Progress Report

Once again, I've been lax in writing in this thing. It's been a pretty awesome and fun-filled summer, but that's a lot of ground to cover, so for now I just want to look at this summer's goals and see how I stack up. Let's see--

"I will not buy any new yarn until such time as I have decided the stash is depleted to normal levels."

In the most technical sense, I haven't bought any yarn since writing this. I did, however, buy fiber and another drop spindle and have been spinning more yarn. Yes, it increases the stash and could be considered cheating, but I'm willing to give it a pass considering I freaking made it myself.

"I will finish every current UFO."

Um.....yeah. I was pretty good about not starting too many other things, and only started a new bigger project (ie, bigger than a dishcloth or a baby bootie) when I finished another one. I did finish one or two other things that were sitting in the pile, but in all honesty today's list of unfinished items looks pretty similar to the list I had four months ago.

"I will not buy another knitting book until I use every book I already own."

Still holding strong with seven projects to go. I've even managed to go to the bookstore, look through knitting books, and walk out without one. Now that's willpower!

There's more on my mind-- the end of summer, my newfound interest in flower garden and hawaiian quilts, knitting my first shawl-- but that will have to wait until I can organize my thoughts a bit better.

The sound of our voices made us forget everything that had ever hurt our feelings.

Finally seamed the sides of the Rambling Rose Cardigan last night, after a self-pep talk and a glass of wine. I've been avoiding it because not only do I hate seaming, I've never sewn a seam in reverse stockinette and therefore must completely suck at it.


Suprisingly, it turned out better than most of my seams do! Isn't it great to find out you can do something you thought you couldn't? I'm so stoked, I'm even ready to tackle the short rows on top. I'm trying like hell to get this thing knocked out soon, because I don't really want to have the guilt that comes with another six-month sweater like the No-Name Cardigan. I've set a deadline of June 25th, three months after I started it. Somehow I'm hoping to get my skirt done in the same time, but I think that might just be wishful thinking. Either way, one of these things will be getting worn to various weddings in August.



Subsequently, this means that I've unfortunately hit the age where summer = wedding season.*


I've also been putting my new planter boxes to good use, and have even added another hanging basket. I'm determined to get as much use out of what little space I have, lack of sunlight be damned. The emphasis so far has been basil and mint. Three (maybe four) varieties of basil, with an additional lime basil in the tiny seed greenhouse I started last week, and another three of mint. Two are just for smell, as I'm not sure what use I really have for chocolate or ginger mint, but the "mint julep" plant will definetely be put to work this summer.


As small as these little things are, I find that minor things like filling my tiny patio with plants and making myself a kickass dinner like the grilled mahi mahi I had last night are really my bread and butter, morale-wise. It means that no matter how evil and frustrating and downright fucking annoying the outside world is, I can come home to a place where we do what we like and like what we do.

*Don't get me wrong, I like weddings. I'm just not too fond of having to ready myself for the barrage of questions and criticism about mine and Eric's unmarried and unengaged status.

No stashing for Jilly.

I am kicking myself for not budgeting for NW Handspun Yarns Mother's Day Sale. 20% off everything? Why oh why does it have to be this weekend? So instead, I've been focusing on the great things about the last few days.

Some favorite things of today:

• Potato Bread Rolls from BreadFarm. I made it to the farmer's market too late to get a loaf yesterday, but the rolls are just the perfect portion of potato bread-y goodness.


• The new yarn I spun Friday night. I had picked up four or so coordinating colors of New Zealand wool last time I was at NW Handspun, so I divided each color in half (so that I can possibly get two skeins that are similar in pattern) and spun each color in succession, throwing some reddish orange I already had in for smooth transitions. I'm calling it my Noro KnockOff.


• The sun is, if not shining, atleast making an effort. That's about all one can ask for in Northwest Washington, especially after last night's torrential downpour.


• Basil plants, ready for the repotting.
• Yarn from the lovely girls at Spin Cycle. I picked up a hank of Rusted Rainbow to test out gauge. The bad news: It's not going to work for Knitty's Cathode, like I'd been deluding myself into. I probably should have read the patter first. The good news: I love it so much I'm definetely going to be making a sweater out of it anyway.
• The Manos del Uruguay hat I managed to make in one slow day at work. A bit big, since I just cast on and went to town, but it should felt down a tiny bit and be perfect for this cold spring that won't seem to end.
• Listening to a ska album from about five years ago that I loved, but had since forgotten about. (for those interested, it's Catch 22--Keasbey Nights.)
• Getting to spend Mother's Day with my mommy. We're going to dinner tonight for prime rib and giant hunks of chocolate cake. She won't be getting her present until tomorrow though, because I haven't had time to pick it up. She asked for a candy thermometer, a specific one that she found at Target, and I haven't had the time and sanity required to brave the mall. So she'll be getting it tomorrow.

Man, I am one lucky girl if I have that many things to be happy about!

We won't stop until somebody calls the cops

The borrowed spinning wheel is looming, staring at me, waiting for me to finish my spinning homework. I think I know what I'm going to be doing with atleast part of my Sunday. I've still got a bit to get done before my next class on Monday. Thusfar I've really enjoyed spinning, but hanging out with friends I haven't seen much trumped sitting in my room. It's almost embarrasing to realize you've barely talked to people that live less than 30 yards away from you.

Yesterday pretty productive, as far as days off go. I got pictures taken of last weekends dyeing experiments. I'm pretty happy with most of those-- I tested out frosting colors in earnest (the first time was kind of half-assed and didn't go well at all) and "overdyed" some less-than-spectacular Kool Aid yarn. I also found that I LOVE Ashford's purple dye, despite it not really being purple. I'm hoping I have enough left to dye up a sweater's worth of yarn. I'm thinking it might lend itself to a Wicked sweater, or atleast something wicked-esque.

I also got the front of Baby's First Tattoo pinned up and set aside, and the back is about done with just a few decreases left before it gets set aside for sleeves. With any luck, this thing might be done while Wyatt is still small enough to wear it! (Then again, I cheated and started knitting the 1 year old size for my five month old brother.)

Now if I can just fortify myself long enough to finish Rambling Rose, I'll be set!

Focus, Jilly, focus!

I had to take a break and refortify myself before I could get myself to face that second scallop cuff on the Rambling Rose Cardigan, but managed to get it done while watching The Tudors with the awesome Stephanie and her awesome mom. There was, however, much cursing and untangling involved.

I've been having lots of false starts lately. I started a Rutabaga bag from Knitscene, then ripped it out when I a)messed up the mesh pattern and b) decided I didn't particularly like that pattern anyway. A quick glance through a stitch dictionary should fix both problems, maybe even in time for the next trip to the farmer's market. I won't be a moment too soon-- that giant jar of honey I bought last time was a looking a bit awkward shoved into my purse.

Shortly therafter I knit one of the fronts for "Baby's First Tattoo" (from SnB Nation), but lost interest after the first eighteen hours. I will probably be going back to that one, as I managed to get a fair amount done in that short day and a half-- one front is already finished, with the motif intarsia-ed (so not a word, although it really should be) instead of the duplicate stitch called for, and I've started the decreases on the second front with only a little to go. Plus, I deliberately started making it according to the pattern in order to force myself to have some seaming practice, so I can't really back out now. I decided to be realistic though-- I'm making the 1-year-old size for my 4-month-old brother.

But now I find myself eyeballing other patterns, buying buttons for the Robin's Egg Blue Hat, thinking long and hard about whether I am a beret person, and working out the math for converting Knitty's Azure socks into a pair of armwarmers.

Is there some sort of medication I should be taking for this?

Another one bites the dust...

Mom's tea cozy is finally done, though I'm pretty embarrased that it took me this long. All the darn thing needed was a drawstring. So a little Plymouth Happy Feet and two feet of i-cord later, it now resides in its rightful place on my mom's little teapot (it's only a three or four cupper.)

....which makes me think a progress check is in order. To revisit the previous list, I had:



-one finished sock with no match make that three socks needing matches

-one knee sock that's pretty much only a legwarmer at the moment I've decided I wasn't too fond of my wierd attempt at calf shaping, and wouldn't be able to recreate it for the second sock even if I liked it, so this one's being ripped out. It took seeing it on a list for me to finally bite the bullet and admit defeat.

-a cardigan that's missing a sleeve and buttons-- I got about halfway through the second sleeve last night, so this one could be ready for blocking soon.

-a pullover that actually has two sleeves but still needs to be sewn up

-tea cozy without the drawstring required to cozy it up Done!

-a mitten without a thumb

-a blanket that's currently about the size of two place mats and

-a scarf that is about 5 feet too short--- Still about four and a half feet to go



Looking at it like that, I actually start to feel like I might have accomplished something. However, is it enough to justify the fact that I'm swatching for yet another new project?

Pick your heart up off the ground, I'm sure it weighs a ton. You're no better and no worse than any mother's son

Progress check:

I finished one exterior side of the Hoop Purse-- which wasn't actually on the list I made yesterday, but still counts in my mind since I started it before the Grand Proclamation was made. Only three more sides like it (one outside, two linings) before I can throw the whole thing in the wash. I also got another pattern repeat on the argyle scarf knocked out on my lunch, so that brings the remaining length down to four feet, 10 inches.

Tonight we go to see a really good local band for their last show. Sometimes I think local music is dying around here, though I don't usually voice it because it tends to start arguments. Venues are shutting down for various reasons, bands are breaking up or moving out of town, and there are becoming fewer and fewer reasons to bother leaving the house at night. Hell, it's gotten to the point where the bar that seems like someone's basement is the one of the best (and only) places left to see a band.

Then again, maybe I'm just getting old and longing for the "good old days". You know, the ones that were really only so-so, but are really, really great in your memory. Cause really, one of the inherent traits of a college town is bands that come and go, and although there really is a dirth of good venues around town these days, something new will eventually pop up. Things ebb and flow around here, and we're probably just experiencing the latest downswing. If anything, I'm learning to appreciate how good we really had it.

It's shaping up to be a nice weekend after two weeks of downpour, so I might break out the barbecue and dye some more yarn. I want to test out the icing colors I bought, and maybe do an experiment with some hibiscus tea. It should produce a nice rosey color, but I want to see how deep a color I can make.

For now though, it's back to my purse. I'm hoping to get the first lining cast on and a bit knit before we go out tonight.

Knitting ADD.

I'm starting to develop a problem. I have far too many unfinished projects, all at various progress levels.

The current tally:
-one finished sock with no match
-one knee sock that's pretty much only a legwarmer at the moment
-a cardigan that's missing a sleeve and buttons
-a pullover that actually has two sleeves but still needs to be sewn up
-tea cozy without the drawstring required to cozy it up
-a mitten without a thumb
-a blanket that's currently about the size of two place mats and
-a scarf that is about 5 feet too short

...and now I've started a purse. Really, what the hell is wrong with me? I'm almost ashamed, which would explain why one or two of those aren't listed in my Ravelry notebook. One can only handle a certain number of little squares staring at you with that "wip" icon in the corner.

So I hereby officially anounce (it sounds more important that way) that from here on out, I will not start another project until I've finished atleast three on that list. (I'd say the entire list, but let's face it-- that simply will not happen.) I will also not be buying any new knitting books for a little while, as I think this is part of what is contributing to my lack of attention span. The super-short scarf began with the purchase of Son of Stitch and Bitch, and the new purse happened when I picked up Felt Forward. So, for the time being anyway, I need to cut off my dealer-- the book store.

She's pretty damn wierd.

I'm pretty sure that no one other than my mother would ask for a meat thermometer for Christmas. I shouldn't be suprised, as this is the same woman who once asked for a rack of ribs for Mother's Day. It was amusing, if only because I got to tell people I gave my mom raw meat as a gift.

I finished another One-Row Scarf for my dad last night. I have to start another project so that everybody (Dad, his wife Pang, and Wyatt, the new kidlet) gets something handmade, but all in all it's working out pretty well. The way I see it, if I can knock out a second scarf and a child-size hat (for another family), I'm going to consider this holiday season a success with more than 50% of goals completed. All that leaves is the other half.

The sort-of birthday outing of this weekend was a rousing success. I had an awesome time seeing the Red Elvises, and afterwards we popped over to the dive bar across the street and caught the Hot Roddin' Romeos. I lost one of my favorite scarves, but I'm going to check back and see if maybe it turned up. That makes three handmade scarves lost over the last couple of years-- one in the Baltimore airport security check, one at the (no longer open) 3B Tavern, and now this one at another bar. While none have been particularly fancy--heck, the 3B scarf was thrown together in two hours while watching a movie-- it still irks me that I have such trouble holding onto things. I'm going to start pinning things to my clothes, like they do in elementary school. This will go well with my plan to put locators on everything I own.*

For now, I'm on the move. I've got to get myself a shower before I go have a birthday lunch with the lovely Stephanie. After that, I have a full afternoon of Christmas tree hauling, knitting, and eventually dinner with my super-awesome boyfriend.

*I find I have a really hard time keeping track of things, but I thought of a way to remedy this. Know how you can call your cell phone when you lose it and it will ring to tell you where it is? Well, my plan is to put beepers and bells on everything, then create a big board of buttons that I can push to find things. The buttons will have labels like "keys" and "purse" and "left shoe".

Pluses and Minuses

Reason I don't like always like my job:

I worked eleven hours today, including the almost four hours I spent in rush hour traffic driving to North Seattle and back (From this day forth, I'm going to start lobbying for a cd player in the delivery rig.) I got home at nearly ten o'clock, just in time to eat a quick meal with Eric before he went to bed.

Reason I still mostly like my job:
The customer that caused me to work so late spent five minutes apologizing after I proceeded to read him the riot act. Only in my line of work can I look at my customers and ask, "what the fuck?"

In other news, I am eight stitches away from finishing another sock! Two socks in the last week alone, woohoo! Too bad they are socks for two different pairs! I'm almost done with one of the matches though. Hopefully my mom will like them, but even if she doesn't she's kind enough to fake it.

It's been kind of neat trying out different fibers of sock yarn. My mom's are in corn-fiber based Maizy, specifically the hibiscus colorway. They almost have a cotton sort of feel to them, which would kind of bug me in a sock, but should please my wool-sensitive mother. The other pair (that I think I might actually keep for myself this time) are in Panda Wool, a bamboo/wool blend that has a gorgeous sheen and really soft feel. I threw in some leftover Shibui Sock from the Mermaid socks for the heel and toe. The colorways are just different enough to contrast each other while still being semi-blended colors.

Once I finish these, it's back to the still-lingering Uzume socks and a knee-high number that I'm kind of making up as I go along. For now, I think I'm going to head to bed without binding off my new sock. I'm still not great at kitchener stitch, and it would probably best to attempt it when I'm no longer slightly stoned from wood stain fumes.