking about knitting, while drowning out the sounds of the subway. Ah, modern technology can be a beautiful thing... so here are some of my favorites, in alphabetical order, because that's how they show up on i-tunes.

1. Cast On, by Brenda Dayne: This is probably one of the most popular knitting podcasts out there. She gives a lot of knitting news, as well as some fabulous interviews, which always include the "deserted island" question. She'll keep you up to date on new podcasts, knitting websites, and the like. If you only have time to listen to one podcast, this would probably be the one. She's also got the most calm, soothing voice in the world; perfect for an irritating commute!

2. It's A Purl Man, by Guido: A male knitter from Boston. He did a podcast just before Mother's Day that featured his mom, and it was seriously cute. He also does some on-location podcasting, and quite a few interviews; one recently with some sheep farmers!

3. KnitPicks podcast, by Kelley Petkun: Brought to you by KnitPicks, the online knitting store. This is a new podcast; they only have 4 episodes so far. This is more informational than entertaining. The most recent podcast was all about the knitty gritty of wool (God, I love puns); cuticles and crimp and the whole deal. It makes me want to take notes.

4. Lime & Violet, by, uhhhh, Lime & Violet: Maybe the funniest knitting podcast ever. Lots and lots of yarn pron, and occasionally snort-laughing. And they love to knit socks. Fair warning though; this is NOT a clean podcast. Ever.

5. Stash & Burn, by Nicole & Jenny: I believe this is a pretty new one as well. It is, of course, full of tips about burning through your stash.

6. Sticks & String, by David Reidy: A podcast by an Australian bloke who knits. A really nice podcast that tends to cover a lot of ground; he does a lot of reviews & interviews, and a lot of "roving" podcasts. He's been to quite a few festivals lately, and usually does an interview while he's at one. I find this supremely interesting because of the differences in what he can get versus what I can. For example, it took him months of searching to be able to get KnitPicks needles (the horror!). Plus you get to listen to the cool Aussie dialect.

Alright, now go listen to some podcasts and pretend that I've given you something interesting here. I promise I will reward you with pictures next week. Have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend!

Labels: random thoughts

In a sudden development, I found out yesterday that I am taking a business trip tomorrow. It's one of those quickie trips where I'll be spending more time in the air than at the destination. Of course, to most people, this would be a drag. For a knitter, it means a couple hours in the airport, a couple hours on a plane, and then do it all over again!

So as I'm considering which projects to bring with me, I'm also realizing that some of the longer projects will be done soon. I started the ribbing on the first BBMM sock today, and the second only has about 30 rows left to go. They will be done soon (especially if I bring them with tomorrow). I started the first baby sock last night, and the toe took me just over an hour. If I decide to bring those with tomorrow, I can probably finish them, or come close. I will probably bring both sock sets, but I still have a desperate fear of being stuck in an airport with no knitting. Could anything be more tragic?

As far as the "what to knit next" question, I'm having great trouble deciding. And yes, this is where you come in! I won't be so fancy as to put up a poll, but please throw some opinions into the comments. Options:

1. Baudelaire socks, by Cookie A., from Knitty. If you recall, I've been dreaming about them since before I started the BBMM socks, but now that the moment is here I'm not sure about it. I think it's because I really want to knit them in red, as her sample, and I have only neutral yarn. I would wear the red about once in a lifetime, but they are hot hot hot! I'm sure they would be beautiful in the oatmeal heather I've got though.

2. I'm working on a sock pattern of my own. I've had a great many logistical issues; I think I've started about 4 times, and always ripped out after, at most, one pattern repeat (Part of the problem was the attempted use of The Ugly. God, it's ugly). I have been swatching madly, and I think I've finally found the answer. This would be secret knitting, as I might submit it to Knitty. The deadline for the fall issue of Knitty is June 15th; I doubt if I could work it out, knit a pair, and have someone test knit another pair before then. I would probably submit for the Winter issue instead, so plenty of time for that. Obviously no link to this one, but I already have a name picked out, so it must be inspiring!

3. This sleeveless cabled sweater that I would knit in a linen/cotton blend from my stash. This pattern has been chasing after me for a long time, but I wanted to save it for spring. Now that spring is here, meh. It does have all the things I love in a knit though; small gauge, interesting construction, and cables. Mmmmmmm, cables...

4. I want some knee socks. I think it would be these (because I appear to have an urge to knit socks exclusively by Cookie A. I am fairly certain I'm not the only one). I know, it seems stupid to knit knee socks just in time for summer, but there you have it. My knitting urges clearly do not fall into any logical order. I thought for a while that I wanted to knit argyle knee socks, until I realized there was no way to get around putting in a seam. In my mind, half the fun of socks is the magical lack of seams.

5. I'm still trying to figure out what to do with The Ugly. It hit me last night in a flash; Jaywalkers. I've never knit them before, and since the rest of the blogosphere has, why not play along? It's a simple enough pattern that I think The Ugly might actually work well. If it doesn't I'll have a bonfire with it or something.

6. I found this the other night. Very cute. Not sure if it's me. I might need to ruminate on this one before I decide if it's a go.

So there you have it, six options to choose from. Hopefully by the time I post later this weekend, with your help, I'll have a decision. And as long as the TSA guys decide I look harmless despite the pointy sticks, I should have a nice FO to show off as your reward.

Labels: random thoughts, WIP's

In my last post, I said something about having a lot of knitting time this weekend. I may have promised pictures. Ummm, not so much. I think I only worked about 2 rows on the not-socks, and the secret project got ripped out last night. I am telling you, The Ugly simply does not want to cooperate with anything I use it for.

So, in an attempt to appease you, I'll tell you a charming knitting story!

Last week I was riding the subway to work. The train was pretty empty for rush hour. I didn't get a seat, but I had a pole all to myself, so I hooked my arm around it and started knitting (I can knit standing on a moving train, but not without a little support). I'm knitting away, listening to the iPod, happy as a little clam, when someone taps me on the shoulder. I look up, and a young man is motioning me toward his seat. I blinked in disbelief and yanked out the headphones. He motioned again, and said "Would you like to sit?" I don't know if you have ever been to NY and ridden the subways, but this was a shocking development. People will frequently give up a seat to the elderly, or the disabled, or to anyone who looks like they need to sit. But this young man gave me his seat to a perfectly healthy young woman who was knitting. I thanked him profusely and took the seat.

I spend the rest of the ride thinking about him. Was his mother a knitter? His wife? Was he himself a knitter? Surely he must know someone obsessed enough to knit standing up on a moving train! Maybe someone had knit him socks before, and he knew the power of the handmade sock. Or maybe, just maybe, he was just a wonderful human being who woke up that morning and decided to be generous.

No matter how or why it happened, for that one day my faith in humanity was completely restored.

Labels: random thoughts

Sometimes, you take a break from one craft with another.

It's pretty cute though, and effective, and it took me all of three hours. Most importantly, I am now free to acquire more sock-knitting equipment!

This was merely a brief break in the knitting. I am making heavy progress on The Slink, and should be able to show off something meaningful by the end of the weekend.

EDIT: If anyone is interested in the (easy) pattern for this, let me know in comments. If there's enough interest I'll write it up and post it.

Labels: FO's, random thoughts

A little explanation on the last post. I couldn't find the mystery porter on Tuesday either. I had to wait until my doorman came back to work on Wednesday. But in wonderful NY doorman fashion, he had it waiting for me in the lobby when I arrived home. He might be my new best friend.

I've already made a gauge swatch from the sock yarn, and I'm working on stitch patterns now. This first pair will be for my husband, who will forever be known as BBMM (Blog Beautification and Maintenance Master). He spent all weekend, as well as several evenings this week, making the blog pretty and functional and exactly what I wanted. There was confusing code and many strange searches and my little head was spinning. I could never, ever have done anything other than a blogger template without him. He also took all the pictures, because he's good at that, and because it's hard to take pictures of your own feet. He deserves socks. And cookies. And perhaps sainthood, but I don't have a lot of sway over that.

The bummer of the day is this; you have figured out by now that I live in NYC. Tonight, as I type, Yarn Harlot is speaking at FIT, for the debut of her Represent tour. I am not there. If all went as planned, there were knitters all over New York today; they met at the Today show this morning, they met at Strawberry Fields at noon (with socks; lots and lots of socks), they went on yarn crawls all afternoon, and then there was the book signing & lecture at 6. Sadly, work and life and other such things interfered, and I couldn't go to any of it. But I love the idea of it, and I hope the auditorium was bursting at the seams, with knitters spilling out onto the sidewalks and totally freaking out the tourists. I can't wait until I find out how it went.

Labels: random thoughts

OK, I've done it. I've started a blog. I've been contemplating it for a long time, but it seemed like such a commitment. Knitting takes up most of my free time anyway. Then I started reading knitblogs. Now writing one... I don't know how (or even if) I'll find the time.

So why am I doing it? It's a last straw sort of thing for me. I love reading knitblogs. I love seeing what people are knitting, I love sympathising with the frustration, I love cheering along when someone learns something new, or accomplishes what seems impossible, or just makes something beautiful. And I don't know many knitters, so there are very few people to sympathise or cheer along with me. I know very few people who can view my knitting with fresh eyes; who can tell me if something is working or not, who can help me step away, take a deep breath, and say "frog it honey, really" or "this is worth showing off".

So this last straw? Today I wore a sweater to work. It was not only a sweater I made, but a sweater I designed. I had an idea, I played with stitch patterns, I swatched, I wrote a pattern, I knit, I adjusted, I knit some more. I finished it, blocked it, and let it sit in a drawer for a couple months. I thought I liked it, but I couldn't tell if it was a good sweater, or if it was just something I was proud of accomplishing. Today I wore it for the first time. Lo and behold, the second person I saw at work said "Hey, that's a great sweater." Gulp. Then another one; "I love your sweater." So I decided; I need to show people my stuff. It's so dumb to spend so much time on something and then let it languish in a drawer. Granted, I have made things that ought never see the light of day. That's fine. But sometimes the process and the product get all tangled up like a bad ball of mohair, and I just can't tell. Do I hate it because it's awful, or because I'm sick of cabling? Do I think it's beautiful because it is, or because I'm just proud to have finished. Hopefully, this is where I'll find out. And if not, at least I'll have taken the time to take a picture and put it out there.

Oh, and I promise this is the last rambling philosophical post for a while. Next time, there will be socks and yarn and other yummy things!

Labels: random thoughts