Meh.

Someone tell me what to knit next, please.

It seems as though I want 20 things on the needles NOW.

Since that's not possible, or atleast until the end of the semester, tell me what to knit.

(If it just so happens to be an easy to access pattern- either one that I already have here, one that's free, or one I can find at the library, you'll score extra points.)

Thanks!

(Oh, and I survived Thanksgiving and the weekend just fine. How about you?)

The Brother Inlaw

My brother in law is on his way here, down from Vermont for the night. It's the first time he's seeing the new house. We'll all be heading to the in-laws for turkey tomorrow.

I get a bit wiggy when he comes. I don't trust him, not 100% anyways, with items of any value. My wedding necklace magically disapeared last time he stayed with us a few years ago.

But I think it's important for The Boy to know his uncle and for Hubs to hang out with his brother.

So, I'm busy cleaning and reading the new Nora Roberts book.

Anyone else a NR fan?

Paint and Tile Love

Hubs is kicking ass on the bathroom.

We have new paint, new tile

and a new light fixture.
Tonight is the toilet. Can't wait! (Never thought that I'd be excited for a toilet, but I am!)

I've been knitting (when I can) on the black sweater. It's coming along fine, if not a little boring.

(Craptastic photo! Sorry, it rained here all day.)

I've also spun once this week. I'm doing pink merino singles to go with the Gale's Art singles I spun up the other week. I'll ply the two together, if they look ok.

Pink merino singles

Gale's Art singles

I've also realized that you can download songs and full albums from Amazon and that you can have it loaded into ITUNES! I've downloaded 2 albums so far. And they're cheap! There's some on there as low as 3 bucks!

I'm off to school, even though I feel like I'm not prepared. And like I'm going to be caught without clothes on, if you know what I mean.

Maybe I'll just skip and go hang out at Starbucks for 3 hours....

Tomorrow

Since the beginning of the fall I've had very busy Tuesdays. It usually means running around the state, making sure that I'm where I need to be (at the right time, which is always a struggle for me) to drop The Boy off with my inlaws, driving back across the state to get weighed in, going home to clean or do homework and then driving to school for class until 10pm.

I've never been one to handle stress well. Tuesdays are stressful. I hate stress. I'm hating Tuesdays.

Tomorrow I don't have to weigh in, which means I don't have to drive to meet my mother in law, which means I don't have to drive back home.

But I still have school and I haven't done the work that's due yet.

As I was writing this post, feeling a bit pissy about tomorrow being what it will be, I get an email from a friend. Her husband just got laid off today. I'm sad for them. And worried.

I guess I'll take the stress of running around and schoolwork over her issues any day.

Sigh.

One Projects Ends, Another Begins.

Here's the finished scarf. It really is beautiful. Helene knits up great. The colors came out just as I wanted them to- a mix and match.

Hubs started a new (gulp) project.

He's redoing the downstairs powder room. While I have 100% confidence in his work, I'm really nervous about it getting done. We're having 20+ people over on Christmas Eve and it needs to be completed before then.

He's putting in a new toilet, vanity top (the cabinet is beautiful so we're not touching it), tile floor, paint, and light fixture.

We haven't picked out the tile flooring yet or the vanity top. Hubs and I have very different tastes in decorating, so it's a bit of a compromise when we do any sort of project like this. It doesn't help that you love something at the store, only to bring it home and hate how it looks in the room. Grr.

So, not much else is going on. Still researching, still knitting and still hanging in there. :)

Etsy, Anyone?

I'm looking for some cool, handmade gifts for the holidays.

Any suggestions on Etsy sellers? Or for that matter, any reputable hand made websites?

(I have a scarf finished, you'll see it tomorrow. I'm posting this at 11:38 pm on the 19th. Something tells me that I'm not gonna have a whole lot of traffic this late at night. Anyways, more tomorrow, 11/20. Check back!)

A Lesson in Needles

The black sweater that I've been working on for a couple of days now is being made with Berroco Comfort. This is the second project that I'm attempting with this yarn. The first one was frogged before I finished 20 rows. Seriously, the yarn was so splitty that I couldn't finish a row without fighting every stitch.

I read on the Ravelry forums that some people love this yarn. For the life of me I couldn't figure out why! In theory it should be great. Since it has no natural fibers- no wool, cotton, etc- it should be perfect for allergy sufferers. But I couldn't get over the splitty-ness.

Then I realized that maybe it was the needles I was using on that first project. I love Denise Interchangeables. They are the first needles I grab when I start a new project. I was a strictly wooden girl for a long time, but then my wrist issues started and I was desperate to find what was causing the pain. The pain didn't go away after using the Denises, but I liked the feeling of using plastic better than the wooden needles. My projects went faster, the interchangeables had pointier tips and I loved the options of the many different sized cables.

When I started the first sweater with the Comfort yarn, I used the interchangeables. Last Friday night I was planning my next project and decided that I wanted to do a sweater with the Berroco yarn. I was willing to try another needle, but made a promise to myself that if the stuff fought with me, I'd pass it on to the next willing victim.

I'm happy to report that so far, no problems. The sweater is sailing smoothly.

Now if I could just deal with using black yarn in low light. The ol' eyes just aren't as good as they used to be. *Snort*

Foggy

I have a rather large research paper due in a few weeks. It's supposed to be 15 pages long, and I haven't done nearly enough research. Three things have been taking up too much time.

Spinning (both on wheel and bike, but not at the same time), knitting,

Yet another Deep Breath Sweater, in Berroco Comfort this time.

Scarf in Schaefer Helene, yum!

and general procrastination.

I say that these things are taking up too much time, but I know I'm just utilizing every day stress relievers so that I can procrastinate on important things. I'm honestly intimidated by my professor, and that fact is making me want to curl into a ball and cry, instead of trying to impress him with my vast knowledge of all things Walmart (which is the subject of the paper).

I'm forcing myself to do the footwork necessary for this paper to be a success, starting right now. So, look at the pretty fog that's been hanging out around my house for the last few days.

Hopefully, it's much thicker than the fog in my brain.

This, Now That

Schaefer Yarn Co has always been very generous to their model knitters. Earlier this year they sent me 2 skeins of Helene, their merino/silk blend yarn. It's a single ply and sometimes single plies can be known to pill. One way to solve the problem? Plying!

So last night I set up the wheel and plied both skeins together. I had no worries that they'd match (after all they are the same colorway.) It took awhile to ply, there's over 200 yards per skein. But it was worth the work.

This:

is now that:

Amazing colors! I can't wait to start knitting with this stuff!!

Life's good when you are a very spoiled knitter.

Why I No Longer Support Craftster.

Bear with me, I'm feeling a bit irked right now.

Long before the wonder that is Ravelry, I "belonged" (I'll use that term loosely) to another craft site, Craftster.

Yeah, I'm sure you've heard of it.

I posted on their knitting boards regularly. Once I posted photos on there of my craft closet reorganization, along with what I did to make everything look good. The mod took issue with the post and moved it into another post, even though my original post had received responses. A couple days later I couldn't find the post. I pm'd the mod and asked where it went. She snipped that it belonged with another post so she moved it (without my consent or knowledge). The title of that post was something ridiculous and since it had hundreds of responses I thought that my post would get buried. (Which it did. No one else responded to the post the entire time that it was with the longer post.) I asked to have it moved back into its own post. She said that it belonged where she put it. I said that my post had nothing to do with the other and that I didn't appreciate being censored. She said that she just wanted to keep all of the posts with remotely the same general idea in one place. I told her to move the post back into it's own post or that I'd remove it and my money from the site.

She said no. I deleted the post, never posted another thing on there and I never gave Craftster another cent.

Anyways, flash forward to yesterday.

I get an email saying that I had 2 personal messages from Craftster. Strange, I think to myself...I haven't been on that site in a couple years.

Once again, it was another moderator, asking me to change two posts. FROM as early as April 2006!

WTF? You have nothing better to do than moderate my posts from 4 and 11/06?

I pm'd back, asking what she wanted me to do and if everyone's posts are being questioned.

She said, '"As stated in the original PM, "it could be perceived that your post is attempting to promote your website or blog and not contribute to sharing a project on Craftster." You can delete the post if you'd like, but you can also fix it to meet the rules of Craftster and it will be placed back on the appropriate board. It was moved because I happened to come across it and realized it did not follow the rules. These rules may not have been in place when you originally posted it, however, we do try to retroactively fix old posts to avoid confusion about the rules."

Apparently they have a rule against advertising your blog. How dare I write, "Check out my blog" or "More info in the blog", which is why they need to be changed. Sigh.

I have no idea why I'm so irked by this situation. Well, I do, but I don't know why I'm irked THIS MUCH. This is what happens when people that are given a certain responsiblity take it way too far. The posts are from over 2 years ago. No one has even looked at them in all that time. What does she care that they don't "meet the rules"?

And- she didn't answer my question if all old posts are being looked at.

Any thought of ever supporting them again was shot down with these pm's. I'm sure it wasn't her intention to get my feathers up. But for the love of god...someone needs to find a new hobby besides moderating craft boards.

This makes me 100% thankful for what Ravelry is and what it stands for. Matter in fact, I know that I have some cash in the paypal account and guess who's getting it?

I'm sure as all hell that it won't be Craftster.

Taking the Long Way Home.

Sunday was Second Sunday Spinners, which is a group of fiber folks who gather here in CT and spin...um, every second Sunday of the month. This was the first time that I travelled from the new house to a meeting. I decided to follow the GPS, although I don't always trust it.

Let me tell you, if I didn't already love CT, I'd have fallen hard after that drive. I love this area. There's farms, quiet downtowns, random streams and lots of cows. I love taking the long, scenic route and this didn't disappoint.



No photos though, I was on a time limit both going there and back.

I spun up some of Gale's Art BFL roving. The colorway is Rose Garden. Really pretty. (Parts of the roving were felted. Grr. The fiber wanted to be spun thick, thicker than I wanted- but after fighting with it for so long, I gave up and spun it thick. It went quick, I did 4 ounces in less than 4 hours, but I have no idea what to ply it with or what to do with the stuff I have on the bobbin now.)

I have many finished things to show off. Ready?

Here's a baby sweater and a blanket:

Dave's co-worker's wife is expecting any day now. The both the white sweater and blanket go to them. I'll definately make the cardigan pattern again. I hope it fits as well as I think it will.

This pink sweater is for my neighbor, Cheryl. Her shower is next week! I'm so jealous of women who are still stick figures after being pregnant for 8 months. Seriously, I was a house. No, not a house, a skyscraper. I was huge. Anyhow, she looks great. I hope she likes the sweater.

Here's my first homespun hat:

Hubs promised me not to wear it in public. It's lumpy and bumpy and weird. The photo doesn't show just how uneven this hat is. But I'm proud of it. I just don't want anyone to think that I bought my husband something so ugly.

Saturday

Pretty shot of the stone wall outside. The gray days are making me insane.

We got a cord of wood delivered yesterday. Since it was dark out by the time Hubs came home from work, we had to stack it this morning. It's been rainy here for (what feels like) years. It hasn't really been years, just a couple of days. But when you are a stay at home mom with a very active almost 3 year old, every rainy day feels like years.

Anyhow, I (unnecessarily, it's 65 degrees outside) bundled up The Boy while Hubs put the new wheel barrow together and we all went outside as a family, to stack aforementioned firewood.

Here's Hubs and The Boy putting the wheel barrow together. Be still my momma's heart.

And another cute one. The Boy is tinkering with his truck as Hubs is tinkering with the wheelbarrow.

So adorable.

We have the wood stacked onto 2 large metal firewood holders. The guy gave us a generous cord, there's still a third of the pile left to be done.

(Side story, further proving that in another life I was a psychic- We were busy stacking and I kept having visions of The Boy playing around us, and all of the sudden one of the metal holders collapse onto The Boy. The visions wouldn't leave me. While we were stacking he was all over the place, running from his park to the side of the house, to the deck- you get the idea. There was no reason for me to be concerned. He really wasn't near the wood. I told Hubs about the visions and he said not to worry about it, that it was just my brain being weird. Wouldn't you know that The Boy started to play behind the wood, between the stack and the house? And about 2 minutes after we shoo'ed him out of there the entire stack FELL ONTO THE HOUSE- right where he was playing! It would have crushed him. Hubs looked at me and said, "Sometimes you scare me.")

Well, after that The Boy and I left Hubs outside to figure out how to stablize the wood better. He did and it looks great. Now all we need are temps below 65 degrees to have a fire. LOL

Here's yet another baby sweater (Rav link) that I'm making. I borrowed Clara Parkes' Knitters Book of Yarn from the library. Great book. It should be in every knitter's library, I think.

And the last of the purple BFL is on the bobbin. Now I just need to figure out how the heck to ply it so that it has a better combo of color. Right now everything is so color blocked. I'll figure out what to do with it eventually.

Tomorrow, Second Sunday Spinners! YAY!

This Isn't What It Looks Like.

I've been spinning like a mad woman! The Boy was at my inlaws for a few days and Hubs was off doing his own thing, which meant I had a completely quiet house!

I was able to sit in my living room and watch tv, spinning wheel whirring away. Heaven!

But The Boy eventually had to be picked up and brought home. The first thing he did was run to my wheel and start messing with it. I picked it up, put it in the one place with a plastic safety knob lock on the door.

The bathroom.

I shut the door and went about the rest of the afternoon (knowing that I wouldn't get to spin until after The Boy went to bed tonight.)

Hubs came home a short while ago and when he opened the door to the bathroom he said, "What the hell?"

I had completely forgotten that it was in there!

Ooops, sorry Hon.

Yay, Spin Bike!

I found my spin bike on sale with cheap shipping!

I ordered it on Halloween and it shipped today. I should get it when hell freezes over, since it's coming via UPS ground from Florida.

But! I got a bike and I can't wait to ride it.

I asked Hubs tonight at dinner if he'd mind putting it together for me. He said that he insisted, and that no one should be allowed to ride anything I put together.

I would have argued if I had any leg to stand on.

Is my bike here yet?

Saturday Night Special.

Last night found me home with The Boy but no Hubs (hey, the man needs time out with the friends, right?), feeling chilly and honestly, a bit restless and lonely. I was bored with knitting, bored with TV but in need of something.

What would Alice do?

Spin!

I dragged the wheel downstairs, lit some candles, and unwrapped it from the bubble wrap that has been on it since JULY!

My wheel was rusty. It still is, somewhat. It keeps wanting to either pull the fiber out of my hand or it jerks up onto the bobbin. What is that all about? I oiled everything up, and I had to change the brake on it. It's better, but not great.

Anyways, here's what I worked on last night:

Purple BFL. How can a girl be bored with purple BFL on the bobbin?

That's right, she can't be!

Today I got up and spun some more. This is upstairs in the guest bedroom.

Here's the black BFL that I plied.

I promise you that it looks better in the hat that I'm knitting with it. PROMISE. It is the first official christmas gift. Not saying for who, but with 7 more weeks to go and a few more gifts to make, I better get cracking!

And here is my sorry-ass excuse of a lazy Kate.

Um. hello, Santa? Are you listening? I need a better kate than this, please. Thank you.

And I'm also designing again for Schaefer.

How was your weekend?