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!

Spin me right round, baby. Or alternately, UFO diet.

I gave up. We bought a new battery charger tonight. Which means I will probably find the old one tomorrow. Meh.

Either way, I've been itching to document some recent stuff, including the finished Pomatomus socks that will be en route to Hawaii as soon as they are photographed. My Aunt Tena is terribly excited. Heck, she doesn't know that she's getting a ginormous jar of her favorite fireweed honey (which isn't available on the island) with her socks. One would think that since my mom sends her honey on a semi-regular basis, her socks would be a suprise instead of the other way around, but that's what happens when my mom offers to have me make things for people before informing me about it.

Also on the list is my first spinning wheel yarn! I went to the first night of my two-Monday class last night, and although I was about 20 minutes late (I thought I was coming in early for my 5:30 class, not late for a 5:00), things went pretty smoothly after that. Since I've done a bit of drop spindling before taking the class, the drafting part came rather quickly. Now I'm just working out the tricky bit with the foot pedal. I've got about 8 ounces of homework before I go back next week and do the scary part--- plying.

With the addition of spinning homework and a glut of recently started projects, I find myself having to go back on my new project embargo. I can sort of justify the Robin's Egg Blue Hat, and Anticraft's Flowers on a Grave hat, as they both went pretty quickly. But now I've also started Vixen from Sensual Knits (which on size 4's is going to take a while), and the yoke-less Rambling Rose peices are starting to give me dirty looks.

I do have to wipe one currently languishing project off the slate, though. Now that the weather's trying to get better, I decided to go back to the Orbit Lace project I set down last fall. I knew I was going to have to rip back a bit after messing up the lace pattern, but then I saw it-- a discolored spot about the shape of a silver dollar. Suddenly, it all came flooding back, and I was hit with the horrible memory of sitting in coffee shop and having someone spill their coffee onto the table in front of me. Apparently, it hadn't just spilled onto the front of my knitting bag like I thought. No, it spill inside, onto my long-suffering, half finished bamboo lace t-shirt-like-thingy that was nestled right on top.

Secretly, I'm a little glad to be given the excuse to rip back and fix a couple of things I wasn't entirely wild about, but right now I still kind of hate other people a little bit.

How did I get by before the technology age?

Dear magical stuff-hiding house elves,

I would greatly like to be able to find my battery charger now. The "no featured photo"s on my ravelry are really starting to bug the crap out of me. Also, how am I supposed to take more unnecessary pictures of Gus if I have no camera?

If said battery charger could be returned to the last place I saw it, I'd greatly appreciate it.

Signed, me.

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?

It wasn't until about three seconds after I dropped the yarn in the pot of dye that I remembered Samurai Knitter's experience with purples. It seems I am now left with something that looks somewhere between magenta and violet, though I'll probably have a better idea once it's dry. At the moment though, the only word I can think to describe it is "ultraviolet".

Thankfully, it was only a small hank of some of my handspun that I was using for an experiment (do two different colors of undyed fiber come out the same color?) , but I think the addition of a dye that is notorious for breaking down and making crazy colors might just affect my results. Ah well.

So that's what my carpet looks like!

We have this little problem, the boy and I. I own quite a lot of clothes and my closets have a slight tendency to explode (especially when I'm having trouble deciding what to wear), and although I am stellar at getting organized, I always find it challenging to stay that way. In my defense, our old apartment had so little storage that Eric and I shared a closet about the size of a doorway and, despite our exhaustive efforts to defy the laws of physics, there was only so much room to use before things went all 'splody. But in our current house, with its Wall O' Closet, there really is no excuse for this.

To add to that, Eric has a slight habit of dumping out laundry onto the nearest flat surface when he needs a basket or simply pulling what he currently needs straight out of the laundry instead of putting it all away.

Together, we are an incredibly dangerous combination.

It took a few hours, a load or two of laundry, lots of folding, and an embarrasing amount of vacuuming (I still have yet to understand how the dog manages to shed twice his weight in fur) but our bedroom is finally starting to feel like somewhere I wouldn't mind spending more time in. In the process, I managed to cull about a garbage bag-full of clothes I no longer need. Now I'll always be able to find that one item of clothing that disappears right when I want to wear it, and my kinda ugly but ultra comfy chair that I like to sit and read in? I can actually sit and read in it!

Hell, we can even hang out in here with the dog when we're not all sleeping, something we couldn't do before. (I also have a habit of not always emptying my pockets before I take my pants off, and Gus ALWAYS manages to find that one stray bit of change that falls out. It's really not fun to have to pry coins out of your dogs mouth.)

Woohoo! I have a bedroom I like again!

Now to tackle the office.......tomorrow.

Seriously, tequila lime salsa is the best thing ever. I've spent the last four days eaten meals based around it. It's just that good.

Apparently it still exists.

I woke up yesterday, my day off, looked out the window, and saw the sunshine. I then rolled over and went back to sleep for another hour. In a place that gets very little sun for most of the year, it felt like true decadence.

Once I was up and moving about I had a rather good day, although only marginally productive. I got a bill or two paid, then decided I was done with responsibility until tomorrow. So we went for a drive.

Stephanie and I visited a cashmere goat farm that sits just outside of town. I drive by their sign, a cut-out of a goat with a handpainted sign and an arrow underneath it, about once a week or so and decided that yesterday was the day to finally venture out and find it. We chatted with the man that has the farm, and I came to realize that I am not a good enough spinner yet to afford $18-ounce fiber, but we will definetely be returning at a later date.

After that, we wandered aimlessly around the county, enjoying the weather. I even found a yarn shop I didn't know existed, alongside a county road between Bellingham and the next town over. I managed to get out of their with only one skein, a test subject for dyeing. After that it was down to NW Handspun Yarns to wind up the rest of my yarn for the Rambling Rose Cardigan, followed by some knitting and movies. I'm guessing tonight may be a repeat of that last part-- we rented Sweeney Todd.

Would it be considered cheating that I used my laptop (only on battery backup) during Earth Hour?

So much past inside my present....

It took a few hours, but I think my stomach has finally started speaking to me again after all the awful things I did to it yesterday.

Our dear friend Ryan is leaving The Black Drop and, in the not-so-distant future, Bellingham and 'round these parts nobody goes anywhere without a proper send-off. So we had the (second) Deep Fry Party*, where everyone brings anything they're brave enough to batter up and dip in oil. There were too many items to list everything, but some of the notable mentions included the customary cheese wiz-filled corn dogs, shrimp and bacon won tons, Snickers (my contribution), Oreos, Nutella and peanut butter sandwiches, and a concoction Arianne came up with-- macaroni and cheese encased in garlic cheese biscuit dough**. The best however, occurred after we left in the form of deep-fried Tums.

As is also customary, there were also quite a few shenanigans, including the wearing of unitards. Poor Eric, who had been at home sleeping and was only there to ferry me home, got a little caught in the middle of all of it, though he never had to actually wear the unitard. He was a damn good sport about the whole thing, however.


On the knitting front, I've made some decisions. After a slight color change, I've decided that the Rambling Rose Cardigan is the next sweater project, in part due to the fact that I could get the yarn for that one soonest***. I'm also testing out another yarn for my brother's Baby's First Tattoo cardigan. I'm trying out bamboo, but I fear it's going to be too.... the best word I can come up with is "slinky."

I'm kind of grabbing at straws with that one, as nothing I've seen in fingering weight has been able to meet all of the requirements. I wouldn't think it would be that hard to find something in solid, non-wierd colors that doesn't require massive jumping through hoops to care for, and yet here I am testing out a bamboo yarn that will make my baby brother look like he's wearing a satin smoking jacket or something.


* -- There's good stories behind why we've all done this to ourselves not once but twice. I prefer to live inthe now, though.
** --These eventually became known as "Cheese Fists" and were incredibly yummy.
*** --Is that even a word?

No linking for me!

So far in the last two days I have made two swatches for Fitted Knits' Textured Tunic and figured out what color and yarn I want, knitted part of a left from for Interweave Knit's Rambling Rose Cardigan (minus the bottom scallop, not sure I like it), am rethinking a yarn idea for FK's Carie Cropped Cardigan, and am about two seconds away from starting a swatch for Dominitrix's Little Red Riding Hoodie.

Think I might be ready for another sweater, now that my Nameless Cardigan is nearly finished?

So I have this tiny little idea, but I'm keeping it to myself for now because, after doing a bit of online searching, it doesn't look like anyone else has done it, atleast in the way I want to. This could be for one of three reasons:

Either a) it's a ridiculous and stupid idea or
b) people have tried it and found it to be more hassle than it's worth or
c) I have an awesome brain.

Either way, some experimenting is in order, but it may have to wait until I have space for my sewing machine in my still-in-progress office/craft room. It's currently residing under a stack of airplane models the boyfriend bought and hasn't looked at since.

I suppose instead of sitting here searching my way through the intarweb, I should be getting back to tackling things on my always overstuffed "Day Off To-Do List." It includes things like putting the second coat of paint on my bathroom and doing about six loads of laundry, and all before Knit Night.... or possibly after.

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?

Idiosyncrasies and compulsive behavior

A quick Ravelry search has revealed that most people aren't nearly as bothered by the fact that the pattern in Pomatomus goes the same direction for both socks as I am.

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.

But still I'd be lying if I said it wasn't easy....I am trying to break your heart

In the interest of full disclosure, I never did start that second sock.

I did however go back to a sock I started, like, months ago. It was an expirement involving a knee sock with calf shaping that doesn't involve changing needles. I'm almost to the bottom of the calf decreasing, and I'm still not sure if the whole thing's going to work, or if I even put the extra stitches where they really need to go. It will be so completely awesome if it works, though useless as a pattern, since everybody's calves are shaped differently.

(Nevermind the fact that it's been so long since I worked on this sock that all my notes about the shaping have disappeared. It has nothing to do with that at all.)

I had made a plan to get some stuff done after I got off work today (including some top-secret Valentine stuff) but I have been pretty much immobile since I started getting stomache aches last night. I barely made it through work, then came home and immediately put on my pajamas, with little intention of leaving the house again until tomorrow. Though I've always had a stomach of steel, I think I may have finally pushed it past the limit with all the random things I ate in a rather short time* yesterday. We seem to have come to a truce for now, as I no longer feel the urge to vomit (sorry), but like any peace talk it's tentative at best, so I'm staying put and (maybe) attempting to eat some of my spinach lasagna later. It's good enough to risk another tummyache.

Heck, I might even finish something tonight. I only have about 11 active works-in-progress right now, having started yet another one last night. For now though, a short nap is in order.


*noodle bowl + blood orange + super rich chocolate cake + blackened catfish + collard greens + mashed potatoes, in that order, and all in less than five hours. How dumb am I?

Letting the world go by....

There's nothing better to come home to than a dog who loves you and good salsa.

Due to a slight mishap involving me and a sidewalk curb that took out one of my tires, I had the opportunity to navigate Bellingham's bus system for the first time in quite a while. I used to bus and bike all the time, back when I lived a car-free downtown existence. Since then, routes, times, and my own destinations have changed. They have this crazy color-coded system where two digits mean one thing and three digits mean another. I was a little nervous I was going to have the same mishap I did back in high school, the one that resulted in an hour long round trip to and from somewhere I didn't want to go. (And still don't come to think of it. Lynden's not a very nice place.) I think I've got it sorted out now, though, so it should be a lot less walking tomorrow. As it is, Eric got home from work shortly before I did, so he swung down the road and picked me up.

As much as I like the independence and thinking time driving from place to place affords me, as well as the oh-so-important opportunity to sing along to the radio, it was kind of nice to sit in the back corner and read my book until I was where I needed to be. I brought some knitting with me, but didn't feel like breaking that out since I had to look out every once in a while for my stop. Tomorrow, however, I will be bringing the second Diagonal Cross-Rib Sock, the one I plan on casting on for tonight. After finishing the first, I'm not so sure that a multi-colored colorway was really the absolute best way to go, but I still like them nonetheless. Now if only I could stop dropping stitches when I do that little twisty thing!

Last night I dreamt that I was taking a tour of a garden on the inside of a house. It was a community garden and the room was divided into tiny plots only one or two feed wide and three or four feet deep. I overheard someone say, "yep, that's standard California size." I walked around looking at the plants that had sprung up from their tiny beds, then eventually walked another garden that stretched almost as far as I could see. I looked down to see a perfect red bell pepper hanging from a vine, so I pulled it off and bit into it like an apple.

....which is why I'm currently reasearching how to sign up for one of Bellingham's three community gardens.

Yay for weekends!

I think I may have a post-football hangover tomorrow. Not from the beer consumed, but the fact that my favorite sport is finished until next fall. Then again, I'm going to be able to get some good mileage out of gloating for the next few days, so I may be able to stay away from the end-of-season blues for a little while longer.

It's been a very nice weekend around here. This was the first weekend of my new schedule (ie, the first weekend I've had off that I didn't have to pull teeth and call in favors to get), and I think I can get used to this.

We spent Friday night in Seattle visiting my friend Jen, who's been feeling a bit homesick since moving down there recently. Other than forgetting my wallet down there and locking myself out of the building, it was a splendid evening. I've really missed having her around since she left, and this was the first time we've gotten the opportunity to just hang out without a whole lot of other things going on. We'll probably be doing it again sometime next month, if not sooner.

I also got to do a bit of knitting on the way down. The garter stitch, sort-of log cabin blanket I started has been my go-to knitting lately. I'm about 10 panels in, and I keep wanting to work on it, if only because I'm not sure whether it's going to be this awesome blanket, or a giant garter stitch mess, and I'm anxious to find out. Plus, it's all garter-stitch, so I can even knit it in a dark car on the way to Seattle!

We came home and vegged out, then went into uber-cleaning mode in preparation for Super Bowl festivities on Sunday.

Sunday was, of course, all about the Superbowl. Around this house, it's practically a holiday, complete with lots of food and a few friends. In keeping with family tradition, I made meatball subs, and some buddies brought pizza. We stuffed ourselves silly while occasionally yelling at the TV. The game ended the way I wanted it to, and now I'm enjoying my clean, quiet house with a beer and Arrested Development. Not a bad way to end a weekend.